-
Continue reading →: Is There a Better Way to Terminate an Employee?When a friend heard of my husband’s abrupt job termination through no fault of his own, she immediately responded, “You don’t have to tell me, but have they done this before?” And then she proceeded to tell me about another Christian organization with a history of abrupt and painful terminations.…
-
Continue reading →: Is Self-Care Part of Your Paid Employment, and Should It Be?When I’m at church on a Sunday morning, I’m usually up front welcoming everyone to worship, leading prayer, or preaching. But one Sunday morning, as our youth led worship, I actually sat in the balcony with my husband. “How does it feel to have a week off?” one of our…
-
Continue reading →: Do You Have a Toxic Skill and What Can You Do About It?Toxic Skill (noun) something that you do well, but brings no life or energy; a skill that has overstepped its intended bounds. I had never heard of a toxic skill until I read Your Vocational Credo by Deborah Koehn Loyd (InterVarsity Press, 2015), and I was immediately intrigued both by her…
-
Continue reading →: The Most Hilarious Job Description and How to Update YoursWhen I was first called into pastoral ministry, both the church and I knew enough to put together a job description that set out some basic expectations. At that time, preaching and worship planning took first place with pastoral care as a close second. Then as the church grew over the…
-
Continue reading →: How to Get Over a Painful Job Termination—Or Can You?Since I shared my husband’s painful job loss, I’ve received many emails and other private messages from people who have also experienced difficult endings in their employment. Five, six, ten years or more later, some have never felt free to share their feelings of betrayal and loss. Some have changed…
When You Work for the Church
Hello,
I’m April Yamasaki
Welcome to When You Work for the Church. I’ve been a church volunteer and a full-time pastor. I’ve led small groups and served on denominational committees. When I resigned from pastoral ministry to focus on my writing, I knew that I wanted to be—needed to be—grounded in a local congregation. I love the church!
But I also know that churches and church organizations have not always lived up to their calling, have brought harm instead of healing. So I started this website to share resources for doing ministry better, and pray that together we might serve more faithfully and effectively.
For a healthy rhythm of work and rest, I’d love to send you my ebook.
When You Work for the Church 