As a new school year is upon us, many parents are eager for their children to return, while others may feel anxious sending their babies off to be cared for by people they barely know. Likewise, some children are excited to begin a new school year, while others may not even want to say the…
Picture this: Your church has decided to hire a new staff member. Since this is a big decision, it’s probably best made with the input of a group of people who have insight into what the ministry, and the church, needs. This group of people, the search team, often has the same goal: to find…
Earlier this year the 2023 Youth Pastor Compensation Report was released. This is sponsored annually by The Youth Cartel, Chemistry Staffing, and Christianity Today’s site, Church Salary. As Director of Searches for Ministry Architects, I found this report helpful in providing a glimpse into the larger picture of church staffing today. As a former youth…
Most senior pastors are terrible at church staff development. I know. I’m one of those senior pastors. Too often new staff arrive and it feels like a relief. That pain point of a previously open position or that need for hiring additional staff has been handled. We sigh and celebrate. The new staff person hopefully…
Full disclosure: I think leaders and pastors fall into the trap of focusing more of their time on building ministries than making disciples. It is not that leaders and pastors don’t think discipleship is essential, but the reality is that discipleship does not pay the bills. The commitment to discipleship is time and energy-intensive, ultimately taking time and energy away from the ministries we are paid to oversee. As a result, discipleship takes a back seat to most everything else.
The church in North America is shrinking and we blame the next generation, “nobody wants to go to church anymore.” We did it with Gen X. We did it with the Millennials. We’re doing it with Gen Z. However, I don’t think blaming the next generation of young adults for not connecting with what connects to us is going to right the ship.
There are many that live within the “Sandwich Generation” that feel overlooked or forgotten. We can change that. We can disciple, encourage, support, and care for this unique group, just as we do all the others.
Let’s get to the point by naming the problem: Many church committee meetings don’t need to take place. Often, we leave a meeting, see a bumper sticker in front of us and think, “Yep, I’d rather be fishing, too.” I don’t even like fishing, but that would be better than some of these meetings. People…