Author Archives: Tom Shefchunas

About Tom Shefchunas

Tom (also known as "Coach Shef" or just "Shef") is the co-founder of Uthmin.net and the North Point Ministries Multi-Campus Director of Transit, their Middle School Ministry. Tom’s passion involves working with campus directors and their teams, as well as recruiting and developing the hundreds of volunteer small group leaders it takes to pull off Transit at the five churches of North Point Ministries. He also co-wrote Lead Small with Reggie Joiner, a resource for children and student small group leaders. Tom and his wife Julie live in Cumming, Georgia, with their three children, Mac, Joey and Cooper. You can find him on Facebook and Twitter.

The 4 People I Need on My Journey… And They’re All Named Andy

by Tom Shefchunas on February 12, 2014 in Leadership.

I was thinking the other day about the kinds of relationships growing leaders should have in their lives. I think a good leader should make sure they’re making time in their lives for the right kinds of people.

No matter who you are or what you do, if you want to be a great leader, I believe you should have in your life…

Someone who is AHEAD OF YOU.
Someone who is WITH YOU.
Someone who is BEHIND YOU.
Someone who is CHALLENGING YOU.

I had to laugh when I realized that all of those relationships in my life happen to be with someone named Andy.

Science vs. Faith: How We are Failing Kids

by Tom Shefchunas on February 4, 2014 in Leadership.

I used to be a swimmer, and I clearly remember all those early morning practices. Especially the part where I was standing at the edge of a very cold swimming pool… knowing I needed to jump in. I didn’t want to jump. But I knew I had to.

That’s how I feel with this post.

Today’s post is something near and dear to my heart, but I have a feeling it is going to land a bit unpleasantly for some of us. Sure, some of you will think it’s not big deal. But some of you might start to feel a little uncomfortable. If that’s you, I just ask you read it through.

Ok. Here we go. One… two… three.

Formalize and Require or… Equip and Inspire?

by Tom Shefchunas on January 21, 2014 in Leadership, Service.

When I first started teaching, I was required to be a “mentor.” It was an interesting concept and they had clearly thought through some things.

We were mentors for kids we did not teach.
We met with them weekly because relationships take time.
There were no grades because that would tarnish the relationship.

But… it was a miserable failure.

Don’t Waste Your Year (Part 3)

by Tom Shefchunas on January 17, 2014 in Leadership.

Today we’re finishing up a 3-part series about setting goals for our ministries in 2014. If you haven’t been following along, be sure to check out Part 1 and Part 2 first.

So, you’ve been sitting with your list of goals for 2014 for the last 24 hours. A couple of things I want to point out:

In this series of posts, we haven’t mentioned anything about “measurable” or “clear” goals, and we haven’t used a strict format to write our goals. These are great terms and ideas but, to be honest, I don’t bother with them. If you like that stuff, or your boss does, then go with it. But otherwise, don’t worry.

Don’t Waste Your Year (Part 2)

by Tom Shefchunas on January 16, 2014 in Leadership.

his week, we’re talking about setting annual goals.

If you are still with me from our conversation on Tuesday… keep reading. If you missed it, read this first.

Now, if you’ve already acted on what we talked about on Tuesday, you should now be looking at a long list of things that need to be done in the next year.

Now ask yourself this BIG question. And answer honestly…

REALISTICALLY, with my normal workload, all of the unforeseen challenges over the next year, and the limited resources that we have, can we do all of this?