Coaching For Pastors - Daily Coaching, Encouragement, and Support for Pastors

When there are multiple people attempting to lead a congregation, it can be confusing and counterproductive for the people in the church. Especially when there are competing visions and missions. Only the lead or solo pastor has the responsibility to provide real leadership. This one you can get help with... but you can't delegate it! Support the show For more great content and conversations...

Today Jeff begins this week's theme of "Only YOU". Five things that only the pastor can do - it's YOUR responsibility, no one else's! Only YOU can prioritize your health. No one else will, nor do they want to. They're having a tough enough time monitoring their own health right now. Jeff describes a number of areas that make up holistic health... Support the show For...

Bruce and Toni Hebel join Jeff to talk about their teaching on Forgiving Forward. They counsel, consult, and coach with individuals, leaders, pastoral couples, and many more every week of the year.  What does it look like to actually forgive? What does forgiveness mean? How about repentance? Reconciliation? Healing? The impact on mental health? Bruce and Toni talk through the full monty! You'...

Just yesterday (for me), November 30, 2022, I had my very last class session for the final course in my Doctoral program. A 2.5 hour Zoom session. There were about 15 of us.  I took copious notes, and want to share just a couple of the many great teachings we tossed around. There were a lot of helpful principles of change leadership in the church we discussed. But in Episode 197 I share with you j...

After a 10-day break, Jeff returns to update the listeners, and share a snippet from A Theology of Love, a book by Mildred Bangs Wynkoop, which is a classic and a cornerstone book on the subject of biblical love. Then he parlays all that into what he believes is the highest call of pastoral ministry, in a challenge for how we can approach the busy Christmas season in ministry! A Theology of Love b...

Hello Pastor! In my recent doctoral class, I reviewed my notes for the semester and found, among dozens, six quotes I just have to share with you. It was hard to pick six, but here they are - with just a little commentary from me! In this episode I let you know that I might miss a day or two here or there of the podcast - as we move through the end of the year and the holidays. I have to prioritiz...

Pastor, today I want to talk with you about humility. Sometimes we think we are really something. But in humility Jesus saved the world. I think in humility we can accomplish his will for us. Matthew 25 and the least of these. John 4 and the woman at the well. John 13 and washing the disciples' feet. Touching the lepers, caring for the sick and the blind. Noticing the widow who gave all she h...

Pastor, you know how we can sometimes zone out in ministry, and catch ourselves just going through the motions? Yeah, me too. Today I want to urge you to deal in the Spirit, and not peddle culture and tradition. If we don't do this, shape culture, lead, and love - who will? It's our job, our role, our calling. Let's embrace the work of the Spirit who leads us into LOVE. Support the...

Jeff shares some observations on the people he connected with this past Sunday morning. He shares... Why Pastors Exist. Enjoy! Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

This is a great quick episode with some dense and valuable coaching from John Finkelde from GrowAHealthyChurch.com in Perth, Australia. Check out the HUB , a monthly membership resource that your church leaders could truly benefit from - consider signing your church up for this monthly resource. John doesn't know I am promoting this - nor did he ask - but it's good, and you should check...

Jeff gives some perspectives on suffering as a pastor. We often want to get out of, or get over suffering quickly. Most people do. But suffering is such a tool, and so redemptive in our lives. What if we didn't grow because we never went through any suffering? That would be unfortunate. We'd be shallow pastors with shallow ministries. So, some thoughts on suffering... Support the show Fo...

The best coaching always drives toward the fundamentals, right? The old Vince Lombardi quote... "Gentleman, this is a football." I want to take you today to Philippians chapter two as a template that the Apostle Paul might use to challenge your leadership team right now in 2022. Imagine you've invited him and you're around a nice boardroom table, and he gets just a few minutes...

Pastor, you are a safe one. You love your people. You have the power to put the mirror of self-awareness in front of people and help them to see who they really are. Most of the time, the most loving thing someone can do for another person is to tell them the truth.  Jeff talks about a lesson from his Psych 101 prof that has stayed with him for almost 40 years! Support the show For more great cont...

Ministry is all consuming, and sometimes it literally robs us of our vibrant relationship with God. When this happens, we have to push the reset button. Today we identify the problem, and tomorrow we begin to address it with some solutions. Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

In the United States, this episode is being released the day before the 2022 Midterm elections. In this episode I encourage pastors to be pastors, not political hacks or political pundits. Pastors, let's not be distracted by the issues of the State - but let's stay focused on our calling to the Church and the Gospel. Let's not get this wrong. Let's be like Jesus on this issue.....

We sat down with Dan Reiland, who is an Executive Pastor at 12Stone Church in the Atlanta area - to just have an informal Q&A on the pastor's life in ministry. How many hours to work? What's your daily/weekly routine? How do you direct your staff members in their family/ministry management? These are the areas, plus more, that we cover. You'll get a LOT out of this coaching sess...

Jeff talks today about a practice-based approach to ministry versus an outcome-based approach to ministry. What's the difference? Which is better?  The question is: are we doing ministry differently today than we were twenty years ago? And what should that change look like? This is an episode that will challenge your thinking and hopefully create new thoughts for you! Support the show For mor...

The people on the Titanic had already felt the thud of the ship hitting the ice, and the hull was breached, and yet many of them had no sense that they were in trouble. Pastor, in our culture - perhaps we are already in trouble. In this episode I talk to you about that trouble, and how we might mitigate its effects on us... enjoy! Support the show For more great content and conversations for pasto...

Jeff shares a story of a funeral service he did, how he struggled with it, and what he wanted to accomplish in it. Every pastor sooner or later will face a group of people that are like those sheep, scattered, without a shepherd. Then we have to decide how we will relate to them, and how we will call out to God for help. What our motives are in those moments will determine how we relate to those p...

Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our ministry world and in actually being a pastor, that we forget who it is we are becoming. Who has God created us to be? Who are we to our family, or community, and to our friends? At our deepest core, we should just be us, not pastors... check it out... On this episode I quote from the book, The Kingdom Life , but you can read more from Keith Meyer in his own b...

Jeff describes the weekend he had, with all of the pastoral involvement he experienced with so many different people in the church/community. He then shares some of the struggle and thought processes that go into navigating pastoral ministry. Real ministry talk with you my friend, pastor to pastor! Enjoy... Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 4...

Dr. David Fitch, from Northern Seminary in Chicago, joins us to talk about how the church joins Jesus to be a faithful presence in the community. David Fitch is an author, seminary prof, and all around great communicator and thought leader in the Christian Ministry world. Fitch is a believer in modest sized churches, opining that they are more effective in reaching and ministering to the community...

Sometimes, in the course of one's life and leadership - you need to burn a bridge, jump out of a plane, pass a point of no return, take that leap of commitment where there's no going back. Jeff challenges pastors to do just that in this episode, describing experiences and stories from his own life and ministry. Jeff hopes that God uses this episode to push you to take that step that you&...

Are you propping up ministries that have long since lost their luster - and their enthusiastic volunteers? Maybe the person who began the ministry is long gone, but some people feel compelled to keep the ministry going... on life support! What is the only ministries in your church were driven by people gifted and impassioned to lead them, and to volunteer for them? Sometimes when the horse dies......

Jeff talks about a conversation with a guy he spent four days with in May, 2014... Dave Ronan, from episode 72 of the 200churches Podcast - a classic episode you should listen to ! Then he connects this conversation to yesterday's episode 178, when people do you dirty, and the stories he hears from pastors in his role on a licensing and ordination committee. Enjoy! Support the show For more g...