7 Church Leadership Resources to Help You Grow

These seven church leadership resources will help you develop your leadership skills and grow as a church leader.

Aaron Buer

Digital giving apps and tools

I’ve spent the last week at a cottage in northern Michigan with my wife’s extended family.

One of the most enjoyable parts of the week has been cooking together.

Cooking with other people is fantastic because you learn new tricks, techniques, and recipes.

I love learning from other people, whether cooking, preaching, leadership, or whatever.

So, let’s learn together.

This week I’m sharing seven resources I use in my work as a pastor, and perhaps you’ll be willing to share a few resources you use in the comments of this blog post.  

Here we go.

Best Commentaries 

I follow a simple approach when it comes to studying for sermons.

Three great commentaries are better than ten good commentaries.

There comes a point where you get buried in information, and when you have to crank out a sermon every weekend, I find it more helpful to study less but better content.  

I use the website Best Commentaries to help me discern which three commentaries to pull off the shelf, order from Amazon, or borrow from the library.

best-commentaries


Sometimes, I look at Tim Challies’ list of best commentaries as well.

Over time, I’ve found which scholars and commentary sets I prefer, but I like to be pulled outside my preference zone.

Tim Keller’s Sermon Library

On the topic of sermons, my study workflow goes like this: 

  1. Read the passage multiple times and make personal observations.  
  2. Read three commentaries on the passage. (I try to use commentaries to confirm or challenge my observations rather than using them to start my thinking on the passage.) 
  3. Listen to one or two sermons from other preachers.
  4. Create an outline and then go from there to construct my sermon.    

I usually listen to my senior pastor first if he has a past sermon on the passage.

After that, I almost always check to see if Tim Keller has preached on the passage.

Tim has a site called Gospel in Life that I believe has pretty much every sermon he preached at Redeemer Presbyterian.

gospel-in-life


Some of them are free, and some cost a few dollars.

I find his website helpful, and I use it all the time.

The Craft and Character Podcast

One final resource on preaching.

In the last year or two, Steve Carter came out with a podcast on preaching called The Craft and Character Podcast.


In each episode, Steve interviews a biblical communicator about their approach to preaching, which usually includes a short recording from an actual sermon that the person delivered.

In addition to a conversation about preaching, the interview always turns a corner toward character.

If I remember right, Steve’s mantra is “character leads the way.”

In an era where many preachers from large churches are idolized, Steve’s approach feels refreshing, honest, and incredibly helpful for aspiring preachers.

The Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast

There is only one podcast that compels me to listen to every single episode, the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast.

Most days this podcast is playing during my commute.

Many of you already listen to this, but if you don’t, it is SO worth it.

Carey’s a great interviewer who consistently brings on fascinating guests who share very helpful content.

For real, if you aren’t subscribed to this podcast, check it out.

The Unstuck Church Report

Tony Morgan leads the Unstuck Group, a great website, blog, podcast, and a bunch of other stuff.

In my opinion, one of the most helpful resources the Unstuck Group provides is a free quarterly report on the Church.

unstuck-church-report


Particularly right now, during COVID, when none of us understand what is happening or what is coming next, the data in this report has been helpful and reassuring.

The Undeceptions Podcast

John Dickson is my favorite Australian.

No offense to Hugh Jackman, Keith Urban, or basically all rugby players, but I love this guy’s preaching, writing, and podcasting.

John is incredibly intelligent and knowledgeable about church history, and the way he speaks about challenging current topics is balanced, empathetic, wise, and biblical.  

The Undeceptions podcast is designed around bringing historical and biblical clarity to confusing and misunderstood topics.

It is outstanding, particularly if you have an intellectual bent.

Also, fun fact: John arranged and performed the music to his own podcast!

The Orange Leaders Blog

Finally, Orange is an excellent resource for kids and student ministries, but honestly, it is for the whole church.

orange-leaders


Reggie Joiner and his team have been providing ministry wisdom and excellent resources for years now.

Orange strategy is the gold standard for curriculum and volunteerism.

If you don’t follow their stuff, you’re missing out.

Here’s a link to their blog, which shares a lot of great tips and resources.

Wrap Up

There you have it.

Seven resources I use all the time—resources I think you should consider using too.

If you’re willing, share some of your favorite resources in the comments.

I’m always looking for new ideas, hacks, and better ways of doing things.

Thanks for reading.  

Share this Article:

Looking for an easy-to-use software to help manage your church?

We'd love to show you what we built!

Join 10,000+ happy churches using Breeze ChMS™.

Name
loves Breeze

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Name
loves Breeze

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Name
loves Breeze

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Suspendisse varius enim in eros elementum tristique. Duis cursus, mi quis viverra ornare, eros dolor interdum nulla, ut commodo diam libero vitae erat. Aenean faucibus nibh et justo cursus id rutrum lorem imperdiet. Nunc ut sem vitae risus tristique posuere.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
David P.
loves Breeze
St. Pauls United Methodist Church

Breeze has been incredible. Their customer service, commitment to innovation, and their product are top-notch. I love the features, the ease of use and the mobile applications.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Karen M.
loves Breeze
Hillcrest Church

All of our database needs have been more than met, it's easier to use than the last database we had, and the price is amazing - what a value this has been to our church! All of our staff can use this software and they do regularly. We use it to track…literally anything a church could possibly need to track regarding it's attenders.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Chris K.
loves Breeze
Crossroads United Methodist Church

Breeze has been a great asset to our church and congregation. Especially from an administrative standpoint, it has been the most adaptable and easiest church database I have ever used. The features from blast emails to giving on-line, and texting have been one of our greatest assets. Thank you!

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Ed R.
loves Breeze
Church Admin

We switched from a major, web-based ChMS to Breeze and our decision is confirmed every day. We are a medium size church and we use Breeze for contributions, member management, event checkin and a few other applications custom to our church. I had trouble getting any staff to use our previous ChMS but almost all staff are using Breeze. The product is very well designed, extremely easy to learn and use and customer service is incredible.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Ellen G.
loves Breeze
Grace Church

Breeze has opened the communication highway for our congregation and staff, with very little training. Because members can update their own records and search easily for other members - and map their locations, send emails and text right from Breeze, they love it and our data is more real-time accurate. Our ministries are stronger, because they can trust the data in Breeze, which is easily accessed anywhere, anytime.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Steve H.
loves Breeze
First Presbyterian Church of Ramsey

Breeze is the first ChMS my volunteers have actually embraced. That's because it's so easy to use. The software is very flexible and gives us the opportunity to make decisions based on actual data we've collected and not just hunches or stories we believe to be true.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Allicia B.
loves Breeze
Ellel Ministries Canada

I cannot say enough about Breeze. Their customer service is so friendly, you feel like you have friends and family helping you get started, they're prompt to reply and will do whatever they can to help you get things sorted out. It's been so easy to learn, our staff is loving it and best of all even our staff who are not computer savvy find it a breeze (pun intended). We are just thrilled by our choice.

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!
Kevin D.
loves Breeze
Central Baptist Church

From the start of our process looking for an online solution, Breeze has exceeded all our expectations. Fast data import, fast and friendly customer support, and we can’t say enough about how much we like the program itself. Very well designed and user friendly. On a scale of 1-10, Breeze gets a 15 from us!

Try a demo of Breeze for yourself!

Rated 4.9 stars – 560+ reviews on Capterra