I want to share what might be my biggest leadership lesson in ministry from the past few months.

Trust is everything.

I taught a workshop this summer called Trust as a Leadership Action. I've been adapting it for the next episode of Productive Pastor, but I want to give you a short run-down on it.

Before we do that, let me ask you a question.

How much has trust been a part of ministry for you? Have you ever served in a ministry that struggled with trust? Have you ever lost staff, leaders, or church members because they didn't trust you?

Most situations I wish to reset involve trust issues.

I learned this from Tod Bolsinger's book Invest in Transformation: Quit Relying on Trust. The high irony of the subtitle was the lesson on trust it gave me.

Bolsinger shares two things that apply to ministry leadership. It's the recipe for trust he gives in the book.

Technical Competency ​
The ability to do the basic parts of your job at an appropriate skill level for the task at hand.

Add in the next ingredient.

Relational Congruence
Are you fostering deep relationships with the people you are in ministry with and for?

In short, when people know you can do the job and you have built up healthy relationships, they trust you.

The first ingredient is 100% part of the core pillars of Productive Pastor. You have to handle the small stuff. Those little bits of work in ministry we love to put off. I talk about "tiny huge" tasks. Those little things that can pay off big.

When we drop balls, it hurts trust. People begin to believe we actually can't do our job. When something big is at hand, and we need to lead this big thing, technical competency matters.

Relational Congruence is something different. I've worked with plenty of pastors who get so focused on big things, they forget they are ultimately in the relationship business. In smaller churches, they stop visiting and checking in on people. In larger churches, they insulate themselves behind the office door or take staff and leaders for granted. There is no leadership situation in which deep relationships aren't primary.

Since COVID-19, many churches have downsized. While the staff might be able to right-size, the span of care becomes an issue. Churches might have had 3 pastors in the past, with only one now. Pastoral care becomes spread thin. Leadership used to have deep relationships with staff, but it's easy to let those fall through the cracks.

Technical Competency + Relational Congruence = Trust.

Keep this in mind as you plan your day and week. Make sure your technical competency lines up with the level of big things you are leading. Take the time to do the pastoral task of care and building up others in love.

Chad

PS - Do you want to get your ministry productivity aligned with your call? My course, Becoming Productive, focuses on the basics of learning how you are uniquely wired to work and mapping out a strategic approach to ministry productivity.