I steward Productive Pastor, a podcast and community of ministry leaders focused on how productivity and strategic ministry in the average church. I write about practical approaches to ministry productivity. I also write emails about church stability/development and my own theological musics in our current social moment.
Let's talk about Ministry Walls | Productive Pastor
Hey Friend -
I took a content break during January to refine some things I have been learning AND hearing from other pastors. One of the fantastic things I was able to really dig into is the idea of what I call "ministry walls." This is the result of dozens of conversations I have had with pastors over the last 6 months in one on one coaching, and other conversations. And I want us to talk about walls for a few weeks in this newsletter.
No matter how long you have been in ministry, you encounter walls.
It might be when you are "on the job" for 10 or 12 years and things seem to be stale.
It could be during your first full-time role and things aren't what you thought they would be.
Or you might have been in ministry for decades, but things have changed so much in the last few years you wonder if its worth it.
We all hit walls in ministry.
To put it simple, walls are challenges that block. They could be organizational or personal. But a wall is in front of you, and until you get over it, the wall will set the tone for things. What is more troubling is when we struggle to get over walls and we seem hemmed in around by them.
And while I might not be the expert at always scaling each wall, I have the luxury of a few myself AND hearing from and helping others in their journeys over walls. That's what I want to share with you these next 4 weeks.
1. Week 1 (this email) | What are ministry walls?
2. Week 2 | 3 Ministry Walls I've Experienced
3. Week 3 | 4 People to Help You Overcome Ministry Walls
4. Week 4 | The Checklist to Helping You Get Over Ministry Walls
What we think walls are (and what they actually are).
We see walls as an obstacle to overcome. "Let me figure this out and things will get back to normal" is what rolls through our heads. But the only problem is walls don't let us return to the same elevation. Let me share with you a quick elementary drawing.
Do you see what I am talking about? The left hand side is what we think wall are. But in fact, when we encounter a wall, it means we are on a journey to a new elevation or perspective. I think of the idea of "singing a new song" in the book of Psalms. We are entering into a space of a new reality.
Leadership challenges in our day are the ways we lead people to a new reality, over the wall from our current one.
And these spaces are unlike we have ever seen.
And as pastors and ministry leaders, we need to learn to get over walls.
If we can't look at these personally, we won't be able to lead our churches over them. And a lot of the conversations I have had with other Pastors show that the walls we've encountered over the last few years are big ones. We have a bit of healing to do. We need to fall back in love with our calls and purpose. We need new realities personally.
So let's tackle those walls together this month.
You can hit reply with any thoughts or just to tell me the story of a wall you are dealing with.
Chad
PS. The Becoming Productive course is live now! It is an update of the Season 1 Workbook of the podcast. If you want to be intentional about your ministry productivity in 2023, this is a GREAT way to start working on it.
Hey. I'm Chad Brooks.
I steward Productive Pastor, a podcast and community of ministry leaders focused on how productivity and strategic ministry in the average church. I write about practical approaches to ministry productivity. I also write emails about church stability/development and my own theological musics in our current social moment.
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