I bumped into a friend from college over the Christmas break. He and I haven't done a very good job of keeping in touch with one another, and before we realized it, 15 years had gone by without any contact. It was really good to catch up. We talked about our families, and about our jobs... and of course covered some of the stories from the good old days. It was like we picked up right were we left off.
I had not realized that my friend had left music education to pursue vocational ministry full-time and was now a Minister of Music in a prominent church in South Carolina. Our conversation shifted to talk about some fo the similarities and differences of working in the public marketplace, against working in the ministry of the local church. One question seemed to linger. If a church leadership team only get a few hours a week to interact with it's key leaders, and key volunteers, how can we be sure to make that time count?
After our discussion, I decided to read a book that has been on my to-do list for a while. The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard has been published for 35 years, but still tallies as a best seller year after year. It's a quick read, but here are the main ideas all at once. In one minute, be able to communicate a goal. In one minute, be able to praise someone's efforts. In one minute, be able to redirect when someone is out of alignment.
After writing the book, Ken Blanchard became a believer, and changed his focus to an organization called Lead like Jesus. Turns out, Blanchard found that Jesus used these very same tools when interacting with his disciples while in ministry himself. Funny how that works isn't it? The best ideas are the ones we learn from Jesus!
Our time is valuable. Our time together as church people is limited. How can we make the most of it? Maybe these simple truths will be useful to you as you interact with one another in the coming year.
Pastor Milo
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