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Thriving in Leadership

By New Churches Team

Leading in the church makes pastors prone to serving in crisis. Pastors come alongside and provide long-term care and encouragement to people who are in the midst of crisis. Church and ministry leaders are often second and third responders and provide help to those who are hurting. This causes stress on pastors and their families.

Prevention vs. Intervention

Many church members reach out to pastors in times of crisis, but they often aren’t serving in the church or connected in community. As a pastor, you can only help so much as one person. By encouraging your church members to be in community, you are also providing them with resources to help. As pastors, what can you do to help build up systems that help with prevention and keep from needing intervention?

Sabbath Rhythms

In your own life, what systems do you need to support you when you are dealing with crisis? Develop and find a prayer team that will commit to pray for you individually each day as a layer of support. Specifically, during this time of coronavirus, it is important to remember that this is a marathon, not a sprint. You need to be building in times of renewal and refreshment. These should be daily and weekly sabbath rhythms. The way that we pace ourselves for a marathon is very different than how we pace ourselves for a sprint.

It is also important to take care of your physical body. Daily be in the rhythm of reading Scriptures, praying, and spending time with the Lord, but also create rhythms of exercise and healthy living choices that will add longevity to your life and your ministry.

Adapted from the New Churches Q&A Podcast Episode 501: Thriving in Leadership. Click here to listen to more to church planting, multisite, and multiplication tips.