Maybe you have learned some valuable lessons when it comes to communicating to your Sr. Pastor. If so, I would love to hear them. But there are some simple things I have learned over the years, mostly the hard way, when it comes to communicating to my Sr. Pastor and I thought I would share one of those lessons today.
Here it is…TIMING IS EVERYTHING!
When you have something important to share with your Sr. Leader, always remember that timing is everything. Sometimes we don’t get the reaction we are looking for, the approval we need for a project or the answer we need to keep moving forward and it’s not because our leader doesn’t care. It’s probably because the timing was bad.
Two examples of what I am talking about:
- Never try to get direction, answer to a complicated problem or approval for a purchase on Friday. Your Sr. Pastor is consumed with the weekend message on Friday. He doesn’t want to even think about anything else. My suggestion, do yourself a favor and leave him alone on Friday.
- Don’t approach your Sr. Pastor about issues, no matter how important they are, just before, between or after the weekend services. If it’s before the service, he is thinking about his message. If it’s between services, he is thinking of what changes to make to the message. If it’s after the service, he just wants to go home.
Bottom line…be smart about the timing. Try to figure out when he is least stressed or focused on a time sensitive project. Your Sr. Pastor does care about what you are doing, but often times we get the feeling he doesn’t just because of an unintended reaction to our bad timing.
It’s just a thought.
Steve Adams has been the Children’s Pastor at Saddleback Church since 2007. He has served as Children’s Pastor for over 20 years and is a leader and mentor to many children’s ministry leaders around the country and into the world. God has blessed him with a creative mind, a true pastor’s heart and a passion for serving God and others through Children’s Ministry! Steve and his wife, Stephanie, have two sons – Tyler and Matthew.
More Than Puppets 
The only thing I would add from my experience is this. If he says or does something that causes some negative feelings in you, then talk to him about it. If you need to wait a little bit in order to be able to handle the conversation well, then do so, but DO NOT wait too long. Here’s why:
1.) We are a team. Your senior pastor is not going to think or talk about children’s ministry as much as you do, but it doesn’t mean he isn’t thinking about it or doesn’t care about it.
2.) The enemy is ready to tell you all kinds of lies about the situation. If he can he will use the smalles thing to drive a wedge between you and your pastor in hopes of hurting the minsitry of your church.
3.) We are a team. Just cause he hasn’t shared these thoughts with you doesn’t mean that he was not thinking about you or the minsitry you lead. Find out what he is thinking before you decide what he is thinking for him.
Maybe I am the only one who has this problem, but I have found that when this does happen the best thing is for me to just pick up the phone and talk to him about it.
Matt N.