I know why they call it the board, Daddy," said an insightful 8-year-old. "It's because the meetings are so boring!" For people accustomed to an action-oriented society, a group that sits for hours to debate issues and takes months to make decisions does sound less than appealing. And it probably is if all it does is talk. We need to move from words to action.
Are staff meetings really necessary? Some pastors have told us that they consider them a waste of time ("There's only the three of us, and the other two are part-time. Aren't hallway conversations enough?"). Others confess that they consider staff meetings a burden ("It feels like one more event I have to plan") or even a source of dread ("I always come away with more on my to-do list"). Still others ...
Let me begin with a simple, wonderfully freeing premise: You do not need to know everything.
A few short generations ago, it could rightly be said, Information Is Power. That was true when there wasn't enough of it. Today, the motto should read: Information Is Fatigue. We get too much information, and a high percentage of that information is inane, meaningless, enervating. Do I really need to know ...
Many discussions of a pastor's tasks start with the advice to plan one's work. This sounds eminently plausible. The only thing wrong with it is that it rarely works. The plans remain on paper as good intentions. They seldom turn into achievements.
The first step toward effective pastoral time-management is to record actual time-use. The specific method in which the record is put together need not concern ...
Pastors and board members often clash because they approach situations from different perspectives. Pastors typically possess a theological or biblical perspective, a problem-solving method that they probably picked up in seminary. Board members tend to solve problems more pragmatically, using a tried-and-true method they learned in the business world. It's the idealism/realism rub.
I've been asked this question often throughout my 20 years of ministry at Saddleback. I've talked with countless pastors and church leaders about staffing issues. I sincerely empathize with them as I listen to the horrors they face concerning staff difficulties.
Unfortunately, most of the problems they face, and are now asking for guidance to resolve, are a reflection of a mistake first made when they ...
Staffing the Sunday morning nursery had always been tough at one northeastern church, and this summer was almost impossible. Finally Ellen had agreed to do it "if you really can't find anyone else." Not many had noticed that Ellen invariably came into the worship service during the first hymn and sometimes later. Sure enough, when it was her Sunday for ...
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