Unusual Time Saving Tips

Most pastors could easily fill dozens of extra hours a week with productive ministry — if they simply had more time. I’ll share a few of my slightly weird time saving tips.

1. I’ll Meet You in Your Office

When you need to do a quick face to face meeting with another staff member, tell them you’ll swing by their office. When you’ve covered everything important, you can politely leave — the meeting is over.

If someone is in your office, the person may not know when the meeting is over. A quick, few-minute meeting can linger and bleed over into longer and less important conversations. When you’re in someone else’s office, you can politely exit much easier than you can ask someone to leave your office.

2. Let’s Have Lunch in My Office

Eating out can be a huge time waster. (I’m not saying that having a nice, long lunch isn’t occasionally important, necessary, or enjoyable.) Travel time to many restaurants takes 15 to 30 minutes (or more). Many restaurant meals can take 45 minutes to an hour. A simple lunch can easily eat an hour and a half of your day.

I suggest some other options:

- If you don’t have a lunch appointment, consider bringing lunch from home. Not only can you save money but also time. You can eat in a few minutes in your office and continue working.
- If you don’t have a lunch appointment and didn’t bring your lunch, you might ask another team member to bring you a sandwich if he or she is going out.
- If someone invites you to lunch, you might suggest they join you in your office. If you have an assistant, he or she can grab lunch for you; or you can order-in for delivery. You can spend 45 minutes or an hour of quality time with someone without leaving your office. (If you invite someone to lunch, you’ll probably prefer to honor them and travel to a place that is convenient for them.)

3. Plan for Shorter Appointments

For some reason, when someone schedules an appointment with a pastor, they generally assume it will be a one hour appointment.

Most one hour appointments could be handled in much less time.

Years ago, I shortened my appointments to 45 minutes. We’d explain ahead of time that I have 45 minutes allotted for the meeting. No one complained. We got to the important stuff a lot faster.

After some time, I shortened most meetings to 30 minutes and some to 10 or 15. It is amazing how much important ground you can cover when both parties understand how much time you have to work with and you get right to the important issues.

It also helps to back appointments up to each other. If you have a 1:00 p.m. appointment, you might schedule your next one at 1:45 instead of 2:00. When some people want to go past their time, someone else can politely interrupt and explain that your next appointment is waiting.

4. Do Fewer Meetings

Most people in ministry do way too many meetings.

Instead of scheduling a typical 1 or 2 hour meeting, you might try a 15 minute touch-base meeting. You may cover even more in that brief time.

Or better yet, cut the frequency of your meetings in half. Instead of meeting weekly, try meeting every other week. If that is not possible, you might cancel 1 of 4 meetings a month.

Doing fewer meeting forces you to think further ahead and encourages better planning and intentional communication.

5. Don’t Take Incoming Calls

On very busy days, you might choose not to immediately receive incoming calls.

When I’m crunched for time, I’ll give my cell phone to my assistant. She’ll screen calls for me all day. Generally she can find out what a person needs. When I come out of the office, she might ask me a few quick questions and she can respond to my calls for me.

Instead of handling calls as they come in, you can return them all at once. I like to return calls when I’m traveling in the car making that time more productive.

What suggestions do you have on this subject? (Click "comments" below.)

[by Craig Groeschel - http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/]

The Importance of Ministry to Youth

New Ellison Research asked 1,007 American adults to report on their attendance at worship services. Results of the study showed that the traditional definitions of "churched" — people who attend services monthly or more often — and "un-churched" — people who do not typically attend frequently enough to be considered "churched" — often doesn't tell a complete story about how often people actually attend religious worship services. If adults in America are placed in more realistic categories based on their normal behavior, attendance stats at religious services would look like this:

• Attend more than once a week (11%)
• Attend once a week (22%)
• Attend two to three times a month (14%)
• Attend once a month (5%)
• Attend occasionally, not on a regular basis (9%)
• Attend only on religious holidays (10%)
• Do not attend at all (29%)

The study also showed that if an adult attended worship services regularly at some point before the age of 18, there is a 55 percent chance that person is currently attending once a month or more. If the person never attended prior to age 18, there is only a 21 percent chance that individual is currently attending worship services on a regular basis.

Prepare For Attack

It is very possible that churches, ministries, and Christians should get used to security issues and legal harassment such as the lawsuit a homosexual activist recently filed against two Bible publishers.

Bradley LaShawn Fowler of Canton, Michigan, does not like the fact that the Bibles produced by Zondervan and Thomas Nelson Publishers both accurately convey God's prohibition against homosexual behavior. So he is suing in federal court, seeking $10 million from Thomas Nelson and $60 million from Zondervan.

Peter LaBarbera, president of Americans for Truth About Homosexuality, says Bible-believing Christians had better get ready for more of this type of sniping. "Obviously, this is a frivolous publicity stunt, but this is a portent of things to come," he warns.

"We know that the homosexual activists are now targeting, essentially, born-again Christians and committed Catholics and Mormons who oppose their agenda. They're out to re-write the Bible, to say that the Bible really does not condemn homosexual practice, which it obviously does," says LaBarbera. "Ultimately, we believe they'll be doing more and more of these lawsuits against Christians and Christian companies."

LaBarbera says the suit reminds him of British actor and homosexual activist Sir Ian McKellen, who has admitted to ripping pages that contain scriptures condemning homosexuality out of Gideon Bibles in hotel rooms. "The fact is whether you rip the pages out or not, or whether you sue, or whether you pass a law against it, the Word of God still stands," he emphasizes. "And God's authority on that issue still stands, no matter what man does." The judge in the case has denied Fowler's request for a court-appointed attorney, saying the court had "very genuine concerns" about the legitimacy of the claims in the lawsuit.

[Source: OneNewsNow.com]

Today's Quote

"Ministry requires scholastic achievement and professional competence as well as a consecrated, Christian life."

Ministry-To-Childen.com

If you do ministry with children, if you have a passion for reaching and teaching kids, then you want to check out this website. Tony Kummer, the owner of Ministry-to-Children, is a children’s pastor from Indiana.

I have found Ministry-To-Children.com to continuously offer practical tips, fresh ideas and encouragement for those involved in children's ministry. You will find inspirational stories, how-to articles, curriculum reviews, Sunday school lesson plans, practical advice and straight talk about children’s ministry.

Ministry To Children is updated at least once each week and you can get all new articles by subscribing to Tony's free email newsletter.

We Need One Another

So there I am, trying to avoid the pain of my cardio exercise at the health club by watching TV, fighting back tears as I watch the news story. Last week in a brand new softball stadium, a female player hit her very first home run. But in powering the ball over the fence, she tore something in her leg, which caused her to stumble to first base and stop, writhing in pain. She couldn't stand, let alone run. Her teammates ran from the dugout to help her around the bases, but the umpire stopped the girls and warned them that if they did this, her home run wouldn't count.

Then from the other side of the field, two girls from the opposing team came to the girl on the ground and asked the umpire, "What if we helped her?" Apparently, there's no rule against that. Perhaps the softball rule makers never thought it would happen. The pictures showed two girls in the opposing team's uniforms carrying their opponent around the bases, so that she could experience her first home run.

Even now I'm tearing up, replaying the story as I write. What a great metaphor for ministry leaders -- even when we hit a home run, we're still limited in our time, gifts, experience, and know-how. None of us has the ability it takes to get around the bases the way God wants. But there are others who can help us. Sometimes we may have kept them at arm's length because we feel they're incompetent, less spiritual, or non-gifted. But they have something to give.

Together, we can do it (that's what "synergy" means)!

Moses had his Aaron and Hur. Jesus had the Twelve and the 72. Who do we think we are to do so much of our ministry by ourselves? The greatest achievements in history and ministry have been accomplished by teams, in community. Perhaps if more of us would pull a ministry hamstring, we'd embrace our need for others. Today what can you do to engage the aid of others, perhaps some of whom might not even be on your radar? Go ahead -- the game's at stake.

[Alan Nelson]

What Are You Passionate About?

In John 15:11, Jesus said he came so that our joy may be complete and in John 16:33 he says that he has overcome the world.

If we trust Jesus we can trust that he has an answer to all our fears. We, then, need to get busy about assessing where we are.

So take some time and ask God for answers as you ask yourself a few questions:

1. What am I passionate about?
2. What am I good at?
3. Who knows me better than anyone?
4. How would that person answer #1 & #2 about me?
5. Is that what I’m currently doing?
6. If not, what changes do I need to make to get there?

Once you have done this, you must put your faith in action and trust God to protect you and provide for you as you follow him in fulfilling your divine purpose. Trust that He’ll make a way for you and trust that He’ll move the heart of whoever leads you to help you get there.

[From Shane]

Dealing With Critics

Every pastor and ministry leader must deal with critics. It is part of ministry in the 21st Century. The question is not if, but when. It is impossible to meet everyone's unrealistic expectations.

So, when the critic comes forward, or begins work behind the scenes, what is the leader to do? Consider the following:

#1 - The Explanation Phase

Sit down with the people that are critical of the ministry that the Lord has called you to do, and reason with them and help them to fully understand why you do ministry the way you do it.

However, most critics don’t want an explanation … they want an argument. They want the chance to shame you, to speak down to you, to tell you how right they are … and how inept you are. So, sometimes, the explanation attempt is fruitless and pointless.

#2 - The Argument Phase

Argument can involve the critic, but sometimes involves the critic and all his/her followers -- everyone who has a negative word to say about the ministry.

Be careful not to allow a “us versus them” mentality to develop.

The Apostle Paul warns in II Timothy 2:23 not to have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments. Arguments can be both foolish and stupid.

#3 - The Anger Phase

Even ministers can allow anger to get the best of them. But, anger will control you. It will drive your decisions and will be impossible to hide. You will spend all your time trying to respond to critics rather than really listening to the Lord. Be careful, it will damage you emotionally and spiritually.

Paul warns in Ephesians 4:27 NOT to give the devil a foothold.

If you are not careful, you will end up beating up hundreds of people just because of one e-mail from a negative person. If you are a church leader, please do not allow Satan to control you through your critics. The price is too high. And, you will spend all of your time on defense rather than on offense!

#4 - The Ignore Phase

Don't read their blogs. Don't read their MySpace page. Don’t receive their e-mails. This either does one of two things to them …

First of all – it REALLY ticks them off. But then second of all, they usually go away. Seriously, if you refuse to put fuel on the fire they start, it will eventually go out.

I love what Nehemiah said in Nehemiah 6:1-4 when his critics tried to get him to take his eyes off of the work, “I am doing a great work … and I cannot come down.” That must become your rallying cry.

I will admit that it’s hard at times. But, by not getting into arguments with critics, it will set you free in a major way.

Always listen to those who love the Lord and love you. Never listen to a blogger or MySpace addict/stalker who has no life OR someone who sends you an email with a fake address. I don’t have time for them – and neither do you!

#5 - The Compassion Phase

In Luke 15 when the prodigal son comes home and the older brother doesn’t come in the house to meet him, the Father goes outside and pleads with the older brother to come in.

I think we are called to do the same. Because in that story, it would seem that the oder brother (who was the critic) was just as lost as the younger one.

Jesus dealt with this as well. He did weep over Jerusalem. But, He also turned over temple tables. There IS a time to respond in boldness. But there is also a time to respond with compassion. Because, well, people just don’t understand.

Compassion does not mean trying to explain to them, or even exchanging emails with them. But, it means praying for them (NOT the Psalm 3:7 prayer) and asking God to allow them to come into the house and celebrate what He is doing -- even if it isn’t their style.

[Based on notes from Perry Noble]

Top 5 Volunteer No-No's

[From Ministry Best Practices by Bill Reichart]

Volunteers are the life blood of any church or ministry. Without those who generously give of their time, talents and energy - nothing would be able to be accomplished by the church (humanly speaking of course). Here are some volunteer no-no's and pitfalls to avoid when working and communicating with volunteers.

1. Never ask a volunteer to help “YOU.”

Ask them to help the church, or help in a classroom. Don’t make it a personal favor to you. Personal favors won't stand up over the test of time.

The focus shouldn't be about YOU.

2. Never thank a volunteer for helping “YOU.”

Remind them of your overall vision and purpose when saying Thank You.

For example, "Thank you for helping us reach all these kids this morning. You’ve been a great help to all of us!” vs. “Thanks for helping me out. I don’t know what I would have done without you!”

And ... the church name should be prominently displayed on any thank you correspondence. Make it about the Church or organization, not me!

3. Don’t ask the same volunteer to do the same thing over and over.

Don’t abuse the willingness of one person to ALWAYS help when needed. Mix it up! Don't go to the same "well" all the time.

You want to avoid not giving others in the church the opportunity and privilege to serve.

4. Never show any displeasure with church leadership to Volunteers.

Teach the Power of Buy-In! Representing our leader’s choices as our very own. This shows our volunteers that we are a strong team, and are working together for a common goal.

Even if it is someone else’s fault, make it our fault (this is where the power of the Gospel comes in - we can own fault when we know that we are SECURE in Christ). If everyone would do this, then rumors and displeasure with leadership would be stopped early and often!

5. Never ask "How did it go today?"

“How did it go today, or this morning?” is an unhelpful question. The question is too vague, and you are certain to get merely a one word answer, "fine".

Ask questions that are directed toward the specific outcomes you and your volunteers are working toward. When you do this, it will give you and your volunteers a real and concrete sense of how they are doing, and it will provoke with them a real discussion of issues or concerns that perhaps need to be addressed.

[ht: littlepastor]

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