Be Encouraged

 

Entrepreneurial DNA for Pastors

Entrepreneurs Don’t Need Work-Life Balance

This is a good article that outlines the DNA of high functioning entrepreneurs. It also outlines principles that are diametrically opposed to everything that we teach pastors.  Life balance is one of the major emphasis that we encourage pastors to develop in early interviews as potential ministry candidates are beginning their journey.

As entrepreneurs, we have zero sense of balance. We’re all in, all the time. It doesn’t matter if it’s day or night, weekday or weekend — each of us focuses on our vision with a single-minded passion.

JEFF STIBEL  Chairman and CEO of Dun & Bradstreet Credibility Corp. and author ofWired for Thought.

 

Mainline churches are in desperate need of entrepreneurial pastors who will plant and redevelop churches.  The behavioral DNA of entrepreneurs are nurtured out of a candidate so they will be effective as a pastor in our average churches. The ordination committees really need to rethink their approach to identifying church planters and redevelopment pastors.  We see these entrepreneurial pastors being successful in non denominational settings and as they grow with the congregation most of them develop the life balance necessary to be effective pastors.

A paradigm shift is necessary to attract and support entrepreneurial pastor.  I believe that this has significant implications for all mainline churches.

 

Developing a Great Staff

(The fifth in a series of posts by Dr. Merritt on pastoral leadership) 

It is without question one of, if not the most, difficult and yet important job of any leader. You will make mistakes in hiring staff. Over the years, I’ve tried to remember three principles in bringing people on to serve with me.

1. Find people who can do what you cannot do and can do it better than anybody else can do it.

2. Let them do their job. Delegate with feedback and accountability, and then trust them to get the job done.

3. Don’t be afraid to let others shine and get credit for a job well done.

This is a great article by Dr. Merritt.  You can read the entire blog at http://pastorsedge.myshopify.com/blogs/edgeblog/4087572-keys-to-building-staff-leadership

 

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.

 

You can’t Cheap Thrill Excellence

 I have been consulting with congregations and pastors for 20 years around their “worship wars”.  Very few weeks go by where I do not get questions about how to negotiate the introduction, financing, purpose, or function of an alternative service.  In mainline denominations the “traditional” service is usually the strongest service where the people who serve on all of the administrative committees have the power to open the doors or shut the doors to a new service prospering.

It is amazing how many church councils have a clear conscience in voting on a budget that provides the traditional service with a $25,000 budget and then they give the alternative service $5,000 to start up and sustain themselves.  The cycle has become quite predictable.  When the church leaders evaluate the new service for vitality they claim that there are not enough people, the level of ministry is not equal to the excellence that they currently experience in traditional worship is not reflected in the new service and “it is taking the pastor’s time away from concentrating on our service”. 

New services tend to reach new people who are not indoctrinated in our church centered world. They may not be instantly committed and often do not give significantly at the beginning.  New services are excellent opportunities to share the Good News of Jesus Christ with those who are far from God or have been hurt by the church in a casual, conversational and caring worship environment.  By eliminating the alternative service you are removing God’s children from the fountain of grace that should be flowing throughout the entire congregation.  

“The responsibility of the older, more mature members in starting a new worship service is to pray for it and pay for it”  Bill Easum  

He said this many years ago and now in my role as Guide, coach and consultant I understand the wisdom clearly.  It takes money to get a worship leader who can build, develop and disciple band members.  It takes finances to get the appropriate multimedia equipment and sound reinforcement.  It takes pray to strengthen the prodigals that are searching for God. The leaders, who are pursuing the vision of reaching the lost, left out and marginalized in your community need prayer for wisdom and guidance.  It takes finances to do community outreach and connect the church to the needs of people in the community.  If you expect the same excellence that is present in the established service, you have to budget appropriately.  This may mean cutting the traditional service budget so that the kingdom of God can flourish.  True community is where the people live with all things in common including finances.

As mainline churches seek to be relevant to this generation, I suspect that the worship wars will continue.  One guiding principle is you can’t cheap thrill excellence.  And the second is the responsibility of the mature body of disciples is to “pray for it and pay for it”.

 

The Relevance of the Black Church

Over the last few months there have been many vigorous discussions about the relevance of the Black Church. I have weighed in with two articles basically saying that Black Churches have become kingdom and socially irrelevant. My arguments are sound but Rev. Freddie Haynes clarified both of my papers in one simple statement.

“The reason that the Black Church is irrelevant is because we are raising the most selfish, self centered me, myself and its all mine generation in history. When the “favor of God” is connected to materialism, then kingdom morality has left the scene.”

My personal take away from that session was, Preachers that promote and proclaim popular clichés and ear tingling messages without a moral foundation that is rooted in the scripture make the messenger not only irrelevant but also an accomplice to premeditated sin.

The heart of the Black church has always called for justice based on the needs of marginalized. When you are a part of the marginalized community it is easy to call for justice but when you are a part of the privileged it is difficult to identify the injustices. The reality is that WEB Dubois was right, the more privilege you have the more responsibility we have to engage social systems and inequities for the least, lost and left out.

 

One Wonderful Evening

This week I spent an evening with some wonderful, gifted, anointed young adult clergy who inspired me greatly. I was blessed to listen to them talking about their hopes and dreams for the church. They described some good times and some challenges but overall I heard their hearts about how God was speaking to each of them about their ministry, goals to engage transformative ministry and to make disciples for Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

As I listened to them and reflected on the stories that I have also heard over the years from established pastors I had a simple take away. We are not called to work toward being comfortable but we are called to be faithful. The energy, creativity, and enthusiasm that the young adult clergy live with should be our unending goal in ministry. It is easy to get side tracked and become complacent. I have heard statements like:

• “I retire in a couple of years and I really should not start anything new.”
• “As pastor my job is to keep everyone moving in the same direction and requiring the leadership to come to bible study or participate in a small group may cause conflict”
• “We do not need a new worship service to reach new people because our church is a family and we are comfortable with knowing everyone.”
• “There is no conflict here so if we pay our apportionments, file our reports on time and I show up at the appropriate meetings I will not be reappointed.”

I now view each of these statements as excuses for not engaging the call of ministry as vigorously as the work of being a pastor. As a pastor I am honoring an office that is a result of my calling. My calling is to live a life fully committed to teaching, preaching, the sacraments, service and the ordering of the ministry within the church. There is no retirement date, no promises that there will or won’t be any conflict and it is not about having a comfortable church family. It is about reaching men, women, boys and girls with the Good News that Jesus Christ is the risen son of God and our Savior. We are the people of God who share God’s grace as a lifestyle not a function of our office. We should be eager about encountering those outside of the church and challenging people to deeper spiritual maturity and greater awareness of self care boundaries.

Thursday evening was a reminder to focus on the call not the office. Because of the call I can endure the challenges of multiple priorities. Because of my call I set standards for leadership to be spiritual leaders and not just office holders. Because of my calling I can spend and hour in prayer and study, organize the staff, have lunch with leaders, have snacks with the youth afterschool, sip tea with my seniors and pray with the church council in one day. The calling is from God and God gives me the energy, strength and ability to fulfill all that I am called to do. The incredible group of young adult clergy encouraged me and challenged me. I am humbled and honored to be able to serve them and their congregations.

 

Makeover for Revitalization

During our vacation this year we drove Niagara in an effort to be economical. It was fun and provided a lot of experiences that are missed as you fly to your vacation destination. As a general rule I usually do not eat at McDonald’s but this is my daughter’s restaurant of choice. My attitude quickly adjusted when I found out that each highway side McDonald’s has experienced a makeover. Bright new colors, open spaces to manage traffic, free WiFi, comfortable seats, restrooms were clean and the menu has changed. They now have several salad choices, smoothies, wraps and chicken choices which quickly got my attention. Traveling as a child I never remember McDonald’s being like this. I decided to ask the manager of one store what prompted all of the stores getting a makeover. He shared with me that the objective was to become more appealing to this generation without compromising their core business of providing a meal for a family at a reasonable price. Their competition was no longer other fast food restaurants but Panera, Starbuck’s, Dunken Donuts, Qdoba’s and other places that have done a great job of reaching the new and emerging culture.

I had these simple take- a- ways from our conversation and my observation.

1. Churches that are in the process of revitalization need to make sure that their core ministry is making disciples and that this ministry is strong. The core ministry can have other ministries added to assist revitalization but if the core is not solid your efforts keep you spinning in circles. McDonald’s core of hamburgers and fries still drive their business but healthier food choices were necessary to reach more people and maintain market share. The food was freshly prepared to meet each order rather than being prepackaged.
2. Churches that are in the process of revitalization should consider a makeover of their facilities. The signage, lighting, WiFi, new seats and design were created to give you a McDonald’s experience that moved beyond the food. What do visitors experience when they visit our congregations? The mood that was created in each restaurant was familiar to a coffee shop and several had greeters as you entered the main lobby area. Managers and team leaders had gone through hospitality training. The quality improvement was noticeable
3. Churches in the process of revitalization need to be aware of the changing culture and your ability to connect with the culture. McDonald’s appears to have worked hard at being relevant in several areas. Near the racetrack the restaurant was themed on race cars. Near Niagara Falls the McD had a water theme including a mini fountain and fish in a pond. What ministry does your church offer that meets and connects with the needs of the people in the community where you reside?

Revitalization is not impossible but it does require the congregation to honestly evaluate their core ministry and become externally focused in how they do ministry.

 

It is all in the aroma

We went to an outlet mall on a day that was 93 degrees.  Every store had their AC cranked up high for the comfort of their patrons.  The traffic in the mall was moderate for a hot summer day.  There were three stores that had their doors flung open.  A perfume store, a chocolate store and a bread store.  What was interesting is each of these stores had more traffic than the stores.  The fragrances that were flowing out of the stores were amazing. Because of their aromas they attracted lots of people with an open door on a hot day.

I wonder what fragrance would people experience if you left the doors of your congregation open.  Would they experience the aroma of hospitality, the fresh smell of grace or the sweet smell of God’s unconditional love?  People have many choices for a house of worship. When visitors show up your congregation has one shot at having the fragrances of God’s presence overwhelm and attract them. The goal is to have visitors desire to come back to find out what is the bouquet of aromas that makes your church so attractive.

 

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.

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