Ideas for Impact |
What kinds of churches can we become?
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It is July 2020 and I am looking back from the perspective of 6 months of hindsight.
What have been some of the lessons that churches have been learning the last six months in this context where things are not so bad, then get worse, then get better, then get worse ....? 1. Communicate with clarity. Whatever you decide to do or not do, let the church and the community know what the plans are - phone, text, email, newsletter, website, Facebook, etc. 2. Figure out what the priorities are for helping people grow in Christ:
3. Figure out the best way to help people give their offerings in person, through the mail or online. 4. Help church members learn how to do meetings and groups online through Facebook, Google, Zoom, FaceTime and other avenues. 5. Increase the communication network of your church so that people are contacted every week - people who are part of a small group and those who aren't. 6. Find ways to increase engagement of the people who watch online using things like discussion questions, homework assignments, links to resources, testimonies, interviews, video clips and family or small group discussions. 7. Learn how to not just make people who attend feel safer, but actually be safer. Doing things like cleaning surfaces, opening doors, provide fresh or filtered air, physical distancing, wearing masks, smaller groups, and so forth. 8. Learn new ways to do group meetings - conferences, camps, VBS, business meetings, Bible studies, staff meetings and leadership training. 9. Look for ways to meet community needs - food, clothes, job search help, tutoring, support groups, counseling, etc. 10. Be flexible and adaptable. Be a learner. Help people cope with change. 11. Be empathetic with people who have a different experience than you do. Some people are young and healthy and not worried, others are at risk. Some lost their jobs and may not get them back, some work at home, and others are on the front line and face incredible stress wondering if they will carry some germs back and infect their whole family. Some are happy to quarantine and relax, while others miss the chance to travel and see children and grandchildren. 12. Be patient. Some problems can't be solved in 3 weeks or 3 months. 13. Practice and get better at online communication - better sound, better lighting, better camera angles, better eye contact, how close to zoom in on the speaker, etc. 14. Posting worship and Bible study videos online can help reach dozens or hundreds of new people but there should also be an effort to followup and engage them so that they learn to enjoy fellowship with the church family in-person as well. 15. Individuals tend to get lost in the scope of the world, countries, cultures and statistics. People talk about the 1918 Flu Pandemic but they don't personally know how individual people and families were affected. Someday, it will be the same for the 2020 pandemic. 100 years from now, people will read about the statistics in a history book. But when you are living in the middle of it as we are now, what matters is the individual. Who are we praying for, who are we serving, who are we sharing our faith with? Jesus said the shepherd left the 99 and went to look for the one sheep that needed help. I was reading a new book this month that talks about how churches can bring about a major change and how that is a different approach from small incremental changes.
Major changes take a lot of work, a lot of people involved in making decisions, a longer time frame that may take years and sometimes a big financial commitment. Changes like adding new staff, new buildings, additional worship services and new programs are major changes that take skilled leadership. Incremental changes are often seen as not very important, but I think there are many small changes that ministries can make that will have a huge impact.
I was listening to Thom Rainer's and Ed Stetzer's recent blogs where they interviewed Daniel Im about his new book, No Silver Bullets (5 Small Shifts That Will Transform Your Ministry)
Here are a few shifts in strategy that he suggests churches make: 1. Changing our definition from Destination to Direction. Churches often say that discipleship means being obedient and growing over a period of time, but we might give the impression it means learning some information or completing a class 101, 201, etc. He reminds us that disciples cannot be mass-produced and that listening to information does not automatically mean we will retain it and apply it. 2. Shifting Our Focus from Output to Input. He said that there is a correlation between helping people do certain things and the outcome it often produces in their life. For example, when we intentionally help people to become self-feeders, to read the Bible consistently for themselves, God uses that in their life and produces changes in their life. I think one way to apply that is to help our teachers concentrate on helping their class read the Bible for themselves each week, not just attend a class and listen to someone else tell what they read. 3. Shift from Being a Sage to Being a Guide. We often teach the way someone taught us, we imitate the model that was given to us. Instead, he encourages churches to teach the way people learn most effectively, which is this: we learn best on-the-job - when we read it, when we do it, when we explain it, when we discuss it. So in addition to lecture, teachers would do well to be more of a guide and help us to do what we want to learn. 4. Shift from Form to Function. The size of the group can be important, but we should make sure that we care about and be intentional about the function of the group. 5. Shift from Maturity to Missionary. Sometimes we might give the impression that the goal of discipleship ends with me - my maturity, my knowledge, my relationship with God. But we have to model for church members that the purpose of helping them grow is so that they can serve others, love others, disciple others, and help others have a personal relationship with Christ. We are starting a new pastor study group and we will read the book Mistakes Leaders Make, by Dave Kraft.
1. Allowing ministry to replace Jesus 2. Allowing comparing to replace contentment 3. Allowing pride to replace humility 4. Allowing pleasing people to replace pleasing God 5. Allowing busyness to replace visioning 6. Allowing financial frugality to replace fearless faith 7. Allowing artificial harmony to replace difficult conflict 8. Allowing perennially hurting people to replace potential hungry leaders 9. Allowing information to replace transformation 10. Allowing control to replace trust Pray for us as we try to become the best leaders that we can be. Come join us if your schedule allows. Recently in 2018, our Association helped with four teacher training sessions at one of our local churches. About 30 teachers attended the training. The information we talked about was not new - if you read a book about best teaching practices, the information would be very familiar.
What was different was that, in our training sessions, we allowed time to practice what we were recommending they do when they return to the classrooms where they teach.
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AuthorGarry Goodin is the Executive Director of the Mid-State Baptist Association Archives
April 2024
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