I’ve noticed something in the church leadership “genre” that seems to be overlooked. Maybe you’ve noticed it too… Lots of books on how to be a better leader, but very few on how to develop and train leaders within your church. It’s like there’s a group of “Church Leadership Illuminati” that are keeping this info from getting to us. Maybe I’ve just watched too many episodes of the X-Files 🙂 Or maybe there really is a hole in the leadership information that’s available. I’ve worked with thousands of churches like yours and most of them are looking for solutions on … Read More

I spend a lot of time around church leaders. One of the biggest issues church leaders face is discipleship and leadership development. In fact, I’ve noted 5 leadership development “killers” that you need to avoid like the plague… 1. There’s no training for existing leaders – Giving training to your existing leaders makes them better leaders and allows you to create the model for the next level of leaders. 2. There’s no list of potential leaders – We keep a list of people that we have our eye on at Calvary. This list is those who are serving faithfully and growing in … Read More

As a guy who has lost a lot of weight over the last couple of years, I’ve noticed something about myself (and most people) when I’m on an eating plan: I am very intentional about what I eat. I’m careful to know the ingredients, calories, carbs and just about every other fact about each food. I’ve learned that leadership development happens only when I am the same way – intentional about the process for developing leaders. So here’s what happened: I recently did a survey for my churchstrategies.com newsletter subscribers and I asked, “What area of ministry do you need help … Read More

Here’s the truth – sometimes Pastors can be the worst time managers. When in reality, the nature of our calling demands that we be excellent managers of our time. Here’s a simple time management tip that has saved me tons of time over the years: Bundle similar tasks together. If you have 5 calls to make, make them one after the other. This way, you don’t spend too much time on each call. You are able to give each call the time time it deserves without chewing the fat for an hour and getting behind on your work. The same thing is true for … Read More

June 30 is the last day of the 1st half of 2011.  It means there’s still time to reach those goals and execute those plans.  Even if you didn’t set goals in January, nothing is stopping you from taking some time to reflect and setting your sights on some goals for the rest of this year. Here’s what I’d encourage you to do as we look to the latter half of 2011: 1. Set a reading goal for the rest of the year 2. Set a goal that will help you grow spiritually 3. Get into an environment where you … Read More

Let me just come out and say it: most leaders don’t micromanage. In fact, most people have no idea what micromanaging is. Example: Asking your graphics guy to design a flyer for an event and following up a few days later is not micromanaging. Asking your graphics guy to design a flyer for an event and standing over him while he designs it and commenting on each color is micromanaging. But let’s be honest: most Pastors aren’t standing over the shoulder of their staff. In fact, most Pastors suffer delegating to the point of abandonment (which is another problem all … Read More

Leadership development is one of the most rewarding things a leader gets to be part of. It’s amazing to see someone go from infancy in Christ to maturity. But the challenge of developing leaders to make sure that responsibility is increased as the level of commitment goes up. I’m not interested in creating a culture where leaders just sit in meetings and talk. I want a culture where leaders are actually leading! To ensure this, you must give up and coming leaders responsibility and ownership as the level of commitment is increased. If you don’t, you will simply create an … Read More

One of the questions that’s come up since the release of our newest resource, “Ministering in the Hard Places” is, “What constitutes a hard place?” I think it’s a great question. My friend Bill LaMorey who co-taught this resource with me says, “A hard place is any place that doesn’t have  a church and a Chick-Fil-A on every corner.” Seriously, there are areas (like Miami and New England) where the soil isn’t immediately ready for the Gospel. There’s a reason in some areas a church can launch with 300- 500 people and in other areas it’s more like 30-50. If … Read More

In the last 10 years of planting a church, I’ve learned that there are many voices that want to tell you what you should do in your church. But I’ve narrowed it down to 3 types of people: 1. Theorists – This is the researcher who writes a book on how to run your Small Groups ministry even though he’s never actually run one. 2. Practitioners – This is a guy who’s actually doing it, just in another part of the country (or world) 3. Local Practitioners – this is the guy who’s actually doing it, but he’s doing it … Read More