OPTIMIZING CHECK-IN

Current vaccination percentage of the total population as per the CDC:

St. Lucie     35.2%               Palm Beach     42.6%               Miami-Dade     46.8%
Martin         44.5%               Broward           41.8%               Monroe            50.0%

Vaccination rates for older populations are higher than the total population.

• How can your congregation continue to encourage vaccinations?
• How are you maintaining safety for those whom the vaccine is not authorized or that are unable to take it?
• Are you making special provisions in your children’s ministry?

ENTREPRENEURIAL PASTORS/LEADERS

7 Ways a Pastor Should Think Like an Entrepreneur
By Brandon A. Cox  [LINK]

• Cox focuses his writing on Pastors but in our tradition the expectations of leadership fall to the whole church.
• Cox says: “I love entrepreneurial leaders. They think a little differently than everyone else. And I believe they have a special place in ministry leadership.
• Cox makes these basic assumptions:
  • Some things should never change. Truth. The Gospel. The content. The message. The role, generally speaking, of the pastor, which is to shepherdthe flock of God. These things don’t change.
  • Some things are always changing. Language. Technology. Politics. Felt needs. These things change with every new generation, with every major cultural moment, and with every new location where we take the gospel.
  • Entrepreneurial pastors navigate change well. Entrepreneurs see a new opportunity and plunge into it, taking big risks, walking with big faith, and often seeing fresh fruit.

1. Entrepreneurs question the status quo.

Pastors, you can coast along to retirement by preaching pretty good sermons and visiting the sick. Or, you can question whether that’s all you’re up to and go for more.

• How good are you at questioning the status quo?
• How might the post-Covid experience help or hinder the movement away from status quo?
• What is one instance of the status quo you need to be questioning right now?

2.  Entrepreneurs ignore the naysayers.

Obviously, pastors need advisors and accountability, but we also need to be able to reject and ignore discouraging advice from those who don’t necessarily know what God has put on our hearts. (We would say what God is calling the church to be.)

• How do you know the difference between a naysayer or a valid voice in discernment?
• What is your approach to those who seem like naysayers?
• How do you attend to naysayers fairly without being dismissive?

3.  Entrepreneurs fix broken things no one else has yet fixed.

And we need pastors who will lovingly and confidently determine to fix, or better, to heal broken churches.

• Is your leadership actively seeking to “fix what is broken” in your church?
• What is broken in your church that needs some determined and intentional attention to fix?
• Does your leadership pay enough attention to fixing more than just the broken system or facilities? How do you actively seek to work with the Holy Spirit to help fix broken lives?

4.  Entrepreneurs take big risks in faith.

… in church leadership, our faith in God grows when we follow God’s lead, take a risk, and watch God show up and go to work!

• What is your personal tolerance for risk taking? Does that question change if we ask about, “risk taking in faith?”
• Prior to the pandemic what was the biggest risk you and/or your church took in faith? How has your tolerance changed?
• How does your congregation weigh risk?

5.  Entrepreneurs adapt quickly to unforeseen challenges

Things go wrong. And how we react when things go wrong makes all the difference. Entrepreneurs adjust and bounce back. They make course corrections, learn from mistakes, and fail forward.

• What has this past year taught you about your personal ability to adapt? How about your church?
• Did you learn any personal or leadership skills that may help you be more able to adapt in the future?

6.  Entrepreneurs work hard. Really hard!

The fact is, it takes thousands and thousands of hours of doing something to become truly proficient at it. Entrepreneurs might work for themselves, but that often means they work for a workaholic boss and should probably calm down and rest more.

Pastoral ministry is hard work! It ought to be hard work. To “rightly divide the word of truth” takes time pouring over its pages. To lead a healthy staff and leadership team takes lots of time spent one-on-one with leaders. When the leader works hard at growing personally, the church benefits.

• How do you manage the time you spend on the pastoral, personal, organizational and other aspects of your vocation and life?
• Are you working really hard on the right stuff?

7.  Entrepreneurs change the game.

And pastors… you are the world’s most over-looked change agents! You think we can count on politicians to take down the world’s giant problems? No, pastors who preach and re-preach the gospel faithfully and who find new ways of communicating it to each new generation truly change the world like no other leader could.

• How are change agents actually game changers?
• Do you see yourself as a game changer?
• What might you do to become more cooperative with the Holy Spirit as a game changer in the world?

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