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Inviting You to Take the Unstuck Challenge

Tuesday, December 20, 2016

While most pastors are preparing for Christmas Eve services, wise pastors know there’s another big day right around the corner:

January 1, 2017.

The start of a new year in which to make new changes, build new ministries, and ultimately reach new people.

I’d venture to bet there’s a list of changes you’ve wanted to make at your church for a while.

Perhaps you’ve known your worship services need to be updated. Maybe your discipleship “pathway” really feels more like a ministry maze. It could be that you’re looking to add another service — or eliminate one. To engage more leaders — or develop the ones on your team.

If you’re like most pastors, you knew these changes were needed a while back.

Maybe you’ve known this entire year but couldn’t quite get the ball rolling. Thankfully, a new year comes with a new opportunity…

2017 could be the year when everything…starting with the right thing…changes.

The difference will be in how you start.

This January, we’re inviting pastors from around the world to join us for The Unstuck Change Challenge.

It’s a 15-day journey to kickstart the ministry year you’ve been dreaming about. We’ll help you clarify what you need to change and why, get the right people around the table, and develop a real plan for communication and action. Oh, and it’s completely free.

By taking the challenge, you’ll receive daily emails full of the following:

  • Inspirational videos on the 5 aspects of leading change
  • Planning frameworks to help you make better and faster decisions
  • Frequent reminders that it’s time to take action — because we all need an occasional kick in the pants!

“So, you’re really not going to charge me for this?”

I’ve seen new year kick-off programs cost anywhere from $30 to $300. But here’s my opinion: The real cost of change is the time you put into creating it. If you’re willing to invest your time, I don’t want anything else to get in the way.

But first, I should warn you…

This challenge is not for the complacent or comfortable. I’m not willing to sit idle while churches maintain status quo. My aim is to challenge and inspire you toward real action that makes real impact. There’s too much at stake in your community to not start the year right.

If you’re a church leader who has been thinking about making real change — the kind of change that helps more people meet Jesus — sign up below and high-five the closest person nearby. Because 2017 just became the year when everything…starting with the right thing…changes.

So follow this link to get start 2017 off right with the Unstuck Challenge!

Posted in Leadership

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Increasing Innovation at your Church through Quick Feedback Loops

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Great organizations and great churches adopt a pattern of constant change. They intentionally organize themselves to allow for nimbleness, flexibility, and responsiveness. They tweak, tinker, build on islands of strength and innovate. They quickly turn vision into reality allowing them to get to the next iteration faster.

Making the right change, however hinges on having the right information. I’m not simply talking about having the right metrics. It requires the Sr. Leadership Team to actually know what’s working, what’s not, and why. This kind of information requires creating quick feedback loops, from the right sources, so Sr. Leaders have access to front line information so better decisions can be made faster.

Here are a couple of examples of what that looks like in church-world where I live.

Weekend Evaluation Meetings: First thing each Monday morning Campus Teams run a quick 15 minute conversation about what worked, what was wrong, what was confusing or what was missing. They solve what they can on their own and communicate core issues that need to go back to the Central Service Team. By Monday afternoon I have a pretty firm grasp on what happened on each campus.

Campus Pastor Gatherings: Monthly lunches with Campus Pastors with no agenda but to stay connected to the Sr. Leadership Team allow for casual unfiltered conversation that consistently leads to identifying islands of strength and opportunities for improvement.

Millennial Coaching Group: A monthly leadership-coaching group with millennial lay leaders allows for fresh input, interesting new insights, and core assumptions to be challenged.

Staff Lunches: Annually Sr. Leaders have lunch with Staff from each individual Campus at a time. It’s a relaxed no holds barred, ask anything environment. It gives front line employees access to Sr. Leaders and allows those same Sr. Leaders to know first hand what challenges the team is facing, what their concerns are, and what their needs are.

Campus Score Cards: When Central Service Staff attend a campus on the weekend they fill out a simple online survey about their experience that weekend. Those results go right to the Campus Pastor on Monday for direct feedback from fresh eyes.

Posted in Leadership

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Leadership Is Not What You Think It Is

Tuesday, December 13, 2016

Leadership isn’t what you think it is. It isn’t a title, power, influence or being in charge. Just because you have it doesn’t mean you’ll be respected or honored for it. It isn’t a position on an organizational chart and it can’t be taught in a classroom. Contrary to popular belief in a majority of churches being a great communicator doesn’t make you a great leader. It’s more than simply having the insight to know what the next right step to take is.

It’s something you either have…or you don’t. And just because you have it doesn’t mean you have as much of it as another leader. In Romans 12:6-8 the Bible defines leadership as a spiritual gift.

“We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.”

If I don’t have the gift of giving does that mean I don’t have to be generous? If I don’t have the gift of mercy does that mean I don’t have a responsibility to act mercifully? If I don’t have the gift of encouragement does that mean I have an excuse for not encouraging others? If I don’t have the gift of serving does that mean I don’t need to put others before myself and serve them?

Of course not… 

If you are in a position of leadership you have the responsibility to develop your leadership skills even if you do not have a significant leadership gift.

Is everybody a leader? No. Not according to the Bible. But everyone can learn leadership skills and become a better leader. And when leaders get better, everything around them gets better.

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation

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Is Your Church Ready to Go Multisite?

Sunday, December 11, 2016

Currently there are more than 8,000 churches across America that consider themselves to be multisite churches. These multisite churches vary in denominational affiliation, theological persuasion, size of attendance, physical location and facilities, teaching (video or live), ministries, and style of worship. Churches are proving that there are a lot of ways to do multisite. Many churches are just jumping into the deep end of the pool and figuring this multisite thing out as they go. While you can do that, I’d suggest a better way to ensure a successful launch is to develop your strategy ahead of time. If you church is considering going multisite this next year I’d encourage your Senior Leadership Team work through these 10 multisite readiness checkpoints.

1. Healthy Culture

Does your church have a culture worth replicating? Do you know what makes the culture of your team and culture distinct? Is there clarity and alignment of mission, vision, and values?

2. Buy-in

Does the Senior Leadership Team at your church have buy-in from the staff, board, volunteers and church body? If there is not a deep level of trust that’s been built it’s going to be difficult to lead into a new and different future.

3. Growth

Is your current location growing? Do you need to go multisite? Is your current facility reaching capacity? If you’re not already growing and reaching new people going multisite will make it worse.

4. Staff Capacity

People replicate culture, not ministry programs, strategies or policies. Do you have a deep bench on your team? Do you already have people who could serve as campus pastors at the new site and the original site? If you went multisite who would go and be on that team, and what would that do to your existing team?

5. Staff Health

Is your staff team healthy? Unhealthy people make unhealthy choices and build unhealthy things. Is there a high level of trust on the team? Is there healthy conflict on the team? Do team members hold one another accountable to outcomes?

6. Volunteer Strength

Are high levels of people who attend your church involved on a volunteer team? Launching new campuses requires a deep bench. What volunteers will go and lead and serve a the new campus? Who will step up and fill the void left at the sending campus?

7. Ministry Model

Does your church have a clear, simple, and proven ministry model? Do you know what is driving the success of your church and can you replicate it? To multiply your church in future locations, you must define how you do church in a scalable way at your current location(s).

8. Systems & Strategies

Do you know how you do what you do? Have you written that down anywhere? You cannot replicate what is not clearly recorded. Clearly defined systems allow ministry leaders to easily interact with administrative processes and teams. Documented strategies for each ministry will allow the new campus to hit the ground running, not having to recreate the wheel.

9. Financial Strength

Do you have cash on hand to fund a new campus? How much will it cost to start the new campus? When will the new campus be financially viable? What is so special about that date?

10. Weekend Experience

Can you replicate your weekend worship experience in a new location? Will the technology, teaching, worship music, and other creative elements be on par with the original location?

If your church is considering going multisite or if your church is multi-stuck (you’ve gone multisite and now your stuck), I’d encourage you to engage the Unstuck Group. We have been developing a new one-of-a-kind process to help multisite churches get unstuck. Follow this link to learn more!

Posted in Leadership, Staffing

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10 Articles that will Help your Church Make Vision Real

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Thank you for making November 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!

10 Insider Focused Ministry Names

The language we choose to use is important because it both reflects and builds culture at the same time. And one of the most obvious ways to tell if a church is insider focused or outsider focused is the language that they choose to use. It either says that the church is “inclusive” or “exclusive.”

How Many People Should your Church have on Staff?

Before you buy into the idea that you need another staff person at your church, think again. That just may be the worst decision you make at your church this year.

Should your Church spend more Energy Reaching or Keeping People?

It’s commonly said that you can tell if a church is insider-focusedor outsider-focused by how they make decisions. Do they make decisions based on whom they’re trying to keep or whom they’re trying to reach? Oh, if it were only that simple.

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.

Why Teams don’t Play up to their Potential

We had a great experience going to the game. It was a great game day atmosphere, we were there with some good friends, we had good seats, ate good food, and the Arkansas fans were more than hospitable. The outcome was just disappointing. It was like the Gators were trying to phone this one in. They didn’t look like themselves. It’s like they didn’t even get off the bus! I don’t mind losing if they leave it all on the field but they just didn’t play up to their potential. Ever been a part of a team like that? A team that doesn’t play up to their potential? It happens for all kinds of reasons:

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.

Why Church Health Matters and 14 Ways to Measure it

A few years ago, Tony Morgan and The Unstuck Group set out to help pastors get a clearer understanding of the health of their churches, believing access to a better scorecard for ministry would show pastors where they were making an impact and where their churches might be stuck. That desire led to the first edition of Vital Signs. Tony has just released the 2016-2017 edition of Vital Signs: Why Church Health Matters and 14 Ways to Measure It. And here’s why I think you should grab a copy:

How your Church can Reach More Millennials 

There’s a lot of angst in the North American Church about Millennials walking away from Church. The Millennial generation is typically considered as born somewhere in the early 80’s – 2000 or so. Instead of fretting about it, the other day I sat down with some millennials to actually talk to them about their views of Church. These were some of the take aways from the conversation.

Everything is an Interview

Everything is an interview. Everything. College football players get this concept drilled into them by their coaches. They’re challenged to be proud of what they put on tape. Every Saturday they play a game and those game tapes essentially become their resume for a job interview to get to the NFL. But life is bigger than football; even for those of us who are a little obsessed by it. And in every interaction you have in life and in your work place, everything is an interview. And if you don’t view it that way, you may miss your next opportunity.

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. Not sure if multiple worship services are right for your church? Check out this blog on Overcoming the Fear of Moving to Multiple Worship Services.

Photo Credit: justin fain via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership, Spiritual Formation, Staffing, Volunteers
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