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 "Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But if God be for you, who can be against you? Are all of them together stronger than God? O be not weary of well doing!"
- John Wesley 
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THE RESET BUTTON
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 by Loren Seibold I once heard a church member say about a conflict his congregation was going through, "I don't know if it's our pastor's fault or not, but if he leaves and we get a new pastor, things will go back to being good again." It's a popular belief that a congregation's difficulties can be fixed by changing pastors. That's the reset button: control+alt+delete one pastor, and reboot with a new one. It's a fix sometimes requested by lay leaders. Conference leaders, even if they know it's not the healthiest solution, rely on it as a quick and easy one. This idea rests on beliefs that, first, conflicts are in some way more attributable to the pastor than other causes; second, that pastors come and go anyway, so it's no skin off of the noses of the pastor and family to be forced to leave; and third, that it's better a pastor be sacrificed than that the whole church suffer. Except it's not always a solution. Take away the pastor, and you're still stuck with the congregation. When you look back through a congregation's history and see a series of conflicts, a series of pastorates ending badly, it's hard not to conclude there's something in the group's personality that makes this happen time after time. I once sat in on a professional church analyst's evaluation of a congregation. In studying their history he saw (and pointed out to them) that they had a pattern of feuds with pastors, with one another, and even with other congregations almost since their beginning. Pastors had left discouraged, whole families had periodically self-purged from the group. The pattern was continuing, and the remnant seemed almost proud of their pugnacious personality. Sometimes it is the pastor's fault. But not always. Perhaps not often. Most pastors I know are conscientious and very well-intentioned. Healthy groups should have the ability to deal with conflict and get past it. It's seldom handled that way, though. We default to solutions that don't require the exercise of spiritual maturity on the part of any of us, and so the pattern repeats. The strength of the Seventh-day Adventist personnel system is that a good pastor can get transferred to another parish. (For decades we believed frequent moves for pastors a virtue: don't stay anywhere long enough to encounter problems.) Pastors themselves may see leaving as the only possible way to bring peace, even if it means an upset for the family. That may also be the reason we've never nurtured skills for resolving conflicts in situ. It's just too easy to reboot. What do you think? Comment on our Facebook page.
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WHEN YOUR MISSION GETS IN THE WAY OF YOUR MARRIAGE
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 By Roger Hernandez
For the first ten years of my ministry, I was a terrific pastor and a terrible husband. I neglected my wife. I passed the responsibility of raising my kids on to baby sitters. I led a church well and it grew at a rate of 100 people per year, yet I was not present as a leader in my own home. This was my story. Too bad is repeated constantly. My "mission" got in the way of my marriage. It can happen to you too. Ministry is hard enough. Add the stress of issues at home. Many leaders and pastors have real trouble in their families that gets ignored, relegated or forgotten. Private problems almost always come back to affect public performance, usually in the worst possible moment. Here are three principles that have helped me that could also benefit you: 1. Don't force. One of the mistakes I made was using my family to achieve personal ministry goals. It was more about me, than them. Now I believe in involving the family in ministry, according to their gifts. My wife doesn't play the piano. My son doesn't preach. My daughter does. I had to learn to be encouraging without being demanding. Plug in your family according to their gifts, not your personal hobbyhorse. Respect the "no's". If you have more than one church, keep your family in the best possible church. Stop hauling your family like nomads from church to church, forcing them to be the only pathfinders, just so you can say you have a club. Let them develop relationships. People will criticize you for that and accuse you of preferring one church over another. Let them. Ask your family where they feel the most comfortable. Leave them there. 2. Don't forget. My family is my ministry. That doesn't mean I become lazy, or forget that I also have a job. But in the rare case that I have to choose, I choose my family. I have missed meetings to go see my daughter or son play, (even though the teams they were on were terrible). Next year, my kids will go to boarding school. My wife and I will drive the 1.5 hours to Calhoun to see them play. They are with us for a short time. So I will make the sacrifice. I have found that if you choose the important, God takes care of the urgent. Important fact: the moment I decided to be a real father and husband, my church grew more. 3. Don't forget (part 2): My wife told me about a month ago: "Honey, we are always doing these family weekend retreats, and preaching messages about families. Why don't you and I go to a retreat, not to preach, but to learn and grow?" Great idea. I booked a weekend in a Family Life Weekend to Remember. No kids. No responsibilities. No sermon prep. Nothing to fix, present, or prepare for. Just 72 hours of marriage enrichment. Pastor, below is the link. It's free! (Church leader, it's not free for you, but still affordable.) Don't forget what is really important. After the kids have gone, and after the church work has ended, you will still have your spouse. Work on your marriage first. Discuss this on our Facebook page!
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BEST PRACTICES WEBINAR - JUNE 18
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WANTED: A FEW GOOD SERMONS
Have you lost your passion to preach the gospel? Do you desire to sharpen your preaching skills? Would you like to know some keys for better sermonic preparation?
THIS WEBINAR IS FOR YOU!
Dr. Hyveth Williams, Professor of Homiletics at the Andrews University Theological Seminary in Berrien Springs, Michigan, will address, "Prophetic Preaching."
What makes a sermon connect with the listener? What are the essentials for making a sermon so clear children remember?
Find out how to preach with contemporary relevance and how to maintain your passion for preaching. Join us with your preaching interests.
Date: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Time: 1:30 PM - 2:30 PM EDT
https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/686972032.
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the Webinar.
There will be no WEBINAR in the month of JULY due to the camp meeting schedule for pastors.
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READING FOR PASTORS
| Could the Sabbath be the means for saving the planet? Matthew Sleeth thinks so. Quote: "I believe that the church has sat on the real estate in time called sabbath for thousands of years and that essentially we've given up the lease on that. I do not believe that the church will survive without it. I think we'll either reclaim it or we will lose the church."
Maybe shorter sermons are more effective than long ones? Quote: "The reality is, there are few people who can preach longer than 30 minutes without losing their audience. A good philosophy is to leave them wanting more, not wanting to get out!"
Bivocational ministry may be the future for all of us, says this church leader. Quote: "I am arguing that the church as a whole, not just individuals, must recover our gift of founding institutions, generating entrepreneurship, innovating in ways that are faithful to the gospel and fund ministry."
According to LeadershipFreak, sometimes passion isn't enough. "Passion keeps you doing the same ineffective things."
Everyone is surprised that the Bible is now a best-seller in Norway. Quote: "Church attendance is a poor measure of the Norwegian state of faith, Religion is a very private thing for Norwegians."
If Boy Scouts is in trouble with conservatives, could Pathfinders fill the gap?
In adoption overseas, Evangelical Christians can find themselves in the midst of complicated problems.
Religious liberty: is prayer OK in public meetings? Quote: "The rare handful of cases, over the course of a decade, in which individuals from other faiths delivered the invocation, cannot overcome the impression, created by the steady drumbeat of often specifically sectarian Christian prayers, that the town's prayer practice associated the town with the Christian religion."
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TO THE POINT: PERSISTENCE
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"Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm." - Winston Churchill "Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan Press On! has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race." - Calvin Coolidge "I haven't failed. I've found 10,000 ways that don't work." - Thomas Edison "Knowing trees, I understand the meaning of patience. Knowing grass, I can appreciate persistence." - Hal Borland "I think and think for months and years, ninety-nine times, the conclusion is false. The hundredth time I am right." - Albert Einstein "I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot...and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And thats precisely why I succeed." - Michael Jordan "There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." - Beverly Sills "When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven't. " - Thomas Edison |
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IDEAS, EVENTS, RESOURCES, ANNOUNCEMENTS
| Just a reminder that articles from Best Practices for Adventist Ministry can be shared in your newsletter, website or Facebook page, with attribution to Best Practices and the author of the piece.
The Revelation of Hope meetings (June 7-15 in New York City) will not be streamed live as planned. They will be recorded and broadcast at a later time as a series on the Hope Church Channel.
Turning Point - a half hour inspirational program on Hope Channel and The Adventist Channel will feature an interview with Don Livesay, president of the Lake Union Conference tonight, June 5 at 8:30 and 11:30 p.m. ET on Hope Channel.
The Center for Creative Ministry has just released its newest resource: Sharing Scripture Mobile. It's inspirational content for individuals on-the-go; refreshed every week and available on any smart device.
The theme correlates with that week's topic and Scriptural focus found in the Adult Quarterly of the Sabbath School Lesson. Sharing Scripture Mobile is for the person who wants to reflect on God's grace any time, any place, whether or not he or she attends a church group.
Women's ministries emphasis day June 8: get resources for the service here.
Previous resource links: |
Best Practices for Adventist Ministry is published by NAD Ministerial. Publisher: Ivan Williams; Managing Editor: Dave Gemmell. Copyright 2012 North American Division Corporation of Seventh-day Adventists. v(301) 680-6418
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