Sam Rainer's Blog, page 15

How Pastors Should Answer the Hardest Leadership Question

It’s the most challenging leadership question to answer: Am I humble?

Humility is the most difficult leadership trait to determine about ourselves. Pride is the most dangerous leadership trait. Arrogance is the root leadership problem. Our sinful nature propels us to an excessive and unhealthy focus on ourselves.

It’s the quintessential leadership struggle. We stand on a sliding scale somewhere between healthy humility and unhealthy pride. Even at our best, determining where we are on this scale...

The Impact of Shrinking Work Commute Times on Your Church

People dread the commute to work. In a recent survey, over half of those who work remotely stated commute times are the top reason they do not want to return to the office. Other reasons include well-being and flexibility, which are also tied to the length of commuting times.

For years, commute times slowly got longer. The pandemic seems to have broken this trend. Anything longer than twenty-five minutes is the new limit.

Will this trend last? Will a desire for shorter commute times be temporary...

What Lead Pastors Might Be Missing with NextGen Ministry

Quite frankly, it’s easy for a lead pastor to neglect the NextGen ministry. As long as volunteers are in place for the nursery and teachers are in the classrooms for children, we lead pastors tend not to dedicate much time to this area of the church. If the students are not causing ripples with the adults, everything must be going smoothly, right? The next generation of the church deserves more from you. Your NextGen staff deserves more from you. Your NextGen volunteers deserve more from you.

In...

The Number One Missing Ingredient in Church Leadership

In the 1970s, one researcher noted, “There are almost as many different definitions of leadership as there are persons who have attempted to define the concept.” According to these definitions, leadership is influence, power, mobilization, motivation, processes, and inspiration, among many others.

The same could be said of the church: “There are almost as many different ways of leading the church as there are persons who have attempted it.”

There are a lot of good studies, books, and articles on...

Four Underrated Leadership Tips Pastors Can Exercise Daily

Your body needs regular exercise to stay in shape. Your mind needs to be stretched and challenged to stay sharp. For leaders to grow, regular workouts are necessary. Pastors lead within a dynamic environment—the church. You may not think of your church as “dynamic,” but it is. A church of fifty people means at least fifty opinions exist on any decision.

Some daily exercises are obvious, and they are often repeated in books and conferences: Read more, stick to a devotional time, get better sleep,...

Leaders: Don’t Miss the Power of Symbols in Your Church

My first church was a megachurch of six people. The congregation was small in number, but it felt like a mega task to shepherd them. One of the first questions I asked of the lone deacon was, “What’s the deal with the old bell out front.”

“I don’t know, but it’s really important.”

On our first workday, the lone deacon handed me a paintbrush and gave me the honor of painting the bell red. Why red? I don’t know; perhaps it was the only color of paint the church had on hand.

Everyone in the communi...

Why I Don’t Expect Everyone in My Church to Agree with Everything I Say

Why I Don’t Expect Everyone in My Church to Agree with Everything I Say

A pastor spends hours researching a sermon, then someone in the church challenges one of the main points. A pastor prays for months about a new vision, then someone in the church disagrees with the proposed direction. A pastor studies in seminary for years, then a person in the church takes issue with a doctrinal stance. Most pastors know these frustrations. While pastors should care deeply about preaching, doctrine, and vis...

Why Every Young Pastor Needs an Old Mentor

“Sometimes the being is more important than the doing.”

My mentor shared this wisdom at our last meeting. He’s in his late-80s, almost 50 years ahead of me. He retired from a church in Indiana and moved to Bradenton several years ago. I inherited him with my church when I was called as pastor a few years ago. Unfortunately, he recently moved back to Indiana to be closer to family.

God gave me a spiritual heavyweight of encouragement with him. He sat a few rows from the back—prayerfully listening...

How to Handle a Church Staff Person’s Moral Failure

We recently covered this topic on a Rainer on Leadership episode , but I wanted to expand our conversation in this article.

Few models exist on how to handle the moral failure of a staff person. Indeed, there is little consensus among pastors about what to do, even with something as explicit as adultery. Researchers asked pastors, “If a pastor commits adultery, how long, if at all, should the pastor withdraw from public ministry?” As you will see, the answers vary greatly.

Surprisingly, 1 in 4 ...

The Big Opportunity to Reduce Ministry Stress for the Long Haul

If you’re not careful, stress can lead to burnout. Stress is unavoidable. Burnout doesn’t have to happen. When ministry stress builds, you can take one of two paths. The first path is one leading to frustration and anxiety. On this path, you expend the energy created by stress on yourself. Frustration and anxiety are exhausting. The second path is a better choice, one where you channel the energy created by stress into a more productive response.

Productive use of stress lowers stress. When lead...