5 Articles that will Help Your Church Make Vision Real

Tuesday, February 3, 2015

Thank you for making January the best month ever here at Helping Churches Make Vision Real! It’s great staying 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 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 5 Core Behaviors of Churches that get Unstuck

Churches all across America are stuck. Large churches, small churches, old churches, new churches, Baptist churches, Methodist churches, Nazarene churches, Presbyterian church and even non-denominational churches are stuck. Stuckness is no respecter of the “brand” or “flavor” of the church. It happens to all kinds of churches. Lead long enough in a church and it will happen to you. In fact Thom Rainer, President and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources has stated in his research that:

“Eight out of ten of the approximately 400,000 churches in the United States are declining or have plateaued.”

Churches get stuck for all kinds of reasons but there are a handful of core behaviors that I see over and over again in churches get unstuck.

#2 6 Symptoms your Church has Ministry Silos

Ministry Silos are one of the most common symptoms I find in churches that are stuck. Most churches don’t want to admit that they have silos. But admit it or not, the majority of churches have silos. It’s actually a natural easy drift that most churches make towards ministry silos. I wrote about this in a post: “What if Home Depot Functioned like a Church?”

Ministry Silos = multiple independent ministries operating under one roof

But how do you know if you have ministry silos at your church? You probably have ministry silos at your church if…

#3 8 Things to Consider Before You Multisite

Currently there are more than 8,000 multisite churches across America and more than 1,600 mega churches (churches of more than 2,000 people in weekly attendance). While both are growing the multisite church movement has outpaced the mega church movement in America. What was once seen as only a Band-Aid strategy for space issues at mega churches has become a vehicle for growth in local churches of all kinds and all sizes (the average size a church goes multisite is around 850-1200). “Multi” doesn’t mean “Mega” anymore.

Your church may be considering going multisite. If so, that’s exciting news and I’d love to hear about it! But before you do here are 8 things to consider before you take the multisite plunge.

#4 4 Strategies to Start in 2015 that will Change your Church

It’s January and the gyms are packed. They’re making money hand over fist this month with everyone making New Years Resolutions to finally get in shape. And when I go to the gym in February it will be back to normal. People are notorious for making huge goals at the New Year and then not following through. That’s why I want to give you a couple of small changes you can realistically make this year that will change your church in 2015. You’ll be surprised by how small degrees of change that you make in your trajectory today can pay dividends in the future. So here are 4 small changes that can make a big deal in your church in 2015.

#5 Join a Multisite Coaching Network

I’m excited to share some big news with you! At the Unstuck Group we’ve successfully been coaching Pastors and other Ministry Leaders at churches across America for years. This year we are taking new ground and offering our first ever MultiSite Coaching Network. This network is designed for leaders of multisite churches, to help them grow in leadership and succeed in addressing the unique challenges they face.

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Posted in Leadership

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6 Symptoms your Church has Ministry Silos

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Ministry Silos are one of the most common symptoms I find in churches that are stuck. Most churches don’t want to admit that they have silos. But admit it or not, the majority of churches have silos. It’s actually a natural easy drift that most churches make towards ministry silos. I wrote about this in a post: “What if Home Depot Functioned like a Church?”

Ministry Silos = multiple independent ministries operating under one roof

But how do you know if you have ministry silos at your church? You probably have ministry silos at your church if…

1. Each Ministry has their own Vision & Values Statements

If each ministry is chasing it’s own vision and developing it’s own organizational values; then you’ve got ministry silos.

2. You Frequently hear the word “My Ministry” in Meetings

If you hear the words, “my ministry, my budget, my volunteers, my rooms,” etc.; then you’ve got ministry silos.

3. There is no Coordinated Calendaring Process

If every ministry has their own independent calendar and there are consistent conflicts when it comes to using facility space, announcements, and other church resources; then you’ve got ministry silos.

4. No one is Sharing Best Practices

If each ministry is building their guest experience, discipleship process, missions experiences, and volunteer process (among other things) uniquely and independently from one another; you’ve got ministry silos.

5. There is no Coordinated Budgeting Process

If each ministry is coming up with their own budget independently of each other instead of working together and sacrificing for what is best for the vision of the church; then you’ve got ministry silos.

6. Each Ministry has their own Brand

If each ministry has it’s own cool name, logo, t-shirts, websites, and promotional material that look like their from different organizations instead of from the same church; then you’ve got ministry silos.

What else would you add to the list?

Your team can use this list at your next team meeting to begin evaluating where your church is at when it comes to ministry silos. Then use this post: “Tearing Down Ministry Silos” to help you begin taking your next steps.

Want help addressing the dysfunction of ministry silos at your church? At the Unstuck Group we’ve helped some of the fastest growing and most innovative churches in the country get unstuck. We can help you too.

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Top Posts of 2014 #10: “What if Home Depot Functioned like a Church?”

Sunday, December 21, 2014

For the next couple of days I’m going to be counting down the top 10 posts from 2014 here on Helping Churches Make Vision Real. These are the posts that generated the most traffic, comments, and were the most shared on social media. The most popular topics this year had to do with strategic planning, insider focused churches, leadership, church growth, teams, and even pastors wives. We start off with a post that I wrote just a week ago but has quickly gained traction and shot into the top 10 posts of the year (that was fast…if only all of my posts were that good).

For the last month we’ve been getting ready for Christmas at my house and that means multiple trips to Home Depot. The first trip to pick up the Christmas tree and then back again to get more lights because the ones from last year don’t work this year. Then yet another trip for a new Christmas tree stand because the stand from last year doesn’t work. Oh, and I need a new pack of staples for the staple gun to put up the Christmas lights. And so on. You get the idea.

After spending half of the holiday season in the local Home Depot, I started thinking about how different Home Depot is from the majority of churches I’ve visited over the years, and what it would look like if Home Depot functioned like most churches in America.

Instead of everyone in the store wearing an orange Home Depot apron, each department would have it’s own uniquely colored apron.
Instead of having a hardware department and an appliance department, they would have really cool names like Ignite, Epic, and J.A.M. that are completely confusing to new customers.
Of course each department would have it’s own logo instead of using the one that’s already on the outside of the store.
Instead of having clear way finding and signage that easily directs you to what you’re looking for you’d have to aimlessly wander around hoping to find the power tools or stop a complete stranger and ask for directions.
Instead of picking up one flyer at the entrance of the store that has all the sale adds in it, you’d have to pick up printed material at each unique department and of course they would all have their own logos on them and look like they came from different stores.
The store would only be open on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights.
Customers would be able to vote on who the store manager was going to be and then appoint a board made up of the best customers who then get to tell the store manager what to do.
This special board made up of the best customers would also get to decide what products the store sold and what kinds of other customers were allowed to shop at the store.
If you were in the electric department and had a question about plumbing, the electric department employee would have no idea how to help you because electricity and plumbing have nothing to do with each other.

While we all know that the Church is not a business, I hope this post challenges some of your thinking about the Church. And I hope you got a good laugh at this tongue in cheek approach to the conversation.

What else would you add to the list?

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Posted in Leadership

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What if Home Depot Functioned like a Church?

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

For the last month we’ve been getting ready for Christmas at my house and that means multiple trips to Home Depot. The first trip to pick up the Christmas tree and then back again to get more lights because the ones from last year don’t work this year. Then yet another trip for a new Christmas tree stand because the stand from last year doesn’t work. Oh, and I need a new pack of staples for the staple gun to put up the Christmas lights. And so on. You get the idea.

After spending half of the holiday season in the local Home Depot, I started thinking about how different Home Depot is from the majority of churches I’ve visited over the years, and what it would look like if Home Depot functioned like most churches in America.

Instead of everyone in the store wearing an orange Home Depot apron, each department would have it’s own uniquely colored apron.
Instead of having a hardware department and an appliance department, they would have really cool names like Ignite, Epic, and J.A.M. that are completely confusing to new customers.
Of course each department would have it’s own logo instead of using the one that’s already on the outside of the store.
Instead of having clear way finding and signage that easily directs you to what you’re looking for you’d have to aimlessly wander around hoping to find the power tools or stop a complete stranger and ask for directions.
Instead of picking up one flyer at the entrance of the store that has all the sale adds in it, you’d have to pick up printed material at each unique department and of course they would all have their own logos on them and look like they came from different stores.
The store would only be open on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights.
Customers would be able to vote on who the store manager was going to be and then appoint a board made up of the best customers who then get to tell the store manager what to do.
This special board made up of the best customers would also get to decide what products the store sold and what kinds of other customers were allowed to shop at the store.
If you were in the electric department and had a question about plumbing, the electric department employee would have no idea how to help you because electricity and plumbing have nothing to do with each other.

While we all know that the Church is not a business, I hope this post challenges some of your thinking about the Church. And I hope you got a good laugh at this tongue in cheek approach to the conversation.

What else would you add to the list?

Photo Credit: JeepersMedia via Compfight cc

Posted in Leadership

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Tearing Down Ministry Silos

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

One of the common challenges that I see in churches that are stuck is ministry silos. Another word for this is departmentalization. Multiple unique individual ministries operating under one roof. Most churches don’t set out this way, but over time they naturally drift towards ministry silos and operating independently from one another. Instead of working with one another, ministries end up competing for volunteers, budget resources, facility space, announcement time, and so on.

The good news is it doesn’t have to be this way. In fact here are 5 steps you can take to begin to get rid of silo thinking and behaviors at your church.

1. Share the Mission, Vision & Values

Clearly articulate one mission, vision and set of value statements for the church and then set the expectation that each ministry will live those out within their own context and audience. Allowing segment ministries to develop their own values, vision or mission statements fuels silo thinking.

2. Get rid of Sub-Ministry Brands

Call things what they are. Children’s Ministry is Children’s Ministry and Student Ministry is Student Ministry (and so on). When you allow segment ministries to develop their own sub-brands not only is it confusing to new people who attend the church to navigate but it encourages silo thinking (it’s also more expensive).

3. Coordinated Calendaring Process

Instead of each ministry having their own separate ministry calendars, do the work of annually planning one coordinated ministry calendar for the year. This will force the team to work cooperatively, communicate with one another, understand what each other are doing, and get rid of competing events. You can even take 5 minutes in a meeting once a month to review the upcoming month together and make sure everyone is on the same page.

4. Budget Together

Instead of having each ministry build a budget in isolation and then turn that proposal into an individual or board to make decisions, come together as a team and present your proposals to one another. Then work together to come up with a holistic ministry budget approach for the next ministry year. You know you’re getting somewhere when ministry leaders begin to sacrifice financially for one another when they see a proposed initiative or idea from a different segment ministry gets the church further, faster.

5. Replicate Best-Practices

Don’t waste time and energy with every ministry department coming up with their own systems for how to do Guest Services, Volunteering, Mission trips, etc. Instead, identify your best practices and the unique approach your church takes to each of these things and then replicate them in each ministry.

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Posted in Leadership