Tag Archive - momentum

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An Interview with 5 Pastors Leading Multisite Churches of 5,000+

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down and interview 5 Sr. Pastors who are all leading multiste churches ranging in attendance from 5,000 to more than 15,000. Among other things we had a very candid conversation about momentum, multisite, developing young leaders, and the courage it takes to lead at a high level. Last week I shared some of the key parts of the conversation we had in a series of posts. In the event that you missed any of them or if you’d like to share them with your team I’ve placed them here in one place your convenience!

Below are the pastors who participated in the conversation:

Part-1 “How do young leaders earn the right to be heard and succeed on your team?”

Part-2 “What are some indicators that momentum is moving the wrong direction and how do you turn the tide?”

Part-3 “What have been some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in going multisite and what are some of the most significant things you’ve learned as a result?”

Part-4 “Bonus Content and Take-Aways”


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My Interview with 5 Sr. Pastors Leading Multisite Churches of 5,000+ Pt-2

I recently sat down with 5 Sr. Pastors who are all leading Multisite Churches ranging from 5,000 to more than 15,000. Here’s some of what they had to say regarding church leadership. Miss Part-1 of this post? Follow this link to get caught up on what they had to say about what it takes for “Young leaders to earn the right be heard and succeed.”

Question #2 “What are some indicators that momentum is moving the wrong direction and how do you turn the tide?”

Linn Winters: This is that part of leadership that has an awful lot of art to it. This is why you can’t put a diagram in a book and say this is when momentum gets lost. But the best way I can describe it is the church is a dinosaur. It is this big behemoth of a thing and it intuitively wants to sit down, it wants to rest. And the problem is if you ever let it sit down getting it to get up and move again is a horrific challenge. So better to have a tiny bit of momentum headed in a certain direction than to ever let it sit down. Because you guys have seen churches who have let the dinosaur sit down and were never able to recover that moment. But what I would say that as you go back and try and tackle momentum…because all of us have had to do this in a department, in a division of the church, or church wide…is that the thing I think that happens too often as leaders is we see the big problem. We think if we could take that hill 80% of the problem we’re dealing with right now would be solved…by taking that hill. And intuitively as leaders many of us try and take the biggest hill and solve the biggest problem in the room. And the problem is once the dinosaur has slowed down or sat down, the dinosaur no longer has confidence that it can take that hill. It does not believe you, that it can take that big hill. And I think in that moment, you and I are much better served as leaders to ask the dinosaur, “Hey what’s the biggest problem you see?” Because in this moment all you’re trying to do is get the dinosaur to move. You don’t even care what direction the dinosaur moves. And then once you get a little momentum, then you’re going to turn the dinosaur in the right direction. So an example of that would be, I think a lot of guys go into churches, they’re going to be turning that church around, and they can see they need to redo the auditorium or change the whole leadership culture. They can see the big pieces. But if you went to the church, the average person in the church is horrified to take that hill with you. You don’t have the confidence or the clout to do it. And the most powerful thing you can do is to ask that church, that division, that ministry segment what’s the hill you think we can take? And they’re going to come back with something really impressive like paint the nursery. And you’re going to go…that doesn’t even hit my radar! But what great leaders understand is that isn’t the issue. The issue is that I’ve got to get the dinosaur to move. And powerful leaders embrace this, they read the temperature of the room and they paint the nursery. And they go the Elder Board and they get the money to paint the nursery, and they get the men of the church to come down on a Saturday and paint the nursery. And now the nursery is painted, and what do the women of the church say? Oh, our Sr. Pastor is the smartest Sr. Pastor in the whole world. He painted the nursery. And now as they go home, because they have their freshly painted nursery, what are they saying to their husbands…that guy is the man! And what you’re doing is you can now go back and say what’s the next hill? And you’re building confidence and momentum with simple wins until you can go and take that big hill.

Don Wilson: The purpose of a leader is to define reality and the problem is with many of our churches that are growing, we’ll stand up here and tell you how it’s growing, but the truth is we really don’t know. Because there are some God things going on that you can’t put 1-2-3 to in my experience. So the struggle is a lot of times if you don’t know why you’re growing and it stops, you won’t know how to get it growing again. And if your church is growing you’re not as good as you think you are, and if you’re church is declining you’re not as bad as you think you are. We’re all in the size of churches that we’re no longer a canoe we’re a cruise ship. It takes a lot longer to turn a cruise ship around than a canoe. And so the danger with momentum is once you lose it, you can work hard, but you may not see any movement for 12-18 months. And that’s where I think a lot of people get disenchanted because they say your ideas aren’t working. So I think one of the toughest things in leadership and momentum is that you might be growing now, but it might be a false growth.

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Stuck in a Funk

I recently caught up with Tony Morgan to talk about his new book, “Stuck in a Funk?: How to Get Your Church Moving Forward.” It just released on Amazon! Click here to get your hands on a copy and check out the interview with Tony below.

Paul: Your writing, speaking, coaching and consulting consistently focuse on this idea of churches getting “unstuck.” Where does this passion for helping churches get “unstuck” come from?

Tony: Well, not to over-spiritualize it, but I really do believe God called me to this. I accepted Christ when I was in high school, and from the very beginning of my walk with Christ, I was captivated by the story of the early church…particularly in the Book of Acts. God put something in me to help the local church fulfill its mission. I want the Church to have impact in people’s lives. People need Jesus, and that’s what drives me to help churches get unstuck.

Paul: You’ve worked with all kinds of different churches through coaching and consulting relationships. Denominational and non-denominational. Traditional and contemporary. Small, medium, and megachurches. Church plants and churches that have existed for years. Through your experience have have you observed any common reasons that churches get stuck regardless of these differences?

Tony: Every church is unique and because of that, the combination of contributing factors that lead to a church getting stuck are going to look different from church to church. That said, one common challenge is being inward-focused. Another is holding onto leadership approaches or structures that may have worked in the past, but don’t now. Another common issue is gaining a clear vision, but, more important, being intentional about the strategies and systems to see that vision become reality. To get to where you want to go tomorrow, you have to know what’s important right now.

Paul: You mention in the book that many pastors default to thinking they can “teach their way out” of being stuck. What are some other common mistakes that church leaders have a tendency to make as they attempt to address their “stuckness?”

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What are you hiding from?

It’s one thing when you’re stuck in the airport, in the wrong checkout line, or traffic; but it’s a completely other thing when your kids start making decisions that don’t reflect the values of your family and those decisions are leading them on a path towards an impending trainwreck. When that moment comes and you don’t know what to do next…your stuck in your parenting. When you get married and you think you’ve met Mr. or Mrs. Right and your headed towards eternal maritial bliss only to find out that their breath smells bad in the morning too, all of the sudden this marriage isn’t what you thought it was going to be…your stuck in your marriage. People are stuck in their singleness, their finances, in their carreers, even in their relationship with God. This past weekend we landed a series that we’ve been working through at Sun Valley called “Momentum.” In it we’ve been unpacking the life of Moses and the story of the Exodus…having a conversation about what to do when you feel stuck in life. Here’s the talk that I gave this weekend to land the series, hope you find it encouraging!


Posted in Spiritual Formation

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getting unstuck

Most of us know exactly what it feels like to be stuck. We’ve been stuck in traffic, stuck in the wrong checkout line at the grocery store, or even stuck going to some chic-flic in an attempt to be a better husband. It’s a bad feeling…feeling stuck. And it can be unbearable when you’re leading a church that’s stuck. You feel strongly that you have a clear and compelling picture from God about where the church needs to go…but…you’re stuck. No matter how hard you try it seems like you can’t get the church to move from where you are, to where you know God wants it to be. And the longer things stay stuck the more you begin to doubt the picture you think God gave you about that preferred future, or that you’re even the person to lead it there at all.

Last week I had the opportunity to sit down with author, coach, and consultant Tony Morgan and discuss this issue of “stuckness” that so many churches and leaders are facing today. In the middle of the conversation something he said really resonated with me, “Where churches typically get stuck isn’t on the vision and dream, but rather the gap between vision and ministry.” Vision alone isn’t enough. Churches get stuck on the “how.” How you are actually going to get it done and make the dream reality.

We went on to discuss his latest installment of the Leisure Suit Series, “How to Get Unstuck.” In which he unpacks the following issues that must be addressed if you’re going to move towards the dream God has placed on your heart:

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