Enduring Churches Podcast with Alan and Trent

Episode 84: How to Exit Gracefully

All of us will leave a ministry position at some time. 

1. Being asked to leave
2. Being led to another position

 

How do we do that in a way that:

1. glorifies God
2. presents a witness to my community
3. protects the witness of the church
4. protects my witness and that of my family?

 

Pray - alot!

1. Pray that God gives you grace and mercy He has
2. Pray for your successor 
   1. that they will have great success
   2. that your church won't be wanting you back
   3. that the church will move forward in God's power and strength

 

Have a cohort you trust to ask you questions and that you can vent to

 

Address the hurt in your heart - if you're asked to leave

• keep in mind that your hurt is real and needs to be dealt with before you can move on in a healthy way.
• Also keep in mind that God can still work now and will work in that church in the future

 

When you're led to leave:

• When should you tell 
• who should you tell when?
• How long should you stay after telling them you're leaving?

 

Preaching in the exit

• Not a time to bring up all the bad things people have done to you over the years - Remember not everyone has hurt you
• Do be gracious
• Do point to the goodness of God
• Do encourage the church

 

Much work to be done as you exit

• Make a list of things that need to be done or covered
• make a list of where important things are - be a blessing to the next guy.
• Make a list of important people to get to know in the community
• Leave your office very organized

Episode 83: Keeping the Home Fire Burning

 

Stay Sane Centered and Married!

Your family is your A-Team!  Talk with them a lot - Never put your church leaders or your church ahead of your A-Team

 

Why is your marriage important?

1. You are a team  - helpmates for each other
2. You are both called - you each will have ministry opportunities

 

What impact does ministry have on marriages?

1. Stress over calling versus mutual calling
2. Volunteer staff member versus working in calling
3. Unwritten expectations
4. Conflict issues

 

How do you keep your marriage strong in the stress of ministry?

1. got to keep dating
2. protect couple time
3. Support your mate’s giftedness
4. do fun things together - shared fun experiences make good memories and keep us "glued" together

 

Episode 82: Dealing With Sunday Morning Distractions

Common Distractions:

• Personal comments
  • Complaints
  • Requests
• Technology issues
  • Screen's
  • Notes
  • Batteries
• Building issues
  • Power
  • Thermostats
• Security Issues
  • Odd behavior by a guest
  • Theft in parking lots

• Personal Issues
  • Family conflict
  • Internal conflict

Some Helps for the journey

1. Spend time preparing on Saturday for Sunday.
2. Arrive early!!!!!!
3. Shut your door for some time in prayer.
4. Ask people to come back to your later with issues.
5. Stay on the move before and in between services so you are hard to corner.

• A moving target is harder to hit.

Episode 81: Ways We Move the Finish Line

 

A moving finish line creates

• confusion
• frustration
• disconnection

 

Great leaders communicate with clarity - right now its hard to do

 

1. In Discipleship ---

• What does a disciple look like?
• Changes from sermon series to sermon series
• Define your process
  • Purpose Driven church had bases;

In Church Membership ---

• Expectations to no expectations
• How do you determine church membership?

In Leadership Expectations ---

• Some are held accountable others are not
  • Define roles
  • Set expectations
  • Follow up

In Mission and Vision ---

• Constantly changing
  • Seminar syndrome - we copy and paste from new things
  • Give at least 3-5 years to a clear vision

October Giveaway:

 

Bringing out the best in any size church by Gary Mcintosh

email Alan@enduringchurches.consulting or Trent@enduringchurches.consulting and tell us about you and your church.   You will be entered into our October drawing!

Episode 80: The Rule of Good Starts

• A good start requires pre-planning.

1. Free energy
2. Practice a ministry,
   1. run through the highs and lows of what you expect.
   2. COVID has revealed this is a weakness in our culture.
   3. Rate of change/marketing

• A good start requires intentional effort.

1. Mindset
2. If we don’t care about the start, it's harder to care about the results.
3. Not moving too fast or too slow

• A good start sets the right tone.

1. Out front making adjustments to keep you there
2. Prepares you to be in a hold out versus a catch up position.

• A good start sets you up to go the distance.

1. You still have the majority of the work to do
2. It’s easier to embrace pain out front than in the back.

• The good news bad starts are hard to recover from, but not impossible.

1. Pray more!

Episode 79: Budget Imperatives of 2021

 

1. Plan for a shortfall

• 0-10%
• 10-20%
• 20+%

2. Protect the staff

• #1 concern is job security
• Uneasy times for people in ministry

3. Prioritize generosity

• Giving is contagious
• Our communities need us

4. Shed unneeded expenses

• Light on your feet and flexible
• What are expenses that you have that you don’t need?

5. Know your necessities

• What cannot be stopped, delayed, or dissolved

6. Expect an increase in technology expenditures

• Streaming, website, online presence, video recording

7. Plan on celebrating God’s faithfulness

• Celebrating God’s provision leads us to better awareness

Episode 78: How Are You Talking About Giving?

 

1. Talk about God stories - not paying the bills
2. Start every worship service with a God story
3. Talk about generosity not tithing

• Your budget drives generosity

Talk about investing in lives

Talk about how your church or your missions are blessing people

Use videos and stories

Celebrate financial victories

 

 

Remind people of our interview with Todd McMichen

Take a piece of paper 

• on the top left - write down 3 or 4 of the most generous people that you know personally
• Now in the middle of the page draw a stick figure around that "generous person"
• I want you to write down some traits of those generous people you listed.  You should be able to come up with a bunch.  
• Now I want you to make another list.  List the words that we typically use when we talk about giving at church.  Are your two lists the same - I bet not.  Wouldn't you rather preach on the first list?

see also:

https://enduringchurches.podbean.com/e/i11-interview-with-todd-mcmichen/

Episode 77: Membership and How to Do it

 

 

Additional thought…make it very contextual to your church and your setting.

 

Why have them?

• Membership matters
• Romans 12:5 - members of one another
• Why do people resist membership?
  • Hurt
  • Lack of commitment
  • Rise of non-denoms and drift of good theology

 

Start a membership class

 

What’s in them?

• The Gospel
• Core church doctrines
• Expectations
  • Examples: small groups
  • Giving
  • Serving
  • Going

 

How long do they have to be?

• Make it right for your setting

 

When do you do them?

• Don’t have to be married to a calendar
• Try to have one 3-4 times a year

 

 

What other findings about membership classes have you discovered?

Guided by a blog from Dr. Chuck Lawless. Read his blog here

 

So how are your mental reserves?

How are your emotional reserves?

How are your relationship reserves

Are you doing ministry all on your own power?

• You have a bad attitude about serving. 

 

• You pray primarily only when you must. 

 

• You tend to think you can accomplish anything. 

 

• You don’t really live a life of dependence. 

 

• Your strongest days of walking with God are in the past.

 

• You’re losing the private sin battle. 

 

• You admire people who seem to be truly walking with God, but you don’t change. 

 

• Your family knows a different you than the public you. 

 

• You just know your reality.