How do you build a ministry that allows you turn dozens of yearly calendar pages? I know of no one better than Robert K. Oglesby, Sr. He has been preaching for 57 years with forty-eight of those as the preacher for the Waterview Church of Christ in Richardson. Few (if any) can say almost a decade later that they are the only preacher a church has had.

He can.

What are the traits that let you minster to a congregation—year…after year…after year? Here’s his list:

1. A Good Example–Followers are impressed if you are doing what you ask them to do.
2. Authenticity–People want someone who is “real”, because they eventually see through “fakes”.
3. Vision–The leader must dream and see ahead of the group to things that don’t yet exist, but need to.
4. Articulate–The vision won’t matter unless the leader can articulate and describe the vision so that all can see it (Example Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream” speech).
5. Consensus Builder –The “lone wolf’ cannot make it far. He must discreetly be able to persuade the group that he is leading them the correct way. (This involves a healthy dose of “group dynamic” experience.)
6. A Truth-seeker–His real motive must be to find what’s really true about a text or a church situation, in spite of his own bias.
7. Listener–So many leaders talk, but don’t really listen to what people are saying to them. (A leader loses contact quickly in such situations.)
8. Inspirational–He has to have some “charisma” in order to inspire people to do what needs to be done, even if it’s a difficult, distasteful task.
9. Diplomatic–Kind words are best. Never should a leader deliberately be unkind.
10. Receptive–If someone else’s idea is better than yours, by all means, accept it and change.

If you want longevity in the pulpit and strength in a church, embrace the idea of becoming a better person rather than moving to a different church.

Robert G. Taylor

Why don’t young men want to preach any more?

In the last post, we explored one reason–they lack the models of ministry that give preaching respectability.

But that’s only a single cause. Over three decades ago I stepped into full time “church work” (as it was called then). Since that time, I have witnessed a weekly carnage. Preachers, many with years of tenure and full of talent, walked away from pulpits. They had enough.

It’s tough to preach. Everyone is a critic who knows how to do it better (even though they never tried). The sermon is too obscure, too simple, too long, too short, not enough scripture, not enough application, etc., etc., etc. Every preacher can visualize the face of a well-meaning assassin.

Beyond public criticism is the whispering campaign done by members. The menu for many a Sunday dinner is fried preacher. Children grow up hearing how “dumb” the preacher is. Today, preachers get skewered on the barbecue pit of blog posts and Facebook mentions. For many, the merciless stabs keep coming until its time to turn out the light and leave the pulpit.

While some church members can plead guilty to spiritual murder, the preacher must bear some of the responsibility. They either just “took it” or finally exploded and lost their credibility.

If you preach, you need to learn a little spiritual karate. See the blows coming and deflect them.

Three simple strategies blocks the attacker in full-stride

Define your work. Few preachers have well-written job descriptions. I suggest a memo to the elders or leaders stating your understanding of your work and priorities. Ask them to write back to correct (with the caveat that you assume they are correct unless specifically corrected). This keeps you from being a puppet with dozens vying to pull the string next.

Record your work. Keep a daily log. Every hour write down every hour what you do. It doesn’t have to be detailed, but enough to provide a casual reader of what your doing. For instance, don’t write down “studying for sermon.” Instead make an entry that says, “reading commentaries for sermons” or “writing first outline of sermon.” This puts teeth in the entry. Keep your log open on your desk so anyone can see it. (After all, you have nothing to hide.)

Report your work. From you daily log, write a monthly report and send it to your elders or leaders. (Regardless of whether they want it or not, send it. If necessary, tell them it is for your benefit.) From a dozen monthly reports, write an annual review. The experience will keep you on track in ways nothing else can.

This process does one thing. It provides ammunition for people who come at you with “he just doesn’t do his job” (or some variant of the attack). Cooly, you can say, “Perhaps, let’s look at it.” You open your log, take out your reports and start tediously going through them. Your attitude is not ugly. You only want to pursue the truth. (If the charge is true, be prepared to admit it.)

The tragedy of many churches is good men lost to the work simply because they never developed skills that would allow them to last. Don’t become a victim. Learn to last.

(For a copy of these resources, refer to the page on Becoming a Leader that Lasts on our website.)

The call informed me that our preacher had fallen ill during the night and I was on tap to preach. I now had three hours to prepare and polish a message for an audience of 1000 listeners.

The sermon went well and was well-received. While that may be true, it is difficult to go from 0 to total presentation in three hours. How do stay ready so you prepare effectively when under the gun?

It doesn’t start when the call comes. Someone once asked me how long it took to prepare a sermon. My answer is simple–it took 30 years. All immediate preparation is a reflection of years of training. If you don’t put the hard hours in the cool of the day, you won’t be ready when thrown into the fire.

Yet, you need to do some things regularly to prepare for the last-minute situation. (These are also essential for the routine preparation of sermons.)

Read widely.

Reading is the river that fills the mental reservoir. Reading puts ideas into the mind and into notes. Read novels, self-help books, biographies and books on Bible topics. In addition, find some mind-stimulating blogs and read them daily. All will allow ideas to haunt the mind, reading it for the call when it comes.

Reflect daily.

Sermons take place at the intersection of text and current events. Think daily about what is happening. Analyze the news and think through reading. What do the events mean? What kind of implications are there for living? This kind of thinking is a tumbler turning rock into gemstone.

Write regularly.

One reason I write a blog post is to force me to do focused thinking. I write in a journal, put words into letters and memos, and make presentations. All are the whetstone of thinking. If the knife is not sharp, there’s no time to do it at the last minute. Too many preachers are dull because they don’t sharpen themselves regularly.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t enjoy the pressure of hurry-up preparation. I would never recommend it as a steady habit of life. However, when you take moments to prepare yourself daily, you are ready to prepare a message in a pinch.

Many leaders can’t carry a tune in a bucket, but they must learn to play the music of leadership.

Musicians use diverse tools to get a desired effect. When the score calls for a sustained note, the violinist draws the bow across the strings. However, a rapidly moving piece demands the machine-gun sound of a staccato tongue. It depends on the effect needed.

What kind of leadership music do you play? It depends on the effect you want to get.

Most leaders start with the question, “what do I want to do?” That question can have many answers.

• …preach a sermon.
• …hold a seminar.
• …have a meeting.
• …teach a class.

All are good answers to that question. But the question is asked out of sequence. Before “what” you must ask, “what effect do I want to get?” That question yields dramatically different answers.

• …create excitement among the parents of our young children.
• …have 40 people from our community.
• …train 20 of our members to teach the gospel to their friends.
• …energize our deacons to keep them from getting discouraged.

The second question frames a better answer for the first.

• The preacher will craft his sermon in a certain way to reach the audience.
• The seminar will need a topic and approach which entices the community.
• The meeting should focus on praise and planning.
• The class must do more than provide information. It must focus on hands-on training.

When a leader starts with the effect question, he then knows what to plan, whom to target, and what to avoid. Too many times events result in sighs of “I don’t know why they are not interested.” That’s because the leaders ignored the “effect” question.

The musician uses the tools at his disposal to get the proper effect. The leader, too, must master the music of leadership. Ask the right question first.