Changing Role Of Pastor

Posted by on March 5, 2009

In all of my years studying and leading churches the changing role of the pastor and the laity within the local church is probably one of the most misunderstood and potentially damaging issues facing the church.  The biblical model is incredibly clear, the pastor is God’s gift to the church and his role is to lead the church by equipping the laity to do the work of the ministry.

Tragically in most small churches the laity hires a pastor to do the work of the ministry and they run the church.  The pastor is to preach, visit, counsel, attend meetings, conduct funerals and weddings and the people once a month conduct the business of the church.

As the church starts to grow additional staff is hired and the old culture begins to be threatened.  Now the pastor is expected to do everything he has always done and manage an ever growing staff and minister to an even larger number of people.  New buildings are being built and the financial administration becomes complicated.

Many pastors hit the wall at this point because they are not gifted to make the transition from shepherd of the flock to leader of the people.  The expectation level of the people has not changed and they are simply left with more work and all the issues that come with personnel problems.

The major reason though these changes do not occur is not because the pastor cannot change his leadership style but the people are not willing to delegate control to staff and lay leaders and assume their God given role of ministry responsibility.

When a church reaches over three hundred the pastor cannot continue to visit every member in the hospital and every member of the church does not need to be involved in picking the paint color for the kitchen renovation.  These transitions of roles will continue to occur every time you reach an additional five hundred people or the church will simply stop growing.

There are a lot of legitimate and complicated reasons people are not being reached for Christ.  This should not be one of them.

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Supply vs. Demand

Posted by on March 2, 2009

We all know the basic principles involved in this economic formula and how it affects price.  I was recently exposed to a piece of this equation that I had not experienced before.

Last week I returned from a business trip from Phoenix with a stop in Atlanta with a lot of thunderstorms in the area.  When I walked into the terminal I knew there were major problems because there were twice as many people there as should be this late in the day.

After checking the departing flight board three times my flight to Birmingham had been delayed to 11:45 p.m. which translated to me that it would probably be canceled.  So I decided with seemingly thousands of other people to go and rent a car to drive instead.

It was obvious that demand was out the roof by the number of people trying to get cars.  When I finally got mine the rate was extremely high for a compact with no room for negotiation.  I wrote if off to supply and demand economics.

When I entered the Hertz lot I was shocked to see hundreds of available cars on the lot.  I had experienced for the first time that at least I was aware of the economics of high demand and high supply.

When any company takes advantage of a high demand situation by artificially driving up prices they are digging their own graves.  One day the pendulum will swing and the demand will be low and everyone will remember the day Hertz placed greed above customer service.

Charge a reasonable price with world class service and your organization will be able to weather any storm and thrive when others are failing all around you.  If you want people to stick with you during your hard times you had better treat them well when they are in the midst of theirs.

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Sweat the Small Stuff

Posted by on March 1, 2009

We all love the great Bible story of David killing the giant Goliath.  There are many incredible truths in the several chapters that are dedicated to this event.

The most significant one for me is that if we take care of the seemingly little responsibilities in our lives God has a way of taking care of the major ones.  The reason David had no fear of this monster of a man is because with God’s help he had already killed a lion and a bear.

All major public victories that everyone sees are preceded by the smaller private ones when no one is watching.  The other side of the same truth is sadly all major public failures occur because of a series of small compromises that seemed so unimportant at the time.

If you don’t think this is true just ask Eliot Spitzer or John Edwards and they will be glad to share with you how quickly this can happen.  How could these highly intelligent, powerful and dynamic leaders let this happen to themselves and most of all to their families?  Someone has well said an unguarded strength is a double weakness.

Sweat the small stuff and the big stuff will take care of itself.

 

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Growth Barriers

Posted by on February 26, 2009

There are many things that can keep a church from growing and reaching its potential.  The most obvious is for whatever reason God is not able to bless the work and all you are left with is human effort and nothing supernatural can happen.

The list of other real issues includes lack of resources in the areas of staffing, programming and facilities that will prevent you from reaching the next level.  Oh by the way, every significant increase of 500 people creates an entirely new list of different challenges that must be addressed in all of these areas.

Sometimes the problem is that a church gets out of balance in any one of these areas to the detriment of all the others.  The most obvious is over building your site and incurring too much debt that strangles everything else you are trying to accomplish.

The single most significant issue beyond the blessings of God is the constantly changing role of the pastor and the people.  In most small churches the pastor does the ministry and the people run the church.  For any church to reach its potential the pastor must do the leading and the people must be equipped to do the ministry.

In my experience far too many times when this ongoing transition breaks down the primary blame is placed on the people and their unwillingness to follow.  The hard cold truth is the reason they are not following is there is not a leader in place that has the character and integrity to say clearly come follow me as I follow Christ.

 

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Customer Service

Posted by on February 25, 2009

Every growing business needs to generate new clients and increase market share.  That is why so much money is spent on marketing to try to reach additional customers and open the front door to additional revenue.

However, I have come to believe that closing the back door and increasing retention of existing customers is the most important factor in market share.  In one area marketing, we are trying to attract and add new units while customer service is seeking to retain and multiply the impact of people who are already on board.

I would move significant budget dollars away from marketing until I had a world class customer service reputation.  I would have real people on the phone that will stop at nothing within reason to satisfy the problems that I am having with your products or services.

The incredible bounce factor out of outstanding customer service is not only do I retain a significant percentage of existing clients; they become the most effective sales force for my organization by talking within their network of influence to generate the new customers I need to continue to grow.

The next time someone is trying to convince you to automate your customer service or outsource it to someone who answers the phone in India forget about it.  Move the personal touch to the top of your marketing plan to support your existing customers and they more than any direct retail marketing plan will help you grow your company.

 

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The Dip

Posted by on February 23, 2009

A good friend of mine exposed me to the writings of Seth Godin.  He is an expert on new marketing and the use of the internet with one of the most read blogs on the web.

The Dip is a book about knowing when to quit and on the other hand when to stick it out.  Every new project, job, relationship and hobby start out exciting and fun but at some point the newness wears off and the reality of how hard it really is sinks in. 

A Dip is a temporary setback that you can overcome if you stick it out and do not quit.  The other extreme is a cul-de-sac which is a situation that you should quit as soon as you know this is not what you need to be doing.

How do you know the difference?  Great question.  The key to me involves passion and excellence.

If you are not passionate about what you are doing then that is a clear sign that you are probably in a cul-de-sac.  To be able to break through all the problems we all face everyday requires a burning desire to do something you know that really makes a difference.

The other criteria require total transparent honesty with self.  You must evaluate if the product you are offering to the market is the quality that would make people want to participate in what you are doing.

If it is then you have every reason to hope that over time other people will hear about what you are doing and will buy in and even tell their network about your services.  The book is all about knowing when to quit the wrong stuff and stick it out with the right.

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Listening

Posted by on February 20, 2009

The key area that is lacking for most leaders as they face the highly participative team dynamics that exist today is people skills.  All executive coaching research clearly points to this reality and most leaders have major blind spots when it comes to this truth and that is why it can destroy team morale and productivity.

Of all the people skills that show up on most lists of inappropriate behavior poor listening goes to the top in all current studies.  Marshall Goldsmith calls it the most passive aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.

All of us catch ourselves thinking about what we want to say rather than really concentrating on what the other person is communicating.  Stephen Covey made seeking to understand the other person a priority before you seek to be understood as one of his 7 habits of highly effective people.

We must understand that listening is not a passive behavior.  It requires several active disciplines to be successful. 

We can clarify what someone has said by restating what we heard and what we think they meant.  We can explore by asking additional questions about what has been said.  Then we can seek confirmation from the person that is what they intended to convey.

Once you are confident you have fully understood what the other person is saying then you must take a moment to think before you speak.  Make sure your response is not coming across as defensive or attacking the other person regardless of whether you agree with them or not.

 

 

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Worship Wars

Posted by on February 19, 2009

This is a subject that really breaks my heart because the pain that has been suffered by so many good people is so unnecessary.  If this issue is not dealt with in a thoroughly biblical manner most of our current churches will stop reaching the next generation and will eventually die.

To be sure our people should be spiritually mature enough to not insist on their own personal musical preference so that others may come to Christ.  However, poor leadership has caused far more problems than “older adults” that only want their hymns.

For at least 50 years or longer one basic musical style was enjoyed by both the World War II and the Baby Boomer generations.  Large choirs and orchestras were the preferred choice that could lead a primarily performance style of service that was a blessing to many.

Today the emphasis has shifted to participation styles of music that involve the people in worship and praise.  In our current services it is no longer come sit, watch and listen as it is get involved and enjoy.

I think every generation has its own heart language when it comes to music in worship.  The problem comes when we try to force everyone into one box and demand they like it or leave.

 I think the days of building one massive worship center are over.  As soon as your church grows large enough for multiple services you are already multi-congregational.  At that point if you are reaching different age groups you can choose to be multi-generational.

Then when you plan a service ask yourself one simple question, who is in the room and what do they need from the music and the message to help them move into the presence of God? 

 

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Web Sites

Posted by on February 18, 2009

Almost every church in America now has a web site.  Many I have seen would be better served if they did not because having a poor to average web site is worse than having none at all.

They are very important in reaching new people because they will probably visit your site before they visit your campus.  If they are disappointed with the site because it was done poorly or if there is obvious outdated information they will probably not come at all.

The two most important things about web sites are that today they must go beyond words and pictures.  People want to experience your ministries before they buy the live product.

You must provide quality video and audio capabilities so that people can see and hear your worship before they come.  They want to know what type of environment their children will be in and something about the quality of programming they will be offered.

The second most important thing about a web site is that it will never take the place of a relational connection that your people are making with unbelievers during the week.  The web site is an important step but it will always be the second step and in and of itself it will not automatically draw people to your church.

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The Target Has Changed

Posted by on February 17, 2009

Any time you talk about some group of people being your primary target most people in the church get offended.  It is if they are concerned that because they are not in the target group their needs are not going to be met.  This of course should not have to be the case at all.

For over fifty years at least the same target group has existed from a demographic and psychographic standpoint.  They were the adults that made up the World War II and the Baby Boomer generations.  We developed programs and services to meet their needs and they would bring their children to church with them.

A typical adult conversation on the way home would be how did you like the message, music and the lesson?  If both adults had a good experience, then they would deal with whatever issues the children had and bring them back the next Sunday.

Today the overwhelming majority of adults under the age of forty are not coming to church any more.  They have a different world view about God and the need for role of the church in their lives.

When they do come because someone has relationally connected with them at work or in the neighborhood the conversation on the way home has completely changed.  Now the major thing that matters is what type of experience did their children have and do they want to come back again?

If the answer is yes, the adults are now willing to make the adjustments and they will be back.  If the answer is no, then regardless of what happened to mom and dad they are not going to give you a second look.

If your preschool, children and student ministries are not world-class in your church then you cannot expect to reach families in today’s culture.  The conversations on the way home have changed and your target group must change with it as well.

 

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