No one ever starts out in ministry expecting to mess up, fail or quit.
We all begin with great vision, enthusiasm, and dreams of changing the world for good.
So what goes wrong?
Why do good and godly leaders (church staff and volunteer) end up crashing in ministry, and end up out of ministry?
The answer to that question is obviously complicated, but essentially, we fail to anticipate and prepare for tough times and rough seasons in ministry.
The idea of Christmas “holidays” may seem ironic for you who are in church leadership.
It’s the “happiest time of the year,” right? So why does it feel like the “busiest time of the year?”
I love the holidays. I grew up in San Diego, so Christmas included warm weather and palm trees for me. Here in Atlanta with the changing of seasons, it feels like Christmas! We love it! But the holidays are incredibly busy. That’s just a reality. And the church intensifies that reality.
The primary responsibility of a leader is to think.
A leader’s thoughts must be bathed in prayer, sifted through wise counsel, and compared to experience. Your leadership never rises above your thought patterns.
I can remember as a young leader, and a few times as a not-so-young leader, someone saying to me: “What were you thinking?!” And the honest answer was, “I guess I wasn’t thinking.”
You’ve noticed, haven’t you?
Leading a local church is more complex than ever.
It’s still the most rewarding and greatest purpose I can imagine, but the challenges are not for the faint of heart.
Dan Reiland is the Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville, Georgia. He previously partnered with John Maxwell for 20 years, first as Executive Pastor at Skyline Wesleyan Church in San Diego, then as Vice President of Leadership and Church Development at INJOY.
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