06 2a

Paul-Timothy Training Menu

Menu Sections — Legend — Next Menu Item 06 2b

Section 06: OVERSEEING AND PLANNING, Pastoral Level 2a

06 2a: Plan ministry, set priorities and delegate pastoral responsibilities among shepherding elders

Plan your time wisely.

Ruthlessly axe out activities that take time from your ministry and family without moving the church measurably toward its God-given goals.
Delegate everything that you can to others, even though they cannot do them as well as you (they'll learn).

Find in Ephesians 5:8-17 several guidelines for managing your time.

Find in Titus 1:5-9 and 2 Timothy 2:2 guidelines for delegating pastoral authority.

*Find in Numbers 20:1-13 how Moses and Aaron misused their authority.

2(Optional Documents, to view, download or translate, for additional help)

Checklist to see that your church does all the ministries that the New Testament requires: Essential New Testament Ministries.

Three Levels of Authority for what a church does (to set priorities according to God's Word): Levels of Authority

For mentoring to prepare shepherding elders, for seminary credit or certificate, contact Dr. Galen Currah and ask about the course Mentoring for Ministry, DIS538. Call (503) 517 1912 or e-mail galencurrah@westernseminary.edu

For video courses that you can take at home, contact Jon Raibley at Western Seminary's Center for Lifelong Learning. Ask about courses related to shepherding elders. Call (503) 517 1899, or e-mail CLL@WesternSeminary.edu or view courses offered on http://www.westernseminary.edu/. On the home page click on Enter, then Academic Programs, then Distance Education, then Course Listings.

Ü(T&M)

T&M Student Activity Guide page 27

For penetrating insights for pastors who find themselves too busy to care for the lambs God has given them, read Concerning the Inner Life, chapter 1 starting at page 1, Evelyn Underhill.

For a comprehensive treatment of pastoral work and skills, the three volumes of Leadership Handbooks of Practical Theology, edited by James Berkeley, Baker Book House. The articles are by expert practitioners in the many fields of practical ministry. Volume 3, Leadership and Administration, has articles on managing and developing volunteers, administering programs, resolving conflict, etc.

A somewhat different approach to strategic planning and church management is found in Rick Warren's popular The Purpose Driven Church, Rick Warren (Zondervan). Toward the back is a section describing his strategy of new convert assimilation and spiritual maturation.

Leadership Handbooks of Practical Theology, edited by James Berkeley, Volume 3, Christian management skills in general: Part IV, sections 26-31

Do a one-week survey of how you use your time.

For one week keep an accurate, hour-by-hour log for how you use your time, from when you rise in the morning until you go to bed.
Enter what you do once or twice a day, or before you forget. For example: prayer, meals, teaching, study, visiting, meetings and so on.
At the end of the week, summarize how you spent your time in each kind of activity.
Decide which activities should be delegated to someone else who would be glad to do it and can learn to do so well over time.
Decide which activities should be curtailed.
Decide if you are spending enough time with your family and in prayer.
Ask someone you trust to hold you accountable for following your plans, and meet regularly with them until your self-discipline is working.

For help: Research

Menu Sections — Legend — Next Menu Item 06 2b

Return to top of page.

This page updated 02 05 03