Great questions can make ministry more effective

One of the things that church leaders need to learn is how to become more comfortable asking questions.  In recent months I've known pastors who found themselves in trouble with their churches, and one thing they all said to me was that they didn't realize things were as bad as they were.  That indicates to me that they were not very aware of what was happening in their churches and what people were saying.  One way to avoid that kind of surprise is by asking questions.  Ministers need to question their lay leaders, people in the pew, and even people in the community.  Although there is no single list of questions some that a minister may want to ask are

• What is your perception of how things are going here?
• What are the people saying?
• What are people in the community saying about our church?
• What are the areas of ministry I should improve?
• How effective do you believe me to as a leader?
• What do you wish I would do more of?
• What do you wish I would stop doing?

The only way asking such questions will be helpful is if you encourage people to be totally honest with you.  If they are, some of their answers may sting a little.  In fact, some of the answers may be quite painful, but if they can prevent you from being blindsided later they will spare you even greater pain later.  Once the pain eases you can begin to work on the areas that will help strengthen your ministry.

I can imagine some ministers refusing to do this out of fear that such questions will cause people to start talking and looking for areas of weakness.  Guess what...they're already talking about these things only they often aren't talking to the one person who can do something about it - you.  Believe me, they've known your weaknesses for some time.  They also have opinions about how things can improve in the church, but many of them won't share those opinions with you unless you ask.

If you're not used to asking these types of questions I would like to recommend a couple of books to help you see the value in doing so and to get some suggestions as to the type of questions you may want to ask.  One of the books has been around for a few years, but it continues to be a valuable resource: QBQ! The Question Behind the Question: Practicing Personal Accountability at Work and in Life.  My son actually recommended this book to me a couple of years ago, and I found it to be a very helpful read.  The other book was released just a couple of months ago:   One Question: Life-Changing Answers from Today's Leading Voices by Ken Coleman.  I recently heard Coleman discuss this book on a EntreLeadership podcast and enjoyed the insights he shared from the book on that podcast.  I think you will find both of these very helpful as you begin to think about what questions might be most helpful for you to ask.