Transforming the Church – One Minute Manager

There are many struggling churches in mainline denominations that aspire to Make disciples for Christ, Serve the Community and Impact the World. Often they struggle with limited finances, limited energy and few people. Efforts to reach more people and share the life changing message of Jesus Christ seem futile and the few ideas that do work seem to never provide the traction necessary to change the direction of the congregations decline.    I believe that there is something to learn from relevant success stories of congregations that have already gone through the process of revitalizing and restoring their mission. The role of the transformative, revitalizing pastor is to help the congregation discover the best practices to achieving the long term mission and vision. . As a pastoral and leadership coach here are some suggestions to accelerate the learning curve:

1. Find multiple examples of congregations with similar demographics and a similar ministry context that have coped with equivalent challenges successfully. Learn from their mistakes, experiences and successes
2. Find congregations that model excellence in the ministry areas that you desire to grow in even if the resources are outside of your denomination in a congregation that has no ministry context similarities.  Learn what the best practices are and let them become the standards that your strive for as you revision the ministry.
3. Develop a step by step logic model of the reasons for the best practices and the success of the turnaround churches. Look for features that they share in common.
4. Present these shared “success factors” as precepts, guidelines, and principles that can be implemented by all those who wish to achieve similar levels of success.
5. Document your journey by video, journaling, pictures and recordings.
6. Celebrate mini successes along the journey and review the ultimate goal and objectives often

 

Announcing Pastor Chris Dembeck

For immediate release July 6, 2013

____________________________________________________________
CHRIS DEMBECK APPOINTED AS NEW CAMPUS PASTOR AT WEST BALTIMORE UMC/INFINITE GRACE PARISH

Mr. Christopher Dembeck. has been appointed as a campus pastor for the West Baltimore United Methodist Church and Infinite Grace United Methodist Church by resident Bishop Marcus Matthews of the Baltimore-Washington Conference. Christopher Dembeck began his duties at West Baltimore July 1. The church is located at 5130 Greenwich in Baltimore, on the city’s historic “40 West” corridor.

Mr. Dembeck, a native of Baltimore, Maryland, was formerly a technical recruiter for various technical and non-technical growing companies within the Baltimore Washington Corridor and assisted them in finding and hiring top IT talent in the region.

Chris has been attending and volunteering at Catonsville United Methodist Church for several years in different roles including: High School Sunday School teacher, Stephen Minister, and Contemporary Worship leader.  Just this year Chris has been confirmed as a Certified Candidate for Ordained Ministry by the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church. 

Chris is married to Laura Dembeck, and they have one daughter, Ava and one son, Samuel.  Chris earned his Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration with a Marketing concentration from Towson University.  He will be starting Seminary full-time in the Fall at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington D.C.

The Baltimore-Washington Conference of The United Methodist Church is comprised of 694 congregations with nearly 200,000 members. It is the home of Methodism in America, with the founding of the denomination at Lovely Lane Chapel in 1784.

 

Power Quote by Isaiah Redd

“My greatest hope as a campus pastor of  Infinite Grace Fellowship is to, “authentically” minister to those Believers and Non-Believers who have been “Beat up and set aside” by the World. My deepest concern is inspire Youth and Young Adults to draw closer to Christ, majorly focusing on Young Men.  My prayer is that by the Grace and Sovereignty of God, their eyes open wide enough for them to see and receive God’s Majesty and they will feel led to leave the World, and cling to God.”

~Isaiah Redd, Sr. ~

Campus Pastor, Infinite Grace Fellowship

 

10 Principles of 21st Century Leadership

By James Strock

1. Everyone Can Lead, Because Everyone Can Serve.

2. The Most Valuable Resource of Any Enterprise is its People.

3. We Are in Transition from a Transaction-Based World to a Relationship-Based World.

4. Leadership is a Relationship Between Empowered, Consenting Adults.

5. Leadership is a Dynamic Relationship.

6. There is No Universal Leadership Style.

7. Leadership Roles Are Converging.

8. A Leader’s Unique Task is to Imagine and Advance a Vision.

9. Love is the Highest Level of Leadership Relationship.

10. Character is a Competitive Advantage.

What do you think? In the coming weeks and months this blog will examine these principles and their implications for how we all live and work today.

The link to this article is http://servetolead.org/10-principles-of-21st-century-leadership/

 

Spiritual Leadership Skills Poll

 

Churches and Innovation

"If your church is not innovating, it is dying."

“Innovation is changing organizational systems to provide service or produce your product more effectively, efficiently or more profitably. When the organization is crystal clear about the new results that are expected, innovation thrives and eventually becomes a part of the DNA of the organization. The organization that constantly improves stretches, takes risks, and finds new ways of delivering excellence welcomes the changes that are involved with innovation.”

This was a journal entry during the time that I was in a class on creativity and organizational development.  I look at many of the mainline churches in America and realize that the concept of constant innovation is not embedded in their DNA.  Many of these congregations are declining and struggling to reach new people, grow disciples and maintain the active fellowship. They run programs and hold events but never address the systems in the church that produced the challenges that they are currently facing.

Designing intentional systems of faith sharing, stewardship, discipleship, and worship design are essential for a church to be relevant and vital in the 21^st century.  Churches that are more concerned with having church in a way that appeases the wants and desires of church members rather than intentionally designing systems to reach the prodigal sons and daughters are voting to close their doors.

There are more prodigals outside the church than disciples who are in our churches.

 

Multi-site churches: A new variety of religious experience

By Cathy Lynn Grossman, USA TODAY

NEW YORK — Susan Hong stops Pastor Tim Keller as he dashes up the steps of a Baptist church on a hectic corner of Broadway and West 79th Street.

She heard him preach at 10:30 a.m. on the Upper East Side. Now she has brought friends to hear him at the West Side 5 p.m. service. He briefly greets her, then slips into the service just before his sermon.

In 45 minutes, before the final hymn, Keller’s gone — off to deliver the same sermon, “The Gospel Changes Everything,” on the East Side. Then, again, Keller, founder and senior pastor of Manhattan‘s Redeemer Presbyterian Church, will dash back to West 79th Street for his fourth service of the day at three leased locations.

Read the Entire Article

 

Dealing with Difficult People

dealing-with-difficult-people-leadership-day

This is the Power Point for the workshop that I did on Dealing with Difficult People.

 

High Impact Quote – Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr.: … power without love is reckless and abusive and … love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice

 

Everything Must Change

Everythign Must Chnage