Tag: pendulum

  • Hire where you want to grow

    One of my many roles at Youth Specialties is to oversee the YS job bank. While it isn’t the fanciest job hunting service in the world countless people have found their ministry jobs through the site.

    The hiring process, for many churches, reveals the pendulum problem. They aren’t looking for the best candidate for their church. They are looking for someone who isn’t like the last person.

    I’ve read thousands of descriptions over the years. And I can quickly translate a position description into a description of their previous youth pastor. Churches use a code language that they think is clever but is easily translated.

    A fictional example of a position description:

    First Presbyterian Church – Youth Director

    FPC is a family-friendly congregation serious about the raising the next generation of believers in Anywhere, US. We are seeking an individual to oversee and direct our thriving youth ministry program of 7-12 grade students. Duties will include teaching Sunday school, overseeing midweek Bible studies, planning regular activities with the emphasis on developing the ministries effectiveness. Qualified candidates will possess at least 5 years experience in working on a multiple staff team in a youth ministry role, a Masters degree from a denominationally approved college or university, and a desire to seek ordination within the Fictional Presbyterian Church.

    What we know about the previous youth director from this position description:

    First Presbyterian Church – former youth director, Cindy Johnson

    Cindy was single. (e.g. Not family-friendly) As a former YoungLife staff person she was passionate about students… just not the ones whose parents give a lot of money to the church. (e.g. Serious about raising the next generation at FPC’s kids) She probably did a good job teaching Sunday school, (e.g. The new person can still do that) wasn’t that involved in midweek teaching, (e.g. overseeing is code for “will be there and run it”) and Cindy’s cardinal sin was that she planned activities that were fun and easy to run… but weren’t tied together so that parents could tell what she was trying to do. (e.g. emphasis on developing the ministries effectiveness.) Cindy was focused on youth ministry and never really had her heart in staff meetings for things that weren’t about her job. And the pastor’s wife was highly offended that Cindy RSVP’d “No” to her Christmas Tea, choosing to fly home to spend the holidays with her family instead. (e.g. at least 5 years experience on a multi-staff team.) Cindy got the job right after graduating from her undergrad and left to pursue an MDiv at a non-denominational seminary. (e.g. People were always suspicious of her Baptist roots, anyway. They knew she wasn’t really Presbyterian all along because she didn’t like the bag pipes.)

    That’s how the pendulum swings. And it carries right into the interview process with candidates walking away scratching their heads. “Why did they ask me so many questions about my personal finances?” Um, because the last person sucked with money. “Why did they ask me questions about my musical preferences?” Um, because they want to know if you’ll help lead the worship team. “Why did they ask me about my philosophy of parent ministry?” Um, because the parents hated the previous person and got them fired.

    They aren’t interviewing you, per se. They are interviewing to make sure you aren’t anything like the previous person.

    For untrained people often left to do the hiring… it’s human nature. Want something different? Bam. We’ll give you different. We had Cindy, now we have Tom and Janet and their six kids. Tom’s been a youth pastor for 15-years at various churches, is ordained in the denomination, and has an MDiv from the Presbyterian seminary as well as a Masters in Non-Profit Business Administration.

    I give Tom 2 years until that pendulum turns into a wrecking ball.

    What’s a better strategy?

    Simple. Hire where you want to see growth. The leader a ministry hires should reflect and be prepared to take you where you can’t, don’t know how, or won’t go without them.

  • Stop swinging the pendulum

    The problem with autonomy in church leadership is group think.

    Allow me to unpack that a little. It’s early. Maybe you haven’t had your coffee?

    Autonomy – a self-governing community.

    Group think – the -practice of approaching problems or issues as matters that are best dealt with by consensus of a group rather than by individuals acting independently; conformity.

    Translate that to the church.

    Autonomy is all the rage in church leadership circles these days. It’s almost heresy to present the concept of getting outside help from another board or body when making decisions. If you read the latest leadership magazines or listen to the speakers at leadership conferences they all pretty much say the same thing: Your leadership team knows best; you have been called to lead locally, do it boldly.

    And the result is group think.

    I hate to say it, but sometimes instead of acting boldly groups act stupidly.

    Too often, locked in a board room and forced to make a decision, a leadership team goes with a BIG IDEA and changes everything.

    The result is a pendulum effect. Attendance is down? Let’s find the boring and replace it with the exciting. Let’s get rid of game time and go with meditation circles. Let’s stop passing the offering plate around and force people to text in their donations. Let’s fire the organized youth pastor and hire a relational one.

    There is something in our DNA that looks at problems and processes only two solutions…. stay the same or make an extreme change.

    And the nature of group think is that you are always going to chose A or B. No one in a room is going to fight for options C, D, E, or F. Because they want the meeting to end.

    And in a group, consensus is viewed as good even if it is bad.

    Pendulum swing vs. Minor Correction

    Let me introduce two concepts to you since you probably sit on some sort of leadership team. Maybe internalizing these things will help your organization end the tennis match of pendulum thinking?

    #1 Slow down – I’ve been in these meetings. And I know that at the board level there is a desire to move quickly in order to look decisive. (Or empty the agenda) And I know that those closest to the situations feel the most urgency to make drastic changes. By making the time to study and really understand a problem you will make a much more wise decision. When your board is on the verge of swinging the pendulum, just ask that a decision not be made for 2 more meeting cycles. Give everyone some assignments about the problem. Then agree to talk about it briefly at the next meeting. Then at the third meeting, make a decision.

    #2 Side step to the right or left – Chances are that you are largely doing the right things for your organization. And what you are doing today did actually get you to the place you are at today. (In a good way) So rather than killing a program or firing a staff person, take the time to invest in minor corrections as opposed to swinging the pendulum. Consider investing in the staff people that you have. (Way cheaper, kinder, and wiser for the long-term health of your organization.) Or consider visiting other organizations that run a similar program to see what you can learn. And also consider that you probably have the best program, staff, or idea for your context in play and that you might just need to ride out a temporary downward cycle.

    Break group think  and its pendulums!

    One thing I’d like to see if for autonomous bodies (not bad, by definition) getting more comfortable with outside voices. You can be autonomous and still bring in outside voices. Bring in visitors from outside the organization to regular meetings… just for a fresh outside perspective. Once a year do a retreat with another similar board where you spend a weekend working on your problems together. When faced with a big decision, produce a white paper and ask another board for their advice.

  • Getting away from pendulum thinking

    Our culture is dominated by pendulum thinking.

    We have a tendency to think in extremes. There’s something in our cultural make-up which makes it difficult to think about minor corrections as we default to massive swings.

    It’s “either or” thinking… and it drives me mad.

    It’s been going on for a while. In fact, it is engrained in Western thinking.

    An Example

    Nearly a decade ago, I worked at an Evangelical Free Church in Northern California. Part of the job offer was that I would pursue ordination within the denomination. As I began the steps in that process I was assigned to read a series of books about the denominations history. I was shocked to discover that deeply engrained in the history of the denomination was a protest mentality from the fringes of the protestant reformation. The very word “free” in the denominations name was a protest against Scandinavian Lutheranism. They were free from Lutheranism! The Lutherans had a hierarchical structure, churches were interdependent and structured into synods. In response, the E-Free world had a lack of hierarchy. The Evangelical Free Church of America won’t even call themselves a denomination. They are a group of  autonomous bodies tied together by historical culture and common beliefs. (Er, that’s what a denomination is, isn’t it?) Lutherans had ornate churches so E-Free churches tried to make their buildings stark white and plain in protest. Lutheran churches had a problem with pastoral abuses so E-Free pastors have virtually no power in their congregations. On and on... so much of what made the Evangelical Free Church distinct was actually pendulum swings from their past life in Scandinavia. I’d set those books down and think, “Only by God’s grace could such a rebellious attitude reach lost people.”

    More Examples

    • A church replaces a highly relational pastor with one who prefers books to people.
    • A company used to sell gas guzzlers, but now they just sell hybrids.
    • A country goes from electing a very conservative president to a very liberal one.
    • A person retires, having lived in Cleveland their whole life, and moves to Costa Rica, sight unseen, for retirement.
    • A family hates pets their whole life and on a whim they buy 3 dogs.

    Pendulum thinking is interesting, isn’t it? It assumes that the only way to change is to go from one extreme to another! We don’t live in a culture of nuanced differentiation– we live in one filled with extremes.

    In all likelihood the change you are looking for, the growth in your organization, the new product that will balance your budget, the educational principle that will revolutionize your classroom, and even the happiness you seek is not going to be found in the extremes.

    One pendulum swing just leads to another.

    What you are probably looking for is just a little bit to the left or the right.