Episode 68 - The Essential Five: Priorities For A Small Church Pastor

Today's podcast episode is so practical, anyone can do this! Do you ever struggle with priorities and knowing what to do next? Ever wonder why your day happens to you, and you don't happen to your day, first?! Today's episode is for you. 


Dave Jacobs, the coach to small church pastors, lays out in simple detail how to set priorities and approach your schedule for any given day or week. He provides us with the four foundational priorities we should set just as people, and then his five essentials that every small church pastor should plan around.

In our conversation with Dave, we talked about what our essential focuses should be as pastors. But before he even got to the essential focuses, Dave outlined how we as pastors must prioritize our lives:



Four Foundational Priorities:

1. Me and God - Your first priority must always be God. All of life and ministry flows from what we receive from Jesus.
   
2. Me and my spouse - You're not married to your church, so don't act like it! Love, respect, and honor your spouse and always place them ahead of your ministry.
   
3. Me and my children - Jeff likes to say that you can do ministry for your whole life, but you only have your kids for 18 years. Make those years count.
   
4. My church ministry - Believe it or not, you won't just have a little left after taking care of your relationships with God, your spouse, and your kids, you'll actually have MORE to give your church!

Once you have your priorities in order, it's time to focus in on your essential responsibilities. Dave laid out 5 essential areas where we as pastors should be focusing our time and energies:


The Five Essentials:

1. Sermon Preparation and Study
   
2. Leadership Development
   
3. Time with New People
   
4. Administrative "Must-do's"
   
5. My Private "Think Time"

So, how are you doing with focus? Are you scattered all over the place? Can't seem to put first things first and order your schedule well? Step one is checking your priorities. Step two is trimming away the extra "stuff" from your list of responsibilities. And if all else fails (or if you just need a little more help) step 3 is CALL DAVE! We promise, you won't regret it.