This next tip will help you fight staff infections. It’s tip #6: Know the learning style of your senior pastor.

There are four basic learning styles. They are:

1) Imaginative Learners - These people like to listening and share ideas. These are creative and want to be involved however they can.

2) Analytical Learners - These people learn by thinking through ideas and by watching and listening. They need to know what the experts think. They need details, expect perfection, and are thorough and hard workers.

3) Common Sense Learners - Common Sense Learners like to play with ideas to see if they are rational and workable. They are hands-on people who, using their own ideas, can analyze problems and solve or fix them. They learn best when learning is combined with doing.

4) Dynamic Learners - Dynamic learners are ready to get busy now. They are risk takers that thrive on situations that call for flexibility and change. They find real joy in starting something new.

You’ve got to learn the learning style of your pastor. I discovered this lesson the hard way.

Continue reading ‘Fighting staff infections - part 6′

Life is so much better when you get along with your pastor and church leadership. This fifth tip will take take those relationships from good to great. Here is tip #5: Listen between the lines.

What do I mean by listening between the lines? Use your head when listening to your pastor. Sometimes your pastor will try to tell you something without giving you direct instructions. For example, a few weeks ago my pastor asked me if I wanted to go with him to make a hospital visit. Normally I would be cool with this, but the hospital was an hour away and I was swamped. I asked him if he really wanted me to go to which he replied, “If you want to. We could talk about stuff on the way there.” Yep, I went to the hospital. I listened between the lines and realized that it was important to him that I make the hospital visit with him.

One more food for thought - honor your pastors’ preferences. There are a lot of Sunday mornings when I’d rather leave my tie on the rack in my closet. He’s never told me that I have to wear a tie on Sundays, but I know it’s his preference so I honor it.

Listen between the lines. That deadly staff infection will lose out. That’s the way I see it.

Are you committed to fighting staff infection in your life and ministry? I sure hope so. If you are, you need to consider this second tip: Share your pastor’s vision.

As a children’s pastor, you’ve got to do whatever it takes to stay in tune with your pastor’s vision for the church and ministry. Make his vision your own. It’s not easy to keep in tune with his vision when you are back with the kids every weekend. Every week I try to listen to my pastor’s message from Sunday morning. I don’t want to miss what he has to say. I want his vision to transfer to my heart.

With the new year, my pastor led our church family into making 2008 a year of prayer. He had a vision for our church being a house of prayer. As I discovered this vision, I made it my own. I started a series on prayer in Kid’s Church.

One of the biggest parts of your job is to help your pastor fulfill his vision. Make his vision your own. Buy into it. It will stop staff infection. That’s the way I see it.

Sometimes you just know that your friends are rubbing off on you. I was never much of a list guy until I started hanging with Jim Wideman. Jim loves lists. You don’t have to read this blog or K! Magazine much to learn this about him. Here I am, starting a new series of blog posts that are numbered. You’ll forgive me, right?

We’ve all heard of staph infections. A staph infection is a bacterial infection that grows deep below the skin. This bacteria usually enters the skin through open cuts and can be life-threatening. Today I am writing not about staph infections - but staff infections.

Staff infections are grow deep below the skin too. They enter through the mind and go right to the heart. They can threaten the life of your personal life and ministry and must be avoided at every cost. Go ahead and pat yourself on the back for reading this blog post - you’re on the right path.

Do you ever wish you could vote your senior pastor off the island? Guess what, at some point he has wished the same thing about you. You’ll never be effective in children’s ministry until you learn to do more than survive with your senior pastor. You’ve got to go from surviving to thriving. Over the next several days I’ll share some tips with you for energizing your relationship with your pastor.

Tip #1: Make communication a priority.

I have a great relationship with my pastor but it’s been work. Hard word. We are opposites in so many ways. I’ve learned the hard way that communication is critical in our relationship. I do my best to communicate with him every way I can. I Bcc: him on important emails. Any time we print something for our children’s ministry, I make sure a copy gets in his mailbox. He gets a copy of every memo. I talk to him whenever I suspect there is a problem with a volunteer or member of the church. I touch base with him on big projects and keep him up to speed.

In your efforts to make communication a priority, don’t barrage him with minute-by-minute updates. Remember, he’s a busy guy. But the minute you hear about a serious problem, let him know right away.

One last point, I learned years ago that my pastor doesn’t like to be surprised. He doesn’t have to be involved in every decision, but he doesn’t like to be surprised. I bet your pastor hates surprises too.

One way to fight staff infections is to start talking to your pastor. That’s the way I see it.