Wayne Hedlund

Author: Wayne Hedlund

  • Free Ministry Video Resources

    lift-increaseI’ve recently come across two websites that are successfully making a difference in the world through video. They each boast several great video interviews with both ‘regular’ and ‘famous’ people and they capture great stories of people who have faced difficulties and sinful pasts and have overcome through Jesus Christ.

    What’s even better is the owners of these websites are providing them FREE OF CHARGE. You are welcome to access and utilize them as you see fit.

    Let me say the obvious. Most of us couldn’t pull this off ourselves. But we CAN utilize them to strengthen our current ministry. I can easily envision these videos being used at:

    church services.
    school chapels.
    small groups.
    college ministries.
    classes.
    discipleship programs.
    1 on 1 encouragement.

    Check them out today and be sure you earmark them as a resource for your ministry!    

    The Increase (theincrease.org)I Am Second (iamsecond.com)

  • Trust vs Suspicion, Andy Stanley

    Sometimes there is a teaching that has tremendous potential to be a game-changer for churches & ministries. This is one of them. A healthy, thriving church/ministry has a ‘culture of trust’ among the leaders, the teams and, ultimately, throughout the rest of the organization.

    Here is who should watch this video. Pastors. Staff. Elders. Deacons. Board Members. Volunteer Leaders. Ministry Teams. 

    Rarely do I plead with people to do something. But in this post, I am. Please watch this and ask your teams to watch this. And please make it a launching pad to establish/re-establish/strengthen trust in your ministry. Thanks. 

    [su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/CI204RLs0XA” width=”320″ height=”200″]

     
     

  • How to Invite People to Church

    mefusYour congregation could use a good laugh and gentle push to invite others to church. Why not show them this video? It’s worth it and it gets the point across without you having to say anything else. Give it a shot!

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrP1DNd0L0#t=82]
    Can’t see this video? Try clicking this link.

     

  • The Art of Inviting Feedback

    feedbackI’m a big fan of feedback. Not the kind you get on Sunday mornings when the microphone goes haywire and everybody goes deaf. The kind you get when people share their thoughts & opinions regarding something you’re trying to do with excellence.

    Inviting feedback is a bittersweet activity. But when I swallow my pride and listen closely to other’s thoughts, it increases my effectiveness and impact in ministry.

    Yesterday I listened to this two-part podcast from the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast series entitled, “The Art of Inviting Feedback“. One of the big takeaways was learning how to ask your leaders, co-workers and team-mates this one question:

    “If you were me, what would you do differently?”

     I strongly urge you to ask your entire team to listen to these two podcasts. They have the potential to, over time, make a big difference in your ministry’s leadership culture.

    The Art of Inviting Feedback – Part 1 (Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast)

    The Art of Inviting Feedback – Part 2 (Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast)

    photo credit: woodleywonderworks via photopin cc

  • Sunday Announcements: Information Overload

    Dark microphoneSeveral months ago I and my family visited a small church as a ‘mystery guest’. The goal of my visit was to provide some helpful feedback to the Sunday morning experience, especially as viewed through the eyes of a guest.

    I was completely overwhelmed (or maybe the word is underwhelmed) by the morning announcements. They were boring. The person giving them was practically reading them from the bulletin. And perhaps most frustrating, there were way too many. I stopped listening when they got to the special event happening 6 months from now. If it wasn’t my job to listen, I’m not sure I would have ever ‘started’ listening,

    I was recently reading a book summary of a book I read a few years ago entitled, “Less Clutter, Less Noise” and ran across this very poignant paragraph.

    “A Sunday edition of the New York Times carries more information than the average nineteenth century citizen accessed his entire life. Information used to be a rare and precious as gold; now it is so inexpensive and plentiful that most of it ends up being overlooked, ignored, or tossed like garbage. The barrage of data to which we are constantly exposed carries a cost – physically, mentally, and financially – regardless of the generation. People who live in today’s world respond in one of three ways: they become overwhelmed and shut down; they labor over whether they are making the right decisions; or they just ignore you and move on. More isn’t what people are looking for; relief from the pressure of more is what they’re looking for.”

    Well said. My advice is simply this.

    • Keep your announcements to a maximum of 3, preferably 2.
    • Sell what you have to say. Convince people why it’s important to them.
    • Communicate everything else through other means (like a weekly eblast, the Sunday bulletin, the church website & calendar, facebook, word of mouth, etc.)

    photo credit: istockphoto

  • The Decision Tree

    decision-treeI think delegation can be a big mistake. There’s a mouthful. Did I just say that? This from the guy who just wrote, “9 Reasons Why People Don’t Delegate“? Something’s wrong.

    Here’s the deal. I believe in delegation. Wholeheartedly. But I also believe that IF you’re going to delegate, you better make sure you’re delegating the right tasks to the right people. You need to ensure that you’ve identified just HOW MUCH authority you plan to give to your leaders. Make it obvious and clear to both them and you.

    Give them time to prove themselves. This will honor & serve both them and you. Trust me, they may not know this, but they don’t want more authority than they’re equipped to handle.

    Here’s the key, make sure both you and they know which decisions they can make and how involved you should be in them.

    fierce-conversationsLast year I read a great book called ‘Fierce Conversations‘. It is full of great advice on how to be more self-aware as a leader, how to confront others with care, how to ask the right questions, how to hold performance reviews with staff and a lot more. It’s definitely on my ‘recommended reading‘ list!

    That said, I’d like to highlight one of the most valuable pages in the book. The author calls it . . .

    The Decision Tree
    The decision tree is a tool for delegation and professional development. You know employees {or volunteers} are growing and developing when more and more of their decisions are moved to the leaf level.

    • Leaf Decisions: Make the decision. Act on it. Do not report the action you took.
    • Branch Decisions: Make the decision. Act on it. Report the action you took daily, weekly, or monthly.
    • Trunk Decisions: Make the decision. Report your decision before you act take action.
    • Root Decisions: Make the decision jointly, with input from many people.

    Let’s create an example, to help illustrate how this might work. I’ll pick on the Children’s Ministry Director in a local church. Following might be what you’ve decided about that individual. Note: it could be different for each person you recruit into the role. For instance, maybe a longstanding elder or the pastor’s wife is the director, many of the decisions in Trunk or Branch might move up into Branch & Leaf.

    Children’s Ministry Director:

    • Leaf: Curriculum. Classroom Decor. Check-in Procedures. Parent Communications.
    • Branch: Volunteer Recruitment. Volunteer Scheduling. Volunteer Training. Minor Discipline Issues with Children. Child Injury.
    • Trunk: Special Events. Scope & Sequence for the year. Major Discipline Issues with Children (requiring parent interaction). 
    • Root: Children’s Ministry Policies. Community Focused Large Events. Abuse/Allegations of abuse. 

    How can the Decision Tree help you delegate and communicate with your team better this week?

    photo credit: Steve Webel via photopin cc

    Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

  • The Sacred Cow

    This article was originally posted on Transforming Leader in March, 2011. Enjoy!

    medium_2937658955When I was 15 years old my dad bought a newborn calf. He and I drove to the local farm and I sat in the back of the truck holding the calf to my chest to keep him safe until we got home. (Side Note: I was pretty much a city boy – this was my first time being so close to a farm animal.) When we got home I was tasked with the job of feeding and caring for her (bottle feeding a calf is quite the experience). I did so for many months. I fed her, cared for her, cleaned her pen (not fun) and when I was bored or lonely I’d hang out with her. She was my pet (mistake). She was always glad to see me and ran over to me as I entered her pen. She even let me sit on her back once. I suppose there was a decent amount of trust between us.

    Then one day my dad called me outside. He was holding a rifle. He announced, “Today, we are going to butcher the cow.” I was in shock. I was completely unprepared. It never really crossed my mind that this was the intended end in mind all those months ago. We walked over to the cow and dad tried to call her over to the fence. She wasn’t interested. He asked me to call her over. I did so and she immediately obeyed. It felt like I was betraying a friend. The final straw was when he told me to gently lift her head so that he could get a clean shot. Then it was over.

    Suffice it to say, I’ll never forget that day. We killed the cow. I know some of you are chuckling right now, a few of you may feel sorry for me. I’ve survived just fine. If I ever get in that situation again I can guarantee you I won’t be giving my heart to a cow again!

    The Sacred Cow
    Maybe you and your church can relate. You have raised and cared for a cow for many, many years. Many in your congregation (perhaps even you) have grown to love her. You’ve cared for her, cleaned out her pen, and hung out with her so long that nobody really ever questions her existence anymore. She belongs.

    Here’s the problem. There is no room for a sacred cow in your church. At some point in time, what was originally an idea that would help people grow in God became a calf in the back of the truck. Some few people decided it was important to keep around and it has been ever since.

    The mission of your church is to {enter your mission statement here}. I didn’t hear anything about cows there. But if you have a sacred cow then it seems to me that you have two choices:

    • Build your ministry around the cow (easy).
    • Kill the cow (hard).
    FYI: I don’t recommend my dad’s method for killing cows either.
     
    Check out my other two posts in this series: The Smelly Cow & Finding Your Sacred Cow.
     

    photo credit: stevoarnold via photopin cc

  • Christmas Music Video’s

    Christmas Music Video’s

    Following are some of my favorite Christmas Music Video’s. These videos would be great to show PRESERVICE or POSTSERVICE sometime this month of December or for your Christmas Eve service. Perhaps you might even find a way to sneak one into your service plan too! You might also appreciate more links to help you in your service planning right here. Enjoy!

     

  • Mark Batterson & Building a Prayer Culture in the Church

    I had the opportunity to interview Mark Batterson last year on ‘reaching the younger generation’ and ‘building a prayer culture in the local church’. If you’re church tends to be ‘prayer challenged’, I believe this interview may inspire and equip you to get started again. Enjoy.

     

  • Nancy Ortberg & the Pastor’s Wife

    Many months ago, now, I had the distinct privilege of interviewing Nancy Ortberg while she was visiting our area. She graciously allowed me to film three separate interviews. You can check out the first two interviews by clicking the respective link below this interview.

    In this interview, we broach the topic of the challenge that pastor’s wives face in being, well, a pastor’s wife. In particular, the huge expectations that people tend to automatically place on wives simply because their husband pastors a church. Enjoy.