News & Updates

Does your church understand the need for Pastoral Sabbaticals? Are you having a hard time convincing leadership that a sabbatical experience would benefit the entire church? Does your congregation understand your need to be alone with God to refresh and renew your soul?

You might be helped by this article by a young pastor about to embark on a two month sabbatical.

http://www.bobthune.com/2012/11/five-reasons-for-a-pastoral-sabbatical/

Did you know Pinnacle has a Sabbatical Policy PDF that you can download?  You will find it under Pastoral Renewal by going to: http://pinmin.org/ministries/pastoral-renewal/ 

The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching.

I Timothy 5:17 NIV

There is nothing scarier than moving a family out of state or even across town. Kids need to find new friends and adjust to new schools. Checking out grocery stores and new dentists is time consuming and sometimes stressful.  Pastors and their families experience the same upheaval and uncertainty as other families when Dad accepts a new job and they move to a new city.

The Vanderbloemen Search Group is a great resource for pastors and families. You might want to check out their most recent article that offers some great ideas on welcoming a new pastor.

Whether you are the new pastor in the midst of transition or an elder preparing your congregation for your new leader, there are tips here that you can us.

Here is a link to the Vanderbloemen Search Group.

This article on Pastoral Transitions is just one of the many great articles they have available for church leadership.

Languish:

1. to become weak, feeble, enervated;  to be or live in a state of depression or decreased vitality

2. to become dispirited; to suffer neglect

In the past 15 years, the mental health community has created a new model for care. This new trend, Positive Psychology, is not as “new age” as it sounds. It challenges professionals to consider individuals with chronic depression, not from the perspective of illness but rather from a point of view created by asking this question: “How do we help this person move from languishing to flourishing?”

Instead of trying to fix people, the counselor’s job is to help identify and encourage already present strengths, positive character traits and virtues.  How does the counselor take the good that exists and use it to create a greater sense of well-being and health?  How do they encourage greater functioning and hopefulness?

Those who endorse this model of care have discovered that as they work with a patient in the area of “wellness” and encourage the strengths that presently exist, emotional pain and depression naturally decrease.

This makes me think of the Retool Kit.

Too often in our churches, we throw the baby out with the bath water.  Aware that we have lost our missional point of view, we might start to look for the “pathology” of our church.  Some have even taken drastic measures that may be unnecessary in hopes of finding a cure.

We, at Pinnacle, love looking at the local church from a wellness point of view.  Who are you?  What in your church history needs to be celebrated? How have past victories shaped your church and is there a way to capitalize on those high points?  What are the needs of your community? How can you help meet those needs and show the love of Christ? What are the strengths of your leaders? What new skills and attitudes are they ready to learn? If you have lost some of your vitality, how do you take the good that exists and profit from it so you can move on to a place of greater functioning and hopefulness?

How does your church move from languishing to flourishing?

Thrive and prosper are synonyms for flourish.  Wouldn’t it be amazing to see your church thriving and spiritually prospering? Retool Kit provides a pathway for your church to do just that. To find out more, check out the Becoming A Church of Impact Conference.

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.

–       2 Thessalonians 2;16, 17

(Definitions from Merriam Webster Online)

From John Mehn, CWW Missionary in Japan

John shared an encouraging word with Pinnacle Ministries from the site of the Rengo (Japan) Annual Meeting.  The meeting was preceded by other events, including the Church Planter’s Summit and the New Pastor’s School.  The School is a 3-year learning experience for new Pastors in the Rengo.  At the end of one of the School sessions, John encountered some of the pastors who participated and reported:   “In the new pastors’ school they used the conflict styles and did the skit on conflict of worship. I talked to several who attended and this was extremely helpful and practical for them.”

The Conflict teaching comes from Retreat 2 of The Church Retool Kit Pathway which focuses on Renewing Leadership in the local church by building healthy, biblical relationships.  The Retool Kit Pathway is in the final stages of translation and contextualization by Rengo leaders together with Pinnacle leadership Gary Harrison and Ray Swatkowski.

Galatians 6:9 challenges us to, “…Let us not become weary in doing good…” If Christians fall prey to that, how much more pastors? And if pastors, then how much more those who care for and support pastors! Since a significant part of what we do involves supporting those in ministry, we find that every so often we need refreshment. So, where do we go? CareGivers Forum!

Although the name suggests a group of people who care for infirm or older adults, in reality it’s a vital group of people all committed to supporting, encouraging, restoring and renewing pastors and their families. You may have never heard of the CareGivers Forum because it’s really a “non-organization” organization. Called into being by clergy care ministries, it has no formal charter or by-laws or board, and does not possess a 501(c)3. It exists solely to provide a forum for those whose ministry it is to support pastors.

This past month most of the Pinnacle staff journeyed to Rome, GA, and the WinShape Retreat (founded by the Chick-fil-A folks) to worship, listen, learn and teach with other clergy support people. We were privileged to be taught every day by the penultimate clergy encourager, H.B. London. Many of you might remember H.B. as the founder of the pastoral support ministry of Focus on the Family, an arm of Focus that has helped literally thousands of pastors. Since CareGivers Forum (or CGF) is not a large gathering (only about 150 attenders this year), it provided a platform for interaction with H.B. on a very personal level. We were blessed as he opened his heart, challenged us, admonished us and just loved on us. I know I went away with a renewed commitment to the value of the ministry we do.

Why are we telling you about this event?  Primarily because one of the greatest blessings it brings to us is a blessing for you. At one CGF or another, we get to rub shoulders with just about everyone in the clergy care and support ministry. Have you ever had a need, and just weren’t sure who to call? Give us a jingle and we can make some well-informed recommendations. Ministries as diverse as small “mom and pop” retreat houses to therapeutic restoration centers all come to CGF, and we’ve met them all. Because small groups are an integral part of CGF, over the years we’ve listened to and prayed together with most of the people in clergy care ministries in the US. Consequently, we have a real feel for both their skill levels and their hearts.

CGF runs a directory on their website of all the organizations that have participated in the Forum over the years, and that’s a great place to start. It’s broken down by ministry types and geographical locations and will give you a feel for “what’s out there” (www.caregiversforum.org).  Then give us a call, and we can help you “fine tune” you decision. Desiring a sabbatical and not sure where to start? Needing some alone time to reconnect with God? Need to get away, but want to take your family to a clergy-friendly place? Desire a “marriage tune-up” for you and your spouse? Perhaps you need some guidance to delve deeply into your soul and recover your passion? Or need some specific, therapeutic help to overcome a persistent struggle? All that and more can be found within the family called CareGivers.

H.B. challenged us that, “If you don’t have a dream, you don’t have a passion; if you don’t have a passion, you don’t have a vision.”  Our dream, our passion, our vision is to help pastors and their families flourish in some of the most challenging times of ministry I’ve ever seen. If we can help your passion, give us a call – we’ve been recharged, so we’re ready to help!

VISION, STRATEGY, CULTURE AND STRUCTURE

“I know what I want my church to look like; I just don’t understand what to do next.”

That’s a pretty common sentiment among pastors and church leaders today.  Much of the confusion comes from misunderstandings about things like vision, strategy, culture and structure. Trying to achieve the success of other churches without understanding the process it requires to get there further aggravates confusion.

I have worn eyeglasses since I was 3 years old and I can’t imagine life without them.  As a matter of fact, there is little I can see at all without my glasses.  My vision has always been described as “farsighted” – I can see things in the distance well, but not up close.  Many people are nearsighted: they can see things clearly up close, but objects in the distance are fuzzy or blurry.

Leaders tend to fall into one of those two categories when it comes to ministry.  Some can see what is right in front of them – today, this week, next month – but beyond that everything is a bit out of focus.  Others have the ability to see years into the future in terms of what needs to be done, but can’t see what the next step is for today, tomorrow or next week.

That is where a carefully executed vision pathway becomes an essential tool for leaders.  It is important to ensure that our leadership culture is spiritually sound, and, emotionally and relationally healthy. Any process for envisioning the future must begin there, as Samuel Chand makes clear in Cracking Your Church’s Culture Code:  “Vision and strategy usually focus on products, services and outcomes, but culture is about the people – the most valuable asset in the organization.”

Clear vision grows more productively in the environment of a healthy culture, and defines what we will become at some point in the future. Here is where we need to understand the difference between the immediate future and long-range future. What we do today, a week from now, a month from now will determine what we become three years from now.  That’s true in every area of our life, be it relationships, diet, exercise, education – you name it.  It is just as critical in the church.

If we are concerned about our physical health (and we should be), we routinely get a physical checkup to assess our current condition. Then we may discover what changes we need to make in the near future that will determine our long-range health.

Church leaders need to assure that as healthy culture is cultivated, accurate assessment is occurring that will enable us to grasp the 3-5 year vision God intends for our unique church at any given point in time.  Then we need to take action: clearly spell out the steps it will take this month, this year and next year to fulfill that vision.

Throughout the process we are cultivating and identifying emerging leaders who need to be mentored to discover what their unique role and giftedness brings to the fulfillment process.  These renewed and emerging leaders will form the core of the church’s future.  They need to be able to see the long-term vision as they plan the next steps that will lead the church forward.

Here is where structure plays a key role, but is often overlooked.  Jesus’ principle of putting new wine in new wineskins (as opposed to old wineskins) is validly applied here.  Just as culture, assessment and vision are best created in a healthy team environment, so will ministry to fulfill the vision emerge best through teams of creative and impassioned people.  New structures, based on flexible teams with healthy leaders and volunteers, need to be created.

Vision and strategy do not serve structure; rather, the systems and structures we create need to be flexible, changeable and clearly focused to carry out the strategies to fulfill the vision.

I currently wear bifocals because both my short and long-range vision requires correction to see all things clearly. And if they are not positioned well on my face, everything becomes blurry.  They have to be ‘balanced’ in the right spot or the result will be a headache and frustration.

Let’s do our best to avoid the headaches and frustration ministry can produce by investing in a pathway that will enable us to see from here to there and act accordingly!

Check out:  http://pinmin.org/ministries/the-retool-kit/