Executive Pastor

How Documenting Policies & Procedures Supports Ministry

When it comes to ministry, most people don’t think of employee handbooks, meeting agendas, or policy and procedure documentation. That makes sense – after all, we gather as congregations to grow in our faith and to share it with others. However, since we do have staff and resources to steward, we need to pay careful attention to how we do things. That’s how documenting policies and procedures becomes useful for supporting the ministry of a church. If you’re wondering why you should spend time developing and documenting policies and procedures, here are a few benefits of going through that effort: #1 – Provide clarity These questions and many more should be addressed within the church’s policies and procedures. Instead of having to answer these scenarios as they come up (and potentially having different people provide different answers), documented policies and procedures answer those questions in advance. #2 – Offer Protection Childcare, background checks, and financial approvals are a few processes that can create a great deal of harm to individuals. If handled incorrectly, these can also cause legal trouble for the church. By agreeing on how to handle these situations ahead of time, documenting the procedure, and training those who’re responsible for carrying out these policies, you’re protecting your church and those who attend it. #3 – Saves time While the initial time spent creating these documents is significant, this effort will save you time in the long run. Instead of answering many of the same questions with each new employee, they can read the employee handbook first. From there, you can offer to answer their questions as needed. The person who fields questions can refer to documentation when answering requests for weddings, counseling, benevolence, and more.  If you don’t have these documents in place (or if they could use an update), here’s how to get started: While documenting policies and procedures doesn’t feel like ministry, this effort truly does support the ministry of your church. 

How Documenting Policies & Procedures Supports Ministry Read More »

What Causes Ministry Burnout?

We tend to think ministry life will consist of serving God faithfully, seeing people come to Christ, and stewarding a growing church. Unfortunately, serving on staff at a church can often become stressful, overwhelming, and all-consuming. For many people, this leads to ministry burnout. If you’ve wondered how much longer you can last in ministry, you’re not the only one. A quick search on “ministry burnout” turns up over 3.5 million results. From Carey Nieuwhof to Ed Stetzer and others, more church leaders are openly discussing the issue of burnout (many with their own experiences). Most of the resources I’ve found focus on the burnout of pastors. As the senior pastor is the key leader in a given church, if he burns out there’s a significant impact on the entire staff and congregation. Pastors also have the burden of “the buck stops here,” which contributes to their potential for burnout. However, there’s also the danger for church staff and even volunteers to burnout. While there are unique challenges that only the senior pastor faces, there are several common issues that can lead to burnout for anyone working in ministry. Factors that contribute to ministry burnout: #1 – Working for God…not always with God #2 – Unrealistic expectations #3 – Isolation #4 – Lack of Vision Clarity How to Prevent Ministry Burnout Tip #1: Delegate Delegate to whom? Great question. Even if you don’t have any staff reporting to you, you still have delegation options. You may have individuals within your congregation who could help a few hours a week with administrative tasks. Delegate the easier stuff first – tasks that take up your time but don’t require much training to pass on to someone else. Another option could be a virtual assistant. You can contract out specific tasks and pay for the hours you need. Another option is to find online tools or resources that offer shortcuts to the information or processes you need to implement. The Church Operations Toolkit includes templates, how-to guides, and expert interviews that can save you time and money. Tip #2: Prioritize Review your calendar for the last few weeks. What does that tell you about what’s most important? After all, what we schedule tends to be what gets done and therefore shows what’s most important to us. Does your calendar align with what you say is most important to you? While it may feel like it, not everything is urgent and important. End each day by creating a to-do list for the next day. You close out that day’s work and set yourself up for a solid start the next. Recognize upfront that you’ll never really get to the end of your to-do list. This isn’t accepting defeat; it’s facing reality. Prioritize your list and work on the highest impact, most valuable tasks first. Tip #3: Leave Work and Disconnect How many evenings did you work late last month? Your relationship with your family plus your physical health will take a hit if you’re working late too often. There will be busy seasons, but those should be seasons, not every day. This is much easier to say than do, but it’s important to say “no” to work (even church work), so you can say “yes” to your family. I like how Eric Geiger puts it in his post, Four Reasons Burnout Is More Prevalent in Ministry Leadership: “In most roles, overwork feels sinful and neglectful. In ministry, overwork can wrongly feel holy. After all, you are “doing all these things for the Lord and for people.” Some leaders struggle to say no because doing so would feel like denying ministry to people. Leaders can justify all the hours in their minds, the neglect of their own souls, and the neglect of their families. Ministry can attract workaholics and give them a reason to justify their addiction.” Turn off your cell phone and stop checking email after a particular time each day. You need a few hours each evening to decompress, spend time with your family and friends, and recharge. Let your colleagues know what you’re doing and who they can call in case of an emergency. By the way, you probably need to define “emergency” as “the church is on fire” or “someone passed away.” Tip #4: Invest in Your Relationship with God We all need time with God for the sole purpose of listening, learning, and enjoying His presence. It’s easy to try and justify not having personal time with God if you’ve already spent several hours preparing for a message. While I’m sure you benefitted personally from that time, it can’t fully replace time invested in focusing on your relationship with God. Take one day a week to do absolutely nothing related to your job. Play with your kids, take your spouse out on a date, go for a jog, sleep in, etc. Rest and invest in activities that restore your mind, body, and soul. You’ll be more effective and productive later as a result. Tip #5: Reward What You Value What do you praise or reward with your team? Working long hours or productivity that comes from planning ahead, making long hours unnecessary? Work with your team to plan, hold each other accountable to deadlines, and streamline processes. Tip #6: Leave Breathing Room Do you have any time scheduled (as in a meeting on your calendar) with yourself to think, plan, or dream? If not, start carving out time for this activity. This is time for you to consider the projects and tasks ahead in the light of the vision/mission of your church and considering whether you’re working on the right things that will help you achieve that vision. It’s time to think about your staff and volunteers…to consider how you’re leading them and what to encourage or correct. This time looks like the opposite of productivity, but this is where the magic happens. It’s where you realize you’re running in the wrong lane and need to make a course

What Causes Ministry Burnout? Read More »

How to Support a Growing Church

Jesus admonished us to listen carefully to His words and obey His teaching to withstand life’s storms. We typically think of storms as situations such as an illness, financial difficulties, strained relationships, etc. However, storms can come with something wonderful such as a rapidly growing church. “We’re struggling to build any momentum at all and you’re warning us about a ‘storm’ of church growth?” Yes, and here’s why: Let’s say you have a church of 500 people and within a couple of months, that number goes up to 600. Six months later, you’re at 800…then 930…then 1,000. That’s great…right?! Of course, that’s an amazing growth spurt for any church and should be celebrated. As you rejoice, you’ll need to determine how to effectively support a larger congregation. Areas to Review for a Growing Church: #1 – Child Care How many more children need care in the nursery and how many more volunteers does that require? Do you have enough cribs, changing tables, toys, and space available? #2 – Ministry Programs & Groups More people typically means a more diverse set of expectations and needs. If you didn’t have a divorce care program before, you may have several people with the need for that assistance now. Consider starting or adding small groups to serve new members. #3 – Data Management Do you have a church database (ChMS) to record contact information, small group assignments, volunteer roles, etc.? #4 – Facility Capacity Does your current parking area have the capacity for additional cars? Also, is your sanctuary large enough to handle more attendees or should you add a service? #5 – Accounting More people also means (hopefully) more tithes and (definitely) more expenses. Is your accounting team equipped to handle these changes? #6 – Volunteers You’ll likely need more volunteers to serve a larger congregation. Do you already have a clear process in place for new people to become members, discover their gifts, and start serving? As you can see, there are many changes that result from a growing church. Seeing more people commit their lives to Christ or simply start attending church consistently again is a wonderful thing. Prepare for this influx ahead of time by thinking through the above items (and that’s certainly not an exhaustive list). As the church grows, you want to be well-equipped to serve a larger congregation with excellence and get them engaged in ministry. It’s not about seeing more people in the seats each week, it’s about providing an environment where they can grow in their relationship with God and be equipped for ministry. That requires preparation on the part of church staff and key volunteers. It can be detailed, hard work but it most certainly is worth the effort to build a solid foundation for a growing church. In the Church Operations Toolkit, members follow a Church Operations Growth Path that includes a list of tasks to complete at each level of a church’s operational journey. Members can also access resources to help them complete these tasks. Join us in the Church Operations Toolkit and use these resources to make supporting a growing church easier to manage.

How to Support a Growing Church Read More »

5 Church Administration Time-Saving Tools

Time. It’s the most precious commodity yet the one we have the least of. That’s why saving time is a constant goal for church leaders with busy schedules. One way to save time is by streamlining church administration tasks.  When you work behind-the-scenes in the church office, you’ve got plenty of plates spinning. Coordinating events, fixing a website issue, plus a ton of other tasks are all in a day’s work. While I can’t trim your to-do list, I can recommend the following tools to make your job a bit easier. #1 – Project Management Software Asana, Basecamp, Trello, Monday, ClickUp, are a few of the excellent project management tools available. Most have a free or trial version you can use to see which one works best for you and your team. Complete the form below to receive a free Project Management Tools Overview guide (including information on the top software vendors): #2 – Expense Tracking App Keeping track of receipts for an expense report can be a pain. Instead of shuffling through your purse or wallet for that last receipt, use an app on your phone. Quickly snap a picture of a receipt immediately after making a purchase. Assign the appropriate expense code(s) and have a collection of electronic receipts ready for your next expense report. Staff members who forget receipts and finance team members responsible for collecting accurate data will all appreciate the convenience of an app. Two of the top contenders in this category are Divvy and Zoho Expense. #3 – Church Management System (ChMS) As a church grows, you need an easy way to maintain up-to-date records regarding church members and visitors. Contact information, family relationships, baptism dates, and more are a few examples of data you can use to minister to your congregation. A robust church management system enables your team to maintain accurate information, create follow-up workflows, keep tithe records, and more. There are many options available when it comes to ChMS tools. A few examples include Planning Center, Rock RMS, Fellowship One, Breeze, ACS, Elexio, ShelbyNext, Faith Teams, and TouchPoint. #4 – Facility Management Software From facility maintenance requests to tracking who reserved a room, facility management software can help your team stay on top of things. Smart Church Solutions has an excellent tool called eSPACE. Within this software, you can manage inventory, manage work orders, reserve facility rooms and resources, schedule preventative maintenance, and more. #5 – The Church Operations Toolkit At the risk of sounding self-promotional, the Church Operations Toolkit can save your church time and money. Within the Toolkit are templates, how-to guides, expert interviews, and resources to make church administration and operations tasks easier. Instead of spending hours searching online for a template, simply log into the Church Operations Toolkit and download one in minutes. There’s no magic formula to knocking out your to-do list (if only!). However, these are a few tools to make being productive a bit easier. Oh, and if you’re like me and consider coffee a productivity tool…Can I get an amen? 🙂

5 Church Administration Time-Saving Tools Read More »

How to Define the Role of Executive Pastor

The role of Executive Pastor is gaining wider acceptance yet it’s still a somewhat misunderstood position within the church. If you’re reading this, then perhaps you’re thinking about hiring an Executive Pastor (or becoming one yourself). How does an Executive Pastor serve the church? Is this role all business or should this person also have a pastoral mindset? Let’s start with a scenario that may be all too familiar… It’s after 9 pm on a weeknight and you’re still working. Unfortunately, you didn’t keep going because you had divine inspiration for a sermon series. Instead, You’re Trudging Through… 💲 Financial reports, 👩‍💼 Candidate resumes for a staff opening, and ⛪️ Carpet samples for the sanctuary. Those are just the latest urgent items to handle.  You haven’t been able to devote much thought to a new ministry program you’ve wanted to do for years.  A few years (and several hundred people) ago, leading the church was challenging but still doable. The amount of paperwork and detailed tasks wasn’t that bad. However, now you’re buried in business-like tasks that seminary didn’t prepare you for (and that you dislike doing anyway).  You’re also starting to see what life and the church will look like in a few years if this doesn’t change. You Can’t Keep Doing This Alone. Thankfully, you don’t have to. You haven’t done anything wrong. This feeling of being overwhelmed isn’t a result of your inability to keep all the plates spinning. Other Senior Pastors have felt the strain of trying to be the “Chief Everything Officer.”  There comes a time when it’s wise to entrust a seasoned person with the business-centric responsibilities of leading the church. From Human Resources to Finance and Facilities, you don’t have to manage it all. An Executive Pastor can relieve you of those burdens so you can focus on what God has called you to do. Instead of fielding questions about vacation policies or dealing with construction contracts, you can spend more time preparing a sermon or considering what’s next for the church. If you’re thinking about bringing on an Executive Pastor or are curious about the role, here’s an introduction to what an Executive Pastor is and how he (or she) can serve a church.  A Brief History of the Executive Pastor Role As the story goes, the Executive Pastor role started with Bob Buford after conversations with his mentor, Peter Drucker. As Bill Hendricks writes in “The Origin of Executive Pastors,” Bob Buford formed the Leadership Network in 1984. He invited pastors and other senior leaders of large churches to come together for a few brainstorming meetings.  One question raised during those discussions was how to handle the complicated organizational structure of a megachurch.  The eventual solution proposed was to create a new church role, called the Executive Pastor. Is the Executive Pastor Role Just a Megachurch Trend? While it may have started out that way, that no longer appears to be the case. The Hartford Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as one that has 2,000 or more people in weekly attendance.  Thom Rainer notes, “Ten to fifteen years ago it was rare to find an executive pastor in a church with an average worship attendance less than 3,000. That has certainly changed each subsequent year. Now it is common to see executive pastors in churches with an attendance around 2,000 or even lower. I know of several churches in the 800 to 1,200 attendance range that now have executive pastors, or they are seeking one.” Many churches with less than 2,000 in attendance hire an Executive Pastor to help them break through an attendance barrier or to free up the Senior Pastor’s time and capacity. Churches that aren’t ready for an Executive Pastor yet might hire someone to fill a Business Administrator type role. This person wouldn’t oversee the staff or have any strategic responsibilities. Someone in a Business Administrator position would likely be responsible for the day-to-day operations of HR, Finance, IT, Facilities, etc. Responsibilities That Typically Fall Under an Executive Pastor From a high-level perspective, an Executive Pastor oversees the implementation of the Senior Pastor’s ministry vision. Most Executive Pastors also oversee and develop church staff. As we get more into the details, an Executive Pastor is also responsible for the following areas: When Should a Church Hire an Executive Pastor? Unfortunately, there is no clear-cut formula for when to add an Executive Pastor to the team. However, there are several indicators church leaders can look for to help them make that decision. Indicator #1: Size and Complexity The indicator most often considered is the size of the church. However, even though that’s a popular gauge, there’s no set number here either.  Executive Pastor Dan Reiland recommends church leaders wait until they have an average attendance of at least 1,200 before hiring an Executive Pastor. On the other hand, Senior Pastor Brian Jones tells Senior Pastors to consider hiring an Executive Pastor when they’re working to push through the 800 barrier. Obviously, there’s a variety of recommendations from highly respected church leaders. If a church is growing steadily and the Senior Pastor is strained to handle both the preaching/visionary leadership and executive management responsibilities, then perhaps it’s time to start looking for an Executive Pastor.   Indicator #2: Capacity of the Senior Pastor If the Senior Pastor… Then… Hiring an Executive Pastor to handle those responsibilities can free up the Senior Pastor to do what he does best. Indicator #3: Budget This correlates somewhat with the size of the church. A church of 2,000 is more likely to have the financial ability to hire an Executive Pastor than a smaller congregation.  It’s also wise to consider what the church is willing to pay an Executive Pastor. This role can’t be successfully filled with someone fresh out of college or with minimal executive experience. A church will need to budget accordingly to find a qualified candidate. Indicator #4: Interest of the Senior Pastor If the Senior Pastor isn’t

How to Define the Role of Executive Pastor Read More »

Shopping Cart
Scroll to Top