Executive pastors Zac Ashley (Bay Area Church), Jeff Young (Champion Forest Baptist Church), and Stephen Trammell (Houston's First Baptist Church) sit down with UBA’s Executive Director Josh Ellis to talk about the role of the executive pastor. In video three of this series, these leaders discuss the best leadership tips and tricks they use in ministry.
Stephen Trammell:
Start your day with God and have an abiding love relationship with Jesus, as everything flows from that.
Tell your time and energy where to go by allocating your hours for the day.
Lead with questions, allowing others to contribute and brainstorm with you.
Leave room for mystery, as God may surprise you with someone or something that is not on your radar.
Jeff Young:
It is helpful to have a system for keeping track of your tasks and notes, such as using an app or sticky notes.
Maintain a clear communication channel with the lead or senior pastor.
Zac Ashley:
Keeping track of notes and details, using an assistant if possible or apps like Leader.
Leverage the two elements culture (invitation to relationship and challenge) to create an empowering culture. This is from a leadership book on building a discipleship culture by Mike Breen.
Executive Pastor Misunderstandings:
Jeff Young noted being mindful of your body language and how it may be interpreted by others. It might be helpful to be more warm than you’re inclined.
Stephen Trammell notes that when the church and staff have defined the role of the executive pastor, fewer misunderstandings occur. Otherwise, people fill in their own understandings and expectations.
Trammell also notes that as traditionally task-oriented people, executive pastors can seem cold. The decisions and changes they initiate can be disruptive to church culture.
Zac Ashely notes that executive pastors may need to adjust to a more generalist role. In contrast to the associate pastor role, executives are less focused on a small group of people that they are discipling.
Young also adds executives must learn the art of giving different kind of feedback on Sundays as opposed to throughout the week.
This video is part of a 4-part series on the role of the executive pastor. You can watch the rest of these three videos below.
Let’s put aside time and convenience to embrace a desperation for God.