Regular Pastors and Meetings

Recently I had a day that was nothing but meetings … first a regularly scheduled staff meeting, followed by a meeting with a church leader, followed by a BSM planning meeting, followed by a meeting with a family to plan a funeral, all capped off with an elders meeting at night.

If you’re a regular pastor, you’ve had days like this – days when all you do is meet, and it feels like absolutely nothing is accomplished. I know that no one likes meetings, but I also know meetings are essential to the work of pastoral ministry. Rather than viewing meetings as a time waster that takes you away from sermon preparation, think of meetings as an opportunity to advance ministry goals.

Meetings are an opportunity for discipleship. Many of your meetings will be with people who value your time and are eager to learn from your wisdom. Use these opportunities to help God’s people grow in their knowledge of the Word and love for Jesus. Even in a crisis situation, the way you respond to problems and the way you shepherd grieving people can promote discipleship.Meetings are an opportunity for encouragement. Many of the people you meet with will be serving in your church in some capacity. Few of the people you meet with will be over-encouraged. Meetings are an opportunity to encourage others! Especially when you meet with frustrated people or grieving families, meetings are a prime opportunity for giving encouragement to those who need it. Meetings are an opportunity for building unity. When you meet with ministry leaders – or when you meet with disgruntled members – you have the opportunity to strengthen unity within your church. Unity doesn’t happen on its own. You must build it. This opportunity exists in regular, run-of-the-mill meetings, but it certainly exists when you are meeting with disgruntled members. Meetings are an opportunity for listening. Listening can be tiresome and draining, but good leaders know how important it is to listen to others in their church and others on their team. If you take time to listen, people will tell you all kinds of things. Pastors must listen to their staff. Pastors must listen to their leaders. Pastors must listen to hurt people. Pastors must listen if they want to lead.Meetings are an opportunity for preparation. Doing ministry well requires thoughtfulness, teamwork, and preparation. Programs don’t run themselves, and events don’t happen on their own. The work of ministry calls for leaders to meet and prepare. The time spent in a meeting may not count as getting any one thing finished, but it is time you must spend to eventually finish.

There are two keys to making the most out of meetings. First, as the leader of various meetings, you must prepare. Whether you’re walking into a staff meeting, a leadership meeting, a counseling meeting, a confrontational meeting, or even a funeral meeting – you must be prepared to lead the meeting toward your desired goals. Think about who will be at the meeting, consider the situation and your goals, and come up with some sort of agenda to manage the meeting time. Never walk into a meeting without first preparing.

Second, you must pray. You as the leader must pray for wisdom before you rush into a meeting, during the meeting itself, and after the meeting as you process the discussion and implement the plans. Seeking wisdom in the Word and being devoted to prayer are the means by which you include the Lord in your meetings. Often we meet and make our plans without giving consideration to the Lord and his will. We dare not meet without considering the Lord (James 4:13-17).