Resources e-letter 25:3 - May 2025

NEW: How to manage yourself – a DIY training aid

This is the fifth item in my relatively new series of DIY Workshops in the Resources section of my website. I am aiming to transfer many of my training events into a format that others can use – or you can simply work through the material solo.

This item is designed primarily for Ministers and has three sections.

1: Big picture thinking
This seeks to ask big questions about both life and ministry as to purpose and vision. You cannot work at self-organisation until you understand God’s purpose for your overall role.

2: Handling stress
This tackles one of the greatest difficulties facing church leaders. It recognises that some stress is good and right but problems emerge when it becomes ‘distress’. The sections include signs of stress physically, emotionally and spiritually, with practical ideas for how to live effectively in a stressful environment.

3: Four key tools to set you free
The final part is immensely practical and offers the tools of a ‘planning  retreat’, the art of saying ‘No’, the ‘To Do Diary’ and a monthly calendar’.

The material also includes 16 hand-out sheets for participants.

DIY Workshop W5, How to manage yourself, is now available without charge on the DIY Workshops index page of my website.
   

The revised website

A reminder that my website has been reformatted to promote my resources rather than my client services which are no longer relevant following my retirement from client work at the start of the year.

So, gone are details of my consultancies and training workshops, and the main sections of ‘Resources’ and (a new) ‘Themes’ now take centre stage with a new category of resources added.

So do give it a visit and add it to your Bookmarks or Favourites. You will find it at https://www.john-truscott.co.uk.
  

Other resources on self-organisation

My printed resources include quite a number covering different aspects of self-organisation. In addition to DIY Workshop W5 described above there are the following. Find them in the Resources section of the website.

Articles

A4         Twelve questions to help you plan**
A25       Working from home – boundaries, discipline and space
A27       Reliability in ministry – for administrators and leaders
A36/37  Sorting out your study – the space and the stuff in the room
A50       The ‘To Do Diary’ guide – how to use this simple tool**

Training Notes

TN6      The Minister’s role in larger churches
TN7      Ideas for how to make time for life
TN11    Keeping a time log
TN23    How to do ‘To Do’ lists**
TN40    Appointing a Church Administrator
TN43    Did Jesus use an iPhone?
TN54    Creating space for a Planning Retreat**
TN57    Clear your clutter!
TN62    Know what distracts you**
TN67    Stress and the Christian worker**
TN70    Do’s and don’ts for a new leader
TN78    The role of a church leader**
TN84    How to say ‘No’ when you should**
TN106  Talk about taking time ‘off’**
TN112  Set my leaders free!
TN157  The value of review

**Materials used in DIY Workshop W5

Please ensure all these materials are widely promoted in your church. Thank you for your interest in my website.