Tag Archives: ministry

Before You Criticize Your Pastor…

By caryschmidt | March 15, 2010

Ever noticed that some people relish the criticism of pastors? Like kids and candy—they addict themselves even though it’s rotting something in them. While choosing voluntarily to stay under his leadership, they commit themselves to finding and exploiting every possible imperfection. I’ve never understood this thinking. Selecting a pastor, only to proceed to condemn the [...]

Posted in christian life | Also tagged biblical living, church staff, danger, leadership, local church, satanic, team | 5 Comments

Problems with Fun-Focused Youth Ministry

By caryschmidt | February 15, 2010

Is your youth ministry Bible-focused or fun-focused? It’s easy to focus more on making the youth group fun than on making it biblical. I’m all for having a good time with students in the right context, but we have a much higher calling. How easy it is to fall into the trap of spending more [...]

Posted in student ministry | Also tagged biblical living, local church, student ministry, sunday school, teen life | 8 Comments

New SL Podcast—Striving Together

By caryschmidt | February 1, 2010

The February edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast has just posted! And Pastor Paul Chappell shares an insightful “in-studio” interview regarding the lesson.
Originally taught at the Spiritual Leadership Conference 2009, it is entitled “Striving Together.” This lesson focuses on how we should encourage one another in ministry.
The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free resource from [...]

Posted in books and resources | Also tagged leadership, podcast, striving together | 1 Comment

8 Reasons to Follow a Great Leader

By Cary Schmidt | February 1, 2010

Everybody, in some respect is a leader, and everybody is a follower. Few are called to be the key leader. Many more are called to follow and support a key leader. For instance, a family may have many members but should have one father. A team can have many players (and leaders) but only one [...]

Posted in leadership | Also tagged church staff, leadership, productivity, team | 1 Comment

New SL Podcast—By His Spirit

By caryschmidt | January 13, 2010

The January edition of the Spiritual Leadership Podcast has just posted!
Originally taught this past fall at our staff orientation, this lesson is entitled “By His Spirit.” In it, Pastor Chappell challenges you with what can be done if we will submit to the power of God.
The Spiritual Leadership podcast is a free resource from Striving [...]

Posted in books and resources | Also tagged leadership, local church, podcast | Leave a comment

My Only Sanctuary

By caryschmidt | January 13, 2010

This past Sunday, my path intersected with a gracious man who has served the Lord in our church for many years. He’s been steadfast—even through much personal pain and many trials.
When asked “How are you doing today?” He promptly replied:
“I’d better be doing great! I’m at church! And this is my only sanctuary in life!”
With [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach | Also tagged local church | Leave a comment

7 Ideas for Your Personal Planner System

By caryschmidt | December 21, 2009

This fourth and final post on an annual planner is just for ideas. Please contexualize this series properly—I’m certainly not the expert on this stuff. Like you, I just enjoy comparing notes with others and gleaning helpful ideas. Thank you for the positive feedback. If you’re coming in late to the series, previous articles are [...]

Posted in productivity | Also tagged leadership, media & tech, organization, productivity, technology, time management | 7 Comments

Implementing Your New Year Plan

By caryschmidt | December 19, 2009

The “final article” on the new year planner has become two. First—let’s discuss putting it into practice. In the next article—thoughts on developing an organizational system that works. (Click to read the first and second articles in this series.)
So you’ve spent several hours or days mapping out vision, goals, projects, events, calendar, details, and tasks—now [...]

Posted in productivity | Also tagged church staff, leadership, media & tech, organization, productivity, technology, time management | 4 Comments

More on Developing a New Year Planner

By caryschmidt | December 17, 2009

Thank you for responding to the article on the contents of a new year planner! Many of you have emailed and asked for the sample planner mentioned at the end of the article. In finalizing my planner the past couple days, I’ve decided to do two more articles related to planning the new year. This [...]

Posted in productivity | Also tagged church staff, organization, productivity, time management | 4 Comments

Contents of a New Year Planner

By caryschmidt | December 10, 2009

‘Tis the season for new year planning! In support of the recent Spiritual Leadership Podcast on annual planning, I thought it would be appropriate to dissect a ministry planner and give an inside glimpse of what’s included. Perhaps these thoughts will equip you in planning and preparing for a great new year of ministry. So, [...]

Posted in productivity | Also tagged leadership, organization, productivity, time management | 4 Comments

You Are What You Listen To (Part 1)

By caryschmidt | December 8, 2009

You’ve heard the statement “you are what you eat.” And, physically this is true—your body and health are merely products of what you digest. But rarely do we make the same connection to our spiritual lives. In other words, “you are what you listen to.”
Have you ever considered that your musical listening habits have a [...]

Posted in christian life | Also tagged biblical living, music, teaching | 2 Comments

Thoughts on Effective Youth Ministry

By caryschmidt | November 19, 2009

A frequent question: What are some keys for effective youth ministry? While I’m certainly not the authority, here are a few thoughts that I’ve seen the Lord bless (not listed in any particular order)…
A Strong Local Church—Jesus died for the church. It is His divine authorized institution for His work on earth. A youth group [...]

Posted in student ministry | Also tagged college and career, local church, student ministry, sunday school | 6 Comments

Welcome, Guests—Meet Mystery Babylon

By caryschmidt | October 13, 2009

Breaking the church growth rules, the Bible works once again!
How would the seeker-sensitive, church growth experts and the leaders of the emergent church movement answer this question:
What passages would you not preach on when you have the most first time guests at your church?
Certainly, on that short list would be Revelation 17—The Great Whore of [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach | Also tagged local church, soulwinning, teaching | Leave a comment

10 Highlights of LBC Open House!

By caryschmidt | October 11, 2009

Many of you have been praying for our annual Open House at Lancaster Baptist Church. Today was amazing, so I thought a quick report was in order. Here are the highlights:
1. The church family knocked on approximately 80,000 doors. What a delight it was to see church members going out soulwinning all week at various [...]

Posted in ministry & outreach | Also tagged local church, soulwinning | 2 Comments

Daily in the Word Now on 450 Stations!

By Cary Schmidt | September 30, 2009

Beginning October 1st (tomorrow), the daily radio ministry of Dr. Paul Chappell will begin airing on the CSN radio network. This means that Daily in the Word is now heard on over 450 radio stations across America and in some foreign countries. Daily in the Word is a 26 minute daily radio program featuring solid [...]

Posted in books and resources | Also tagged communication, technology | 2 Comments