Laurie KennedyYour church demonstrates your love for God and His bride (the church) by how you care for and support your Ministry Staff. Paul encourages us to, “esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:13).

With this I conclude a four part series recognizing Ministry Staff recognition month.

As a Leadership Coach with the Jethro Group, I do a lot of work with churches and Pastors. I assist with Vision development, recruiting, organizational development, mentoring, writing and a lot of coaching. However, In terms of priorities or return on investment these pale in comparison to my most important role.

Research tells us the average Christian prays three minutes a day. Hmm! That sounds like breakfast, lunch and supper prayer time.

Let me refer you to the old German proverb quoted in Leading Turnaround Churches by Gene Wood, “the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” The Annual Goals, the Ministry plan, the dreams, hopes, vision statement and the hours debating the culture of your church become less than significant. The hours of committee meetings, the constitution review and the new policy development manual become less important. You have kept the main thing, the main thing because the main thing is the result, catching fish. In our world, the main thing is winning that person to Christ.

Your most important role, and mine, is to keep and improve the health of our Ministry staff.

I challenge every Board Chair to use October as Pastor Appreciation month and to find a unique way to recognize and encourage their Ministry staff.

So, what can your church do to improve the long term health of your Pastoral staff?  The ideas are limitless. Be creative.

Leadership is, demonstrating God’s love to your community by caring and praying for your Ministry staff.

Yours in Service,
Laurie D. Kennedy
Leadership Coach
Jethro Group