Category: Pastors and Staff

6 Ways to Connect with Your Senior Pastor

If you are a children’s pastor or in any other ministry, one of the main relationships you have in the church is with your senior pastor. Here are some ideas on how to connect with your senior pastor.

1. Make sure you are on board with your pastor’s vision for the church. If you don’t know what it is, ask him.

2. Have a meeting with your pastor. During this meeting, ask him what you can do to make his job easier.

3. Don’t speak badly about your pastor to anyone. If you have a problem with your pastor, pray about it. Then go to him if it’s appropriate. Don’t talk to other people about him.

4. Let your pastor know what you are doing. Don’t be a lone ranger. Clue your pastor in on what you have planned.

5. Don’t allow your pastor to be blindsided. If you know about a problem in the church, even if it’s your fault, let the pastor hear about it from you.

6. Spend time with your pastor outside the church. Invite your pastor for a game night at your house, or go out to eat with him or her. If you are the opposite sex, invite spouses to come along.

The effort you spend building a close relationship with your pastor will benefit you and your ministry in many ways.

Partnering With Staff

An important part of children’s ministry is working with the entire church staff as a team. It is an inclusive way of doing ministry. In most churches, each ministry is compartmentalized and doesn’t communicate with the other ministries. But partnering with other leaders in the church will cause your minister to work in harmony with the pastor’s vision. It will also increase your effectiveness if other church leaders understand where you’re coming from.

Here’s some examples of way ministries can work together:

Middle School Ministry: Middle School ministry transitions students from children’s ministry to youth ministry. An effective middle school ministry will have both youth and children’s pastors as a part of the program.

Preschool Ministry: Children’s pastors should work with preschool directors to transition between preschool and children’s church smooth.

Partnering with Youth Pastors: Children’s pastors and youth pastors can go to each others events and church camps to build relationships with students. This will increase the number of students who stay in the church when they become teenagers. Children’s pastors and youth pastors can also work together on missions projects and outreach events.

Partnering with Pastors: Communicate often with your pastor and let him know what’s going on in children’s ministry. Ask your pastor what his vision for the church and the children’s ministry is. If you can’t get behind the pastor’s vision, you’re in the wrong church.

Schedules: Keep the schedule of the whole church in mind when scheduling events. When possible, have events that combine other ministries and leaders. One example of this might be a block party on the church grounds that has events for every age group or family events instead of children’s events.