Tag Archive - millennial

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3 Pressure Points Facing Millennial Church Leaders

I recently had the opportunity to spend some significant time with 10 talented young millennial church leaders and had a blast! If these leaders are any indication of what the future leaders of the church look like then rest assured, the church is in great hands.

That being said there were a couple of pressure points that came up over and over again in the conversations from different angles.

#1 Anxiety about the Future

It was interesting to listen to these young church leaders discuss their work. They really are passionate and committed to the ministry God has called them to. But they’re also anxious about it. Their ambition to move the ball down the court, help the ministry progress, and get things accomplished can keep them from enjoying and receiving the blessings of the very ministry God has given to them. I also picked up on a longing for a future bigger and better role and ministry at the expense of missing the fruit of what’s been given to them today. I’d encourage young leaders to be faithful to whatever God has put in front of you today and let Him be concerned about where He puts you and what He gives you tomorrow.

#2 Relaxing Today

Many of these young leaders referred to the inability to “turn it off.” Anyone who is deeply and personally connected to his or her work can relate to the difficulty of coming home from work and not thinking about work. Being present is essential to health in life and relationships. “Bringing work home with you,” can be a recipe to undermine your most important relationships. I’d encourage young leaders to learn to take your weekly days off, scheduling your time off that you have coming to you each year, and put the cell phone down when you’re with your family. If you don’t learn what fuels you, fills you, and then schedule those things into your life you’ll end up in some kind of a crisis in your 40’s or 50’s that you could have avoided.

#3 Workload Confusion

It was also intriguing to hear the weight with which they carried the ministry they are involved with. Many young church leaders really do feel as though they are really busy and that one day when they are in a more important role with a more important title, have more authority and more people working for them that ministry and work will be easier. While I agree that many of them are working hard, I think many are confused about hard work. The weight of and the busyness of doing ministry is a very real thing, but not compared to the weight of leading ministry. I’d encourage young leaders to enjoy the season of ministry they are in, learn as much as they possibly can, and not long for greater responsibility too much because you might get it. And when you do, you may discover that with greater responsibility, more staff, and a more important title comes more pressure than you’re feeling today.


Posted in Staffing

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6 Keys to Motivating Millennial Church Leaders

If you have any millennials on your church staff you know that they’re different. And while many traditional church leaders are quick to equate a different approach with being a wrong approach, wise leaders know that different just means different. Not necessary wrong. In fact it could even be better. Millennials can, will, and are doing some amazing ministry. Like it or not they are coming into their own in church leadership, and they’re the ones that are going to lead the church forward. So instead of complaining about them we might as well help them. Try these 6 approaches to motivate the millennial leaders on your church staff.

1. Help me Avoid Boredom

Millennials have grown up with the constant interruption of smart phones and sound bites. This has conditioned them to be great at multitasking. So don’t expect them to sit down and work the way you did with tremendous focus on one thing for an extended period of time. Help them avoid that monotony and dabble with multiple things at one time. They’ll have more fun and produce more results.

2. Help me Join a Cause

Everyone knows that millennials are cause oriented. But what most churches haven’t come to grips with yet is that one of the key reasons so many millennials are leaving the church is they don’t view the church as a cause worth giving their life to. Is your church an institution or a movement? Have you turned the Gospel into something to be dissected and intellectually understood or something that is powerful and mysterious? Help them see the church as a cause worth giving their life to.

3. Help me Manage my Heart

Feelings are more important than facts to millennials. While it might not make sense to some previous generations they think more with their heart than their head. That’s not to say they aren’t brilliant it’s just to say their motivation is more centered around the question, “Does this feel right?” Church leaders can help millennials by increasing their emotional intelligence and being more thoughtful about how their actions may be perceived and how they may affect the feelings of others rather than just give way to simple facts and plans.

4. Help me See the Win

Millennials have grown up in a world of instant gratification, access, and results. Anybody who has been in ministry for any length of time knows that’s not how it really works. Life just doesn’t work that way. So we’ve got to help celebrate the small wins of life change that happen along the way. Help them celebrate the first downs along the way and help them make the connection between their day-to-day ministry and the vision.

5. Help me be True to Myself

Millennials aren’t going to follow someone or be a part of something that feels inauthentic to them. The best gift that church leaders can give millennials is to exercise real leadership and stop leading through position, title, or power and learn to lead with humility and personhood. They won’t simply respect you for your position but instead for who you are and the value you add. In this way millennials are a gift to challenge many church leaders to lead in a way that they may have forgotten.

6. Help me Understand “Why”

In recent years Simon Sinek made the phrase, “start with why” famous. Millennials don’t just want to know your plan. They don’t want to simply know what you want them to do, they want to know the why behind it. They need to buy into the reason behind the plan of action. Help them buy into the why.


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Top 10 Church Leadership Posts from 2016

Thank you for making this past year a great year here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! I recently finished counting down my Top 10 most popular blog posts from 2015 and if you missed any of them, here they are all in one nice tidy little place for you! Happy reading! And I hope these posts help you make vision real!

#1 4 Bad Habits that Young Church Leaders Need to Break

#2 3 Expectations that Young Church Leaders Need to Change Today

#3 What Growing Churches do Differently

#4 7 Core Issues that your Church needs to Address is 2016

#5 Why People Volunteer at Some Churches but not at Others

#6 Campus Constants for Multisite Churches

#7 How to Keep Easter Guests Coming Back

#8 Why Some Churches Win but Most Lose

#9 Where there’s a Huddle there’s a Team

#10 If it’s Not on a Screen it’s Not Multisite


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Top Posts of 2016 #1 “4 Bad Habits that Young Church Leaders need to Break”

Thank you for hanging with me as we counted down the top 10 posts from 2016. I hope the content here has been helpful to you, challenged your thinking and resulted in you leading your church more effectively in 2016. Here’s the post that you made the most popular here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real in 2016. Thank you!

Before you read this, please understand that I love and am for young leaders. After all, I was one once. But there are some really bad habits that young church leaders are exhibiting that need to be broken if they have any hope or chance of having the deep and broad Kingdom impact that they’re dreaming of.

#1 Discover v Develop

Stop waiting around for some big church somewhere to discover you and give you the big stage opportunity that you think you deserve. Instead earnestly begin developing the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to you where you are right now and you may be surprised to see how the Lord begins to develop you.

#2 Talent v Character

Stop relying on how talented you think you are. Instead learn to rely on Jesus, enjoy the talent He’s given you, develop it, and learn to leverage it well for the Kingdom. Talent might just get you somewhere but character will keep you there.

#3 Critical Spirit v Critical Thinking

Stop being critical of everything that is wrong with the church and the leader you’re following and learn to get on the solution side of things. Start learning how to think for yourself. Don’t just copy methods or ideas you heard at a conference, but dig deep into why things are the way they are and how real lasting change takes place.

#4 Lead with Statements v Lead with Questions

Stop talking so much. Stop leading with pithy statements you saw on social media, read in a book, or heard from a popular speaker. Instead of blurting out, talking first, and following the urge to tell everyone everything that you know and arguing about why you’re right lead with questions and learn to be interested in others ideas as well. Remember, the team outperforms the individual every time.

Want to learn more about leading young church leaders? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help Your Church Develop Young Leaders.

Note: A big shout out to the Sr. Leaders from Sun Valley Community Church for the conversation that led to this blog post! Keep investing in the next generation of church leaders!


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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Top Posts of 2016 #2 “3 Expectations that Young Church Leaders Need to Change Today”

Believe it or not attracting, developing and keeping young church leaders was the most read topic on my blog this year as the top 2 posts address the topic.

A lot has been written in recent years about the Millennial Generation and young leaders; most of it negative. At the risk of sounding like the old guy in the room, I’ll admit, it does seem like the expectations of young leaders are a little off the mark. In fact, here are three expectations in particular that I think young leaders need to change today if they want to be successful in the future.

1. Mentoring & Development

Most talented young leaders are looking for someone to invest in and develop them, and rightly so. The only problem is leaders aren’t walking around looking to invest in people. They’re too busy leading big stuff. If you’re a young leader looking for development then don’t wait for someone to come along and take you under their wing. Chase someone who has what you’re looking for until you catch them.

2. Timeline

Most young leaders expect to be placed into significant leadership positions with great influence very quickly. Unfortunately landing that dream job in the church is probably going to take you longer than you think. Yes, you’re probably talented, and yes the church could probably benefit from your leadership influence. But trust is built up close and over time. And trust is the fuel that leadership runs on. Build trust and you’ll accelerate your leadership timeline.

3. Work Ethic

Most young leaders underestimate the amount of sheer work it will take to get where they want to go. Church leadership is not for the faint of heart, or for the lazy. Successfully pastoring in a growing local church setting isn’t a 40-hour a week; punch the time clock kind of a gig. It’s going to take real work, hard work. You’ll have to endure moments of hurt and disappointment. And you’ll have to have the tenacity to not give in. And keep working.

Interested in learning more about leading young leaders in the church today? Check out these 10 Articles that will help your church develop young leaders.


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing
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