Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 242
February 8, 2016
Five Reasons You Should Do Most of Your Sermon Preparation on Monday
I love listening to pastors.
I love learning from pastors.
And as I listen and learn, it is my desire to share that information with you, the readers of this blog.
Lately, I’ve been hearing many pastors talk about the importance of doing most of their sermon preparation on Monday. To be sure, this approach does not apply to all pastors, but I thought it would be helpful to learn why many of them value Monday as their key day for sermon preparation. Here are five key reasons:
Pastors’ workweeks are crazy and unpredictable. There are too many possible interruptions for pastors during the week. It is imperative for a number of them to get the sermon preparation done as early as possible.
It reflects the priority of preaching in pastors’ ministries. For a number of pastors, Monday sermon preparation reflects the priority of preaching in their ministries. It is too important to wait until later in the week when there may be inadequate time left to prepare.
It allows for more fine-tuning during the week. If most of the work is done on Monday, pastors can adjust or add to their sermons during the week. This option is not available for “Saturday night specials.”
It can relieve stress. The life of a pastor is often stress-filled. Having an incomplete sermon on Friday or Saturday adds to that stress.
It can provide better continuity from the sermon of the previous week. Last Sunday’s sermon is still fresh on Monday. If there needs to be some type of connection between the two messages, Monday sermon preparation allows for time proximity between the two.
I hope many of you pastors who do the bulk of your sermon preparation on Monday will share with us the reasons you do. I hope you pastors who have another approach will let us know why you favor something different.
And I hope all of you church members will understand the importance of the sermon, and allow your pastors the time they need each week to handle the Word of God with care and study.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
The post Five Reasons You Should Do Most of Your Sermon Preparation on Monday appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 7, 2016
Pray for Taylor Road Baptist Church
Location: Montgomery, Alabama
Pastor: Daniel Atkins
Weekly Worship: 10:30 AM Central
Fast Facts: Pastor Daniel Atkins began his ministry at Taylor Road Baptist Church last month, following 21 months that the church had been without a pastor. Daniel is just the third pastor in the church’s 32 year history and also the youngest at 30 years old. Located in a growing part of Montgomery, Taylor Road is working to reach young adult families for Christ. Please pray for the Atkins family as they transition to Taylor Road and for willingness on the part of an aging congregation to follow a young pastor.
Website: Taylorroad.org
“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.
If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, fill out this information form..
The post Pray for Taylor Road Baptist Church appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 6, 2016
Notable Voices: February 6, 2016
3 Simple Things Leaders Often Forget — Art Rainer
As Art says, these three simple leadership lessons often are forgotten when things get busy.
Things Learned so far as a Student Minister — Dave Snyder
Dave dispels some of the negative stereotypes youth ministers face—and like his post, it all starts with eyes on Jesus.
3 Top Tips for Church Planters — Josh Hedger
I’m encouraged and excited by the recent rise in both church revitalization and planting. These are three great tips for those interested in becoming a church plater or those already planting.
5 Rookie Pastor Mistakes — Hershael York
I’ve seen these mistakes from both pastors new to the ministry as well as those arriving at a new church.
Leadership Principles and Pastoral Ministry — Nick T. Batzig
Leadership principles often help one’s ministry, but like many things in life the means must never become the end.
The Necessity of Expository Preaching — Derek Thomas
We are to be people of the Word and preachers of the Word. Expository preaching helps us do just that.
The post Notable Voices: February 6, 2016 appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 5, 2016
The Six Most Common Ways Ministry Spouses Get Hurt – Rainer on Leadership #196
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio
On today’s episode, we discuss a recent blogpost that focused on the hurt ministry spouses often experience.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
If you look at any relationship, things get said unintentionally but they often still hurt.
When you come up to a ministry spouse, encourage them. Don’t complain about their spouse.
It is unreasonable to think you are getting a 2-for-1 when you hire someone on church staff.
Sometimes church members just don’t know how to interact with ministry spouses.
Going after a spouse to inflict pain on the minister is sinful and cowardly.
We need to stand up to bullies in the church and encourage ministers and their families.
The six most common ways ministry spouses get hurt are:
Complaints about their spouses.
High expectations about ministry involvement.
Complaints about the children.
Isolation.
Gossip and murmuring.
Going to the spouse with problems about the minister.
Episode Sponsors
Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.
Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.
Midwestern Seminary, located in the heart of the Midwest, is one of the fastest growing seminaries in North America and offers a fantastic array of academic programs, including multiple online and residential options at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Midwestern’s new 81-hour Mdiv program, online program, and doctoral program have all been recognized as some of the most innovative and affordable in the country. There has never been a better time to begin your seminary education. Midwestern Seminary trains leaders ‘For The Church.’
Visit them online at MBTS.edu and start your ministry training today.
Feedback
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of I Will.
Resources
The Pastor’s Kid by Barnabas Piper
The Pastor’s Kid – Rainer on Leadership #062
The post The Six Most Common Ways Ministry Spouses Get Hurt – Rainer on Leadership #196 appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 4, 2016
Nine Keys to Maximizing Your Church Facebook Page
By Jonathan Howe
In an episode of Rainer on Leadership earlier this week, I explained Facebook post boosting and how churches can utilize it to inform people in their communities. I soon began receiving questions from pastors and church leaders about best practices on Facebook.
While many churches have Facebook pages, most do not know how best to utilize the platform for Kingdom growth. So here are nine keys to getting the most out of your church Facebook page.
Give as much information as possible in the “About” section. Facebook offers several fields for you to enter information about your church—use them. Don’t make those interested in your church have to click away to your website and find the basic information of service times or location. Also, set up your church as a “Company Organization, or Institution” and not a “Business or Place.” Certain functionality is included in the specific categories, and the former is preferred for churches.
Use correct graphic sizes. Avatars (or profile pictures) should be square and the cover images (header images) should be sized correctly. Visit this Facebook page for all the specific graphic dimensions. Well-done graphics allow you to make a great first impression with potential guests. Poor graphics do not.
Remember your audience. Many of those who like and view your page will be members looking to stay in the know about what is happening at the church. But you will have potential guests viewing as well. Your content must appeal to both.
Post appropriate content. This is related to the previous point. As with your church bulletin, not everything going on at the church needs to be on your Facebook page. I’ve seen everything from funeral arrangements to surgery updates on church Facebook pages. In most instances, those don’t belong on a church’s public Facebook page. Use private emails or church groups for those kinds of updates. Facebook page content should be of importance to both guests and members and be of great importance.
Get permission to post photos of kids. Many parents have an aversion to posting pics of their children, so it’s always best to ask or make parents aware that there is the possibility pictures from events might end up online.
Use Facebook events for major church-wide events. I’ve seen some churches add an event for every service, every week. This is not good. At all. Facebook events can be highly effective, so save their use for major ministry or outreach events.
Encourage your members to share. Do not hesitate to ask members to share updates, promotional pictures, or events. It’s always better to have a few hundred people sharing a post rather than just your church page. As always, make sure what you are asking people to share looks good, is grammatically correct, and will be attractive to potential guests.
Answer any messages or questions promptly. The only thing more frustrating than not being able to find an answer is asking a question only to have it ignored. When people ask you questions through the message app or in comments, answer them quickly and courteously.
Monitor the page and stay current. You may not have major events or news to share each day, but someone (or a team of someones) should be checking the Facebook page routinely. Always be available to help a member or potential guest.
I know many of you use Facebook for your church. What are some other keys that you would add to this list?
Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week, and the managing editor of LifeWayPastors.com. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter at @Jonathan_Howe.
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February 3, 2016
Seven Church Signs That Give a Positive Impression
I was recently in a church that had several signs posted about not bringing food or drinks in the worship center. I asked a guest what he thought of the signs. His response was telling: “I think they are telling me they don’t want to clean up my mess.”
From that perspective, the sign was a negative sign for the church. At least from one person’s point of view it meant, “Don’t bother us.”
Many churches, however, have positive signs posted around the church facilities. Unless you are a curmudgeon, these signs would give you a favorable impression of the church. My comments after each sign reflect the message it would likely communicate.
Guest parking. We welcome guests at our church. We want to treat you like a guest in our home and demonstrate our hospitality.
Allergy alert. These are the snacks we will be serving your children. We care about them and their wellbeing. If they have allergy problems, we will gladly offer them an alternative snack.
Expectant/young mother parking. We care about families. We especially understand the challenges young mothers have, and we hope this convenient parking helps a bit.
Public welcome to this playground. We did not build this playground as just a perk for our members. We want all of the community to know they are welcome here.
Guest welcome center. We always have someone at this welcome center during church activities. We have placed it at the entrance so you can walk right up and ask us any questions. We will also provide you information on our church.
You are welcome to take a Bible. We want everyone to have a Bible. We provide these Bibles as our gift to you.
Covered drop off. During inclement weather, we want you to have a place where you can drop off members of your family. This drop off is also available for those dropping off senior adults.
I love hearing from you readers. Let me know of some “positive signs” in your church.
The post Seven Church Signs That Give a Positive Impression appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 2, 2016
Nine Ways Churches Waste Money – Rainer on Leadership #195
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio
On today’s episode, we discuss nine specific ways churches might be wasting money. As tight as finances are in many churches, these nine points of evaluation might be helpful for many churches to free up more funds for ministry.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
Churches often waste money by doing things the way they’ve always done them.
We often staff our churches the way it’s always been instead of what’s best for the church.
Staffing is one of the biggest expenses you have, and if you don’t constantly evaluate it, you will spend money you don’t have to.
I see any staff departure as an opportunity to evaluate if that position is needed for the future.
Facebook ads are one of the better uses of advertising dollars for churches—instead of media ads or billboards.
The arbitrary payments made to many instrumentalists often confuses pastors and church members.
Having policies in place for benevolence giving and accountability is a must for churches.
Do not expect people in the pew to be good stewards of their money if the church leaders are not stewarding church funds well.
The nine ways churches most commonly waste money are:
Not evaluating staff needs
Ineffective paid publicity
Arbitrarily paid instrumentalists
Paid child care
Unevaluated mission giving
Benevolence with no accountability
Underwriting trips
Church vehicles
Ineffective programs and ministries
Episode Sponsors
Midwestern Seminary, located in the heart of the Midwest, is one of the fastest growing seminaries in North America and offers a fantastic array of academic programs, including multiple online and residential options at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels. Midwestern’s new 81-hour Mdiv program, online program, and doctoral program have all been recognized as some of the most innovative and affordable in the country. There has never been a better time to begin your seminary education. Midwestern Seminary trains leaders ‘For The Church.’
Visit them online at MBTS.edu and start your ministry training today.
Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.
Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.
Feedback
If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of I Will.
Resources
What Does a Healthy Church Budget Look Like?
The post Nine Ways Churches Waste Money – Rainer on Leadership #195 appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
February 1, 2016
Five Common Reasons Church Members Burnout
“I just did not have the energy to keep coming back to church.”
Though my consultation with the church took place many years ago, I remember vividly my interview with a member of the church who had recently dropped out. Her departure stunned the members and leadership. She was the one member you could count on. She was there “every time the doors were open.”
And then she never showed up again.
She simply sent an email of resignation of all ministries and left.
This church member experienced classic church burnout. And, as a consequence, she put herself on the sidelines of local church ministry, unsure if she would ever come back to active church life.
Burnout among church members may not be as obvious and dramatic as this example, but it is real. Some members gradually become less and less involved until you don’t see them anymore.
Such are some of the symptoms of church member burnout. But what are the causes? Here are five common causes.
The church does not have clear purposes or vision. Many times the busyness of church life is not the problem; it is the lack of clarity of the vision of the church. Give church members a clear “why” to the ministry they do, and many will never grow weary of the work.
The church has certain activities because “we’ve always done it that way before.” Few things lead to burnout more quickly than asking a member to be a part of something that has ceased to be useful to the church. “I was on a committee that met every month,” one church member told me. “But our committee never accomplished anything. If the committee disappeared tomorrow, very few people would notice.”
Too few members doing most of the ministry. This issue is both a symptom and a cause. In most established churches, about 90 percent of the ministry is done by one-third of the members.
The church does not celebrate enough. Celebrations are great motivators to continue the labor and ministry. They remind us of God’s provisions and His victories working through us.
The church has no clear expectations of membership. In most of our churches, we expect little or nothing of our members, and that is exactly what we get. It is imperative for churches to have a new members’ class or entry point class that provides both information and expectations.
Burnout is common with so many church members.
But it does not have to be.
Let me hear your thoughts.
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January 31, 2016
Pray for Country Woods Baptist Church
Location: Byram, Mississippi
Pastor: Jon Daniels
Weekly Worship: 10:30 AM, Central
Fast Facts: Country Woods celebrated its 25th anniversary in August of 2015 after starting in 1990 as a mission of Morrison Heights Church in Clinton, MS. What began as a church meeting in a double-wide trailer has grown into a vibrant congregation of approximately 400 active members.Please pray for Mission Byram, a monthly benevolent outreach ministry which provides food, clothing, and other items, along with spiritual counseling, prayer, and evangelism. Pray for more volunteer workers and for partnerships to develop with other churches so that additional days of ministry can be added each month.
Also, “Lunch 4 Christ” is a new ministry that has launched through the ministry of Mission Byram. A group of volunteers has adopted a local apartment complex and delivers sack lunches to the complex once a month.
Finally, God has been leading Country Woods to “Pray BIG” in recent days. Some of the “Pray BIG” requests that the church is praying about are:
1,000 people actively involved in the church each week
A Children’s Minister
A building for Mission Byram
A pickup truck & trailer for Mission Byram
A more ethnically diverse church staff
For their Discipleship & Missions Pastor to be able to move to full-time from bivocational
Missions to be established in 10 apartment complexes that are close to the church
Website: countrywoods.net
“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.
If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, fill out this information form..
The post Pray for Country Woods Baptist Church appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
January 30, 2016
Notable Voices: January 30, 2016
6 Reasons Why Church Leaders Are Afraid to Talk About Money — Art Rainer
As a pastor or church leader, do you dread preaching on money? One of these six reasons might be why.
The Three Most Undervalued Staff Positions at Your Church — Milan Ford
These findings have less to do with salary range and more to do with lack of feedback opportunities and poor work-life balance. Pastors, take time to converse with the staff positions listed here as well as the rest of your staff. Make sure your entire staff feels valued.
12 Church Enemies — David Murray
The members on David’s list are found in many churches, but he reminds us our response to them should be rooted in Matthew 5:44-45.
How to Be a Prolific Writer — Daniel Darling
While number four might be the most important for what you write, number six is the most important factor in whether or not people will actually read what you write.
48 Scattered Thoughts about Pastoral Ministry and Being a Pastor — Scott Slayton
This is a great list from Scott. There is so much practical advice found here, as well as a great name drop in #15.
Seven of the Biggest Frustrations for a Leader — Ron Edmondson
Ron names these as his biggest frustrations, but my guess is that every pastor or leader would agree that these frustrations are real and present almost every week.
The post Notable Voices: January 30, 2016 appeared first on ThomRainer.com.
