Sam Rainer's Blog, page 13

Follow-up Calls with Church Guests: What to Do and What Not to Do

Phone calls are an important connection point with church guests. Not all guests will give you their phone numbers. For those who do, here are some guidelines to consider.

What to Do When Calling Church Guests

Clearly identify yourself. Make sure you mention your name and the name of your church. It’s easy to forget this step!

Double-check the name of the person you are calling. I tend to make my phone calls in batches. After I’ve made several phone calls, I can lose track of who I am calling. W...

Leading the Church When You Doubt Yourself

When the disciples gathered on the mountain in Galilee right before Jesus ascended, some of them doubted. The source and degree of this doubt are left unknown. Their response in the doubt is critically important. They worshiped. Then Jesus came near. The lesson is simple: Worship through doubt, and Jesus will come near.

The disciples were also called to be leaders in what became the church. The doubters had to lead. Did the doubting worshipers become doubtless leaders? Or did the doubting worshi...

The Pastor’s Dilemma of Balancing the Prophetic Voice with the Shepherd’s Hand

The prophetic voice of a pastor is forth-telling, speaking the truth even when it is difficult. The shepherd’s hand of a pastor is caring, gently dealing with issues in love. As a pastor, I find it challenging to balance the prophetic voice with a shepherd’s hand.

Truth alone can become dry orthodoxy. It’s painful, like scrubbing your kids with steel wool to get them clean. The dirt will be gone, but a gentler approach would accomplish the same goal. Conversely, love alone can become sappy senti...

Ten Bad Church Work Habits Every Pastor Should Avoid

A habit is an ongoing tendency with a pattern of behavior that is difficult to change. Bad habits can develop in church workplaces like in any other place of employment. I’ve assembled a top-ten list of some common bad work habits among church leaders.

1. Procrastination. It’s harmful at any level, but the effects of this bad habit are compounded at higher leadership levels. If a ministry leader or pastor consistently procrastinates, everyone is forced into a last-minute fiasco. If top leaders d...

The Various Voices a Pastor Must Use to Communicate

You’ve likely heard the adage. How you communicate is an essential component of what you communicate. Content is critical, but so is delivery. Finding the voice in which to share content is sometimes just as difficult as determining the content itself.

Leaders are often the first to communicate a new message. As a pastor, your delivery of content will affect how the church receives it. The first time people hear something noteworthy, there is weight to the message and prominence given to the one...

Five Warning Signs of False Teachers

Five Warning Signs of False Teachers

Several years ago, I received an email with a link to a sermon given by a pastor in my community. The person sending the email was genuinely concerned.

“Is he preaching heresy?”

The sermon included a terrible conclusion about how Jesus emptied Himself in Philippians 2. The pastor taught Jesus lost His divinity during the incarnation and then returned to being God through the ascension. He emphasized how we have the same power as Jesus on earth since He was me...

A New Method to Solve the Mystery of How Quickly to Lead Change in Your Church

How fast can I lead change? The answer to this question is critical for any church revitalization effort.

You may know the right thing to do. Getting others to accept and implement the right thing is what separates leaders from dreamers. As you consider the pace of change, use the matrix below to help you identify areas of potential resistance. All change involves people. Therefore, start by assessing the people in your congregation when considering the pace of change.

The Pace Acceptance Matrix...

Six Big Ministry Time Wasters and How to Avoid Them

A church is not meant to be the model of operational efficiency. Ministry is inefficient because serving people is not the same as streamlining a manufacturing process.

The Great Commandment is not called “The Great Convenience.” You do not serve and love others only when it works for you. It is never convenient for you when others are in need! The Good Samaritan had things to do just like everyone else. But he stopped anyway.

While ministry can be inefficient, pastors should be good stewards of...

What Size Must a Church Be to Trigger the Need for Revitalization?

The question came through Church Answers Central, our forum where pastors and church leaders seek feedback in a safe and private place with peers of like mind and subject matter experts. Almost 2,000 church leaders are part of this forum, interacting with each other nearly every hour of every day.

Does the size of a church determine the need for revitalization? Is revitalization based solely on numerical declines? Most would see the need for revitalization in a congregation that shrinks from 150...

What Happens When Pastors Are Transparent Instead of Being Secretive?

Most scholars and experts claim transparency is necessary for good leadership. Many books on leadership have sections and chapters devoted to the issue of transparency. Unless you work for an organization like the CIA, transparency is often among the top characteristics requested of leaders. Of course, even organizations built on the foundation of secrecy have gotten into trouble for lack of transparency.

Transparency is a healthy leadership characteristic. But why? In the context of a local chu...