Notable Voices and the Week in Review: October 21, 2017
The Five Choices of Declining Churches
Ten Unrealistic Expectations Placed on Ministry Spouses – Rainer on Leadership #372
Five Unintended Consequences of Short Pastoral Tenure
Seven Observations from Church Replanters Who’ve Been There and Done That – Revitalize & Replant #005
Six Often Unseen Signs of a Declining Church – Revitalize & Replant #006
Four Communications Problems Churches Face and How to Solve Them – Rainer on Leadership #373
Four Agenda Items Church Staff Meetings Should Cover Every Week — Sam Rainer
There are several approaches to staff meetings. Most church staff meet weekly to discuss short-term, operational items in a standing meeting with a set time. My staff meets every Tuesday from 9:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. to work through weekly items. The agenda is largely the same every week. Other types of meetings include strategy meetings with key leaders—sometimes called whiteboard sessions—which are more open-ended and focused on long-term goals. One-on-one meetings often cover individual goals. Ad hoc meetings might draw in a special team to accomplish a unique task. In this post, I’m referring to the weekly operational staff meetings with a repeating, or standing, agenda. I suggest including the following four agenda items every week.
Three Worries of Pastors’ Wives and How to Overcome Them — Courtney L. Moore
Few of us are eager to admit we give in to the temptation of worry. Scripture clearly commands against it, yet we allow it to quietly creep into our hearts, hidden from the notice of others. Pastors’ wives are not exempt from its lure. Our husbands’ role provides both ample and unique concerns that can quickly move into worry if we’re not watchful. Have you struggled with these three common worries as a pastor’s wife?
What to Do with Cliques in the Church — Chuck Lawless
Almost every Church Health Survey our consulting company does shows that church members believe their congregation has cliques. In fact, I can’t remember ever reading a survey that did not reveal that same finding. If that’s the case, how should we try to avoid cliques in our church?
The Un-Millennial Church — Cole Deike
Our church plant is slowly maturing, laden with struggles, and shouldn’t serve as a best practice or heroic example to anybody. We’re slowly and unimpressively discovering our identity with Jesus in the narrative of his gospel. But maybe, just maybe, these three decisions made by a church plant in Des Moines, Iowa can be a small, helpful voice in a sea of articles drowning you with loud, caustic, impossibly cool tips and criticisms on how to reach millennials.
3 Reasons You Must Have a Strategy if You Blog — Eric Geiger
At first, I did not have a social media or a blog strategy. As I started hearing feedback from people about things I wrote, I thought, “I really need to take this more seriously.” So Chris Martin helped me form a blog strategy. We sit down once a month and he brings me a list of potential topics, shows me data on what seems to be helping and resonating, and makes suggestions on tweaks I should make. Culture might eat strategy for breakfast, but that doesn’t meant we abandon strategy. If you are a leader who uses social media, here are three reasons you should have a strategy:
7 Lazy Leadership Practices — Ron Edmondson
The fact is, however, many of us have some lazy tendencies when it comes to leadership. I do at times. This is as much an inward reflecting post as an outward teaching. Please understand, I’m not calling a leader lazy who defaults to any of these leadership practices listed. The leader may be extremely hard working, but the practice itself – I’m contending – is lazy leadership.
