New England news & perspectives
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5 Helpful Podcasts for Church Leaders
The number of people who learn by listening to podcasts is continually growing, and I’m a big fan of podcasts and audiobooks because they allow me to “redeem the time” (Ephesians 5:14) and learn while on the go. If you already listen to podcasts, consider adding these great ones to your rotation, and if not, and you spend a considerable amount of time on the road, I would highly encourage you to make the most of that time by adding a learning component to your commute to help you continue to grow as a church leader.
Persevering as a Pastor
How do we persevere in pastoral ministry? Churches should want pastors who persevere till they go on to glory or retire – and even if retired, continue to serve in some capacity until they can no longer do so. As pastors, what can we do now to ensure we persevere to the end?
The Gift of Time
I have a big extended family. Both sets of grandparents had six kids, plus some adopted kids, and just about all of those kids had three or more kids, and so on. Family reunions were massive affairs. We are a family spread all over the globe (many are missionaries), and we are a family that likes to get together as frequently as possible.
Pastoring through an Election Year
This year no doubt will be filled with a perpetual barrage of politics. From Super Tuesday to November 5th, our church people will be bombarded with political ads, phone calls, news segments, and presidential debates. As pastors, how do we pastor through a year like this?
Dealing with Difficult People
People can be difficult. We know this because we are people! In all likelihood, you have been a difficult person to someone else at least at some point in your life. Pastoral ministry is no exception to this. In fact, being a pastor probably means you deal with a higher number of difficult people than most. How should we deal with difficult people? Here are a few suggestions borne from experience and failure.
Sitting in the Second Seat: Unique Leadership Dynamics in a Great Cape Cod Church
Rob Neufeld is an associate pastor at CapeFaith Church in Osterville, where Judson Adams serves as senior pastor. CapeFaith is a vibrant and growing church with an interesting leadership dynamic: Rob Neufeld is not only the associate pastor, he is also the father-in-law of the senior pastor, Judson Adams.
When A Pastor Should Not Leave His Church
Pastoral transitions happen. Life happens, and sometimes pastors need to move on. If not, in time our mortality will force a transition! These transitions can be extremely difficult for a pastor, his family, and for the church body. Sometimes leaving is for the better, but too often this kind of transition leaves a wake of broken hearts and missed opportunities.
Transitions and Church Revitalization: Lessons We Can Learn from Tom Brady’s Retirement
Football is an excellent teaching tool for the Church and its leadership. I have said for many years “Sport speaks.” It speaks about transitions, pressures, training, plays, setbacks, comebacks, and tensions. It is no surprise to New Englanders that quarterback Tom Brady is re-retiring from football.
Multiply Your Outreach
I am certainly not an expert on outreach. Doubtless there are pastors and churches who are far more effective than me on this. However, I’ve learned a few things, mostly from my mistakes! Let me share a few things that have worked for me, and perhaps they will spur you on to find ways that work for you and your church.
How to develop volunteers for restorative ministry
The comment I get the most is, “You are successful with your outreach, because you have a high number of volunteers”, and that is true. But, it isn’t luck, random opportunity, or some extraordinary ability either. Often pastors are discouraged from starting restorative ministries because they believe they are already overworked and they don’t believe they will be able to gather enough volunteers to do the work. So hopefully I’ll be able to inspire a few of you to trust God in this, in less than 600 words.
The pastoral care trap
Our traditional notion of pastoral care is kryptonite to authentic church revitalization. I realize how provocative that statement is. It stirs instant hyper-alertness. When I am consulting with churches about revitalizing, this inconvenient truth, once grasped, is the most concerning for them. These churches are nervously evaluating whether they have the chutzpah to give up their myriad personal preferences and traditions, whenever necessary, to be hotly missional. That’s the second greatest threat. But the greatest threat is our desperate clinging to pastoral care.
Nimble Church: Part 2
Senior-level pastors of theologically conservative churches seem to be particularly myopic about church revitalization. We tend to see only one legitimate answer to the question, “What do we need to do to revitalize?” We don’t tend to be very inquisitive.
Pastor, stay where you are!
I’m approaching my 20th year as a pastor at the same church (nearly twelve years as Senior, six as Associate and two years as Youth Pastor). Over that period of time, I’ve considered moving on a number of times, but with each opportunity the prudent decision was to stay put. The fruit of this longevity has become apparent to me. Let me offer some of the benefits of staying put:
When leadership is hard
Leadership is hard. Really hard. And we all need help. Every single last one of us. Every leader needs a leader. Every coach needs a coach. Every mentor needs a mentor. But without finding the right help, burnout and throwing in the towel becomes quite easy. In fact, I believe burnout is only inevitable. According to the Paterson Center, leaders will on average face 4 to 5 major life crisis’ within their leadership tenure. The real question then becomes, when the crisis takes place, how will you respond?
Prideful pastors
". . . All of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble." (1 Peter 5:5)
Far beyond any rival, it was the most glaring example of pastoral pride I had ever seen. A pastor invited me to attend a special service to celebrate his ministry anniversary. He invited a long list of community and denominational leaders. Even the mayor and his entourage showed up.
Seven pivots for the church revitalizer in the new year
Every new year brings its challenges and pivots. I have been challenged to pause in the many pivots I have had to make as a church revitalizer and reflect on how God wanted me to lead. The pivots that we have faced in recent months have taught us many essential lessons for future revitalization.
The pastor’s pastor
The days leading up to our church planting journey are a golden haze in my memory. As soon as we experienced the first missional pull six years ago, my husband and I consumed absurd quantities of Dr. Pepper and scrambled for every pertinent book, article, and podcast in Christendom. Despite the caffeine-induced fog, one sentiment jumped out from the masses of content and wrapped itself tightly around my heart. It hasn’t budged since. In a session on marriage and missions, the trainer asked a group of hopeful church planters, “Men, who’s your pastor?” He waited. Crickets. His answer knocked the wind out of me.
Effective leadership in an ineffective culture
“Every time our church starts moving forward, something happens that sets us back. Our leadership just doesn’t seem to know how to get us over the hump to the next level,” lamented a key lay leader in one of our BCNE churches. I wish this was an isolated incident, but sadly, I have some version of this conversation often.
The wrong ministry advice
Have you been listening to the right people? Rehoboam was a famous king of ancient Israel who was best known for listening to bad advice. Perhaps you have been turning to the same set of counselors.
Rehoboam had a hard act to follow. His father was Solomon – the epic, larger-than-life sage-king. Solomon had a thousand women and mountains of riches. He had expanded Israel’s territory and influence, and he had constructed palaces, gardens and the temple of God.
The importance of women’s faith to the Church
Written in a time and culture that devalued women, the Bible is remarkable in the honor it ascribes to the faith of women. For example, this theme is one of the elements we see clearly in the Gospel of Luke. Let’s take a look at what we can learn from the stories the Holy Spirit prompted Luke to record.