2000: Reflections on My Ministry

Twenty-five helpful principles for more effective pastoring

James Coffin is senior pastor of the Markham Woods Seventh-day Adventist Church in Longwood, Florida.

This year marks my twenty-fifth year of ministry. Let me share 25 things I have found helpful.

1. Know your parishioners' names. Dale Carnegie said that hearing one's name is the most beautiful sound to the human ear. He was right. Taking time to learn every name old and young pays huge dividends.

I write the names of each church family on a small flash card, in a standardized sequence adult male, adult female, child one, child two, etc. I create a string file with cards. Then I use driving time to go over and over the names, even saying them out loud. Once the names are thoroughly embedded, I periodically repeat the process to refresh my memory and enhance my immediate recall.

2. Make your church inclusive. Does your preaching use cliches that the uninitiated won't understand? Cut them out. Do the names of your children's divisions leave it vague as to who should attend? Rename them. Do your bulletin announcements presuppose that people know each other and where everyone lives? Always include directions and phone numbers.

Make everything about your church "uninitiated-friendly." If the uninitiated have to ask for more information, the subtle message is that the activity is for insiders only.

3. Make the Bible central. Use your preaching to bond people to Christ and to the Bible rather than to you as a preacher. Thanks to an astute suggestion from a member a few years ago, we purchased identical Bibles to be placed in the hymnal racks. When I preach, I always give page numbers as well as book, chapter, and verse. That way, those unfamiliar with Scripture don't feel conspicuous as they try to follow along.

4. KISS-Keep It Short and Sweet. Even castor oil is tolerable in small doses. Your sermons and talks may not be spellbinders, but if they don't go on forever, they'll be palatable. Remember, what counts is not how much you can put on the plate, but how much the listeners can digest. Say as much as you want just do it in fewer words.

5. Create high days and traditions. My congregation always had a candle light communion on Good Friday. As the tradition grows, so does the attendance. We have an annual live nativity. We also have Christmas and Easter choral programs. An annual retreat. An annual canoe trip. An annual backpack trip. And the list goes on.

6. Beware of women (or men, if you're a female pastor). Preempt problems. Don't be aloof and cold, but be cautious in how you relate to the opposite sex. Err on the side of reserve.

Avoid situations that could lead to questions. Try not to visit alone with a person of the opposite sex. If you must, don't sit until he or she is seated. Avoid sitting on a couch or loveseat where the person might move next to you. Remain seated rather than kneeling when you pray. Let your demeanor show that you're a pastor, not a prospect.

7. Go the second mile. A pastor who welcomes visitors is doing the expected. A pastor who shows visitors where the children's Sabbath School classes are and stays by until the children are settled builds true credibility. Pastors need to ensure that they often go beyond the perceived call of duty. It's going the extra mile that fills the reservoir of goodwill.

8. Don't betray confidentiality. If you want to sabotage your effectiveness, pass on to others what has been told to you in confidence. Loose lips destroy pastoral careers and cause anguish in parishioners' lives. Mum is the word.

9. Communicate. Communicate. Communicate. Many congregational tensions are based on a lack of communication. If people know what's going on, they're usually supportive.

10. Make the phone work for you. Distances are great. Traffic is heavy. A quick "How are you doing?" phone call is easy to make. And with today's answering machines, you can make an impact even when you miss the party you're calling. No other activity will yield a better return per minute invested.

11. Plan ahead. Long-range planning saves time. Our congregation operates on a fairly rigid repetitive calendar, with some events happening every week, some at a given time each month and some at a given time each quarter or year. We rarely reschedule anything.

Every year we have an all-day planning session in which 95 percent of the year's events are scheduled. Each six months we produce a 32-page booklet for both members and visitors. The booklet gives an overview of the church in general and publicizes all events for the next six months, including the title and a brief synopsis of each upcoming sermon.

12. Use your computer for all it's worth. When used as a toy rather than a tool, computers can be a colossal waste of pastoral time- and in many cases are. But when used wisely, they can be a tremendous benefit. For example, having once ensured that we have an up-to-date database, I can, using macros of less than ten key strokes, generate literally hundreds of documents, lists, mailing labels, information cards, re ports to the conference and much more.

13. Create a statement of mission. A mission statement helps to keep the congregation focused. Our statement reads: "The mission of the Markham Woods Church of Seventh-day Adventists is to bring the healing power of Jesus Christ to broken relationships with God, with family, with others, with the church, and with nature."

We print the statement on the back of each bulletin and newsletter, and also display it on two walls in our foyer. Numerous people have told us that they began coming to our church specifically because the statement of mission made them confident they would be accepted.

14. Take control of your pulpit. It's a pastor's prerogative to determine who will occupy the pulpit. Pastors must set the tone for the entire congregation, and they must choose speakers who will perpetuate and complement that tone.

Every guest speaker who comes into my pulpit receives a two-page letter from me describing our congregation and out lining the tone I want set. An indiscreet guest can destroy in one sermon a foundation it has taken months to lay. Be bold in outlining your expectations, no matter who the speaker is.

15. Celebrate member milestones. Members, particularly the youth, need to know that their major life events are important to their church family. Make every rite of passage a special event.

In our congregation, we honor all eighth-grade, high-school, and college graduates on the first Sabbath of May. The ceremony is simple. I introduce the graduates, tell who their parents are, where they have gone to school, and something special about each one. I ask about their plans for the upcoming year. Then we present them with a nice pen.

It's a simple exercise, but it has be come a much-anticipated day in our annual calendar.

16. Celebrate the life of the deceased. Funerals can be one of the most satisfying activities of pastoring. The opportunity to serve to the bereaved is a significant ministry opportunity. Don't merely mourn the passing of a person. Rather, celebrate the life of the deceased and rejoice in the hope of the resurrection.

Get as many family members together as possible. Urge them to reminisce, tell real stories, including humorous ones, about the deceased, recall little sayings and quirks. Take notes. Then put the anecdotes and insights into an extended life sketch that reminds the bereaved of just what a unique and wonderful person their loved one was.

I print the life sketch in booklet form on high-quality paper and give it as a memento to all who attend the funeral. On average, a funeral takes about ten hours of my time. But no other event draws me so close to the families in my congregation.

17. Limit how much you work. You may have the capacity to work 90 hours a week. Your wife may be able to tolerate 70. Your kids may growl about even 50. Try to satisfy the lowest common denominator when it conies to your needs and those of your family.

In an attempt to relate my work schedule to that of my parishioners, years ago I came up with the following formula: Since 40 hours seems to be the standard work week, I'll work 40 hours as a pastor. In addition, most people spend some time commuting. So I'll add five hours for that. I'd like to have every church member give five hours of volunteer service to the church per week. So I'll do that too. Thus I try to limit my work to 50 hours per week, calculated from the time I leave my home until I return.

18. See every activity as evangelism. Why not capitalize on the evangelistic potential of every program in the church? I seek to structure every church service and sermon so members will feel free to invite the uncommitted. I try to make every social activity a magnet to attract those we wish to reach. Our ministries for children and youth are outreach as well as nurture.

19. Learn to say No. You are not indispensable. If you die tonight, your congregation will still worship next Sabbath. And six months from now your name will rarely come up in conversation.

So don't kill yourself by trying to be all things to all people. Set personal and professional priorities, then stick to them. If you don't have the time, if it isn't directly helping the specific ministry for which you're responsible, if it isn't in your area of ability or interest, just say No.

20. Use travel time effectively. Car radios often rob valuable time. Instead of listening to music or chatter, memorize members' names, practice telling children's stories, listen to tapes of the Bible or self-help tapes, "read" audio books, learn a second language. Just don't fritter away the hours spent in your car. On the other hand, if you need a time to catch your breath, to be alone and "unavailable," let your commute in your car serve as such a time.

21. Look for small investments that yield great returns. Example: If your ministry is in the United States and you send the name, address, and parents' names of a newborn to The White House, Greetings Office, Room 39,1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, D.C., 20500, the parents will receive a letter of congratulations from the President and First Lady. It costs no money and takes only moments. But the parents love it and they love you for having done it. Adapt this idea and many others presented in this article to your culture and setting.

Be on the lookout for simple things that make a big impact.

22. "Plagiarize" creatively. Solomon said there's nothing new under the sun. Don't try to disprove his wisdom. Grab good ideas anywhere you find them. Then do some "genetic engineering" to make them work for you. Traditionally, Japanese industrialists have made a specialty of perfecting the ideas of others. Don't be dishonest, claiming to be the author or originator of your ideas, but do not be afraid to use and adapt helpful approaches and thoughts from any legitimate source.

23. Listen to your critics. We all like a pat on the back, but a slap to the ego may do us more good. Don't distance yourself from your critics. Listen to them. Compliment them by soliciting their observations. The benefit is two fold: You'll get a candid outline of what you need to change and the critic will invariably become a supporter.

24. Bloom where planted. Don't seek to change the entire world when you've been called to a specific local task. Your congregation is your prime responsibility. The further afield you go, the less you benefit those for whom you're responsible. So limit your extracurricular activities.

25. Become an expert in something. Find a specialty niche, then hone your skills in that area until you're an expert. Don't assume that because you're "just a pastor" your ideas and experience are second-rate. Remember, often as not, experts are impressive because you don't know them.


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James Coffin is senior pastor of the Markham Woods Seventh-day Adventist Church in Longwood, Florida.

May 2000

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