Enduring Churches Podcast with Alan and Trent

Episode 7: The Church Is Killing My Family

Episode 6: Saturday Night Special

Episode 5: How to Endure a Season of Success

Trent: Why do we have to endure success? 

1. Ego problem...Danger of taking more credit than you should
2. Comfort problem...easy to get comfortable and stop improving
3. Make-up problem...easy to overlook our weaknesses which are hidden

What do we need to do to endure success

1. Be humble by giving credit away...first to God, second to others
2. Remember gravity...if it goes up, its coming back down
3. Ask what problems could success create...schedules?, space?, leadership voids. success brings change - sometimes folks are resistant to change.     

It's a great opportunity to leverage your time.

Episode 4: Enduring a Rough Season

Episode 3: The Hardest Job of the Pastor

A few notes on volunteers...

1. What makes working with volunteers hard? 
   1. They often don't start out doing it as well as you'd like.
   2. They often don't match your passion.
   3. They often don't seem as committed as you.
   4. Sometimes they are better than you.
2. How do you keep your volunteers?
   1. Appreciation! Appreciation! Appreciation! If you don't give it, you won't have them.
   2. Training!!! If you don't invest in leaders leaders won't grow.
   3. Visibility!!! Highlight them; talk about them
3. What is the best way to find them?
   1. Bulletins and announcements are highly ineffective, but its our most common mistake.
   2. Guilting people is not usually a best method.
   3. Direct conversation with individuals is always best.

Episode 2: Pastor Poker

Show Notes 

Enduring Churches with Alan and Trent

Episode #2: Pastor Poker

 

1. You get some chips just for stepping into the role.

 

• 1-2 year honeymoon period
• 3-5 or even more years to be considered the pastor

2. You gain chips when the church wins, you lose chips when the church or individuals lose. 

• What is a church win? someone comes to Christ, a period of growth or discipleship
• What is a church loss? decreased attendance, power struggles, conflict...
• What is an individual loss? This happens when the church wins, but an individual loses. The more influential the person, the more chips you need to ride through the transition.

3. The bigger the change, the more chips you need.

•  Don’t waste them on unimportant matters

4. You can't ask for more chips, you have to earn them.

• time
• loving and investing in your people
• share the success and take credit for the failures

5. going in all in is reserved for extremely rare occasions

• That's the if this does or doesn't happen, I will be forced to leave decision. Too many church leaders get to this point too easily. Sometimes we just have to back away, and recognize it's might not be as big as we think.

#1: Meet Alan and Trent

Get to know Alan and Trent. College friends with a combined 60 years of ministry experience want to help you and your church last through the highs and lows.