Category: Church Leadership

  • 3 Musketeers of Church Staff

    three-musketeersThere’s a lot of smack talk about church staffing these days. Senior pastors rightfully elevate the role of various staff members and do their best to put all staff on the same “level” as themselves in people’s eyes. There are even a few places where church leaders will acknowledge that the childrens ministry professional, youth worker, and music minister are equally valuable. Within the non-denomination world this is emerging as a style of government where the paid staff are the elders.

    All for one and one for all: Brilliant. Biblical. Awesome.

    I agree with the premise. As a person sitting in the pews my family is ministered by all staff pretty much equally. Certainly, there is headship and we acknowledge that one of the staff is “in charge.” But that is really just a role, isn’t it? It’s not that being the leader is necessarily harder or more important. It’s a different role, equally important and dependent to the others. And in many cases each person on staff has an equal level of education while each chose a slightly different career path. So the education argument seems to prove that most staff is equal. Another argument is that the preacher should  get more money than the rest of the staff. Really? As if the stuff taught to the kids and teens isn’t as important as what’s preached? This merely shows the ignorance in the process of how churches work on a week-to-week basis. As someone who has done a lot of roles on church staff I can tell you that there is nothing more or less difficult about preparing a sermon. In fact, its a lot easier than preparing curriculum for 5-6 age levels. So, again, the argument that somehow the person preaching is more valuable to the church organization falls apart. The day-to-day reality is that all of the church staffing roles are equally important.

    Don’t believe me? Watch your senior pastors face when you tell him the chidlrens worker or worship leader are AWOL on a Sunday morning.

    The real question is… when will that be reflected on pay day?

    If church staff are equally valuable to the organization why is there inequality when it comes to taking care of staff? Why does the senior pastor make 2-3 times what the childrens worker makes? Why does that person get perks not available to the rest? Why does that person get more time off? Sabbatical? Conference budget? Book budget? Car allowance? Special tax perks. It may shock you to know that most associate level staff makes less than half what the senior pastor makes… before the perks kick in.

    This gets really strange when staff have kids the same age. The staff all have equally important roles but can’t afford to live in the same neighborhood. One family sends their kids to private school, goes on lavish vacations, and never have to worry about their kids getting new clothes. The rest of the staff live paycheck to paycheck. They watch Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and wonder when someone will turn in their house?

    I’d like to ask you to consider a new way. What if every pastoral team member made the exact same amount of money? (Perks and all.) What if they weren’t just equal in importance, recognized 1-2 times per year, but were recognized in the one way that would keep those associate level people in the game for life?

    Want to attract talent? Pay them. Want to keep staff? Pay them. Want to change a community by having talented people in place for a generation? Pay them.

    All for one and one for all. Brilliant. Biblical. Awesome.

  • Sell Your Church Reach Your Community

    sell-your-church

    Permit this heresy: There is no mention of a church owning a building in the New Testement. I’m not saying it’s unbiblical to own a church building, I just think its worth it is worth thinking about.

    What would church look like with no building? How would programs change? How would staffing change? How would worship services change? How would staff meetings change?

    How would church finances change? How much more mission could you do without building maintanence? Without a mortgage? Without property insurance? How much less stuff would you buy, in general if you had to store it at your house?

    How would your community change? If it changed the zoning of church property to commerical or residential? If that space became a public park? If that building became used as a community center?

    I’m not saying that churches shouldn’t have buildings. I’m just saying that for some congregations the benefit of having property is not outweighed by the negative impact on the congregations mission and finances.

  • Teaching from a position of exploration

    Tonight starts our youth ministry [in a formal sense] at Mid-city. There are a lot of things our team is excited about. I wanted to share one that has captivated me.

    Traditionally, the teaching in youth ministry is from an authoritative perspective. Whether as a stated or implied goal we teach God’s Word with an assumption that it is true, you can trust it, and that I am teaching it the way you should believe it.

    While I certainly value those assumptions, our team felt like that wasn’t going to help us express the value, “This is a safe place to explore Jesus.“It just isn’t safe if I give you all the answers and say, “OK, go believe that! You can trust me!”

    My role is to develop the content. I’ve been charged developing a style of teaching the Bible from an exploration perspective instead of an authoritative perspective.

    For example, tonight we’re teaching about doubt. Yes, our very first lesson talks about why you should doubt what people say about God! We’re stating right up front, it’s perfectly OK to doubt. It might even be a virtue. Your leaders have doubts about the claims of Christ. We will tell them it’s a good thing to not believe everything we say at face value. We want them to explore Jesus on their own and show by our actions the youth ministry is a safe place to ask questions– hard questions– and those questions will be accepted with an open heart as we explore a relationship with Jesus together.

    Here’s my discussion questions that go with the talk:
    – Where is Jesus on doubt?
    – Do you think doubt is good or bad?
    – What does doubt have to do with honesty?
    – What are some things/circumstances that cause people to doubt God?
    – What are some things about Jesus you need to be true? (Like stuff about Jesus you are jacked up without.)

    Our hope is that positioning our ministry from a place of safe exploration that students will learn that each of us is on a journey with God. (Romeo people will remember that I call these people journeyists instead of the Christian term, soujourners.) No journey is better or more holy than the other. We think (hope, PRAY!) that the faith we help develop in our students will stand the test of time.

  • 3 Tests of a Leader

    1. Are they attracting leaders? A great leader surrounds herself with other talented leaders. Other leaders make sacrifices to work for her. A leader doesn’t just attract talented leaders, she keeps them. Established leaders pop in to hang out with her. She raises up leaders from within. She creates a culture of education and mentorship. If you are new to organization– you don’t have to be an insider to see this happening, it’s obvious.

    2. Is the vision happening? Lots of people call themselves leaders. And lots of leaders say they are visionaries. But I measure a leader by their fulfillment of the vision. Is it really happening or are they always one thing away from it really taking off or always starting something new and changing courses without admitting that they failed? Is the company, church, or organization funding their vision to rally behind the leader? Does the vision show measurable results in the last 30, 60, 90, 180, 365 days? (More income, more people helped, better customer satisfaction, etc.)

    3. Do they stick around? This is a little tricky for emerging leaders as they have a tendency to try a lot of things out until they find the right fit. But by the time they reach the highest levels of leadership they should be steady. If they have a tendency to get big jobs and stay for 2-3 years before moving on… chances are they will do that to you, as well. There’s nothing wrong with that type of person… you just need to know that they are like that and you’ll soon be a part of something without them. When I think of powerful leaders I think of people who have lead an organization successfully for a long time.

    There are so many other tests I use to know if someone is a leader I want to follow… but those are my top 3. They are big, obvious, and universal. I can see them on the surface. From there I need to know core stuff like, “Are they open/honest with me or do they hide stuff?” “Are they a leaders outside of their job or is it just a work hat they wear?” “Are they fun to be around?” “Is their leadership about them or is it about the good of the organization?” “Do they flee notoriety?”  Things like that are obviously super important, as well.

  • Animism Invades Christianity

    animism-christianity

    Are people generally looking to do bad things in the world? Is the world full of evil people set out to destroy you? If you take some doctrine too seriously you fall into this heretical view of life.

    Here’s what I mean. A lot of Christians go through life scared of “the world.” You can show them proof that crime is down in America. You can ask them about the people that they know personally. And you can ask them about their personal experiences of good people versus evil people. And yet a perversion of the doctrine of man will lead them to believe that all people are out to get them. Trust me, there’s a reason for this.

    Any reasonable observation of human behavior reveals the opposite… most people are generally good. Every person is not a potential murderer or rapist. Every person isn’t trying to rob you. Every person is not trying to knock you down. On and on.

    In short, we have a  tendency to believe the Fall of man overrides the benevolence of God. We do believe that all Goodness in the world comes from God, right?

    So why do most believers in Jesus Christ believe that the world is evil and full of people out to get them? My opinion is this: Too often the church, a place they trust to tell them the truth, is the one perpetrating this view of life that God’s creation is all-evil, all the time!

    Why? Because creating a culture of fear leads to increased giving. (Increased giving means your church is successful, right?) Appealing to fear is easy access to cash. It’s a primal response true of people of all walks of life and belief systems. And the people who give to God out of fear don’t want to believe that they got ripped off… so they inherently believe that their giving has somehow protected them from the stuff the leader scared them about. (the church closing, their kids being conscripted by the world, their family falling apart, etc.) This is far different from giving an offering from a cheerful heart, isn’t it? Giving to a cause purely as a way to appease God to protect them from the boogie man… that’s not Christianity at all– that’s animism!

    Take some time to observe how church leaders use fear to raise money. [This doesn’t happen everywhere or all the time.] Watch TV and pay close attention to how a charity uses fear to separate you from your cash. Fear is the easiest way to convince a person to donate. I would dare say that many church leaders are so ingrained in this culture of fear that they don’t even intentionally use fear to raise money. But they do it instinctively because they know it brings the money. I won’t give examples of the phrases leaders use to do this. I want to challenge you to observe it for yourself. Oh, it’s ingrained in sophisticated ways!

    My belief system recognizes that while there is evil in the world, and while we are all inherently sinners to the core… people are generally good. People generally chose to do good over evil. The world is safe. And I refuse  to allow fear  to override enjoying the benevolence of God in His creation. See my examples below for proofs.

    Addendum #1: Of course, the culture of fear isn’t just for believers. Fear of bad stuff happening leads you to vote for candidates, vote to increase your taxes, support political ideologies contrary to your belief system– on and on.Any time someone is trying to manipulate you to their position… watch how they intuitively use fear and perpetrate this heretical view that the world is a horrible place.

    Addendum #2: I’ve used fear to get you to read this blog post– the title and imagery were chosen to appeal to your sense of fear. Twisted stuff, isn’t it?

    (more…)

  • Moody: It’s time to wake up

    Moody_Bible_Institute_logoI’m aghast at the reality that my alma mater continues to stray from its stated mission and goal. Here’s a quote from its website:

    Moody is driven by the belief that people committed to living and declaring the Word of God can actually change the world. Beginning with our founder, D.L. Moody, generations of Christ-followers at Moody have committed themselves to learning the Bible and sharing it with the world.

    This is a great goal. It’s a goal that brought me to Moody as a wide-eyed idealistic 18-year old kid. And it’s a goal that kept me going back despite every obstacle until graduation as a 25 year old. And yet, in 2009, they continue to want that statement to only be true for men.

    With hundreds of millions of people to reach for Jesus Christ today why does a place like Moody add to their doctrinal statement a position limiting who they will train to reach those people? Why limit their impact by 50%? Why water down the talent pool of candidates by 50%? If the goal is to train people for ministry… why make a value judgement to only train men for pastoral work? They are not a denomination. They are not a church. They are a training school who serves both. And plenty of alumni work in all types of churches, conservative and liberal alike.

    Two thoughts and a call to action for alumni:

    1. Moody offers a fantastic education. I am the leader I am today, largely, because of the men and women who invested in me on the undergraduate level. I know some people’s undergrad experience was lame, mine was not. Moody does not offer a wimpy undergrad. It does a pretty adequate job of preparing its graduates to serve in pastoral ministry without requiring a degree at the next level. It’s a unique place and I would love to continue to recommend it as a place to get training for ministry.

    2. Moody started as a school to train women for ministry in the local church. While the school bears a man’s name, it was started by a woman named Emma Dryer. Moody was one of the first colleges in Illinois to admit women. It’s first students were women. It wouldn’t have gotten started at all if it had been a place just to train men! Moody’s school was always progressive school when it came to women in ministry. But that changed! Somewhere along the way it became more important to please conservative donors than it was to simply prepare all who wanted the training for ministry. During my time as a student the undergrad school took a major academic swing towards the conservative right, ousting most of the Bible and theology department who encouraged students to think progressively, and issued a statement on women in ministry. (Roughly in 2000)

    Call to action for alumni: If you are like me, you love MBI but weary of the policy which limits who can study what, who can come to certain conferences, and who can serve where, based on gender alone. You need to do something about it. You need to email the new president, Paul Nyquist. You need to let their conferences know that you will not plan on attending until all are welcome to attend as a full attendee and not just a spouse who can come to parts. Let them know you will not send students their way until they deal with this. Ask them to take you off the mailing list soliciting donations until they address this. Blog about it. Talk about it on their alumni Facebook page. Call into Moody Radio and bring it up. Talk about it with staff and employees that you know. Moody does a pretty good job keeping this policy under wraps. If we want it to change we need to let the public know that the policy exists and that a minority of alumni would like to see the school open its doors to men and women alike for all majors.

    Make them live out this statement, “Moody is driven by the belief that people committed to living and declaring the Word of God can actually change the world.” There is too much work to do just to rely on training 50% of the population. To make this vision a reality, it’ll take everybody.

    Agree with me? Disagree with me? I welcome all feedback.

  • Encourage One Another

  • 3 Positive Effects of Recession on the Church

    3-positive-of-recession

    Nearly every day I encounter someone who tells me their churches budget was cut, people at their church are about to lose their jobs, or otherwise their church is encountering hard financial times.

    That’s not purely a bad thing. Here are three positive things that a lack of money bring to a church.

    1. A gut check for the staff. If you’ve worked in a church you know that there are people who are on staff because they are absolutely convinced God wants them there and there are people who are there because its a job. When budgets get slashed, programs get cut, and necessary and unnecessary stuff gets trimmed to cut costs… each staff member has to examine herself and ask, “Why am I here? Do I really want to be here?” Some will double down their efforts and some will check out. Both are positive for the church going forward.

    2. A gut church for the parishoners. Along the same lines the people who attend the church have to face the same choice. When their beloved program is dismantled because of a lack of funding they have to ask themselves, “Am I here for that program, or am I here because this is where God wants me?” When they see a staff member lose benefits or their job or even their house, they re-examine their financial priorites automatically. “Am I being faithful to God with my money? Am I being a good steward of what I earn?” This is a positive outcome!

    3. A gut check for the dreamers. I can’t help but think of the mid-2000’s boom in church growth. With the last coughs of the Field of Dreams model [If you build it, they will come… and give!] of church growth, congregations built massive additions, added satellite campuses, and even reached out to buy up struggling churches. For the most part this was done during good times and using credit. Now those churches see double digit decreases in giving and are stuck in a catch-22 scenario. Admit they were wrong to buy on credit and sell property or trim programs and staff to try to ride out the dip. This is a positive outcome for the church, even if it means they go bankrupt. The healthy and faithful congregations will make it. The ones who depended on their own talents will fail.

    A bonus positive: A side effect of the extended recession is that I am seeing a massive wave of volunteerism in the church. As churches trim their budgets and people in the pews realize that they need to step up, the church as a whole is seeing an increase in volunteers in key church leadership positions.

  • The New Four Spiritual Laws

    new-4-spiritual-laws

    In 1965, Bill Bright wrote the tract Four Spiritual Laws. It’s hard for us to believe this, but in its day it was a powerful and releavant tool for explaining the Gospel to people. In an America in where religious education was part of the public school education, it was based on a presupposition that God exists, that Jesus’ story is real and true, and that every person sinned.

    Four Spiritual Laws was a tool that helped millions people, largely teens and young adults, connect the dots between what they knew to be true in their own lives, that they mess up, that they know there is a God but they don’t know if they can have a relationship with Him. And what they learned/memorized in grade school and high school.

    Remember, up until 1964, children in America didn’t just pray in school, they were taught the story of God in the Bible, memorized Scripture, and were taught the tenants of the Protestant faith. Bill Bright was genius to create this tool that connected those dots!

    The 1964 Supreme Court decision which cemented the abstract idea that the original founders of the United States wanted a literal separation between church and state amplified the culture wars between Evangelicals and “the world” that we see today. What started in 1964 in abstraction became a gulf of culture within a decade which made tools like Four Spiritual Laws irrelevant.

    Obviously, those presuppositions are long gone in America today. Today, children in the church don’t grow up memorizing Scripture. Today, schools do not teach children about a monotheistic God. Today, schools are afraid to refer to Jesus Christ as a person in history for fear that a parent would cry “seperation of church and state!”

    Looking at the Four Spiritual Laws themselves, I don’t know if we would describe the four tenants of them in the same way. At the core this is the evangelical faith– hasn’t changed a bit. God loves you and wants a relationship with you. Your sin separate you from that relationship. Jesus Christ, by taking on your sin at the cross of Calvary made it possible to for you to know God anyway. By putting your faith in Jesus you can have a relationship with God and begin a new life in Him. Seriously, that’s not changed.

    But methods have. Walking up to someone and asking if you can hand them or read them a tract is flat out offensive. (If you know people doing this in America, feel free to smack them.)

    So have the secondary things in Four Spiritual Laws. People who come to Jesus do so for today as much as tomorrow. The Gospel we preach today isn’t just about eternal life, its about righting wrongs, bringing wholeness, restoration, and justice to today.

    And so I am left to wonder. If Bill Bright were to write Four Spiritual Laws today, what would it look like? What form would it take? How would he capture the obvious from culture to connect the dots? What are common things we all believe in America which point us to a relationship with Jesus?

  • Fears of a new venture

    What does youth ministry in this neighborhood look like?

    That’s the big open question in my mind this week. A week ago I met with a couple of leaders of Harbor and let them know… I think I’m at a place where giving my energy to lead something makes sense. I’ve completely enjoyed stepping back– forcefully– and spending time in the pews. And yet it’s clear within my soul that I need to help Harbor figure out what is next with student ministry.

    Replication is my fear. Honestly, that’s it. I am fearful that I’ll help lead them a direction towards “adamisms” and things that I’m comfortable with. I’m fearful that I lead them to replicating stuff that other practitioners are already doing without being sensitive to the needs of our church and community. I’m fearful that we’ll be too ambitious or not ambitious enough. I’m fearful that in our zeal to meet the tangible needs of students we won’t be Gospel-driven enough. I’ve lived in cities for half of my adult life, but all of my ministry experience is with suburban kids. I’m not fearful of the kids. But I am in full knowledge that I don’t know how to identify with their struggles. So that’s an over-arching fear mixed in there, as well.

    Fear. It’s where I’m at. Not the trembling kind of fear before embarking on an unknown ministry for the first time. Thankfully, I’m not that 21 year old kid grabbing the mic for the first time. On the one hand this is a more carnal fear. Some fear is based in the success of my past and present ministry. What if I screw it up and everyone looks at me and says, “Doesn’t he work for Youth Specialties? Isn’t he supposed to be an expert? How come he sucks so bad?” On the other hand, this is fear based in saying to Jesus… “OK, I’ll try something completely out of my experience and culture. I’ll go where you want and do what you need done. I’ll swallow pride and embrace not getting it right and risk the humiliation of starting over.” It’s a fear based in a life dedicated to saying to the Lord, “I want to change this world, help me be that leader that changes things in my world.”

    I’ve learned a thing or two. I’ve lead enough stuff to know that fear can be useful. Fear ultimately forces you to the core of what you’re trying to do. Fear forces you to look at the proposition of failure with a knowing grin. I may be afraid of failure but I’ve got enough experience to know what makes a success too.

    3 life lessons I’m applying— If you are in the same boat– I’d suggest these things.

    1- This is no one man show. Not that I’ve ever really run a one man show, per se. But from the onset of this I want to be clear that I’m no more than 1/4th the leader. I wish I had set this rule up 10 years ago!

    2. This is about developing leaders for influence. If I’m going to invest my time in developing leaders, it’s not going to be so that they can be the shift supervisor at Starbucks. This is going to be about something much more important than this.

    3. No more babysitting complacent teens. Since I’m not drawing a paycheck on this thing, I feel less-than-zero pressure to entertain. I want to invest in students, I want to invest in developing leaders. I want to teach God’s Word. And I have the ability to say no to the rest. Fun is always part of the equation. But watching kids be bored with the most exciting stuff on the planet… not my cup of tea.

    More coming on this, I’m sure.