Last month I got one of those mailings from a nearby church inviting me to their Easter service with the words: “If you don’t have other plans… Come Have Free Breakfast with Your Neighbors This Sunday“.  They had me at free.

What’s it cost?
I went to https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm and punched in my zipcode and figured it would cost about 15 cents postage a piece. There were 12,000 addresses in my zipcode! ….so fortunately you can select “Carrier Routes” within your zipcode to target specific neighborhoods. GREAT, I thought, but which carrier routes should I select? The usps site was no help.

I did some googling and came up with Search Bug.  SEARCH BUG tells me (for free) what the carrier routes are in my zipcode, how many households are in each, and what the avg INCOME of that route is.  Most importantly, there’s a MAP showing the carrier routes, so that I can target people living around the church. http://www.searchbug.com/tools/cartzip.aspx

The USPS site tells you to find a printer in your area who can print the piece AND mail it using the Every Door Direct Mail protocols. Figure your printed piece will cost you another 25 cents a piece. More if it’s in color. The printer will prepare them for mailing and all you have to do is tell them what carrier routes you want it sent to.

Direct Mail has it’s purposes, strengths and weaknesses.

Forget a “generic” mailing. Most people in your neighborhood already know:

-where you are
-when your service is (they can read your sign)
-and why they don’t come

I think it would make MOST SENSE to use it to advertise “community events” that bring people on your property. Things like neighborhood VBS’, carnivals, concerts, mission yard sales, and yes, even “free Easter breakfast.”

I would also advertise what makes you different, for example, an alternative worship service, or counseling services, or the fact that you have a new preacher who’s a lot better than the old one! (actually, not kidding about that)

When people come to THOSE events, hit them with your church flyers.  Then remember to personally follow up on them to welcome them back. (See my recent posts about “shopping for a new church” for how BEST to collect visitor info).

OTHER OPTIONS:

You can view neighborhood addresses online and create your OWN mailing addresses by cutting and pasting from those online lists.  Go to your local tax assessor’s property tax website. The names and address of every homeowner in your neighborhood is a matter of public record, and most municipalities have them online now.

You can also have your youth group walk the neighborhood with flyers. Order some PENS emblazoned with your church’s name and website and attach them to the flyer so it can be dropped off at a front door and not blow away.  A dozen kids can do 200 homes in no time at all.

At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit blew the Disciples out of their safe upperroom and into the crowd milling about in the neighborhood. And it gave them the gift of speaking in new ways.

Maybe it’s time for a few new approaches in your church too.

Check out my software at http://sundaysoftware.com

I don’t know anything about Kenda Dean, other than she does youth ministry in S. Africa, and is blessed with some great insights.

My own ”Top 10″ would have been “The Top Ten Things I’d Do Dfferently in my youth groups if I could do it all over again.”

Here are some of my thoughts on that…

My #1 “Thing I’d Do Differently” would be to do much more one-on-one pastoring and “2 or 3″ small group pastoring. I’d spend less time on “group” ministry.

My #2 “Thing I’d Do Differently” would be to spend less time OVERALL on youth ministry, –and more time ministering to specific adults who have come back to the church at some stage in their life.  When I look back on all my years in youth ministry, I now realize how I OVER-SPENT my staff time on youth ministry and didn’t spend enough time on ministering to individuals who were “taking a run” at the church. Sometimes that individual was a young adult, or a middle-age person, or senior who had for some reason have decided to give the church a second chance.  As I look back, I see the faces of so many who crossed my path, and I didn’t have the time to connect with them at a deeper level, because sometimes I was spending too much time on cajoling some youth who were not receptive or ready to connect.

This is not to denigrate the importance of youth ministry. Rather, it simply recognizes that we have a finite amount of time. It also recognizes that “there is a time and season” when someone is ready for faith, and ready for greater involvement in the church, and we often MISS these people when its their time because we’re over-spent on those not ready. In some cases, they were kids who floated through “youth groups past” and are now taking another run at the church years later.

If you’re focused on youth ministry this surely sounds like heresy. But looking back through my several decades of youth ministry, I realize that I came in contact with so many ”second runners” that I didn’t take time for because my job description and focus didn’t understand the opportunity and importance.  I wish ”Now Neil” could go back in time and talk to “Then Neil”.  But would he listen?

I’ve written some other things about youth ministry in this blog, including “Confessions of an Old Youth Minister” http://sundayresources.net/neil/2010/02/18/confessions-of-a-youth-minister/ You can see more of my thoughts on CE here at http://sundayresources.net/neil/category/christian-education-ideas-and-advice/

<>< Neil

In my software ministry, I made a fun game about the reasons why we should worship and go to church, and the excuses we use to avoid connecting! www.sundaysoftware.com/zombies

After some recent SLUGGISH BEHAVIOR on my 2 year old laptop, I downloaded the latest free version of Windows Cleanup from Microsoft and BY GOSH IT WORKED. Got rid of all sorts of leftover files, orphaned programs, clutter, and things I wasn’t using anymore. It freed up and re-arranged my hard disk space so it would operate more efficiently. Wouldn’t it be nice to have such a program for your church?   There’s your parable in brief. 

One of the biggest RESOURCE HOGS are programs that think they need to startup everytime you turn on your computer, or turn on your browser.  These programs scream for attention, –even if they are low priority.  Sometimes they are called “plug-ins” …and all they do is TAKE UP WORKING MEMORY, and SAP OPERATING POWER.  The Windows cleanup program and ‘uninstall’ feature work wonders on such programs.  Your church have any programs or program leaders like that?  More parable.

A lot of these resource hogs are “running in the background” -as they say in Windows. Press Ctrl-Alt-Delete on your keyboard to bring up your Task Manager and you will see tabs for “Applications” and “Processes”  …all running and sucking power and attention away from your processor. Some are essential. Some are optional. And some just need to be stopped.  (They are like the “phantom power” problem we have at home with all our powercords.) 

Who’s doing Task Managing in the church? 
Where’s our “uninstall” button?

One of the biggest SLOW DOWNS on your computer is your “Windows Registry”.  This is a filing cabinet of bureaucratic protocols for nearly every program and configuration on your computer. And every time you start up your computer, Windows has to load the registry. Over time, your registry gets bloated with all sorts of meaningless and fanciful information, and this starts to slow Windows down.  More parable!  (Aside: Bloated registry kind of reminds me of the church’s annual report. “The did-little committee did a lot this year.” hahaha)

If you have ears, you get my drift.

For the slightly deaf:  The church has a lot of resource hogging, registry bloating, phantom power issues.  …me too.

Some “Cleanup” is required. 
But what kind of cleanup?  
Based on a personal experience which I’m about to share, …even the KIND of cleanup needs to be considered.

Here’s the Confession:

Many years ago they did a “time study” of the staff at a church where I served as an Associate Pastor. It was done pro-bono by a professional management consultant (which should have raised a red flag right there!    They decided I was “working at 140% capacity.”  So what did they do? 

-Teach me how to be more efficient?   No.  
-Help me prioritize my work?   No. 
-Decide that some of what I was doing wasn’t really needed?   No. 
=Help me delegate some of my responsibilities to volunteers?    Hahaha.

No, instead they hired another minister and gave him some of my responsibilities. I was SO happy!  …and immediately proceeded to fill my new found “extra time” with new things related to the remainder of my job description.  In computer parlance, they uninstalled some programs so I could install new ones. “One devil for another.”

THE MISTAKE they (and I) made was that they looked at HOW MUCH I was doing,

———and not at all WHAT or HOW I was doing it,

……………….or IF I should be doing it at all.

Looking back…. one of the quickest and most profound changes they (I) should have implemented, was to simply say, “you will spend X amount of time every week outside the church office calling upon individuals and families.”  I did do calling, but only when time permitted, or when people were sick.  They wanted me to continue to focus on our rather successful programs.  Yet now I realize that their definition of “success” (and mine) was skewed. Even as successful as we were in that church (we grew by 30% during my time there and doubled our budget), I was still only really actively ministering to half the parishoners in my areas of responsibility, and it wasn’t as nearly relational and personal as I now believe it should have been.

Secret(?) 
Most ministers do not like calling on parishoners. It goes against our sense of privacy to “cold call” people, …walk into their homes and ask questions about their life. Rather, most ministers WAIT for parishoners to come to them. Or, we create programs, such as Bible studies, where the faithful few expect questions and want to share. The problem is that those programs don’t attract or provide pastoral contact to most of our parishoners.  Now that I’m back on the “pew side” of things (no longer actively serving as “the” minister in a church) I am reminded that most of us yearn for ministers -and other people we look up to, –to take us seriously, to inquire about our life and hopes and dreams and concerns. …To get beyond the chit-chat. 

Since those days, I’ve reinvented my personal beliefs about many things in the church.  And this blog has many of those ideas.

In youth ministry, for example,  –If I were starting over I’d make my youth ministry more relational and much less “programmatic.”  You can read about my experiments with a different kind of youth ministry at http://www.sundaysoftware.com/articles/tribe13/    You can also see my research into the “church attendance” issue and suggestions for children/youth at http://sundayresources.net/neil/2010/11/15/the-positive-effect-of-even-some-attendance/

Conclusion: 

Church Clean Up is a great idea…  Getting rid of Resource Hogs, Prioritizing, Reorganizing.

But perhaps its time to also change many of our Operating System & Assumptions about what we think we’re supposed to be DOING in the first place.

<>< Neil

We have a wonderful clipart CD for churches. Check it out at http://sundaysoftware.com/clickart

• Dirty buildings
• Poor signage
• Typos galore in the worship bulletin
• Fumbling scripture readers
• mediocre sermons
• etc

And crappy websites –some of which attempt to look good, …and may even be “new & improved” –but have navigational ‘fails’ and serious design patheticism that you wonder if anyone cares.

What prompts this rant?
Last night I spent some time updating a list of LINKS to church websites we’ve been maintaining over at www.rotation.org. The links were to some church websites that HAD really great photos of Sunday School rooms.  Half of the links had gone ‘dead’.  Lots of “Page Not Found” messages.

But rather than just delete the link to (your?) their website, I sleuthed around their church sites trying to find out where the great photos had gone to. And in many cases, the answer was “no where.” Their exciting photos of their Sunday School had disappeared.   (And I remind you…. these were terrific photos we had been linking to!  Why would they ditch them?)  I was amazed, -in a bad way.  (Worse, as I looked around these church sites looking for the photos, about half of the sites were so BAD that I felt embarrassed for the congregation.)

Quite a few of the “dead links to great photos” were due to the church “updating” it’s website.  But ALMOST ALL of these  “new and improved” sites  WERE NOT.    I look at some church websites and think, “they’d be better to take this down than show their members and the world that they don’t have a clue about quality.”

One of my recent pet peeves about church websites was illustrated in one of the “dead link sites” I was exploring. It  had fancy navigational slide-out menus that make navigation a tedious experience. For example…

I DID see while sleuthing out these deadlinks some fancy attempts at gussy-ing up the church website. But in the process they had created some new problems, such as:

• Horrible navigational schemes.
• Tiny text drop-down/rollover menus. (Do they reallythink we all have 20 year old eyesite?)
• Boring text describing the Sunday School program with no photos, or a severely reduced number of photos.
• And LOTS of ugly. Lots.   Why are so many church websites “color challenged”? It would be funny if it weren’t so sad and easy to fix.

Quality Control can begin with what we see.

So please go to your church’s website and look at your photos, graphics and navigation. If it’s not good, take it down or change it, or complain to whoever is in charge.

And while we’re at it, apply the same logic to everything else people “see” at your church.

Walk around your building like a visitor would. Does the place look clean?  inviting?

What do weeds and cigarette butts in the front garden say to people? Say to God?

Are your scripture readers fumbling?   Is your sound system embarrassing?   Is your music tired and poor? (fyi…Not talking about “going Vegas” here,  just saying that many churches would be well served if they set their bar just a bit higher on the Worship standards.)

Does your worship bulletin signal “quality” or “lack of care” ?

Does your nursery look like a place YOU would want to spend an hour –on the floor?

Is your church entrance weedy?  Is the church sign peeling? Does it look like the church gardner died?  Do your buidling smell?

I could go on, but you get the idea…  Appearance matters, -and not just for the sake of appearances, but for what it says to others (and to God) about us, -our message, and our level of care and commitment.  These “small” things MATTER.

My authority on this matter is Matthew 25:23 –

“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant!  Because you have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

And it’s not just about God putting us in charge. It’s about members giving to those in charge, –giving their treasure, their loyalty, their time, and being willing to share themselves with you and each other.  “Pearls before swine” is another Jesus saying that applies here.

[On a personal note: I'm in the process of doing this 'walk around' at the church where I worship. I've been asking other members "why/who/when are we going to do x, y and z."  I'm trying not to be a complainer, but I do believe standards are important, --mostly because they are OFTEN an indicator of spiritual health and commitment. So I'm looking for others who share my "point of view" on the things we can view. AND importantly, I'm willing to help organize and roll up my sleeves, ....and open my wallet, to improve what we agree needs paid attention to.

What I'm not willing to do is bang my head against a wall about the obvious stuff. It's a little theory If the congregation wants me to be serious about my involvement, they have to be serious about the BASICS of being a healthy congregation, --and an important SIGN for that kind of healthy congregation is basic quality control. ]

Phew! I feel better.

Now let’s get to work.

—————————

Advertisement!

Some people might assume I’m a pessimist about the church. I’m not. I’m a “contrarian.”

I’m reading a book right now that reminds me of my contrarian approach to looking at the world, the Church, and Christian education, which is:

• Things aren’t always what they seem (and thus you need to seek out alternate points of view).
• The reason “why” things aren’t working (or are) may not be what you think (and our “why” is often self-serving).
• Many popular explanations and opinions and practices are wrong (and we are so comfortable with them that they have made us dumb).
• The problem may be “you,”  and not “them.”  OR, it may indeed be ”them”,  (contrarians dare to look in the mirror).

The book is titled “God’s Battalions” …a myth-busting look at the Crusades. (Rodney Stark, Harper Collins) It’s conclusion grates against the apologetic ”guilt” many westerners have about the Islamic (ie “Arab”) world. The book attempts to set the HISTORICAL record straight and put the Crusades in the proper context by carefully describing the history leading up to the Crusades and examining the source materials on both sides of the history. 

One conclusions of this mythbusting is that the Christian world (ie “western”) doesn’t need to apologize to the Islamic world for the Crusades, and that it is counter-productive to view current history through false interpretations of the Crusades, or by the ethics and belief systems of the modern world. That in fact, due to the history preceding the Crusades and the accepted practices of the time, the Crusades were a logical response to the political, military, and religious needs of the day. (Which isn’t to say they were good or righteous by today’s standards, or a good idea.)

Aside: Had I not gone into the ministry I would have likely become a history teacher. Love the stuff and read a lot of it. My interest in the Crusades began years ago when some very deep family research revealed an ancestral line that went back to the Crusades (and further), and included the builders of Castle Shobak on the eastern shore of the Dead Sea. This large fortress was known as “Mount Royal” or “Montreal” and was featured in the film “Kingdom of Heaven.” Pretty cool, but I digress.

The Crusades were in large part a pious (by standards of the day) and real political response to militant Islam’s takeover of century old “Christian” kingdoms in the Middle East. Byzantium was under constant attack by Islamic forces, and were making military encroachments into Europe. (Islamic forces were stopped 150 miles south of Paris).   The book also points out that the Crusades were mostly about TAKING BACK the Holy Land, not conquering it, for indeed, Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, parts of North Africa, and most of Asia Minor HAD BEEN part of the Byzantine Empire (ie, “Christian”).

And yet, this point of view is rarely taught in the western world.

The book does not excuse the violence and plundering that went on during the Crusades. It re-balances the discussion, noting that Islamic armies were just as likely to massacre civilians and plunder populations as were Christian armies, and that in terms of what’s happening today between east & west, popular history needs to be challenged.

Contrarians, like Myth-busters, don’t take your word for it.

They don’t accept the standard institutional explanations.

Contrarians AUTOMATICALLY assume there is another way to look at something (even if it is wrong), because they know that it is IN THE LOOKING, and IN THE CONSIDERING of ALTERNATE OPINIONS, that myths can be discovered and busted, that they will learn some new things, and may even stumble upon new solutions.

 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

I’m a contrarian by nature. The minute someone says “tomato,” I wonder, “Are you sure it’s not tomahto?”    If you tell me “it has to be this way,” I immediately assume that COULD BE wrong.  And if you tell me, “well it isn’t working because of X,” I immediately assume it may also not be working because of Y & Z.

The Church and most local congregations are in great need of myth-busting.

Put simply…

We need to question what we’ve been told about the church.

We need to question the conventional wisdom about:

• how we operate
• who’s needs we are meeting
• the vested interested of those in charge
• what our needs are, as opposed to what’s easy to do
• is our worship as moving and helpful as we think it is?
• are we really as friendly as we think?
• is our programming really as good as our publicity thinks it is?
• how much of church office work is necessary?
• is paying a minister to spend 15 hours a week writing a sermon a good investment?
• do we have the right leaders?
• are we creating a shallow, warm-fuzzy congregation that can’t withstand a crisis (and are only going to find this out when it’s too late)?
• etc. etc. etc.

One of the ways I’m a contrarian in the church is to simply ask: 

What’s not that great about our congregation and what are the long-term effects of continuing on this way?

And…  If the long-term effects are bad, then we need to change, even if it makes the short-term difficult.

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^

More about Neil the contrarian, and about being a contrarian…

The theological term for this contrarian nature is “iconoclast.”  Many years ago I was called this by a church executive and I had to go look it up to see if it was an insult. (LOL)  An iconoclast is someone who “smashes idols.”  An “idol” is something people falsely worship as true.  An iconoclast is also someone who doesn’t sit idoly by.

Where did this point of view come from?  It was helped by a variety of books I’ve read over the years.

One of the first pieces of contrarian literature I remember reading as a boy was titled, “The Good Ol’ Days: They were terrible.”   It dismantled the myth of an idyllic 19th Century and Victorian age.  Another seminal book in my early life was  the classic, “Your God is Too Small“.  In seminary I remember reading ”Reflections of a Contrarian” by church change guru Lyle Schaller, in which he challenged the deathgrip of conventional thinking in many churches.  And I continue to read books that challenge my thinking. 

My contrarian nature has brought about many of the major changes in my life:

• “Churches will never be able to give up the traditional Sunday School model.” –So I helped create the Rotation Model for Sunday School.
• “Churches will never be able to afford computers in Sunday School.” – And yet now many find computers really easy to find or purchase for their kids.
• “Leaving your nice parish job to start a Christian software company is a bad idea.” –Sunday Software Inc. is now in its 14th year.

Along the way I’ve been told by some publishers that rotation and software were “the devil” …or “a fad”.  In 1996, I rejected the offer of Presbyterian Publishing to come work for them and bring my rotation and software work with me. The then V.P.’s parting shot was, “we’ll be doing this in another 2 or 3 years and will overtake you.”

In my personal life, I’ve gone against the grain of conventional thinking many times. Most recently, this included leaving the beige vinyl of suburbia and moving my family to the island of St Croix for a few years to challenge our lifestyle, pursue some new goals, and experience a different culture.

Throughout this Blog you’ll see many of my ideas & articles about doing things differently. I’ve found that BEING DIFFERENT doesn’t always solve the problem, but it often leads you to new revelations about yourself, gives you a new way of looking at the problem. 

Important Final Note:

Being a “contrarian” is not the same as being a naysayer or pessimist.  I’m a happy, positive, optimistic person. I believe we/me/you/the church CAN change for the better. My own life is proof of this to me.  But some people will interpret you this way. I’ve learned this the hard way and still have trouble with it at time. Some people don’t like argument and assume that debate is personal. It’s the way they were raised, I suppose. So HOW you state your contrarian ideas is as important as the ideas themselves.

Some people think that being a contrarian is about “thinking you are right”.  Far from it.

• It’s about taking a step back to look at the big picture and consider other possibilities.
• It’s about CHALLENGING YOUR OWN THINKING before anyone else’s.  
• It’s about injecting humility into the decision making process, …the assumption that what you, or someone. or everyone thinks could be wrong, and that there’s something here that we could be missing.
• Just because somebody is wrong, doesn’t mean you are right.

So back to the Crusades…. 

After reading God’s Battallions, I immediately started looking for opinions and reviews of the book that challenged the author’s point of view.

Have you seen the Safe-Lite commerical about the small crack in the windshield?  “You think that chip in the windshield is no big deal? One bump could turn it into a crack.”  The recession has exposed a lot of chips in the windshield of our markets, banking system,  personal finances, and our churches.

Not only do people, congregations and institutions often FAIL to recognize what’s chipped and broken, but…

• their analysis of the chip is often wrong and self-serving
• their response to the chips is often inadequate  and protective
• and they often depend on the same people and tired ideas that led them into the mess -to get them out of it

This is how the need for evangelism turns into an exhortation to “bring a friend” and putting an ad the local paper, –instead of addressing the friendly-ness of our congregation, stuffy-ness of our worship, quality of our nursery (or lack thereof), and the stylistic irrelevance of our music to the very demographic we publicly desire to attract.

This is how the quality of sermons, –which is the #1 attraction to visitors, and reason why many members remain infrequent attenders, goes unaddressed. [Question:  if sermon writing and preaching takes 25% of the pastor's time, shouldn't training to improve preaching occupy 25% of their continuing education?]

My point of view:
1) Chips happen.
2) We need to do something about the chips …before they turn into cracks.

The word Ecclesia (“church” in the Greek) means, “those who are called out.”  And in the typical sermon, the preacher interprets this as “separating ourselves” from the world.  However, to “call out” someone in today’s vernacular means to call them to account. It means to speak up about what they’re doing wrong. In the past, the church has been “calling out” the world and its members. It’s time to “call out” the institution itself, –before more chips turn into cracks.

Unfortunately, people don’t like to be “called out” in the church. They’re much more inclined to protect their turf. And volunteers especially, don’t like leaders who tell them that they’ve been doing it wrong. Try diagnosing what’s wrong with the pastor’s sermons or the quality of the choir at your next council meeting and you’ll see what I mean

One of the important lessons I learned about “calling out” came during our creation of the Workshop Rotation Model for Sunday School in our church back in 1990.  Before we came up with the model, we tried to address “change” on a teacher by teacher, classroom by classroom basis. And we were met with stiff resistance and half-hearted, short-lived attempts. I experienced this same problem in another church in 2001… the teachers and leaders in charge dug in their heals when we tried to say, “The Emperor has no clothes.” 

Lessons I learned:

• We have to get people to admit there is a problem, before they are willing to work for a solution. 
• Without vision, the people perish.  If you start throwing small fixes at people, they will nitpik them, unless they see a total picture that they have bought into. 
• There are some simple management techniques to make change part of the normal process of doing business in the church, rather than just the typical exhortation and exercise in frustration.

Admit there is a problem.  This may be the hardest thing for you and them to do, but I learned a really valuable lesson. To sell the Rotation Model to our volunteers, we didn’t tell them about it. We simple started a flipchart list of what THEY were struggling with, what they didn’t like, and what they felt strongly about. That got everyone on the same page.  It revealed the extent to which they all cared, had similar goals, and wanted to change.  Then we introduced the ideas for change and people could see how they might address the consensus of concern which they had already bought into.  (Most leaders reverse this process… they throw up changes at meetings like clay pigeons and wonder why they end up in pieces on the ground).

Have a vision.  If your approach to change is a shopping list of “new sign, new bulletin board, and more money,” you’re toast. People who have bought into a vision are more likely to accept minor fixes which seem part of a plan.

Management techniques.  There are so many! 

Here are just a few ideas…

Examples for the pastor:  Rather than encouraging them to take a preaching course this year during their study leave. Make sermon training part of their annual job description and goals.  And consider simple rubrics to shake things up, such as, create a schedule of guest preachers (both from within and outside the congregation) to be there not only when the pastor is out of town, but several times a year when the pastor is right there. Give the pastor relief from the weekly grind of producing a sermon.

Example for the Evangelism & New Member Committee:  Rather than cranking up this priority for a few months, only to see it wane, -get to the heart of the matter. Make it a policy that all visitors get contacted and visited. If your committee members will balk at that, get the Council to hand down that policy, then find committee members to carry it out. Make it a policy that their annual report seek out and include comments from visitors who chose not to come back. If your priorities are merely suggestions and exhortations delivered by the committee chair or pastor, people will wait until you change the subject.

Example for the Christian Education Committee:  Rather than just giving them new things to do, require them to jettison things that are not producing returns. In one church I was part of, the CE committee was in charge of the annual church picnic, yet the picnic had nothing to do with CE and took time away from their VBS planning.  Consider programs like the Rotation Model, which remove teacher’s from positions of authority (obstructionism) over specific rooms and grades, and places the quality of the teaching methods and environment in the hands of a creative GROUP of people.

Example for the Mission Committee:  Pull out your calendars and label every other month for the next two years with the name of a mission project which your church supports, and the name of the volunteer who will be personally responsible for highlighting that mission during that month. Certain persons will do a great job during their month and that will raise the standard for everyone else. Then give each person a couple of  rules:   “In addition to writing about it for the bulletin, newsletter and website, you must also CONTACT someone involved in that mission, invite them to come speak or send materials. In addition to speaking during announcements, you are also responsible for a display and/or children’s sermon about that mission. And if the mission is local, you need to find a way to get yourself and members VISITING and somehow INVOLVED in that mission during that month.”  What will happen after a year or so will be that certain of your visitors/members will get personally involved in that mission.  

Another Mission Example:  Get them used to the idea of prioritizing and brainstorming difficult questions. Next month, ask them what they’d do if someone gave them $10,000.  The following month, as them what they’d do if their budget was cut in half (hypothetically speaking!) or they had to settle on just two mission effort a year. In my experience, such “academic” discussions reveal & create passion and new ideas. 

You can do the same thing with any program. In a former church, we created a Sunday school calendar years in advance which labeled the last year as “The Year of Jubilee”.  For several years we didn’t discuss what that Jubilee year would look like, we just said, “we don’t do anything the same.”  That commitment was kept and the committee came up with some spectacular ideas well in advance …that by the year came around everyone was primed to accept.

Another great idea:  Create a mission “grant” program within your own church. Set aside $200 a year. Begin listening to what local projects your members are  PERSONALLY and actively involved in supporting. Make a donation in their name to that organization and highlight their work to the congregation as an example of Christians serving the community outside of the church.  

Changing how you APPROACH change and implement change –may be the single biggest change you can make!  And it’s important to do these things in the course of the normal life of the church, before the chips turn into cracks. 

Hope this helps. 

I’m following up on this post with another about “how small problems are often signs of larger problems in the church.”

Look for it in this thread! 

Advertisement for Name Badger from www.sundaysoftware.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do Pastors and their Congregations start to look like each other? I think so. And obviously, this can become unfortunate!

Most pastors that I know WANT to be leaders, but do NOT want to lay claim to just how much THEIR personality and style influences that of the congregation. Indeed, the congregation DEPENDS on and is led by the pastor’s style and personality, whether they like it or not, for better, and often for worse.

Most pastors want to be thought of as pastoral & spiritual leaders. They don’t want people paying close attention to their personal moods, body language, and tone. But we do! Why? Because it’s the way we humans are built.

It is in the nature of all groups to take their “cue” from their leader. Paul understood this. That’s why he had so much advice for Timothy and called leaders to a higher standard of behavior. Jesus understood it.  Do you or your Pastor get it?

That pastors and congregation start to look alike is no fluke, it’s natural, and scientists have described the BIOLOGICAL FORCES at work: Synchrony and Affinity.

1. Synchrony

Synchrony is the scientific name given to contagious laughter and yawning. Synchrony is when one person’s clapping leads to a room full of applause. Synchrony is when one person’s tears makes another person cry. Synchrony is when we subtley adjust our body position to mimick another. Synchrony is biological. It’s coded in our genes. In fact, it’s a behavior shared throughout the animal kingdom.

Recently, scientists have describe “synchrony” as a form of “empathy.”  It’s a personal type of communication through which we say, “I understand you and I’m with you.”  It’s one of the many ways we connect with one another. The evolution of synchrony throughout the animal kingdom demonstrates that synchrony is a survival behavior as well.  Synchrony is a good thing, especially if you take advantage of it in a good way. A caring & warm pastor will usually rub off on the congregation, as will a dysfunctional one. 

Another way to put this is that congregations “tune” themselves to the pastor’s note.  And if the pastor’s note is dischordant, the congregation will (eventually) likely be as well. (You knew that! And now you know the science behind it.)

2. “Natural Affinity”
(a.k.a. “Birds of a Feather Flock Together”)

Contrary to what your mother told you, opposites do not usually attract. An overwhelming amount of anecdotal and scientific evidence indicates that we feel most comfortable in groups of people like ourselves.  The scientist call this “affinity.” This instinct for affinity is what’s at the root of tribalism, race, where we choose to live, who we choose as our friends, and spouses.

Congregational programming is a good example of this natural desire for affinity:  small group ministries, Sunday School classes, mothers-day out, Al-anon, senior groups, women’s groups, choirs youth groups, young adult groups, etc etc etc.  The problem is when churches and pastors do things that DERAIL affinity groups. Those who have a strong desire for affinity will go elsewhere. Those with a weak desire for filling their “affinity need” through the church, won’t care about church programming that much.

One problem with “affinity” in the church is that if you don’t nurture it, you don’t get it, -and eventually you end up with a congregation full of people with low expectations. Another problem is when the PASTOR has a low need for affinity. I’ve seen this up close and personal in two churches: the pastor act like a wallflower in many settings outside the sanctuary.  This obviously has short-term consequence, but long term as well as the natural instinct for “synchrony” means that a wallflower pastor can often encourage apathetic “wallflowerish” behavior (affinity) within the congregation.  (Almost invariably you hear this being expressed by visitors and members as “is church friendly, or not friendly?”) 

A corollary of “Birds of a Feather” can be seen in the Sunday morning sanctuary where people tend to sit in the same location every Sunday, year after year. We are creatures of habit. And those habits shape us, and comfort us. And churches depend on them, indeed, ENCOURAGE them. Churches depend on the habit of giving, and the habit of getting up on Sunday morning.  The problem comes when give people a reason to BREAK those habits, such as sliding away from church, and they’ll fill naturally the spot vacated by their old habit with a new one. 

I’ve often wondered why the parents of teenagers were the least likely to belong to an “affinity group” or attend fellowship events. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to understand the reason:  the older we get the more likely people are to have established affinities OUTSIDE of the church.  And once our kids were no longer part of an affinity group, the greater the tendency is to become “merely” a worship attender. Part of the church’s response is to pull those middle-aged adults into positions of leadership. We put them on finance and mission committees. Problem is, those are hardly faith-stimulating affinity groups. “If I were starting my ministry over” I would focus on solving the problem of middle-age affinity groups, -and they would function and look different than my young adult group.

Synchrony…Part II

Synchrony is why Jimmy Swaggert cries. It’s why Rod Parsley yells and  jumps around. They understand that emotions are infectious.  But synchrony is how a room full of worshippers can all start to become restless, or ready to jump out of their seats. Synchrony is why even children know to sit still during prayers. They are born with a “group sense.”

Synchrony is how HUMOR in a sermon, or passion, or a compelling story can seem to grab the entire room.  In comedy shows, the comedian often hires a “shill” to help the audience laugh. In some churches, the deacons sit up front and shout “Amen”.

I’m not suggesting you do install shills in the front pew!  …but YOU CAN BE YOUR OWN SHILL, pastor!  Loosen up! Laugh, smile, get giddy, sway, move around, …in other words, quit being a stiff when you’re in front of people,  -and synchrony will help everyone feel more connected.

When Synchrony and Affinity Collide:

Imagine a pastor delivering a sermon in a dull tone and stiff body language.  They “lose the room” as entertainers would say. —And they drive off those who don’t feel an affinity with the pastor, leaving birds behind who don’t mind the pastor’s dull and stiff personae. 

You can actually see this in a lot of churches…  a difficult pastorate creates a faithful remnant that has become acclimated (or at least “apathetic” about) the reality and consequences of the pastor’s style. I once belonged to such a church. It was disheartening. It wasn’t dramatic, but over time, it created a sense of frustration, and some people quiety faded away or left.

Synchrony is infectious, –which can be a powerful force for good, but it can work against a congregation if the infection is apathy or conflict. Apathetic “birds of a feather” will continue to flock together, even as their numbers shrink.

#1 Suggestion:

Pay attention to the pastor’s personality, energy, charimsa, body language, etc, BEFORE you hire them. Talk to as many people as you can who know the pastor but are NOT on their official ‘references’ list.  Go view them in action and quietly talk to members of their congregation.   No, this is not “polite” …but hiring the wrong person is even less polite.

You should also take notice of the pastor’s “demeanor” when they are into their pastorate. People change. Sometimes pastor’s get under great stress or go through depression… just like real people!  But because of their position of leadership and visibility –and the natural forces of synchrony and affinity, the pastor’s problems can affect the entire congregation.

Other Suggestions:

Get Feedback and Evaluate Worship on a regular basis. Seems obvious, but most churches don’t do it. Many Worship Committees are reticent to criticize the pastor’s leadership.  Create a tool that invites anonymous feedback from time to time.

No more “Pastor Fizzler” !  Insist that staff continue to develop their “people and presentation skills.”  There are plenty of seminars, books and “coaches.” Businesses make use of them. Talk to a business teacher at your local school.  Make it part of every staff person’s job description and evaluation.

Hire a “presentation trainer” to help the pastor do a better job of leading worship and teaching. There are many such experts around, check your local college.

Have many leaders.  Don’t have the pastor at center-stage in every event.

Bring in outside preachers from time to time, and not just when the pastor is on vacation. A pastor can learn knew tricks from other preachers.

Experiment with various styles and formats of worship. Bring freshness and creativity to people’s experience as well as your own.

Harness the power of synchrony in worship by being a “worship leader instead of reader.” Look for ways to personally connect through your body language, movement, tone, and position. In the old days, they called this “charisma.”   See my other blog post on this subject at http://sundayresources.net/neil/2008/07/09/the-view-from-the-pew-what-every-pastor-needs-to-know/

Bill Easum, the respected church consultant, once said that churches should hire worship leaders –people who are GOOD at being up front and focused on the experience of worship and not just the message (though of course, the experience is part of the message!), –rather than first hiring a youth pastor. Not every preacher is good at worship “leadership” …building a sense of synchrony and affinity. Gifted worship leaders intuitively understand the needs of synchrony and affinity.

Create more affinity groups within your congregation. They don’t have to be permanent or monthly.  (A church I know of organized a “Men and Their Tools” group. They did some service projects together, and invited local craftsmen to come teach them the finer points of things like plumbing and show off new tools.)

Don’t SQUASH spontaneous synchronous actions, such as, “clapping.”  In some churches clapping is considered “unseemly.”  What a dumb opinion. It also sends the message that how you feel in worship (expressing your joy by clapping) is not welcome.

Hope this helps the discussion wherever you’re at.

I used to think the Church’s general problem was lackluster programming and preaching, or congregational apathy. But the more time I spend in various congregations, and the more conversations I have with pastors and Christian educators across North America through my software and CE work, the more I have come to realize that DYSFUNCTION is the elephant in the room.

Years ago when people were beating a path to our doors, mild to moderate dysfunction could often be overcome. But in today’s world -where competition is coming from other churches and other options, and with added stresses, such as, the economic downturn, the COST of dysfunction has taken on dire consequences for many congregations. Indeed, in some churches, dysfunction has changed the discussion from one of VITALITY -to one of MORTALITY.

How to spot a Dysfunctional Congregation?

Here are a few markers:

1.  Pastor comes across as “fake” or aloof.

2.  Problems are not discussed.

3.  Staff members not getting along.

4.  A small group of inner circle people seems to be running things.

5. New ideas are not envisioned and/or are not whole-heartedly supported.

6. A minority within the congregation mistrusts leadership and sows discord behind the scenes.

7. Lack of an active & effective evangelism and member care program.

8. A pastor who seems to “opt out” of participating in or visibly supporting various initiatives.

I’m sure you can add your own to this list.

What to do?

“What to do?” is a difficult question. As church consultant Bill Easum says,

“The Unmotivated are Impervious to the Obvious.”

If the pastor is a big part of the dysfunction, you will probably be shunted aside if you complain directly.

If you are a staff person, you can stonewalled, ostracized or fired for your efforts.

If you are a member, you can become known as “a complainer.”

Churches, like every other institutation, can become very effective as marginalizing those who think the emperor has no clothes. And quite frankly, all some complainers know how to do is complain.

Change must be both confessional and strategic.

“Confessional” meaning you have to create a way for people to admit the obvious rather than be impervious to it.  Rather than  complain, church leaders need to have a mechanism by which they can can admit what’s wrong without feeling under attack.

“Strategic” means you don’t swat at flies and gnats. “What wrong” is usually not just one or two gnats, but a systematic pattern of behaviors. Individual complaints and corrections can be skillfully dismissed.  Strategic change doesn’t just focus on one or two issues, but on the common thread between them (poor planning, apathy, conflict, etc.) Strategic change is a more fundamental shift in attitude and behavior.  And it’s a longer process.

Here are three suggestions for church members about what to do:

1.  Get on the the Personnel Committee
Regardless of whether or not the dysfunction is pastoral or congregational,  this is one of the most effective spots to seek change. You can suggest seminars. You can discuss staff goals.

2. Get on the Nominating Commitee
Change who the leaders are, rather than what the leaders do.

3. Get a Long Range Planning Process going
Almost by definition, this committee’s work is to LISTEN to the congregation in a variety of ways that give people the forum in which to speak up.

Suggestions for church staff:

1. Get your leaders to READ together.  Bring in outside voices and experts Criticism from within is often minimized. By reading and researching, the criticism will seem less personal. And there’s a strange comfort in knowing it’s “not just you” …but a problem many churches are dealing with.

There are several good books out there about examining and changing congregations. Start at Bill Easum’s resource site:  http://21stcenturystrategiesinc.com/ Look in their book’s and articles section.

2. Attend Workshops together. Staff growth and church improvement workshops are out there!  Call up your local denominational office to inquire. Get on the mailing list of other denominations in your area. Invite leaders to go with you.

3. What’s sauce for the goose….  Begin your overhaul with your own ministry. Examine how YOU operate, treat others, deal with criticism, and have a plan for change (or don’t).  Over the next few weeks, invite some individuals to have lunch with you, telling them in advance you want them to come with some criticism, even if it’s not their own.

4. Quietly discuss problems with a member of the Personnel Committe whom you can trust. Suggest ways in which they can NUDGE staff members forward towards dealing with problems.

Almost every pastor and staff member I’ve met at SOME TIME IN THEIR PAST wanted to be an agent of change. Over the years, they may have developed bad habits and had their expectations beaten down. So I would encourage you to begin with the assumption that those acting like OBSTACLES and creating the DYSFUNCTION, –may also be your biggest ASSET …if you can rekindle that spark which made them want to lead in the church in the first place.

A last and probably unpopular thought…

I believe that many ordained pastors are ill-suited to the demands of the 21st Century church. They gravitated to the ministry because of their sense of spirituality, desire to study the word more deeply, perhaps their ability to lead youth groups, and their feeling that they had something to say from the pulpit. Few have people-management experience. Few feel called to evangelism or calling on visitors. Few have a people-leading charisma. etc etc. etc.

What we’re lacking in many congregations is the will and mechanism to say one of two things:
either, “Go learn how to lead us better,”  or “Time to Go.”

I have met many congregations, leaders and staff people who feel stuck with ministers who have led them into a corner. The skills and agenda that served the congregation in the first five years of their call, never adapted or changes for the next step. If the average church was a corporation, the Board of Directors would have hired a new CEO a long time ago. Indeed, many pastors overstay their welcome.

I used to worship in a church where the congregation actually shrank over a ten year period …while the surrounding community it was in grew by leaps and bounds. Yet nobody ever questioned the pastor’s ability.

Going back to Easum’s quote, churches must MOTIVATE their pastors to deal with the obvious. One way to do that is clear goals, honest review and accountability for goals, and insistence on continuing education and skills development.

This would go a long way to cure some of the dysfunction that’s stunting vitality, and threatening mortality.

———-Break for a quick advertisement!————–

——————————————————

Attendance is a habit easily broken, and difficult to create or fix.

———-Break for a quick advertisement!————–

- – - – - – - – - – - –

What’s the “interface”?

Seems like an obvious question with an obvious answer, but in the last several churches we’ve attended, the answer wasn’t/isn’t so obvious. In fact, those churches might be SURPRISED to hear how UN-INVITED a visitor feels.  (You can read about my experiences with those churches in earlier posts).

And some members would be surprised how easy it is for an active member to begin to slide away from the congregation -long before their absence is noticed by the staff or leaders.  These truths are self-evident to my wife and I because we have experienced them both.  The problem is that there is often no active or regular interface between visitors/members and the shepherds in the congregation. Indeed, many congregations don’t have anything approximating ‘shepherds’.

A Recent Case In Point:

My wife works every other weekend and can’t make Sunday worship. One of the Sunday’s she didn’t work because she was sick. So TWO Sundays in a row she missed the only two verbal announcements that there was going to be a new member class and reception of new members next Sunday. She WAS in attendance the Sunday they took in 3 new members, and was quite dismayed that she didn’t know about the class and hadn’t been invited. Nobody from the church called her or sent her a note inviting her. Had they called her, she would have said “yes, I’ll join.” (And she’s no wallflower, however, and vows to contact the pastor about being in the next one.)

In a previous church which we visited for five months (and posted about in this thread), the invitation to join showed up in the mail 2 months after we stopped going there.

Church Newsletters were the traditional method of “staying in touch.” But in our current church, they don’t have one, and in the previous church we had attended, they never put us on the mailing list (and they had a big staff, so no excuse there). 

And the problem with church newsletters, other than people not reading them, is that they get stacked or thrown away. The biggest single improvement you could make in yours would be to send me a “highlights” postcard the week after the newsletter –a card that goes on the frig …and not an entire calendar page please!  …my frig doesn’t have that much room.

How do visitors and new members figure out WHO the LEADERS are?  Again, in the last two churches we spent months visiting, I couldn’t tell you who was in charge. I could guess, but it was just a guess. One Sunday early in December I asked several people when the Christmas Eve services were, and got 3 different answers. And those I asked were all people I had seen in some sort of leadership capacity.

The Sunday Bulletin/Program is often a great way to communicate to members and visitors… if they are in attendance. But often the bulletin is lacking in info. And have you ever noticed that the most timely announcements seem to get elaborated on as ”verbal” announcements instead of being written in the bulletin where I can take the info home with me?  …And once again, …all that written and verbal announcing  relies on ME the visitor. It’s not true “outreach.”  It’s more like “take it or leave it.”

Other helps:
A good church website would help, but only if it was updated. One former church used the PhoneTree calling machine to send announcements. I thought it was quite effective, …if you were a member. But visitors weren’t put on it.

Newsletters, websites phonetrees machines, announcements in worship, and church bulletins are all PASSIVE attempts in a church culture that SAYS it values “outreach.” 
But: Text is not “outreach.” And: Text is not an “invitation.” 

…Announcements aren’t outreach, either.

No, –it’s the HUMAN INTERFACE that really counts.
So who in your church is providing that?
Who is doing the follow up, and how often?

If you don’t know that answer, then you probably have a problem.

Earlier in this post I used the image of “shepherd” because it’s a good one and happens to be biblical too. The shepherd doesn’t announce to the sheep where they are to graze that day. The shepherd leads them, guides them, even hooks them with his crook and drags them if need be.

Who’s doing the shepherding in your church? Probably not the pastor, and even if he/she is doing it, they can’t be the only one. And if you leave it up to everyone, it’s been left up to no one.

I could go on with examples of how you track and contact and care for visitors and members, but that’s easy to figure out and there are many resources out there.  The hardest thing about doing it, is admitting that you’re NOT doing it, and then summoning up the WILL to not let it slide down the list of things to do. 

CHURCHWIDE
 -it’s time to go over ALL expenses and expense procedures with a fine-tooth comb, –not to cut program, but to plug leaks in your budget. It’s time to find money you didn’t know you had, and stop money you need from being wasted.

• Do the choir songs we bought 6 years ago really get “all used up” ?
• Did that low-bid paint contractor also use low-bid paint (asphalt, sealer, etc) which is forcing you to paint/fix things again too soon? 
• Do we really need to spend $75+ week on fresh flowers in the sanctuary? (some members donate memorial money to pay for the flowers, but in one church I was involved with, the donation didn’t cover the actual expense!)
• How much money are we spending on free coffee after worship? Probably more than you realize. Yet in many churches the “donation basket” next to the coffee has disappeared. ($10  week for coffee x 52 weeks = $520 a year in coffee!)   What other hidden expenses might you have?
• Is someone actually reading your meter? I know of one church that discovered it was routinely being overcharged by 50% a month.
• Is your internet bill the best deal?  I know of one church paying $60 a month for DSL when the broadband provider in that area provides service for FREE to churches.
• Can you get the church cleaned cheaper? Cleaning contractors might be better than full time custodians. And for the “sextant” duties you can hire a college student or retired guy to move chairs and unlock doors.
• Is the church creditcard and checking account getting the best rate?
• Is your Sunday dress-code (the unwritten one) causing you to pump more AC into the building during warm weather than necessary?  See my posts about GREEN JESUS and saving energy at the church. http://sundayresources.net/neil/category/greenjesus/

_________________________________

More Budget Leaks…

Is your church mis-managing the money is DOES have? Read my post about SCARY CHURCH ACCOUNTING procedures and mistakes I’ve encountered in dealing with churches buying my software. http://sundayresources.net/neil/2008/08/22/scary-church-accounting/

Double payments… in the hundreds of dollars. Mistaken amounts on checks. And had we not told them of the mistake, many would have never noticed because they don’t audit their accounts.

Churches ordering things they already own, just because they forgot they had them, or couldn’t find them. We get about two orders a month returned because they “found the copies we already had.”  Or, “ordered them again because the original CDs had walked off.”

Materials walking off in member’s hands.  Curriculum, books, supplies and CDs that never get brought back to the church and have to be re-ordered (or simply aren’t there to get more use out of the next time they are needed.)

 ————————————————–

True Story:

 ————————————————–

And I apologize in advance for the turf-burns you’re going to get when you step into other people’s sacred budget territory

Not that I think “chapel” is a bad word. Read on….

It’s primary mission seems to be to provide worship on Sunday -offering to God, and renewing our faith for the week ahead. Hence, my designation of it as a “chapel.” It has a very modest Christian education effort and modest mission effort. At least, that’s what it APPEARS to have -from someone who’s only been attending there for 5 months. And so far, it seems to be a very good “chapel.”

But the question I’ve been mulling over is this: Is it OK to be ”just a good chapel” -rather than a “go get’em” church by Midwestern standards? 

I’m defining “church” here by a 1970′s standard… the kind of church which many congregations today are trying to find their way back to:  the program church with a full staff,  full set of committees, a full calendar and budget. But let’s be honest: for most congregations, such a church is a mirage, -a vision in the desert that is UNattainable -no matter how hard you scramble to get to it.

Or worse… It’s a stick that leaders beat their congregational horses with (and themselves). The fruits of this labor have often been DYSFUNCTION  and frustration.  And the target of the frustration is often the pastor who was trained to lead chapel and pastor, not to be Joan of Arc.

And so far, my answer is, “Yes, it is OK to be a chapel instead of a church.”  This is especially true of a church which fails to be a quality church, leaving members frustrating and depleted. In the Chapel, the emphasis is on YOU, not on the church’s needs. It feels more like a congregation that’s just happy to be together, -where you don’t have to dress up (both literally and figuratively). And the message from the pulpit is not a drumbeating “what can you do for us here?”  But, “what are you doing out there?”

A few years ago I read an article about a different kind of congregation. It was fecetiously titled “The Church of the Unchurched.”   Predictably, the letters to the editor hated it.  I loved it. It was challenging.

The article described a church that did not schedule a lot of “events.” It didn’t have committees coming out the wazoo. Was not over-staffed. Wasn’t constantly asking for money. And didn’t track it’s members’ giving or attendance for that matter. It focuses on worship, and doing a few things well.

It’s a vision of a church that has FEWER expectations of its corporate life, but RENEWING expectations for its members’ personal lives beyond the church walls.

The Chapel eschews the idea of the “high-participation-church is the center of my life” model, -which many if not most churches secretly, if not openly, aspire towards. It replaces that with a church defined by what its members do “the other 6 days of the week“  in their various walks of life, -in their family, at work, in the community organizations and political causes they work in. And in their inner life.

The message of the Chapel is, “here we are… here’s the message. Yes, it’s good to be together -and we hope that we rub off on you, but you’re not a child, and we are not your parents.”

The Chapel church proof texts itself ”reason for being” with scripture about the individual’s inner life and outward ethics. It believes as did Paul that we are each responsible for working out our own salvation. It uses the words of Jesus when he speaks about outward appearances, and suggests that the Sabbath was made for man and not the other way around (the church is made for the needs of its members, whereas many churches have that backwards). 

Whereas, the “Church” proof texts itself with the book of Acts where you have old men in charge of you, and you may indeed drop dead in the congregation if you withhold anything!  :-)

Both models have their weaknesses. But there are forces at work in some churches that make the “CHAPEL MODEL” a better choice for some.

Geography is one big force at work. People in the ‘chapel’ where I attend don’t live near each other. They come from different communities to gather on Sunday. The congregation has a large number of snowbirds. The “chapel” is not the neighborhood church. 

Our chapel is also not necessarily attractive to young families (if they are looking for family ministry and a super-duper CE experience). It’s mostly people in their 40′s and up. We have different needs than the young baby crowd does. And in fact, there simply aren’t that many young families around where I live, and where the church is located. And older folks with older kids and grandkids -while they enjoy fellowship, don’t need it as much. They/we tend to have our “friends” already set and aren’t attracted so much by “program.”

Our chapel is also in a resort area which creates an interesting dynamic.

The Chapel may also not be  ”seeker’s” church. It probably isn’t a great first-church for those who don’t know Christ. Then again, it is probably a great place for those turned off by those who THINK they know Christ so well! And it’s a good place for people who are not great “joiners.” …ie, 40% of the average people in your congregation who feel inadequate about their membership. 

The Chapel church isn’t perfect, or right for everyone. But one of the APPARENT beneifts of being a chapel -which I’m happy to see after 10 years in a previous dysfunctional church, –is that you avoid many of the DYSFUNCTIONS that plague congregations still trying to REGAIN their former glory as a high-expectation churches.

Things I believe the “Chapel” church should do better…

Provide one-on-one spiritual guiding. The pastor in the Chapel church really needs to be a pastor to the individual, rather than the leader of a program.

Provide a way to highlight how members of the Chapel are living out the Gospel in their daily lives. More talk about that please!

Communicate better with it’s members. Provide think pieces and reading material.

- – - – - – - – - – - – -

I have asked myself the following questions in every congregation I’ve been part of:

“Why has God brought me here?  What does God want to show me here?”  
“What am I here to learn?”  “What can I do to help?”

God is not done stretching me, …or you.

<>< Neil

Update: We’ve been at the church for over a year now. So far so good!

I’m not talking about the world’s current financial crisis. I’m talking about the Church.

As we creep into the 21st Century, there’s a growing skepticism about the church. I hear it from pastors. I hear it from members and non-members. I hear it in my own prayers.  Everyone knows that “change” needs to happen. But some congregations and pastors are just going through the motions -business as usual. They ‘tinker’ rather than truly reform. They rally the troops with a well-meaning program or capital campaign (nothing like a building project to distract a church).  And yet we always seem to find ourselves back where we started.

We’ve been suffering the long term effects of mediocrity for years. Temporary rallies and occasional successes, without long term real change have begun to wear out the church’s welcome mat. In many congregations and communities, people have lowered their expectations, and many churches are sliding from issues of “vitality” into issues of “mortality.” 

You see it in their lukewarm responses to invitations, attendance at events, and in their giving, (-though giving may be the last effect being that it takes less commitment to write a check than to attend or lead.)  You see it in the decline of adult education, the paucity of Bible study.  In one church where I attended for many years, they often marveled at how different the congregation had become over the years –new people coming in to lead, without addressing the huge backdoor in the church where long-time members were exiting.

The economic shockwaves of 2008 and 2009 are slamming into many churches which were barely healthy enough to withstand smaller tremors. Staff are being cut, budgets slashed, and programs trimmed back.  It will take years to get back to “where we were” …which wasn’t in THAT healthy a place to begin with.  Crisis, however, can be the mother of invention…

I’ve never been part of a church that didn’t need to change, or didn’t have problems. It’s the nature of things. “All creation is subject to frustration,” said Paul, and he was right. When you’re trying to create something as complex as a vital church, it will be subject to frustration.  But something new is happening to those with ears to hear. The church is coming to a crossroads in our generation. We’ve heard all the slogans and been through all the previous changes, only to find that the church is still struggling. Many in the church are looking for answer, —but the old answers will not do. This time things are different… Like the campaign slogan, many are looking for “Change We Can Believe In.“  Not more of the same. 

I can imagine what specific changes your specific church needs. But I want to address what some of the answers are NOT:

The answer is not “more money.”  Even if you raise more money -which is still do-able in these days, it won’t necessarily cure what ails you. Case in point:  I was in a church which saw DOUBLE DIGIT INCREASES in its giving for several years in a row. But they also experienced budget shortfalls, had problems paying some bills during that time, and couldn’t figure out how to keep the nursery and Sunday School carpets clean.

The answer is not “faith” …as in, “if we or they only had more faith,” etc etc.  Let me be brutally honest: we don’t need more faith and more prayer. We need more bright ideas and will power. It’s just like that old joke about the guy in the rising flood who sent away the boat and the helicopter because he was waiting for God to save him, and when he drowns and goes to heaven and starts complaining to God about not answer his prayers, God says, “I sent you a boat and helicopter!”  So let us not be distracted by the things we already have (faith) and focus on what God has already ready sent us.

And the answer is not “what’s wrong with THEM?”  There may indeed be PLENTY wrong with “them” …but Jesus told us to first take care of the LOG in our OWN eye. If you have been part of the church, for any length of time, this mess is yours.

A HUGE CAVEAT…

The problem with change is most people can’t put their finger on “what’s wrong” …let alone “how to fix it.”  Too often, churches attempt to fix things without addressing the underlying problems. Take the need to increase membership, for example. They buy a new sign and ads in the paper, but don’t address the cleanliness of the nursery or friendlyness of the congregation to visitors. I was in a church that complained about their lack of growth, but didn’t have a new member committee (duh).  Or take youth groups for example. Some churches shuffle meeting times and events in an attempt to cure what ails them, rather than replace the leaders. Why? Because one solution is easy and the other is dynamite.

Simply put, you can’t have effective change if you don’t know what’s wrong.

Here’s the gospel truth about change:

Change does not begin with a list of great ideas, or attendance at some seminar.

Change begins with confession, – both personal and corporate. 

In 1990 I was involved in the creation of what became know as the “Rotation Model” for Sunday School, a model which has now spread to nearly 10,000 churches across the world. The brainstorm for that program literally began with a FLIPCHART LIST of what we didn’t like about Sunday School. It was a confession. And as we shared that list with others, we discovered it was THEIR list too. The solution didn’t immediately present itself, but we had accomplished the first step in real change, and that was “describing the elephant in the room.”

You want to change something? Get it out into the open. Talk about it. Share lists. It will get everyone on the same page. No more elephants in the room.

You want change?  Then make “evaluation” (confession) a routine part of all your meetings. Debrief. Take responsibility for what didn’t go right.

You want to change something? Then consider the fact that YOU may be part of the problem.

I’m frequently asked for my advice from people who seem to be having trouble finding good volunteers or running a successful program, or getting people to show up to things. And I honestly tell them, “is it possible that people don’t respond to you and your leadership style? (or lack thereof)  Is your leadership style such a mess that you UN-nuture volunteers? 

Ghandi said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  You want better leadership?  better communications?  fresh ideas?  -start by being an example of those things. You want a new Bible study?  Lead one. You think your church should do more mission? Start one.  You think your pastor is terrible at visitation and welcoming new members?  Go visiting and start your own welcoming efforts. You don’t need permission to be who Christ has called you to be!  You want to change your church? Start with changing yourself.

Jesus said in the parable of the talents, “you who have been faithful in a little, will be given more.”  Apply that lesson to things like TYPOS in the church bulletin. You want your volunteers to take you seriously? Use the spell checker. You want people to show up to your meetings? Run them well.  Etc etc.  Be faithful in all the small but important things about working with volunteers and programs, and you will be rewarded.

Ok… here some suggestions, though certainly not an exhaustive list….

FIRST Suggestion: 
Find someone who’s a natural listener, and not a natural apologizer. Charge them with a ministry of listening. Think of them as an “ombudsman.” Let it be known that THIS is the person to share your concerns with in private. Let it be known that THIS person won’t divulge the source of the concerns. Ask this person to begin visitations within the church. Train this person how to PASTOR to those with complaints, those who are hurting. 

SECOND Suggestion:
Write confessional statements into your meeting agendas. Discuss events AFTER they happen. Discuss what went right and what went wrong. Ask every leader what THEY could have done to do better. 

THIRD Suggestion:
Invite criticism. Invite outsiders to come observe your programs. Invite someone to watch you teach. Invite the seminary’s preaching professor to come hear your preach and lead a service. OPEN yourself up.

FOURTH Suggestion:
Once you identify a problem within the church, go get outside help. Read. Go to seminars. Go to experts. Ask other pastors and church leaders. The people of Nazareth didn’t want to believe the hometown boy.

FIFTH Suggestion:
Talk to the people who have LEFT your church. Some of their reasons are likely good ones.

SIXTH Suggestion:
Go read some books about change. Pick one, and buy extra copies of it, then form a reading group with several other leaders.

Seventh Suggestion:
Begin a campaign of QUALITY CONTROL throughout the church. Whether it’s a carpet or a bulletin board, a sermon or a newsletter, running a meeting or remember visitors names, do all things WELL, and it will rub off on others.  This includes OPENLY confessing what you should have done better, what you don’t like, what you’d change, and then hold yourself accountable, –and others will see your lead.

Eighth Suggestion:
Er… This is a blog, not a treatise   

If you’ve reached the end of this blog post and are thinking, “Interesting, but my church doesn’t need this,”  then it probably does. 

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? ]

___________________

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

2. It MAY be you! There are many gifts… and one of yours may not be recruiting. And there are many churches, but some of them have dug a DEEP HOLE with regard to volunteer recruitment and management. And the deeper the hole, the longer it usually takes to fill in. This may be the toughest thing to take, especially if you’re the “cause” of some of the “ebbing.” But the sooner you get over it and get around it, -the better off your ministry will be. The best managers surround themselves with people who are good at things the leader can’t or doesn’t want to do.

----------Break for a quick advertisement!--------------

Now for some harsh truth about “the reason for your season”…