If you manage people (whether paid staff or volunteers) there will be times where they don't live up to your clearly communicated expectations. Now when this happens (which you can count on as much as death and taxes) you need to know how to properly respond. When staff (paid or not) don't live up to your clearly communicated expectations, don't get mad, don't jump to any conclusions, don't begin to reprimand, seek first to understand. Here's what that looks like: Let's pretend … [Read more...]
A Theology of Volunteerism
Since we are launching a new location in Agawam this Fall, everyone is recruiting volunteers like crazy. You're either recruiting volunteers for the new location or trying to backfill volunteer roles in Enfield for people who are leaving to go help Agawam get up and running. That being the case, I think it's really important that (if you haven't already) you develop a proper theology of volunteerism, because if you don't your recruiting approach/tone will be all wrong. It's so important … [Read more...]
What Pandora Can Teach Us About Staff Development
Of the many music streaming services out there (Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, etc) Pandora is my favorite. I started using it way back when and I've just stuck with it. As I write this leadership lesson I have my country station playing in the background, a station I've developed over time that now plays all my favorite songs. Now understand, getting it to play all my favorite songs didn't happen by accident. It got to where I wanted it to be as a result of me giving it constant … [Read more...]
How to Vacation
Today I want to do a leadership lesson on HOW TO VACATION. This is such an important topic because if you vacation wrong, you will come back from your time of rest more exhausted than before you left! We have to remember that for FT staff it's paid vacation. What are you being paid to do on vacation? Rest! And if you don't come back from vacation refreshed and full of energy, ready to hit it hard, you have not done the "work" you were paid on vacation to do, which again, is to rest! … [Read more...]
Bend, not Break
We are very close to signing the lease for our new location in Agawam and the signing of that lease is going to launch us into a very busy season of ministry so today I want to talk about expectations during this very busy season. I’ve entitled the lesson BEND, NOT BREAK. If you've ever cooked with bamboo skewers you know that they can withstand a moderate amount of applied pressure. But if you apply too much pressure they will first splinter, then … [Read more...]
You Can’t Manage What You Don’t Measure
It was management expert Peter Drucker who coined the popular phrase "If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." But this principle has a history that dates Peter Drucker by some 2,000 years. Jesus said in Matthew 18:12-14, “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the … [Read more...]
Repetition in Preaching
There are some topics in Scripture mentioned more than others (i.e. salvation by grace through faith vs works). I always cringe a little when something I've already preached on, comes up yet again in the preaching calendar. I think "Won't our people be tired of hearing this yet again?" Well, I came across something so good recently that I want to share here that has set me free from the fear of preaching on a topic I've already preached on 2-3x. The apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:1, … [Read more...]
Why Pastors Take Sabbaticals
Leading God’s people is a privilege, but also a burden. The burden became so great for Moses that one day he prayed to God "put me to death right now..." (Numbers 11:15) The burden became so great for Jeremiah that one day he exclaimed "Cursed be the day I was born!" (Jeremiah 20:14) The burden became so great for Jonah that one day he prayed "O Lord, take away my life..." (Jonah 4:3) The burden became so great for Elijah that he prayed "I have had enough, Lord...Take my life..." (1 … [Read more...]
Balancing Withdrawals with Deposits
It might be helpful to think of every request you make of a volunteer as withdrawing money from the bank. If all you ever do is withdraw, withdraw, withdraw, the account will become, all too quickly, overdrawn. How do you prevent your account from being overdrawn? You have to be sure to make deposits! And the deposits have to be greater than the withdrawals. How do you make deposits in the volunteer bank? Call them to ask if there's anything you can be praying for. Invite them out … [Read more...]
What I’m Learning from a Capital Campaign
I never in a million years dreamed I would be leading New Day Church in a capital campaign. I grew up hearing the horror stories of capital campaigns (i.e. the senior pastor was hospitalized during the process due to the stress, the church ran out of money in the middle of the project so construction had to stop, the church became completely focused on begging people for money, etc. etc. etc.). As a result of these horror stories, I had no interest in moving within 1,000 miles of a capital … [Read more...]
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