167 items. That’s how many things I had put into my electronic task-management system to do. That’s no exaggeration. One hundred sixty-seven items. ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-SEVEN. Why did my to-do list get that bloated? Any time I thought of something that I should do, I’d add it to my list: “Read this book.” “Call this person.” “Start this thing.” “Fix this link.” “Pray about … [Read more...]
How To Finish Your Sermons By Noon Monday
Everything I was taught about preaching in seminary was backward. Between undergraduate school and seminary, I took eight preaching courses. Each of them was taught by amazing people who loved God and poured themselves into me. For them, I am grateful beyond words. The problem, looking back, is that the classes focused on the wrong thing: their goal was to make me a … [Read more...]
How Senior Pastors Can Schedule Their Week For Maximum Impact
One of the first things I do when I begin coaching a Senior Pastor is lead them through a process of redesigning how they schedule their week to ensure their highest ministry priorities get consistently accomplished. It is the same process whether they serve churches of 50 to 5,000. Here’s what that process looks like: Draw A Weekly Calendar The first thing I have … [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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
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...]
Be Careful How You Blow Off Steam With Your Staff (Or, Pursuing The Spiritual Discipline Of Joy)
A few years ago I was in a meeting with a group of Senior Pastors from the East Coast. Someone thought it would be a good idea to get all of us together and suffer for Jesus in Orlando for a week. Amidst the great food and laughter, we broached some serious topics related to leading a growing church. One issue that struck me in particular was the way we senior leadership … [Read more...]
The #1 Secret Of Church Growth
When I was pastoring a church that took off like a rocket from 150 to 150 in four years, I wrote every pastor of a growing vibrant congregation over 1,000 I could find. I asked them for their best advice on how I could lead my congregation to become a healthy, growing, outreach-focused church like theirs. I purposely sought out people who had led their church through my exact … [Read more...]
The 3 Most Helpful Questions I Was Asked In Therapy
I’ve been to therapy twice in my life. The first time was when our new church was in the middle of its second building project in five years and the economic downturn hit. I was making preparations to quit the ministry, so I spent a week at a place called The Blessing Ranch in Colorado (think intensive outpatient care for pastors) to explore my options with Dr. John Walker. … [Read more...]
9 Things Senior Pastors Need To Say “NO” To (Or They’ll Regret It Later)
One of the hardest disciplines for any Senior Pastor to practice is the discipline of letting our “Yes be Yes” and our “No be No” (Matthew 5:37). How many of us have said "yes" to someone in the spur of the moment, not wanting to hurt their feelings, only to regret it later, all because we couldn’t muster the courage to say the seven least heard words in a Senior Pastor’s … [Read more...]
