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The Church Is...Neurotic??? As a Christian, I believe in original sin. My conviction is confirmed in the real world in which individuals, groups, and Christian Churches are thoroughly infected with this essential aberration of God’s plan. Though Jesus promised that the "gates of hell" shall not prevail against His Church, nevertheless there is the somber recognition [...]

It's tempting to think that pastors experiencing "success" are happier than those experiencing "failure" or to think they have it better, more comfortable, less problems, etc. But such may not necessarily be the case. Though there are certainly dynamics which are quite different in "successful" and "less successful" congregations, Pastors often aggrandize "success" without taking a good look [...]

Did you have a parent that was… Using addictive substances (drugs, alcohol, etc.) Engaging in addictive behavior (e.g. workaholism, sexual addiction, etc.) Perfectionistic Distant and unloving Given to unpredictable behaviors (e.g. anger, abuse, etc.) Overly dependent upon children Or demonstrative of one or more of the 13 characteristics evident in Adult Children? The Problem There are [...]

If they push hard—don’t push back. When they assert their position—do not reject it. When they attack your ideas—do not defend them. When they attack you—do not counter attack. Break the vicious cycle by refusing to react. When they push—side-step the attack and deflect it against the problem. Avoid putting your strength against them directly—you may not have enough. [...]

Introduction One of the greatest sources of insight in the Christian’s battle against Satan comes from the hymn, "A Mighty Fortress is our God." Hailed as the "Battle Hymn of the Reformation," a close consideration of this famous hymn gives pastors and all Christians some extremely valuable insight into the Reformer’s spiritual defense against Satan. More [...]

Congregations are often perplexed when their Pastor leaves and a new one arrives after what can often be a time consuming calling process. This is an important time for our church to deal with the transition and emotions that occur during a change in Pastors. Here are a few suggestions to help us make the transition [...]

Let's suppose that the judicatory or conflict consultants have been called to quell the trouble in your church. As the pastor, you may well be at the center of the storm. What can you do to improve the possibilities of having a good outcome? Here's a short list of "to do's (and to don'ts):" 1. Be [...]

Effective Ministers… 1. Maintain a vibrant relationship with Christ to the very end. Effective ministers recognize that a regular practice of spiritual disciplines and an ongoing development of personal faith is the most important thing in their ministry. 2. Live with an expectancy of repeated renewal. Repeated ministry experiences have taught effective ministers that they should [...]

Advice to the preacher: "Feed the sheep; not the giraffes." Wayne Dobratz "The most important thing a pastor can have is churchmanship. Always be a churchman." Eldor Meyer "You don't get a well-fed church from serving fast food." Bill Hybels "You reap what you sow...so sow carefully." Paraphrased from St. Paul "One day in the church [...]

Go easy. Go gently. Go in peace. You may have to push forward, but you don’t have to push so hard. Go easy. Go gently. Go in peace. Do not be in so much of a hurry. At no day, no hour, no time are you required to do more that what you can do in [...]

One of the better ways to maintain motivation in ministry is the use of various resources--Scripture (of course), various books, videos, tapes, etc. Injoy, Inc., an organization founded by John Maxwell, has numerous resources available for ministers. Over the years I have found that his Injoy Life Club is especially helpful. Whether taking a walk with a walkman, [...]

Face it, the research is correct. As a whole, most Pastors and helping professionals are perfectionists. And why shouldn’t we be? Being a perfectionist means to be realistic, conscientious, principled, organized, and able to put structure on our time. Being a perfectionist means we’re able to plan ahead, sometimes in great detail. We’re able to offer [...]

One of the amazing phenomena in the life of the local congregation is the apparent ease with which conflict seems to sneak up out of the blue and catch everybody by surprise. It is all the more remarkable when it is realised that the signals of impending trauma will have been around for a while although [...]

One wise mentor and brother once gave me this advice. If you enjoy a counseling relationship too much, get out of it. This was not only excellent advice for counseling, but for all professional ministry relationships in general. Why? Some reasons may include the following. First, when the boundaries between "friendliness" and "being friends" is professionally broken, one [...]

Paul's tent making business represents one of the earliest examples of bi-vocational ministry. Part time pastorates have been a crucial dimension of our church life here in Victoria throughout our history. With the number of churches opting for part time leadership increasing, this will remain so. There are some serious implications for pastors which need to [...]

Leadership: Determine the direction. Set the pace. Applaud the spirit. Practices Commitments Challenge The Process 1. Search out challenging opportunities to change, grow, innovate, and improve. 2. Experiment, take risks, and learn from the (inevitable) accompanying mistakes. Inspire A Shared Vision 3. Envision an uplifting and ennobling future. 4. Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to their values, interest, hopes and dreams. Enable Others To [...]

Five Adopter Categories Organizational theorist such as Everett Rogers have determined five categories of responses to innovation. These include Innovators, Early Adopters, Early Majority, Late Majority, and Laggards.Of course, each category is represented by specific attitudes, attitudes which are found in organizations…including churches. While Innovators are venturesome, Early Adopters are considered respectable risk takers. Early Majorities [...]

Having trouble introducing change in your congregation? Do you find that people tend to be resistant to certain ideas? Having trouble dealing with the frustration that things just aren’t getting anywhere? Studies in facilitating change, and introducing innovation, such as Everett Rogers', have demonstrated that there are five principles of innovation which can be used to help facilitate a smoother adoption [...]

The moving van has been unloaded, you are once again able to find the books you need, and you're in the middle of grieving over the friends and the ministry you've left behind. Now what?  You ask yourself.   I have so much to do, I don't know where to start.   I am surrounded by this sea [...]

In our search for a suitable pastor the following scratch sheet was developed for your perusal. Of the candidates investigated by the committee, only one was found to have the necessary qualities. The list contains the names of the candidates and comments on each, should you be interested in investigating them further for future pastoral placements. [...]

It seems that there is no shortage of powerful people in our churches.  In response to an earlier Ministry Perspective, many pastors disclosed their own struggles with those described as "TMs" (Trouble Makers). Some even wondered if the paper had been written with specific people in their congregation in mind.  Since it appeared that a nerve [...]

Though 90 percent of respondents to a Leadership magazine poll of nearly 600 evangelical clergy said it's appropriate for a pastor to ask for a raise, 65 percent of them have never asked for one. Why? Thirty-eight percent of the respondents said their churches have no policy for giving pay increases; one in five churches said the pastor [...]

The annual meeting was more like a meeting of morticians than it was a meeting of the redeemed people of God. The past year had seen no new faces in the church and the year had seemed like an endless struggle to pay the pastor. For several months the church, in fact, had not been able [...]

The dispute resolution methods used by Conflict Management and the Harvard Negotiation Project were developed by Roger Fisher and his colleagues over the course of 30 years of research and practice. "Principled" does not mean "ethical," though it surely is. Rather, it embodies a series of principles developed at Harvard and perfected in practice by attorneys, [...]