Helping Churches Make Vision Real

Is Your Church Average?

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Over the last couple of years at The Unstuck Group we’ve been paying attention to and collecting data from the churches that we consult with. One of the key questions we were interested in has to do with serving. We wanted to find out how many people are volunteering in one of the church’s ministries either inside or outside the walls of the church. Here’s what we’ve discovered:

As you can see from the whiteboard the average church engages 45% of its adult and student population in some sort of serving role. But here’s the question. Understanding that volunteering is directly connected to discipleship and spiritual growth, are you content with average? Here’s another tough question: Do you even know if your church is average? I want your church to take ground and be above average when it comes to mobilizing volunteers. That’s why I want you to know about a FREE online event hosted by my friend Tony Morgan that will help you build a stronger culture of volunteering at your church. You’ll hear from these great nationally known church leaders:

Chris Hodges – How to consistently attract new volunteer.

Perry Noble – How to create eliminate burnout in your volunteers.

Reggie Joiner – How to engage students in volunteerism

Derwin Gray – How to turn volunteers into leaders

Wayne Cordeiro – How to create healthy volunteers

The event is on October 29 at 1pm EDT. So time is running out to register you and your team so follow this link to register for this FREE online event today! Don’t miss it!

Posted in Volunteers

10 Indispensable Practices of the 2-Minute Leader

Sunday, October 20, 2013

One of the biggest challenges Christian leaders face is how to create a leadership culture in their churches. It’s something that a lot of Pastors talk about it. It’s something that a lot of conference speakers speak about. But honestly very few people are actually doing it. And it’s because most Pastors lack the tools and actionable plan to make this dream a reality.

That is why I’m excited about my friend Brian Dodd’s new book and accompanying study guide 10 Indispensable Practices Of The 2-Minute Leader. Brian has over 25 years of experience in church leadership and his site Brian Dodd On Leadership is one of the most popular Christian blogs for Church Leaders.

I recently had the opportunity to talk with Brian about his new book. Here are some of the highlights and thoughts that stood out to me from the conversation:

“Most churches have no plan to develop leaders and are asking how to build a leadership culture in their churches.”
“Strategic thinking allows you to align your priorities and manage your greatest leadership tensions.”
“For a leader, working hard is critical, but thinking hard is crucial.”
“God never calls Christian Leaders to an easy task.”
“Most leaders quit right before the harvest.”
“Don’t give up on the dream that God has put in your heart.”
“This book is full of simple (not easy) steps that readers can take every day to grow as a leader.”

The statement that scared me to death was his leading thought. That, “most churches have no plan to develop leaders.” In speaking with Brian, what I appreciate the most is his heart to help see the local church win and in particular provide Pastors and Church Leaders an effective tool to help them build a healthy Leadership Culture.

This book and accompanying study guide is a great tool for Pastors and Church Leaders to use in building community with leaders and disciple them effectively.

Brian has made it possible for me to help get this resource in the hands of as many church leaders as possible. The book has been affordably priced and when you order 10 hard copies or more, he’s throwing in a FREE study guide for each book along with FREE shipping. So click 10 Indispensable Practices Of The 2-Minute Leader and get your copies today!

Posted in Leadership

Why Leaders Don’t Protect People From Pain

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

The best leaders I’ve been around don’t protect those they’re leading from pain. Rather, they understand the art of allowing the people they’re leading to experience the appropriate amount of pain. They know that pain can be their ally in motivating people to move in the right direction.

1. Prepare People for Pain

It’s not a matter of if…but when. Pain is an unavoidable part of life and leadership. Leaders prepare people to face it appropriately.

2. Consequences can be Painful

Failure is painful…and it should be. Otherwise we’d become comfortable and static in our failure. Sometimes leaders need to allow their teams to feel the consequences of poor decisions.

3. Pain can be an Indicator

Pay attention to pain, because it may be telling you that something is wrong.

4. Pain Forces Change

Change doesn’t happen until the pain of staying where you are becomes greater than the pain of moving to where you need to go.

5. Pain isn’t the Enemy

The problem isn’t pain, but how you respond to it. Pain has the potential to be your greatest season of growth.

6. Don’t Rescue People from Pain

If you rescue your team from pain you’re creating a false sense of reality for them to operate in. Worse, you’re building a codependent relationship and you’re going to have to rescue them again because they’re not going to learn from it the first time around.

Posted in Leadership

Five Reasons People don’t Volunteer at Your Church

Sunday, October 13, 2013

Do you need more preschool workers to serve children? Do you need more greeters to greet? Do you need more ushers to…ush?

If so, you’re in familiar territory.

I’ve never met a church that said, “You know…when it comes to volunteers, we’re good. We’ve got plenty. In fact, there’s a waiting list for the nursery.” Churches everywhere need to mobilize more volunteers to get ministry done. But before you start signing people up and filling slots, it might be helpful to take a look at why people are NOT volunteering.

Here are FIVE REASONS people might not be volunteering at your church.

1. You’re not asking correctly. It takes more than blurbs in the bulletin and pleas from the pulpit to move people into volunteer positions in your church. If you want people to serve, you’ve got to learn how to ask correctly.

2. It’s hard to sign up. Signing up has to be simple and immediate. Hidden tables in the lobby don’t work. Remembering to email so-and-so isn’t a good strategy.

3. It’s not clear. If you want people to do a job, they need to clearly understand the expectations and requirements. Pull back the veil and show people what’s it like before you ask them to get involved.

4. You’re not saying thanks. People don’t want to toil away in a thankless role. Just because someone’s reward is in heaven doesn’t mean they don’t need to hear “thank you” on earth.

5. It’s too hard. The super-committed will do whatever it takes, but if you want to mobilize a bunch of people, you need to make it easier. Take care of their kids, provide food, and make sure they have everything they need to succeed. A little planning on the front end goes a long way.

To learn how to build a larger volunteer base, I’d like to invite you and your team to sign up for the FREE ONLINE ‘Get More Volunteers’ Event.

Posted in Volunteers

5 Articles to Help You Make Vision Real

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Thank you for helping make September a great month here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s fun to watch all of the interaction on social media and hear about how helpful the content has been. So, thank you for connecting with me through the content on this blog! You made these the top 5 Posts from this last month. If you missed out on any of them, here they are all in one place for your convenience!

1. What is a Campus Pastor?

In August, 2012, Leadership Network released a report stating that over 5,000 churches are now multi-site churches (churches that meet in more than one location for worship). It’s a growing trend that first began with mega-churches, but has now expanded to churches of all sizes. With this new trend a new staff role has emerged, that of “Campus Pastor.” While a lot churches are still trying to figure out this new role, here are 6 things that great Campus Pastors do:

2. Leadership Lessons I Wish I Understood as a Young Leader

Lately I’ve been thinking about some leadership lessons. You know…the “I wish I knew then what I know now” kind of stuff. See I’ve had a lot more time to think recently. That is, thanks to my wife for registering me for a triathlon this Fall. She said it was something that “we could do together.” She’s the one who races in the family. I’m the one who visited 5 different Starbucks cheering her on while she ran the Chicago Marathon. But it’s been interesting, as I’ve been training how many of my experiences have paralleled lessons that young leaders need to internalize and learn early, or risk potentially derailing their leadership journey before it really gets going. So in no particular order here are 5 Leadership Lessons for Young Leaders based on my experiences training for a triathlon.

3. Are You Doing Things or Getting Things Done?

It’s not bad to do things. After all, someone has to. Or else they won’t get done. But effective leaders know their role is to be more concerned about getting things done than doing things. When a leader doesn’t manage this tension well and begins to drift towards doing things, instead of getting things done, bad things begin to happen.

4. Are you a “Big L” Leader?

People don’t just become “Big L Leaders” overnight. It’s not something that can be learned by reading books or by going to conferences. They learn to lead by leading. Want to know if you’re on your way to becoming a “Big L Leader”? The following six characteristics will help you in identifying “Big L Leaders.”

5. Bringing Clarity to the Language of Organizational Leadership

One of the most frequently reoccurring conversations I get into in helping churches focuses around building organizational health and alignment in churches. Often times in those conversations confusion surfaces over language such as Mission, Vision, Goals, Strategy, Structure, Core Values, and Systems. So here’s an attempt to help provide some clarity and a framework to some of the most influential conversations you may have as church or organization.

Posted in Leadership