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30 in 30: Pay Attention and Listen

This is part of a blog series that has 30 practical tips for the pastor looking to start or restart well. You can get the entire series as a Kindle book. The landing page will be updated with each new post.

Pay Attention and Listen

This one is similar to #2, but it highlights something that pastors struggle with: being quiet.

It doesn’t matter what your title is or how much authority you have people are sizing you up. My first ministry was in a small town and I lived in the church parsonage. One of my first days I went to the local diner for lunch and the waitress I didn’t know looked at me and said: “I hear you’re getting married.” Another time I left the basement lights on for a night and the next Sunday people were asking me what I was working on and if I was going to change the house.

Coming to a new church is an interesting sociological experience. Those people that aggressively seek you out are trying to impress you or gauge where you stand for a conversation down the road. So even though you have to take what they say with a grain of salt what they tell you is informative.

In those first 30 days you can quickly figure out what the past scars are and what agendas people are pushing. To do this though you have to be willing to be quiet and listen.

April 17, 2012 in Challenging, Encouraging, Practical with 1 Comment

Finding a Church Job: Volunteer First

This is part 5 of a blog series called Finding a Church Job.

You may not want to hear this, but you should volunteer first.

That’s right work for free and find a way to pay your bills working retail or busing tables. It isn’t glamorous, but that’s the point.

Maintain Control

You can find a job at an online job board, but you will also find a lot of jobs that churches can’t seem to fill.

The church is a mess, leadership is dysfunctional, you would be following a legend or a train wreck, there is a reason they can’t find someone. Walking into an interview blind knowing nothing about the church is not a spot you want to be in.

When you volunteer first you get to try out the church for yourself and get a more accurate feel for the church and the community. You get to pick the place and context of ministry. It isn’t picked for you.

I don’t believe that every call to ministry that God puts on our lives has a specific place. If it does then ignore this, but if you don’t feel a call to a certain place you need to have some control over the situation as you look for something that is a good fit for you and the community.

April 12, 2012 in Challenging, Encouraging, Practical with 2 Comments

Why I’m Not Posting Job Openings

With the new series underway on finding a church job it made sense to help facilitate the process. To post job openings and profiles of Rookie Pastors looking for work. When I floated the idea on Twitter and Facebook I even had some encouraging responses.

But for now I have decided to pass on the idea.

It was a way to expand this ministry and help other Rookie Pastors. But I don’t think I could pull it off without taking away from something.

It was a way to drive more traffic to the blog. I make no apologies for trying to monetize this endeavor and a job board would increase my traffic, but it would distract from the core mission.

It is important to me to do this right and I don’t have the technical expertise or the resources to pull this off that would match how it looks in my mind.

This was a good thing, but not a great thing.

Over the last few months I have been able to interact with, advise, and pray with other Rookie Pastors via email, over the phone, and face to face. It has been these interactions that push me to forward and leave me encouraged.

During this same time period by blog metrics Rookie Pastor has seen incredible growth. I knew releasing an eBook for free as an incentive to sign up for an email list would lead to growth but not at the levels I have seen. I had hoped that I could finally get this thing profitable, just didn’t think I’d cover my annual expenses in three weeks.

So yes I will be continuing to add sponsors. And yes more eBooks are on the way. And yes you will still get what you have been getting. But you won’t be getting a job board.

However I am always willing to help.

April 11, 2012 in Practical with 9 Comments

30 in 30: Ask Every Question

Ask Every Question

Never will you have the opportunity that you have in front of you, the opportunity to play dumb.

As soon as you walked into the building for that first interview you saw things that you wanted to change and in these first few days you are seeing plenty more things you want to change.

Instead of coming in and forcing change creating plenty of enemies in the process get people to explain why they do what they are doing. Force them to vocalize the reasoning behind something and don’t be afraid to pursue clarity. Not only are you figuring out exactly what is behind the program, attitude, or decorative plant in the process you are building allies for change.

April 10, 2012 in Challenging, Encouraging, Practical with 2 Comments

It is Finished

link.

April 7, 2012 in Encouraging, Practical with 0 Comments

Finding a Church Job: Make the Ask

This is part 4 of a blog series called Finding a Church Job.

Fear is creative. It has a way of producing all sorts of excuses to not make the ask.

Awhile back I had an opportunity to connect with a pastor that I respect and whose books proved instrumental to my development as a pastor. Knowing he was in the area to speak I reached out for lunch. He couldn’t make it initially, but in the last-minute he contacted me to say he was available. I came up with a lame excuse and watched TV instead.

I was in, but it was the fear that I gave into.

How many times have you given into fear?

You are looking for work. You are looking for a ministry. You are looking for a way to use your God ordained gifts to bring about the Kingdom and pay some bills in the process. And we are too fearful to ask for a job.

April 5, 2012 in Challenging, Practical with 1 Comment

30 in 30: Learn Names

Learn Names

The easiest way to show people you care is remember their names.

Forgetting someone’s name a few weeks in can create a barrier between you and that person that could last for years. It isn’t fair, but it’s the reality.

You do have a few interactions where you can get away with a wrong name or asking someone you’ve already met what their name is, but you’re taking a risk. You can only apologize so many times.

For whatever reason in my ministry experiences there are always a few people that I can’t seem to get their names right. In one situation after getting the name wrong and apologizing repeatedly it finally stuck, but for years later she liked to remind me of what I used to call her.

Everyone says that they are horrible at remembering names, except for the people that figure out a system to remember that works for them.

April 3, 2012 in Challenging, Encouraging, Practical with 1 Comment

Young People Are Leaving: What Are You Doing About It?

It seems that every other post in my Google Reader account is about young people leaving the church and not coming back. I think those of us in youth ministry saw this coming. Either among our peers or the students that graduated from our ministry, people didn’t come back.

Like many of you I read unChristian and the subsequent follow-ups The Next Christians and You Lost Me. We even covered so of the information from the books here.

The data is known. The response isn’t.

So what are you doing about it?

Seriously, let us know in the comments.

March 31, 2012 in Practical with 11 Comments

Blog Series: 30 in 30

This is the landing page for a new blog series. You can get the entire series as a Kindle book.

A pastor is a unique profession. Before I got into it I thought my time would used for study, counseling, and creative planning sessions. Sure that happens but I overlooked the relational aspect of ministry. Everything you do from your time with God to how you treat your neighbors comes back to relationships.

If you are just getting started in ministry then read this, or at least skim it. If ministry feels stale and you want to start fresh without trying to find a new job, read this. These 30 tips and practices are born out of personal experience. Things that I did that worked and things that I overlooked and regretted.

Each Tuesday I’ll post another chapter with the links updated here.

I love the thought of getting your feedback on the individual chapters, so let me know what you like and what you didn’t like in the comments.

March 30, 2012 in Challenging, Encouraging, Practical with 0 Comments

Finding a Church Job: Networking for Real People

This is part 3 of a blog series called Finding a Church Job.

I hate networking.

The idea of a room filled with people wearing name tags forcing conversations with strangers puts me in a cold sweat. Identity is your job title and passion is your next project. As an introvert networking is somewhere between root canals and a tax audit.

Obviously I make all this a bigger deal than it really is. My guess is that most of you feel the same way as I do.

If you want to find a church job though you can’t rely only on online job boards you have to network. Since most of us don’t care for the stereotypical version of networking you can do it differently.

You have develop relationships and connections with other pastors. Which means you are going to have to reach out and not just find but create opportunities. Just don’t be creepy about it.

So here are 5 ways to “be” different (once I started I couldn’t stop, I am a pastor) and network for real people.

Be Focused

Leeches. That’s what I think of when going into a networking situation. People that are looking for anyone that can help them get another step ahead. So when you are looking for a job don’t cast a wide net.

Narrow your search down a geographic area, type of role, or type of church. Don’t talk to just anyone but talk to those in that field or area.

When someone comes up to me and says they are looking for a job and will go anywhere it isn’t that I lose interest, but I don’t make the same connections I would if they said they were looking to join a church plant or be a worship pastor.

Find the connectors in your area. The people who host meet-ups or seem to know everyone else.