Thoughtful Reflections on Faith and Life
Churches are starting new ministries and programs all the time. But how does a church choose whether or not to start a particular ministry? One of the bad motives for starting a ministry is also one of the tempting ways. People in the congregation have fond memories of a past ministry. People can look back … Read More “A Bad Motive For Starting a Church Ministry” »
One of the most important lessons I have learned in my two decades as a pastor is that it is important to choose our battles. Neglecting this can easily destroy the pastor and/or the congregation. What do I mean by “choose our battles”? Not every issue is worth throwing our full effort to either promote … Read More “An Important Lesson For Christian Ministry” »
Growing up, I thought the church was the building. The church was a place that people went to. It was only as I grew in my faith that I understood that the people are the church and the building is a place for the church to meet. While there is still some confusion in this … Read More “The Church is Not a Building But Take Care of That Building” »
Yesterday, we had a town hall meeting at our church. This was to look at, among other things, ways we do outreach and ways we welcome. Numerous topics came up and one of them was disabilities. Although I’m an advocate for people with disabilities, I wasn’t the one who brought it up. A lady in … Read More “What Churches Need to Know About People With Disabilities” »
There are many activities that a pastor can be involved in but prayer is one of the most important. There are many things that we can pray for but one of the most important is to pray for our congregation. Pastors can have congregations ranging from 20 people to 20,000 people but no size should … Read More “31 Days to Become a Better a Pastor: Pray For Your Congregation” »
The two most important things a pastor needs to do is to love God and love people. Often the loving of God comes easier than the love for people. Some people are easier to love than others. What does it mean for us to love our congregations? It doesn’t necessarily mean that we are filled … Read More “31 Days to Become a Better Pastor: Love Your Congregation” »
There is a trend for churches to change their names. Sometimes it is to find something a bit more trendy or hip (e.g. Explosion Church) but more often it is to just remove the denominational affiliation from their name. Listen to this episode of Revitalize and Replant for an interesting discussion on name changes. The … Read More “Should Churches Remove The Denomination From Their Name?” »
I have had numerous titles during my ministry career. I have been pastor, reverend, padre, chaplain, captain and hopefully soon, doctor. But what titles, if any, should a pastor use? In my first ministry placement as a seminary student, I worked as a youth pastor. My senior pastor told me that he wanted the youth … Read More “Pastors and Titles” »
Between my time as the pastor of Woodford Baptist Church/First Baptist Church Meaford and my current church of Queen Street Baptist Church, I had an opportunity to wrestle with my calling. During that time, I was teaching an almost full load of courses, between Emmanuel Bible College and Tyndale University College. I thought about my … Read More “On Being a Pastor and Teacher” »
I’m increasingly hearing calls for pastors to step back from pastoral care. Experts in church growth are claiming that one of the most important things to do to grow a church is for the pastor to cease involvement in pastoral care. It has been observed that pastoral care is one of the limiting factors for … Read More “Should Pastors Be Involved in Pastoral Care?” »
What does a pastor do? There are different types of pastors (solo, lead, associate, youth, executive) and so there are different responsibilities. But I can share what my priorities are in my role as the lead pastor of Queen Street Baptist Church. This is not to say that these are all my duties but rather … Read More “My 4 Priorities as a Pastor” »
Although things have changed, there are still people who place pastors on pedestals. There is nothing wrong with respecting pastors. Pastors study a lot and work hard to help in the spiritual development of their congregations. But sometimes people forget that pastors are just regular folk. Unrealistic expectations can lead to a painful fall from … Read More “5 Things You Need to Know About Pastors” »
I love being a pastor and I’m so thankful that the opportunity to return to pastoral ministry came after a three year break. I appreciate the work of my colleagues in ministry and I am very aware how easy it is to go off track. Here are seven questions that I and other pastors need … Read More “7 Questions Pastors Need to Regularly Ask” »
The CDC has reported that 1 in 68 children are born with autism. Your church needs decide if you want to include or exclude people with autism. Most churches take the steps to be accessible for physical disabilities with elevators and wheelchair ramps. What about those with disabilities such as autism? Here are some practical … Read More “Tips to Becoming an Autism-Friendly Church” »
I believe that apologetics is important and not just for those interested in apologetics. Apologetics is especially important for pastors, whether they like it or not. The fact is that there is a steady stream of anti-Christian apologetics hitting our people and ignoring Christian apologetics is not going to stop that. While I’m not suggesting … Read More “7 Ways Pastors Can Begin to Integrate Apologetics into Their Ministry” »
The challenge for preaching is that most churches don’t have a homogeneous congregation. The people who are listening to the message are coming from different backgrounds and perspectives. I think that its is a mistake to write a sermon that attempts to cover every group. It is better to find out what most of the … Read More “5 Different People That Pastors Preach To” »
Although the financial year for a church might start in January, the ministry year really starts in September. As I write this, September is just a couple of days away. Pastors should not just walk into the new ministry year blindly. Here are five questions that pastors should ask at the beginning of the ministry … Read More “5 Questions Pastors Should Ask at the Beginning of the Ministry Year” »
I really enjoying being the pastor of a local congregation. It is a fulfilling and stretching career. But how did I get to this point? What led me to pastoral ministry? This post is about how I first went into ministry. For the story of how I returned to ministry after a three year break, … Read More “How I Was Called Into Pastoral Ministry” »
Being the pastor of a church can be a rewarding experiencing. However, much of that depends on the nature of the congregation. Individuals within a church have the power to make or break the experience of the pastor. Assuming that the congregation wants the pastor to be effective in ministry, here are five ways that … Read More “5 Ways a Church Can Support Their Pastor” »
I have heard from a number of people who have been frustrated when their church leadership does not seem interested in apologetics. You have read the books and have been to the conferences and you know how powerful apologetics can be. But when you talk to your pastor, there seems to be no interest. What … Read More “How to Talk to Your Pastor About Apologetics” »
I recently wrote a blog post called Don’t Be That Apologist, where I gave some examples of apologists (without names) that are bad examples. I thought I would do the same thing for pastors. As a pastor, I have made plenty of mistakes and have witnessed mistakes by other pastors. Unfortunately there are lots of bad … Read More “Don’t Be That Pastor” »
The unfortunate reality is that not all pastors finish well. We hear about the pastors of megachurches who have moral failures but it happens in small churches all the time. The key is not to wait until the pastor is in burnout or is dealing with the consequences of bad choices. Like every other area … Read More “4 Questions Pastors Need to Ask” »
Being an associate pastor can be a very rewarding ministry in a local church. One of the advantages of being an associate pastor is that you often have a more focused ministry portfolio than a solo pastor who has to do everything. I was a youth pastor for four years and an associate pastor for … Read More “5 Tips for Associate Pastors” »
I first had the role of a pastor in 1996 and have been ordained since 2001. I have been a youth pastor, associate pastor and solo pastor. I have been in traditional and contemporary churches, rural and downtown churches. Of course there have been some challenging times but overall I enjoy my career as a … Read More “5 Things That I Love About Being a Pastor” »
I once talked to a pastor who said that they expected pastors to work 50 hours a week. Their reasoning was that they expect each church member to volunteer ten hours a week plus a full-time job is forty hours a week. Between the pastor’s paid and volunteer time, it should be 50 hours. I … Read More “How Many Hours Should a Pastor Work?” »
One of the biggest challenges for pastors is preparing one sermon for a congregation that is extremely diverse in their knowledge and experience. It is impossible to design a message that will touch everyone where they are at. But it is important to have sense of where people are at, so that over the span … Read More “4 Things That Pastors Need to Remember About Their Congregation” »
I am a firm believer that attending a worship service should not be a passive experience. We can do much more than just soak up whatever is offered to us. One of the ways that we can be active is to pray throughout the service. But what should we be praying about during the service? … Read More “7 Things For You to Pray About at Church” »
I am not currently pastoring a church but I did pastor for fourteen years, nine in the same two-point charge. I really enjoyed pastoring and I left because of some life circumstances more than any disgruntlement about pastoral ministry. But there is something that I found very hard and it continues to affect me. When … Read More “What I Find Hardest About Pastoring” »
Pastors have it easy, they only work one day a week. Except the reality is that many pastors work seven days a week, even if they are not in the office. In this episode, I share some of what the average week of a pastor may look like. I understand that every pastoral role is … Read More “What Does a Pastor Actually Do?” »
One of the greatest frustrations of people involved in apologetics is the lack of interest in their congregations. “Apologetics is so great! Why can’t everyone else see that?” To be honest, there probably was a time when you weren’t interested in apologetics. It does no good to get frustrated. As someone said, “Instead of cursing … Read More “3 Things You Can Do to Encourage Apologetics in Your Church” »
This is not a guide of how to start conflict if you are currently in a good relationship with your pastor. Rather, this post will seek to give some suggestions on how to deal with conflict in a healthy way. Should you ever disagree with your pastor? Sure. Why not? Having a “Reverend” in front … Read More “How to Have Conflict With Your Pastor” »
One of my goals is to equip churches to minister to families dealing with disabilities, especially autism. I have an ebook planned on this very topic. This post is aimed at the mid-sized to small church that suddenly has a family with a child with autism attending. What is it that the church needs to know? … Read More “7 Things Churches Need to Know About Autism” »
You may be a part of the leadership of a church that has a pastor interested in reserve military chaplaincy. Your pastor may have introduced the subject and you are not sure what to think. Why should the church be willing to support a pastor interested in military chaplaincy? Isn’t it just a distraction from the … Read More “Why Should a Church Support Their Pastor in Military Chaplaincy?” »
Being in pastoral ministry is one of the most rewarding careers available. At the same time it is stressful and there are all too many cases of burnout. Pastoral ministry does not have to lead to burnout. There are some steps that you can take that will help to keep you healthy. 1. Focus on your … Read More “5 Tips to Prevent Pastor Burnout” »
I have pastored for twenty years and I recommend it as one way to serve God. I had an extremely positive experience but there are certain things that people should understand before beginning a career as a pastor. 1. Your family will not have a pastor This is one of the most important things you must … Read More “5 Things to Know Before You Become a Pastor” »
I often hear people complaining that they do not feel fed at church. By this they usually mean they do not like the pastor’s sermons. I will admit that I have been there before. So what should you do if you feel this way? Here are five suggestions. 1. Get over it There is no biblical … Read More “5 Things to Do If You Do Not “Feel Fed” at Church” »
I recently blogged on how I understand the call to ministry. I mentioned in passing that I felt called to ministry (even though I understand that call differently now) but that now I am not in congregational ministry. I was ordained as a pastor with the Canadian Baptists of Ontario and Quebec. I pastored at … Read More “What Does It Mean to Be an Ex-Pastor?” »
I pastored for fourteen years. While I have lots yet to learn, I did come to understand some things. As a person who now attends rather than pastoring a church, some of those lessons have a new meaning. I am assuming that you want the best for your pastor (Unfortunately, I know that is not … Read More “5 Ways to Bless Your Pastor” »
I know that you have a lot on your plate. You need to prepare sermons, organize a worship service, visit the sick and shut-ins and attend meetings. As society moves farther into the post-Christian era, it is harder to get people into the church. As many have noted, the attractional model no longer works and … Read More “Dear Pastor” »
