A Guide for Your Personal Worship Entering Holy Week
A sample day’s readings from O Sacred Head, Now Wounded, a 48-day devotional liturgy to help readers effectively prepare their hearts from Pascha (Easter) to Pentecost.
Articles on Church Leadership
336 results found
What Your Church Needs More than Productivity
Prayer shows our dependence on God. It honors him as the source of all blessing, and it reminds us that converting individuals and growing churches are his works, not ours.
Who’s in Charge at Church? 3 Ways the Answer Is You
The whole congregation has the responsibility for its health, its preaching, and its membership. All the members together are responsible.
What Should We Do When Members Won’t Attend?
Pursuing longstanding non-attenders and disciplining those who can’t be found is a mark of a healthy church.
An Open Letter to the Preacher Writing a Sermon
Grace is slow sometimes. But grace is also powerful. The Lord will do his work.
Our work, when earnestly undertaken, lays us open to attacks in the direction of depression.
The Mission of Your Church Will Shape How You Think
A church’s mission impacts what kind of church you will join. Different churches will shape your conscience, your spiritual life, and your worship differently.
Podcast: The Church's Leadership Crisis (Paul David Tripp)
What is the church's leadership crisis and what is the solution?
The way deacons are described in the New Testament and the way they operate is that they are exemplary servants who function on behalf of a congregation to assist the elders by doing at least three things.
Dear Pastor . . . Save Your Church from Yourself
Pastor, you also must keep a close watch on yourself. Neglect your own soul, and your public teaching, however seemingly fruitful, is a ticking time bomb.
A pastor preaches on marriage often enough to know how a husband should love his wife, right?
How to Pray When You Want to Give Up in Ministry
If you’ve been in the pastorate very long, you most likely have considered walking away and doing something else—anything else—with our lives.
Why Pastors Should Catechize Their Congregations
Catechism benefits adults and children alike by giving them a deeper understanding of theology and the ability to communicate those beliefs well.
Don’t Let Go of God’s Sovereignty over Your Worst
God did and does have something to do with your tragedy. I know this sounds like a cruel statement, but stay with me. There is hope in the end.
What If I Differ with My Pastor on Politics?
You may disagree with your pastor’s approach on a particular issue. He could be wrong. You could be wrong. It may be important enough to leave. It may not.
Dear Pastor . . . We Are Out of Balance
The world as God created it was designed with perfect balance. What is balance? It is everything in its right place doing what it was meant to do. We cannot even picture such a world.
6 Purposes for Plural Leadership
Leading in community puts us under a holy spotlight. But it’s all part of God’s plan and protection.
3 Crucial Qualities of All Good Sermons
Pastors need all three of these views in order to give an accurate account of what God is doing and will do.
Reviving a Classical Vision of Pastoral Ministry
Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite
According to Scripture, the pastor first and foremost prays (Acts 6), shepherds his people (1 Pet. 5), lives a virtuous life in the Spirit, and upholds sound teaching in local settings.
Dear Pastor . . . Your Leadership Is Needed in the Pulpit
Pastor, the work of shepherding God’s people naturally involves and requires good leadership. There’s no more important place for that to happen than in your preaching ministry every week.
How Do We Define “Success” in Ministry?
We do the work of pastoral ministry so that our people might treasure Christ together. That’s the often unheralded yet beautiful definition of “success.”
Joanne J. Jung, Richard Langer
These statements about leadership are endorsed by our culture, but may not be true. In fact, these statements may even be harmful to individuals and organizations and the missions they pursue.
Dear Pastor, Slowing Down Might Just Save Your Ministry
Coleman M. Ford, Shawn J. Wilhite
In the past five years alone, how many reading this have questioned your calling, lost ministry friends and co-laborers, or have grown generally weary?
How to Make Time for Your Family as a Pastor
Even the busiest pastors can make it a priority and count it a privilege to spend quality time with their families.
Dear Pastor . . . Pride Is a Subtle Enemy
How frequently does pride come with us into our studies and sit with us as we prepare our sermon? How often does it choose our subject and more often choose our words and ornaments?
Dear Pastor . . . You Should Follow More Than You Lead
Joanne J. Jung, Richard Langer
We challenge people to lead, we train and equip them to lead, and we celebrate and praise them for leading (or condemn them as the case may be). Followership, in contrast, is almost completely ignored.
Explaining and defining terms in preaching are both important—but that's not all a preacher is to do.
Dear Pastor . . . the Sabbath Was Made for You Too
The exhaustion that comes from trying to hold things together in such a hostile climate eventually takes a toll on pastors.
4 Ways to Prepare for Ministry
Perhaps you’re looking for boxes to check, some way to easily measure your progress toward the pastorate. Now you’re left feeling a bit frustrated. So what now?
How to Avoid Pastoral Arrogance
There are two things that a new pastor experiences that can help knock the smirk off an ego‘s face.