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Oct

22

Pastor Appreciation, Indeed!

Pastor Kyle was lamenting his job

As his head was starting to throb.

He was squeezing a sponge,

Had a toilet to plunge.

“I was hired to preach, not to swab!”

from Get Me To The Church In Rhyme
by Chuck Neighbors

October is pastor appreciation month.

The punchline to numerous jokes I have heard over the years is “the pastor only works one hour a week.”

Having worked in the world of the church for over 45 years, I can tell you that nothing is further from the truth. If the average pew-sitter could job-shadow a pastor they would quickly realize that the one hour a week is easily multiplied by 60 or 80 for most of the pastors I know.

As with my job as an actor, there is so much more that goes with the job beyond what the audience/congregation sees. A typical pastor, in addition to being a preacher, is also a: teacher, lesson planner, sermon writer, counselor, hospital chaplain, event planner, and board member with too many meetings.

Those are duties that one might anticipate as a part of the job and could account for the typical hours on the job for most vocations. But for so many pastors, their job also overlaps into other areas, forcing them to be an: administrator, secretary, bookkeeper, musician, deliveryman, cook, janitor, groundskeeper, handyman and plumber.

They probably didn’t sign up for those jobs.

Add to that the people skills need to deal with the various personalities in the church. Pastors are often caught in the middle of church politics, and shoulder the blame for anything that a church member might not like. Many pastors are lonely and feel isolated, often having no one to talk to about their problems. Having close friends within the congregation can be difficult causing more problems by sparking jealousy and envy among the members.

And don’t forget that pastors are often spouses with kids, and have a life beyond the four walls of the church building. Like a doctor on call, congregation members call at all hours with real emergencies as well as a petty complaint. Way too many pastors are bi-vocational, unable to make a living on the salary paid to them by the church and forced to have a second job to pay the bills.

It’s a hard and often thankless job.

So take a moment to appreciate your pastor. Notice all the work they do beyond what you hear from the pulpit. Send a card, buy them a gift, take the broom out of their hands.

Pray for them.

Thank God for them.

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 0 comments

May

20

What a Pastor would Like Artists to Know

Arts / Blog Archive / Drama Ministry / News

Guest Blog from a Pastor (name withheld)

(In my previous blog I shared 3 Things that Artists Want Pastors to Know. I offered for a pastor to write a counterpoint to the article and got a taker. These are great insights for artists to heed as we work together in ministry!)

Please allow me to offer some balance to the discussion.

Performers might not realize that in some cases the congregation is not really interested in having anyone come to sing or act during the time that is normally used for congregational worship and preaching.
From my experience it seems that more and more the preacher has to sell the church on the idea of a live performance . . . (I have personally had great experiences with performance ministry. I have taken part in it and have supported it through the years, so I know how good it can be) . . . so when things don’t go well, it turns out to be a bad reflection on me, the preacher, who made the decision to have the performer come.

Just for information sake areas of criticism include:

1. The performer was late and has kept people waiting and even caused the service to be delayed.

2. The quality of the performance or ability to connect well with the audience/people during the performance and/or after the service is lacking.

3. The information given at the end that’s used to raise money for the sponsoring ministry appears to be more important to the performer than the spiritual message of the performance itself.

4. The performer exercises too much poetic license and even distorts scripture during the performance.

Even if/when these sort of things happen, the performer leaves with money both contractually promised and graciously given while the preacher is the one who receives the criticism and must endure comments like, “I hope we never do that again.”

Those of us who make the decision to have performers come to our churches are putting a lot on the line and are placing a very important part of our own ministry/reputation in the hands of someone who may or may not do the job as well as advertised or anticipated.

As I see it, Performance Ministry is heavily dependent (now and certainly even more so in the future) on the relationship the performers have with church ministers. I think it good advice for the performers to consider the minister’s position in all of this and to understand that we have a lot riding on what you do when you visit our congregations both in regards to members and those who might happen to visit that day.

Make sure that what you bring is equal or better than what we are risking by having you bring it.

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 4 comments

May

18

3 Things Artists want Pastors to Know

Arts / Blog Archive / How To's / News / Stories

brownmandms I recently returned from a few days of retreat with some fellow artists who are ministry minded. Many, myself included, make their living serving in churches where they perform almost every weekend. With a gathering like this, you are almost guaranteed to hear a statement resembling this:

You are not gonna believe this one church I performed at….”

If you are a pastor or church leader, you most likely will not want to be the leader of the “church” the artist is about to reveal. Oh sure, it might be a wonderful testimony about God’s grace and power, but more likely it will be a horror story about how the artist was treated by said church. We all have our stories, both good and bad. We have our stories about wonderful life-changing events where things went perfectly, and we have our stories about being bumped off, turned off, and ripped off at our performances. (And to be fair, I’m sure a gathering of church leaders could offer some equally amazing stories about artists that you have invited to your church—I have heard a few myself…oh my!)

As I reflected on the stories that were shared, I thought it might be good to come up with a list of a few things artists would like churches to consider in order to make a great event.

Be Prepared. Yes, the Boy Scouts’ Motto is good for all of life. I’m not talking about a greenroom and a candy dish with all the brown M&Ms removed (Just Goggle the most ridiculous artist riders). But if the artist has provided a list of “needs” for their time with you, take the time to go over the list and do what you can to accomodate. Sound needs, props and rehearsal time all need to be considered. I actually covered a lot on this topic in a previous blog here: A Stage That Is Hard to Fathom. The artist is a guest and needs to be hosted. By this, I mean there needs to be someone to greet and orient the artist to the appropriate people/places for set up, rehearsal, etc. If not the pastor, then another person to act as sort of a personal assistant. This person can also be a great help at the end of the event. The artist needs to be free to interact with people after the event. They will often have a resource table to staff in addition to visiting with the people that want some of their time afterwards. There is often that person who monopolizes the artist’s time with their own stories, and making it impossible for the artist to greet and speak to other people. This is where an assistant from the church can be a huge service, serving to rescue the artist from the monopolizing fan.
Honor the Agreement. It’s no surprise to me that many of the stories artists talk about fall under the catagory of the church not doing what was agreed upon. Most of the time we are talking about things that were agreed to in a written and signed document. At the top of the list is not honoring the financial arrangement and not giving the artist the time alotted. I had one pastor want to change the agreement moments before I took the stage and when I tried to challenge this he accusingly said, “I brought you here to serve!” — implying that satisfying our agreement meant I was not serving. Another church had agreed to a freewill offering for my ministry and informed me they were just going to give me a gift; “but don’t worry it will be generous” (it was far less than what I have received in offerings from churches half their size). The offering, for many of us is our livelihood. A single worship service on a weekend will often translate into a week’s wages. With that in mind, please be careful how you explain the offering to your congregation. To say simply “defray the cost of having an artist come” is not accurate or fair. The audience will be thinking they are covering a tank of gas and a pizza rather than providing for the actual livelihood of the artist.
Trust the Art. If there is one thing that makes an artist bristle, it’s for someone to get up and try to tell the audience what the artist just said throught their art, be it music, acting, dance, painting, or spoken word. I understand that this can be a tough one for a pastor who is concerned, and rightly so, that the message be recieved. The artist’s gift is to communicate the message differently. If they are good at what they do, let the audience be free to absorb and receive the art…even though they may not all get the same message. It’s okay to add a few words of commentary and/or personal impact about the art. We just want you to resist the urge to preach a sermon on what they have just seen and heard.

I’m sure there are other things artists would like the church to know, and perhaps some of them will chime in through the comments. And we who are artists are not without sin. There are examples of us not being prepared, not honoring the agreement and not trusting the church as well! I am also certain a posting from the pastor’s perspective might be in order. Perhaps one of you would like to submit a guest blog to me on “3 Things a Pastor wants Artists to Know!” Any takers?

UPDATE:

We have a response! Check out the next blog: What a Pastor would Like Artists to Know

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 20 comments

May

13

Pros and Cons to Working at Home

Blog Archive / How To's / News / Stories

File this under “the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence.”

Being “your own boss” and working at home does have its perks…and it also has its downside. I have seen the looks of envy from those who think working at home would be the best job in the world and I have seen the knowing looks from those who work at home who would beg to differ…including many of my pastor friends. I started this little list on my Facebook page and was quite surprised at the response:

Pro: Easy commute–you can sleep in longer and work in your pajamas.
Con: There is no Starbucks en-route to the office.

Pro: You can have a messy desk and no one else sees it.
Con: You have a messy desk.

Pro: Clients can meet you in your office at your convenience.
Con: You have a messy desk and work in your pajamas.

Pro: You are in charge…you don’t have to worry about someone else screwing things up.
Con: You are in charge…there is no one to blame when you screw things up.

Pro: No time clock. You can make your own hours, take time off whenever you like.
Con: No time clock. You can make your own hours, and work around the clock forgetting to take time off.

Pro: No more being asked to pick things up at the store on your way home from work.
Con: You have to make a special trip just to pick up something from the store.

Pro: You are your own boss.
Con: Sometimes the boss is a jerk.

So what can you add to the list?

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 0 comments

Jan

13

You Have A Story—Tell It!

Arts / Blog Archive / How To's / Stories

If you are a speaker, teacher or pastor, you probably have books on your shelf that are full of illustrations and anecdotes to help you in communicating your message. Using some of those stories can come in handy, no question, but you have a more valuable resource available to you, a resource that could be a much more effective tool than the oft-repeated stories in those books. That resource is YOU. Your life is made up of hundreds of short stories. These stories are better than any other stories you can tell because they are your stories: you lived them, they are part of you. Authenticity is placed at a very high level in our culture today. People are paying attention to leaders who are willing to be real, transparent, and vulnerable. The best way to do that is to share your own stories. (I am seeing this for myself with my presentations in which I share some of my own “life stories” —Truth Be Told and Go Ask Your Mother.)

So where do you begin? The first step is to pick a story and write it out. As a teacher or pastor, you often have a message in mind and you pick a story to illustrate that message. However, good stories have the priority of story first! Rather than picking a message and trying to force a story around it, pick a story and see what message emerges—you might be surprised!

As an actor, I have learned much about story from improvisation. In improvisation actors are often given suggestions of random things, and create a story using those suggestions. It might be a place, a thing, or a relationship. Then off they go making up a story out of a few simple suggestions. No thought is given to message—their only criterion is “what happens next?” Yet many times, without even trying, a message or moral to the story will emerge.

You have an advantage over the improv actor in that you already know these stories; you already know “what comes next.” So to get started, here are 5 ideas to help you jump-start your storytelling.

Emotional Stories: Make a list of emotional triggers. An embarrassing story, a sad story, a happiest moment, a time when you were angry, a love story. There will likely be several of these that come to mind.
Event Stories: A birth, a death in the family, your wedding day, a birthday, a vacation, a crime.
A Place: At home, church, school, an amusement park, a zoo, a concert, a cemetery, a shopping mall, a foreign city.
A Thing: You have stories already in your life about all of these: a food, a car, a pet, a book, clothing, a computer, a suitcase, a favorite childhood toy.
A Person: A spouse, a brother or sister, a parent, a child, a teacher, a celebrity, a pastor, a doctor, a lawyer, a taxi cab driver, a best friend, a rival, a bully.

All of these are triggers to get you started. Don’t be surprised if there is a lot of overlap. You will find that many stories will contain something from each list. Your most embarrassing story might involve your wedding day, at a church, and a disaster involving your spouse and the wedding cake.

Write your story using a simple story structure of a beginning, a middle and an end. I’ve talked about that more in my article “A Really Short Story.”

After you have written the story you will be able to go back and find messages and morals that may complement a number of themes. The wedding story might contain a message of proving your love, or staying calm when things go wrong, or saying the wrong thing at the wrong time.

Over time, you can create your own book of illustrations from your own life and that will be far more effective and meaningful than those stories from that book of illustrations.

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 3 comments

Oct

08

To Memorize or Not To Memorize

Arts / Blog Archive / How To's / Stories

I went to see a performance of an actor performing a straight scripture presentation. He was a good performer and commanded the stage well. But after a while I found my mind drifting. When he finished reciting scripture, he told a story about his own life and totally drew me in. He was so much more interesting to listen to when he just shared his story than when he was quoting from a book of the Bible.

I left feeling conflicted. I actually felt a bit of guilt at having lost interest during the presentation of scripture. I mean, this was God’s Word after all! I also pondered why I found his story more compelling than his actual performance. My conclusions:

When he was reciting scripture he sounded “memorized.” And while I am an advocate for memorized lines, I don’t like it when a performer sounds memorized. Memorized lines, be they in a play, scripture, speech or sermon, should sound natural and conversational. To the audience it needs to sound like you are saying these words for the very first time. (For a great example of an actor performing scripture and sounding natural check out my associate Steve Wilent in According to John.)
Steve Wilent in According to John
When he told his story, it felt spontaneous and authentic. I didn’t get the feeling it was a script. Since it was his story, he knew it well so there was no danger of not knowing what to say next (as in a forgotten line). I cared more about what he had to say because it was more personal.

In my previous blog I addressed memorization from an actor’s perspective. Actors must memorize lines word for word in a script. But what if you are speaking or giving a sermon? Does that text need to be memorized?

The answer…. it depends.

If you are a speaker who is giving the same, or mostly the same, speech or sermon to different groups on a speaking circuit, you will probably want to memorize it. Truth is, you probably have memorized it… maybe even without trying. You will work with the text and wind up saying the same thing over and over again. This can actually be a very good thing… providing you don’t start to sound memorized! You will also learn and tweak your presentation as you gain experience. You learn, for example, that phrasing a sentence a certain way gets a better response (a laugh, applause, or stunned silence).

But what about those of you who are pastors coming up with a new sermon every week? While a few of you may actually memorize the sermon, most of you don’t. My hat’s off to you who come up with new material week after week. The challenge before you is to present your material in a compelling way. Since you are not memorized by rote, there is not much danger of your sounding memorized. But neither do we want to see you simply read to us with your focus on your notes instead of your audience. It is important that, while you may not be memorized, you need to really know your material. So in a sense some of the rote memorization techniques of reading the material over and over again can certainly be of benefit.

I am always impressed with those pastors who can deliver a powerful sermon without notes! I chatted with one of them recently about how he does it. As a storyteller, it was no big surprise that much of the technique he employed involved translating the text into story. Much of the memory technique involved linking images to the text and thus allowing the pastor to be note-free and greatly enhance his ability to connect with the audience. This video helps to explain the memory system he uses:

Actors, comedians, and professional speakers all know the value of rehearsal. In talking to pastors I find that many of them also rehearse their sermons, and… many of them don’t. I can usually tell the difference. I know you are busy people, but I encourage you to find the time to rehearse your sermons. In our increasingly entertainment-oriented culture, with our increasingly shorter attention spans, your challenge is to hold our attention. To do that effectively takes practice!

Pastors, do you memorize your sermons? What tips can you share for effective sermon presentations?

Posted by Chuck Neighbors | 8 comments

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