Practical Priority
by Mike Killebrew
Life is full of prioritizing! We all make many everyday decisions that require us to identify what is of greater importance. The sometimes-difficult reality that we all face is that we have limitations that we must navigate as we move forward in life and ministry. Time and resources are in limited supply, so we decide how to best utilize what we have available and what is of greater importance. We all know this too well.
Right now, at my house, we are about to wrap up track season for two of my four children. Am I a bad parent for letting out a major sigh of relief that track is almost over, even as I type this? Ha! This season has been a challenge as neither child is old enough to drive yet and there is no team bus. Our oldest son runs for the High School team and our second child runs for the Middle School team oftentimes in two different locations. This adds to the busyness of this season of life for our entire family. As a result, there have been so many times in the last two months that my wife and I have had 3 or 4 things happening all at once and we’ve had to come up with a well thought out plan and decide what takes priority asking what is of greatest importance. Several times we’ve had to make the decision to ask for help to accomplish more than we could handle on our own. We’ve also had to painfully say “no” to some things to which we would rather have said “yes.”
I know our family is not alone in this and I suspect everyone reading this can easily relate. Life happens for all of us, and we must navigate well, choosing that which is of greater importance. This same principle is also true for a church, as we consider available resources, we must choose that which is of greater importance.
At e2 we frequently get calls from elder teams or church staff asking for help to sort through priorities. We love those calls and the opportunity to help coach a church elder team to prioritize by using the Word of God to become even more effective! A church and elder team need a clear plan to navigate to forward momentum. In Proverbs 15:22, Solomon, with all his wisdom writes, “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” A few chapters later in Proverbs 27:17, he writes, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” I’m a firm believer that we all need help sometimes, especially when we are having conversations about priority. Often an outside voice provides just the tools needed to move forward.
Our singular purpose at e2 is to equip elders to lead. In preparing for this months’ good word, of Priority, I realized we’ve never written about how some church elder teams have made it a priority to partner with e2 and furthermore explain what it means to be a partner. I’d like to take a few moments of your time to share about partnering with e2. I know that some in our subscription base are not elders or lead pastors but perhaps if you don’t serve in that way at your church, you would continue to read. Please then share with your elder team how a partnership with e2 will help your church navigate biblical priorities.
What is a partnership with e2? Partnership can best be summed up by this phrase: it is a real relationship with church elders and senior leadership! We provide real time, ongoing coaching with our partner churches. We offer face-to-face coaching on location and around your table, impromptu phone calls and texts, monthly video calls with other elders, ministers, and staff. We want to walk with you as you lead the Bride of Christ to the throne of Jesus. I’ve often heard our co-founders tell partner churches, “see us as an extension of your staff.” Partnership may be ideal for your church, if you would like help with navigating priorities, setting goals and actionable steps to accomplish them. The e2 team would love to partner with you to accomplish this with decades of ministry experience and having coached hundreds of churches and thousands of elders to set priorities for the forward momentum of the local Bride of Christ!
We will work with a church elder team to prioritize a plan to keep forward momentum. Working together we’ll create a Memo of Understanding (MOU), detailing some initiatives that we are going to coach you through. We’ll tackle issues that are of greatest importance and establish a plan. We offer items such as succession planning, church health assessment, review/refresh existing Vision-Mission-Values, develop a three-year strategic plan, develop a leadership pipeline strategy, and provide coaching for an elder team development plan. Partnership includes an all-access pass to go behind the paywall of our website to have virtual access to books, videos, white papers and more. This MOU would detail our stated objectives and additionally detail the monthly support we would ask of you to partner with us, not just to tackle specific initiatives but to become a part of a movement that is advancing the kingdom of God by investing in elders all over the world!
In the e2 office, we often pray for the Lord to send us churches that “want us and need us.” If you believe that partnership may be a valuable outside voice and extension to your staff team, please reach out to me (mike@e2elders.org) and I would love to begin that conversation. Let’s talk. I’d love to hear your story and see if there’s a way that we can help you and your congregation.
