Our church is three and half years old. We have seen God do some amazing things in our short time and we continue to stand in awe of His grace upon us. Planting a church is hard work and not for the faint-hearted, but it’s been a joy ride at the same time. I love seeing people get excited about life, and especially gaining passion for Jesus, so these have been some of the best years of my life.
I need to be honest about something though. It all seemed to be fun when we were starting the church and had a few hundred people hanging out with us. Last Fall when we broke the 1,000 mark in average attendance (now over 1,800) some things changed. It has actually become work some days!
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not complaining. It is still fun and I’m glad we are growing and meeting needs as a church. I love the team I work with and we have some of the most fun people in the world at our church, but I am realizing my need to be more focused, more intentional, and more consistent in my leadership if we are going to continue at this pace of growth as a church. I certainly don’t want to quench what God is doing!
I’m spending more time learning from church leaders, trying to balance my time, encouraging our team, delegating when possible, exercising more, and spending more time in prayer and in God’s Word.
What other suggestions do you have for me? How do you handle the stress of leadership?
Sounds like you are doing well so far. I was in pastoral ministry for twenty-eight years and my last church where I served as senior pastor for nine years was growing and we built a whole new church plant while I was there. What a challenge! I found that the most important thing for me over those years was to maintain a deepening walk with the Lord. I was also deeply involved in a bi-weekly study group with some like-minded pastors and Christian leaders and that really helped me. Now after a few years out of ministry I am considering returning and I believe I will need the same things. God bless your ministry there and give you wisdom in leading.
Thanks for the ideas here. I am actually compiling my own list of ways I handle stress which I will post in the next week or so. It is certainly something we all have in common.
Ron, I couldn’t identify with you more. My role and activity has definitely had to change as the church has grown. I, as you do, love pastoring, but it still has it’s growth challenges.
To deal with the changes and stress associated with it:
1. I’ve tried to maintain a separation from my devotional life and my sermon/bible study preparation. Having a devotional life that concentrates on my personal relationship with Christ helps me to personally trust Him. Though, I have to constantly work at preventing it from always merging into my sermon prep.
2. I read more but insist that it be diverse and balanced. Some fiction, some not. Some historical, some devotional, some self-help, some theological, some philosophical, some fun, some short, some long.
3. I also prioritize family time like Friday night dates with my wife and weekly breakfast and a movie with my daughter and wife. It’s a refreshing moment and significant long term investment in those who encourage me most.
4. Last idea – I delegate leadership responsibilities more often than ever before (but try not to dump). Letting go is always hard for me but afterward I’m always asking myself “why didn’t I do this earlier?”
Ron, anytime you get some more ideas, please pass them on. Stress is a given and it sure helps to hear from people like yourself about ways to keep moving forward.
Believe that just as God has called you to pastor that He has called people to commit time to pray for you everyday. Pray about finding those people. Here’s a book: Seasons of Intercession by Damazio.
Brother Ron,
While I can’t speak directly to the issue based on Pastoral experience beyond e-ministry, I can draw on God’s Word to encourage:
Philippians 4:13 (KJV)
13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.
Those words, of course, coming from a man who was scourged, ship-wrecked, imprisoned, and ultimately executed.
You have already made use of a very important leadership/management principle and I encourage you to continue to exercise the art of delegation.
We are ‘the body’ for a reason, my brother. Allow the hands, arms, legs and feet to work!
May the Gospel of Christ blast forth from your ministry!
God Bless and Stand Firm!
IHS,
Bruce Macomber
How do I deal with stress? If you notice … I have very little hair left on top of my head … 🙂
Seriously, though … one way that I try to deal with stress is to make sure I leave time for doing things that I love to do. Since ministry is 24/7, it’s so easy to put everything and everyone else ahead of my family – and myself. (Golf is one of my favorite ways to ‘get away’.)
We have to remember that we are “Engaged to Christ”, “Married to our wives” and “Shepherds to our Churches”. After our commitment to Christ – our family comes next — then our ‘profession’. It’s so easy to get things out of order, which causes things to get out of kilter.
You know … Ministry would be a whole less stressful if it wasn’t for all the people!
God bless you, brother. If your messages and teaching are anything like your blog, then your people truly have something special that they obviously look forward to week after week. Sometimes you just have to grab hold and enjoy the ride wherever it takes you!