by Chase | Leadership
There exists a numerous amount of responsibilities and nuances that go into being a pastor of any sort. Whether you’re a lead, student, children’s, outreach, associate, etc., you know the daily and weekly tasks that go into your “job.”
However, one intangible about your ministry cannot go overlooked – your leadership. I believe we are in an era of ministry where pastors, young and old, are beginning to grasp and leverage this idea of leadership. As our leadership team at my church has adopted, “Everything rises and falls with leadership.”
As a pastor, your leadership abilities must grow with the increasing demands of your ministry growth.
In other terms, if you want to see your ministry thrive in effectiveness and accomplishing your mission, one of the greatest ways to achieve the former is to work on yourself as a leader.
Yet, leadership is not something pastors are taught in school. But, it does encompass every nook and cranny of guiding a ministry. From strategically planning spiritual growth to developing volunteers to managing budgets, being in ministry means being in leadership.
And the best leaders are disciplined.
Here are four regular disciplines that have helped develop me into a better leader.
4 Disciplines to Become A Better Leader
Read
I read…a lot. You may have heard the appropriate phrase, “Leaders are readers.” Well, it’s true. I’ve yet to meet an excellent leader who isn’t constantly reading. Further, good leaders read all types of authors and subjects. From theology and doctrine to leadership and management to fiction, the act of reading is a discipline that cannot be overlooked.
Application question: What am I currently reading and how is it challenging me?
Active
There is physiological evidence to support the overwhelming mental and physical benefits of being active (you know, stress release and endorphins and all that other good stuff). Now, I’m not suggesting being a good leader means having six-pack abs. But, quality leaders understand the benefits of living a healthy and active lifestyle to remain mentally, physically, and spiritually healthy.
Application question: Am I being regularly active (gym, sports, hiking, etc.) to keep myself physically and mentally fit?
Time and Energy Management
This may be the toughest one to implement for some. For strong leaders are organized on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis. They have learned the discipline to saying “no” to good things to get “great” things done. In ministry, many people and opportunities arise to steal and eat away our time. Understanding your schedule and energy (when you work best and most efficiently) mixed with the discipline of managing it all well is a distinguishing mark of a healthy leader.
Application Question: Do I plan out my weeks down to the hour? What do I need to start saying “no” to in order to say “yes” to what needs to get done?
Sabbath
Almost the adverse of the point above, good leaders know and value rest. We were not designed to be workaholics and consumed 7-days a week with our tasks. A developed leader put themselves in places to rest and recovery on a weekly basis.
Application Question: Am I honoring a Sabbath day every week to recharge with God? What can I do to protect and honor that time?
Now What?
These four disciplines stretch me to being a better leadership. What would you add to this list? What disciplines do you use to build your leadership capacity?
by Chase | Discipleship, Ministry
What would your answer be if I asked you what the win is for small groups? What are the essentials that must happen each week to ensure that people are growing closer to Jesus?
With my vantage point as a pastor I continually hear about what we “need” to do for kids and families.
One of the best ones in recent conversation was when I was told that I need to teach teenagers how to drive in the parking lots using the golf carts!
It is easy for us to lose focus on the main essentials in ministry, especially when we have been leading groups for a few years.
At the end of the day here are the three essentials for the small groups.
3 Small Group Essentials
1. Introduce them to Jesus.
Every disciple has a responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus with everyone they come in contact with. How often are we presenting the gospel in our Sunday school classes, small groups, and weekly worship services? This must be a foundational aspect of our weekly preparation and prayer.
2. Teach them how to use the Bible.
Notice I didn’t say “Teach them the Bible.” Teaching the Bible is a foundational part of a church’s makeup, but teaching people how to use the Bible on their own is of utmost importance. Every Christian needs to know how the Bible applies to their life, how to open the book, memorize Scriptures, and know the God who is moving in the biblical stories. If we fail at this, high schoolers and college students will walk away from the church.
3. Teach them how to pray.
Hebrews teaches us the “Priesthood of all Believers” which means that ALL Christians have the same access to God, through Jesus, as the rest of us do. Pastors are not priest. Our small groups must focus on teaching prayer. When life happens our small group leaders are not sitting in our living rooms 24/7 to comfort us, but Jesus is. It is our responsibility to encourage students and families to develop a personal practice of prayer.
Now What?
As you prepare for your lesson how can you make sure that you are connecting kids to Jesus, teaching them how to use the Bible and teaching them how to pray?
When every teacher and leader in our churches focus on these three areas our kids, students and families will grow deeper in Jesus!
by Chase | Leadership, Ministry
It seems like everyone either has a blog themselves or has a strong opinion about blogging!
Blogging has become a standard for sharing thoughts, ideas, and content with people all over the web. Even clicking to read this article shows that you take time to read blog posts occasionally.
Blogging (and writing in general) can greatly further your ministry! That simple fact means blogging needs to become a habit for student pastors.
Now, when I say “blogging,” I am using it in the general sense of posting written content online. Many of you don’t want to maintain a rigid online presence, run a self-hosted blog, or stress yourselves with the daily tasks of a professional blogger, and I completely understand! I’m not advocating that you launch a side job as a blogger, but I am advocating for the discipline of written communication.
Regardless of the platform, the discipline of blogging is extremely beneficial to student pastors pastorally and professionally.
Here are three reasons why student pastors should be blogging.
3 Reasons Why Student Pastors Should Blog
Blogging Strengthens Your Communication
The primary responsibility of student pastors (and all Christians) is to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Most church leaders tend to share primarily through verbal communication, so practicing written communication may seem counterintuitive. But when you’re communicating verbally, you need to be able to present your ideas clearly. Preparing blog posts forces you to rearrange content and communicate with clear and concise points. Practicing this skill often will clarify your overall communication.
Blogging Limits Miscommunication
People cannot access your 15-minute speech about the importance of small groups once the meeting ends. Blogging enables you to write down the most important ideas and distribute them to your team members so they can reference the content at a later time. Your written word limits miscommunications because people have a point of reference to check when there is doubt.
Blogging Expands Your Ministry Reach
As family ministry leaders, we are all called to share the Gospel of Jesus and develop leaders that engage the community. Blogging expands your ministry reach because of the shareablity of social content. Your post may not go viral, but it may influence a community leader who is outside of your church’s reach.
Now What?
You do not have to self-host your own website to be a blogger. There are plenty of ministry websites who are looking for contributors to post content and other options to lend your voice.
Another accessible platform would be your church’s website. Talk with your church administration about getting you on the rotation to write some content for the church.
Do any of you blog? I’d love to connect with you! Comment with your blog address or connect with me via Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
by Chase | Ministry
Student ministry seem to be filled with all sorts of things.
If you head into a student worship area you will find everything from old worship CDs to rubber chickens! This is the world we live in as student leaders.
We understand the occasional clutter in the small group rooms and student center, but the clutter can extend into other core areas of the way that we operate on a day-to-day basis.
2 Areas To Declutter Your Student Ministry
Programming
100 years ago there was no such thing as teen specific programming in churches. Teenagers worshipped and studied alongside their parents. In the mid 20th century a wave started to change that. Churches across the country began to have programming that specifically targeted teenagers. Student ministry was born! I believe whole heartedly in student ministry, so don’t misunderstand this statement: We have too much student ministry and not enough Church. Teenagers will never become the Church of tomorrow if they are not the Church of today. Too often I hear teenagers referred to as the future of the Church. But, to be honest… It’s our fault. We have created so much programming in our student ministries that we have basically created our own little churches. We have our own small groups, our own worship services, our own mission trips, our own sermon series, our own leadership teams.
Don’t get me wrong, all of these are good things! They become bad things when they replace involvement in the Church. If it is our goal in student ministry to raise up a generation to know and follow Jesus, we must raise up a generation that loves and is committed to the Church. Just because teenagers are committed to your student ministry doesn’t mean they are committed to the Church. Don’t let too much programming in your ministry keep students from falling in love with the Church. Remember, they will never fall in love with something they are not a part of.
Messages
A few years ago I did some counting. In our ministry on a weekly basis we had these things going on: Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, “big church”, and student leadership. In a nut shell that’s 5 different messages that our ministry was trying to get across to our students each week. That isn’t counting the 5 classes they have at school. Plus, their sports practice. Plus, their instrument practice. Plus, their jobs. Plus, what their parents are trying to teach them. Our teenagers are getting bombarded with messages that they are expected to apply. We are surprised when they forget what we taught them in Sunday school the week before? We are surprised when that incredible sermon from Wednesday night isn’t immediately applied to their lives? What if we streamlined our student ministries? What if ALL your programming for an entire semester had one common thread. I like to say, “beat the same drum for 15-20 weeks.” What we’ve learned at Franklin Christian is that after 5 weeks students can repeat concepts. After 10 it starts to be visible in their actions. After 15 it starts to become a part of who they are.
What if instead of having 6 different series in your ministry this semester, you just had 1? Get creative on how to put different lenses on the same idea. Maybe your small groups discuss questions based on the main program. Maybe your Sunday school unpacks some of the deeper issues of the text you don’t have time to tackle. Maybe your student leadership team highlights specific characters in the text they want to imitate. If nothing else, streamline it! Generally speaking, our students don’t need to know more; they need to do more with what they know.
by Chase | Discipleship, Ministry
Your lesson is prepared. The environment is inviting. Food has been set out.
Now, it’s time to get your students to talk during small group…
Building a culture of dialogue during small groups can be one of the most frustrating parts of leading a small group of teenagers.
It seems that the students you want to talk aren’t talking and the ones that need to stop talking continue to talk!
Every week, you must be intentional about asking quality questions that will engage YOUR students. Remember, Bible study curriculum has been written to engage teenagers in general — not your group specifically.
The most well-written Bible study can still feel stilted, impersonal, and distant if a small group leader doesn’t prepare for his or her specific group.
Here are a few questions that are specific enough to drive home a point but open enough to spark conversations.
4 Engaging Questions Small Group Leaders Must Ask Each Week
“What Is Happening In YOUR Life This Week?”
In my opinion, this is a better question than asking for prayer requests. When you ask for prayer requests, people give impersonal responses about everyone else’s problems. Students need a space to talk about the highs and lows of their week. If you ask students what is happening in their lives this week you will know how you can pray for and encourage your students … without the requests to pray for their granny’s pet cat. After they talk about what is happening, offer to pray for that situation, event, or opportunity.
“What Questions Came Up As You Read The Bible Last Week?”
People struggle with spending time reading their Bibles, and asking about their devotional lives can come off as condescending. To most people, there is an extremely fine line between being concerned and condescending. Remember to be encouraging and full of grace as you disciple your students. Trust me, students feel like failures when they don’t read their Bibles. Encourage them to share what questions and frustrations they have as they approach God’s Word.
“How Can We Help You Live Out The Truth Of This Passage This Week?”
Sunday Bible study should transform Monday morning conversations. As a small group leader, you must help students bridge the gap between merely listening to lessons on Sunday morning and doing what has been taught. (For more about creating a student ministry of doers, head here: Create A Student Ministry Of Doers.) Use the last few minutes of your time tossing around ideas to get students engaged in God’s mission. Some of the ideas presented will be ones you can help your students plan and organize, while other ideas will only need your affirmation that the students are gifted enough to accomplish them.
“Are You Ready To Start Following Jesus?”
Small groups and Sunday School both started because of an emphasis to share the Gospel of Jesus to those outside the church. You don’t have to be pushy in your invitation, but the question needs to be asked each week. All Scripture (and most curriculums) point to Jesus. Make sure that you are connecting students to Him. Don’t rely only on midweek worship services to extend an invitation to follow Jesus. Many students who attend small groups are unable to attend midweek services.
What Questions Do You Ask?
Some of you seasoned youth veterans have incredible questions you ask on a weekly basis. I would love to hear some of them!
What questions do you ask during Bible study groups?
