Saying Goodbye is Hard

by chadbrooksis@gmail.com | Jun 21, 2019 | blog

Saying Goodbye is hard.

There are plenty of things I’ve said goodbye to over the 39 years I have said goodbye to several things. Sometimes goodbyes are time-bound, like a favourite summer camp friend or a roommate who is changing schools. It might be a team that is changing or change because of some sort of promotion or advancement.

And then there are changes and goodbyes that aren’t intentional. It might be things that are just slowly dropping away or an activity you simply grew out of.

So it’s time to say goodbye to something. And as Neil Young said, it is better to burn out than fade away.

And I’ve got something that has slowly been dying out and I have occasionally added air to in order to keep a small part of the fire going. Just in case. Or if I get an itch and want to scratch it.

But sometime in July, I’ll be killing Productive Pastor. Instead of letting it slowly die to no flame, I’m going to dump a bunch of buckets of water on it. I have actually been thinking about getting it going full force again, maybe even bigger. These last few months have been full of introspection and personal awareness, and at this time, I simply don’t feel called to that side of a public facing ministry anymore. And I’m dumping a bucket of water on it because I don’t want to get pulled back into it without a tremendous amount of intention.

So what does this mean?

In July I will be deleting all Productive Pastor Content. 
That means the podcast episodes and show notes. It won’t be available on any network anymore…so if you want it, you need to download it now. This also means the accompanying Instagram account and Facebook page.

I will be turning loose a small .pdf on resources I have been using and developing these last few months. I probably won’t have much information alongside of them, but there will be a quick note about use.

I also spent some time this spring developing a course for strategic database use for churches. We had a great first run at it, but I won’t be doing a second round or further content development.

What is still sticking around?
I will still create some videos occasionally, but they won’t be oriented towards pastoral resources. I want my content creation to focus on the local church. Youtube will still be there.

The Facebook group will stay alive, but I won’t be creating content specifically for it.

I will be focusing some energy on my new podcast, Stuff I Want to Say. It will be a different sort of podcast than I’ve ever done before, pretty highly personalized. In some ways, I am thinking of using it more for just normal church folks. I also want to use it to have conversations with people I’ve wanted to have and share. So part of Productive Pastor will stay alive there.

I’m also nearly finished with a year-long certification in ministry coaching with Passion in Partnership. I’ll be doing a bit of work with this ministry over the next couple of years as well as coaching inside of Louisiana and working with our office of congregational development. It is through the training I have received through this ministry I have been able to enter into this current season of discernment and have found a multitude of relationships to help me find clarity in several big decisions.

Why are you doing all this?
As some of you know, I nearly died this year. A major part of the lifelong heart issues I have now is stress and lifestyle management. For me, my “side work” has always been about having something to go at the speed I want it to, and I have historically ramped it up when church isn’t moving as fast as I want it to. Productive Pastor started off when I was serving a church that was struggling with change and I wanted something I could have complete direction over.

Over the last couple of years my physical ministry, the one I am called to the most, has grown and needs 100% of my attention right now. Part of my wife and I’s conversation and prayer during the last few months is making some long term decisions as to what my “job” might look like. Ultimately, I have decided to focus entirely on myself and the congregation I am called to and the place in life I have been given influence over.

In the last few years, Productive Pastor has been downloaded over 100,000 times and I have had the pleasure to work with many people in growing their understanding of ministry and helping them do ministry better. It could easily be a full-time job. But I already have one of those.

I also need to learn and practice the ministry and lifestyle of sabbath. Typically, I would work on all of these other projects on Fridays and Saturdays, thereby not taking the time to rest, reflect and grow in the presence of God. In the last few months I have built up amazing rhythms throughout my week and those are the best things for me to be doing while living.

So thanks for a wonderful ride. Thanks for the ways you’ve allowed me to be alongside you in ministry.