Is your church ready to receive guests?

A few days ago I posted on this blog how critical it is that leaders model the behavior they want to see from those who follow them.  This is especially true when the leader is trying to introduce change into a church or another organization.  However, it is also true when the leader is trying to create a church culture.  As I thought about the recent post on this matter I was reminded of a church I visited earlier this year.

It was a small congregation with about 50 people attending the morning worship service.  It was my first time in this church although I had been with the pastor on several occasions.  I arrived early and took a seat three rows from the front.  Only one couple sat between me and the pulpit area.  Several people smiled or nodded, and a few shook hands with me.  Interestingly enough, not one person asked who I was, where I was from, or why I was at their church on this morning.  About 7-8 minutes prior to the service the pastor came from the back area into the sanctuary and started speaking to various people.  He walked past me three times without ever acknowledging my presence.

As one of the leaders in our judicatory I am usually introduced to the congregation whenever I visit one of our churches, but this morning nothing was said about my presence.  When the service ended people started leaving fairly quickly.  As I neared the entrance where the pastor was standing another gentleman asked my name.  When I told him who I was the pastor heard me and responded, "I'm sorry I didn't introduce you to the congregation, but I didn't recognize you."  It had been a couple of years since we had seen one another so I could accept that, but what wasn't acceptable was that this pastor had a guest in the church who he did not recognize and made no attempt to do so.

When I arrived home after the service I told my wife about what had happened.  I ended the story by saying, "I guess the congregation was playing "Follow the leader" because they did exactly what he did.  They made no effort to find out who the visitor was in their church that day.

I wish I could say this was an isolated incident, but it's not.  I spend a lot of time working with smaller churches, and nearly all of them complain about their inability to grow and reach new people.  The problem is many of them don't know what to do when they do have guests.  That may also be why they don't have more guests.  In his book Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church Nelson Searcy asks, "Why would God send new people to a church that is not ready to welcome and nurture them?"  I think it is a great question that explains why so many of our churches see so few guests.  I also believe this is the best book I've ever read on the subject of how to be prepared to properly prepare for first-time guests at your church and the steps to take to encourage them to return.

Again, the pastor must take the lead in this.  If he or she does not welcome guests properly it is likely that the church will not either.  If the pastor does not train people how to properly follow-up with first-time guests, the odds are good the church will not see those people return.  Any church that is serious about wanting to reach new people must be equally serious about being prepared to receive them when they do come.  Searcy's book is a great tool to help in such preparation.  I've also developed a workshop based on many of the principles he writes about in the book and on some other material I've gathered over the years.  This workshop has been presented at several pastor leadership and church events.

We live in a time in which it is difficult to get people to visit our churches at all.  Let's be sure we don't make their first visit their last because of our lack of preparation

Walking the talk about change

In his excellent book, Leading at a Higher Level, Revised and Expanded Edition: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations, Ken Blanchard writes that "It is estimated that a leader's actions are at least three times as important as what he or she says...The minute that associates or colleagues sense that their leader is not committed or is acting inconsistently with the desired behaviors of the change, they will no longer commit themselves to the effort."  Leaders should always walk the talk, but it becomes even more critical to do so when their organization is going through a change.  Failing to do so eliminates any chance that others in the organization will be committed to the change process ensuring the failure of the change effort.

As I reflected on Blanchard's words I thought of the many churches that have attempted changes in the past few years and how many of those change efforts simply didn't go anywhere.  In some of the churches of which I am familiar at least part of that failure was the result of the leaders not demonstrating through their actions that they were committed to the change.  In some cases, it was the pastoral leadership while in other churches it was the lay leadership.  As the church members saw their leaders acting inconsistently with the changes being promoted they soon lost any interest in the change themselves.  Every organization will strongly attempt to return to what it knows throughout a change effort until that change becomes part of the DNA of the church, and if the leaders do not demonstrate a 100 percent commitment to the change through their actions that organization will return very quickly to its previous state.

I see the same thing happening in judicatories and denominations.  I regularly hear from bivocational pastors who tell me their judicatory leaders speak of their commitment to bivocational ministry, but their actions indicate that commitment is very limited.  Their judicatories offer no specific training for its bivocational leadership.  What training is offered usually occurs during the day when the bivocational ministers are at their other jobs.  There is little recognition of bivocational leadership in the official publications of the judicatory, and bivocational leadership is seldom showcased at the regular gatherings of the judicatory.

Many denominations are going through difficult times right now, and there is much talk of the need for significant changes to occur to help make these denominations more viable.  However, there often seems to be much more talk than action.  Boards are sometimes reduced to make them smaller and quicker to respond to the needs of their churches, but in reality there seems to be little difference in how these boards operate.  I doubt that a casual observer would say that they are responding any quicker now that they are smaller than when they were larger.  There are still the bureaucratic hoops to jump through.  Bylaws are not changed to make the boards more responsive to the rapid changes occurring in society.  It often appears that any changes that are occurring at the denominational level amounts to little more than re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.  No matter how the chairs are arranged, the ship is still going down, and no matter what surface changes these denominations make, people and churches are still becoming less and less dependent upon them.

Let me approach this issue from one more perspective: the family.  I cannot understand why parents criticize their children for the poor choices they make when those children have watched their parents make the same poor choices throughout their lives.  A single parent who lives with his or her lover should not be surprised when their child become sexually active.  That child is simply playing Follow the Leader.  A parent who spends time at the bar has no reason to complain when their child becomes involved in drugs.  A parent who lies to others should expect to have a child who will lie to the parent.  Children learn through observation, and if they see their parents engaged in activities that have no consequences they will be more likely to engage in those same activities.

It does not matter what type of organization you lead, as a leader it is critical that your walk matches your talk if you want others to take you seriously.  It you are trying to lead a change process in your organization, that match becomes even more critical or you will soon learn that no one is following you.  And, if you have no followers, then by definition you are no longer a leader.

Merry Christmas!

May God bless each of you this Christmas season and throughout the coming year.

What is your church doing to make disciples?

A few years ago I attended a meeting of leaders from different denominations.  During the meeting someone commented on the rapid growth of a church in one of the denominations represented.  The individual from that denomination admitted that particular church was growing in its worship attendance but the attendance in that church's Christian education program was declining at almost the same pace.  He explained it was the same problem many of their denominational churches was having, and his fear was that this would lead to serious problems in the next 10-20 years.  The reason for his fear was that the new people their churches were reaching were doing little to grow spiritually, and in the next few years they would be the next generation of leaders in their churches.  Unfortunately, this problem is not limited to his denomination.

The church must do more to help its members grow spiritually.  The Great Commission  does not simply tell the church to lead people to a decision or to baptize people; it says we are to "make disciples of all the nations."

When many evangelical churches think of discipleship they immediately think of their Sunday school program, a program that is in decline in many churches.  If we expect our Sunday schools to be sufficient for producing disciples it demonstrates we have a mistaken concept of discipleship.  Being a disciple is more than just acquiring knowledge.  To be a disciple we must be transformed by the knowledge we gain.

Discipleship is more caught than taught.  Yes, we need to be taught the truths of Scripture, but we must also have the opportunity to put those truths into practice.  The challenge for the church that is serious about discipleship is helping people apply what they are learning.  Too many of our churches fail to provide those opportunities.  We call ministers to provide ministry services to the congregation who sees themselves as consumers of those services.  Clergy is then evaluated on how well they provided such services.  We need to involve everyone in ministry if we are to create disciples.

Jesus called those who would be his disciples to "Follow me."  He then took them on a journey that would shape their lives and prepare them for the ministry they would be given.  Part of that journey involved listening to his teachings, and part of it involved hands-on ministry.   This is the same model churches must follow if we are to be serious about raising up disciples.

One reason more churches do not do this is because discipleship is messy.  It's often easier for the pastor to do the ministry than it is to send out others to do it.  Besides, how can we know when someone is ready to minister to others?  Often, we can't until they are actually involved in ministry.  There is the real possibility that people will mess things up when they try to minister to others...just like Jesus' disciples did.  They couldn't cast a demon out of a young boy, and they didn't have a clue what to do when Jesus told them to feed the multitudes with a few pieces of bread and fish.  Of course, nothing matched their biggest failure when they ran away on the night Jesus was arrested.  But, the important thing is they learned from their mistakes and eventually became known as people who turned the world upside down.

As we approach 2014 I encourage you to take a look at your discipleship efforts in your church.  Are those efforts producing disciples?  Are the members in your church becoming more like Jesus, and are they involved in ministering to others?  What ministry opportunities will your church provide for those who want to grow as disciples of Jesus Christ?  These are important questions you need to answer as you prepare to lead your church into next year.

Much of this material comes from a chapter in my book The Healthy Community: Moving Your Church Beyond Tunnel Vision where you will find some more recommendations on how to help improve the discipleship ministry of your church.

Setting your goals for 2014

Those who know me are aware that I love setting goals.  With the proper focus on the right goals one can achieve far more than most believe is possible.  Without goals one is doomed to drift from one thing to the next hopeful that in the process something good will happen.  In his book Goals!: How to Get Everything You Want -- Faster Than You Ever Thought Possible Brian Tracy recommends that we do three things:  write down our goals; make plans to achieve those goals; and work on those goals every day.  This is a great strategy and one I try to follow.  The first two recommendations I have done for years.  Working on the goals every day is sometimes a challenge, but I have found that the more days I spend focused on the goals the more likely they are to be fulfilled.  That doesn't mean that the entire day is spent only on one or two goals, but it does mean that every day something is specifically done that will help make that goal a reality.

I have found that the week between Christmas and New Year's is a great time for me to focus on goal setting for the coming year.  Most of the churches I serve take a break during that week so there's usually little demand for my time which allows me to spend some time thinking about what I need to address in the coming year.  During my years as a pastor I usually found this same week to be a great time for goal setting.  If you haven't already set your 2014 goals you may want to take that week to work on those goals.

Your goals should include every aspect of your life.  You should have goals for your family life, your career, your ministry, your own self-care, and your relationship with God.  By writing down goals in each of these five areas you will find it easier to keep your life in the proper balance.  Without written goals in each area it will be easy to ignore the areas that are without goals.  Don't overdo it!  A couple of goals in each area is plenty.  That means you need not have more than 10 goals that you will pursue in the coming year.  People who set more goals than that often end up not achieving many of their goals leaving them frustrated.

Each goal should be SMART.  S - Specific, M - Measurable, A - Attainable, R - Realistic, and T - time defined.  When you write out your goal make sure it includes each of the elements.  You want goals that will stretch you but are attainable.  If they are not specific, measurable, and time-defined you won't be able to know whether or not you've reached them.  Take the time to ensure that each of your goals are SMART goals, and at the end of the year it will be easy to determine whether or not you've achieved them.

One of the exciting things I've learned over the years is that one need only spend a small amount of time each day specifically addressing the goals in order to achieve them.  Allyson Lewis explains in her book The Seven Minute Difference: Small Steps to Big Changes that taking small steps each day will enable one to make a big difference in his or her life.  What might happen if you read only 10 pages of a book a day, or got up 15 minutes earlier to do your devotions, or make just one more call to a recent guest at your church?  It is in those small daily habits that the seeds are sown that lead to success.

Do you want to see your church grow in 2014?  Set a SMART goal and develop an action plan to make that happen.  Do you want your family to enjoy a special experience next year?  Set your goal and make it happen.  Do you want to grow in some area of your personal or professional life?  With a SMART goal and an action plan it can happen.  Are you ready to get control of your finances?  You can do it.  Now is the time to set your 2014 goals.

Do you want to be made well?

"Do you want to be made well?"  This was the question Jesus asked the man at the pool who complained he had been there thirty-eight years waiting to be made well when the angel would stir the waters.  His complaint was that he had no one to help him when he needed to get into the water and others would get in the pool before him and receive their healing.  Jesus' question seems on the surface to be confusing.  One would think that if the man had been there that long to be healed that he surely wanted to be made well.  However, that is not always the case.

In my pastoral ministry I met many people who seemed addicted to dysfunction.  Married couples argue for years over the same issues, often minor ones, and never seem to be able to get beyond them to enjoy a much more satisfying marriage.  They go to marriage counselors, pastors, and others for help, but soon return to the negative behaviors that define their relationship.  Individuals remain trapped in circumstances, often of their own choosing, and do nothing constructive to change those circumstances.  An individual told me one morning that her life had never been better only to call that same night complaining about some perceived slight.  As she raged on about the most minuscule issue I finally stopped her and said, "Your problem is that you have been so unhappy for so long that you don't know how to do happy.  When things begin to go positive for you, you look for things to get upset about."

Such people are very difficult to help because their lives are defined by their problems.  If their problems were solved they would have nothing to talk about.  Even if you help them resolve one problem another one will soon appear.  It's like trying to plug a leak in the dam with your finger.  You can expect another leak to soon appear, and eventually you run out of fingers.

Of course, none of their problems are their fault.  "They did this to me, and they did that to me," is the refrain you hear over and over from people I call perpetual victims.  This does not discount the fact that some people have had very difficult lives and have been victimized by others, but there comes a time when each of us have to take responsibility for ourselves and accept the fact that we do not have to allow others to define us any longer.  Maybe the past was harmed by others, but who will be in charge of the future?  Those who want to be made well will take control of their future and make the decisions that will lead to a better life for themselves and those they love.

All of this is true of churches as well.  In 30+ years of ministry I have seen many dysfunctional churches.  I have worked with some as part of conflict mediation teams and have taken recommendations back from the teams after we've met with people in the church.  The churches that want to be made well will try to implement many of the recommendations we make.  Those that prefer their dysfunction ignore those recommendations.  They talk about wanting to be healthy, but they are unwilling to do anything to become healthy.  Such churches continue to fight amongst themselves squandering any opportunity to have a positive presence in their community.

You, your family, and your church all have the opportunity to be made well, but you must take responsibility for any healing you may need.  You have to take charge of your life, your family, and your church and make the decisions that will lead to a better tomorrow.  Some of those decisions may be painful in the short-term, but they will produce a must more positive future than if you continue to do what you've been doing.  The good news is that it is God's will for you, your family, and your church to be healthy.  God will help you overcome the past if that is needed, but you have to decide that is what you want to happen, and He will lead you into better decisions if you ask Him for the wisdom to do that.  So, the question is: Do you want to be made well?

Important changes coming to Bivocational Ministries

For a number of years I have had a website at www.bivocational ministries.com as well as this blog.  For the past two or three years I've concentrated on posting on this blog while neglecting the website.  I've simply found it much easier to write for the blog than trying to maintain the website.  Although the website does not cost a lot of money there is an expense involved.  It is time to renew the website with my server, and I've decided not to do so but to continue to post on this blog instead.  The traffic to the website hasn't been that great in the past few years so I doubt that many people will even notice that it is gone.  The regular readers of this blog seems to be growing, and my hope is that will continue.  I would be especially excited if those who do read it would decide to be a follower of the blog.

One of the things that the website did offer was the ability to purchase my books on line with a credit card.  You will now notice that I've listed my books on the lower left of the blog page.  At the bottom of the page is information on how you can order the book directly from me.  I am not set up at this time to accept credit cards so you will need to pay by check or money order.  The shipping costs of a single book is $3.00 which will need to be added to the cost of the book.  If you wish to order more than one book please let me know, and I will combine shipping costs to save you some money.  If you wish to order 20 or more copies of a single title, please let me know and I will quote you a discounted bulk rate and have the publisher ship them directly to you.

As I look ahead to 2014 I am excited about what is happening with bivocational ministry.  I already have two speaking engagements scheduled in March, and I'm hopeful those opportunities will continue to come.  Last week I had a very encouraging e-mail from a bivocational minister who had never written to me before expressing his appreciation for the support he found in this blog and in my books.  Another e-mail came from an academic leader who had finished The Healthy Pastor: Easing the Stresses of Ministry.  He said he found it very helpful and intended to recommend it to his students.  Two weeks ago I received an e-mail from a doctoral student wanting to interview me for his dissertation project which will focus on bivocational ministry.  I believe that was the fourth doctoral student that contacted me in 2013 wanting information for their dissertations.  In recent months EthicsDaily.com has posted a number of articles from this blog and has asked me to write a couple of posts specifically for them.  I anticipate that relationship will continue as well.  All of this is very humbling and reminds me how important this work is.  The numbers of bivocational ministers are growing across most denominations, and their need for helpful resources is growing as well.  I'm glad that I can help provide some of those resources.

As I've written before, change is never easy.  A few years ago I stopped writing a monthly newsletter that went out by e-mail to hundreds of bivocational ministers.  That was not an easy decision to make, nor is the one about letting the website go, but doing so allows me more time to write for this blog.  I believe in the long run that will allow me to reach the most people so it is the right decision to make.

If you find this blog helpful I would ask two things.  The first is to please keep me in your prayers. As most regular readers know, my work with bivocational ministers is only a small part of what I do.  As a judicatory leader in our Region I serve and directly relate to 130 churches plus carry other responsibilities. It is good and important ministry.  Please pray that God will grant me the wisdom I need to fulfill this ministry well.  Secondly, encourage your bivocational friends and leaders of smaller churches to become followers of the blog.  I believe there are thousands of small church leaders that would benefit from the information I try to provide, but I need you to spread the word.

Let me close this post by saying thanks to all of you who have been following the website and blog and those of you who have been reading my books.  I appreciate each and every one of you. 

Many pastors will need to reinvent themselves if they want to remain in ministry

An article I recently read noted that for those churches seeking a new pastor it was a "buyer's market."  The author claimed that many smaller churches might receive 100 resumes for their pastorate while larger churches would receive many more than that.  I'm not sure that is true for all denominations, but one of the problems that is impacting the ability of some ministers in being able to find a place to serve is the growing numbers of churches that are becoming bivocational.  Our Region currently has many more bivocational churches seeking pastors than we have fully-funded churches seeking pastors.  Right now we have some churches who have recently lost their fully-funded pastor and have decided to call a bivocational minister, and this is happening across denominational lines and in increasing numbers.  Frankly, many of these churches struggle to find someone willing to serve as their pastor.

As I share this reality with pastors many of them react with much fear.  Last week a pastor confessed to me that he was afraid he would have trouble finding another fully-funded church to serve and didn't know what he was going to do.  He said he had no training to do anything but pastor a church.  It's a comment I've heard from numerous pastors in recent years.  In a few cases I've been able to help them identify other things they can do to earn a living, but others insist they can't do anything but be a pastor.  I fear for them if they ever leave their current ministry or if their church joins the growing numbers of churches who ask their pastor to become bivocational.

Some ministers take the attitude that God has called them into the ministry, they have completed their education, been ordained, and therefore they should be guaranteed a fully-funded ministry position.  Maybe that was an assumption that could be made in earlier times, but it is not a safe one for today.  I believe many of the churches of tomorrow will be smaller and seeking bivocational leadership.  If I was a young pastor today I would be looking at what I needed to do to develop marketable skills that would supplement my income as a bivocational pastor and not depend on my seminary degree and denomination to guarantee me a fully-funded church.

As regular readers of this blog know, I served as a bivocational pastor for twenty years.  I only left that pastorate to accept my current ministry as a Resource Minister in our judicatory.  During my 30+ years in ministry I have also worked in a factory, owned and managed a small business, led conferences and workshops for various denominational groups, taught an on-line course for a university, published books, and worked as an auctioneer.  Over the years I have met hundreds of other bivocational ministers who have worked various jobs in addition to having very successful ministries.  Because of these experiences I have little patience for those ministers who tell me they just can't do anything but pastor a church. 

The reality is they don't want to do anything but pastor a church.  That's OK, but another reality is that they may not have a choice if the numbers of churches seeking bivocational ministers continues to grow.  If that happens, many pastors are going to have to reinvent themselves and become bivocational ministers or leave the ministry completely.

This may seem like a negative post to some readers, but it is not intended to be negative.  I regularly hear from bivocational ministers who tell me how much they enjoy bivocational ministry.  Some of these came from fully-funded churches and have found new freedoms in being bivocational.  The subtitle of my first book was The Joy of Bivocational Ministry.  I wanted that to be the title for the book, but the publisher insisted on using their own title but did allow that to be the subtitle.  The reason I wanted it for the title was because the book described the joy I had in serving my bivocational church. 

If pastors have to be dragged kicking and screaming into bivocational ministry, and they become bitter and resentful about it, they are unlikely to find bivocational ministry very rewarding and joyful.  That is why I think many need to be thinking today about what they can do outside the church to provide for their families and explore how they can get the skills and knowledge to do something beyond ministry.  Given the growing numbers of churches that are becoming bivocational it might be wise for ministers to proactively prepare themselves if they find they need to become bivocational.  There will always be fully-funded churches who need pastors, but these will be the churches that find it is a "buyer's market" when the time comes for them to seek a new pastor.  If a minister wants to ensure he or she has a ministry in the future now is the time to consider the option of becoming bivocational and preparing for that possibility.

Why change efforts often fail

In his excellent book, Leading at a Higher Level, Revised and Expanded Edition: Blanchard on Leadership and Creating High Performing Organizations, Ken Blanchard gives 15 reasons why change efforts typically fail. 

1. People leading the change think that announcing the change is the same as implementing it.
2. People's concerns with change are not surfaced or addressed.
3. Those being asked to change are not involved in planning the change.
4. There is no compelling reason to change.  The business case is not communicated.
5. A compelling vision that excites people about the future has not been developed and communicated.
6. The change leadership team does not include early adopters, resisters, or informal leaders.
7. The change is not piloted, so the organization does not learn what is needed to support the change.
8. Organizational systems and other initiatives are not aligned with the change.
9. Leaders lose focus or fail to prioritize, causing "death by 1,000 initiatives."
10. People are not enabled or encouraged to build new skills.
11. Those leading the change are not credible.  They undercommunicate, give mixed messages, and do not model the behaviors the change requires.
12. Progress is not measured, and/or no one recognizes the changes that people have worked hard to make.
13. People are not held accountable for implementing the change.
14. People leading the change fail to respect the power of the culture to kill the change.
15. Possibilities and options are not explored before a specific change is chosen. (pp. 195-196)

I think this list accurately lists the reasons change efforts fail and is helpful in two ways.  One, if you've been involved in a change effort that was not successful you will probably find that at least one of the above reasons was violated in the effort.  The second way this list is helpful is that it will better prepare you for the next change effort you attempt to make in your organization.

For more detailed information about each of the 15 I highly recommend Blanchard's book as he discusses each of these in some detail.

You don't have a problem; you have a decision to make

You don't have a problem; you have a decision to make.  I don't remember the first time I heard that, but I do remember it was at a time when I was struggling with a problem.  I wasn't very happy when I heard this because this was something I already knew, but I didn't want to make the decision.  I had put off making a decision that I knew needed to be made because I was secretly hoping the problem would take care of itself.  It didn't.  In fact, like most problems left to themselves, this one grew bigger while I hesitated doing what I knew needed to be done.  Eventually, I did make the required decision, and within a very short time things improved dramatically. 

One of the criticisms I often received as a younger leader was that I refused to make timely decisions.  You might remember that Bill Clinton was often criticized for the same thing during his first term.  His critics claimed that he required too much information before he could make a decision.  I tend to be the same way, plus I struggled with wanting to please everyone.  It took me awhile to learn that, #1 a leader will never have enough information and, #2 regardless of what I did I would never please everyone.  Leadership is about making decisions based upon the information you do have.  If you get different information later you can adjust your decision, but at least you'll be moving forward.

I often get phone calls from pastors and lay people who want to talk about problems they have in their churches.  Some of these problems have been brewing for months or longer.  Others are fairly recent.  In virtually every case they remain problems because people do not want to make tough decisions.

A woman called to complain that their pastor no longer wore suits when he preached.  She was also unhappy about the dress of some of the lay leaders.  She told me how distressed this made her feel and that going to church was becoming quite a struggle.  I asked if the majority of the congregation felt like she did or if they accepted the more casual dress of their leadership.  She admitted very few felt like she did.  At that time I told her she probably needed to find another church to attend so she could enjoy the worship experience once again. She sounded a little disappointed, and I think she was hoping I would take her side and tell the pastor he needed to start wearing suits again.  She didn't have a problem; she had to decide if she wanted to continue attending that church or to begin the search for another one.

A church board called asking to meet with me to discuss some behavior problems the church had with two families.  In our meeting they explained that these families consistently created problems that caused their newer members to leave within a short period of time.  I asked what they were going to do about it.  Stunned, they insisted they couldn't do anything.  I replied, "Then live with it."  I explained they had already told me two families were driving people from the church.  As the leaders of that church they could decide who stayed and who left.  They needed to decide if they wanted to keep dysfunctional people who had been creating problems in their church for years or if they wanted to keep the new Christians they were reaching.  At that point I left the meeting.  Over the next few weeks they confronted these families about their behavior.  Both got angry, left, and the church has continued to grow.  They just need to make a decision.

Following a business meeting to which I had been invited about two dozen members of a larger church surrounded me complaining about their church and its leadership.  One of their complaints had to do with the amount of money the church spent on youth activities.  They specifically mentioned one recent expenditure of several hundred dollars for one activity.  I then asked how many young people were coming to Christ in that church.  I already knew this church was reaching many of the youth and their families in that community.  They didn't answer.  I then told them that I knew of several churches in that area that would not spend that much money on their youth for an entire year, and that they might be happier attending one of those churches.  Most of them left that church within a few weeks.  That growing church soon replaced them and continues to grow today.

Most of the problems that exist in our churches are the result of leaders refusing to make the decisions that need to be made.  We waste too much time worrying about upsetting the controllers and others who think the church exists for them.  We fear they might leave if we make a decision that they won't agree with.  So what?  Let them leave.  I think it was Rick Warren who once wrote that God had called us to be fishers of men, not corrallers of old goats.  It's time we in church leadership become willing to make the tough decisions that will resolve many of our problems so we can concentrate on our real purpose which is to reach people with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Computers and change

The last few days have been quite interesting.  I bought a new computer.  My desktop was several years old.  The screen froze once in a while, and the computer had really slowed down.  Some of the USB ports no longer worked.  For awhile we were wondering if the house was haunted as we occasionally heard voices until one day my wife was walking past my study as a video on my home page suddenly came on by itself.  It was definitely time for a new computer.  Besides, I had never really liked this one anyway.  I've owned dozens of computers over the years, and I've never been as disappointed in any of them as I was this one.  However, having said all that, I hated getting a new computer.

For one thing it would come with Windows 8.  I recently bought a new laptop for work with Windows 8, and I still wonder why Microsoft stock sells as high as it does.  After living through Vista and Windows 7 I was certain my next computer would be a Mac, but since I needed a PC for my work laptop I didn't want to have to learn two operating systems, so I got a PC with Windows 8 for my desktop.  The second reason I didn't want a new computer was that would mean I would have to transfer all my files and download the various programs I use plus I would have to spend more money for the newest version of Office.  So now, I've got two computers set up in my study while I'm spending hours getting the new one set up.  Not my idea of a fun way to spend one's time!

As I've been working on getting the new computer set up I couldn't help but think about how technology has changed since I began my ministry in 1981.  Back then I had an old Underwood typewriter that must have weighed fifty pounds.  It got replaced with a word processor that only showed two lines when I typed on it.  I went through a lot of White-Out in those days!  My first computer class was DOS, and some of you won't even know what that is.  You're lucky.  I think my first computer used Windows 3.1.  That and XP were my favorites and, in my opinion, the only two really good programs Microsoft has developed.  I suffered through Me, Vista,  and 7.  I hope once I get more comfortable with 8 that I'll learn to like it, but I do miss XP.

Technology has changed a lot since I began my ministry, and I've not always embraced the changes.  That might surprise some of my readers because I'm one who often writes on change, but the bottom line is most of us really don't like change a lot.  As someone once wrote, "The only people who like change are babies with wet diapers."  Change makes us uncomfortable.  It takes us out of our routines, our comfort zones.  It forces us to learn new things and to take risks.  Change means that we move from being self-reliant to once again becoming novices.

However, one of the things I've learned as a church leader is that I'm not called to be comfortable, and I'm not called to live in a comfort zone.  I'm certainly not called to be self-reliant.  I am to be reliant on Jesus Christ, and that does entail some risk.  I don't have to embrace change or even like it; I just have to be willing to change when circumstances call for it.  And right now, the circumstances the church faces in this world not only calls for the church to change, they demand that the church changes.

You've probably heard the expression, "Everybody wants to go to heaven, but nobody wants to die."  Everybody wants things to get better in the church, but nobody wants to make the changes that are needed for that to happen.  Denominational leaders sit around wringing their hands as they watch their churches drift further away from them, but there's little real interest in changing anything to reverse that.  They create another task force to discuss their problems for a few more years while they become more and more irrelevant to their churches, and little, if anything comes from those discussions.  Local church leaders do the same thing.  They worry and complain about their churches growing smaller and smaller but are unwilling to make the significant changes it might take to turn that around.

The reality is this: If your church could be healthy and grow by doing what you're already doing, it would already be doing so.  If it's not healthy and growing, then you have to do something different, and that means change.  If you're not willing to change, then stop pretending you want your church to be healthy and growing because you don't.  At least you don't want it bad enough to be willing to change what no longer works.  Yes, changing things in the church is risky, it's messy, it's often painful, it's time-consuming, and it will be very uncomfortable.  But, it's better than doing nothing and dying.

I've still got more work to do on getting my new computer set up the way I want it, but I can already tell it works a lot faster than my old computer which will allow me to be much more productive.  It also has more features which will allow me to do things I've not been able to do before.  In a short period of time the pain of change will be over, and I'll be able to enjoy the benefits the change will bring me.  The same will be true of your church.

Maybe it's time to eliminate sign-up sheets in church

I was recently visiting a church when the pastor held up a sign-up sheet for some activity the church was having a few weeks later.  He made the comment that if enough people didn't sign up for whatever they needed the church office would have to call folks.  I had the sense that people did not respond to the sign-up sheets very well in this church.

When I pastored in the 80s and 90s we used sign-up sheets a lot to recruit volunteers for the various activities in our church.  Most of the time our folks were willing to volunteer, but towards the end of my pastorate I found that fewer and fewer people would sign up on the sign-up sheet.  They needed to be asked directly to help with the activity.  I think this is even more true today which is why I believe we need to eliminate the sign-up sheets for most activities.

Yesterday, I read an article that promoted the idea that the church needs to cut back on their volunteers and become more intentional about developing leaders.  There was a lot in that article that resonated with me.  Especially in our smaller churches we are always looking for volunteers to do the various tasks in our churches, and those volunteers are getting harder to come by.  Whether it is due to time constraints, a lack of interest in the particular activity, a lack of commitment to church activities, or some other reason, people are less willing to step forward to volunteer today.  They hope someone else will volunteer for the task, and they won't need to.  This can get very frustrating to the few who are willing to volunteer as it seems they are expected to do all the work in the church.

How much better would it be if our churches became more intentional about developing leaders in their churches rather than depending on volunteers?  This about this scenario for a minute.  A small church needs a director for their Vacation Bible School.  About three weeks before the scheduled VBS someone finally volunteers to be the director.  In a short period of time he or she must become familiar with the material, coordinate and train the other workers, make sure the needed supplies are available, plan the promotion, and handle all the other administrative tasks that needs to happen for this to be successful.  Is it any wonder this person is not interested in being the director the following year?

Instead of asking for someone to volunteer to be the VBS director, what might happen if the church leadership sought a person who had the spiritual gifts for the position, had a passion for VBS, and believed in the possibilities that VBS offers?  Such a person could be intentionally approached months ahead of time and asked to serve in that position and then provided the training he or she would need to be prepared.  This would provide them with plenty of time to obtain the material and study it.  They would then be responsible to recruit and train the various workers and teachers they would need for VBS.  Which scenario is likely to result in a better Vacation Bible School experience?

Apply this same thinking to the other ministries your church offers, and I believe in almost every case to intentionally recruit and train leaders to lead these ministries will be far superior to putting a sign-up sheet on the back bulletin board hoping to get enough volunteers.  Not only will this result in better ministries, it will also raise the level of leadership in the church which will have far- reaching benefits for the church for decades to come.

Chances are your small church would have to make changes in its by-laws before this can happen.  Many of these volunteer positions are likely to be assigned to a nominating committee to recruit, but in my opinion, nominating committees are much like sign-up sheets.  Both served a purpose at one time in church history, but that time has passed.  Let's stop depending on volunteers and become more intentional about recruiting and training leaders in our churches.  The benefits of doing so are likely to be impressive.

Why do people resist change in the church so strongly?

The title of this post is a little misleading.  People in the church are not the only ones who resist change.  Everybody resists change, but because this blog is primarily for leaders in smaller churches we will just focus on why church folk can be so resistant to change.

Several years ago a small church leader called to say their church had recently appointed a church growth committee, and they wanted me to meet with them and explain how they could grow their church without making anyone mad.  Just the fact that they had formed a church growth committee made me cringe.  I can think of few things more likely to cause a church to not grow than a church growth committee.  If you have a church growth committee, whose job is it to grow the church?  Why, it's the committee's responsibility so everyone else is off the hook!  My second thought was not to laugh at his request for me to explain to them how they could grow the church without making anyone mad.  I responded, "I'm going to save myself a trip and you a meeting.  You can't.  If you could grow your church by doing what you're already doing, your church would already be growing.  It's not growing so that means you will have to begin doing some things differently, and that means you will have to introduce some changes into the church, and somebody isn't going to like those changes."  Although he was obviously disappointed in my response, he still wanted me to meet with them.  When I did, I explained in more detail why people would get upset in that church if they tried to do some new things.

There is something comfortable about being a part of a smaller church.  For one thing, we know our roles in our church.  It's not uncommon for the same people to be doing the same things in a small church for years, even decades.  In a world of constant change, it's nice to know on Sunday morning which pew we will sit in, which Sunday school class we'll attend, and what others in our church expect from us.  We are settled in our roles.  Any time some change is introduced in a small church one of the first questions people will ask is, "What will be my role in this new system?"  That is a very scary question for some people.  An even scarier question some will wonder is, "Will I even have a role in the new system?"  For people who have been Christians for a number of years we find our identity in the roles in which we serve our churches, and if those roles are changed or no longer needed it becomes a very frightening thing.

A second reason people in the church often resists change is because they fear the change will impact the relationships that exist in their church.  It is important for small church leaders to remember that everything in a smaller church revolves around relationships.  The thought of someone leaving the church because of some change is enough for some to oppose any change that is proposed.  I once offered to help a church change some of the things they were doing.  After my presentation we had a Q&A session where a number of good questions were asked.  The session soon ended when an older lady mentioned that she had been in favor of doing what I was proposing until I mentioned if the church did make some of those changes they might lose a few people.  She said, "When you said that I looked around the room and realized there wasn't anyone there I was willing to give up."  The church decided to not attempt any of those changes because they did not want to risk losing people.  That same scenario is played out in small churches every week.

The third reason many resist change is because they do not understand why it is needed.  Church leaders are better at explaining what needs to be changed than we are at explaining why something needs to be changed.  We need to talk about the why before we start talking about the what.   Being clear on the why will help us create a sense of urgency around the change which is critical for its acceptance.

Of course, there are many more reasons why some people resist change, but these are some of the primary ones.  As you are contemplating changes you want to propose to your church, spend some time thinking through each of these issues that can lead to resistance to your proposal.  Proactively address them in your initial presentation to remove them as possible objections.  Doing so will often lead to less opposition and a greater and quicker acceptance of the changes being proposed.

Wait for me, I'm the leader

A friend of mine accepted the pastorate of another church a few years ago.  He had served his previous church for over ten years but had very little success leading them out of their comfort zone.  Like many churches, they said the right things, but when it came time to making the changes necessary for those things to happen, they refused.  A few months after moving to his new place of service I asked my friend what the biggest difference was between the two churches.  He quickly replied that in the previous church he felt like he was always trying to move an object that would not budge; at the new church he was having to run to keep up.  Fortunately, he is an excellent pastor and leader, and he has had no trouble getting out in front and providing the leadership this church expects from their pastor.

That is not the case with many pastors.  The church today has many needs, but one of the greatest is they need a pastor who can provide leadership.  I've referred to John Maxwell's book, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You (10th Anniversary Edition), numerous times in this blog in which he reminds us that everything rises and falls on leadership.  This is true in businesses, in families, on sports teams, and it is certainly true for churches.  When things are going poorly in any organization one can point the finger at many possible causes, but it eventually comes back to leadership. 

I heard Maxwell make that statement when his book was first published several years ago.  At the time I was the pastor of a church and managing a small business our family owned.  Neither was going well, and I blamed everything and everyone.  Then I heard Maxwell say, "Everything rises and falls on leadership."  I sat there stunned and angry.  He was blaming me for the problems in our church and business!  The longer I sat in the audience the more I realized he was absolutely right.  I was the leader of both organizations.  I was the person responsible to see that they functioned properly.  I was the one expected to provide the vision and the plans to see those visions achieved.  If I did not provide leadership, how could I expect anyone to follow?  I had to immediately change how I served in both organizations, and when I did things began to improve.

Leadership is not simply having a position or a title.  It's not about educational degrees nor is it the ability to force people to do things they don't want to do.  Leadership is about influence.  It's the ability to cast a clear vision and influence others to go with you on the journey to see that vision fulfilled.  One cannot have influence without being a person of integrity and one others can trust to lead them.  And, yes, it is about leading.  A leader is one who is out in front of those who follow.  He or she must be able to see further than anyone else because as a leader he is she is leading from the front.  Leadership is also about being willing to take risks to accomplish the tasks that need to be accomplished. 

If you have no vision for your church or your organization, by definition you cannot be the leader.  You are not leading them anywhere because you have no idea where they are to go or what they are to do.  If that describes you, and you are supposed to be in a position of leadership, you need to fall on your knees before God and seek His vision for your church.  If you are a person who lacks integrity with those you are supposed to lead you will never be able to lead them.  People will not follow those they do not trust.  If you are not willing to get out in front of the people and lead them, you cannot be a leader.  Finally, if you are not willing to take risks to accomplish the vision God gives you, you will never be able to lead your church.  If any of these describe you, you have two choices.  Either repent and correct the problem or resign your position.  Your church deserves better.

The church has drifted along for too long.  A church without a leader is like a ship without a rudder, and without a rudder the ship can only drift.  Our society today is paying a terrible price because the church is failing to be the church God intended it to be.  If the church is to have any impact on our society it must have men and women who are willing to rise up and become the leaders our churches require.

Thanksgiving or Thingsgetting

Our daughter and her family were here for a few days for the Thanksgiving holiday so I took a few days off from blogging and writing to just enjoy them.  I'm old-fashioned enough to still believe that Thanksgiving is an important holiday and is a day for families to spend time with one another reflecting on the many ways they have been blessed throughout the year.  Unfortunately, Thanksgiving was over-shadowed this year by the Black Friday shopping that many retail stores started Thursday evening.  I really appreciate those few large retailers who decided it was more important for their employees to enjoy the holidays with their families than open their stores, and we will be doing much of our Christmas shopping in those stores this year as a way to thank them for the kindness they showed their employees. 

As usual, we saw on the news the reports of shootings, stabbings, and fights breaking out in stores across the country as people fought with one another for the items being offered for sale.  It seems ironic that on a day that was set aside as a day of being thankful for what we have has become a day when corporate and personal greed rears its ugliest head of the year.  Rather than being a day of thanksgiving it has become a day of thingsgetting.

It is really a reflection of one of the biggest problems in our nation today, a lack of gratitude and thankfulness.  The apostle Paul said he had learned to be content regardless of what was going on in his life (Phil. 4:11). That is a lesson that many Americans need to learn today, but two things make it very difficult for that lesson to be learned.  We are continually exposed to advertising that is designed to make us discontented.  Advertisers bombard us with the idea that we must have the newest, shiniest, most advanced gadget or our lives will be ruined.  The cell phone you purchased new six months ago simply isn't good enough so you must run out, stand in line for hours, to get a new one that will be replaced by the manufacturer in another six months.  Of course, it's not just cell phones.  It's our television sets, our cars, our kitchen appliances, our clothing, and everything else we own.  We are told that unless we rush out to get the latest and greatest we are failures, and we buy into it!

The second thing that makes it difficult for us to be content is the entitlement mentality that is so rampant in America.  Not only do we need these things to be fulfilled, we are entitled to them, so if we can't afford them we have the right to go deeper into debt to buy them or the right to steal them from someone who could afford to buy them.  After all, we DESERVE these things that will provide us happiness.  If a store offers what we want at a reduced price we have the right to fight another shopper to make sure we get what we want because we are entitled to have that thing.

It would be one thing if these were just problems that afflicted non-Christians, but, of course, we know that isn't true.  As a judicatory leader I hear from plenty of church members and pastors who are not content.  The church members often want their churches to grow without changing anything, and too many pastors are always looking for the next place to serve.  However, this is a topic for another blog on another day!

What can Christians do to make Thanksgiving a day of true Thanksgiving?  How about if we just stop going to the malls and stores on Thanksgiving Day.  The reason the workers are forced to be away from their families on Thanksgiving is because people are willing to shop on that day.  Let's tell the retail stores that their employees need to be with their families on Thanksgiving, and we'll be in over the weekend to see what specials they're running.  Of course, they won't listen; we'll have to show them by our refusal to participate in their Thursday madness.  Will we miss out on some hot bargains?  Yes, we might not get that super-special item for only $29.95 that regularly sells for $49.95, but that's a small price to pay to enjoy the holiday with our family and to help others spend the day with their families.

As pastors we need to be preaching on contentment.  I once preached from the passage I quoted above, and that day one of our church members told me it really got her to thinking about what a life of contentment might look like.  Our churches need to hear this message because they sure won't hear it from any other source.  Let's challenge the discontent and entitlement mentality that is so strong in our nation today and encourage people to become more grateful for the blessings they already have.