How to Develop the Young Talent on your Church Staff

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How to Develop the Young Talent on your Church Staff

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

A lot of people are talking about a leadership crisis facing the church. Where are the next generation leaders going to come from to pick up the mantle of this movement called the church? While many are fretting and talking about it few are doing much about it. Most churches become paralyzed searching for the perfect, sophisticated, detailed leadership development box curriculum to help them chart a way forward. There is no perfect plan, and if you wait for one you’ll never actually do anything. So in that spirit here are 3 simple steps you can take to start developing the young talent on your church staff.

#1 Prepare them Ahead of Time

Give them plenty of practice! Create as many game-like repetitions as you possibly can before you throw them out there on the field and see if they can play. Set them up for success through training to hone their skills and develop their knowledge base. Help them come up with a great game plan (review the game plan with them ahead of time) and then send them out on the field to execute when they’re ready.

#2 Encourage them During Execution

Young leaders don’t learn to lead in a classroom but by leading. Let them get out there and run the play. Let them experience the thrill of winning and the struggle to overcome setbacks. Resist the urge to step in and micromanage. Unless what they’re about to do is going to significantly hurt the ministry then don’t rescue them. Let them figure it out. Resolve to simply cheer them on and support them while they’re on the field!

#3 Coach them After the Play

Review the “game film” together. Discuss how the game plan worked and where it didn’t (by the way there is no perfect plan and no plan survives contact with the enemy). Celebrate and reinforce what went right, correct what went wrong, and clarify what was confusing. Ask them what did they see and what they think they should do about it. Teach them to think and process through a leadership filter, not just mimic the play of others.

Rinse…and repeat.

Interested in learning more about developing young leaders? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help your Church Develop Young Leaders.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

Small Group Strategies to Grow your Church

Sunday, July 17, 2016

Studies show that churches who launch new groups experience growth. But as many of us have seen firsthand, launching groups without a clear strategy that fits your church’s overall strategy is a recipe for chaos and disappointing results.

This is your last chance to be a part of this free webinar, where we’ll help you determine the strategies you need to launch new groups this fall and experience healthy growth.

A few topics we’ll cover include:

How Groups can become a “growth engine” for your church
How Groups compete with or complement Sunday School
How to build an effective Groups campaign for a fall launch
How to create a sustainable strategy for Groups content
How to ensure Groups continue to thrive after launch

Join Tony Morgan, Chris Surratt and Chris Brown who have seen groups transform their churches for a practical conversation to help you launch new small groups strategically this fall.

Hosted by The Unstuck Group & SmallGroup.com

Tuesday, July 19 at 1pm EST
45 minute webinar + 15 minute live Q&A
Panelists: Tony Morgan, Chris Surratt and Chris Brown

Space is limited, so register now if you’d like to be a part of the live event!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Testimonial

Are you a Perfectionist or a Leader?

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

There’s a big difference between a perfectionist and a leader. One draws people to a cause and the other repels them. While perfectionists may be adept at pointing out opportunities for improvement few people will want to join them in the process of improving things. I’m sure you don’t know any perfectionistic church leaders and I know you’re not one. But just in-case you ever come across one, here’s a few thoughts that may be helpful.

When you lead with handing out instructions you don’t put yourself in a position to be instructed.
If no one can do it as good as you then no one will be doing it but you. Perfectionism is lonely and is a lid to organizational growth.
You know who listens to a know-it-all? No one.
Perfectionism is the enemy of innovation.
You can’t play it safe and follow Jesus. The very essence of following Jesus is going somewhere you’ve never been before.
High control leads to low trust. By the way, you know control is an illusion right? The only thing you can really control is your effort and your attitude.
If you wait for the perfect plan you’ll never get out of the gate.
Good enough is good enough for good leaders.
Leaders care too much about results and progress to be paralyzed by waiting on the perfect next step (or first step).
Perfectionism is the low road and the easy way out. Leadership requires developing others, and allowing others to do it differently than you (maybe even fail, yikes!). It’s way harder!
Imagine if Jesus acted like a perfectionist with you. He doesn’t criticize you when you don’t do it perfectly. He really could do it better than you and He still invites you to join Him in shepherding His church.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

4 Bad Habits that Young Church Leaders Need to Break

Tuesday, June 7, 2016

Before you read this, please understand that I love and am for young leaders. After all, I was one once. But there are some really bad habits that young church leaders are exhibiting that need to be broken if they have any hope or chance of having the deep and broad Kingdom impact that they’re dreaming of.

#1 Discover v Develop

Stop waiting around for some big church somewhere to discover you and give you the big stage opportunity that you think you deserve. Instead earnestly begin developing the ministry that the Lord has entrusted to you where you are right now and you may be surprised to see how the Lord begins to develop you.

#2 Talent v Character

Stop relying on how talented you think you are. Instead learn to rely on Jesus, enjoy the talent He’s given you, develop it, and learn to leverage it well for the Kingdom. Talent might just get you somewhere but character will keep you there.

#3 Critical Spirit v Critical Thinking

Stop being critical of everything that is wrong with the church and the leader you’re following and learn to get on the solution side of things. Start learning how to think for yourself. Don’t just copy methods or ideas you heard at a conference, but dig deep into why things are the way they are and how real lasting change takes place.

#4 Lead with Statements v Lead with Questions

Stop talking so much. Stop leading with pithy statements you saw on social media, read in a book, or heard from a popular speaker. Instead of blurting out, talking first, and following the urge to tell everyone everything that you know and arguing about why you’re right lead with questions and learn to be interested in others ideas as well. Remember, the team outperforms the individual every time.

Want to learn more about leading young church leaders? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help Your Church Develop Young Leaders.

Note: A big shout out to the Sr. Leaders from Sun Valley Community Church for the conversation that led to this blog post! Keep investing in the next generation of church leaders!

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

Is your Church Overthinking Discipleship?

Sunday, May 29, 2016

At the Unstuck Group we’ve discovered an alarming trend in churches across America. When we lead a church through our strategic planning process we help them discover several “core issues” that that are holding them back from being the church that God has called them to be. In a study that we conducted more than any other issue churches identified creating a solid discipleship strategy as the most pressing issue they are facing.

It’s a concerning trend, especially given the final commission given by Jesus to His followers before He left Earth. Over the years sermons have been preached, consultants have been hired, volumes have been written, para-church organizations have been built and churches have hired any number of staff members to solve the discipleship problem that churches identify. With all of that I wonder if we haven’t just over-complicated discipleship. Could we be overthinking this? Let me offer up a simpler definition of discipleship…

Discipleship is simply helping people become better friends with God.

Most churches have a tendency to over-complicate discipleship. They turn it into a class, information to acquire, or behaviors to somehow try really, really, really hard to imitate. Stuff you need to stop doing and other stuff you need to start doing. The Apostle Paul writes the following in Romans 5:9-11

“And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.”

Jesus Himself used the concept of friendship to describe what He’s looking for from us in John 15:14-16

“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

And all of that behavioral modification stuff. The fruit of the Spirit? The Bible teaches us that you become who you hang out with. The people who you’re closest with is who you end up looking like. So you want to look like Jesus? Become good friends with Him. The Bible says it this way in Proverbs 13:20

“Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.”

Maybe the reason that our churches have so few “disciples” in them is because people don’t know how to walk in friendship with each other and God. To come out of hiding and simply share the real you with God and others. It takes courage, it takes humility. But they’re kind of the same thing aren’t’ they? So is your church overthinking discipleship?

Interested in learning more? Check out these 10 Articles that will Help your Church Make more Disciples

Posted in Spiritual Formation