I don’t know about most of you, but the last year of leadership in ministry has had some very lonely moments. For some it has even been isolating. There were moments where it was lonely pre-pandemic, but in the midst of it, it has been even more lonesome and even isolating at times. Throw in political, racial, and social upheaval, and you have a perfect leadership storm of loneliness that can turn isolating quickly.

“It’s lonely at the top.” Like most clichés, this one gets repeated so often because it expresses at least a little truth. In fact, according to some research, at least half of all CEOS report feelings of loneliness. As one researcher puts it, “You can imagine that … over time having to make a lot of tough, unpopular decisions that are constantly going to upset at least one part of your constituency could start to feel isolating.”

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageJanuary 13, 2021loneliness, lonely, alone, isolation, embrace, church, ministry, leadership, jesus, clarity, discover, desire, community, hurt, covid, corona, pandemicComment

EVERY CHURCH IS NOW A CHURCH PLANT

As every aspect of our daily lives is being reconsidered and refashioned by the pandemic, churches are rethinking their futures, too.

Or at least they should be. But I’m afraid some are anticipating the days ahead only with a vision of the years behind. And I’m convinced this just won’t work.

My thinking on this was influenced by the recent mentoring retreat I attended with Cal Jernigan. As I’ve mentioned before, I get together several times a year with Cal and five other preachers to talk about our lives and ministries. This November the talk naturally included discussions of Covid-19’s impact on the work of the local church. Cal encouraged us to think of our ministries in terms of Pre-Covid, Covid, and Post-Covid. And he helped us realize that Post-Covid ministry will look altogether different than the Pre version.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageNovember 18, 2020church, covid, corona, pandemic, church plant, exhaustion, exhausted, overcoming, new, fresh, starting, pursue, pre-covid, post-covid, possibility, 2021, 2020Comment

FIVE KEYS TO LEADING LONG-TERM PART 2

Last week I shared three key principles for leading long-term:

1. Have short-term memory. (Don’t let yesterday’s missteps sabotage today’s potential.)

2. Simplicity saves souls. Complexity causes confusion.

3. Make one next good decision each day. (Otherwise you’ll become overwhelmed or distracted, or both!)

These are not isolated ideas; each one leads to the next, and so let’s move from the third principle to the fourth.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageAugust 26, 2020keys, leadership, memory, simplicity, decisions, marathon, resilience, results, leader, people, progress, coach, football, church, church leaders, wins, pandemic, corona, covidComment

HOW TO LIFT THE FOG ON AN EVIL WORLD

Praying as I walk around the whole outside of our church building has become my new way to start most days. Monday it was a special experience. The circle takes about ten minutes, and when I started this practice several weeks ago, I would pray for only two or three of those minutes. But this day my prayers continued, out loud, till I got clear around the building. I was still praying when I finished, and I said, “OK, now it’s time to go inside and listen.”

I want to tell you what I decided as I opened Titus 2 for my study that morning. I can’t stop thinking about Paul’s challenge near the end of the chapter.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageJuly 1, 2020fog, evil, world, life, wisdom, devotion, racism, pandemic, covid, churchComment

THERE IS NO NEW NORMAL FOR YOUR CHURCH

My daughter turned 16 last week, one more reminder that everything in our family is changing. She’s driving now, and the other day she asked to drive us home—in my Jeep! My wife hasn’t even driven my Jeep yet! I said yes, and it was fine. My little girl is a good driver.

One more change: She has a boyfriend now. A boyfriend! Actually, I like him. (Could I have ever anticipated saying those words?) I like having him around. (I think he has a healthy fear of me, and I like that too!)

I know I can only imagine the changes we’ll experience in the next five or ten years. What our family has always known as normal has disappeared, and it’s tempting to long for the normal of the past. Or it would be easy to console ourselves believing a “new normal” will replace what’s changing. But it won’t. We’ll progress through one change after another in the coming years. Life will never settle into normal. The goal is not to settle into normal, the goal is to progress through life. And that’s how it’s supposed to be—not only in the life of a growing family, but for the life of a growing church, too.

Church, Leadership, LifeTrevor DeVageMay 6, 2020Hope, hope dealer, covid, church, online church, normal, pandemic, onlineComment

Trevor DeVage

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