Lead Well

Photo by Lukas Blazek on Unsplash It’s summertime and for many in NextGen ministries this is not a time to kick back and relax, but the busiest time of the year.  You have more and bigger events over the three summer months than you have for the rest of the year. Add to that you have vacations, volunteer turnover, absences, and overall lower attendance, it can be exhausting and overwhelming. So, what do you do? How do you juggle all the things and still grow the ministry or at least survive the summer? I’ve been there. It’s tough.  One June I had something church related every day of the month except two. I was exhausted and needed a break. Thankfully, I’ve learned how to manage all of it and find a healthy pace. So, here’s 5 steps to managing your time this summer. 1. Balance is a myth. For years, I’ve heard people talk about work/life balance. They’re looking for some magical Zen moment when work/family/God is all in perfect equilibrium.  However, this is a myth. The sca

Working in a smaller church as a kids’ pastor can be really tough. Yes, I have fewer kids than most of the larger churches, but I also wear a lot of “hats” in addition to children’s ministry director. These responsibilities can include building maintenance, pastoral care, event production—the list could go on and on. With all these other responsibilities, focusing on children’s ministry can be difficult. I’ve heard many first-year children’s pastors ask the question, “When do I actually get to work with kids?” The truth is, within a 40-hour work week, you may work with kids anywhere from 2-6 hours per week, depending on how many services your church runs. That’s about 10 percent of your time spent in doing what you love. Over the years I’ve dealt with this problem, and discovered some strategies that have helped me maintain ministry excellence while also getting everything else done. Below are some of these strategies: 1. Set your priorities. Sometimes I ask people, “What are your

Eight years ago my lead pastor said something I will never forget. He had just cast the vision to go multisite and had received approval from the board. I was ecstatic for the upcoming challenges and the “prestige” of becoming a children’s pastor of multiple campuses. As we were walking to the children’s area, I started to share with him my plans for the ministry when he abruptly stopped me. He said, “David, I’m not planning on you being the children’s pastor of both campuses. You have to grow in leadership before I can trust you to do that. You will probably just be here at this campus.” I’ll be honest. That knocked me down a couple of pegs. I was devastated to say the least, but the dream was born. It was big. It was scary. It was roaring at me like a 500-pound lion. I didn’t know what to do or where to go, but I knew I had my marching orders. What is your 500-pound dream? What is the one thing you know God has called you to do? Does it scare you? If so, good. Is it risky?

When working with other leaders, the question I hear often is, “How do I lead up?” They may not use that phrase exactly. It usually comes out like, “Why won’t my leader do this?” or “How can I get them to see it my way?” This is a common theme among any leader who must submit to the authority of someone else.       Every leader who must submit is faced with two options: They can sit on the back row and criticize every move their leader makes, or they can move to the front row and bring about the change they know needs to happen.    The thing is, it’s always easier to sit in the back. You don’t have to do anything but criticize and talk about how much better it would be if they would just do it “your way.”  Back-row leaders get a certain joy out of seeing their leaders fail and convince themselves that they know the right way. Back-row leaders are ultimately poisonous to the organization because of their negativity. They do bring change, but unfortunately it's usually t

The great thing about leaders is that they are always pushing the status quo. A great leader is never satisfied with the way things are and push to make them better.  Many leaders have a dream.  Whether it was planted in their hearts at a young age or discovered later in life, leaders have a desire to go places and take others with them. Unfortunately, our lives are not easy.  If we could accomplish our dreams as fast as we could pop a bag of popcorn then it wouldn't be a dream.  Dreams take time.  They take growth. They take persistence.  They take endurance.  Dreams bring about fear, joy, sadness, relief, frustration, and victory.  Ask someone who has achieved their dream, and they'll tell you the hardest parts and the most joy-filled.  They will tell you of seasons that brought pain, but ultimately made them better for it. I imagine if we were able to sit down with Joseph at the end of his life, he would tell us of all the bad things, but also the good things.  What h

It's the beginning of the year, and now that we're back from all the holly and eggnog of Christmas, we begin to look toward the new year.  Invariably, the national conversation has turned toward New Year's resolutions.  That term either brings great pride or equally great vitriol.  So many of us make these resolutions, and by the time Valentine's Day rolls around, they've long been forgotten. We don't have to live this way.  No matter who you are or what you do it is possible to set goals and keep them.  You just have to know how to do them effectively. There are several reasons we don't actually meet our goals.  Here are just a few: They are unattainable/unrealistic They take too long to accomplish They don't take enough time to really set in They're based on emotion They're are too many to focus on one. I'm sure you can think of many other reasons, but my point is we're pretty bad at getting them done.  May I make a sugge

Goal-setting. It seems like such a simple concept, but how many of us do it regularly and/or successfully? Our bosses talk about sales goals and making our quota. Our teachers in high school and college talk about it like we already have them laid out, and TV is always talking about our financial goals before we call their company. For some, goal-setting is second nature, for others they know it should be done. and still others, it’s a foreign concept. So whether you’ve been setting goals all your life or you have no idea how, here are five easy steps for you to set goals and actually meet them. Your goal must be specific and must be measurable. When I ran my half marathon, I had to set a clear goal. It wasn’t enough for me to say, “I’m going to go running to get into shape.” I had to say, “I’m going to run a 13.1 mile race by finishing and not coming in last.” When we set goals, it is far too easy to be vague. For instance, “I’m going to lose weight.” Once I set th

A few weeks ago I posted about how to set goals.   You can read about it here.  Here's a visual guide about New Years Resolutions that's along the same lines. I just had to share it. Enjoy! Browse more data visualization .

Ever had trouble setting goals and keeping them?  You're not the only one.  Here are some quick steps you can take to meet those goals you know you can. Courtesy Getty Images I love goals.  I've been setting and completing them for as long as I can remember.  I find I have a hard time completing any task without setting a goal.  I thought everyone was like this, but when I asked my team to create goals for their departments they were lost.  They had no idea even where to start.  So here 5 easy steps to setting and keeping your goals. Begin with the end in mind If you've ever read Steven Covey's book " The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People ," you know this is one of them.  We all need to use a little imagination and envision what our desired outcome will be before we begin any task.  For example, as a new year's resolution, I set as a goal to run a 10k race.  The days spent on the treadmill and out on the road were long and sometimes grueling.  

Big projects.  It seems that I live my professional life from one big project to the next.  Each new event or change is another big project.  I love it. However many people don't.  They get overwhelmed by the daunting tasks.  They get so nervous about the monumental project that they never begin or they get so wrapped up in all the little details that they quit halfway through.  I've faced both of these extremes, but sometimes you just have to get things done.  You have to grit your teeth, buckle down and get dirty. Here are some of the things I've learned that help me complete those big projects. 1. Set a deadline.   I don't know about you, but if I don't have a set time to complete a task, it may never get done.  We need to set a reasonable timeline to accomplish our goals.  Some projects can be done in a few minutes, others a few years.  Either way think about how long you will need to accomplish the goal and set a time limit.  You'll be surprised at

Today's #trust30 post is about going after a goal and overcoming the obstacles. It has always been my goal to pursue higher learning.  Even though I just earned my bachelor's degree last year, It has never been my intention to stop there.  So why have I stopped after a year and half?  Several obstacles are in my way: I work 2 jobs so I almost have no free time to pursue a degree My wife is in school pursuing her bachelor's degree so there is a already a financial burden I'm not sure of the cost or the financial aid that is available for advanced degrees I haven't decided which path to take, math, education, ministry? There are too many options  So here is my plan:  First I need to get a job that can support my family so that I can have prioritize my time effectively.  Second, I am going to wait for my wife to get her degree so that we don't have to pay double for books.  While she is in school I will continue to do some soul searching and decide which de