And just like that, another year has come and gone. Hopefully you can look back on the last twelve months and praise God for how he has worked in your life and ministry. Now is a good time to think back on all you didn’t know at this time last year—and ask God to prepare you for all that he has in store for 2012!
At BuildingChurchLeaders.com, we’ve had a busy year of preparing resources to help you grow your ministry, your staff, and your personal relationship with Christ. Here are 2011’s top 10 most downloaded resources:
10. Church Staff Evaluations – Best Church Practices
Evaluations are an essential way to help employees grow in their careers while keeping the church healthy. This download includes objectives, goals, and forms for evaluating church staff members.
9. How to Last as a Leader – Practical Ministry Skills
As busy church leaders, it can be easy to neglect our own spiritual lives in the name of ministry—there is always more work to be done. It is important to take time to understand your own limits so you can set yourself up for a long, fruitful ministry.
8. Discipling Teens – Practical Ministry Skills
As we continue to hear alarming reports of young adults leaving the church in record numbers, teen discipleship has never been more essential to the life of the church—and it is not limited to those designated as youth leaders. In fact, youth ministry expert Chap Clark suggests there should be at least five adults investing in the life of each youth group member in some way.
7. Cultivating Long-Term Volunteers – Practical Ministry Skills
Volunteers are essential to any successful ministry. But all too often the pressures of ministry lead to quick burnout. A good leader must learn to work alongside his or her volunteers to help keep that enthusiasm alive, feeding both the ministry and the volunteers themselves.
6. Combo Pack: Essentials for Church Staffing – Focused Training Collection
Four essential resources in one (discounted) package! Find everything you need for hiring, evaluating, and dealing with your church staff in one easy place.
5. Leading as an Introvert – Practical Ministry Skills
Many introverts feel they are at a disadvantage when it comes to ministry. This download offers a wealth of insights into how introverts who lead in the church can understand their own gifting and calling, how they can guard against fatigue and burnout, and how they can lead the people around them, extroverts and introverts alike.
4. Premarital Counseling – Practical Ministry Skills
Many pastors are called upon to lead couples through premarital counseling. Use this resource to help them lay the foundation for strong, God-honoring marriages.
3. Reaching Millennials Who Leave the Faith – Practical Ministry Skills
Strengthen your church’s evangelistic impact to young adults who have walked away from the faith—and develop your ministry to keep them from leaving in the first place.
2. Combo Pack: Newcomers in Your Church – Focused Training Collection
Learn how your church can best welcome and retain its visitors and newcomers—five great resources for one low price.
1. Spiritual Disciplines for Busy Church Leaders – Practical Ministry Skills
It’s so easy to get lost in the frantic pace of ministry that sometimes we neglect our own spiritual lives. The practice of personal spiritual disciplines invigorates your personal relationships with God as well as your ministry.