Articles for tag: church staff

April 20, 2013

Christian Standard

Lessons from a Fat Wallet

By Eddie Lowen Not long ago, removing my wallet from my pants pocket became difficult. That”s a good thing, right? On Subway restaurants” TV commercial, a thick wallet is evidence of frugal spending and increasing net worth. Dave Ramsey likes fat wallets. However, my wallet was gaining girth from items other than legal tender and dead presidents. Membership cards were to blame. Multiple membership cards. Some were plastic, others card stock. I emptied my wallet and discovered nearly a dozen membership cards to seemingly every organization in our city and beyond. A sampling of my memberships includes: Sam”s Club, which

March 31, 2013

Christian Standard

Shared Secrets for Ministers, Useful Advice for Elders

By LeRoy Lawson   Open Secrets: A Memoir of Faith and Discovery Richard Lischer New York: Broadway Books, 2001 Answer His Call (2009) Reflect His Character (2009) Lead His Church (2010) Enjoy His People (2011) Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson Joplin: College Press The Healthy Elder: Vital Signs of a Strong Leader Jim Estep, David Roadcup, and Gary Johnson e2 Effective Elders, 2012 Effective Elders: What Every Elder Should Know””a digital curriculum (CD/DVD combo) Jim Estep, Gary Johnson, and David Roadcup e2 Effective Elders  A colleague recently asked for recommendations for articles or books on the subject of

February 12, 2013

Christian Standard

What We’re Learning on Our Walk (Part 2)

By Mike Baker I am unashamed to tell you I want my church to grow! I want it to grow numerically because every person counted on a Sunday morning is a life that matters, a story of redemption, and a person in need of a Savior. But numeric growth is not the only growth God desires for his church. With increased attendance and baptisms come the responsibility of encouraging spiritual growth in those God has entrusted to our care. Early in my ministry, I was easily impressed. I often thought, Cool, our numbers are growing, naively believing our work was

January 11, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Define Your Leadership? Melissa Sandel

By Melissa Sandel My role is to serve as the chief architect of staff culture. I find high-capacity leaders who are determined to grow, and equip them to hit the ball out of the park in their respective roles. Crafting the environment in which this process unfolds is one of my most vital assignments. Several principles define our staff culture and have shaped the way I lead. Require development. We don”t believe anyone is so sharp or devoted that he or she can play a productive role on our team without growing. To model this, I invite our lead pastor

August 29, 2012

Christian Standard

Surprise!

By Eddie Lowen On my 30th birthday, a sweet woman from the church I served interrupted the close of the worship service. She walked up the center aisle holding a large birthday cake decorated with my name in icing. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday.” It was a very kind gesture and, looking back, it was a harmless moment, perhaps even helpful. At the time, however, I didn”t like it. Why? I don”t like surprises””especially during the worship service! Since that birthday surprise, I”ve learned that minimizing surprises is feasible, but eliminating surprises is impossible. When you throw hundreds (or thousands) of

April 19, 2012

Christian Standard

The Unwanted Gift

By Eddie Lowen Am I a bad father? On Christmas morning, I felt like one. My son decided his gift to me would be more than the usual gift card. He settled on a name-brand protective case for my name-brand smart phone. He was pleased with his thoughtfulness and generosity. I was pleased with the selflessness and gratitude he displayed. There”s just one problem: I don”t want it. More precisely, I don”t want to use it. Why? First, it”s designed to clip to my belt. Social science has irrefutably shown that a belt-clipped phone case increases a person”s dork factor

August 27, 2011

Christian Standard

The T-shirt Aristocracy

By Daniel Schantz I was speaking at a small Missouri church, and I couldn”t help noticing I was the only male wearing a necktie. Services were over, and I was shaking hands with the last person to leave. “Hmmm, seems like I”m the only male wearing a tie today,” I noted. The lady laughed. “Oh, don”t worry about that! Our preacher doesn”t wear a tie, and he urges us to dress down too, so that we don”t offend any seekers who might be poor and unable to afford dress clothes.” I said nothing. I have heard this line many times

January 20, 2011

Christian Standard

Every Issue from 2010 on One CD!

The 2010 CHRISTIAN STANDARD CD-ROM provides readers with a whole year of CHRISTIAN STANDARD at ready reference. This helpful tool contains every 2010 issue, conveniently indexed and searchable. Click on an article in the index, and it immediately opens a PDF of the issue in which that article appears. Click on that issue’s table of contents, and the article will pop-up on your computer screen. Use the CD-ROM for research or to find teaching and preaching illustrations. Search by topic or author name. Find articles to share with friends, church staff members, elders, deacons, and teachers. You’ll use this new

November 3, 2010

Christian Standard

Small Groups . . . Foundation for a Healthy Church

By Dick Alexander For most of our adult lives my wife and I have been in a small group””not because my job requires it but because our souls do. Our small groups have laughed, cried, prayed, encouraged, and studied the Bible with us, and helped us keep our bearings through troubled times. They have been “church” to us. Usually when there”s conversation about the value of small groups in the church, it”s done on a pragmatic basis””they keep people connected, they”re important for assimilation, etc. But the main reason for small groups is this: they are foundational for a larger

October 7, 2010

Christian Standard

Checking References of Ministerial Candidates

By Brent Storms In my local church ministry, and now in my position as president of a church planting organization, I have considered more than 1,000 candidates for open positions in ministry. I have screened and interviewed hundreds, and have hired more than 30 people for ministry positions. As I look back on the hiring process, I understand there are few elements more important than checking references and previous employers. Let me share three examples. Not long ago I met a candidate for the position of lead planter for a new church to be started in one of our northeastern

August 18, 2010

Christian Standard

Lookin” for Squirrels

By George Ross I”m sitting in a motel a long ways from home with a laptop and a deadline. (I”m on a staff recruiting trip interviewing two guys for two key positions for our ministry leadership team.) I”m wondering if I should acknowledge in this article what I”m struggling with. So here I sit in the motel facing a big mirror on the wall as I look beyond my computer. I”m OK with the deadline and the risk factor, just not the mirror! A visual of myself at 6:30 am brings no inspiration! A Specific Sign In recruiting for a

June 6, 2010

Christian Standard

Preparing to Preach

By Bruce E. Shields Who is your ideal preacher? Think about a preacher who has had a positive impact on you. Can you recall a single sermon he preached? Was it the sermons or the character of the preacher that left the lasting impression? I often ask student preachers these questions, and invariably it is character they recall and not individual sermons. I hasten to add that this does not mean sermons have no lasting value, but rather that the sermons make up just one part of the overall impression that preachers leave. This means the preacher needs to pay

March 28, 2010

Christian Standard

The Blessings of Scarcity

By Stephen Bond I meet for lunch every month with four other senior pastors who serve in my community. I”m surprised by the openness of each pastor in sharing the unique hurdles and challenges his church faces. But one challenge we”ve all wrestled with in the past two years is finances. The economic downturn has affected our churches in different degrees””but we”ve all felt the crunch. In our state, Nevada, unemployment hovers near 13 percent. When people don”t have jobs, it often means they don”t have money to support their local church. This inevitably affects the financial resources churches have

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