5 Steps to Presenting Your Genius Idea to Your Pastor
I had a genius idea. I knew it was going to work. It was going to excite my volunteers and reach all new people for Jesus. But there was one problem. Ok, so maybe three problems. It wasn’t in the budget or in the plan for the year. Therefore, I needed to get my pastor’s permission to make it happen.
But how do I have an effective conversation with him? When is the best time? What if he says no?
If you’ve been in ministry for long, you’ve probably found yourself in a similar situation. Over the years, I’ve pitched many, many ideas to my pastor and leadership. Some of them turned out to be pure genius. Others were dead on arrival.
Now that I’m sitting in the lead chair, I see things from a different perspective. I can know where my kids pastor is coming from, because I’ve been there. But I also know way more about what’s happening at the church than they do. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just the nature of the job.
But how do you pitch your genius idea to your pastor? Well over the years I’ve learned to take these 5 steps.
1. Do your homework
At one church, they graciously covered my whole cell phone plan. But my phone was aging and the network the church signed up for was lacking at best. I wanted a new phone and a new carrier. One day, I heard about another church that gave out cell phone stipends. They could pick their carrier and more importantly upgrade their phone when they wanted. So, without any more research than what I’ve shared here, I went into the weekly staff meeting with the confidence of a two-year-old demanding a cookie.
My idea died a horrible death in less than 5 minutes.
What I learned that day was just because you have a good idea doesn’t mean it’s ready to see the light of day. Write it down and do some research. Are other churches doing it? What is the cost? What changes would need to be made to implement this idea? Who does it affect? If your main idea doesn’t work, are there other alternatives?
Bottom line: do your homework. You don’t want to pitch an idea when you haven’t thought it all the way through. That’s a good way for it to never see the light of day.
If you do your homework beforehand, you can answer any questions the pastor may have. You can show how passionate you are about it. You can back up your beliefs and preconceptions with evidence.
I can’t guarantee your idea will be approved. But if you skip this step, it will most certainly be shot down.
2. Set a time to meet and explain briefly what you'd like to talk about
As a kids pastor, I hated this step. I thought I should just be able to pop into the pastor’s office, dump a new idea and a bunch of information and expect an answer before I left. Right?
But now sitting in the lead chair, I see the value of setting a time and prepping the leader. You’ve most likely been mulling over this idea for days, weeks, months! Your pastor hasn’t. So do both of you a favor and set a time and tell them what you want to talk about. Send them a quick email with the main idea and some details before you meet.
This way when you do meet with your pastor, they’re not blindsided by your infodump. Hopefully, they’ve put some thought into it and have questions.
Setting a time also helps you overcome “waiting for the right time.” That time may never come. So, check their schedule and find some time to meet with them. If you can, say how long the meeting will last.
The pastor cares for you and wants to hear what you have to say, but you’re not their only worry. Give them a heads up and your pitch will go much better.
3. Allow time for them to process
After you finish your meeting don’t expect an answer immediately. Like I said in the previous step, you’ve been thinking about this for days, weeks, or months. Your pastor has been thinking about it for the length of your meeting.
Some pastors are fast processors, and they’ll be able to tell you yes or no before the meeting is over. But others will take some time. They may need to think about it. They need to do their own homework. They may need to check the calendar and budget. They may need to talk to other people.
Whatever the reason, don’t push for an answer. Wait for them to come to you. If you haven’t heard back in a week, then gently reach out in an email asking for an update. They’re your boss. You can’t give them a deadline. That’s not how this works. Push them, and the answer may be no, just to get you off their back.
Be patient. They’ll give you an answer when they’re ready.
4. Be ok with what they say either way
I’ve alluded to this throughout this post, but it’s true. The pastor may say yes, or they may say no. You have to be ok with either.
Even if that answer means you can no longer work there.
I’ve followed this plan to ask for raises. I’ve asked for promotions. I’ve asked to leave. Those conversations are hard. You can’t help but get your emotions involved. But what you don’t want to do is act like that little two-year-old hidden inside of you and start pitching a fit when you don’t get your way.
Be as objective as you can. Don’t be afraid to ask why. But also, be ok if your pastor chooses not to share. Like I said before, they know a lot more about what’s happening in the church than you do. And some of those things that prohibit your idea from becoming a reality may be none of your business.
I’m not saying don’t fight for what you want. Do that. That’s why you did all that homework in the first place. But when the final answer is given, accept it and move on. It doesn’t help anyone to dwell on hurt feelings.
5. Test with a small group and track effectiveness
Sometimes your idea is too big or not fully baked yet. So, try it with a smaller group first. Hopefully, you have a fair amount of autonomy in you ministry, so try the idea with your people and see if it works.
At one church we never did any volunteer training. So, I decided that we needed to have an annual training that felt more like a conference. We had keynotes, breakouts, and a meal. It was a great success for a couple of years.
Then in our weekly staff meeting, we started talking about how our ushers and greeters don’t know what they’re doing. So, I suggested we take my volunteer training meeting and expand it to the whole church. I already had proof of concept and excellent feedback.
Before the end of the meeting, I was in charge of putting the whole thing together. It was a big job. But it never would have happened if I hadn’t tested it first.
Your idea doesn’t have to go big right out the gate. You can test it first and see if it will work. You may think you have a genius idea, but in practice it’s a dud. And that’s ok. Testing with a small group helps you realize that before you get too invested.
If you want to be indispensable to your church and pastor, you should come up with great ideas and make them happen. But before you get started, you need to talk to your leadership about what you want to do and why. They’re your advocate. They’ve put you in that position because they trust you. Follow these steps and you’ll prove you’re worthy of that trust.
And more importantly, even more people may get saved.
