'Spiritual entrepreneur' has the 'DRIVE'
6/13/2009LAKESIDE, Ohio - The Rev. Mike Slaughter is not your typical Protestant preacher.
With short-cropped gray hair, designer glasses, and a black polo shirt, he looks more like a hip dot.com entrepreneur than a minister.
A native of Cincinnati, the 57-year-old pastor calls himself "the three-decade dreamer" of Ginghamsburg Church, where he has served since 1979, and the "spiritual entrepreneur of ministry marketplace innovations."
In an interview with The Blade this week, he said that his "greatest spiritual gift is irritation - I irritate you to connect to your God destiny and to get up off your assets."
A polite dynamo, he has written four books and said one of them, Momentum for Life, contains his own plan for getting the most out of each day.
"It's really about my five daily disciplines and I use the acronym DRIVE," he said.
"•'D' stands for Daily Devotion to God, and at 5:30 this morning I was meditating in prayer, reading Scripture, and journaling.
"Then 'R' is for Readiness for lifelong learning. The world changes so fast, how do we stay relevant? So I read something in all areas, everything from what's happening in the media, what's happening in economics, what's happening in politics, what's happening in business.
"Then 'I' is Investing in key relationships. It's making time for my wife and family.'
"•'V' is Visionining the future,
"And 'E' is exercising and eating for life."
Mr. Slaughter stood up and pinched his slim waist.
"As you can see, at 57 I'm pretty fit and trim," he said with smile.
He tries to focus on primary projects, and relies on the people on his church staff to do their jobs. He attends only one meeting a month, and that is held in the evening, he said.
"Everything today is about the team, having the right players in the right positions," he said. "My ultimate responsibility is engaging the giftedness of our people."
More information on the Rev. Mike Slaughter is available online at mikeslaughter.com.