Bud Brown

1 tool for quick church assessment

[dc]A[/dc]n interim pastor’s first meeting with a church is a consultation. Both parties (the church and the interim) need to learn if the church needs an interim period and, if so, of what sort. The church needs to learn what to expect. The interim needs to see a broad outline of some of the issues

Read More »

What does John Maxwell know about growth?

There’s an interesting thread developing at Charles Specht’s website. He poses the question, “What is Personal Development (According to John Maxwell)?” In the comments section I posed a lengthy comment that approaches his question at an oblique angle. I think you’ll find that this is going to be a provocative and stimulating thread. I hope

Read More »

1 great new coaching resource for pastors

Check out MinistryCoach.tv. If the content is half as slick as the design this should be a real winner. We’re all in for coaching at Transition Ministries Group. Time and again we’ve had seasoned, experienced pastors finish their first interim with us and, in one of the final coaching sessions, tell us, “Why didn’t somebody

Read More »

Overpaying your pastor?

The Church Law Group has recently published a White Paper on Executive Compensation which outlines the following: What is compensation? What is deferred compensation? What is the difference between cash and non-cash compensation? Get your hands on a copy of the paper by clicking here: How to compensate your pastor. HT: Vanderbloemen Search Group

Read More »

What does it cost to NOT hire an interim pastor?

Eventually every church will wrestle with the interim pastor salary. It happens when the pastor leaves. Suddenly, an untrained congregation has to figure out how to move to the next chapter in the church’s story. Sometimes they are told to get busy and form a pastor search committee. This is the last thing that they

Read More »

How do interim pastors coax reluctant churches into needed change?

Interim pastors know what this is like. Sometimes the church board just doesn’t want to go down that path with you. What do you do then? [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF9sh5LdjAQ[/youtube] Question: What have you done to entice reluctant church board and congregations to work with you to bring about needed change during the interim period?

Read More »

Church visitors’ gifts that surprise and delight

Church hospitality is a vital ministry. This is especially true for congregations with a very low church visitor retention rate. To offer anything less than superb church hospitality is sad. To neglect turning visitors into members puts the church in a death spiral. One element of a rich experience that leaves church visitors going, “Wow.

Read More »

Interim pastors – a seminar for you

The Alban Institute is offering a seminar that should interest many an intentional interim pastor. “Dealing with Difficult Behaviors” has several learning objectives that belong in every interim pastor’s tool kit. What will you learn? To identify when a problem is actually being caused by a difficult person and when something else is the root

Read More »