Helping Churches Make Vision Real

Leadership Coaching Network Starting Soon!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

A couple of weeks ago, we opened applications for the new leadership coaching networks that will begin in March through TonyMorganLive. The deadline for applications is January 31, but applications have already been coming in and these new coaching networks will probably fill up before then.

Still on the fence about whether or not to participate? Here’s what others have said:

“Paul Alexander is a natural leader and a great coach. He’s strategic, constantly learning, and has been very helpful to me in my ministry leadership and management.”
– Mike Work, Executive Pastor of Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ

“When I have a leadership question Paul is always one of my first calls. He is a gifted leader and strategist. Paul knows how to ask the right questions to properly diagnosis current systems, and the unique capacity to help teams formulate a plan that is both practical and attainable. Working with Paul has been an encouragement and has stirred in me the desire to be a better leader.”
– Aaron McRae, Senior Pastor of Hillside Community Church in Alta Loma, CA

“Paul Alexander is simply brilliant when it comes to helping pastors and churches get laser-focused on their purpose, process and values. I believe he is one of the top strategic thinkers in the church today. After connecting with him, you will be encouraged, inspired and equipped.”
– Kyle Wall, Senior Pastor of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA

“Paul is a very talented leader who knows how to form and implement strategic plans, while encouraging and building leaders in the process. He is methodical in planning his approach, and builds his processes to include appropriate goals, steps, budgets, and measurement for completion. During my time working with Paul, he demonstrated how to focus on projects and refocus when scope changed or obstacles rose up. While learning from Paul, he made things “reproducible” which has allowed me to keep my teams on task and lead them to do the same.”
– Kerry Dodd, CFO of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA

You can get more details about the next Coaching Network on our website.

What’s next?

Complete the Coaching Network Application. The Phoenix Leadership Coaching Network that I’m leading will be limited to no more than 10 leaders and begins in March 2013. I’d like you to consider joining us. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2013.

Questions? Contact me

Posted in Leadership

Top Posts of 2012 #2: An Interview with the National Preteen Pastor of the Year

Friday, December 28, 2012

I was particularly excited to write this post. One reason is because the first opportunity I was ever given in ministry was when I was a freshman in college and my pastor believed in me enough to give me a shot at leading a Jr. High Sunday School Class (trust me, it was a big risk on his behalf). Another reason is that Mike Branton happens to be on my team at Sun Valley and I’m just super proud of him!

During the last couple of years there has been a slowly growing trend in churches across America. Churches are pulling their preteens out of children’s and student ministries and ministering to this demographic uniquely. Fueled by kids “growing up too quick,” the age of adolescents dropping, and ministries and organizations like FourFiveSix, Orange, preteenministry.net, and Christ in Youth hitting the scene, this preteen movement is gaining traction in the church. If you’re not thinking Preteen Ministry at your church, you need to be.

Last week I had the unique opportunity to sit down with Mike Branton, the Preteen Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church and Christ in Youth National Preteen Pastor of the Year, to talk about this emerging ministry. The interview is below:

Paul: What does the label “Preteen Ministry” mean and why is this something that churches should be paying attention to?

Mike: Fundamentally Preteen Ministry is ministry to students who are moving through the transition from childhood to adolescence. You’re typically talking about students who are between 8 and 12 years old and in 4^th – 6^th grade. During the preteen years human beings develop physically and mentally faster than at any other stage of life other than the infant and toddler phase. Preteens are moving from concrete to abstract thinking. They are thinking less about the faith of their family and more about their own faith and figuring out what they believe. They are at a time in their lives where their identity is being formed; they’re less inhibited and as a result are more open to inviting friends, sharing the Gospel, and combating injustice in the world. Their ability to understand and respond to the Gospel provides us with a unique opportunity that few Churches are taking advantage of.

Paul: What are some of the unique dynamics of preteen ministry?

Mike: Preteen students are beginning to experiment and explore with their identity both socially and sexually. They are often prematurely exposure to adult ideas and concepts without having a developed faculty to truly handle it. Some still believe in Santa Clause and have teddy bears and some of them are sleeping with their boyfriends. And some are doing both of those. Finally, increased specialization at an early age regarding extracurricular activities such as the arts and sports are limiting healthy experimentation and growth.

Paul: The reality is that the majority of churches can’t afford to hire someone to specifically minister to preteens. What can churches do?

Mike: Every healthy church has preteens in it. They may be a part of the Children’s Ministry or a part of the Student Ministry, or simply in a Sunday School Class. But whatever the form, churches can take the step to have a couple of volunteers focus specifically on this group of students. Churches can partner with parents by helping to equip them to know what to expect during the preteen years. We’re talking about kids who are challenged to succeed in every other area of their lives. Churches need to shift their thinking and stop viewing these students as “just kids” so that they’ll begin to expect more from them in their journey with Christ. Finally if they can, churches can give them their own space, even a simple classroom. These students want their door locked and decorated at home so why not appropriately support that at church. Space matters. It shows value, and helps build identity and connection.

Mike Branton is the Preteen Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church Gilbert Campus, a contributing writer for K-magazine, part of the FourFiveSix Team, and the Christ in Youth National Preteen Pastor of the year.

You can connect with Mike on Facebook

Posted in Family, Leadership, Spiritual Formation

Top Posts of 2012 #3: What Your Pastor Isn’t Telling You

Thursday, December 27, 2012

This post checks in at #3 this year. I say ‘this year’ because I originally wrote this post back in 2011 and it has been in the top five read posts for the past 2 years. Apparently is struck a nerve.

Most Lead Pastors come off as having it all under control. Never let ‘em see you sweat right? Nothing could be further from the truth. More often than not it’s more like the proverbial duck that on top of the water looks calm, cool, and collected; all the while under the water his little feet are frantically paddling for dear life. If you’ve never been a Lead Pastor before let me take a moment to help you understand what it’s like to live in their shoes and what often times is going on in their heart. My hope is that you’ll remember these truths the next time you get frustrated and are tempted to become critical of your Lead Pastor. And instead of pouring salt in a wound you’ll be the kind of Staff Member or Church Member who holds your Lead Pastor’s arms up and lightens their load.

1. Your Pastor Feels Overwhelmed by Criticism

People complain about the volume of the music, what I’m wearing, the temperature of the room, that you didn’t visit them in the hospital, that you don’t read from the right version of the Bible, that you’re not deep enough (although they don’t even know the names of their neighbors), that you’re too deep, that I’m in the green room instead of the lobby, that while I’m in the lobby I didn’t say hi to them, that I didn’t remember their name even though I’ve only met them once never hung out with them and have 3,000 other names to know. People complain about other areas of ministry in the Church to them, and even if they handle this well and direct them to see the appropriate Staff Member, it creates a burden for them to carry. I’ve even heard friends of mine who are Pastors talk about having to have security guards follow them around for periods of time due to threats to them and their families. Or I love it when people say now Pastor this isn’t personal BUT…we think if you just did…fill in the blank (it’s not personal but?!!?!?!?). Okay, that might have been a bit of a rant.

2. Your Pastor Feels Pressure from Everywhere

Everybody seems to have expectations for Pastors to live up to and amazingly somehow know God’s will for their Pastor’s life and the Church they’re leading. The Church Body has theirs; the Staff has theirs, the Elders, Deacons or whatever the governance structure is or who the decision makers happen to be have theirs. It comes from all sides. As a result many Pastors I talk to feel as though they’re not only fighting the Enemy, but their fighting the Family as well.

3. Your Pastor Frequently Feels like Quitting

Take a moment to do a quick internet search on “pastor burnout” and the results might shock you. You’ll find pages and pages of articles, statistics, and stories of literally hundreds of men leaving the ministry every single day. Just take a quick look below:

CNNMoney.com posted an article listing 15 “Stressful Jobs That Pay Badly.” Included in this list are #5 “Music Ministry Director” and #10 “Minister.”

Fifteen hundred pastors leave the ministry each month due to moral failure, spiritual burnout or contention in their churches.

Eighty percent of pastors and eighty-four percent of their spouses feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors.

Fifty percent of pastors are so discouraged that they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

I’ve had conversations with Pastors from small churches, mega-churches, multi-site churches, church plants, established churches, contemporary churches, and traditional churches. Somewhere along the road they feel like giving up, some of them have thought about it so much that they even have a fallback plan. Over and over again I’ve heard the statement, “There isn’t a month that goes by that I don’t think about resigning.”

4. Your Pastor is often Confused about the Next Steps the Church should take

Your Church may have a clearly articulated Mission Statement, Values that are actionable, and a clear path and strategy to move people towards maturity but many Pastors still struggle with what next steps the Church should take. I’ve heard Pastor’s say:

“When my office door is closed and no one’s around I often feel confused about what’s next.”

“If God doesn’t show up we’re in trouble because I don’t know what to do next.”

“Here I am at the point of this thing and all of these people are looking to me for where we’re going and there are real moments when I feel like I have no clue where we’re going.”

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

Top Posts of 2012 #4: Is there Hope for Dying Churches?

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Church mergers are not only on the rise, it is a growing trend and this story proved it this year.

New Hope Baptist Church began in the early 1960’s. But if you drive by the campus in Mableton, Georgia, a suburb located on the northwest side of Atlanta, you’ll see a sign out front that reads “Vinings Lake Church.” Last year I had the opportunity to get to know Alex Swann, who serves on staff at Vinings Lake Church, and hear the incredible story.

In the spring of 2005 New Hope had dwindled down to about 25 people who were remaining at the church. They had a heart to reach the changing suburban community around them with the Gospel, but were stuck. So they decided to approach Pastor Johnny Hunt and First Baptist Woodstock for help because of their proven record of starting churches. To make an incredible story short, First Baptist Woodstock “launched” Pete Hixson from their staff, and started a brand new church called Vinings Lake. The “launch” team that started Vinings Lake was made up of the remaining people of New Hope, some people from First Baptist Woodstock, and others from the community that had heard what was going on and wanted to be a part of it. During the preparation time as the core group was meeting they also conducted an “Extreme Church Makeover” to the facility – modernizing the inside and outside of the campus. Vinings Lake Church held their first services on Easter of 2006, a year after the leadership team from New Hope had first approached First Baptist Woodstock for help. Today Vinings Lake is growing, has two weekend services, and is averaging over 400 people in its services.

In their new book “Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work,” Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird assert the following: “Roughly 80 percent of the three hundred thousand Protestant churches in the United States have plateaued or are declining, and many of them are in desperate need of a vibrant ministry. Among the 20 percent of growing congregations across the United States, many are in desperate need of space. These conditions present a potential win-win for forward-thinking church leaders who believe that “we can do better together than separate,” and it is revitalizing church topography.”

Could a church merger be in your future?

Posted in Leadership