The Fastest Year

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Yesterday was my one-year anniversary as the Senior Pastor at Asbury Church in Tulsa, Oklahoma; I started my new job at August 1, 2022.

It’s been the fastest year of my life.

 
 

My favorite thing about being a pastor—by far—is knowing people over time. I knew when I left Munger I might never be able to have that same experience again—the great privilege of knowing people over time in such a personal way. At Asbury, I was immediately thrust into a situation in which I had to lead people without being able to know them personally. One of the major lessons I’m learning is how to lead a large group of people, many of whom I have no personal connection with. Asbury is a big church—at least compared to most American churches—and we have a large staff. At Munger, our staff was very small and leadership was always personal for me, both with regard to our staff and even in the congregation, since the congregation grew up over time; though I of course didn’t know everyone, I nevertheless had a personal connection with a sizable percentage of folks on any given Sunday. Here at Asbury, even the staff is too big for me to lead through personal connection. Rather, I’m learning that leadership is about providing clarity, and then asking and inspiring other people to get things done. For someone like me who thrives on personal connection, that could be very difficult, so I’m grateful that folks here have been so eager to follow my lead and run in the direction I’m running.

Right off, I was asked to help us over the finish line of disaffiliation, and it happened! That churchwide vote last August made me nervous—what if folks didn’t trust my leadership? When the total came back that afternoon as overwhelmingly in support of disaffiliation and the direction we were going, I was personally grateful—that result caused me to think, “Maybe this will work!”

The attitude of the Asbury congregation toward what I’m asking us to do and to where I’m asking us to go has been one of eager enthusiasm, particularly in our older members. I’ll never forget asking folks to wear running shoes to church as a sign that we were ready to run, and they did! Or the entire Administration Council showing up to an evening meeting in running shoes to show they were ready to run. Or the Ad Council surprising me in my office on Easter Sunday to pray over me. Or the congregation wearing Hawaiian shirts on Pentecost Sunday, just because I asked them to.

I’m proud of the sermons I’ve preached this past year, starting with that first Sunday. (I do remember one sermon from February in which I was walking around the stage hoping to stumble across the point of my sermon; I’m sorry to say I don’t think I ever found it! My apologies to everyone who had to listen to that one.) I never pulled any punches; in fact, I came to Asbury committed to doing my best to say what’s true, even when I’m afraid. And sometimes, being afraid caused me to double-down and be more bold!

One of the other lessons I’ve been learning is the importance of controlling and capturing one’s thought life. My wife has been on me for not being grateful enough, and she’s right—grateful thoughts don’t come naturally to me. (In fact, I preached a whole sermon in December on the connection between gratitude and happiness—I was definitely preaching to myself that week for sure.) So, looking back over the past year, I want say again just how grateful I am. Grateful to all the kindnesses the Asbury congregation has shown me and my family, and grateful to the Lord who blesses even when we don’t deserve it.

So, here I am beginning Year Two. I came back from summer vacation really excited to be coming back and really fired up at the work ahead—I looked forward all week to seeing folks this past Sunday, which is a great feeling. I’m grateful that the Lord’s not done with me yet, and he’s not done with Asbury yet. And I’m reminded again of that scene from The Hustler (from the blog post I wrote about it one year ago):

Fast Eddie (Paul Newman) and Minnesota Fats (Jackie Gleason) have been playing pool for 25 hours straight, and Fast Eddie has been winning—he’s been wiping the floor with the Fat Man, and is over $11,000 up. There’s a break in the action, and Minnesota Fats goes to the washroom and freshens up. He combs his hair, cleans his fingernails, straightens his tie.

Then he comes out, dries off his hands, slides into his suitjacket—it’s a beautiful three piece suit he’s wearing—fixes his boutonniere on his lapel, and has the steward pour a little bit of talcum powder on his hands.

He looks absolutely magnificent, the picture of masculine elegance, calm, cool, controlled.

And then he looks at Eddie and he says,

“Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.”

 
 

The past is the past—all that matters is now. It’s time to focus, and time to win.

Alright Fast Eddie, let’s play some pool.

Let’s GO.

 
 

George W. Bush in Running Shoes

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The most important things a leader does is provide clarity.

Clarity trumps pretty much everything else, but it’s very difficult to achieve.

Clarity is difficult because it requires a leader to know his own mind—something that rarely comes without a lot of reflection—and then it requires the leader express his mind in ways that others can easily understand and remember.

All this takes a lot of work.

But it is worth it.

Nothing is more important in leadership than clarity.

 
 

I don't know why the Lord has brought us to Asbury, but I know this: there is work to do.

I didn't move here to just mail it in and draw down on capital stored up by the folks who have come before me; nope—it’s time to build.

 

As I said in my first sermon, it’s actually very simple:

In life you are either building on what has come before, or you drawing down on that inheritance. There is no in-between.

You’re either taking what you’ve been given and doing more with it, or else you are squandering what you’ve been given and wasting it.

You don’t light a lamp only to hide it under a bushel basket.

You don’t get a talent only to bury it.

NO.

You do something with what you’ve been given.

 
 

So, last week after the vote at Asbury towards disaffiliation, I put on a pair of neon orange running shoes as a way of telling folks that we’re going to get to work—we’re not going to sit around and twiddle our thumbs.

(I even wrote a blog post about this: “Buckle Up, Buttercup: Let’s Get Ready to Run”.)

 
 

Imagine my surprise when I showed up to our Tuesday evening Administrative Council board meeting—the chief governance board for the entire church—only to find that the entire board had colluded behind my back and had shown up wearing their running shoes!

 
 
 

I know it seems like a small thing, but I was really touched and taken aback by the gesture. I’m the new guy and I know folks are still trying to figure out what I’m about and if I can be trusted. For them to show up in their running shoes tells me that they are ready to run.

Let’s go.

And by the way, I’m going to wear running shoes with my suit tomorrow morning.

 
 

I don’t really care if I preach to 50 people or 5,000—to me it’s the same thing. I don’t get nervous in a bigger room or feel more comfortable in a smaller room. So, preaching to a bigger congregation on Sundays doesn’t matter to me one way or the other. In fact, preaching to more folks has never been a goal of mind, and is absolutely not why I left Texas to move to Oklahoma. What is a goal of mine is to do the most with what I’ve been given. To run hard, in other words.

The biggest change for me personally in moving here is not the size of the congregation on Sundays but the size of the staff I’m supposed to lead: about 70 folks (I think!).

 
 

The staff is understandably nervous and uncertain about the future, since my predecessor here, the Rev. Tom Harrison, was senior pastor for 29 years! Everything seems different, and I know that folks are unsure how to proceed and how to make decisions.

 
 
“This is the time of year when I always order green popsicles for the next summer. Are we even DOING green popsicles any more?”
— Made-up Staff Member
 
 

The most important thing I can provide our church is clarity.

And so I’ve given a lot of thought about how I can provide clarity to the staff and let them know I trust them to make decisions.

In short:

I’m asking each of our staff members to become George W. Bush in running shoes.

 
 

[I know I have a fair number of pastors who read this blog, so the following is a summary of a presentation I gave to our staff this week to help them feel confident in making decisions and taking ownership.]

 
 

Friends,

As I told you at staff meeting on Tuesday, I know everything is strange these days and folks are wondering, “What should I do about X or Y now that we have a new senior pastor?”

My simple answer:

Channel your inner George W. Bush.

 
 
 
 

That is, just go for it. Become “The Decider.” (One of my favorite Bush-isms.)

What follows is a simple rubric for making decisions that I hope you’ll save and to which you’ll refer back from time to time. 

 
 

How to Make Decisions at Asbury

Here’s what I want you to know:

 
 

I trust your judgment.  And you were hired to do stuff.  So, don’t be afraid.

I would rather have you make bold decisions and mess them up than be paralyzed by fear of failure.

 
 

So, to paraphrase George W. Bush:

 
 

Go for it!

 
 

And this is how I want you to make decisions.

When faced with a decision, I want you to first ask:

 
 
 

This is how to do that:

  1. Pursue Excellence—make decisions that help us pursue excellence. Put that mint on the pillow, baby.

 
 

2. Provide Clarity—make it clear what folks are supposed to do or where they are supposed to go.

 
 
 

The way to ensure you are both pursuing excellence and clarity is through

 
 

Which is a very practical way of fulfilling the Great Commandment, anyway.

 
 
 

In summary:

 
 

I trust you to make decisions. And if we get those decisions wrong, guess what?

We’ll repent and redo. No worries.

 
 

And Please Please Please Please Please Hear This

MY DOOR IS ALWAYS OPEN* TO YOU

 
 

*Now, my door will not always literally be “open.” (I keep it closed as a way to help me focus.)

But unless the blinds on my office door are closed, you are always always free to come in and visit and ask a question, etc.

Always.

Please don’t hesitate to come in. If I’m in a meeting, then I won’t be able to talk, but otherwise I’d love to see you for any reason.

In fact, I’d probably prefer an in-person visit to an email or a text—it’s usually more efficient. You are also welcome to call my desk phone, though I don’t really know how to use it yet. 🤦🏻‍♂️

 
 

Friends, there’s a lot of great work to do. The Lord isn’t done with us yet, which means he has work for us to do.

Let’s go.

It’s time to run.

 
 

—Andrew

 

P.S. If you’ve read this far and are an Asburian, I’d love to have you join me tomorrow—let’s wear our running shoes together. Literally.

 

What It Takes

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Recently my friend Rodney challenged me to write one page on what I believe it takes in our day to be effective in pastoral ministry, and I thought some of you might be interested in what I wrote.

 
 

What It Takes

The purpose of a pastor is to prepare his people to live faithfully in the world. This is how to do that.

 

Engage the Culture

I believe we live in what Aaron Renn has called “Negative World”:

“In [Negative World], being a Christian is a social negative, especially in high-status positions. Christianity in many ways as seen as undermining the social good. Traditional norms are expressly repudiated.”

We must understand that Americans today—particularly the young and educated—are under tremendous pressure to conform to the culture and abandon the faith. A pastor must come to understand the culture’s claims and then must push back against them, showing how following Christ is superior to what the world offers.

 

Lead the People

A pastor must lead, which means he must go first. He needs to cast the vision and inspire the people with what’s possible with God. Going first in Negative World will mean the pastor will face opposition; nevertheless, going first is what love and leadership require and what the people need from their pastor.

 

Teach the Bible

The primary way a pastor prepares his people is through the teaching and loving of scripture. Most American Christians—of either the liberal or conservative variety—are functionally biblically illiterate, so a church must emphasize scripture reading and a pastor must preach sermons that help people understand that the Bible is a unified story that leads to Jesus.

 

Preach Prayer

It has never been harder to learn to be still and quiet before God, and never been more important. The pastor must constantly preach and model the practice of The First 15—the keystone habit of spending the first 15 minutes of every day in prayer, silence, and scripture.

 

Make Weekly Worship the Foundation and Furnace of Everything

Nothing is more important than weekly worship for God’s people. Worship must be inspiring to insiders and engaging to outsiders, and the people must understand and believe that their entire lives need to be structured around weekly church attendance—“never miss a Sunday”.

 

Love the Institution

Our times call for strong institutions, and the pastor must be passionate about stewarding and building on the legacy of those who came before; he must see fundraising and real estate and good governance, etc., as vital to his ministry. Why? Because strong institutions will build strong people.