Sam Rainer's Blog, page 7

Why Pastors Struggle to Ask for Help (And How to Get Past It)

“It took me too long, but I finally decided to get the help I needed.” My first coaching call with this pastor was like so many others.

This pastor shouldered the leadership burden without much support for years. Then tensions built in his church, and he could not take the added pressure. Frankly, no one should carry this weight alone.

Far too many pastors do.

After professional counseling and a few coaching sessions, he was in a better place and ready to tackle the next set of challenges at his...

10 Fresh Pastoral Prayers for the New Year

Before you launch your New Year ministry plan, begin with prayer. How might you pray to start the year?

Passion for people, not numbers. You should track your numbers and know your metrics. Yes, each number represents a person. I get it. But you don’t shepherd numbers. If you struggle with caring more about numbers than people, now is an excellent time to take a new posture. Pray God gives you this passion. A filling of the Holy Spirit over comfort with nostalgia. I have a deep love for the ...

Staying Put: The Increasing Significance (and Growing Desire) of Longer-Term Pastorates

During the 1800s frontier era of church expansion in the United States, a one-year contract to pastor a church was relatively common. If the church liked the pastor, an extension might be granted for another year but not much beyond. As America expanded westward, communities grew, and new churches popped up. Moving on after a couple of years was commonplace.

I assume most people don’t want to return to the frontier era of church methodology. Indoor plumbing, internet access, and long-tenured pas...

4 Big Reasons Why Pastors Lack Work-Life Balance

Pastors are a notorious bunch when it comes to work.

Church members have high expectations. The hours are long. Some weeks, you have no option but to grind it out for 70 hours. An occasional all-nighter is to be expected. But these situations should be rare, not the norm. Why do too few pastors strike a balance? Four major reasons exist.

The Always-On Phenomenon. Most churches expect pastors to be on call 24/7. Even though late-night phone calls don’t happen often, many pastors feel like they...

Your Church Is Probably Not Paying Your Pastor Enough

Most pastors do not take a vow of poverty when called into the ministry. They deserve a fair wage for their work like everyone else. Moreover, almost every pastor is motivated by factors other than money. I don’t hear many stories from pastors beginning with, “I decided to go into ministry because of the money.”

Likely, your church is not paying your pastor enough. What gives?

First, I want to offer three points of clarification.

My church is generous, and I’m content with my pay. West Braden...

What Pastors Actually Think About While They Preach

People often apologize to me for something that happened in a church service. I’ve heard lots of great apologies.

“I’m sorry I fell asleep.”

“I’m sorry I had to rush out.”

“I’m sorry my kid lit his hair on fire.”

I love church—both the people of God and the worship services. I love the oddities that can happen during a church service. I’ve had fire alarms go off during a Father’s Day sermon (thanks to an intern who attempted to make scones in the kitchen). At the church I pastored in Indiana, th...

Why Many Churches Will See Giving Go Down in 2024 (Plus Practical Tactics for Resilient Church Budgeting Amid Declining Giving)

Many church experts (us included!) predicted a dip in church giving when the pandemic hit in 2020. The drop never came. Three significant reasons stand out why church giving remained stable through the pandemic. 

God’s people rallied and supported their churches. While many churches lost people on the periphery, the core remained strong and continued giving. Both governments in the United States and Canada inserted a lot of liquidity into the markets. Cash from the government hit bank accou...

Christmas Eve Is a Sunday This Year (The Big Opportunity)

The holiday season is demanding. Pastors and church leaders must move from one event to the next in rapid-fire succession. The whirlwind lasts from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day. Most pastors get a small break between Christmas and the New Year, and then it’s time to launch again. Ministry is a grind. The deadlines never end, and Christmas is the busiest and most chaotic season.

Christmas Eve lands on a Sunday this year. I understand the temptation to scale back. We briefly discussed this option...

The Top Ten Misaligned Priorities in Struggling Churches

Churches decline for two main reasons—both having to do with a shift in priorities. First, they lose passion for the Great Commission and the Great Commandment. Second, as a result, they no longer give God glory. When a church no longer pushes outward with the gospel, the people will no longer look upward to God’s glory. A church lacking both an outward and upward perspective will inevitably move in the other two directions: inward and downward. Inward churches always decline.

Misaligned priorit...

Seven Tips to Make Sermon Points More Memorable

My wife recently found a box of old church bulletins with notes from my previous sermons. She is a prodigious note-taker. These old bulletins contained thousands of sermon points. How many of them did she remember? I didn’t ask. 

Only a few congregants will remember specific points I make in a sermon several years afterward. This reality does not discourage me. Spiritual growth builds over time and works like exercise. You will not likely remember every specific workout, but you will build stren...