Ministry is a rewarding calling, but it is not without challenges. In fact, a Google search for the words “pastoral discouragement” returns more than 400,000 results: articles, blog posts, and websites. Yet ministry does not have to remain mired in negativity....
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Ministry is a rewarding calling, but it is not without challenges. In fact, a Google search for the words “pastoral discouragement” returns more than 400,000 results: articles, blog posts, and websites. Yet ministry does not have to remain mired in negativity....
“Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the...
It is often much easier to create a positive culture than repair a negative one. However, if you’ve identified that your church culture needs some help, fixing what’s wrong is not impossible. With the adoption of a clear strategy and a few consistent behaviors, you...
How Christians use money speaks volumes about their hearts. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:21 NIV). This means that the way we use money is a reflection of our priorities, but it will also...
After the 2019 fire at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris, France, heated conversations emerged about the future of the landmark. While some people demanded that reconstruction aim for a precise replication of the previous design, the French Prime Minister announced...
Positivity is not taught—it is caught. You cannot develop a better atmosphere on your staff through coercion or pressure. You have to sow it, tend it, and allow it to grow naturally. As you set a consistent example, you will find positivity blooming everywhere. Here...
Recruiting and retaining church volunteers can feel like a constant struggle. You need a healthy pool of volunteers to carry out your mission and vision, but it can be hard to find people who are willing to serve. Perhaps volunteers burn out as fast as you recruit...
The multisite model you choose for your church is only as good as it is sustainable. Your facility and staffing choices will have the most substantial impact on your financial viability, so it’s prudent to carefully and prayerfully consider your options. Giving...
The new school year tends to immediately begin as a sprint—the calendar already seems full minutes after we turn the page from July to August. One extremely important way we can respond to the hectic pace is to sit at the feet of Jesus. This is true for members of our...
When it comes to creating a budget, many church leaders feel overwhelmed. Most church leaders do not have extensive training in accounting, so creating a budget feels arduous. Since elders and pastors are focused on people and ministry, the budget can even become an...
While the message of the gospel does not change from generation to generation, we are responsible to adapt the means by which we share it. We, like Paul, aim to “become all things to all people” so that we might save some (1 Corinthians 9:22 NIV). In this modern era,...
We need to be regularly reminded of how loved we are, especially when the busyness of the calendar tends to take all of our attention. When we feel like we are constantly putting out fires or running from one challenge to the next, we can forget that we are children...
Undertaking a significant church construction project can seem intimidating. Whether you are building a new church or remodeling an existing building into a proper gathering place, there is not a singular program that prepares pastors for the arduous task of seeing a...
When faithful followers of Jesus step into vocational ministry today, they face increasingly complex roles. The issues range from budgeting and financial management, leading a capital campaign, growing elders when they are the bosses, hiring and (sometimes) dismissing...
Has this ever happened to you? You invest hours and hours of prayer and weeks of planning and preparation, pore over details of implementation, and finally announce your exciting new initiative—only to have it met with lukewarm, or even hostile, reception. Was it a...
Pastors are people. That sounds like an obvious thing to say, but it’s still important to understand. Unfortunately, Christians sometimes look past the personhood of those who lead in the church. We view spiritual leaders as somehow different, set apart, or above it...
When a church’s leaders and staff are accountable to each other, a positive church culture can flourish. For this accountability to work, though, you need both performance appraisals and periodic checkups. Here are ten questions you can ask your team members during...
A new building is often an important step for a growing church. But before your church scopes out the grocery store that just closed or the old warehouse downtown, you want to be sure it’s the right time. Just because the opportunity presents itself does not mean it’s...
Christians are called to a higher standard of behavior than unbelievers. Throughout scripture, God’s people are given the charge to be holy (Leviticus 19:2, 1 Peter 1:16). In the simplest terms, to be holy is to be set apart. Practicing integrity as a follower of...
One core concern every organization has in common is staffing. You’ve likely worked on teams where someone was a noncontributor. Many organizations pay the price of hiring someone who looks good on paper but who ultimately holds them back. The best way leaders handle...
You have heard numerous sayings that point to the immense influence leaders have—for example, from international leadership guru John Maxwell: “Speed of the leader, speed of the team” and “Everything rises and falls on leadership.” These types of pithy sayings can...
Every year the church is given fifty-two Sundays. God is always speaking and moving in people’s lives, and we aim to create opportunities during Sunday services for people to pause long enough to listen and hear the Lord’s voice. We should never put our services on...
What can visitors expect when they show up at your church? Answering this one question equips you to engage them more effectively and help them want to return. But this requires seeing your church through their eyes. It’s easy to fall into a regular cycle of service...
The English language is largely a conglomeration of loanwords—words adopted from other languages. In fact, perhaps 80 percent of English words have been taken from other languages.¹ Some of these words were borrowed so long ago that we don’t realize it—they’ve become...
If you knew that your life on earth was drawing to a close, what would you want to say to the people you love? What about the church leaders you’ve invested your life in—what final words of instruction and guidance would you want to emphasize to them? The Apostle Paul...
There are times in the life of a church when a loan can help you take advantage of opportunities or provide a solution to a specific problem. It could be that a new building has opened up in town that could better accommodate your growing congregation. Or maybe your...
After Jesus rose from the grave, established the Church, and entrusted the message of the gospel to His disciples, He ascended into heaven. Jesus’s disciples and the other early Christians zealously shared the good news and were quickly faced with a unique transition....
In business environments, metrics are measurements used to assess efficiency, performance, progress, and processes. Tracking these pieces of information provides a way for companies to determine whether momentum is being made toward specific goals. In ideal...
No two multisite churches are the same. Each campus has unique strengths, opportunities, and challenges. So when it comes to choosing a campus pastor, you can’t take a cookie-cutter approach. You want to select someone particularly gifted to position your campus for...
The average church has so much going on and seldom enough people to manage each task effectively. Finding volunteers to cover the work of ministry can become the constant focus. Because of this urgency, leadership development often falls by the wayside. We know it is...
As the old saying goes: good fences make for good neighbors. The idea is that if you want to maintain a good relationship with the folks next door, you’ll establish clear boundaries. If the borders aren’t clear, it becomes too easy for parties to make a nuisance of...
When you hear the phrase “church culture,” what do you think of? A church’s culture is like the personality of a church and can be felt in the church’s atmosphere and environment. Culture is largely influenced by the church leaders’ (and thus the members’) mission,...
As church leaders, we often define what our church is about through carefully worded mission and vision statements. These crucial documents concisely explain what our church is called to be and do, providing clear direction that staff and members can rally behind....
“You are what your record says you are.” Bill Parcells, the former head coach of four different NFL teams, is well known for this pithy quote. Parcells led all four of those NFL teams to the playoffs, and three of them to conference championships during his career....
Whether you are building a new church, converting an existing building into the perfect meeting place, or remodeling your current location, your church building project is going to require capital. Sometimes churches are so overwhelmed by the funds they need to come...
Is your mission statement still relevant to the life of your church? When you wrote your mission statement, the whole leadership team likely spent significant time crafting the precise wording that would best summarize your church’s unique purpose and calling. But...
If your church is considering pursuing a church loan, now is the right time to start preparing your documentation. Even if you decide not to move forward with the loan, the process of gathering, reviewing, and preparing your information can be clarifying. While...
After preaching the gospel and making disciples, stewardship is arguably the most important aspect of church ministry. In fact, effective preaching of the good news and successful discipleship can hinge on a church’s ability to steward the commission that Jesus...
As a leader, it’s critical to acknowledge that the next crisis is not a matter of if, but when. While you don’t want to live life in fear, it’s prudent to take time ahead of crises to prepare your church’s financial plan or response. In the midst of a crisis, you’ll...
There are a number of reasons why a church might consider getting a loan. Sometimes growth puts a church in a position that requires expanding the existing sanctuary or moving into a new building entirely. It could be necessary to upgrade and improve areas in a...
Pastors hear plenty of warnings about burnout, and you don’t have to look far to discover the worst-case scenarios of ministries that have crumbled under the weight of stress and exhaustion. But having an understanding of burnout doesn’t seem to slow down the problem....
You have likely heard a variety of claims about the state of the church in America today. It’s easy to repeat dour or sensational headlines. But what do the polls and statistics actually tell us? We can glean some interesting insights from Church Trac’s “The State of...
What is the state of giving in the American church today? Here are several interesting trends from the Ministry Brands’ 2025 State of Church Giving report. Giving is up. Around half of American Protestant and Catholic churches (51%) experienced an increase in giving...
For a lot of churches, the process of getting a loan can be a bit overwhelming. There are so many questions. What are the first steps? What information is going to be required? If you are considering taking out a loan in the future, you can start getting things in...
Pastors are in the relationship business. Church leaders who want to become more productive, influential, persuasive, and avoid many of the pitfalls that come with poor communication can focus on becoming better listeners. We live in a culture that places a higher...
Have you ever tried to make a complicated recipe? It can be challenging. Maybe you thought you followed the directions exactly but your anticipation dissolved into heartbreak with the final result. Something as simple as overbeating your eggs can determine whether you...
Work is hard. Even if you like what you do, chances are you still have a love–hate relationship with work. If you feel this way, you’re not alone. Americans have a habit of working longer and taking fewer vacation days than people in other industrialized countries....
In almost every sphere of our lives, good communication is critical for happiness and productivity. When you are able to effectively share information and communicate expectations, you foster trust and confidence in your working relationships. Good communication is...
A strong church board can be the difference between a congregation that’s firing on all cylinders and one that’s hobbling along. When things are off-kilter in the church leadership, it has a dramatic impact on the life of the church. Here are five signs that your...
Pastors and church leaders give of themselves day in and day out. In fact, as turmoil and strife ripple across the globe and the needs of our immediate communities increase, leaders may feel that they are in a never-ending cycle of “doing” without any moment to rest....
Failure is something we all try to avoid—leaders especially. When faced with a task, ministers, pastors, and other church staff will count the cost by identifying the steps needed to succeed. But failure will always be a part of life on this side of heaven; in fact,...
When reflecting on high points from the past year, few pastors talk about how excited they were to create the budget. While all ministers would probably agree that a budget is an important document and acknowledge that it keeps the church’s finances on track, very few...
Burnout is a significant concern for pastors and church staff. If you’re overworked and not paying attention to the signs, you can end up doing serious damage to your ministry. In addition to paying attention to your workload and stress level, consider how your work...
The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV). Clear expectations are critical to a church’s health and growth, and a lack of clarity can cause a church to atrophy. Leaders, ministers, and pastors have the opportunity—and...
Your church has a finite pool of resources to use toward accomplishing your mission. Typically, you won’t have an excess of funds to allocate for every project, ministry, or idea you are passionate about. Just like with a personal budget, you know that directing money...
Many church conflicts can be traced back to poor communication. The cost of poor communication can be intensified when the topic of finances is being discussed. For example, imagine a church board has been planning to purchase a building to expand and create new...
Hiring someone who turns out to be a poor fit is a costly, time-consuming mistake. It’s a lot more challenging to let someone go than it is to pass on them at the very beginning—especially in a church context. Here are five mistakes to avoid when hiring a new staff...
Not all church teams are created equally. Some are synergistic forces of nature that instinctually set and meet goals. Other teams remain excessively busy but struggle to gain much ground. Why is it that some churches have staff that seem to function so well together...