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6 Keys to Motivating Millennial Church Leaders

If you have any millennials on your church staff you know that they’re different. And while many traditional church leaders are quick to equate a different approach with being a wrong approach, wise leaders know that different just means different. Not necessary wrong. In fact it could even be better. Millennials can, will, and are doing some amazing ministry. Like it or not they are coming into their own in church leadership, and they’re the ones that are going to lead the church forward. So instead of complaining about them we might as well help them. Try these 6 approaches to motivate the millennial leaders on your church staff.

1. Help me Avoid Boredom

Millennials have grown up with the constant interruption of smart phones and sound bites. This has conditioned them to be great at multitasking. So don’t expect them to sit down and work the way you did with tremendous focus on one thing for an extended period of time. Help them avoid that monotony and dabble with multiple things at one time. They’ll have more fun and produce more results.

2. Help me Join a Cause

Everyone knows that millennials are cause oriented. But what most churches haven’t come to grips with yet is that one of the key reasons so many millennials are leaving the church is they don’t view the church as a cause worth giving their life to. Is your church an institution or a movement? Have you turned the Gospel into something to be dissected and intellectually understood or something that is powerful and mysterious? Help them see the church as a cause worth giving their life to.

3. Help me Manage my Heart

Feelings are more important than facts to millennials. While it might not make sense to some previous generations they think more with their heart than their head. That’s not to say they aren’t brilliant it’s just to say their motivation is more centered around the question, “Does this feel right?” Church leaders can help millennials by increasing their emotional intelligence and being more thoughtful about how their actions may be perceived and how they may affect the feelings of others rather than just give way to simple facts and plans.

4. Help me See the Win

Millennials have grown up in a world of instant gratification, access, and results. Anybody who has been in ministry for any length of time knows that’s not how it really works. Life just doesn’t work that way. So we’ve got to help celebrate the small wins of life change that happen along the way. Help them celebrate the first downs along the way and help them make the connection between their day-to-day ministry and the vision.

5. Help me be True to Myself

Millennials aren’t going to follow someone or be a part of something that feels inauthentic to them. The best gift that church leaders can give millennials is to exercise real leadership and stop leading through position, title, or power and learn to lead with humility and personhood. They won’t simply respect you for your position but instead for who you are and the value you add. In this way millennials are a gift to challenge many church leaders to lead in a way that they may have forgotten.

6. Help me Understand “Why”

In recent years Simon Sinek made the phrase, “start with why” famous. Millennials don’t just want to know your plan. They don’t want to simply know what you want them to do, they want to know the why behind it. They need to buy into the reason behind the plan of action. Help them buy into the why.


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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How to keep Big Dog Leaders on your Church Staff

There are all kinds of different leaders, but big dog leaders are a different breed altogether. And they need to be treated differently. On the team I lead there are multiple team members who have served as Executive Pastors at other large churches, on Sr. Leadership Teams of large churches, and even as a Sr. Pastor of a church of 1,000 in weekly attendance. So how do you keep that many strong leaders working together on one team?

1. Give them a Seat at the Big Kids Table

Big dog leaders need a seat on the Sr. Leadership Team. They need to be able to influence the direction of the organization not just a segment of the ministry. They need to be given real responsibility and the resources needed to produce real results. Big dog leaders want to get stuff done.

2. Big Vision

Vision answers the question, “Where are we going?” If the next hill you’re taking isn’t big enough and compelling enough to give their life to, big dog leaders will go somewhere else. Big dog leaders only hang around for big vision.

3. Provide Clarity

Clarity isn’t everything, but it changes everything. Big dog leaders don’t stay around in churches where there is confusion, because confusion creates drag on the entire organization and slows things down. If you don’t clear up confusion, big dog leaders will go somewhere else.

4. Turn them Loose

At the end of the day the best way to keep big dog leaders around is to turn them loose and let them lead. They were made to lead and when you don’t let them, they’ll go somewhere else where they can.

5. Listen to Them

Big dog leaders don’t want to just be given tasks and be told what to do. They have ideas that they need to express and they need their voice to be heard. To lead big dog leaders you have to actually believe that you don’t have all the answers. You have to believe in your team, and you have to listen to them. Because, if you don’t listen to them someone else will.

6. Pay Them

This may sound shallow, but if you don’t pay big dog leaders what they’re worth, someone else will. That’s just reality.


Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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10 Articles that will Help your Church Lead Through Change

In the “real world,” change is normal, it’s expected, and it’s even celebrated! When your team wins the Super Bowl no one ever looks around and complains about the stadium being too full. When your business takes ground and expands no one ever complains about experiencing success. When a new child is born into a family no grandparent complains about having to buy more Christmas presents. Change like this is celebrated. So much so, that we go around and show pictures of our new grandchild to everyone, we leverage the success of our business, and we buy t-shirts and other paraphernalia from the winning football team. But in the church…change doesn’t work that way. Here are 10 church leadership articles that will help you church lead through change.

8 Keys to Changing your Church

Most church leaders I’ve talked with want things to change for the better, they want this year to be better than last year, but they don’t want to do anything different. People always want to change their circumstances, but they never want to change their lives. But everything gets better when we get better.

Why Churches Don’t Change

Churches don’t change. In fact most churches avoid changing at all cost, even if it means not growing. It’s so bad that I’ve seen churches choose to close their doors over choosing to change. Below are 6 common reasons I’ve observed why churches choose not to change. One of these might be why your church won’t change.

10 Ways to Change the “We’ve Always Done it That Way” Mindset

In a church it’s particularly difficult to change methods because every change you make is a criticism of the past. So here are 10 approaches you can take when you’re trying to change the, “We’ve always done it that way,” mindset.

Why Church Staff Change Churches

Like many pastors I’ve made a couple of moves along the way from one church to another. In reflecting about this at one point, my heart was stirred about why Church Staff change churches. And while this isn’t an exhaustive list, I thought it was a great place to start. So in no particular order, here is my top 10 list of “Why Church Staff Change Churches:”

Why Churches Refuse to Change

In the church is difficult. Even if it means growing, reaching more people, planting a new church, taking a risk, or even simply making the right change so that the church can be more effective with it’s mission; most churches avoid change like the plague. Here are a few reasons why:

Leading Through Change: What Game is your Church Playing?

On a regular basis at Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the honor of serving at) we get the staff together from all three campuses for leadership development and training. This past week one of our Lead Pastors, Chad Moore, shared about the different games that churches play. I thought I’d share with you some of the key take-aways and learnings.

4 Strategies that will Change your Church

You’ll be surprised by how small degrees of change that you make in your trajectory today can pay dividends in the future.

Does your Team need to Change?

Churches get stuck for all kinds of reasons. But a common reason Churches get stuck is that the Sr. Leadership Team gets stuck. Last week I had the opportunity to sit in the room with Sr. Leaders from some of the nations leading mega-churches and talk through this issue. Here are a couple of the thoughts I captured about Sr. Leadership Teams from that conversation.

9 Big Decisions that will Change your Church

had the opportunity to sit down with a group of Executive Pastors who are serving in churches of 5,000+ and during the conversation I heard them talk about some of the best decisions they’ve made over the recent history of their churches that have made the greatest impact. I thought I’d share some of those thoughts here with you and give you the opportunity to learn from some incredible leaders that are in the trenches! Could it be that one of these decisions is the one that will make all the difference this year at your church?

4 Reasons Why People don’t Change

Change is painful. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. It’s always easier and more comfortable to stay where you are than to change and move forward. But if you want to grow at some point you’ve got to stop doing what’s easy and start doing what’s right.


Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

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5 Principles that should Play into the Next Hire at your Church

Recruiting and hiring a new team member can be exciting! Hire the right person and the whole team benefits. When you invite the right person to join your team not only is there an infusion of new talent, but also new ideas, fresh eyes, and a new well of experiences to go to. The right new hire can literally improve the performance of the entire team. On the other hand, hire the wrong person and the ministry at your church could be set back for years. Here are 5 principles to keep in mind when it’s time to make the next hire at your church.

1. Don’t Advertise Outside of your Church

If you like what’s going on at your church the best way to keep it going on is to hire from the inside. So don’t bother advertising outside your church, develop and hire internal talent.

2. Think Talent First

Instead of hiring to a job profile, hire for talent. Stop sharing a job description and looking for someone to fill a role and just starting scouting for talent…like all the time. Just get the right talent in the room, figure out the roles later.

3. Reinvent the Role

Each time you make a new hire you have the opportunity to reinvent the role. Rethink the scope of responsibility, the profile of what the right team member looks like that role, and for that matter rethink the structure of the team. With each new hire there is great opportunity for organizational change, don’t miss it!

4. Get rid of “Groupthink”

Too many hires and you’ll end up with groupthink. You’ll end up with a, “We’ve always done in that way,” mindset on your team. Break that up by hiring from the outside and challenging the status quo.

5. Don’t Fear the Intimidation Factor

Hire people who intimidate you. Hire people who know more than you know, have more experience than you have, who will challenge your thinking, and will be the expert in their area of responsibility. Hire people who will intimidate you.


Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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10 Articles that will Help Your Church Make Vision Real

Thank you for starting the year off great and making January another great month here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s fun to stay connected with you through social media and hearing that these articles have been helpful. So, thank you for connecting with me through the content on this blog! You made these the top posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one place for your convenience!

Overcoming Leadership Lids of Competency and Character 

If you lead long enough, eventually you’re going to hit a leadership lid. It happens when you reach your capacity in a particular area. But what you do next has the potential to make or break your leadership future. Ignore it, deny it, make excuses about it, or refuse to acknowledge and deal with it and you’ll undermine your impact. Face reality and you’ll create a window of opportunity to grow and break through your leadership lid.

8 Keys to Changing your Church in 2017

Most church leaders I’ve talked with want things to change for the better, they want this year to be better than last year, but they don’t want to do anything different. People always want to change their circumstances, but they never want to change their lives. But everything gets better when we get better. Families get better when fathers and mothers get better. Students get better when educators get better. Organizations get better when leaders get better. And churches get better when church leaders get better. But change is painful. Don’t let anyone tell you any different. It’s always easier and more comfortable to stay where you are than to change and move forward.

Why I Love Working at Sun Valley Community Church

When I was a freshman in High School I prayed a prayer, begging God to let me to be a part of helping thousands of people meet Him. It’s crazy to think that all of these years later God is answering those prayers. Every year at Sun Valley Community Church we share wins from the previous year of ministry and I thought I’d share them with you. I hope this is encouraging to you, inspires you, and prompts you to pray for the ministry of Sun Valley.

8 Reasons Why People don’t Volunteer at your Church

I’ve never worked with a church that has said they don’t need more volunteers. But I’ve worked with a bunch of churches that have trouble getting people to volunteer and stay engaged volunteering.

The Difference between Preparation and Planning

Do great organizations prepare for the future or do they plan for it? The answer is, “yes.” To be clear preparation and planning are not the same thing, and great organizations become great by doing both.

How to get People to Follow You

Leadership can be a funny thing. It’s more than just influence. And while anyone can learn leadership principles the Bible teaches us that leadership is a spiritual gift. The easiest way to tell if you have the spiritual gift of leadership is to look and see if people are following you. But how do you get people to follow you?

10 Signs your Church is Headed for Decline

What if there were early warning signs (flashing lights on the dashboard) that helped indicate that trouble was ahead? In my experience Coaching Church Leaders and Consulting with Churches across the country I’ve seen the following 10 indicators of an impending decline over and over again.

When to Add Another Worship Service at your Church

Many churches are stuck in attendance simply because they haven’t maximized their current facilities and campus. Thinking about adding another worship service at your church? Here are five strategic concepts to consider before you do.

6 Keys to Selecting your Next Multisite Location

This past weekend Sun Valley Community Church (the church I have the honor of serving at) just launched their 5th location with over 2,000 people attending one of the three services! It was a successful initial launch but now the hard work begins. If your church is thinking about embracing a multisite strategy here are a few things you should consider when selecting your next location.

[Webinar Replay} Leading Change: 3 Shifts for Health and Growing Churches in 2017

Monday I had some fun hanging out with my friends Tony Morgan, as well as Carey Nieuwhof, and Gabe Kolstad from The Unstuck Group‘s consultant team, for a webinar about one of my favorite topics: leading change. We specifically dug into three big church changes that more than 600 pastors told us were the most important onesthey wanted to lead in 2017.

Photo Credit: justin fain via Compfight cc


Posted in Creative Arts, Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing, Testimonial, Volunteers
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