What's on your preaching calendar?

In this podcast I discuss the why’s and the how’s of planning a yearly preaching calendar.  I also share how our rural church, Oakway United, is using this through nine sermon series in 2012.

Here are the show notes:

Why have a yearly preaching calendar?

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The Worship Wars

Rural Pastor Podcast

Episode 2 Show Notes-The Worship Wars

What are the worship wars really all about?

Traditional or contemporary is a matter of style or preference.

What works at one church won’t work somewhere else.

The thought that only contemporary worship can reach younger people is not true.

• Bluegrass worship

• Growing church with a growing choir.

There’s more to worship than music, but that’s our focus today.

Contemporary can become traditional when it becomes predictable.

Traditional can become contemporary when it utilizes other elements.

1. Passion-Does your worship leader, choir director, music leader, minister of music love what they do?  Do they even want to be there?  Are they bringing unquestioned energy to their role?
2. Talent-Are the people involved in music ministry talented?  Has special music become the “Dear Lord Not again” time in your service?  Help people discover their talents and use them.  I’ve heard choirs that were good and some that were not so good.  Is the rural church ready for auditions?  Whoever is in charge is the gatekeeper of the microphone.  No one gets on that mic who isn’t talented, prepared, and called to do music.
3. Excellence-this is where passion and talent meet.  When someone is passionate and talented then they will put the time in to make sure that people are blown away every Sunday.  People will leave saying,”that was awesome” no matter the style.  It is not excellent when the preacher gets up and says “I had no idea they were doing that song today, but it fits right into my message.”  There’s got to be communication between the team and God and each other.

Resources:
The Big Idea: Focus the Message—Multiply the Impact by Dave Ferguson

Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict (TCP Leadership Series) by George Bullard, Jr.

Transforming Leadership: Jesus’ Way of Creating Vision, Shaping Values & Empowering Change by Leighton Ford

The Creative Leader: Unleashing the Power of Your Creative Potential by Ed Young

Next week:  You can’t have too many dead horses if you don’t have too many horses.

How do you decide when to start and stop new ministries?

Make sure to check out:

Wednesdays at 9 am EST

And

The Chase Your Lion Podcast

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Which type of church is yours?

Welcome to the Rural Pastor podcast this is Episode 1 and I am your host Heath Mullikin.

I’m the pastor of Oakway Wesleyan Church.
I want to provide a forum for discussion and ideas for rural pastors.

3 types of churches and 3 ways to get your church moving in the right direction.

Type A

• Builds wall and moats.
• Doesn’t go out into the community to help.
• Doesn’t want to bring anyone new into the church.
• May sends lots of money to “missions” because God knows those people over there are savages and need help.
• Most often is controlled by a family or a church boss.  Reasons for this could be how the church was started(tent revival with folks coming together to start a church and pastors coming on a year by year basis)
• Frustrating for pastors who want to fulfill the great commission.
• They just want a chaplain.

Type B

• Very active in the community.
• Active in giving and going with missions.
• Does not want to bring community people into the church.  They are ok to help feed them, clothe them, and meet their needs, but they have no desire for those people to actually be a part of their church.
• Church is most likely run by committees or a certain group.
• Pastor is excited about the service to the community but frustrated about the lack of growth.

Type C

• Active in the community.
• Gives to missions.
• People are active in missions trips.
• Church desires to bring those they are serving in the community into the church.
• Everyone really is welcome.
• Numerical growth is happening.
• Church is healthy.
• Pastor is leading the church and has the support of board, elders, etc. in fulfilling the great commission.
• Pastor does have to balance meeting the needs of the congregation and the new folks.

Type A is not healthy.  Type B looks healthy. Type C is healthy.
Jesus came to Seek and Save the lost.  That means we must Go find them and bring them in.
Most difficult part of being a rural pastor is moving a church from one type to another.

Church planting has grown by leaps and bounds because:
A:  it is the most effective way to reach new people
B:  pastors don’t have to transition a church from one type to another.  A church plant must be Type C from the beginning or it won’t last.

3 steps
1.  Be honest about where you’re at.  Is God calling you to move a type a or b church to a type c?  What are the chances that change will actually come?  Are you willing to pay that price?

2.  Get help from:
A.  Denominational resources.

B.  Coaching

C.  DO NOT try to bring about changes without someone having your back.

3.  Look for partners.
A.  Are there other churches in the same situation who could go through this process         with you?
B.  Are there churches in your area who could come along side and lend support and         resources?
C.  What about merging with another local church?

Books
Comeback Churches: How 300 Churches Turned Around and Yours Can, Too-Ed Stetzer and Mike Dodson

Simply Strategic Stuff:: Help for Leaders Drowning in the Details of Running a Church, Simply Strategic Growth: Attracting a Crowd to Your Church, and Simply Strategic Volunteers: Empowering People For Ministry.by Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens

Transformational Church-Ed stetzer and Thom Rainer

Email at heath.mullikin@gmail.com to ask questions or leave a comment or click on the contact me tab on the blog and fill out the form.  I would love to hear your questions and feedback on rural church issues.

Make sure to check out:

Wednesdays at 9 am EST

And

The Chase Your Lion Podcast

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