Click a Title to Hear a Bit Of Wisdom

Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Change Management, Church Growth & Vitality, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Governance, Leadership Development, Managing Expectations, Team Building Tagged with

18 min 49 s

Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz & Rev. Todd Weir

How church leaders learned to see the bigger picture – from the balcony rather than just the dance floor;

Equipping lay leaders to be able to lead collaboratively with the next settled pastor…

Tips for the interim minister when following a strong successful settled pastorate (it’s not as easy as it sounds);

How to effect change at the cultural level, not just the program level – with examples;

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Posted in Assessments and Evaluations, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, Leadership Development, Staff Tagged with

18 min 50 s

Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz & Rev. Todd Weir

Some specific examples of nurturing & empowering the staff during the interim time;

Implementing a staff evaluation process during the interim time – some specifics;

How having a staff evaluation process in place is so helpful to the next settled pastor;

Questions to ask to help staff thrive;

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Posted in Church Growth & Vitality, Faith Formation, Spiritual Formation, Team Building Tagged with

9 min 49 s

Rev. Niki Harvell

Play can be that difference between a meeting being just business, or meeting being ministry (some examples);

Shifting the headspace at the start of your meeting so the Spirit can flow;

Are your church meetings too much business and not enough fun and joy?

Play has so many benefits for not only individuals, but for our ministries and our leadership.

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Posted in Church Growth & Vitality, Faith Formation, Spiritual Formation, Team Building, Volunteers Tagged with

11 min 50 s

Rev. Niki Harvell

Injecting Play into Curriculum, like Confirmation, can boost engagement and focus purpose;

Tips and examples for how to incorporate play easily into class curriculums;

Advice for the leader who doesn’t think of themselves as a “play” person – who feels uncomfortable leading a play activity;

Play directly affects people’s level of engagement and motivation;

Using play to release Holy Spirit energy!

Play has so many benefits for not only individuals, but for our ministries and our leadership.

Examples of simple and more advanced games;

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Posted in Change Management, Church Growth & Vitality, Governance, Leadership Development, Pastoral Care, Team Building, Volunteers Tagged with

11 min 31 s

Rev. Joe Graumann

Are your Church Council meetings a drag? You know – people come because they have to, persevering through a meeting that’s bogged down in procedures and run with a lack of imagination. Boring! Lots of time and energy is wasted. When can I go home?! If so, Rev. Joe Graumann offers some simple changes that can make Council meetings more fun and productive – ones that people will actually looking forward to attending – in this episode titled, “Flipping and Equipping the Church Council for Fun (enjoyable) and Productive Meetings”

Using the Relational Model for Council meetings – put cool stuff up front and

Reports submitted in advance;

Tapping into the flexibility offered by Roberts’ Rules;

Moving New & Old Business before the committee reports;

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Posted in Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Legacy Churches / Church Closing, Pastoral Care Tagged with

15 min 23 s

Rev. Lindsey Peterson

The church needs non-church people – and not on our terms. We need non-church people on their creative terms;

Partnering magic is an inside / outside dance;

Helping folks see the bigger landscape where the magic of partnering is happening;

Magic happens when the church is lovingly shaken out of its habitual way of being by the freshness of creative spaces – arts and culture, movement, visual arts;

We agreed on the vision that our building will become a community center – but we’re in the middle of knowing what that will actually look like, how it will turn out, what it will really mean for people…how will it actually happen?

Helping the congregation to recognize that there’s wisdom and capability outside of the congregation that our vision needs for it to succeed;

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Posted in Buildings and Property, Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Legacy Churches / Church Closing, Pastoral Care, Stewardship Tagged with

12 min 41 s

Rev. Lindsey Peterson

Questions to direct us from a spirit-lead, and justice lead-perspective around how we are being nudged to use or give away material assets and resources;

Parsing the question of What is ours to give away, now?

What is ours?

What is ours?

What is ours to give away?

What is ours to give away now?

How to know when you’ve really released something – given it away?

  • there’s space in you;
  • there’s a lightening of your load;
  • you breathe deeper;
  • you feel a little lighter…

The opening of emotional space created by the release can breed hope;

You can never lose a thing if it belongs to you.

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Posted in Church Growth & Vitality, Conflict Management, Entering and Engaging the Congregation, External Relations, Pastoral Care, Staff Tagged with

16 min 58 s

Rev. Peter Ilgenfritz & Rev. Todd Weir

It’s about more than boundaries…

Having a pastoral conversation about moving on – framing the conversation as about their own life and ministry;

Who are you now? Who do you need to be? How are you going to be in a way that serves the church, and this next pastor?

Helping them to relate to the congregation in a new way and have a new story;

And about grief – about letting go of the host of emotions that get tangled up in us when we’ve served a beloved community for a long period of time.

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Posted in Buildings and Property, Change Management, Church Decline, Church Growth & Vitality, Legacy Churches / Church Closing, Pastoral Care, Stewardship Tagged with

12 min 48 s

Rev. Lindsey Peterson

Is your church in that anxious place of diminished vitality where folks are throwing out ideas left and right in a desperate effort to right the ship – “We ought to do this?” or, “We could attract young families again if we just did that!” etc.?

If so, the Holy No! can help clarify what is ours to do at this time – and what is not. In this episode, Rev. Lindsey Peterson takes us inside her own congregation and how they are using the Holy No! to focus and to empower.

Questions to direct us from a spirit-lead, and justice lead-perspective around how we are being nudged to use or give away material assets and resources;

Parsing the question of What is ours to give away, now?

What is ours?

What is ours?

What is ours to give away?

What is ours to give away now?

How to know when you’ve really released something – given it away?

  • there’s space in you;
  • there’s a lightening of your load;
  • you breathe deeper;
  • you feel a little lighter…

The opening of emotional space created by the release can breed hope;

You can never lose a thing if it belongs to you.

Listen or Read Now!
Posted in Church Growth & Vitality, Governance, Leadership Development, Self-Care, Staff, Team Building, Volunteers Tagged with

11 min 25s

Rev. Joe Graumann

In smaller churches, pastors often spend lots of time on things that parishioners aren’t even aware they are spending their time on – especially things that others could do as well. This, of course, takes time and energy away from things pastors are specifically trained to do and people are expecting them to do. Consequently, the pastor feels overworked and exhausted, leading to resentment by the pastor and upset by parishioners when the pastor isn’t available to do what is expected of them – what they have been trained to do and is in their job description.

In this episode titled, “How I Enable My Parishioners to Support Me in Using My Time & Energy Wisely As Their Pastor,” Rev. Joe Graumann shares how he manages this challenge in a way that all parties feel respected, the pastor’s time and energies are employed well, and the needs of the church are met too.

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