Sam Rainer's Blog, page 6

How Pastors Get Compassion Fatigue (Plus Ways to Overcome It)

You’ve likely heard of decision fatigue, when someone makes several decisions in a short amount of time and then struggles to make additional decisions. However, compassion fatigue among pastors may be more prevalent.

Compassion fatigue is an excessive weariness due to the cumulative effect of caring for, listening to, and helping people with emotional and spiritual problems. The issue is more pervasive than most realize because pastors are the first spiritual responders in moments of crisis. Th...

The One Unexpected Question That Reveals the Heart of Your Church

At Church Answers, we receive a lot of questions about churches. There are hundreds of daily interactions in our membership forum, Church Answers Central. I also ask many questions when I’m consulting and coaching. Over two decades, I’ve refined the types of questions I ask and the way I ask questions. Some questions don’t elicit much of a response. Other questions cause people to pause and think. Then, there are the questions that get people talking.

Some of the best learning experiences as a l...

Distracted Energy: The Big Three Time Wasters for Pastors (And How to Get Rid of Them Forever)

The pace of ministry can switch from comfortable to chaotic with one phone call.

The daily activities of a pastor are often fragmented. Church work often happens in short conversations and activities—10 minutes here, 15 minutes there. Quick, hopscotch exchanges are normative in the daily management of the church.

These irregular patterns occur because of the nature of shepherding. Managing a church means you have several different roles that are constantly changing.

Liaison. Pastors are the spok...

How to Manage a Constant Complainer in the Church

The grouchy grumbler. The negative naysayer. The gloomy pessimist. Complaining has many forms. Not every complaint is toxic. Sometimes, a complaint is warranted and can help to identify problems. Additionally, everyone needs to vent from time to time. But many churches have at least one person who complains about everything.

Constant complaining can easily control the narrative within a congregation. People focus on the negative. Complaints get more attention than compliments. When a constant co...

How Can a Christian Vote with a Peace of Mind?

Every election cycle comes with a number of attacks, scandals, and playground-like na-na, na-na, boo-boos. We gravitate towards drama, while at the same time complaining of the lack of leadership. We can’t have it both ways. The melodrama of a soap opera does not produce a strong protagonist. So, how can a Christian vote with a peace of mind?

Know your vote matters. Elections change things. And in our country, we are part of the process. The people we elect make a difference—for better or worse....

Churches Should Close the Pay Gap for Women on Staff

I’ve noticed a disturbing trend in my (almost) 20 years of ministry. At first, I didn’t do much to solve the problem. I should have done more. Now, I voice concern, and I hope I’m a helpful voice.

Women on church staff tend to make less than men for similar roles. Depending on how researchers do the math, the current pay gap for women on church staff is between twenty-four cents and seven cents on the dollar, meaning women make anywhere between seven percent and twenty-four percent less than men...

Five Essential Sources for Sermon Illustrations and Why They Are Important

Preaching is a grind I welcome every week. Expositing God’s Word is one of the toughest but most rewarding aspects of being a pastor. You can’t treat preaching like a sprint, rushing to get a response on Sundays. It’s more like a marathon, a paced lope in which long strides are made over time.

Illustrations are not the most important part of a sermon. The meat is the exposition of the text. The illustrations add spice and flavor. Nobody wants to eat just spices for dinner. But then, meat without...

Churches Are Missing the Big Opportunity to Minister to Single-Parents

Single-parent homes are far more prevalent in the United States than most realize. They comprise one-quarter to one-third of homes with children in many communities. In your community, the number could be even higher. Consider the neighborhood around my church in Bradenton, Florida.

Single Mom Households: 31%Single Dad Households: 12%Married with Children: 57%

Of households with children around my church, 43% are single-parent homes! If you do not know this figure for your community, you can...

The Deacons Every Pastor (Should) Love

In a lot of churches, deacons get a bad rap. If they do too much, people believe they’re trying to take over the church. If they do too little, then people call them lazy.  

I hear and read a lot about controlling deacons and apathetic deacons. The reality is most deacons in most churches do good work. While churches and denominations have varying viewpoints on the role of deacons due to polity differences, what should be universal is how pastors place a high value on deacons who serve well.

The...

Artificial Intelligence: Is There a Right Way for Pastors to Use AI to Create Sermons?

Plagiarism. That was my gut reaction the first time I heard about artificial intelligence. My visceral response was oversimplified and hyperbolic. The tool has enormous potential for good, but I remain more cautious about AI than optimistic. How might AI affect the church? Sermon preparation will be one of the initial areas of impact. But first, what exactly is AI?

The Basics of AI

Will this human creation become a threat to its master? Mary Shelley wrote the book Frankenstein with this question...