Retraining For Church Ministry

2009 October 23

by Tyler

I’ve been running at least 2 or 3 miles since last September (2008). It is the first time I’ve been in some sort of fitness shape since freshman year of college.

Doing long distance running is not something I am used to. In fact, I’ve never done it. Growing up I played basketball, baseball, and golf. Even though basketball is somewhat an endurance sport, there is still a lot of stopping and starting. When I ran for track I did the 200, 800, and 1500 meter races. None of those would be considered long distance because they all last at most, 6 minutes.

When I first started training I thought I would be able to work up to a distance of 10 miles fairly easily over the past year, but I still find myself running about 4 miles each time I head out. I’ve found it incredibly difficult to retrain my body to do long distance running instead of shorter, quick runs like I did in track and basketball.

I think this is a good reminder for many seasoned church leaders. The correlations run deep.

Most church leaders have done the same thing for many years and are now finding out that they need to retrain for a new way to do church ministry. I’m around men and women all the time who are doing their best trying to understand the new ways of doing church ministry within today’s world. Some thoughts on training:

Retraining is HARD work. I’ve busted my you know what for over a year on just about every run. I don’t hold back or give in, and yet I still haven’t gained much more stamina. Church leaders have read books, gone to conferences, prayed, etc., and they are still finding doing ministry in today’s world extremely difficult. This doesn’t mean that they work they’ve put in is meaningless.
You must be deliberate. When I head out on runs I know exactly how far and about how fast I want to go. Too many church leaders are trying to adjust, but they don’t know specifically how they want to adjust. If you aren’t deliberate then you will get knocked over by the first rough patch.
The hard work is valuable. If I said that all my running was a waste because I’m still running 4 miles instead of 10 miles that would be laughable. I’m much healthier and much closer to running 10 miles than if I wasn’t running at all. Some church leaders are too hard on themselves. The hard work they’ve put in has made a difference whether it is noticeable or not.
It will take time for it to become natural. This is the part where I’m struggling right now. It is taking me a lot of time more my body to adapt to long, drawn out exercising. I know a lot of pastors who would prefer to give up instead of working through the struggle of understanding the people in their communities. All the time and effort can and will pay off though.

What would you add? What are some tips you have for retraining?

Filed under: the rest...

http://www.aworshipfulheart.typepad.com Jan Owen

I think that part of the problem is that church leaders change a “program” or “style” – something outward, and don’t always understand or own the inner work or conviction that may have led another pastor to implement that same change. So if the intention is just to change to “keep up”, the change implemented will have no heart, no passion. I’m not sure I’m describing it correctly.

Let’s take worship. If a church changes style of music simply to be more relevant (nothing wrong with that) and introduces this new kind of music but never engages in a conversation about the why then it will seem pointless. Likewise, if “worship style” is all that’s discussed but worship never is, the change will only hit the surface.

The conviction of our heart must change first – ministry needs to flow out of where we are with God, what He’s teaching us. I think for some, whole paradigms of thinking need to shift before they can truly lead in a new way.

The other thing that I think goes hand in hand with this is learning to minister and lead as YOURSELF, not just copying someone else. It’s easy to mimic someone else’s style and ministry, It’s harder to be yourself.
http://thoughtsaboutnothing.com Kyle Reed

Good stuff.
Bobby Gruenewald wrote a post about this yesterday: What the Church can learn from google

Talking about what we can learn from google and how they are constantly striving forward and not looking back on what they have done in the past. Really good read.
But you bring up some good points It always seems easier than it actually is. I have been running for a while now and am stuck on 4-5 miles and want to make the leap. Like you I thought it would be easy, but it is not.
I think the same way in ministry. That I will constantly be adapting, but who knows. Especially if I am not intentional about it.
http://www.contentunderpressure.net Josh

Good thoughts here….one thing I would add (along the lines of training) would be rest. In the same way that the body needs rest to recover while training, so does a leader. For some, it could be deliberate days during the week to unplug. For others, retreats with fellow leaders to pray and regain their focus.

Rest is just as important as the hard work, IMO. Otherwise, you have the ministry equivalent of someone who works their chest and arms out for a week straight and then enters a push-up contest on the weekend…..not gonna be pretty.
http://www.sumpter.org sumptersam

i agree…..and would add that just like ministry….it’s not the distance that counts as much as the quality of how far you ran that really counts….
Yonas

Training with a partner always better…you can always encourage and monitor each other’s progress.
Carrie

I’d add – as a runner – that you are very likely running those 4 miles a day too fast to add distance. If you want to add distance, run your longer runs significantly slower.

Likewise in making a ministry or lifestyle change…it’s easy to demand too much, too quickly of ourselves or others. If we can figure out how to take it slow (though it can be hard to find a way to make change incrementally/slowly), in the long haul we run less risk for burning ourselves (or others) out.