One of the problems facing the church is the quality of leadership available to lead them. The skill sets needed to move the church forward are often not the skill sets we look for when selecting leaders. We need to ‘hack’ this problem.

Quick Examples:

We focus the search on good preaching, but don’t focus on the prospective pastor’s ability to lead.
We elect officers largely on their attendance and giving (ie, their apparent support) rather than closely looking at their talents and leadership qualities.

Pastors are often chosen based on their ability to deliver a sermon, how well they impress the search committee, and what their hand-picked “references” say about them.  I graduated from seminary and served as a minister in two churches, and I can say without reservation that the skill set required to deliver good sermons and visit the sick is not the same as required to lead people in  innovative ministry and spiritual transformation.

 

If I were on a pastoral search committee I would be interested in their sermon and people skills, but I would also ask several things to gain insight into what kind of pastor this person was, -what skills they have and are trying to improve on. Here are some examples of the kinds of questions I’d ask:

1. What are the problems facing the church today and give me examples of what you’ve done to address those problems. I’d want specifics. Success stories, and failure stories. Then I’d ask the candidate’s personal references specifically about these stories.

2. What books have you read and seminars have you attended on the issues of “transforming the church” and “equipping leaders.” If they hesitate too long, or can’t provide specific answers, they’re making it up. If they aren’t doing the reading I wouldn’t hire them. If they leave off their “continuing education history” on their resume, ask for it in writing. You want to know what skills they are working on, and what their commitment is to continuing education.

3. Name the magazines you subscribe to that are church-related, and non-church related.

BTW… If I were on the PERSONNEL committee, I would ask the pastor these same questions EVERY YEAR as part of the review process. I would also PRESCRIBE seminars and skill sets which the committee felt the pastor needed.

The problem with most “references” is obvious: they are hand-picked friends of the person you are interested in. And even I can find three people who will say nice things about me  ;-)  So here are a few interview tricks from the files of “Police Interrogation Tactics”: 

1.  Interview the reference more than once.
2.  Interview the reference AT LENGTH. People will loosen their tongue the more they talk.
3.  Ask them for dirt. They won’t give you the dirt the first time around, so ask them in a couple of different ways.
4. Ask them about their church -its strengths and weaknesses. Their answers may reflect the pastor’s strengths and weaknesses.

A few other questions I’d ask the pastor if I were on the search committee:

1. Name 3 mission trips/projects you’ve been personally involved with over the past two years.

2. What was your biggest program failure. 

3. How do you plan to reach out to visitors and new members.

4. What creative forms of worship have you personally been involved with over the past two years.

I would also ask to speak with 5 members of their church, and then ask those members about the prospective pastor’s “inspirational” skills. Are they a leader people want to follow? ]

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We have the same problem choosing volunteer leaders.

And here I’m specifically talking about those leaders who are typically selected by a “nominating committee” to a church office,–Elders, deacons, chairpersons, etc.

The criteria by which they are chosen usually goes like this:

• Worship attendance
• Giving
• Niceness

 

The problem is that this nominating process usually overlooks skill sets, and you end up with half your leadership group ill-suited to the task. 

In one church I was in, this traditional criteria produced some difficult results…. The guy in charge of the Facility committee told me he had never done facility work in his life and wasn’t particularly handy either. But he was a good attender, giver and quite friendly. Just couldn’t get anything done. He wanted to be on the Worship Committee because he was in the choir, but they already had a leader there. The gal heading up the Personnel Committee was a middle-level manager. I really liked her. But not stepping on toes was her M.O.  The person heading up the Mission Committee was a secretary and very quiet person. All three of them were very nice caring people, but based on the results of their committees, each were in over their heads. (It would have helped if the pastor were actively involved in two of those committees, but he didn’t believe in attending full meetings, just 10 minutes or so of each as he circulated around on “meeting night.”)

The problem is usually worse in small congregations.
Small churches have a small pool of leaders to draw from. In a small church where I used to attend, they had an annual problem finding people to serve as elders and deacons. One year the nominating committee couldn’t fill the slots so they went into the annual meeting leaving an elder slot open to floor nominations. The person who got nominated (by their friend) was awful.  Another year their solution was to reduce the number of elder and deacon ”offices” they needed to fill each year.  Rotating members OUT of positions every three years didn’t help. They were trapped by a historical form of government. (The long-term solution is to grow the membership, but that’s another story)

There’s yet ANOTHER problem afflicting volunteer congregational leaders: most don’t like to step on toes. They stay quiet about their qualms. They don’t like to challenge the murky consensus.  When they don’t understand something, or don’t quite agree with it, they defer. 

They will question a bill at a restaurant, but stay quiet during the financial report.

They will launch a new business, but are risk averse when it comes to church initiatives.

What’s really ODD about that is that some of our volunteer leaders are VERY COMPETENT leaders in their daily lives. I’ve seen small business owners and CEOs sit on their thoughts and hands during meetings. They might tell you what they thought AFTER the meeting, but not always during it. They’re intimidated. And they tend to defer to the pastor.

Ideas for HACKING the “Volunteer Leadership Problem”

Chew on these…

1. Change “Where” you recruit from. Broaden your pool of volunteers and skillsets by looking at people who don’t fit the traditional defintion of “active member.” Some of the very best leaders I have worked with were DRAWN INTO LEADERSHIP and more active participation because they were recruited to help lead. It’s backwards, but it works!   I’ve seen marginal members renew their faith BECAUSE they were asked to lead. Yet the nominating process in many churches works exactly the opposite. Many members are excluded from consideration because they are considered marginal members.  Could it be that they are marginal members because they are not asked to help lead?

2. Look for inspirational people to become leaders. Some people “just got it.” And they have success largely because others “catch it” from them. Most can succeed at tasks outside their skillset because they are good at motivating others to help them.

3. Shake up the Make-up of your leadership groups. In particular, do NOT assemble a committee to “be the workforce.” Rather, seek out those whose skills and eccentricities are suited to the THINKING and LEADING you require. Worker bees are easier to find, but often can’t see the forest for the trees (or flowers for the pistil).

Take Worship for example. Many worship committees are made up of a representative from the choir, an usher, the old guy who does the tape ministry, the lady who organizes the communion schedule, the choir director and the pastor.  Where are the creative people understand the “visual language” of a sanctuary?  But where are the theater/drama-oriented volunteers? Where are those who want to expand beyond what the choir director and choir representative’s vision of “church music” ?  

Form follows function. If you want your committee to function as a source of creative ideas and dynamic change, don’t form it with worker bees.

 

Or consider the Mission Committee…  They are likely made up of people who have a heart for mission, but have no head for promotion and sales. They don’t understand why SO FEW in the congregation are willing to do more than just write a check.  A very effective volunteer leader once told me that, “the church is in sales, but it is run by bookworms and clerks.”  

Another example….  Many Personnel Committees are formed by the Pastor. The chair is even selected by the pastor. So guess what, -they function as a group of friends to the pastors, where in many cases, they need to be challenging the pastor. This is one place where the church should have CEO-types, and skilled human resource people serving on the committee independent of their level of activity in the church.

4. Hack Your Meeting Agendas to allow “leaders to lead” rather than report.

I believe most of our volunteer leaders start with good intentions and then get beat down by poorly led meetings and mind-numbing agendas and reports. The church simply doesn’t have time or talent to waste on such poor use of leaders’ time.  There are books on the subject. Here are a few pointers:

a. Don’t waste valuable face-to-face time on what people can read. Put the mundane in writing and send it out ahead of time.

b. Place the church’s initiatives and larger issues at the forefront of your agenda, not relegated to “new business” at the end of the meeting when everyone is tired.

c. Carve out a spot in every agenda for study and discussion of long range goals and planning. Do this at every level of church management, from the Council, to the committees, to staff meetings.

d. Appoint a small group of qualified people to handle the church’s financial matters at a time and place of their own choosing, rather than subjecting the entire leadership team to mind-numbing minutae. Appoint a watchdog leader to work with the group -who’s job it is to report back to and interpret the finance group’s work and requests. In the old days, we called these “the trustees.” Problem was, we gave them power of the purse strings. I’m not giving it to them again..

5. PRIVATELY and regularly poll leaders and members as to their attitudes about certain issues. “Open meetings” do not always produce “open discussion.”  Many people will not say how they really feel in the presence of staff, or in large groups.  Preachers and leaders need to have ways to listen.

These last four suggestions recognize the need to “Raise Up Leaders in the Way They Should Go.”  We need to have regular program of leadership training. Yet in most churches, this need goes completely ignored.

6. Invite outside facilitators to train leaders and help them discuss church issues.

7. Bring in outside leaders to inspire your own. Invite managers and innovative thinkers from your community to address and inspire your leaders. Invite leaders from other congregations to come share what and HOW they are moving their church forward.

8. Begin a “reading program” for your church staff and key volunteers. Identify several books which they should read and discuss together. Do the same with a wider group of volunteers as time permits. People will do better with a “full tank.”

10. Make “continuing ed” part of every meeting. In many churches, meetings begin with devotions and then move right into business. What I’m suggesting is that the “first order of business is adult education.” Bring in articles related to issues your group is dealing with. If you’re a mission committee, share articles and reports from the mission field and from the newspapers. Most newspapers carry articles about food pantries and local poverty issues. Share them, to learn what others are doing, to gain new insights, and to stay connected. But also consider articles from divergent sources, such as Forbes and Parenting magazine. They hold insights into how to deal with today’s members. Let insights from other fields INFORM your work.

Recommended Books:

“Good to Great” Pastors… and an interview with the author about the church leadership problem which echoes sentiments similar to those found in this blog post, including ‘about’ volunteer leaders.  http://www.christianitytoday.com/le/2006/002/7.48.html

Christian Chaos: Revolutionizing Congregational Organization by Tom Bandy

Read any title from Easum Bandy Associates…. reknown church change consultants. www.easumbandy.com

7 Habits of High Effective People by Steven Covey. A bestseller. Take its 7 pts and discuss how a congregation and its leaders could employ each “habit.”

 Change Your Church For Good: Tipping Over the Sacred Cows, by Brad Powell

How to Change Your Church (without killing it) by Jim Mellado, Gene Appel, and Alan Nelson

Recommended Magazines for Staff:

Net Results -the magazine from Easum and Bandy.  www.easumbandy.com

Leadership Magazine -the practical journal for church leaders. http://www.christianitytoday.com/leaders/

If you have resources you’d like to recommend, please post them in a “comment” to this blog.

<>< Neil