By Mickey Mallory
First, a personal story. How did I get to where I am today? As I backtrace the steps on my life road, I must admit there have been people along the way that God has used to help me. First and foremost would be my parents. They helped me get off to a tremendous start in life. After that would be my local Seventh-day Adventist pastor during a time when I was a rebellious teenager. Through his friendship and Christ-centered preaching, he helped me get on track spiritually. He helped me to accept Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.
The day of my baptism was the greatest day of my life. It was such a life-changing experience that an intense passion arose in my heart to serve in full-time ministry. Believing that passion was the calling of God, I enrolled in college to study to become a pastor. My goal was to learn to influence people for God just like my local pastor influenced me.
After graduating from Union College and then serving as a pastor for a few years, I began to realize that if I was going to really influence people for God, I needed to learn how to become a better leader. Because of this, I set out on a quest to learn as much as I could about the subject of leadership. I read numerous books on leadership. I was especially blessed by the books and tapes produced by leadership coach John C. Maxwell. His quote, “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” was a real eye opener to me. It challenged me to not only grow myself as a leader, but to help those around me grow as well.
Initially, this meant developing the leaders in my church. But after a while, I became heavily convicted that I should expand my context and use my knowledge base of leadership to help pastoral leaders grow. Because I was already serving as a district superintendent for a group of conference pastors, I began sharing with them what I was learning and the response was so positive, I decided that for the rest of my ministry, I was going to take advantage of any opportunity that God made possible to invest in growing leaders.
One of the opportunities that God opened up for me was to train student pastors from Southern Adventist University while I pastored a church nearby. For the last five years, I poured myself into each one of them with the hope that when they graduated, they would be better prepared to lead the churches they would serve.
After nearly three decades of full-time pastoral ministry, I can truly see how God has led in my journey. He has helped me influence many people for God, including those in leader- ship. It is my hope as I move forward that God will continue to allow me to have opportunities to make an impact for Him.
Win in Min
In my role at the Rocky Mountain Conference, I see myself as being the pastors’ coach. My job is to assist each pastor to be a winner in ministry (Win in Min). Based on my personal 28 years of experience as a pastor, I believe that in order for pastors to win in ministry, they need to win in the following four areas:
Winning in Health
Spiritual—The most important appointment of each day for pastors is the time they spend with God. They must be “thick with the Almighty” in order to accomplish much for God.
Emotional—In order to be successful, pastors need what science journalist Daniel Goleman calls emotional intelligence (EQ). When the pastor is emotionally healthy, he or she can deal with the stress of ministry better and help their churches also become more emotionally healthy.
Physical—For energy and mental sharpness, the pastor needs to take care of his or her body. This would include sticking to a healthy diet, exercising on a regular basis, and making sure they are getting enough rest.
Winning in Relationships
Family and Friends—Those closest to a pastor determine his or her level of success. Because of this, the pastor must take time to invest in these relationships. The pastor’s most important mission field is his or her family.
Church and Community—Members do not care how much a pastor knows until they know how much he or she cares. When members know their shepherd loves them, they are more apt to follow him or her.
Winning in Leadership
Developing the Leader Within—Since everything rises and falls on leadership, it is important for the pastor to grow in his or her leadership skills.
Developing the Leaders Around Them—Pastors can accomplish more when they build a team of leaders around them. When the pastor takes time to develop his or her team, it helps the team get better, which in turn helps the church get better. Growing leaders = a growing church.
Winning in Communication
Written—The pastor must take advantage of various forms of written communication in order to keep his or her church inspired and informed.
Oral—Teaching and preaching the Word in a relevant and practical manner gives the church and community the opportunity to connect with God and understand His plan for their life.
In order to make winning in ministry (Win in Min) not just a set of theories on paper, the following model for leadership development (created by the Center for Creative Leadership) can be used:
Assessment: Question—How are you doing? Using a periodic evaluation process, attempt to get an accurate picture of how things are going. Take time to celebrate the wins and then identify areas of growth.
Challenge: Question—How can you change? Develop a practical, strategic plan that can be followed in order to grow.
Support: Question—How can others help you? Once a plan of action is developed, find a small team of people who can provide accountability, encouragement, and prayer.
–Mickey Mallory is RMC ministerial director. Email him at: [email protected].