Time management is one of the main areas where leaders exercise poor stewardship in their congregations. The sad thing is that we often time find ways to justify the dreadful job we are doing at being such poor managers of our time. Time, though precious, is either abused or squandered.

The management of time is relevant to all of us, leaders or not. Pastors for example have a great deal of freedom in how they use their time. Pastors decide what they do on any given day. Effective management of time is critical to the pastor. It determines how well (s)he is able to carry out ministry responsibilities.

Given all of that, pastors are among the most frustrated persons when it comes to managing time. I know. Juggling family commitments, church ministry demands, community activities, sermon preparation, bible studies, counselling sessions, meetings and visiting the sick and homebound is the perfect recipe for madness. We are never the brightest in realizing that we are trying to accomplish the impossible.

Very often family and personal life end up being badly neglected. In fact, I have heard some very unwise boastings by some male colleagues that they have never taken a vacation since they have been in ministry. What did I tell you about madness! I’ll leave that for another time.

The fact is too many church leaders are in control of their time. As such, we are not able to have a sense of where we are really at. We are either feeling out-of-control, overwhelmed, or on the edge of burnout. Time for assessment is rare.

Well if you paused to read this, then take some more time to look at the two things I now share with you.

RescueTime - is free time management software particularly for those who spend a lot (ok way too much time) online. This one is my favourite. I am always hitting my head and going “Oh no, I can’t believe I spent so much time doing that…”. If you’ve uttered that a few times then RescueTime is definitely for you.

Then a friend sent me this link as his indirect way of commenting on my ‘things-to-do-list’ that I shared with him. It was a timely reminder and I’ve started the little exercise as well.

Let me know how you are making out with them.

Marvia

Church growth preoccupies our minds. We are filled with lofty ideals and notions of grandeur of a small church growing into a mega-church. One could almost believe that everyone who cries ‘church growth, church growth’ shall enter the Kingdom of God. Fact it is the minority of Christians who are serious about expansion of the church through it’s growth.

You can tell that the majority of Christians in our churches are against church growth. Your church might be one that is against growing the church, based on how many of these characteristics you can identify in your body. Check the list below;

Identifying Christians Against Church Growth

1. They are the non-committed members who attend church service on Sunday only. They have better and more important things to do than spend too much time doing church related activities.
2. They do not contribute financially to the church. Without finances (and a responsible Stewardship ministry) the mission of the church will be stunted. Who cares?
3. They have no depth to their spirituality. It’s all surface. No time for prayer, personal devotions, Bible Study or regular attendance and active participation in worship or humble service. They are the seeds without roots….
4. They are cold and unfriendly toward visitors. They wonder why all these strange people are now coming to their church and not the other church down the road.
5. Even worse then # 4 they do not welcome persons of another race in their congregation.
6. They hate noisy kids in worship. Why can’t parents leave their kids at home so we can worship God in peace in quiet.
7. They are not part of any working/ministry group and do not see their service as ministry in the church. These are the so-called “volunteers” who can decide at whim to ‘volunteer’ or withhold their services.
8. They are hate and conflict mongers who thrive on discord in the fellowship. There is no time for the church to heal before there is another war brewing.
9. They think the youth are nothing but a bunch of nuisance. Why don’t we keep them in a separate service so they don’t disrupt worship with their awful music and ungodly worship styles.
10. They are a law unto themselves and will not submit to the authority of a pastor. They always want to have their own way and promote their own agenda.

Be sure you check your personal score first. Then check how your church scores. The point is to see if in subtle and not so subtle ways you have been retarding rather than promoting the growth of your church.

Peace,
Marvia

Church Management is not a term that is widely accepted by all sections of the church. In reference to the same thing, many prefer to speak of Church Administration instead of Management. Whichever term you prefer, the issue is organizing the ministry of the church.

Organizing Church Ministry
Some leaders are fearful that to organize ourselves for ministry is to suppress the Spirit. On the other hand, there are those who believe that to “leave everything to the Spirit”, without acting responsibly for organization is not being true to the Spirit. I believe balance is what makes the difference.

I have some difficulty grasping the desirability of not having any organization. While at the same time, I know that in getting fanatical about organization and structure, you lose something. A close look at the loss will reveal that we no longer give consideration to people but to the structure. When you box people into a strict routine all the time without room for variety and spontaneity, they can die from monotony and boredom.

Management and the Gift of Leadership
Church Management and ministry are not mutually exclusive terms. Neither are they enemies of each other. The word management, because it is a word used mostly in the secular world sometimes comes under much suspicion in the church.

Over the past decade there has been an outcry for ‘good’ leadership in the church. Inherent in the cries I have heard, is the need for this very issue under discussion. The church needs pastors and leaders who are able to ‘manage’ the task of ministry.Managers of ministry are stewards put in charge of God’s people and resources.

We managers are all subject to God’s leading. Wise church leaders submit to the leading of the Spirit before attempting to lead God’s people. However, submission to God’s leading does not mean that you do not need additional resources to get the job done. We need tools to help us in this regard.

Church Management Tools For Ministry
We all love growth. However, unmanaged growth results in chaos and sometimes even malformation. Church growth, if left unmanaged can be malformed. The growing church soon recognizes their need for additional tools to better organize their ministry. A lot will depend on the church’s outlook and their budget. Some areas to consider are:

• Church government
• Membership growth and movements
• Technology and church communication
• Ministry and Mission
• Worship needs and trends
• Stewardship especially finance and property

Pretty soon you will find yourself combing the bookstores looking for ministry handbooks and manuals. You or someone you appoint will be scouring the web searching frantically for church membership software, church accounting software, and worship software.

You know you are in too deep when you find yourself dreaming of wonderful automated systems that could keep track of everything in one place so that you have a lot more time to visit your members and spend less time in the Church office. Church management resources can help you do your job much better, just don’t begin to put your ‘trust’ in them and no longer depend on God.

Want to learn more about some specific tools that we personally find useful? Just stay tuned, those updates are coming soon.

Marvia