Transforming Ministry

Author: whedlund

  • Invite Your Guests Back!

    Invite Your Guests Back!

     

    A while back I visited a church with my family for the first time. We had a great experience. We were welcomed at the door, handed materials at a Guest Services table and told what to expect and where to go. The people seemed friendly and interested in us without being pushy or fake. The service was interesting and engaging. We were even greeted informally after the service by a few random people as well as one of the pastoral staff. My wife and I left that afternoon encouraged and relaxed.

    We also proceeded to do what nearly all other guests do after their first visit to a local church. We went to work, shopped at the store, fixed dinner, put kids to bed, took the car to the shop, mowed the lawn, watched a movie, cleaned the house, went for a walk, bused our kids all over the place, worked on our budget, and a million other little things. In other words, we got back to our daily lives. Our church experience became a back-burner memory that we might drudge up again that next weekend, if we weren’t too busy with other things.

    Which is why we were so impressed when we received a personal letter from the pastor later that week. Not just a cookie-cutter letter with the same three paragraphs you’d expect to see on a thousand other church follow-up letters. No. A personal letter. It may have been typed up nice and neat on church letterhead, but we couldn’t miss the fact that the pastor mentioned my wife and I by name in the letter as well as all four of our kids, by name. He also made mention of a conversation we had together for our brief moment together the previous Sunday morning. It was personal and real.

    The letter was an invitation to join them again at church. It wasn’t pushy. It was just a simple note to let us know he’d love to see us again. And he told us about a couple other things happening in upcoming weeks we might be interested in.

    Truth be told, we decided to make another visit to the church that very next week.

    Guest follow-up isn’t the answer to all your assimilation problems, but it is one proven strategy that will help you along the way. 

    GUEST FOLLOW-UP IDEAS:

    Treat your guests like VIP’s when they visit.

    It doesn’t matter what kind of follow-up you have, if guests don’t feel noticed and valued when they arrive; if they don’t have a positive experience at your church, then they’re not going to be interested in returning. Think of that restaurant you visited for the first time who gave you bad service. You never went back. Neither will they. Be sure they are treated like VIP’s. Let them know they are valuable and important to you.

    Give them something to take home.

    I’m not talking about the Sunday morning bulletin. Ideally, you’ll give them some sort of gift and a little information about the church. It’s icing on the cake if you can also give them information about an upcoming activity that might interest them. Make it look good and keep it simple. There’s always a chance your guest will pick that up off the kitchen counter during the week and look it over. It’s an indirect way to encourage your guests to think about you again that week, and come back.

    Get contact information when people visit.

    It’s kind of hard to follow-up with guests if you don’t know their names email address and/or physical address. You need to strategize how you will collect their information when they visit. This can be a challenging task, but it is possible. 

    Send a note.

    It can be an email, a letter in the mailbox, even a Facebook message, but find a way to send a note to your guests letting them know you’re thinking of them. 

    Keep it simple.

    Don’t try to say everything in the note and don’t preach. Just acknowledge their presence that previous Sunday. Let them know you are glad they got to join you. Communicate that you are available if they have any questions about the church or their experience on Sunday. And invite them to come back again sometime. No pressure. Just an invitation.

    Keep it real.

    The note needs to be personal. Not the whole thing, but at least the opening and closing couple of sentences. Your guests need to know you took time out of your day specifically for them. They need to feel special. Acknowledge them by name, not just in the ‘Dear’ line. If you can, mention their kids. Mention something about that past Sunday that either happened during the service or that you talked with them about personally. 

    Send it from the preacher.

    Notice I didn’t say from the ‘Pastor’. I said from the preacher. That is, from whoever spoke that Sunday, unless it was a guest speaker. Your guests will connect best with the person they heard from in the pulpit. If it’s possible, let that person be the one to send the note. If not, then let it be from the Lead Pastor. Alternatively, if the guests had a great connection with a greeter or leader, that might work as well.

    Send it soon.

    Statistics indicate that the sooner first time guests receive a note from the church, the more likely it is that they will return. It is often recommended that the follow-up happen with 24 hours of the Sunday morning experience, or by Monday afternoon. So don’t wait long!

    What other ways can you invite your guests to come back?

  • Five Questions Every Church Must Answer

    Five Questions Every Church Must Answer

    The answer to these five questions will determine how effectively a local church is fulfilling its mission. They will impact the activities and programs we host. They will establish the depth of ministry to our congregations and communities. Ultimately, they will play a large role in the ongoing impact of God’s transformational work in individual’s lives.

    1. How do we attract people to our church?

    It is so easy for church leaders to fail to address this question. We assume people will visit our church because they see the church building and a welcome sign on the front lawn or because our attendees are inviting people to church. We scratch our heads and wonder why we have so few guests. A pastor once told me that first time guests were often heard making comments like, “Your church is the best kept secret in town!”

    In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

    Our communities don’t need to see the building so much as they need to see “the light of the world” in us and our congregations. They need to see that our church is a place where transformation takes place. Where lives are changed. Where people meet the True and Living God. We need to find ways to shout from the mountain that God shows up at church each week. We want people in the community to get the feeling they are missing out on something important at our church.

    What is your church’s strategy to attract people?

    2. How do we assimilate guests into our church?

    Of these five questions, this is what church leaders ask me to help with the most. It can be very frustrating to see 3-4 guests walk through the front doors every week and yet not experience growth as a church. Sometimes guests will even return for a second or third visit, but eventually they sort of just disappear and we never know what happened. What makes matters worse, they usually tell us they really enjoyed the service! We can’t help but secretly ask ourselves: Was it something we said or did to offend them? Are we weird and just don’t know it? Why won’t they come back?

    More often than not, our problem is that church leaders and longstanding members have blinders on. They have lost the ability to see the church environment through the eyes of a guest or newcomer. This is fairly normal and to be expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Creating a ‘guest culture’ should be high on every church’s priority list and should include finding ways to ensure guests have a positive experience and are intentionally and tactfully invited to come again.

    Another reason why this question is hard to answer is because we often fail to properly define what ‘assimilate’ means. Is it when guests have visited 3 times,6 or 8? Is it when they join a small group or sign up to volunteer? Is it when they become a member? It may be different for every church, but at some point, newcomers need to feel like they are one of the ‘insiders’ at your church. We need to make that as easy as possible!

    In Acts 15, Paul said, “It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God.” In other words, we need to pay special and close attention to our new attendees as they are “turning to God.” 

    What is your church’s strategy to assimilate people?

    3. How do we connect people with one another in our church?

    I often tell church leaders, “You can make a lot of mistakes as a church and people will keep coming if they are connected.” Certainly, the answer to this question is an important part of ‘how do we assimilate people,’ as well. But it’s more than about getting newcomers to come back. It’s about having a church where people truly care about one another, and show it in practical ways. A church that successfully accomplishes this doesn’t have to rely on the pastor(s) to do all the ministry in the church, because people organically minister to one another all the time.

    In today’s culture, getting people to ‘connect’ with others in the church is a LOT easier said than done, but it’s a necessity if people are to move from superficial relationships to authentic relationships. Despite the indoctrination of social media in our world, nothing will ever truly beat regular face to face interactions. Getting people to actually do that is a challenge some church leaders have given up trying to address. They’ve tried small groups, Wednesday services, Sunday School, fellowship events and more. However, no matter how discouraging or hard it may be, it’s important we ‘not grow weary in doing good’ and continue forward until we have discovered ways to break into authentic church community.

    The author of Hebrews so aptly reminds us, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Don’t give up. It could be your church is just inches away from a major breakthrough in this area!

    What is your church’s strategy for connecting people?

    4. How do we disciple people in our church?

    Any church leader who doesn’t know what the “Great Commission” is, should probably hang up his hat and let someone else lead. This is Christ’s final mandate to His disciples, and a primary role of the church. Volumes of books, masses of videos and thousands of series are available to help us explore Jesus command to spread the Gospel to our communities and around the globe. It’s hard to miss the four primary commands found in this passage:

    “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19

    Go. Make Disciples. Baptize. Teach.

    I’ve noticed local churches can be all over the place in answering this question. Usually, we have an innate belief that discipleship is happening, but we can’t really quantify how much, to whom and when. It’s easy to simply “do church” the way we’ve always done it, without asking the question, “is it working?” Are we hosting the {put program/activity/service here} because we really believe it will disciple people? 

    Either way, discipleship should be a foundation activity in our church’s strategy to minister to the congregation. Among other things, this will include helping people learn how to discover God for themselves through activities like Bible reading, prayer and missions trips; teaching them Godly principles regarding evangelism, parenting, relationships, stewardship, etc.; and equipping them to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil by living a victorious life.

    What is your church’s strategy for discipling people?

    5. How do we engage people in our church?

    One indicator of a healthy church is found in the level of volunteer engagement and ownership within the church and community. When the congregation relies primarily on the pastor or church staff, something is broken. The “body” has turned into a codependent entity that will never effectively serve it’s mission in the community. A few years ago I spoke at a small rural church of about 75 people that is run entirely by volunteers. It was an active church with several great programs and meaningful activities for it’s attendees, and there was nobody on staff. They told me they wanted to eventually hire a part time pastor, but in the meantime, they had discovered something powerful – when the body works together, ministry can and will happen.

    Recruiting and releasing volunteers is something we church leaders talk about a lot, but often struggle doing. It often seems easier to just do things ourselves and rely on a few key influencers in the church to handle the rest, but this cripples the body of Christ. Paul was quite clear in 1 Corinthians that every person is important and makes up different parts of the body of Christ:

    “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” 1 Cor. 12:18-19

    Helping people find their place in the church will serve the volunteer, the congregation and the larger community. This will stimulate growth and create ministry momentum. It will also define a more balanced ministry environment, rather than a staff-driven and co-dependent one.

    What is your church’s strategy for engaging people?

  • Three Enemies of Unity

    Three Enemies of Unity

    A few years back I heard about a church that was having a serious fight. The elders and the pastor were at odds with each other and it wasn’t getting resolved. It turns out, one side wanted to get rid of the projector and go back to just putting everything in the bulletin. The church was just inches from experiencing an ugly split over the issue. Finally, the pastor agreed to the elders demands and things settled down, for a little while.

    Paul opens up his first letter to the Corinthians with these words:

    “I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” 1 Cor. 1:10

    This appeal to local churches is easier said than done. Our mutual enemy seeks to tear down the body of Christ by sowing discord wherever he can and as often as possible. It is so critical that our leadership teams are aware of these attacks and are ready to combat them. 

    Three strategies the enemy uses to sow discord. 

    1. PRIDE

    A while back I listened to two of my kids fighting about something. The content of the fight was very trivial and there was really no point in them arguing about it at all. I asked one of them, “Why are you guys still fighting about this?” The answer? “Because I’m right.”

    Sometimes we are just unwilling to let things go. We believe we know what’s supposed to happen and are unwilling to give in until others admit we are right. Most prideful people don’t see themselves as being prideful and, unfortunately, are often unwilling to admit defeat. 

    The below questions might help bring awareness to the team, if pride is hiding away in someone’s heart.

    • Am I angry?
    • Am I willing to be wrong in this conversation?
    • Am I really listening and seeking to understand the other perspectives in the room?
    • Are my thoughts and words expressing love and gratitude to those around me right now?
       

    2. FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE

    George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” We send that quick email or mentioned something in passing and think we’ve communicated. I know what this is like. Once I think I’ve communicated something to someone, I put it out of my mind for good. If I actually didn’t communicate, then there will be problems.

    If there are unresolved disagreements among the team, it’s because of a failure to communicate. If team members feel hurt, angry or frustrated with others on the team, communication isn’t happening. If people are making assumptions that others ‘get it’ when they don’t or are getting things done when they aren’t, then someone needs to have more conversations.
     

    3. LACK OF SHARED PURPOSE

    It can be challenging to take my four children to an amusement park. Sometimes, what they want to do at the park goes in four different directions. If we spend all our time just catering to one child, then there’s a chance the other three will leave disappointed and frustrated. Each one has a different idea about why we are at the park.

    The same can hold true in the local church. When the leadership team has differing ideas on what the church should be doing or how it should be behaving, there will be conflict. This is why I encourage churches to host monthly or quarterly strategic meetings designed to determine vision, purpose and strategy together as a team.

    What other enemies of unity should I add to this list?

     

  • 3 Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    3 Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    I once spoke to a “been there done that” volunteer from a local church. Put another way, he was no longer a volunteer; he’d “been there, done that” and it didn’t go very well. In fact, he ended up silently leaving the church and was leading worship and a small group at another church. I didn’t have to ask about his volunteer experience at his former church, he told me all about it. The backstory is, I knew this man and also knew he had been faithful and committed to that church for many years prior. He wasn’t a grumpy, church-hopping kind of guy. 

    I was glad to see how engaged and excited he was to serve at the new church. I was saddened to realize that he was a miserable volunteer at his former church, which probably meant other volunteers were as well.

    Patrick Lencioni wrote a book designed to help organizations identify the key factors that lead to miserable employees in the workplace. As you might expect, those same factors apply to the volunteers in our church and ministries as well.

    The Three Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    Adapted from “The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery” by Patrick Lencioni

    1. People Feel Anonymous

    “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known. All human beings need to be understood and appreciated for their unique qualities by someone in a position of authority…. People who see themselves as invisible, generic, or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing.”

    Volunteers need to believe you know and care about them. This means you’re not just interested in what they can do to make your ministry a success. It means you’re interested in them as individuals. Great leaders will take the time to learn about their lives, their families and the things that are important to them right now. They will check in on them when they are experiencing life-challenges. 

    You can make a lot of mistakes as a leader, but if your volunteers believe they are important to you, they are much more likely to be loyal to the ministry you lead, despite it’s weaknesses and faults.

    Leadership Test: Do you know the names of each of the volunteers you lead? Do you know what personal challenges they are facing right now?
     

    2. People Feel Irrelevant

    “Everyone needs to know that their job matters, to someone. Anyone. Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an employee simply will not find lasting fulfillment. Even the most cynical employees need to know that their work matters to someone, even if it’s just the boss.”

    Volunteers want to make a difference. It’s the reason they chose to give up some of their freedoms (to do other things) in order to serve in ministry with you. Irrelevance is a sickness that is so easy to cure, yet is often left untreated. Leaders must regularly keep the vision/purpose for ministry alive in volunteers. Explain why their role is so critical and how it connects to changed lives in the church. Tell them about people who have experienced God in a special way, and how they played a role in that transformation. And make a concerted effort to regularly express gratitude and appreciation for the investment they are making in people’s lives.

    You will keep your volunteers motivated by reminding and showing them how they are making a difference.

    Leadership Test: When was the last time you sent a special ‘thank you’ note to your volunteers? Do your volunteers know why their position in ministry is important to you and God?
     

    3. People Feel Immeasurable

    Employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves. They cannot be fulfilled in their work if their success depends on the opinions or whims of another person, no matter how benevolent that person may be. Without a tangible means for assessing success or failure, motivation eventually deteriorates as people see themselves as unable to control their own fate.

    Volunteers thrive on consistent, positive feedback from leaders. Often, volunteers are thrust into responsibilities with little experience or training. Consequently, they can feel insecure or inadequate for the job, eventually leading to them quitting. Unfortunately, the kind of feedback volunteers often receive is grossly inadequate and sometimes not even real. They don’t need to hear, “You’re doing just fine.” They want to know how they can do better, without feeling like a failure.

    To truly “lead” others, we must be committed to modeling the kind of ministry we’re looking for, training people to be a success, and resourcing them with the tools they need to do it with excellence. 

    Leadership Test: Do you know how well your volunteers fulfill their respective responsibilities? When was the last time you gave them constructive feedback or training so they might improve?
     

     
    Are you struggling recruiting or keeping volunteers in the church?

    If so, I recommend you contact me today to setup a free 30 minute conversation about how I might be able to provide the help you need. I look forward to hearing from you!

     

    Amazon Affiliate Notice: I receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

  • Why Simple is Better

    Why Simple is Better

    Recently, I was asked to speak at a church. I already knew what I wanted to talk about when I was asked. I looked forward to the opportunity . . . except for the part where I had to sit down to do the ‘work’. Since I wanted the message to be simple, I ended up redrafting that message three times. I whittled a 45 minute message down to 25. Chopping it up was painful, but in the end it was well worth it. The congregation stayed with me the whole time and I believe God used my words to bring transformation to their lives. Simple. Hard. Worth it.

    Perhaps one of our biggest mistakes when attempting to make ministry, leadership, relationships, or whatever, simple, is that we assume the process should be simple too. But making something simple is complicated, time consuming and a lot of work. Most of us give up at the worst possible time, when we’re just on the cusp of a ‘simple’ breakthrough. There’s a miserable valley we must walk all the way through before we arrive at the other side and our goal – the Valley of Complexity.

    Despite the work, simple is better. A few more observations about simple.

    People Remember Simple.

    God gave us 5 fingers on each hand, not 8. I suspect He knew that most of us can only remember a few things at a time. If I ask you to remember 4 words, I suspect you can do it no problem; but 12? God gave us 10 commandments, but Jesus summed them up in 2 that a four year old could remember.

    People Value Simple.

    We live in the day of the ‘elevator speech’. If you can tell someone what you want to say between the 1st and 12th floor, they’ll listen. If not, well, “Sorry. I need to get going.” We pay attention to simple and lose interest in complex. When you present me with simple, I’m impressed and know you cared enough to prepare. 

    People Do Simple.

    Less is more. Give me 23 tasks and I’ll easily get locked up. I won’t know which ones to do and might just go find something else to do (like check Facebook). Give me 4 tasks and I feel empowered to get things done. Simple helps me focus and motivates me to action.

    Other Examples:

    • Your congregation and community don’t want 8 announcements that last fifteen minutes; they want 2 announcements delivered in 3 minutes.
    • They don’t really want 12 emails a week about upcoming events & activities; one will suffice.
    • They don’t want to spend 10 minutes on your website trying to find service times or directions.
    • Certainly, they would love to have notes from your message; but if they are going to have to fill in the blanks they secretly hope they won’t get writer’s cramp, that there’s enough light in the room and possibly that you will provide pencils for them. 
    • Your volunteers and leaders would really prefer to open the resource closet and find what they need in 8 seconds.
    • Your attendees aren’t looking for a booklet with 28 volunteer opportunities; they just want to know what the one or two things are they can do to help make a difference.
    • Volunteers would like to have a simple 1-page document that lets them know what you expect. They would appreciate getting a quick email reminding them that they are scheduled to serve each week. They want to know about the training event at least a month ahead of time. 

    What do you need to simplify in your life or ministry this week?

  • 10 Great Mission Statements

    10 Great Mission Statements

    Strategic churches have a handle on who they are, why they exist and where they are going. Their direction is usually summarized in their church mission statement. The best mission statements are simple, concise and easy to remember. It should also encompass the global purposes of every church, which include loving God, loving others, outreach and discipleship. 

    Check out my previous posts explaining what a mission statement is and how to build it!
     

    Why Your Church Needs a Mission Statement

    10 Tips on Drafting a Church Mission Statement

     

    Church Mission Statement Examples

     

    What is YOUR church’s mission statement?

  • 10 Tips on Drafting a Church Mission Statement

    10 Tips on Drafting a Church Mission Statement

    Wordsmithing can be a very intimidating and challenging task, even for the most experienced writers. This is even more true when leaders want to draft their church’s mission statement. The hope is to define a statement that will be memorable and simple, but that will also express the heart and purpose of the local church. Gone are the days of mission statements that are 5, 7 or 12 paragraphs. A good mission statement today should be one sentence! Below are a few recommendations to help leaders accomplish this important activity. Enjoy!

    1. Do it together. 

    Defining your mission statement should be a team sport. Pull together select leaders, elders or deacons to engage the conversation with you. Strategic thinking is much easier with a team!

    2. Pray. 

    The best guide and leader is the Holy Spirit. Invite the Presence of God into the room and let Him bring unity and clarity to the conversation.

    3. Start from Scratch.

    You may have a mission statement already. I suggest you consider setting it aside and begin afresh. The process of revisiting why you do what you do will bring clarity to your church and either confirm or clarify if your current statement is relevant or not.

    4. Ask, “Why are we here?”.

    This is the question your mission statement will eventually answer. Why does your church exist?

    5. Make it Biblical

    The Scriptures are our guide. Consequently, all church mission statements should reflect a few of the same clearly defined purposes of the local church: Loving God, Loving Others, Discipleship and Outreach. There may be more, but I recommend you ensure you aren’t missing those elements!

    6. Brainstorm and Refine. 

    You will want to do a lot of brainstorming and a lot of refining. Develop lists of ideas, words and sentences. Categorize them, refine them, and update them. You may go through this process several times. There will also be key words that resonate with you and your team. Note them and set them aside for future consideration. You may not use them all, but you will want to consider them when you get to the final stages of your statement construction.

    7. Don’t confuse Values with Mission.

    Don’t confuse your core values with your mission statement. For instance, you hopefully have a core value of being bible-based. That shouldn’t be part of your mission statement. You probably have a value of being caring or generational, etc. Those should be summarized in a list of vision statements rather than in the mission statement. Similarly, don’t confuse mission with beliefs – those should remain in your Statement of Faith.

    8. Keep it Simple and Brief.

    This is the perhaps the hardest part (well, the second hardest). Allen Cox defined a mission as ‘an organization’s brief, compelling statement of purpose.’ I recommend your mission statement be one sentence or no more than two sentences – and if possible short ones. Don’t use a lot of adjectives, Christianeze, or run-on sentences. Also, if it requires an extra paragraph explaining the reasoning behind something, it’s too complicated. 

    9. Evaluate EVERY Word. 

    That’s right. When you near the end of the process you should ask yourselves if every word accurately reflects what you want to say and why. You will also evaluate whether every word is necessary or not.

    10. Make it Memorable.

    I said above that making the statement brief is the second hardest part. This is probably the hardest for most of us. It needs to be memorable. Something that almost rolls off your tongue. Easy to remember. There’s no point in having a mission statement if your congregation can’t remember it. 

     

    What other tips can you think of to streamline this process?

  • Why Your Church Needs a Mission Statement

    Why Your Church Needs a Mission Statement

    When I was in high school I was hired to pick rock. It was an inglorious job. Hard labor. Long hours. Sore back. The only consolation I had (besides $5/hour) was in knowing the field would eventually be prepped for planting and farming. One day after finishing up a field, the farmer asked me and a buddy to start picking rock in a neighboring field that looked like it never had, nor ever would be, used to grow anything. It was not only full of stones and rocks, it was very uneven. I don’t know if he truly had plans to eventually do something meaningful with that land, or if he just knew I had an hour left on the clock and was trying to keep me busy. I remember asking the question, “Why are we doing this?” It was so demotivating. It felt like a waste of my time. At least when I was picking rock in the other fields I had a halfway good idea of “why” I was doing it. 

    I wonder how many people feel the same way about serving at church? 

    Unless people know WHY they are doing something and that “why” touches their innate desire to make a difference, they won’t be motivated to do it. Your church mission statement should connect the dots between people’s service and the church’s mission. I’m not talking about some wordy paragraph sitting in the church constitution or hiding on a website. I’m talking about an active, alive mission that everyone knows and wants to rally behind.

    Defining, refining, and incorporating your mission into the daily life of your church can be one of the most healthy and strategic things you can do this year. Following are a few reasons (thanks to Aubrey Malphurs for some of these) why you should consider drafting (or re-drafting) your church mission:

    1. Mission dictates ministry direction.

    When you have a mission statement, you have somewhere to go. Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up someplace else.” 

    2. Mission formulates ministry function.

    You will never do ministry that matters until you define what matters. Your mission will help you clarify, “What are we supposed to be doing?” 

    3. Mission focuses the ministry’s future.

    A mission gives you and your congregation something tangible to focus on. It defines you and gives you a hope for what is to come. The opposite is true as well. Without a mission statement the future will look fuzzy and out of focus. You won’t really know for sure where you are going or what you are aiming for.

    4. Mission provides guidelines for decision making.

    Mission is to ministry what a compass is to a navigator. It provides a framework for critical thinking and decision making.

    5. Mission inspires ministry unity.

    A mission statement can draw your members together as a team or community. It broadcasts, ‘Here is where we are going. Let’s all pull together and with God’s help make it happen.’

    6. Mission shapes strategy.

    It’s really hard to create and implement strategic plans and steps when you don’t have a target to aim at. Your mission provides the basic framework for strategy.

    7. Mission shapes ministry effectiveness.

    There would be no point, in the scheme of things, to draft a mission if it didn’t have the high potential to improve your overall effectiveness. It does. Studies show that organizations that have and operate from a well drafted mission statement are much more likely to succeed than those that don’t.

    8. Mission ensures an enduring organization.

    When you have a mission that the whole church knows and believes in, you have something that will last through multiple pastors and leaders and for years and years to come. It brings consistency and continuity to your church’s future.

    9. Mission facilitates evaluation.

    We’ve all heard it said, ‘You can’t expect what you don’t inspect.’ Well, you can’t inspect what you don’t expect, either. If you don’t have a clear goal to aim for then you can’t evaluate how well you are doing in getting there.

     

    Bottom line, if you don’t have a clear and simple mission for your church, make it your goal to get one this year!

  • Love Your Sound Tech As Yourself

    Love Your Sound Tech As Yourself

     Pastors and Worship Leaders,

    There is someone else on the stage with you Sunday morning. You can’t see him (or her), but he’s not invisible. His presence rolls of the stage in waves – sound-waves. He lives in a world of high’s, mid’s and low’s – and no, he’s probably not bi-polar or manic-depressive. When he’s ‘on’, YOU sound fabulous. When he’s ‘off’, YOU sound boomy, hollow, or possibly demented. He is either your hero or your arch-enemy.

    I’m talking about your sound man (or woman). Pixar did a superb job of catching the essence and challenge sound tech’s face each week in this short clip. Enjoy.

    https://youtu.be/i62znvPLlrw

    Can’t see this video? Try watching it by clicking this link!

    Love Your Sound Tech As Yourself

    All kidding aside, your sound tech is a very important part of the Sunday morning experience. He probably knows things about sound that you don’t, and even if that isn’t true . . . well, he’s back there and you’re up here, right?

    In my experience, a lot of pastors and church leaders nurse a gnawing frustration concerning their sound tech. They never seem to ‘get it right’. It’s too loud, too soft, or just mixed weird. The microphone isn’t working again, the monitors hum distractedly, or you can’t hear the video as it’s playing on the screens. Overall, the relationship tends to be strained. To make matters worse, whenever you request a change, they may give you some attitude, push back or simply start talking in a language you don’t understand!

    A few years ago our sound tech and I were experiencing this tension. I was having difficulty getting him to represent the sound in the sanctuary the way we were wanting it to be represented. It’s not that he mixed bad. It’s just that he had different ideas and values. One day, I took him for a drive in my car and asked him to adjust the EQ on my music. I had a bass-boost button that you could hit three times to increase the bass. He popped the bass to the maximum level. We listened that way for a while and then I put it back to where it was, explaining my preferences as the driver and owner of the car. This began a wonderful conversation and a new understanding between us regarding the mix on Sunday morning!

    My recommendation: Invest in your sound tech! Take him out to lunch or ask he and his family over for dinner. Set up occasional meetings with him to just talk shop regarding the Sunday morning experience. Invite him to your service planning meetings. Cast your vision for ministry to him. Let him dream with you about the church and it’s future. Find ways to help him understand your values and preferences with sound. Help him be an extension of you, onstage, every single week – after all, he is.

     

  • 10 Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    10 Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    One day Jesus decided to sit and watch people put money in the offering. When an unremarkable, poor woman gave a couple pennies, Jesus honored her above everyone else. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43, NIV).

    I wonder how that woman felt about herself. Is it possible she believed that her small gift didn’t really matter? I wonder if the people in her life ever validated her or what she had to offer. Certainly nobody paid much attention to her financial gifts! Most likely, people disregarded her when they looked at what she gave and discounted her because they compared her to all of those who gave so much more. That’s not what Jesus did. He valued both the woman and her gift, when nobody else did.

    Let’s take a moment and stop thinking of her gift as financial. What if her gift was in service to the church instead? What if all she could give to the local church was a very small amount of her time? Or what if she was very unskilled and had very little to offer as a volunteer? Would we treat her the same as those who give much?

    If we were to dig deep, we would discover millions of stories of people who never reached their potential in ministry because the people around them (and they themselves) didn’t value who they were or what they could contribute. Even more alarming would be those who simply didn’t give anything at all for the same reason.

    Ten Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    In today’s post, I’d like to briefly consider 8 reasons why volunteers might feel devalued.

    1. Assume The Worst

    Is it possible there are men & women in your church who could relate to the woman Jesus noticed in the above story? Do they think their leaders assume they have little or nothing to offer because of their skill set, circumstances or personality? Leaders will always micromanage volunteers when they assume they are incapable of doing a task, thinking through a problem or taking initiative. This leaves the volunteer helpless to do more than what they are told. 

    2. Miss Small Contributions

    It’s easy to notice people who volunteer a lot. They are often seen and noticed in the office or working in an area of ministry for hours on end. Their gift of service is seen by all. It’s not so easy to observe those who give small amounts. Their contribution is lost in the shuffle and hubbub of others who give so much more. Leaders should pay close attention to ALL of those who volunteer in the church, no matter how small, so they might later honor & thank them for their service.

    3. Lack of Communication

    When people don’t know what’s going on, they feel undervalued. The unspoken message they hear is, “I wasn’t important enough to be in the loop on this.” Most of the time, it’s not true, but our inadequate communication will eventually alienate and drive some of our most committed people away.

    4. Non-Personal Interaction

    It doesn’t matter what size church you lead, people are still people and they are craving personal touch. In particular, they feel valued and important when the people they respect in leadership take the time to connect with them. This can be a huge challenge for christian leaders. Even so, finding ways to give 1 on 1 attention to people through cards, email, social media, personal visits, even a brief chat, will help them know they are a valued part of your team.

    5. Responsibility Without Authority

    When people are asked to get involved, but aren’t empowered to do it themselves, they feel like wheels in a cog. Systems can add great value to local ministries, but they are meant to serve you and your volunteers, not the other way around. When possible, allow room for some creative liberty to allow volunteers to make decisions on their own.

    6. No Opportunity for Buy-In

    Announcing change from the pulpit is dangerous. People need time to process what’s going on and how it will impact them personally. If you want to value your volunteers, communicate far in advance of the change to give them lead time so they can process change before it happens. 

    7. False or Wrong Expectations

    One of the easiest ways to hurt feelings and sow discord is to keep expectations vague or confusing. If YOU expect more from your volunteers than they realize, you will be disappointed and they will be discouraged. If THEY expect more from you as a leader, they will be confused or disappointed. Either way, it’s a recipe that can lead to broken relationship.

    8. Square Peg, Round Hole

    It’s frustrating when leaders delegate tasks to volunteers and then get mad at them because they don’t do a good job. If you ask me to serve as the maintenance man in your church, you’ll be disappointed. I’m not good at fixing things. Instead of pushing me harder to do better, realize I’m a square peg, not a round one, and find a better fit for me.

    9. Starved for Feedback

    One of the greatest gifts any leader can give their volunteers is the gift of meaningful and regular feedback. When given properly, this will greatly encourage them, empower them for better service and motivate them to continue to give their time and talents to the church. Similarly, volunteers who never hear how they are doing, both good and bad, will be discouraged, disempowered and lack motivation to keep going.

    10. Devalue Small Contributions

    One of the most obvious reasons volunteers don’t feel valued by leaders is because leaders don’t actually value volunteers who give very little. Jesus valued every contribution others gave, no matter how big or small. He recognized the poor woman’s gift was extravagant because he knew she had nothing else to give, and honored her for it. When he fed the 5,000, he knew a couple of fish would be enough to kick start an amazing miracle, despite how inadequate that gift truly was. 

    —

    Invite people to be part of something great, find a good fit for them, and let them serve with the skills, talent & commitment they have to give. Value them and what they give just as much as those who give (or seem to give) so much more.

    photo credit: Lawrence OP She Gave All She Had via photopin (license)