I've attached the cash flow management policy we use at CCV. It guides what we do when we experience a budget shortfall, and the required actions necessitated to trigger moving to the next level of seriousness. I highly encourage that you and your team adopt one for your team, especially before you head into summer. CCV Cash Flow Management Policy Level 0 - Business as … [Read more...]
The Power Of Vision
I believe churches only grow when their Senior Pastors have a crystal clear vision of where God wants to take their church, and that vision is broadly shared, and owned. Here is a three-year snapshot of a twenty year plan we believe God has set before us as a church. It contains specific, actionable shifts that must be made and opportunities that must be capitalized upon to … [Read more...]
Your Church Needs A Church Discipline Policy
Your church needs a written church discipline policy outlining how you will deal with church members who are divisive, unrepentant of immoral behavior, or teaching unsound doctrine. Unfortunately I can tell you that virtually none of the Senior Pastors I've coached had such a policy in place; or at the very least did not have their policy documented and agreed upon. Both are … [Read more...]
8 Ways Senior Pastors Can Prevent Burnout
I’m seeing a disturbing trend. As of late a number of highly gifted Senior Pastor friends of mine leading smaller to medium-sized churches have come perilously close to burning out. Now, there has always been burnout in ministry as long as there have been Senior Pastors. But my read on this is that the stress placed on the shoulders of leaders in the trenches is … [Read more...]
Is Islam A Religion Of Peace?
While I don't normally post sermons or videos on this site, I thought this was an event worth sharing. As a part of our sermon series "One Nation Under god(s)" I invited world renown Islamic debater, theologian and Imam Dr. Shabir Ally to discuss whether or not Islam is a religion of peace. Dr. Shabir was both brilliant and kind. I learned as much as our people did. I … [Read more...]
Why Consensus Is Killing Your Church
If your church has plateaued it could be because you have tried to lead everything by consensus. There’s a colossal difference between pseudo-leadership (leading everything by consensus) and biblically-based, godly, unifying, strong, decisive, servant leadership. The Consensus Trap In Smaller Churches I see this occur most often in smaller churches where a leader has … [Read more...]
Tasks For Senior Pastors Between Easter And Mother’s Day
Take advantage of the decreased church-wide activity at your church over the next six weeks to prepare your congregation for it's best Fall season ever. Perform A Church-Wide Evaluation I’m convinced that the time between Easter and Mother’s Day is the best time to evaluate the overall effectiveness of you, your staff, and your church’s ministries. There are three reasons for … [Read more...]
Senior Pastor Administrative Assistant Job Description
So many Senior Pastors I’ve coached over the years haven’t had the administrative support they’ve needed, not because there isn’t help available (both paid and volunteer), but because they’ve never taken the time to completely flesh out all the ways other people can help them. Below is an exhaustive list of all the administrative tasks I need support for. I shared this list … [Read more...]
How To Break The 100 Barrier
If your church has been stuck at 25, 45, or 75 for more than three years and God has laid it on your heart to reach lost people in your community, you have two choices that lay before you: take massive action or find another job. There is no third option. Trying to break the 100 barrier is more akin to making it through Navy Seals basic training than any other ministry … [Read more...]
A Month By Month Guide To Understanding Your Listener’s Mindsets
All great communicators begin with focusing on their listener's mindset, not their topic. Senior Pastor’s who are great preachers are no exception to this rule. Below is a guide that our Teaching Team created a few years ago to help us when planning upcoming sermon series. Over the years we had found that oftentimes what seemed like a great sermon series in January, wasn’t … [Read more...]
How To Handle Critics, Complainers, And Mean People
The one thing all Senior Pastors have in common is that we are constant targets for critics. Sometimes we get criticized for very good reasons. We need to own that. While constructive feedback can often be delivered in misguided ways, too many of us mistake solid leadership feedback as backbiting. Many times its legitimate, helpful, and constructive advice that we need to … [Read more...]
When Should I Hire An Executive Pastor?
One of the questions I get asked a lot is, “At what point should I hire an Executive Pastor?” This is an easy one to answer. Let me briefly sketch the challenges that must be addressed at every stage of growth up to 1,000 so you can see the natural place this hire should occur. 200 Barrier – Senior Pastor and Congregation Breaking the 200 attendance barrier is all about … [Read more...]
How Your Building Is Killing Your Growth (and what to do about it)
Senior Pastors typically underestimate the impact their building has on their church’s future growth. Building Too Late Church planters believe the lie that they don’t need a building to grow, ignoring the fact that your chances of survival begin to plummet drastically after year six outside of a permanent facility (whether owned or leased). We will always find growing church … [Read more...]
28 Tips, Tricks, Apps and Hacks for Senior Pastors
If you‘d like to get more done in less time, here are a number of my favorite time saving tips, tricks, apps and hacks for Senior Pastors in the trenches. Brian’s Productivity Rules 3 Sentence Email Rule – Except in rare circumstances, I never respond in email with more than 3 sentences. If something warrants a longer response I’ll say, “See me Sunday” or “Bring this up at … [Read more...]
5 Reasons I Believe In Short-Term International Mission Trips
Championing short-term international mission trips has unquestionably been one of the best things I have ever done as a Senior Pastor. Short-term international mission trips have sparked more spiritual growth in the hearts of people at the church I serve than everything we have ever tried to do combined. When people ask why I think CCV has grown so rapidly and impacted … [Read more...]
The Senior Pastor Checklist (5 Things To Master Before Starting ANYTHING New)
Senior Pastors are notorious for starting new initiatives without fully shepherding into reality the ideas they've previously put into motion. Why does this happen? Sometimes we get bored. But more often than not, we’re grasping for anything that will move our churches forward, so we’ll “throw things out there” in hopes that something will work. Many are visionaries … [Read more...]
Here’s To The Pastors
Here’s to the Pastors The ones you’ve never heard of. The custodians of 30 million secrets for 30 million heavy souls. Those worn down by time and place. Walking, no, limping besides those they are pushing towards glory. Here’s to the Pastors who with futures uncertain, mark their days by tasks largely unseen. To the ones who serve churches with stories rarely … [Read more...]
Sixty Things I Wish Someone Had Shared With Me Ten Years Ago
Years ago I had an opportunity to do a training event with Senior Pastors and Worship Pastors throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. I ended my morning session by sharing, rapid-fire, sixty things I wish someone had shared with me ten years ago. It’s a rag-tag assortment of things that has helped our church growth and has helped keep me sane in the process. Here they … [Read more...]
An Open Letter To Missions Organization Leaders (From Senior Pastors Everywhere)
If you need money, do the work. That’s what we need to tell you. Not that you aren’t already overworked, underpaid, and stressed to the hilt. We get that. But that there’s no shortcut around it. You must do the work. You must not give up. You must believe in your work. And you must convince us and bug us relentlessly to put you in our budgets. The missions that get … [Read more...]
Why Senior Pastors Must Be Scholarly And Pragmatic
My very first ministry internship was with a pastor who, by his own admission, wasn’t really into scholarly study. “Brian,” I remember him telling me; “you’ll find that the guys out there leading the big churches are pragmatic leaders. That should tell you something.” When Church Fads Backfire What I remember most about him however was his penchant for getting carried away … [Read more...]
