The Secret to Great Preaching
The secret of great preaching, according to Charley Reeb, is to engage your listeners. Stop thinking about what would impress your seminary professors, he says,…
Browsing: Pastoral Ministry
Articles
9 Things Preachers Should Never Say
Many preachers shoot themselves in the foot when they start off with hackneyed or formulaic phrases that fail to capture the fleeting attention of those…
Management by Wishful Thinking?
Personnel matters in ministry settings are almost always more complicated than in business, says church leadership expert Mike Bonem. He names the shifts in attitude…
Why Year-End Evaluations Rarely Help Leaders Grow
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., explains why year-end performance evaluations are insufficient to help people grow and improve. While year-end reviews are important, ongoing feedback that…
3 Questions to Preserve Energy and Passion in Ministry
Heather Bradley and Miriam Bamberger Grogan are executive coaches with a particular concern for the wellbeing of clergy. They say that spiritual leaders are often…
Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church in 2016
Lovett H. Weems, Jr., reports that despite a modest but steady increase in the number of young clergy in the United Methodist Church over the…
Why You Can’t Build a Church around the Pastor
Reflecting on the forced resignation of a mega-church pastor in South Carolina, Roger Lovette says serious problems follow any time a church is built around…
Becoming the Person God Created You to Be
Laurie Haller says that clergy going into a new church can only lead effectively when they are authentic to who they know they are and…
The Myth of Balance
Karoline Lewis writes that the notion that one can keep all the important aspects of life in perfect balance is an unattainable myth. It can…
Clergy Personal Finance Resources
Our basic responsibility as Christian stewards is to manage our personal financial resources so that we can care for ourselves and our families and marshal…
More Than a Nonanxious Presence
When I came to my first local church appointment in California from the East Coast, about the only thing I had been told about the…
Ten Ways Congregations Can Promote the Financial Wellbeing of Clergy
Financial wellbeing is essential to the overall health and well being of those in pastoral ministry. Accordingly, the United Methodist Board of Pension and Health…
Why Clergy Personal Finances Matter
“For where your treasure is, there your heart shall be also.” (Matthew 6:21) Jesus talked a great deal about money. And in our monetized society,…
To the Point: Suggestions for Churches with a Clergywoman
Celebrate your new pastor. Know that your new pastor continues a tradition of women in ministry going back to biblical times. Do all that you…
Young Clergy Numbers Grow Among Young Clergywomen
For over ten years, the Lewis Center in partnership with the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits has reported annually on Clergy Age Trends in…
Commencement Season Lessons for All Leaders
Next Monday is Commencement for Wesley Theological Seminary of which the Lewis Center for Church Leadership is an integral part. Commencements are happy and glorious…
To the Point: Why Women Are Clergy
The many Christian denominations that ordain women as clergy do so for sound biblical, historical, and theological reasons — even though there are traditions that…
Should a Pastor Know What Church Members Give?
Every time I teach a stewardship workshop or class, this question invariably comes up: “Should a pastor have access to contribution records?” In some congregations,…
Five Leadership Insights I Wish I Knew 25 Years Ago
This summer marked 34 years in ministry for me. Although I appreciate what I learned in seminary, I have learned from experience five key lessons…
Trend toward Older Clergy Continues in 2014
For the past ten years, the Lewis Center in partnership with the General Board of Pension and Health Benefits has reported annually on Clergy Age…
Percentage of Older Clergy Reaches Record High
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership today released the 2013 version of its annual report on Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church. The report…
A Dialogue about Stewardship and Personal Finances
Too often, pastors discuss money with their parishioners in ways that suggest that stewardship is only about donating money to support the church. Faithful stewardship,…
Surmounting Leadership Defeats
How do we rebound from setbacks to our best-laid attempts to exercise responsible leadership in ministry? I recently returned from a large denominational gathering where…
The Risks and Rewards of Being an Associate Pastor
Let’s face it. Working as an associate pastor is not glamorous. You are not preaching every Sunday, your name is not on the church sign,…
Showing Appreciation for Your Pastor
Some of you may know that October is designated Pastor Appreciation Month in some denominations and congregations. This is not a major national observance, but…
The Older Clergy Bubble Grows Larger in 2012
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership today released the 2012 version of its annual report on Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church. The report,…
The Appropriate Use of Email in Church Leadership
In this era of electronic media, clergy are faced with particular challenges in pastoral conversations — particularly those conducted by email. This wonderfully efficient means…
2011 Clergy Age Trends Report Shows More Older and Younger Clergy
The Lewis Center for Church Leadership today released the 2011 version of its annual report Clergy Age Trends in the United Methodist Church. The report,…
Three New Books on Effective Pastoral Ministry
The pastoral excellence movement has given rise to a growing body of literature analyzing the nature of effective pastoral ministry and offering advice on how…
What Does a Pastor Do?
I’ve been a part of several conversations lately with new church attendees and community members where I have been asked the question: “Now, I know…
