How to Convice Your Sr. Pastor to Join a Small Group

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How to Convice Your Sr. Pastor to Join a Small Group

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

One of the most common points of frustration I hear from church leaders around the country is, “My Senior Pastor wants Small Groups to be a big deal at our church, but they won’t be in a Small Group themselves.” And the natural follow up question that’s asked right after that statement, “How do I get my Senior Pastor to be in a Small Group?” In an attempt to answer that question, here are a couple of steps you can take to help convince your Sr. Pastor that they need to be in a Small Group.

#1 Have a Plan

Don’t pester or nag your Sr. Pastor, this won’t get you anywhere. Come up with a clear plan, presentation, or pitch. Get on their calendar (schedule an appointment) and walk into that meeting with a plan. Don’t take more than 30 minutes. If you can’t cover it in 30 minutes, you’re not ready to cover it at all.

#2 Moral Authority

“Join Me” is always a better motivator than “You Should.” Help your Sr. Pastor understand that people in the church will more readily follow their example than their prescription. If the Sr. Pastor wants to have a church of Small Groups then they need to be in one. The church will always end up taking on the personality of the Sr. Leader.

#3 Let them Hand Pick the Group

Many Sr. Pastors are truly fearful of being vulnerable, and many of them are fearful for good reason. At the first sign of a crack in the armor or that they’re actually human many churchgoers call foul. So let them hand pick their group that they’re going to be in so they feel safe.

#4 Try Before You Buy

Challenge them to try it for one semester (the start of the school year to Christmas break or January to the end of the school year). At the end of that semester if they still think it’s a waste of time, no worries. At least they’ll have first-hand experience to be able to speak about it in a personal manner.

#5 Give them Good Reasons to Join a Group

There is a whole list of good reasons your Sr. Pastor should be in a Small Group. Make a list and talk to them about it. Here are a few examples:

They’ll grow in their relationship with Jesus (life change happens best in circles not rows)
They’ll make new friends that will care and encourage them (What Sr. Pastor couldn’t use more of that?)
It gives them moral authority (see point #2 above) and hence leadership credits with the church as a whole – it makes them a better leader
It’s something they can do with their spouse (score more brownie points)
Tell them they don’t have to lead it…just participate in it (you’re not adding more work for them to do)
It provides a personal accountability structure (it’s easier to stand for Jesus when you’re standing with friends)
Heck, Jesus was in a “Small Group” right? (Think the 12 Disciples)
You can probably think of more…but this should get you started

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing

A Large Multisite Church in Phoenix is Hiring a High School Pastor

Sunday, February 16, 2014

I’m pleased to announce a new Staff Search. Sun Valley Community Church, is beginning a search for a High School Pastor to serve on our Tempe Campus. Sun Valley began as a church plant in 1990 in Chandler, Arizona. Over the years Sun Valley has grown into a large mult-site church in the Phoenix metro area. Currently there are three campuses located in Gilbert, Tempe and Casa Grande with a total weekend attendance of over 5,000 people. Sun Valley was recently named by Outreach Magazine as one of the top 10 fastest growing churches in America. The Tempe Campus is the result of a merger in October of 2011 with Bethany Community Church. In the merger Sun Valley acquired a 16-acre, 8 building campus with over 100,000 sq. ft. under roof. Since the merger the campus has doubled in attendance and at present attendance is over 1,000. When fully utilized the campus capacity will accommodate 7,000 people. Sun Valley was recently featured in a new book by Leadership Network about church mergers: Better Together: Making Church Mergers Work. To learn more about that story click here Part-1 and Part-2.

Interested in learning more? Continue reading below…

Posted in Staffing

How to Develop Young Leaders

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Volumes have been written about investing in and developing young leaders. While there are a lot of great resources out there I think often times we over-complicate what it means to develop young leaders. In fact here are four simple steps that Sr. Level Leaders can take to invest in the next generation of leaders.

Invite Them to the Big Table

Remember sitting at the kids’ table during Thanksgiving dinner growing up? A simple way to invest in young leaders is to invite them to the big table. Give them access to attend Sr. Leadership Team meetings and see how seasoned leaders work with one another and make high level leadership decisions.

Take Them With You

One of the easiest and most overlooked opportunities Sr. Leaders have to invest in the next generation of leaders is to simply take them with you. Meetings, trips, speaking engagements, training opportunities, etc. Just let them be around you and watch you do what you do, the conversations you have and the decisions you make. Then let them ask questions and debrief what they observed.

Resource Them

Resource them with books, articles, blogs, and trainings that support the thinking, behaviors, and culture your church is trying to build. But don’t leave it there. Make sure you take the time to discuss key leanings and applications.

Give Them Opportunities

The best kind of training is on the job training. And leadership isn’t learned in a classroom…it’s learned by leading. Identify, create, and give young leaders the opportunity to lead small projects.

Having Difficulty Identifying Young Leaders on Your Team? A good place to start is before every hire you make or every volunteer you place begin asking yourself, “How young can we go with this next hire or volunteer placement and still get the job done?” Questions like this will begin to shift the thinking of your Sr. Leaders. Which will result in changing the behaviors of your church or organization.

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

The Four Stages of a Church Staff Team

Sunday, January 26, 2014

If you’ve ever been a part of a growing church you know that growth changes everything. Especially the relational, organizational and working dynamics of the staff team. Larry Osborne, Lead Pastor at North Coast Church writes the following in his book Sticky Teams:

“Never forget growth changes everything. A storefront church, a midsized church, a large church, and a mega-church aren’t simply bigger versions of the same thing. They are completely different animals. They have little in common, especially relationally, organizationally, and structurally.”

Fortunately I’ve had the opportunity to sit down with Larry and hear him expound on this idea and talk about what he describes as, “The Four Stages of a Team.”

Stage 1: Track Star

The track star performs alone. They may train with others and their score may affect an overall team win, but they operate by themselves. This is the solo pastor. Typical Church Size: 0-150

Stage 2: Golfing Buddies

At this stage the church staff is highly relational. They enjoy deep relationships and doing life together outside of work. They’re doing what they love with people that they like. Typical Church Size: 150-600

Stage 3: Basketball Team

Basketball is a team sport not a friendship sport. It requires working together, trusting one another and sharing the ball. While there are still meaningful relationships, genuine camaraderie, and a shared sense of purpose; there are too many players for everyone to be best friends. On a basketball team there are star players and role players. And they’re paid differently due to the role that they play. Typical Church Size 600-2,000

Stage 4: Football Team

This is the most drastic and difficult change. And it’s the reason why so many churches get stuck and so few ever break 2,000. Football can be a dangerous game if you think you’re still playing track, golf, or basketball. In the game of football there are highly specialized roles and team work is essential. The offense, defense and special teams all have different playbooks. Often times the offense isn’t even watching what the defense is doing while they’re on the field and visa-verse. They’re preparing for the next time they’re on the field. Everyone no longer knows what everyone else is doing. When the defense adds a new blitz package without telling the offensive line, the offensive line doesn’t care. They’re just glad someone sacked the opposing teams quarterback. And even in football there are different levels of the game. There is a big difference in talent, coaching, speed of the game, and complexity between High School, D1 College, and the NFL. Typical Church Size: 2,000+

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

New Staff Search: A Church in Phoenix is Searching for a Youth Pastor

Sunday, January 5, 2014

I’m pleased to announce a new Staff Search. I’m helping Desert Springs Bible Church as they begin the search for their new Student Ministries Pastor. Desert Springs Bible Church was planted in the 1970’s to reach the growing North Phoenix community and grew to as many as 800 in regular attendance. Currently, at 600 in attendance, Desert Springs has gone through a period of renewing their mission, vision, values, and transitioning the worship style to appeal to a new demographic of 30-somethings with kids, which better reflects the personality of the community. Desert Springs has a history of a Student Ministry that “out performs” the national average of 10% of the weekend attendance! Poised to move forward, Desert Springs is looking for the right person to join the team and help lead into the future!

Desert Springs Bible Church is located in Paradise Valley Village, just northeast of Phoenix, Arizona. A middle-upper class community, the area boasts beautiful outdoor living at the Phoenix Mountain Preserve System including biking, hiking, equestrian trails and other outdoor recreational activities. The community is also convenient to shopping, golfing, and resorts. With it’s proximity to Phoenix, Paradise Valley Village provides all the benefits of small town living with the appeal and amenities that come from being close to a major city.

Position Summary:

The Student Ministry Pastor will recruit, build and empower teams of volunteers to develop intentional ministry to teens and their families. He will develop systems and structures in alignment with the church’s mission, vision, values, spiritual maturity pathway, and philosophy. He will be a team player with the rest of the Desert Springs Staff Team. He will develop a ministry that builds environments in which students who don’t know Jesus are reached with the Gospel, help them get connected in small groups and grow in their faith, and develop them to reach their peers. He will be a model of integrity, living out biblical truth and demonstrate the Core Values of Desert Springs Bible Church.

Interested in learning more? Continue reading below:

Posted in Staffing