Focus on Four

Pastors have a tremendous amount of responsibility.  We face an endless list of things that need our attention from our families, our churches, our communities and our own personal needs.  At times, I find myself looking for the phrase, "He gave some to be jugglers" in Ephesians 4...but it's not there.  Whether we are working 40 hours a week or on the road for 20, we must find a way to balance all those things.  For me, this reality hit home in 2012 when I entered back into bivocational ministry after 5 years and 4 months.  We had a unique situation of coming to a church that had went through a season of difficulty and experienced quite a bit of decline in attendance and the availability of workers was scarce.  Don't get me wrong, the people that were there were willing to help in whatever way necessary.  I was super cautious of not wanting to put too much on them and so I did what most pastors did...I did much of it myself.

I was in deep.  I feared asking people to help around the church mostly because I had a fear that it wouldn't be done my way. Stupid, I know.  As if I was the only one who could shovel the sidewalks, set up ProPresenter, do my own graphics, find a Sunday morning video illustration, Blah, Blah, Blah.  The issue exploded on January 4, 2013 when I was overwhelmed and found myself at the brink of wanting to throw in the towel.  Thank God for amazing Network leadership.  John Musgrave, OMN Director of Church development, gave me some great advice.  He asked me to focus on four things that were things only I could do at that point.  He assured me that anything I was doing that didn't get picked up by someone else wasn't all that important.  He was spot on.  I began coming up with the list of those things I was doing and met with others who I felt could do it.  I knew if I let them know where I was, they would step up.  If not, it would probably be okay and wasn't vital to reaching the community for Christ.

Here are the four things I began to FOCUS on.  Not that other things don't have my attention or I am not ware of them, it's just that I realized if those "other things" don't get accomplished,  life would go on at Velocity Church.

1. The business of the church.  Working with the treasurer/book keeper week in and week out to ensure everything was paid up, taxes were covered and we locked down some incredible systems so the business of the church wouldn't hinder the ministry of the church.   I talked more about the business of the church in the October post, Be About The Business.

2.  New visitor/absentee follow-up.  I knew it was important for me to cover this.  For us, we know that people coming in and who have missed a couple Sunday's, need to hear from the pastor.  Our process isn't extensive but it is important.  In a church our size, the people are expecting to have decent access to my wife and I.  I knew if I delegated this concept to someone else, it would backfire.

3.  Membership.  I still believe in the commitment that comes with church membership.  We use Growth Track to aid us in moving new people along in their process at Velocity Church.  Moving new people from consumer to contributor is vital in ANY church.  It's not just doing a class...it's connecting with new people on a level where we learn about one another and they find their niche at Velocity

4.  Sunday Morning Preaching.  For a VERY long time, I had to focus on just a Sunday morning message.  Not videos, not fill in the blank notes, not bulletins or the occasional stage design.  People at Velocity didn't NEED those things.  They neeed a message that would challenge them in their faith and connect them to their creator.

For you, perhaps your four will be similar or much different.  Every situation is unique.  Your church needs you healthy and on your A-Game.  If you are playing "juggler" with things not vital to church health, it's a C-Game at best.  Be sure to talk with your board and leadership about making the necessary changes for you to shrink your list because it won't happen overnight and won't be effective without their help.