It’s one thing to be married for decades. It’s another to be a couple of who works together in ministry.
How do you do it over the long haul without sacrificing your family, your church or killing each other?
In a remarkably candid interview, Jonathan and Verna Del Turco share their secrets and talk about how they built a thriving church and vibrant marriage after some false starts.
Welcome to Episode 141 of the podcast.
Guest Links
Jonathan on Twitter
Jonathan on Instagram
Verna on Facebook
Verna on Instagram
Del Turco Resource Website: staythecourse.com
Links Mentioned
The High Impact Leader Course is back! Learn more at TheHighImpactLeader.com
Tony Morgan and the UnStuck Groups
3 Insights from This Episode
1. The strength of your ministry will come out of the strength of your home.
Jonathan and Verna have been married and leading ministry together for over 35 years. Early in their marriage and ministry years, it was easy to go to church and win in ministry, but then not deal with their issues at home. Verna said that the best advice she received during that season was that the strength of your ministry will come out of the strength of your home. They learned that in order to be successful at ministry, they needed to take care of their marriage first. Not the other way around.
2. Learn each other’s lanes.
One of Jonathan and Verna’s keys to success is to lean into each other’s strengths, don’t fight it. They call this learning each other’s lanes.
There are things that drain one but not the other. For example, Verna is a planner and Jonathan is a free spirit. They’ve learned that they work best when Verna can plan and Jonathan can be more spontaneous. They had to find their lanes, stick with their lanes and stop trying to control each other’s lanes. Once they found this, their lanes began to complement each other.
Once they committed to stay in their lanes, they were able to celebrate each other’s gifts… not compete.There’s no competition, it’s only been completion. Jonathan said that once they found the right lane, it’s amazing how fast and productive they’ve become.
3. Honesty and grace will take you everywhere.
Jonathan and Verna have created an environment in their marriage where they tell each other everything. Sometimes in marriage, it’s tempting to keep small things—that we think might upset our spouse—to ourselves. The Del Turcos have learned that they need to be honest with each other at all times. And there’s a flip-side to it, when one is being honest, the person hearing it needs to respond with grace. Practicing honesty and grace is an act that will bond you with your spouse.
Quotes from This Episode
CNLP 141: Jonathan and Verna Del Turco on Working with Your Spouse in Ministry, Overcoming Tough Times and Leading Well at Home and in Ministry Over Four Decades Click To Tweet CNLP 141: Jonathan and Verna Del Turco on Working with Your Spouse in Ministry, Overcoming Tough Times and Leading Well at Home and in Ministry Over Four Decades Click To Tweet CNLP 141: Jonathan and Verna Del Turco on Working with Your Spouse in Ministry, Overcoming Tough Times and Leading Well at Home and in Ministry Over Four Decades Click To Tweet CNLP 141: Jonathan and Verna Del Turco on Working with Your Spouse in Ministry, Overcoming Tough Times and Leading Well at Home and in Ministry Over Four Decades Click To TweetThe podcast releases every Tuesday morning.
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Next Episode: Lance Witt
Join us next week for an all-new podcast episode where Lance Witt will join us for a conversation on what takes pastors out of ministry and how to guard against it.
Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 142.