● Pastor to Pastor
Pastor, here’s how I actually do it.
Jon-Michael Sherman is a former ARC & CMN church planter, lead pastor, and executive pastor. He has preached over 1,000 sermons, spent the last decade coaching pastors of churches from 200 to 5,000, and is the author of Elite Preaching and Pastoral Intelligence. He is the founder of Pastor Center and SpiritualGiftsPlus. These articles are the systems behind it — preaching, AI in ministry, serving teams — written pastor to pastor, in plain steps you can run this week.
— Preaching & the craft
Pastor, I stopped preaching my ideas and started preaching the text. Here’s how.
Eisegesis is the silent killer of good preaching — reading your point into the passage instead of out of it. The 4-step discipline that keeps the text in the driver’s seat.
5 min readPastor, here’s how I close every sermon with the gospel — no matter the text.
The close is where sermons are won or lost — and most die in application-only endings. The 4-step gospel close that lands any passage on Christ.
5 min readPastor, I watch my own tape every week. Here’s the review system that made me better.
Elite athletes review film; most preachers never watch themselves once. The 4-step weekly tape review that compounds into elite preaching.
4 min readPastor, I plan my preaching 12 months out. Here’s the calendar system.
Week-to-week preaching is survival mode. The 4-step annual calendar — series arcs, season mapping, and the margin that makes every week deeper.
5 min read— AI & Pastoral Intelligence
Pastor, I had every objection to AI in ministry. Here’s what changed my mind.
Most objections to AI in ministry aren’t theological — they’re cultural fear wearing a Bible verse. The 4-step test that separates discernment from doomerism.
5 min readPastor, here’s how to stop falling for AI doomerism.
Doomerism isn’t discernment — half the time it’s someone else’s business model. Five moves: follow the money, settle what AI actually is, and pick up the printing press of our generation.
6 min readPastor, AI gave me back 10 hours a week. Here’s exactly what I automated.
The promise of AI isn’t doing more — it’s doing less of the wrong things. The 4-step audit: what to automate, what to never touch, and where the hours go.
5 min readPastor, here’s how I use AI every week without losing my voice — or my soul.
Be prompted before you prompt. The 4-step order of operations — prayer before AI, conviction before composition — that keeps you the author.
4 min readPastor, only 1 in 5 of us finish well. Here’s how I’m building for the long game.
The drop-out isn’t usually moral — it’s exhaustion. The 4-step longevity system: margin, rhythms, and the tools that keep you preaching for 40 years.
5 min read— Teams & leadership structure
Pastor, my teams kept failing until I learned this about seats.
Teams don’t fail from lack of effort — they fail from gifted people in the wrong seats. The 4-step placement system that fixed ours.
5 min readPastor, here are the 8 teams every church needs — and the order to build them.
Worship, production, kids, first impressions, ushers, security, prayer, hospitality. Which come first, who leads them, and the 4-step build order.
5 min readPastor, here’s the leadership tree that breaks growth ceilings.
If every team reports to you, you are the ceiling. The 4-step leadership tree — leaders of leaders, drawn on one page — that lets a church scale.
5 min readPastor, guests decide in 10 minutes. Here’s how I built a first impressions team that wins them.
Most guests decide before the sermon starts. The 4-step system — parking lot to seat — that turns first-time guests into second-time guests.
4 min readFree course · 17 lessons
Elite Preaching — the system behind the sermons.
The decision to be elite, orthodoxy, exegesis, story architecture, the gospel close, and the 12–36 month calendar. Jon-Michael’s complete preaching system, free.
Free course · 11 lessons
Pastoral Artificial Intelligence — the AI advantage.
The wise, Christ-centered use of AI to amplify your calling — never replace it. Doomerism dismantled, the workflows, and the guardrails.
Free course · 16 lessons
Elite Serving Teams — the structure behind growth.
The eight key teams every church needs, right people in right seats, and the full leadership tree that breaks growth ceilings.