Encouragement for Pastors

I got to spend some time today with some pastors and church leaders. We talked about leading during seasons when you are spent, empty, and depleted. It's very clear to me that lots and lots of church leaders are in the red zone, and I know many pastors who are ready to get out of the game. Most of these are gifted leaders, communicators, coaches, counselors, and pastors. Most should remain in ministry, but they simply have nothing left. They're burned out and completely fried, as the demands of ministry have depleted their resources. Some are angry and deeply hurting. Their families are sometimes a mess. Their spiritual lives are often shallow (I know this is particularly a surprise to all non-pastors). They regularly ask, "how could happen to me?"

Overwhelmingly, the average person has no idea why vocational ministry would create such a scenario. But almost every person who works for a church and EVERY senior pastor knows exactly what I'm talking about.

Pastor, God didn't lead you into the ministry so that he could hurt you. He led you there because He called you. He gifted you. You don't have to live this crazy, nutty, insane life anymore. But to get there, you also don't have to leave the ministry. Getting healthy will require significant changes in the way you lead...in the way you live. These changes will be painful initially, but they will lead to a more effective leader and pastor in you, AND a more healthy result in the people you lead, teach and serve.

Be encouraged. Ministry doesn't have to hurt you. God wants you to be whole and healthy.

• I strongly encourage you to read Leading on Empty by Wayne Cordeiro.
• Get back to Scripture. Read it every day. Pray until God is finished speaking.
• Take a Sabbath. Not just this week, but Every Week. Exceptions happen, but they should be rare.
• Take ALL of your vacation. Don't leave a single day unused or given up.
• If you've been in ministry for more than 6 years, take a Sabbatical (6 weeks to 3 months). Don't say it cannot happen. Don't say the church cannot live without you. They can. Even if they don't know it...they need to learn how, and they will if you'll let them.
• Get with some other people who really 'get' you...where you can vent, unload, and let your hair down (for me, that's strictly figurative). If you don't have any idea who that might be, email me at brian@pccwired.net

People are counting on you. Your family is counting on you. And you are NOT alone, even if you feel that way.

New Steering Team nominees

The Steering Team is one of the most critical roles here at PCC. From our earliest days, I knew that we needed to gather a group of leaders who could help guide (steer) the church through good times and challenging series. I was smart enough to know that I'm not that smart! The Bible makes this clear:

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!...Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10, 12, NIV)

I personally assembled the original Steering Team, and since 2003, the Steering Team has carefully and prayerfully considered and selected the new additions. This is the only elected position in the church, and they serve for 3 year terms. It is so important to get this right, because the Steering Team sets the tone for unity in the entire church. My experience with this group has been extremely positive, and they have done their job - rising to the occasion during the critical seasons at PCC.

This year, we

asked Tony Tomandl and Sarah Wagner to join the team, and the church is

scheduled to vote on them on November 6 at the Annual Meeting.

Here is a little about each of them:

Sara Wagner grew up in Powhatan, and starting attending PCC in 2002. Sara serves in First Steps (with some of the cutest kids in Powhatan), and helps with drama stuff, and sometimes leads small group. She likes to do active/outdoorsy stuff, and she loves ZUMBA! Currently, Sara is at MCV in Nursing School, hoping to eventually work in pediatrics. She grew up in church, and says "God has always been a truth in my life" - but she is discovering more deeply what a relationship with Jesus looks like. We baptized Sara in September, 2009.

Tony Tomandl (the one in red) is a former CPA with 20 years of public accounting experience. He is married to his best friend from the 3rd grade, Cheryl, but he says they waited until after High School to actually tie the knot! They have 1 daughter and 2 sons. Tony and Cheryl came to PCC in 2008. Let me allow Tony to describe his spiritual journey in his own words:

"I was brought up in a home lead by godly parents who were faithful to take me to church and lived their faith. For me, I never doubted the existence of God – he was just irrelevant to me. Life was all about me, my wants, my pleasure, my career, my everything. There was nothing I withheld from myself and there was no price too high to pay for my success. I was an elder in the church we attended, while just under the surface I was as an alcoholic, destroying my marriage and totally miserable. In 1985, Cheryl and I attended a “spiritual” retreat that I really didn’t want to attend. It was at that retreat that I met Jesus in people that loved me and in the middle of the night I prayed “God, I have made a total mess of everything, please take my life, I give it to you.”

This journey is challenging, never boring and I have so far to go. There have been times of growth and set back, victory over sin and failures and exhilarating highs and discouraging lows. This I know for certain; that God is good and his loving kindness is for ever. One critical thing I am missing and my desire at this time is to develop a true friendship here."

We are very blessed to have these two high capacity and dedicated leaders willing to serve on the Steering Team!

It is NOT about you...but it IS about you?!

Anna Holland, one of our staff members who heads up PowerJAM at PCC, sent this really cool article. Since I occasionally get some flack for using the statement 'it's not about you', I thought the perspective here was helpful to me, and might be for others as well.

Check it out at http://blog.buildingchurchleaders.com/2010/10/the_ministry_paradox_its_not_a.html

The Survey Says...

As our church continues to grow, we are carefully considering the implications for the future. One area we are investigating is service times.

We'd love to hear from you, so we put together a quick survey for your input. If you attended this week's service at the Powhatan campus, you had a chance to fill out the survey; but if you missed it and would like to weigh in, you can!

Click here and follow the directions. The survey will only be open for a few days, so don't delay!

And thanks -your input is very helpful!


Beth

PCC Members Meeting and Agenda Forum

Every year, PCC has ONE 'business meeting'. If you've never been to this event at our church, and right now you are having painful flashbacks of other church business meetings, let me encourage you to take a deep breath....it's all good.

When we started our church, we wanted to facilitate great, healthy discussion that leads to unity of purpose without promoting unhealthy division. So, we have our business meeting in 2 parts.

Part 1: The Agenda Forum. That is tomorrow evening at the Powhatan Campus at 7pm. You can see more about the agenda by clicking here. At the Agenda Forum, we simply discuss and address questions about items on the agenda. No 'voting' is done. That is saved for part 2.

Part 2: Annual Membership Meeting celebration. That is Saturday, November 6, at 6pm. YOu and your family are invited. We will have a great meal (the church provides this catered dinner), some good music and a unifying theme. The voting takes place in the opening of our evening and literally lasts about 1-2 minutes, because the discussion has already happened at the Agenda Forum. Most of the night is a celebration with good friends and great food!

Please email Lori at lori.wheeler@pccwired.net to let her know you are coming to the Annual Membership Meeting so that we can have a count for dinner.

Now, here are some notes about the budget, which you can see by clicking here:

Some notes about the 2011 proposed budget:

1. What we sent to the church was a master budget that is based on an increase in attendance and, therefore, giving. In addition to that budget, I have also given to our Staff and Steering team a scaled down version of the budget that we will operate under effective January 1. Attendance and giving has improved in recent weeks, and as that continues, we can move more and more towards the full budget. In the meantime, we’ll operate under an important rule: we don’t spend what we don’t have. If you’d like to see the ‘January 1’ operating budget, you can go to this google doc. I have highlighted in YELLOW the operating January 1 column.

2. I put the 2010 YTD income on that google doc for general offering, as of 10/17/10.

3. The staff expense line is actually not being reduced from what we actually spend today. In fact, there is an increase there. What you see for ‘budget’ was before we made some reductions last year. We are not planning on any cutbacks or salary reductions.

Please feel free to email Chauncey, Dennis or me if you have questions.

Thanks for your commitment to PCC!

Brian

The Cage of Guilt

It was a great day at PCC today. We offered a very good experience, God moved, we chased the Goose, and I think some folks finally were freed from the cage of guilt. The drama was especially powerful. I know it was a hard subject...heavy and difficult for some to engage. But for those who struggle with guilt and who stuck it out, I think we were able to give them some answers.

Here are some of the notes and scriptures that I used, in case you want to do a little more study:

I referenced the condition called "superior autobiographical memory" and specifically mentioned Brad Williams and Jill Price. Those who have this rare condition remember ever detail of their lives. One of the statements I made was, "When it comes to confessed sin, if there’s one thing God doesn’t have, it’s superior autobiographical memory."

The message was based on the story of Judas Iscariot. You can read about Judas in Matthew 26-27 and Luke 22.

There were 3 things I encouraged folks to do who are in the cage of guilt:

1. Confess the sin. 1 John 1:9 (NIV) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Psalms 103:12 (NIV) as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our [sins] from us.

2. Commit to God. Romans 6:22-23 (NIV) But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

3. Claim the New You. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Hope this helps!

Today was an Exceptional Day

I just got home from one of the best days I can remember having at PCC in a long time. It really feels like we have a lot of momentum right now...like we're firing on all cylinders. Here are some of my thoughts from the past week:

• Powhatan Campus was different today! It was quite a surprise to most folks who came to Powhatan today. A portable stage was assembled in the middle of the floor, and the chairs were in 'the round'. From my perspective, it was very, very effective. I felt like I was having a great conversation, connected and fully engaged. I thought our music was high energy, the sound was awesome, the lights were cool, the video work was as good as I've ever seen it. I would love to do that arrangement again...but I would also like some feedback. So, let us know what you thought.

• PCC's Westchester Campus continues to really grow and shine. The quality of the picture and sound is exceptional, the band there is very good and has a lot of energy. We have more and more folks who are settling there - many who have only been to that campus and consider it 'home'. It's a good crowd (over 100) and growing. The core team there is especially dedicated and has an incredible attitude. I was at a WC Core Team meeting Thursday evening and I continue to be so impressed by the hunger and tenacity of those leaders.

• Midlothian Festival. I was on a Steering Team retreat Saturday, so I couldn't make the Midlothian Festival. PCC's Westchester Campus had a booth, some games and movie tickets to give away. Dennis Green said that he thinks we must have talked to a thousand people. That will bear fruit in the coming weeks.

• Care Team. Katherine Ramsey, Rachel Huff and I led a Crisis Care Training today for about 20 folks from the Care Team. Rachel started, trained, led, and grew the most effective care ministry of any church I know. Today's training led to fantastic conversations and I'm so impressed by the dedicated and high capacity folks on that team.

Incredible things are happening at PCC...stay tuned. Greater things are still coming. God is up to something!