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.

8 Simple Steps for Remodeling Your Calendar

by Tom Shefchunas on October 21, 2013 in Leadership, Strategy.

Have you ever remodeled your kitchen?

Think for a second about when you moved into your current home. Think about what it was like to unpack your kitchen.

That looks like a good place for the silverware… the cleaning stuff should go there… let’s put plates and bowls over here.

But then life in your new kitchen started. You loaded and unloaded the dishwasher a few times, you got up early for the morning routine of packing lunches and getting the kids off to school, you cleaned up a few times at the end of the day, and then you realized…

There was probably a better way to organize this.

North Point’s Strategy for Communicating to Students (Part 2)

by Tom Shefchunas on October 14, 2013 in Experience.

There are great talkers… and then there are great talks.

As a director of a student environment, I want our ministry to have both. I want great talks, delivered by great talkers.

You might be a great talker, but that doesn’t mean you always give a great talk.

You might be entertaining.
You might be funny.
Your middle schoolers might have listened.
They might have even applauded as you walked off the stage.

Those things might be good qualifications for a good Vegas show. But they do not mean you did a great ministry “talk.”

North Point’s Strategy for Communicating to Students (Part 1)

by Tom Shefchunas on October 7, 2013 in Experience.

North Point is an interesting place to work. There are so many great things about it.

But there are also some things I would put in the category of “freakin’ hard.”

For instance, in a church that is led by Andy Stanley, the “bar” for speakers is unbelievably high. It’s almost impossible to feel like you did a great job. And that’s hard.

If you are speaking in a children’s environment, a student environment, or even just leading a volunteer meeting… you need to be on your game! (Not to mention what it’s like to talk in “Big Church.” But that’s a topic for another time.)

The bar is high.

I felt that pressure this weekend.

The Law of Diminishing Astonishment

by Tom Shefchunas on September 30, 2013 in Experience.

Let me tell you a story.

When I was younger, I worked at a local company. I wasn’t doing anything special… I just worked. The days were long, the work tough, and the pay was poor. But it was a job. And it taught me a ton. One of the things I learned was that there was no use in being lazy. The more I “messed around,” the longer the day seemed to take. So, I learned to put my head down and work hard. I would almost get lost in my work and the day would be over before I knew it.

Until the union rep tapped on my shoulder.

Fishing for New Small Group Leaders

by Tom Shefchunas on September 23, 2013 in Leadership.

When I’m talking with people about Transit (North Point’s Middle School Ministry), one of the questions I’m asked all the time is “How do you get enough Small Group Leaders (SGLs)?”

Which is really funny to me… because we don’t have enough SGLs.

So, needless to say, those folks tend to get a disappointed look on their faces when I tell them I have no idea and that I’d appreciate it if they’d let me know if they figure it out.

Nobody I’ve ever met has enough SGLs.