Six Great Lessons For Pastors

Sometime back I read a great book by a pastor named David Cripps. He served as pastor in Georgia from the 1930’s – 1980’s and has tons of wisdom, some of which I gleaned and posted on a blog called Every Church Is A Challenge.

Here’s a list of tips for pastors as they begin and continue to serve in local church ministry.

Study Your Situation

Study your current church and evaluate what it needs to move forward. If we can spend our time solving problems, working to improve and seeking to move forward, most of the petty things will seemingly take care of themselves. We will be focused on solutions and growth, not on issues, most of which are beyond our control. Think about your church, think about what can be done to bring improvements and act on them – big or small!

Stay Courageous During Impossible Situations

Do not become easily discouraged in the face of what seems to be impossible situations. If you’ve been in ministry for any amount of time, you know the life challenges and difficulties that can be presented to you and to those in your congregation. Stay courageous, trusting that God will bring you through the storm!

Patiently Lead

Exercise patience with leading, so the proper work can be accomplished. Non-patient work can wreck momentum. It can cause problems and derail the end goal. It’s not easy to lead people in the church. But one great characteristic is patience as people grasp the vision, understand the expectations and get a grip on their call and role in Kingdom ministry.

Use Past Experience

Draw on past experience to solve current problems. Have you ever considered the sobering thought that everything you’ve experienced to this point has prepared you for this moment? Rely on past experience from other work and ministry settings to solve problems and move forward. Use past experience to be creative and build on things that have worked well.

Build A Capable Team

Employ capable people who will help expand the ministry of the church. You can’t do it alone. Don’t fall into the trap of staffing for maintenance. Be sure you are encouraging and challenging your church staff to be leaders of leaders. Create and encourage opportunities for your team to grow through training, inspiration and learning at conferences, and with coaching.

Give Credit To The Church and Glory To God

Let the church take the credit for all the good that happens. Give glory to God for the success. Tell your people “thank you” often. Pass along praise you receive as the leader and encourage the church to be the church!

I write with church leaders in mind and I would be honored to have you join me by subscribing to the blog. You can take a look at the top posts here. The posts are categorized: pastors, worship leaders, student ministry and kids ministry. In case we’re just meeting, here’s little about my life.