Women in Ministry United Podcast

One of the keys to great leadership is to communicate well with your people. This is important in ministry in general and is a valuable and necessary leadership principle when you are focused on your priorities and setting healthy boundaries.

Many times we create frustration because we have not relayed the right information to the right people at the right time. Sharing the particulars is critical to help people understand what to expect and manage tension and anxiety.

Keys to Communicating Well

Communicate Clearly and Often

(Inspired Patrick Lencioni's foundations for creating a healthy organization.)

• Create clarity: Oftentimes we aren't clear...we think we are being clear, but something is being lost in translation. Clarity is key. It helps to build and maintain a healthy organization both with staff and with the people you serve. Let people be your advocate. Plus if it is within your scope of influence, create an environment where everyone has healthy...

Do you find it hard to give yourself grace?

Many of us would answer, yes. It’s interesting...we are able to show kindness and patience with others, but we are much harder on ourselves.

Our Current Situation

Many of us are under a lot of pressure. Not only are we trying to manage it all, but there’s been a lot going on that adds to our stress. Every time I turn around I feel like there is another "historic" or "unprecedented" event unfolding. You just can’t wrap your brain around what’s happening. It’s truly unbelievable, and yet here we are in the midst of it. Some things we see and feel from a distance, while others hit right at home.

The Result

These events add up. They take their toll on us. We need to be ok with not feeling personally responsible for everything. It’s tough, especially for people in ministry because it’s part of our calling as Jesus followers and as spiritual leaders to grieve with those who grieve and hurt with those...

Have you been wondering what types of rhythms you should integrate into your life and leadership? Where do you even start? In this episode of the podcast, I share 3 rhythms that every person in ministry should have. These rhythms will change your life and your ministry. 

Key Rhythms 

• Rest: a time to stop, sabbath, preferably weekly. 
• Review: once a week, 45-60 minutes do a review of how you've spent your time and energy. What went well? What needs to be done differently? What's coming up this coming week and how can I make the most of it?
• Retreat: a period of 2-4 when you get away with God to survey the scene with God. What is He saying to you about the season you are in or may be entering? Listen, pray, evaluate. This form of pulling back allows you to strategically enter into the months ahead.

Connect with Jen:

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You want to make some changes. There are some good, healthy boundaries that you know will help you lead and live better but you just can’t seem to gain momentum. I want to share with you 4 progress killers that keep you from making the changes you want.

We wait for the perfect time.

We wait for just the right time before we make changes. We decide to wait until things slow down. We think it’ll be easier once we push through this busy season, or once a certain obligation is finished.  We wait until things are perfect!  But guess what?  It’ll never be perfect! There will never be a perfect time. If you don’t put in the boundaries you need, new obligations and new seasons of busyness will steal your space and margin.

We have an all or nothing attitude.

Many of us approach change and progress with an all or nothing attitude. If there is just one time we can imagine when the boundary or rhythm won’t work, we don’t even try! We...

What do you do if you are burned out in ministry? If ministry has wounded you, if you’re running on empty, if you are flat-out spent...what happens now? Do you quit? Do you just suck it up buttercup? What’s next? What are your options?

We rarely talk about this.

We seldom have honest and open conversations about what can happen to you in ministry if you aren’t careful, let alone, what to do if you are falling off the edge of the cliff. I’m not sure why burnout and fatigue are taboo subjects and virtually ignored.

The fact is, we’re human. We have our limits. God made us that way. We don’t have to be afraid of our limitations.  We don’t have to fear our need to stop, and yet we keep going. We don’t want to show anything that could be seen as weakness. We keep pushing, we keep producing, we keep doing, we keep responding.

How do you find time to rest and heal while still showing up at getting things done?

A woman in full...

What is the strength of your ministry?

What is that one thing that makes you the person and the leader God has created you to be? What gives you the potency, the power to impact the Kingdom and do the things God has called you to do? My guess is that if you knew the answer to THAT, it would change everything, right? You’d make sure to develop that leadership muscle. You’d spend the time that was necessary...you’d protect that strength at all costs.

What if I told you, I know your strength? I know your superpower because it is my superpower too.

The strength of your ministry is your relationship with God.**

Our relationship with God is the one thing that helps us be the person and leader we were created and called to be. Our relationship with God gives us the potency to impact the Kingdom and gives us the power to do the things we were called to do.

An alarming trend is the amount of pastors and ministry leaders who spend very little time...

Are you wondering if your ministry is making any kind impact these days? Is what you’re doing making a difference? Are people being met and served well? If you find yourself wondering these same things, you’re not alone. Many ministry leaders are discouraged and doubting if anything is really working. In this episode, I share 5 things you can do when you doubt what you’re doing in ministry.

We are leading during a season where it is incredibly difficult to have a finger on the pulse of our congregations or ministry organizations. It’s hard! Many of us are on-line for some, if not all of our ministry related events and it’s difficult to see how people are interacting. If you’re preaching virtually, it’s a huge challenge. You don’t get to see people’s body language. Are people smiling or nodding their heads in agreement? Or have they nodded off to sleep?! You just don’t know. You can’t tell if they are engaged or if...

Are you worn out and wondering to yourself, "how can it only be the 2nd week of January?" I knew there wasn’t anything magical about a new year but I’m a little surprised, even disappointed that I didn’t get a “bump” of energy. Maybe you can relate.

Or maybe by the time you’re listening to this episode the newness of the year is a distant memory and you’re experiencing fatigue. Perhaps it's unexpected. Maybe you didn’t see it coming or you’ve been dealing with it for a while and you thought it would have dissipated by now...but it’s lingering...it just won’t seem to go away.

Sometimes fatigue will disappear on its own but it is very rare. Healthy leaders resist the temptation of ignoring the signs and signals God gives us and instead pay attention and lean into what they are feeling and experiencing in order to see what God is doing.

What is Fatigue?

Fatigue is defined as, "extreme tiredness...

What do you want to be true of you by the end of the year? It's never too early to ask yourself this question. And while most people have made resolutions to do something new, it is equally important for you to decide what NOT to do so that you can be the person and ministry leader God has called you to be. 

In this episode, Jen shares 7 things NOT to do this coming year...because if you're not careful and do them, you will get sucked into the perpetual cycles of busyness that lead to overwhelm and you'll be less effective in the roles you've been given.

Decide not to...

• make yourself busy
• plan too far ahead
• make everyone happy
• manipulate the outcome
• chase every idea
• fill in every moment on your calendar
• wait with great expectation for things to go back to normal

Need help getting clear on your next steps? Join me for a one-hour coaching call via Zoom in the month of January for 30% off. You'll get the recording of our call plus 7 days of Voxer with me so you can...

I'm not sure where I am, let alone where I'm going. It's been a tough year and things continue to be uncertain. In this final episode of 2020, Jen offers a prayer from Thomas Merton as we face the uncertainty that lies ahead.

 My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone.

-Thomas Merton