A Pastor's Guide to Prioritizing

Ken Godevenos, MBA, CCP, CHRP

If ever there was a topic for which "there is nothing new under the sun" (Ecclesiastes 1:9b) is true, it's prioritizing. Articles have been written on every type of prioritizing imaginable, but very little has been written from the perspective of prioritizing as a Christian -- especially as a pastor. While all the techniques offered elsewhere can be helpful to us, the same overriding principles can alter our unique priorities from day to day.

Priority literature gives us lots of ideas, including simple things like making to-do lists or dividing everything into categories "A" (must do today), "B" (important but not critical) and "C" (tasks to pass on or delegate). From listening to others, and based on my own experiences, the only approach that seems to work consistently is one customized for church leaders.

Three considerations

First and foremost, each of us must ask the question, Do I have a Christian mindset about prioritizing? Prioritizing is one of those common traits that distinguishes effective pastors from not-so-effective ones. But of course, all the prioritizing in the world will not make a significant difference in Kingdom-focused service if it does not take into account the unique priorities God wants each one of us to pursue. This means knowing to the best of our ability what God's unique plan and purpose for our ministry is, and being careful to focus on the activities that satisfy it. Although other things must get attention, it cannot be at the expense of "serving the Lord well" in the primary calling He has given us.

Secondly, no matter what the activity, we need to a) make sure that Scripture doesn't forbid it, and b) if it does not, make sure we are carrying it out in the exact way Scripture instructs us to.

Third, it is important that we keep reminding ourselves, I am not an island; I am part of the local body. I value the talents and abilities of others, and I will delegate accordingly.

Failure to adhere to these three basic considerations will render all of your attempts at prioritizing ineffective, no matter what techniques you apply.

Other helpful ideas

1. You are a pastor, not a firefighter. If much of your day is spent putting out fires, there is something wrong with your mindset. Next time your "red lights and sirens" are flashing and you run to your next fire, ask yourself, Can this wait? Is it better to ignore it now and do something of greater consequence? Can I ask someone else to do this?

2. Being successful at prioritizing takes lots of practice and hard work. You don't become a pro at this in one day. You need to experiment a lot with regard to what you consider high, medium and low priorities.

3. Effective pastors (and Christians in general) prioritize what needs to be done and do it. All else being equal, effective and disciplined pastors ignore the toughness of a task and focus on reaching completion.

4. Ineffective individuals can always find reasons to procrastinate doing critical tasks. In so doing, they live with higher stress levels until the job gets done.

5. An effective leader knows that if he or she fails to prioritize, his or her direct reports will not prioritize either.

6. Carefully identify the time of day when you are most alert and eager to work and undertake your most complex work then.

7. Depending on whether you have your personal devotions and prayer time at home or at the office, inform your family and/or staff that you are unavailable for the required period and to hold all calls. At the end of that time, set or review your prioritized goals for the day before becoming accessible again.

Four prioritizing criteria

Even with all of these suggestions, sometimes you still need to make distinctions between or among certain activities. To help, you must adopt some criteria for defining what constitutes a "must-do," "important," or "it can wait" activity. You must:

1. Determine what has the most significant impact on your goals and objectives (as servant of the Lord, remember). Whatever it is should be a top-rated criterion for prioritizing. Ask yourself, To what extent will implementing this action help achieve our church's stated goals and objectives at this time? Will the impact be immediate or potential? The greater the contribution to the goals and objectives, and the greater its immediate (vs. potential) impact, the higher its priority should be.

2. I suggest that feasibility be an important criterion. Some activities are "doable" whereas others are impossible. You need to be realistic regarding what can be accomplished in the allotted time, and with the resources available to you.

3. Although some leaders consider the political feasibility of various actions, pastors should consider the spiritual expediency of undertaking a task. Activities that might negatively affect your credibility, the reputation of your local church in the community or the name of Christ should not be pursued, no matter where they rank.

4. Urgency is a valuable criterion. I consider something to be urgent if delaying its implementation increases existing problems or causes a missed opportunity.

The techniques, considerations, hints and criteria we have covered today can be combined in whatever way works best for you. To increase your overall effectiveness as a senior pastor and team leader, you might also need to consider how your team as a whole establishes priorities, including the criteria it uses and how it employs the concept of weighted voting or ranking.

You are created uniquely. How you prioritize is very personal. However, we all must prioritize as effective servants of Christ; this is universal to His followers.

Ken Godevenos has served on and/or chaired several church boards. He is a human resources and church consultant, trained mediator, National Church Development coach, National Advisory Council of The Leadership Center -- Willow Creek Association Canada member, and executive director of Shantymen International. Call Godevenos at 416.449.7282 or visit www.accordconsulting.com for more information.

Question of the Month

Dear Ken,
As a senior pastor, I struggle with whether or not to involve the senior pastoral staff at out board meetings. To be honest, I have to agree with one of them who argues that it's a waste of time, especially since I normally have a "staff" meeting the next day to inform them of board decisions, etc. However, sometimes I feel that this approach isn't right. Any suggestions?

Dear Reader,
Once again, this one question is rife with issues. For starters, I suggest you invest some time in reading John Carver's Boards That Make a Difference. The Carver model of Church Governance strongly recommends that your senior staff be present at board meetings for three key reasons: 1) they are better at giving reports and answering questions on their ministry, 2) they make you look good, and 3) they receive valuable training for becoming a senior pastor some day.

If any one of these senior staff members feels that attending board meetings is a "waste of time," one of two things is likely true. Either you have a requirement and an opportunity to make an attitude adjustment in that person (a whole separate issue), or your board meetings are in fact ineffective and truly a waste of time. If the latter is true, I suggest reading The Nonprofit Board Answer Book by Robert C. Andringa and Ted Engstrom. Alternatively, consultants (like me) facilitate staff/board seminars for large churches in the area of fundamentals of positive church staff/board relations.

Staff members other than yourself who attend board meetings usually sit behind you in a second row and only speak at your request, either to give a report, to provide guidance or to answer a specific question otherwise addressed to you. They are there as your resources, and as such should not be asked questions directly by the chairman or other members of the board unless giving a report. Having your staff members attend meetings either regularly or on a rotational basis also facilitates the success of your next-day staff meetings, at which time the primary question should be how to implement the policy decisions made by the board.

The many advantages to having staff members present at such meetings (of which only a few are mentioned here) far outweigh any disadvantages.

Send your questions to Ken Godevenos at kgod@accordconsulting.com. They will be addressed either directly or in this column, always honoring requests for confidentiality.