2  things every Senior Pastor should take a personal inventory of:

1)  Are there people in your church who spend more time talking to you than Jesus?

Now don’t let that question offend you.  Let me explain.  Many pastors experience the occasional ‘concerned‘ church member.  You know these people.  They usually don’t have an appointment when they stop by your office, and they want to tell you about all the things that are wrong in the church.  If they are not spending more time praying about their intensions and their own possible contribution to a solution, they don’t need to be consuming portions of your valuable time.  Practice being a good steward of your time.  Make every minute worth something.

2)  Are you very aware of specific needs (both personal & professional) of each member of your pastoral staff team?

In the last 20 years of ministry, I’m disgusted to say that the MAJORITY of churches I’ve served in have been lead by pastors who were not at all in touch with their staff.  Whether your church office consists of only one pastor and a part-time admin assistant, or a full-time team of 30 ministers…connection matters.  Ministry teams are very different than sales or marketing teams in the corporate America cubical.  I’m going to make a very strong statement here.  If your Lead Pastor does not genuinely care about you and what you’ve got going on in your life…he/she will not care about anything of spiritual relevance in your area of ministry.  Lead Pastors need to be actively ‘in the know’ with their staff and praying for them regularly.

Are you a Lead Pastor, and do you struggle with either of these in your church?  Are you a support staff at your church, and what have been your experiences?

Leave a comment below.  You can also connect with me on Twitter and Instagram.