Articles for tag: Ministry: Specialized Leadership

August 6, 2016

Christian Standard

10 Ways Your Church Can Move More Young People Toward Vocational Ministry

By Matt Proctor 1. Preach on the need for full-time kingdom workers. All Christians are ministers, no matter their vocation. There is no clergy/laity distinction in God”s church, and all believers are called to witness, lead, and serve. “You got into the ministry when you got out of the baptistery.” May we never water down the biblical teaching on the priesthood of all believers (1 Peter 2:9). But this too: may we never water down the need for vocational Christian leaders. Preach on the need for those who will give their working lives to leading the church, reaching the lost,

August 5, 2016

Christian Standard

Make the Most of Your Ministry Intern

By Nate Frederick Internship. The word brings back memories for every minister who saw God”s work during ministry internships in their student days. They went on trips, spoke into people”s lives, and saw the kingdom grow. They learned what a kingdom worker looks like and had the opportunity to live that out, either in a local church or on the global mission field. They were placed in an environment that fostered their gifts and were allowed to lead in some context. Their internship was a time of learning and development that could not have been achieved in the classroom. But

July 6, 2016

Christian Standard

Ministry Success

By Jim Tune “I experienced success in ministry,” the speaker said, “but it wasn”t worth it.” I was attending a church planting conference. The speaker had served as pastor and as a leader of two national church planting networks. He had written books. At one point, he worked 364 days a year. (He took most of Christmas off.) This guy is, and was, a big deal. In hindsight, he said, it wasn”t worth it. He wanted us to learn from his mistakes. In the years I”ve served as pastor and leader, I”ve seen many rise to the top. They are

July 1, 2016

Michael C. Mack

July Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Cheer Up the Lonely Day””July 11: This day “is an opportunity to make a lonely person happy,” says HolidayInsights.com. Plan to visit the people in your community who have few friends or loved ones or who see people infrequently. Examples include people who are elderly, shut-in, in nursing homes, or imprisoned. “When you visit, bring happy things to talk about,” say the writers of Holiday Insights. “Keep the conversation upbeat and lively. When you leave, give a big hug and let them know you enjoyed the stay.” National Hot Dog Day””July 23: Every dog gets its day,

May 31, 2016

Christian Standard

It”s Time to Talk About Money

By Mark A. Taylor Do a Google search for “minister dropout statistics” and you”ll find a sea of bad news. Sorting out fact from fiction can be a challenge, but even conservative estimates say half of all ministers leave that calling for some other career. The reasons for this are many, but research conducted by the Center for Church Leadership in Cincinnati found financial concerns as the top challenges facing the ministers they interviewed. Heading the list was personal and educational debt; 71 percent of those interviewed mentioned this concern, according to a report to be published in the July

May 31, 2016

Michael C. Mack

June Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Father”™s Day is Sunday, June 19: Leverage this special day to resource dads for their ministries to their families. Or announce the start of a new ministry with dads in mind. One such ministry resource is Manhood Journey (see article in this section). Summer Solstice is Monday, June 20: This is the first day of summer. (Interesting fact: on this day the sun does not set at the North Pole.) Plan outdoor serving activities in your community to celebrate the beginning of summer and take full advantage of the longest day of the year. Forgiveness Day is Sunday,

May 1, 2016

Michael C. Mack

May Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack National Day of Prayer””May 5: Consider visiting local businesses and government officials to ask how you may pray for them. Gather people on that day to ask God”™s blessings on your community. The National Day of Prayer, observed annually on the first Thursday of May in the United States, invites people of all faiths to pray for the nation. It was created in 1952 by a joint resolution of Congress, and signed into law by President Harry S. Truman. Mother”™s Day””May 8: Churches typically focus their Mother”™s Day observance on moms and their families who attend

April 1, 2016

Christian Standard

Can You Let Your Preacher Change?

By Jim Tune Is it OK for your preacher to change? It”s understood that with growth comes change. And most if not all churches expect their leaders to grow. Christians expect their preacher will become more saturated by, and competent in, the handling of Scripture. Time in study should lead to greater depth and maturity. Shepherding a flock should, over time, lead to stronger skills in conflict resolution, mediation, and reconciliation. Your preacher will attend conferences and read books and will embrace new ideas and fresh vision. For the most part, this kind of growth and the changes that accompany

March 31, 2016

Michael C. Mack

April Ministry Ideas

By Michael C. Mack Autism Awareness Month. April is Autism Awareness Month. What can your church, class, or group do to come alongside families in your community who deal with autism? “¢ Start a support group for families with autism. “¢ Some churches offer Sunday school classes designed especially for children with autism. “¢ One church offers a regular “Parents” Night Out” event, providing volunteer child care for parents with autistic children. While moms and dads enjoy some quiet alone time, children have fun with crafts, snacks, and movies. “¢ Be creative. Come up with your own ideas to reach

March 20, 2016

Christian Standard

What Got You Here Won”t Get You There

By Tim Harlow There are some wonderful benefits to leading the same church for 26 years. It”s actually very difficult to make much headway into your community as a church leader without longevity. However, when people ask me for the hardest thing about longevity, this is my answer””what got us here doesn”t usually get us there. I don”t mind change. I don”t mind that I”ve preached through the years of overhead projectors to slide projectors to video to HD video. I don”t mind that I grew up in a church with a bus ministry and a puppet troupe, but I”m

March 19, 2016

Christian Standard

Redefining Success Without Lowering Your Standards

By Karl Vaters Pastors may be the hardest-working, most undervalued members of our society. And that goes double for the small church and bivocational pastors I spend a lot of time with. So why are we so dismissive of our own worth? I”m not talking about humility, which is always appropriate. I”m talking about a toxic mind-set that traps many of us. We tell people in our churches that God is interested in them for who they are, not for what they do. We tell them it doesn”t matter how much money they earn, how big their business is, what

March 13, 2016

Christian Standard

The Peculiar Duty of Pastoring

By Patrick Mitchell When I entered a conversation with a dear friend that morning at Milligan College”s exercise facility, I never would have thought that within a few months I would be pastor of a 125-year-old church in a town that boasts a population of approximately 1,000. While still chugging along on the elliptical machine, Phyllis asked if I would consider helping fill the pulpit of a rural church in our area while it searched for a pastor. You should know that at that point in my life (I was then 30 years old), I was done with church ministry.

March 12, 2016

Christian Standard

My Call Has Shaped My Ministry

By Weston Williams Too often we think of call solely in terms of a personal leading. It definitely includes that, but a true call from God is so much more. In Acts 13, the Holy Spirit issued a call to Paul and Barnabas for a mission, which was affirmed (and heard) by the entire church. It wasn”t just Paul”s personal desire to go into ministry; the entire church heard and supported that call. My call, while not as dramatic, was amazingly affirmed by my ordaining church. I”ve talked with many other ministers in our tradition and have learned that not

March 11, 2016

Christian Standard

The Church, the Heart of My Calling

By Guthrie Veech Olin Hay preached at South Louisville Christian Church near the University of Louisville in Kentucky. He loved football. Periodically, he would leave the office early to watch the Cardinals” football practice. One day a freshman quarterback rushed the ball down the muddy field only to be tackled by a huge linebacker. The quarterback stood up, covered in mud from head to toe, and said to Hay, “You gotta love the game, gotta love the game.” The freshman quarterback”s name was Johnny Unitas, who became perhaps the greatest quarterback in NFL history. That story reminds me of my

March 11, 2016

Christian Standard

My Opus

By David Smith “Just stay around long enough to get a little experience and then move on to “˜greener pastures.”” That statement, among others, was what I heard when I moved to Moreland, Kentucky, in 1993 to start a ministry with Moreland Christian Church. What that actually means is, put in a little time, and then move to a more “reputable” church in our brotherhood with a higher salary. Well, 23 years later, God is still blessing our little church in the cornfield. In fact, after building a multipurpose building in 1999 and a new sanctuary in 2014, we bought

March 10, 2016

Christian Standard

Our Challenges, My Peace

By Dan Lang Since my youth, the burning conviction to be a preacher moved me in the direction God wanted me to go. There was no escaping it. I was compelled. During training at Lincoln Christian University, Jesus” commission to make disciples of all people jelled for me as the simple but profound strategic mission that would shape the way I carried out my personal call to leadership ministry. A picture materialized of what my ministry in a local church might look like. I never dreamed I would be in my 28th year leading an increasingly diverse urban church with

March 10, 2016

Christian Standard

Lessons from Limestone

By LeAnne Blackmore For the past 16 years my husband, Ron, and I have led, taught, cast vision, and ministered to many in our city megachurch, First Christian Church, Johnson City, Tennessee. From college ministry to missions, greeter to elder, we have stepped into roles as variegated as the fall foliage on the Blue Ridge Parkway. By man”s standards, we experienced great successes and toyed with the temptation to take the credit. But God, in his grace, also allowed us to face colossal failures. In merging the two extremes, and through immersing ourselves in the Word, a mutual mind-set surfaced.

March 7, 2016

Christian Standard

I Look to Stay

By Casey Tygrett In 2007, I encountered a book that changed my life. The book was Hannah Coulter, a novel by Wendell Berry. I had previously read a Berry poem called “Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front.” With a title like that, how could you forget? In fact, one line stays with me even today: “Praise ignorance, for what man has not encountered he has not destroyed.” Even with that poem in mind, I wasn”t prepared for Hannah Coulter. The characters, the life, the unspoken but ever present faith””Berry”s book drew me in, and I couldn”t put it down. Once

March 7, 2016

Christian Standard

Are You Sure It”s Time to Move On?

By Susan Lawrence Sometimes we think we”re done. It”s time to move on. We”re ready to be finished with a season because we”re exhausted or we see a better offer. Things aren”t going well, or things are going exceptionally well. For whatever reason, we assess (or rationalize) that God is prompting us to take a step away from where we are and move on to something else. When this is the case, and we”re ready to go, it”s hard when we sense God saying, “Wait just a minute.” It happened to Simon in Luke 5. Simon and other fishermen had

March 5, 2016

Christian Standard

Bigger Than “˜Bigger and Better”

By Chris Travis On the one hand, I get it. If you want a picture of what a church is like, then the number of people who come on Sundays fills in a lot of information quickly. But does it tell the whole story? I think we all know it doesn”t, and yet, we”re really not sure how else to define success. “What are you running on Sundays now?” Three different people asked me that question within five minutes. This was not at a church planting conference. This was at my home church! People didn”t ask how my wife was

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