We live in exciting times. Although we still have our fair share of fear, pain and injustice, we also live in a time where resources are more readily available to those in need. One of the resources is counseling. Many churches have picked up on this and are starting counseling services for their congregation. Certainly, this is a topic on which many books could be written. However, on today’s episode, Daron Dicken shares a few essentials that she’s discovered over her past 20 years as a pastor and 17 years as a marriage and family therapist.
Unless you’re like Joe McAlpine, you probably dread budget season. For many of us, thinking strategically in terms of the upcoming year can be a definite stretching point. There are a lot of us out there who are just trying to make sure we have everything needed for the upcoming week. In today’s episode, Joe has broken down the major areas that each of us should consider when formulating an annual budget. Our hope is that this outline will help you determine your needs as you step into the future.
The position of the Associate Pastor, a place of middle management, can be a peculiar place. Things occur in a week, that when left unaddressed, can lead to feelings of mistrust, anger, bitterness, loneliness, and ultimately burnout. Paula Forte has served as an AP for over seven years and dealt with many of these pressures. Due to her own recent bout with burnout, she spent some time reflecting on the practices that helped her to remain S.T.U.R.D.Y. and able to withstand our tug-of-war reality. Listen to today’s episode to hear Paula share her experience and how it’s lead to the healthiest season of her ministry yet.
Parents always have good intentions on following through on the things that are best for their families and kids... but usually there are a couple of different things vying for their attention at the same time. Parents deal with schedule changes, sick children and mini-emergencies constantly. It’s the job of the ministry to consistently circle back with the church to find fresh ways to partner with them. On today’s episode, Frank Bealer shares the importance of setting families up for success instead of being frustrated when they fail.
We’ve all done it. You hear, see, or read about a great idea that another ministry is doing and you automatically default to: Is that in my budget? Will my students respond? If we're being honest, many of us have to immediately rule out some ideas because the resources aren’t realistic for our ministries. Nick Cowan’s situation was no different. We often let our ministry budget decide what’s a possible win and what isn’t. On today’s episode, Nick Cowan challenges us to a new way of thinking about that problem.
As a society, we have a rampant fear of failure. But the truth is: Failure is inevitable. And while missed opportunities are typically seen in a negative light, we should learn to view certain failures as God teaching us or moving us in a new direction. On today's episode, Robert Carnes' reminds us that failure isn’t a matter of if, but when. How you respond makes all the difference.
You know the phrase “widen the circle”? Well that’s exactly what happened when a juvenile justice system went searching for classes and resources for the parents of children in the system. In their search, they stumbled across a Parenting Beyond Your Capacity class at a local church. A class designed to pour into parents, love on kids and walk alongside them. In today’s episode, you’ll hear how Brian Fuller, a NextGen Minister from Texas, partnered with the his local juvenile justice system to not only strengthen his church family… but his community.
Are the ministries in your church competing? Are the various age groups working to be intentional and strategic... but are actually pulling in different directions? An increasing number of churches are realizing the importance of identifying an specific person whose job is to be committed to developing a discipleship strategy from cradle to graduation. In this episode, Nina Schmidgall, director of family ministry at National Community Church in Washington, DC, walks us through the role of a NextGen pastor.
Every church has a unique culture. Culture can be an underestimated and rarely evaluated element of your church, yet it’s vital to the church mission. The wrong culture can impact the best vision and strategy as it's more about who you are, than what you do. Whether it's a new family or regular attender walking into your church, the culture is what they sense, feel and hear. Here are five keys to keep in mind as you start as you look to identify and evaluate your culture from Pat Rowland, Executive Pastor of Ministries at Woodside Bible Church.
Ministry silos happen when people and ministries share the same roof but do nearly everything in isolation. Outside of Sundays, they rarely combine their efforts. This usually happens because the church’s systems do not encourage unity or instead of systems, your processes are built on people. How do you go about diagnosing and treating a ministry silo mindset in your church or ministry? Listen for some practical steps from Tony Morgan, Chief Strategic Officer and founder of The Unstuck Group.
What’s the culture of your church or ministry? This is one of those questions that we know is hugely important but is so difficult to answer. Culture is important. It’s one of the keys to building transformational ministries and churches. In this episode, Aaron Buer shares four ideas for creating a transformational culture inside your church or ministry.
We all know the important role small group leaders play in the lives of every kid and student in our ministries. We also all know the challenge of recruiting and training those new small group leaders. In today’s episode, Kendra Fleming shares five of the most important qualities you should look for in every new (and current) small group leader.
Leadership is a privilege but it also has its challenges. One of the more common challenges is leading yourself. It takes intentionality and it’s something that doesn’t happen by accident or as a by-product of another kind of leadership. It’s something you must focus on and work at consistently. Jim Wideman walks through six “H Factors” that will help us know where to start and what to prioritize.
If you’re a typical church leader, you probably feel a twinge of guilt every time you recruit someone into your area to serve, but have you ever found yourself apologizing while you’re asking? After all, these people work forty (or more) hours a week and you’re asking them to give away extra time for free. Listen to this episode to hear Carey Nieuwhof’s thoughts on not apologizing for asking a person to give a portion of their lives to something as powerful and potent as the kingdom of God.
Everybody understands the need for children’s ministry and everybody understands the need for students. The problem is that when they say “students” what they mean is high school. That leaves middle-schoolers stranded in the middle with no leadership or resources. In this episode you'll hear 5 reasons your church should have a separate middle school ministry from North Point Community Church's multi-campus director of Transit (middle school), Tom Shefchunas.
Having a strategy and a plan is important. Even more important is being able to measure if your strategy is working! On today's episode, Ryan Bicker outlines the five ways you can measure the effectiveness of your small groups. If you and your ministry are on the journey of embracing this strategy, keep going! It’s worth it!
Creating a worship team for your children’s ministry is a great way to allow kids to learn about serving in ministry. As a bonus, you get to have positive peer pressure: Kids being examples to others of how to worship. Some people just need to be shown what to do and how to get involved. It is a great way to encourage participation and model how to worship. How do you get started? Yancy Richmond tells us in today's episode.
Depression and extreme anxiety can be a crippling state. There are plenty of things that people would suggest you do, but sometimes the paralyzing effects can make it difficult to do anything at all. Before you’re even aware, you can find yourself stuck. When you find yourself struggling in this way, consider the three questions posed by Daron Dickens in this episode. They are by no means quick fixes, but they may be the very thing that allows you to make the call to seek further help.
In the last decade, there has been a trend of churches going from ministry silos that operate independently to one united team. In family ministry specifically, we’re seeing children and student ministries band together for a greater impact. And for good reason: There’s tremendous power in unity. Jesus prayed for all of us that we would be one just as He and the Father are one. Going with the theme of being one, Nick Blevins outlines five key “ones” to establish to transition to one family ministry.
In a world of increasing accessibility, kids make sexual decisions at a younger age and often without the benefit of much help from their parents—and even the church. What if there was a better plan than just having “the talk” once? What if, instead, church leaders could help parents have a more comprehensive approach? As a church leader who partners with parents, one of the most practical things you can do is give parents tools to help them navigate real world issues like healthy sexuality. In today’s episode, you’ll hear some thoughts from Dr. Jim Burns and Kristen Ivy on the church’s unique opportunity to help parents help their kids navigate this issue.
Leading volunteers can be challenging. Adam Duckworth has created several resources to help leaders address these challenges and develop volunteers who possess specific quirks. He suggests that, “One of the best quirks of an Incredible Volunteer is that they are an owner and not a renter.” So how can you, as a leader, help them do that? Listen to today's episode to learn a couple of things that you can do as a leader to help your volunteers own and not rent.
As volunteers sign up to serve within our ministries, it falls to us as leaders to help them find the right place to plug-in. A successful volunteer structure provides encouragement, resourcing and leadership to each person in the process. Today, Barbara Graves offers tips on volunteer team structures from both the numerical and relational perspective to help leaders keep their volunteers happy and healthy. When you have recruited well, resourced well, and cared well for your volunteers, not only will great ministry take place... but their lives will be better too.