Making a re-commitment to church membership

Louisville megachurch, Southeast Christian, recently deleted everyone from their membership rolls at all four of their area campuses. Following five weeks of sermons that focused on core beliefs they asked people to recommit to being a member of the church and to the mission of "connecting people to Jesus and one another by loving where you are." Thousands of people signed colored tiles making a renewed commitment to church membership and to the mission. Hundreds of baptisms also occurred during this emphasis.

At a time when many question the value of church membership this church has emphasized its importance to its congregation and to those they are seeking to reach. But, it's not just signing on to be a member of a church. It's also asking for a commitment to being involved in their mission of reaching people for Jesus Christ.

Too often we are content to "dip 'em and drop 'em" as one writer put it. There is often little discipleship done with these new members nor are they challenged to be involved in the mission of their new church. If they prove to be somewhat faithful in attending services they may eventually be asked to serve on a committee or teach a class.

Growing churches, and Southeast Christian is certainly growing, are not afraid to challenge people to engage in ministry. In fact, I would say that there is a culture of expectation in growing churches that its members will engage in ministry.

There is one element here that does not exist in every church. Southeast Christian has a clear mission to which they can challenge people to engage. If a church has no sense of purpose, no vision for ministry, and is not actively involved in doing intentional ministry, what can they challenge people to do? Mostly, serve on a committee, and that's not very appealing to people who want their lives to make a difference.

What would happen in your church if you removed every member from the church roll? How many would recommit to membership in your church? More importantly, how many would commit to being engaged in the mission of your church? Final question...exactly what is the mission of your church?

Your church will accomplish more by doing less

A common complaint in many smaller churches is the lack of commitment people have, but in reality I find that most such churches are actually over-committed.  They are structured for a time when they were probably a much larger congregation and have far more committees and boards than they need.  These churches often find it difficult to fill all their teaching and leadership slots and can only do so by having people volunteer for four or five positions.  If you want, you can argue that if more people would accept these positions then the few who are willing to work wouldn't have to have so many responsibilities.  However, the reality is that the Pareto Principle is alive and well in the church.  Twenty percent of the people are going to do eighty percent of the work.  Stop fighting that, accept it as reality, and adjust your workload accordingly.

When I meet with churches having this problem I assure them that if half of their committees and boards never met again, no one would be able to tell the difference.  Yes, some of these are needed in the church, but ask yourself how much real value do most of these add to your church.  How has your church been significantly impacted by the work of most of your committees?  The only reason some of them are still in existence is because they were created years (decades) ago to meet a real need, and no one has had the courage to suggest they are no longer needed.

Along the same line, many small churches try to offer too many programs and ministries for the resources they have available.  They do this thinking they must compete with the larger church in town.  That is like a Mom and Pop store thinking they have to compete with Wal-Mart on price.  It's not going to happen!  Mom and Pop, if they are to stay in business, have to find something that sets them apart from Wal-Mart and compete in that niche.  Small churches are the same way.  You cannot offer the same ministries the largest churches in your community offer because you do not have the manpower and finances to do so.  Attempting this will result in doing many things mediocre, and you cannot build a ministry around mediocre.

A much better ministry strategy is to identify the giftedness of your people, find out what they are passionate about, and then prayerfully begin to discern how God would have you use that to meet ministry needs in your community.  Believe me, there are many such needs going unmet where you live.  I am convinced that many smaller churches are uniquely positioned to meet those needs, and it is there where those churches are going to thrive.

However, you won't be able to do this if you insist on continuing to ask your twenty percenters to do more and more maintenance-type work.  They only have so much time to invest in church work so you want to use that time wisely.  Eliminate the tasks that add little if any value to the church and free people up to do ministry that will make a difference.  Then begin the task of discerning how to have the greatest impact on your community for the Kingdom of God.

Small church complaint #6 - Young people don't have the commitment that we did at that age.

This is the final post in this series of articles on common complaints often heard in smaller churches.  I have never led a consultation with a small church that this wasn't mentioned at least once by the participants.  The complaint usually comes from an older church member complaining that the younger members in the church are not willing to serve on various committees and boards and that their attendance at church services is often spotty.  From that perspective the complaint often is valid, but I don't think it means that the younger ones are less committed than the older members.

The Builder generation were the ones who built many of the institutions we have in this country.  That includes the churches.   They were very committed to these institutions and gave both their finances and their time to seeing that the institutions functioned properly.  When they moved to a new community they would visit a few churches of their denomination and quickly choose one to join where they would continue their faithful support.  My generation, the Boomers, tended to be less committed to institutions but were more attracted to causes in which we believed.  Future generations followed our example and became even less involved in institutional structures.  Many had little, if any, commitment to a denomination but would choose a church based on how well it met their own needs.  It was not uncommon for them to not join a church even if they attended there for years as church membership was not something they considered important.  Nor were they interested in serving on a committee or board in the church.  They often were much more interested in helping on a Habitat for Humanity house on Saturday than attending a church committee meeting.  Younger generations are typically committed to activities they believe make a difference in people's lives, and many of them do not see that happening in many church committee meetings.  To say they are less committed is not fair; they are committed but to different things than the older generations who often make the complaint.

The reason so many smaller churches struggle to attract younger families is because the only thing we can offer them is maintenance work on some committee or board.  Many years ago I was trying to balance working a full-time job, serving as the pastor of a bivocational church, attending a Bible school, and being a husband and father.  Reluctantly, I agreed to attend a monthly men's meeting of our association where I heard a message criticizing all the men who did not faithfully attend the meeting each month.  The next month the meeting was held at our church, and when it was time for me to bring the message I told them I would be speaking on "Why I Don't Attend Your Men's Meetings."  You could have heard a pin drop.  Basically, I told them I didn't normally attend their meetings because they never did anything.  As I explained, the highlight of their meeting was the refreshments served at the end, and I would just as soon spend that time with my family.   This same message could be given to many of the churches that struggle to attract younger people.

Give a young person something to do that is in line with his or her gifts and passions and you will find someone with great commitment.  Stop asking them to serve on some board or committee that could never meet again with little effect on the church and give them the freedom to minister to people and you'll find the commitment you're seeking.  Recognize that when they have children they are being pulled in many different directions which often includes activities on Sunday mornings.  Do not judge their commitment to God by how many church services and meetings they attend, but recognize that many reflect that commitment in ways that may be different than those of us in older generations.

The loyalty of a leader

I am currently reading Albert Mohler's book The Conviction to Lead.  When I finish the book I'll review it on this blog, but it has been a great read.  I just read a passage that talks about the need for loyalty to the organization that a leader must have if he or she is to be successful.  Mohler writes

The movements that make history are those that breed loyalty, and leaders who want to see that kind of loyalty must first demonstrate it themselves.  Are the people who follow your leadership afraid that you are only looking for the next opportunity?  If so, you can forget loyalty.  Do they see you living with less commitment to the mission than you are asking them to have?  Congratulations, you have just undermined loyalty.

So many of our smaller churches have had revolving door pastorates, and this is one reason that many remain small.  When congregations have been conditioned to expect their pastors to leave every 18-24 months we should not wonder why they are not enthused about change.  This is the scenario many of them have seen played out for years, even decades.  A new pastor comes in excited about being in the place where "God has called me to serve."  A couple of years later he or she announces that "God has called me to a new place of service" and abandons them.  During that time he or she has asked for commitment, dedication, and sacrifice from the people, but they have not seen such things from their previous pastors nor do they anticipate seeing them from this individual.  Such churches will never make history nor have much impact on their communities.

We have too many ministers who never unbox their belongings.  Almost as soon as they arrive at a new place of ministry they begin looking for the next opportunity.  I once had a young pastor call me within months after starting a new pastorate to tell me he felt God was leading him to another church and wanted my help in finding one.  His reason was that he didn't feel the church was following him.  I asked him how long he had been there, and the answer was eight months.  I then asked, "Why do you think they would follow you?  You haven't been there long enough for them to trust your leadership?  I know for a fact that they have paid for some of your education, bought you a new computer system, and done some other things to invest in your ministry there.  They've demonstrated their commitment to you, and now they are looking for the same commitment from you to them, and you're talking about leaving."  I refused to help him find another church.  He soon found one on his own, and within a few months it blew up.  To my knowledge he's out of the ministry now.

This same church then called an older, bivocational minister who has now been there for several years.  The church has a solid ministry going on in its small community and is supporting some missionaries both in the US and overseas.  This pastor has demonstrated a loyalty to the church they have not experienced in recent pastorates, and they are gladly following his leadership.  They are willing to go the extra mile because they see him doing the same.

It's time we in the ministry stop blaming God for our wanderlust.  If you want to leave, then leave, but stop acting as if God is so confused about what He wants to do with your ministry that He changes his mind every couple of years.  Climb the ministerial ladder if that is what you want to do, but don't be surprised if when you reach the top you find it's not what you thought it would be, and don't be surprised when you close out your ministry that you don't look back with regret at what your ministry could have been if you had only remained somewhere for an extended period of time.

More pastors need to fall in love with their congregations.  In my book The Bivocational Pastor: Two Jobs, One Ministry I wrote these words found in the diary of a pastor many years ago to express how I felt about my congregation.  "This morning I prayed hard for my parish, my poor parish, my first and perhaps my last, since I could ask no better than to die here.  My parish!  The words can't even be spoken with a kind of soaring love."  Do you love your place of ministry like that?  Do the members of your congregation know of your love for them?  Do they see in you the kind of loyalty that such love should create?  When they are convinced of your loyalty towards them, they will return that loyalty and follow your leadership.