The Important Partnership with Professional Counselors

Everyone can benefit from counseling! At my last ministry assignment we were incredibly blessed to have healthy partnerships with professional counselors in our community. Specifically, we even had one counseling center who rented space inside of our church building. This partnership was vital for getting people the help they needed as quickly as possible. 

When walking with people and doing "counseling" sessions as pastors and leaders, it's important to know our own limitations. So how long should you walk with someone down their road to healing before referring them to a professional counselor? Here's an article that might help frame why professional counselors should be consulted sooner: 

http://jaysondbradley.com/2014/10/14/5-reasons-pastors-need-refer-counselors-faster/

Ministry for the Long Haul

"God calls us to work with believers who crumble, grumble, and grouse." I must admit these words strike a cord of resonance as I talk with pastors and leaders in the church worldwide. Questions of how to sustain ministers and leaders in the midst of an ever constant need are valuable and not easily answerable. I pray the words and resources of this article are encouraging. I pray these words will produce grit and sustenance as you traverse the road of ministry in this season. 

http://www.christianitytoday.com/pastors/2015/summer-2015/in-it-for-long-haul.html

An Article about Seeing God in Worship

"God is whispering. Are we listening? And through our visuals, are we helping people to see him? I hope this inspires you to pray and seek how God would lead your church into moments of silence. And along the way, let’s strive to keep the Creator, not our creativity, the center of worship."   (Excerpt from article below)

https://worshipleader.com/technology/helping-worshipers-see-god/

Developing Leaders in Your Church

What are you inviting people to join when inviting them to lead/serve in your church? Possibly one of the best pieces of advice from my own experience is to invite people to serve for a season (specific period) at a time. When we do this it provides a natural time of recommitment and refocus for our servant teams. This also enables us to journey with those serving with us in intentional ways. 

Here's an article from 2012 about how to find and develop leaders in your faith communities.  

http://www.lifeway.com/Article/pastor-ministry-How-to-Find-and-Develop-Leaders-in-Your-Church

Don't Forget the Person Running the Sound

It takes a whole team of people working together to maintain an atmosphere of less distractions as people are connecting together through worship. The article below speaks to the importance of the person running the sound and how they need to put forward intentionality and preparation as much as the worship leader in front of the people. Perhaps one of the most striking points is that the person on the sound board should be committed to being a participant in worship and prayer, not just a facilitator.  

https://worshipleader.com/technology/the-sound-techs-5-rules-for-prayer-without-distractions/