Are you a leader that's younger than most of your team? How do you handle criticism? #artofleadershiplive

If you create content as a leader, do this 👉🏻 lean heavily into being less polished and more personal.  We're seeing a shift in content where authenticity is winning WAY more than the polished, clean, perfect-looking content.  So when you create content 👉🏻 show people your personality and don't feel like everything has to be perfect.

What's a small shift you can make now to make your next year fundamentally different from this year?

2024 is wrapping up and if you haven't already, it's time to start thinking about what you want to shift in 2025.  I would love to know what you're hoping and planning for going into the new year! Drop it below ⬇️

What's your follow-up process look like for newcomers during the holiday season?

This might be one of my biggest flops and at the worst time of the year 🫣

I gotta know... What's your favorite song that your church will be singing this year? 👇🏻

How do you embrace your humanity as a leader? @Chadveach shared on the latest podcast episode about embracing both your strengths AND your weaknesses. Comment PODCAST to take a listen 🎧

The NUMBER ONE mistake pastors make during the Christmas season 👉🏻 they forget the follow-up! If you have dozens, hundreds or thousands of unchurched people attending your Christmas Eve services but have no follow-up, then that’s all you end up with: unchurched people attending your Christmas Eve service. They may or may not be back next year.  Even if they have a personal response to the message and Gospel that night, without follow-up, you risk having their response fizzle and fade. Most of them are heading off to family dinners, a week of being around family and friends, a New Year’s Eve party, a slow return to work, and kids to school, and the moment will likely get lost.  Instead, have follow-up preprogrammed into your Christmas Eve services.  A few simple steps can be very helpful: 🎁 Have a gift for every newcomer that they get when they fill out a Welcome Card/QR Code.  📕 Profile your first series of the New Year and specifically invite all new guests to join you. 🔗 Link the welcome card response to an automated follow-up sequence via email or text, thanking people for coming and inviting them back to your New Year’s Service.  ⏱️ Pour your time energy and resources into having a great first series for the New Year and guest assimilation process for all new people.  Having a follow-up system is the best way to help realize the spiritual spark or decision people felt at Christmas into a lived reality in the New Year.

Is your service too traditional? The biggest thing you can do to stand out is to do something different.  Whether that's through surprise or through changing things up a bit, don't be afraid to test something new this year.

Here's one mistake I've learned around Christmas time - don't make your services too contemporary.  The challenge with doing a Christmas Eve service is that it’s nostalgic.  A few years ago I decided to make the service more ‘relevant’ and modernized everything—the music, the message. We basically ditched tradition and tried to express the Christmas story in fresh ways with the audience. I thought it would go over great. Our services were packed to the rafters and there were a ton of unchurched people in the room. I even decided to preach on my favorite Christmas story: John 1. John’s philosphical/theological approach to the incarnation has always captured me. So we did away with shepherds and angels and cradles and wise men.  The result? It bombed. I mean catastrophe-level bombed. Nobody liked it. I didn’t even like it.  Lesson learned.  The truth is people have expectations at Christmas. They want to hear about angels and shepherds and cradles and they want to sing Christmas carols. Go too contemporary, and you lose people.

I sit down with @chadveach and talk all things leadership within his role as a lead pastor. It's a great one you don't want to miss 👀 Take a listen here 👉🏻

How are you fueling your invite culture this Christmas season?  Here's a few ideas you can take away and implement... 👉🏻 easy handouts for your attenders to invite friends and family 👉🏻 create services and experiences easy  👉🏻 automated follow up sequence What else are you implementing this time of year?

Here's one mistake I see pastors make during the holiday season 👉🏻 they make service too traditional. If all you deliver is the tradition of lessons and carols and warmth and nostalgia, people miss the earth-shattering nature of the coming of Christ. It becomes as comforting and innocuous as a warm blanket and cup of hot chocolate by the fire, as vanilla as a Hallmark Christmas movie (I could get canceled for saying that, but hey).  I get it though, The Christmas season is nostalgic and you can't go too contemporary or you have the same result. Here's the bottom line: provide what people want to hear but also deliver exactly what they need to hear (the life-altering nature of the true Gospel).

When was the last time YOU invited somebody to church?  I think as leaders it can be easy to preach this type of invite culture or lifestyle, but we forget to do it ourselves. Do you have friends outside of those at your church? Do you know people in your community that could use a local church?  It may be time you practice what you preach.

Christmas is one of the most important times for the church because it's one of the few times that the church is appealing to an unbeliever.  Take advantage of it!  Go the extra mile to make sure T's are crossed and I's are dotted.  Every week is an important week, but this may be one of the most important ones.

What does your church do differently around the Christmas season?

Al Gordon shares his thoughts on how things are changing for the church.  He describes it as the tide rising and how things are slowly starting to turn back in our favor.  Do you agree with his thought? What do you think?

"Be as good a friend to yourself as you are to everyone else." Annie F. Downs

Have you plotted trajectory with your team?  Look at your systems and plans and try to plot out what you think the results could be. What changes can you make now to positively change your trajectory upward?