By Thom S. Rainer You weren’t looking for accolades or recognition. But, at the very least, you expected your successor at your church to be kind. You certainly did not expect him to generate a culture of negativity about you.  But he did. You have either retired or moved to another church. You were looking forward to this next season of life. Then you start getting word from friends at your former church that your successor is creating a culture for people to complain about you. The negativity is getting back to you.  To be clear, your successor does not have to say anything directly negativ ..read more

By Sam Rainer  Shepherding a church comes with plenty of highs and lows. Some days feel like a roller-coaster ride right after eating two pounds of funnel cake. But leading a church isn’t just peaks and valleys. Plateaus exist. Plateaus can last for a long season. In fact, plateaus are more common for most leaders. The highs and lows are simply more memorable—they stand out more. We talk more about them.  These plateaus are not necessarily connected to the leader’s emotional state. These plateaus are not necessarily connected to the (spiritual or numerical) growth and decline of a church, tho ..read more

By Thom S. Rainer “I can’t believe he resigned.”  The recent comment to me was from a church member of a seemingly healthy church. The pastor had been at the church seven years and decided to leave the congregation. In this particular example, there was no significant conflict. There was no pressure for him to leave. To the contrary, he was loved by most of the church members.  But he quit.  Not only did he quit, he decided to take a break from church leadership and took a job in the secular world. “But what was really strange,” the church member commented, “we had just celebrated one of our ..read more

By Chuck Lawless  If you read church history at all, you’ll learn that men as faithful to God as Martin Luther and Charles Spurgeon struggled with bouts of at least heaviness, if not depression. I’m convinced more church leaders than we know face these battles. Here are some reasons we do, followed by a simple suggestion when we struggle:  Our calling is a calling of God. We’re blessed to have that calling, but we still answer to the Creator of eternity. That’s a weighty reality that sometimes gets really heavy.   We work with life and death. In fact, we work in the light of eternity, remi ..read more

By Sam Rainer Few established churches turn on a dime. Some don’t turn at all. One of the contributing causes is inflexibility. Leading an organization full of inflexible people is like trying to run a marathon without bending your knees. It’s anything but smooth. Every church has some inflexible people. Part of being a pastor is helping people get unstuck and unfrozen. And most churches also have plenty of people ready to move. Part of being a pastor is encouraging them to lead by example. Working this flexibility into the congregation takes patience, love, and a lot of time. But on a day-to ..read more

By Chuck Lawless  I want to be the best leader I can be. I know I’m not there yet, and I still have much room to grow. So, as I write this post, I write as a student more than a teacher. Here are some steps I’m taking to improve as a leader in 2020.  Develop a “leadership development” team. Enlist 2-3 people you respect, who know you well, and who will speak truth into your life – and ask them to evaluate your leadership at least twice a year (my preference is once per quarter). Listen non-defensively, and learn from them.  Reach out to leaders you respect. Some will be inaccessible, but y ..read more

By Thom S. Rainer  It has been 15 years since a young doctoral student named Eric Geiger came into my office to share with me his research on churches that had clearly defined processes of discipleship. I saw his genius in those early years and was eager to put my name on a book reflecting his insights.  The book ultimately became known as Simple Church. Eric and I watched in amazement as the book became one of the best-selling works in the genre of church leadership. Eric went on to serve as executive pastor of Christ Fellowship in Miami. I then brought him on our leadership team at LifeWay ..read more

By Kevin Spratt In the last two months, I have transitioned from one fast-paced organization to another. It’s been fast, busy, and a ton of fun. The only thing constant about life is change and transition. Every day we take one step closer to something new and one step away from something old. Recently, I paused to reflect on what I am learning during this time of change. Here are 5 constants to keep in mind during a season of transition. History – Every new place you are going to has a history. You should take the time to understand its history and honor the work others have done. As I tran ..read more

By Thom S. Rainer The most common place pastors hear one of these three sentences is right before they preach or right after they preach. Of course, the prayerful focus on their message is detoured and distracted immediately. Frankly, I don’t see how most pastors make it to their sermons when they have been blasted by one of these bombs right before they preach. While three sentences are certainly not an exhaustive list, these are the three I hear most often. To this day, I cringe when pastors tell me they have been hit yet again with one of these three sentences: “People are saying . . .” T ..read more

By Sam Rainer Generally, long-term pastor tenures are better than short-term pastor tenures. The context where the pastor ministers can impact the tenure. The church body can impact tenure. And the pastor can impact tenure length. Here are eight ways pastors can cultivate their long-term tenures. Elevate your family above your career. You simply cannot overestimate the importance of family stability. Your family is not a quantifiable metric in the decision to transition or not. One wise mentor once told me, “If your wife ain’t called, then you ain’t called.” He’s right. Your family is the fr ..read more