466 Counterintuitive ministry lessons - surely this can't be right (Al Stewart)

<p>Al Stewart shares 28 of the craziest, most counterintuitive lessons he has learnt from his time in ministry.</p><p>There are gems of wisdom for all stages of ministry life. You won’t hear this stuff in a textbook!</p><p>Al Stewart has worked with FIEC, City Bible Forum, Geneva Push and Katoomba Christian Convention, as well as serving as a bishop and director within the Sydney Diocese of the Anglican Church.</p><p><strong>Toolbox: </strong></p><p>Scott Sanders and Al Stewart did two more great episodes before this one:</p><p><a href="https://reachaustralia.com.au/464-what-15-years-of-church-planting-taught-al-stewart/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Ep 464: What 15 years of church planting taught Al Stewart</a></p><p><a href="https://reachaustralia.com.au/465-vital-things-a-senior-minister-needs-to-know/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Ep 465: Vital things a senior minister needs to know</a></p><p><strong>Al Stewart’s 28 ministry lessons</strong></p><p>Here is the full list from Al’s notes for this episode, grouped by theme for you to share and discuss with your team. As Al explains, these are practical observations from his years in ministry. Try taking one or two at a time in a staff meeting.</p><p>Planning and time management</p><ol><li>If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing badly.</li><li>Spontaneity must be carefully planned.</li><li>Shooting a dead horse is the hardest thing to do.</li><li>The way to work hard is to think about your holidays first.</li><li>Have as few unused holidays as possible when the Lord returns.</li></ol><p>Church meetings</p><ol><li>Less is more.</li><li>If you want them to stay longer, finish earlier.</li></ol><p>Meetings in general</p><ol><li>The way to appear wise is to keep your mouth shut.</li><li>The most important thing in starting a meeting is the finishing time.</li><li>The most important part of a meeting happens a week before the meeting.</li></ol><p>Appointing and managing staff</p><ol><li>You work for the people who work for you.</li><li>More staff will cost you more time.</li><li>Test their eyes, don’t just count them.</li><li>You will never have enough leaders trained.</li></ol><p>Resilience</p><ol><li>The job of Jesus is already taken, and it’s not you.</li><li>We died with Christ, but you don’t have to die at your post.</li><li>Disappointing people: the bad news is it’s inevitable you will disappoint some people; the good news is we often get to choose who.</li><li>Preach the go