Elder-Preacher Relationships

Communication | Conflict | Delegation | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Gossip | Grace | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership | Overseeing | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding

Two-year anniversary of Gleaning Mustard Seeds
ByJerrie Barber July 6, 2026July 7, 2026

I like birthdays, anniversaries, and parties! Last week marked two years of the Gleaning Mustard Seeds podcast. Thank you for listening, telling others about the podcast, and your encouragement. What’s been amazing to me is how people from all over the world hear about this podcast and listen. There have been downloads from 89 countries…

Read More Two-year anniversary of Gleaning Mustard Seeds
Communication | Deacons | Delegation | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Overseeing | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding

Considering becoming an elder
ByJerrie Barber September 1, 2025August 30, 2025

What prepares a man to be an elder? Is it years of church, attendance, a successful business career, or a heart shaped by conflict, prayer, and growth? When someone accepts the call to shepherd God’s people, how do they know if the congregation actually wants them to serve, and how do they avoid simply becoming…

Read More Considering becoming an elder
Communication | Conflict | Deacons | Delegation | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Giving | Goals | Gossip | Grace | Gratitude | Grief | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Listening | Overseeing | Sheep | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding | Termination | Tools and Skills | Transition

Interim Ministry and Other Ministry Workshop
ByJerrie Barber July 7, 2025July 8, 2025

Do You Think About Ministry? A better ministry? An Interim Ministry? A new Ministry?Whether you’re a veteran preacher, a deacon wondering about your next step, a retiring professional ready to serve in a new capacity, or someone in your first year of ministry, if you’ve thought about it, you need to come to this workshop!…

Read More Interim Ministry and Other Ministry Workshop
Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Gratitude | Growth | Individual Responsibility | Influence | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Listening | Overseeing | Sheep | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding | Tools and Skills | Transition

Happy 80th Birthday, Jerrie Barber, and Happy 10th Anniversary New Shepherds Orientation and Seasoned Shepherds Revitalization Blog
ByJerrie Barber March 3, 2025March 3, 2025

The first post in this blog was on January 6, 2015. I use this date as the day I started liking to write. I was approaching seventy years old and had been preaching for more than fifty years. I wrote bulletin articles each week and a weekly newspaper article when I lived in Dalton, Georgia….

Read More Happy 80th Birthday, Jerrie Barber, and Happy 10th Anniversary New Shepherds Orientation and Seasoned Shepherds Revitalization Blog
Communication | Conflict | Deacons | Delegation | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Giving | Goals | Individual Responsibility | Leadership | Leadership Selection | Overseeing | Shepherd-Shepherd Relationships | Shepherding

Third New Shepherds Orientation Workshop at Fairlane
ByJerrie Barber November 4, 2024November 2, 2024

Fairlane Church of Christ in Shelbyville, Tennessee, participated in its third New Shepherds Orientation Workshop from August 9 to 11. This is my first time leading three New Shepherds Orientation Workshops for the same congregation. But this was the design of this workshop. Henry Wilhoit called me in the fall of 2013. He told me,…

Read More Third New Shepherds Orientation Workshop at Fairlane
Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Leadership | Leadership Selection

Hiring the Son of an Elder
ByJerrie Barber July 1, 2024July 4, 2026

New Podcast Released July 1, 2024 Click on the picture below or the following link to listen to the first episode of Gleaning Mustard Seeds: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2369804 Click on the picture above or the following link to listen to the first episode of Gleaning Mustard Seeds: https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/2369804 Question I was wondering what your experience/advice would be…

Read More Hiring the Son of an Elder
Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Individual Responsibility | Leadership

Why Do People in the Church of Christ…?
ByJerrie Barber April 1, 2024April 22, 2024

Frequently, I hear and read people making statements that members of the Church of Christ do things that those in other religious groups don’t do. Some have left the church to go to other groups to escape this treatment. People (elders, preachers) in the Church of Christ always…” In many, if not most Churches of…

Read More Why Do People in the Church of Christ…?
Communication | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Leadership | Listening

Should Our Church Do a Survey?
ByJerrie Barber March 4, 2024March 4, 2024

Interim Ministry Workshop, Tuesday-Thursday March 12–14, 2024, Heritage Christian University, Florence, Alabama: Click for more information Jerrie,Is the self-study survey you use readily available? I think churches with preachers might do well to take it. What do you think? Answer I like to get information in many ways. I love criticism. That’s one way to…

Read More Should Our Church Do a Survey?
Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Grief | Individual Responsibility | Leadership | Termination

Dealing with Difficult Leaders and Difficult People
ByJerrie Barber July 3, 2023July 4, 2023

[This post is from a previous Jenkins Institute magazine, Hope and Expectation. Used by permission.] I begin by saying I’ve had few people who aggravated me constantly. I’ll discuss some people who brought pain for a time and how I dealt with each. As a young preacher, a man came by the church building each Saturday…

Read More Dealing with Difficult Leaders and Difficult People
Communication | Conflict | Elder-Preacher Relationships | Individual Responsibility | Leadership

How Do You “Tell it to the Church” When What You’re Telling Is About the Elders?
ByJerrie Barber June 5, 2023June 5, 2023

Jesus tells us how to deal with a brother who sins against us. Matthew 18:15-17 When an elder or eldership is in sin, “missing the mark,” Paul tells a preacher, “As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear” 1 Timothy 5:20, ESV….

Read More How Do You “Tell it to the Church” When What You’re Telling Is About the Elders?