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Larry Osborne on ‘How to Grow a Church and Still Have a Life’

Orginally published on Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 6:43 AM
by Todd Rhoades

Larry Osborne from North Coast Church in San Diego was one of the breakout speakers at this year's National New Church Conference. One of his talks (that I wasn't able to attend) was called "How to Grow a Church and Still have a Life." Travis Johnson blogged on the session and his notes were really good. There was enough time at the end of the session for some Q&A. I thought Larry's answers would be great to share here. The first question asked, "How many hours a week do you work as a pastor?"...

How many hours do you work as a pastor?
With kids, no more than 50. Now, 60 hours. The only thing is that you can’t always control when thos hours are. But, honor your family first with your time.

Is there a practical way to say no to emergencies while you have a smaller church?
Yes. You tell people that everyone wants to meet after hours and that you can’t do that without being divorced. They understood and made the adjustments.

What do you say to people who always complain about how tough their responsiblities are?
You tell them life is hard, then you die, and if you are a Christian you’ll go on to be with God. Life is tough for everyone. So be thankful as you go through your particular process.

What do you do for your staff to encourage renewal?
We encourage them to discern their own ebbs and flows. In all honesty, we’ve had more of an issue with people thinking staff ministry is Disney World and that they are entitled to stuff. Ministry is not a union job.

After you came through your difficult years, did you lose people in the change?
Yes. People left because our new healthier approach to ministry was not what they were looking for.

You can read all of Travis’ report of the session here at his blog...

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There are 3 Comments:

Posted by Justin

Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 7:13 AM

This is some great advice, but I would like to hear some on how we can manage time when we have to be bi-vocational. Working a 40-hour week, then working on church issues, then finding time for family. Honestly, for me, it seems that church takes the biggest hit because I have several friends with major marital issues and I am determined to not join them.
Posted by travis johnson

Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 7:18 AM

Todd,

Thanks for the link and for passing on the notes. All the sessions were very good. But, this was the best session I was in. As much as I like to hear about building a successful church, best practices, marketing, etc..., it seems like we begin to echo one another after a while.

Larry was no echo. I just wanted to hurry back to the hotel and hang out with my girls. Thanks again.
Posted by RevJeff

Thursday, April 26, 2007 at 10:09 AM

Thanks for the link Todd. That is a great summary of the session. Wish we could all apply it…

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