Brianne Henry

Posts

What Does My Pastor Do?

E ver heard the phrase "Not sure why we pay the pastor so much to just preach on Sundays?" Well, I have. And I can't even with that. So it's time to squelch that complaint. Having lived with a single-staff, smaller church pastor for nearly two years, I've learned some things about what a pastor spends his time doing. Now friends, I cannot speak to the pastor in a larger church setting, with multiple staff members. I'm only talking about the pastor with no other full-time staff members alongside him. The one who leads, organizes or oversees literally every single thing inside the church. I'd love to give a shout out to the pastors who do all the things. It's important for us as church members to see and know that our pastor does so much more than preach on a Sunday morning. It is important for me, as the wife of a pastor, to remember and know the burden my husband carries...the things he's responsible for. His work is far beyond Sunday mornings

Gospel Hope during Postpartum Depression

“I won’t be home much today,” my husband said, “I have that event tonight.” Our two small children were in the living room, while I was loading the dishwasher with the breakfast dishes. Outwardly, I mumbled “okay” and gave him a goodbye kiss. Inwardly, I was spiraling. How many hours until he was home? Could I make it until then with no reassurance from him? Please don’t leave me here all day with the kids! I’m not strong enough! The panic and anxiety I felt was new, but I had determined it was my new normal. Shortly after we brought our second baby home from the hospital, it had always been close. Whispering to me that I wasn’t cut out to be a mom of two. Sending my thoughts spiraling down paths they had never taken before. Causing me to lay awake at night when I was very exhausted from lack of sleeping well. For some reason, every other woman seemed to ease into having a second baby so gracefully. But me? Failing. Miserably. Anxiety and panic should not have been my new normal.

4 Things I Learned in My First Year as a Lead Pastor's Wife

Over the course of our nine years in ministry, Luke told me multiple times he didn’t plan to be a lead pastor. Youth ministry, sports ministry…those are the ministries he thought he was called to serve in. But lead pastoring? Not for him. Yet here I sit, rolling up quickly on our one-year anniversary at Cornerstone Baptist Church with my husband serving as the lead pastor. The transition from student ministry to lead pastoring has been just that, a definite transition. Before getting here, I knew it would be different but the past year has been one for the memory logs, that’s for sure. Here are four things I’ve learned in my first year as a lead pastor’s wife. 1. I must place my relationship with Christ first. I may be a bit different in the traditional view of a pastor’s wife in that I firmly…well, maybe just a teensy bit passionately, believe God calls both the pastor husband and his wife to ministry. I am not the one up on the stage preaching, leading all the meetings and in the

Change: Division in the Church

I’ve never known a church to make changes that didn’t cause some kind of division. It may have just been a few complaints here or there, or perhaps someone quietly leaving the church. However, more often than not, it’s a whole ordeal. So yes, we are going there. Quickly. Division in the church can be radically reduced (or completely nonexistent) if Her members do two things: 1. Submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit. 2. Submit to the authority of church leadership. Let’s just dig right in. Submit to the authority of the Holy Spirit Henry Blackaby, who wrote the study Experiencing God, taught me that anytime there is division in the church, it’s because someone isn’t following the leading of the Holy Spirit. You see, God cannot contradict Himself . He doesn’t tell Church Member A to vote “no” on a certain ballot issue and tell Church Member B to vote “yes.” He also doesn’t tell the church leadership to shift this direction, while telling a few church members th

Change: What Changes & What Doesn't

W e’ve covered a ton of ground. I wanted to lay a framework for us to understand that change has been a consistent thing in the church. Maybe it will help us see change as a welcome thing, not something to be afraid of. I wholeheartedly believe a church that isn’t changing is a church that is dying . Know that a church should not be constantly switching programs in and out, but churches should regularly (most likely on a yearly basis) evaluate their programs and practices to determine if they are effective in meeting the vision and mission of the church. Here’s where the change comes in - if the programs and practices are determined ineffective when evaluated, the church then takes necessary steps to adjust or transform to meet the vision and mission. The church doesn’t just say “this is the way we’ve always done it” or “We don't have enough volunteers/money/space/energy/creativity to change things.” The church works together under the common goal of meeting the vision and mission

Change: More Recently

W elcome back! Thanks for sticking with me through that history lesson. I hope you can tell where we are going. We, as 21st century believers, are not the first ones to experience radical change in how we do church. And I know, history is hard, but hang with me for one more history lesson. I promise it’s worth it. We can be encouraged from the men and women who have gone before us and paved new ways! First off, a few notable men who changed church as we know it… Martin Luther nailed his 95 Thesis to the door (supposedly) of a local Catholic Church in the year 1517. He basically stood up against all theology and practices currently happening in the church. His stance birthed the Protestant denominations. In the 1730’s a man named John Wesley experienced salvation. John began to preach outdoors, he began to appoint laymen (normal, ordinary guys) to care for congregations, he visited prisoners in jail…all things that were not happening the church then. And thus, the Methodist denomi