Building Stronger Churches

I want to dedicate the next several posts to things the churches do that appear to be wise and intelligent moves, but once actually put in place undermine the church’s future. One of the most significant is in the area of compensation.

When a pastor has been at a church for a period of time, the salary tends to slip below the competitive rate. This occurs for a variety of reasons: first, the pastor is already there and when salaries are figured out for the next year the pastor is usually a good sport about getting less of a raise than virtually any other employment group in the United States. The impact of this on any given year is marginal. After 5, 10 or 15 years, however, the cumulative impact is significant. When the beloved pastor retires, or accepts a call to another congregation, the old pastoral compensation is left in the annual budget. In many congregations, an interim pastor may be brought in. The governing board looks at the number and someone says: “we could save some money by reducing the compensation for the interim.” This is frequently done, and the interim works for six months to two years at below the prevailing pastoral wage rate. Next the congregation will seek to call a full-time install pastor. The budget line for the beloved (or otherwise) outgoing pastor is now two years behind the times. Moreover, the market for pastoral compensation in general will have continued to advance. The congregation has been looking for the new pastor to usher in a new age of growth and expansion. High expectations are in place. Over the two years since the departure of the predecessor, housing prices in the community may have risen buy anywhere between five and 20%. If the pastor is being called from a low housing cost area of the country to a relatively higher one the impact will be even more significant. Now here comes the challenge for churches. An intelligent board with real-world experience will have adjusted their compensation package to account for real estate increases and the rise in competitive salary and benefits it would have occurred during the period of pastoral transition.

Many church boards, however, will go back to the old number and perhaps even try to reduce that number. Consider what they will accomplish as they make an offer to the person they hope will be there next pastor. They will have laid out the problems of the church and then comfortable that the new pastor will be able to guide them through those challenges and onto even better times ahead. Realistically, however, did the previous pastor lead them to higher ground? Did the interim pastor take them to higher ground? Given the fact that strong pastoral skills are in demand is it realistic for a board to expect to get more quality today for less money than was spent several years ago?

Take the case of a West Coast church it sought to call a pastor from another part of the country The church was concerned because membership was declining, the number of pledging units was down, and they were deep personnel issues that needed to be addressed. After a long and expensive search, the church called a pastor from the eastern state. They were in disagreement over about $6,000 in the total package. The church leaders, standing on principle, refused to budge.

The pastor accepted a call at another congregation. This congregation now will face the choice: interview their second and third choice candidates or re-open the search and start over. More time will be lost and the salary will once again slip behind that of a similar church. The costs of bringing people in for interviews had to be born once again. Moreover the choice was no longer for the first candidate, but between people who were lower down on the short list of acceptable individuals.

Many board members look at the salary line during times of pastoral transition. It seems so obvious that the church could save a lot of money. As a result, the pressure to reduce compensation can become irresistable. Make this work in a positive way for your church. Compare the changes in the price of coffee, breakfast cereal or gasoline since that salary amount was set. Look at comparative occupations. For example, the payscales for local school districts are public information. Check to see if the payscale for the local school district changed. Is the pastoral salary and compensation in the same ratio now as it was then?

Finally, strong pastoral skills are relatively rare. When you find quality, be prepared to pay for it. If you choose to go second-class compensation, don’t be surprised if you find yourself getting second-class results.

Blessings,
Dr. Peter J. Pizor, The Churchwright

Short term mission trips of a few days to a few weeks provide an opportunity for your members to grow together as they work and travel. By participating in these trips your members gain from the opportunity for sustained interaction as you travel to and from the mission locale.

In addition there are benefits from connecting with other people who often have a different culture.  Mission trips are an important element for big churches. Walk into any of the nation’s mega-churches and you will find a variety of mission trips planned. Most will be in the range of 3 days to 10 days.

Mission trips provide specific benefits. First, they allow your members the opportunity to live out the Scriptural commands to “go into all the world”. Second, they provide the opportunity to be of service to those in need.

Third, as your members travel together, work together, eat and pray together, they are are experiencing more hours of fellowship than normally happens during an entire year. A small group, for example, might meet 45 times per year for two hours making a total of 90 hours per year. One intensive trip will provide a year’s worth of interaction for your members. These are the bonds that strengthen community.

Fourth, working together requires organization and planning. In the process teams learn how to plan, delegate, and do the work of mission. This leaves a powerful sense of “can do” and serves as a training ground for members.

Fifth, mission trips can be organized for any of the groups in the congregation. They can be for youth, families, men, seniors, women. In each of these cases the benefits of working together will strengthen the sending group.

Smaller churches and solo pastors will agree on the value of mission trips, but may be hesitant because of the challenge of getting them organized. There are many resources available to you. Most denominations have mission offices that can supply you with training manuals, suggested destinations, and contact people at the local site.

f you are looking for web site with ideas, locations, and experiences of shortterm mission be sure to check out http://www.shorttermmissions.com/. They have information for trips lasting from a few days to a week or more.

Take time to look beyond your own needs. Mission trips help others and in the process you will find that they will return blessings and benefits back to your congregation.

Dr. Peter J. Pizor
Churchwright

As churches grow, their staffing becomes more sophisticated, and there are many more people to divide up the work. This is not the case with smaller churches. Solo pastors and start-up pastors face a complicated schedule.

One of my pastor clients called me last week and said “I can’t do everything so I’m going to focus on one or two things and let the board deal with the rest.” A few hours later I got a phone call from a board member at the same church who said “our pastor is only preparing for Sunday worship. He’s not doing anything else.”

This is a case of unclear responsibility.  Blurred lines of responsibility create many problems in smaller churches.

Many solo pastors assume that they need to do everything. This leads to burn out. Others, perhaps just back from workshop are thinking “I will start delegating–especially the things that I don’t like to do.”  This also is a bad choice.

The right level of delegation will vary from church to church. To work well it must be clear. Most importantly, all areas of the church should be covered.  For example, the solo pastor is the one in charge. That does not mean the one who does everything. It does mean the one who sees that the tasks of the church have been identified and that a responsible person has been identified for each one. The next level is to be sure that follow-through takes place. 

In a smaller church the pastor working with the church board should identify the critical functions that need to be addressed. These include the Acts 2:42 purposes as well as management, budgeting, planning, organization, facilities maintenance, and project evaluation to make sure that all items have been accomplished.

Make a check list of functions and processes for each of these areas. Next, identify a process manager for each process and a project manager for each project. Ideally these should be one person. For each manager develop a written set of objectives complete with expected accomplishments and dates by which items should be completed.

Put those on a master “next actions” list.  When the list has been developed in cooperation with the church board it is clear to everyone what the expectations are. The role of the pastor should not be to do each item, nor to serve as a substitute for those who don’t do their job. When something fails acknowledge the failure and redesign the system, appoint someone else to do the job, and start again.  One of the tragedies of churches is that often an incompetent leader will be left in place for an entire year while an important task will be poorly done or perhaps ignored completely. Do not let that happen. When people have been given responsibility, hold them accountable. If the job still is not done, replace that person.

But that sounds like firing volunteers. Exactly. Remove incompetent volunteers and dismiss underperforming staff. The church has a social mission, but doing the work of the church requires living up to your commitments and doing what you have promised to do.

Should the pastor do everything? Absolutely not. Should every function have a manager? Definitely yes.  The pastor’s role is to oversee the process.  Pastors should be involved to the extent that they know who is in charge and they follow through to make sure actions happen on schedule.

That is, pastors have oversight responsibility. With oversight comes a degree of curiosity. Pastors, especially, those in smaller churches, should adopt the phrase, “so, what’s going on?” every time they speak with a member.  This question opens the door for information and allows the pastor to receive it.

Keep a list of all the projects and processes in your church and call the appropriate on a regular schedule. At the end of the project assess how people were able to perform. Avoid the temptation to keep going to the same 2 or 3 all stars. The “star burnout” leadership style teaches those in your church that it is okay to develop a shallow roster of leaders. That, in turn, leads to overwork of the few and lack of engagement by the many.

The bottom line:  effective pastors monitor all the processes and make sure that all the bases are covered through inquiry, advance planning, and follow-up to observe and monitor results.

Dr. Peter J. Pizor
Churchwright

Better lighting makes better sermons.

Older churches were designed using a floor plan inherited from their larger, European cousins, the great cathedrals. Cathedrals were built to show the glory of God to mere mortals.

The great cathedrals have high ceilings. Since they were built without metal and concrete, the walls had to be close together to support the weight of the roof. The result is a narrow, high and dark space.

Many churches in the United States were built along similar, though distinctly less grand lines. In churches built from the 1880s to the 1980s seating capacity was extended by increasing the length of the worship room. As a result many church services take place in long narrow rooms with relatively high ceilings. Add a few colored windows and you create a traditional worship  space that captures the heart and soul of traditional worship. At the same time, it presents sound and lighting challenges for worship leaders on a scale large enough to interfere with people receiving the message you intended to send.

In these churches lighting is a challenge.  Most churches have a light on the lectern so you can see to read your text. Add a few spot lights on a ceiling beam that were installed 10 years or more ago and you are on a par with most older church buildings. This approach was adequate at one time, but if it is still in place lighting will detract from your message.

The problem is that the speaker is often a “voice in the darkness”. The message will be better received if the congregation can see the facial features of the pastor. Nonverbal cues are easily 50% or more of your message’s content. They are delivered most effectively through movement of the facial muscles. With inadequate lighting this critical part of your message is left unsaid.
                                                     
Does your worship space have this problem? Take our quick test. Have someone hold a newspaper at the spot where you normally speak.  Move to the middle of the seating area. How much light is on that paper? Can you read any of the headlines? If the newspaper’s message is lost, yours may be in danger of the same fate.

Use the rule of five to get the light right.

Arrange to have five lights directed at you. The first three should be set up to be directed at the speaking area from left, right, and center.

The final two sets come from above and below. When light is directed from all five positions you will be illuminated. Just as important, but having multiple sources of light your face will be free of shadows. 

Create a speaking circle that is flooded with light and mark that area with tape on the floor. Make it a point to stay in the circle as you talk. With practice you will be able to be “offstage” when you leave the light.

You may face several startup challenges as you revise your lighting. One of the most common complaints is that so much light shines on you that you may be squinting.  Take time to work with your lighting crew and reposition the lights at angles.

If you attend a major convention or concert the stage lighting will be so powerful that the performers have trouble seeing the audience–except for the first rows. In spite of that problem–every concert performer, every rock star, and every professional speaker–keeps the stage lights up and the houselights down.

They do this because their paying audience gets more out the show when they see the performer.  Because of their commitment to getting their message though to their audience all professional speakers, singers, and actors willingly put up with powerful lighting.  If your message is at least as important you should do the same.

Blessings,
Dr. Peter Pizor
Churchwright
(702) 433-3989

Each weekend in Las Vegas there is a line of cars exiting I-515 just before worship time at Central Christian Church.  Central is the largest church in Las Vegas and attracts 8,000 to its four worship services on a normal weekend.
One reason is an often repeated phrase: “Central is a place where it’s okay not to be okay,” according to Senior Pastor, Jud Wilhite.

Other churches have established higher “admission” standards. Membership in these churches is based on being “okay” in terms of belief, lifestyle, and commitment.

Is it OKAY NOT TO BE OKAY in your church? “Okay not to be okay” churches accept all who knock. People may not know very much or anything at all about faith. To address large and growing churches typically hold lengthy new membership classes.  At Central, for example, new members attend classes for 8 weeks to study the church’s beliefs. Miss more than one session and you must repeat the course.

At a nearby mainline church the new member class consists of a two-hour review of the denomination’s history and creedal background. At the end of the session members meet briefly with some board members and then are voted into membership.

Does it make a difference?

Central welcomes all to its services and then conducts a series of educational courses so that the members learn the core values of the church. By eliminating the gate and opening the door Central has grown rapidly.

At the  gated congregations members have been screened in advance in terms of dress and behavior so that long term education is not needed. Gated churches let others deterimine their values. People in these churches learned their faith somewhere else and brought it with them. In gated congregations values are caught not taught. 

At an earlier time denominational loyalty was more pronounced. Today, members come from a variety of places including mainline backgrounds including Roman Catholic, LDS, and those without any church connection. There are significant differences between the two approaches. Central’s four services are huge and create a noticeable change in the traffic flow. Not having to be “okay” means that it is “okay” to try it out.

Central is large and growing. It welcomes all to its services and then conducts a series of educational courses so that the members learn the core values of the church. At the gated congregations members have been screened in advance in terms of dress and behavior so that long term education is not needed. The values of the community were formed in other communities and memberships are typically “transferred” from other churches.At an earlier time denominational loyalty was more pronounced. Today, members come from a variety of places including mainline backgrounds including Roman Catholic, LDS, and those without any church connection. There are significant differences between the two approaches. Central’s four services are huge and create a noticeable change in the traffic flow. Not having to be “okay” means that it is “okay” to try it out.

Many churches have unwritten codes that instantly communicate expectations to would be visitors. Consider the difference between explicit and implicit expectations in how the education process works in each type of church.
Education in the mainline churches is cerebral and conducted in small groups–almost always on Sunday morning. The groups emphasize Bible studies, usually by reading and discussing one Biblical book at a time.

At Central a wide range of small groups exist and, several times each year, they are DVD driven with a teaching series from the senior pastor for 5-6 weeks at a time. These lessons pick up on themes from the weekend worship themes and allow discussion of the key themes in a small group setting.

What emerges is a coordinated series of teachings that connect and reinforce each other. The lessons utilize a simple vocabulary and connect to life application. Technical theological terms are rarely used and the core of teaching is conducted in small groups who arrange their own meeting places and times.

In most mainline churches the bulk of education takes place on Sunday morning. Fellowship and study groups are not integrated into the programmatic emphasis of the larger church. Sunday classes are limited by the availability of rooms, teachers, and the inability of the pastor to both lead worship and to supervise the Christian education curriculum.

At Central a self-contained bookstore offers studies for the small groups and the senior pastor designs and records 12-15 minutes lessons that serve as the starting point for discussion by the small groups. Small group leaders are trained and themselves attend training sessions.

Since small groups can meet at the time and place that is convenient for them they can be found throughout the community, at times and places convenient to the member. Even more importantly, all this is accomplished with minimal staff involvement.

Central is currently planning an expansion to the other side of Las Vegas and the start of their new campus was “seeded” by the presence of 200 people already meeting in small groups. This provides an instant community of those with similar expectations and helps grow new churches more rapidly.

Mainline congregations, especially Lutherans, Episcopal, Presbyterian, Methodists, and UCCs, often recruit from a middle-to-upper-class group. Their membership criteria are premised on the once prevalent assumption that people come to the church with a fairly well developed personal theology.

Short classes and few leadership training events mean that individuals determine what the church means for them.  In other words, the church does not actively take responsibility for the socialization of its members but does control the meeting times and places. Larger churches tend to pay close attention to the socialization content, but allow groups to self-select their meeting times, places, and formats.

For the typically smaller Mainline congregations, the limited number of times and places where small group study can take place greatly restricts the potential for busy members to participate. Gatekeepers, at more traditional congregations, are self-selected and operate informally. Expectations of behavior and belief were often established in childhood and are reinforced through non-verbal and non-explicit behaviors.

By contrast, at the “ungated” churches the rules, roles, and guidelines are made explicit in a coordinated set of experiences. As a result, they are able to shape their own communities through intention.

Ask yourself and your leadership team if it is “Okay, NOT to be okay”. Churches that avoid discussing this question are taking the “default action” and that includes accepting and operating by the informal rules that operate. These make change and alignment difficult and frequently controversial when they do occur.

A night of desperation.
The new church plant was struggling. The founding pastor had left, worship numbers were declining, and the leadership team was tired. Usually a church has something. But this little church lacked the building, a pastor, a band, and just about everything else. It had begun with high hopes and a major investment from the denomination. 
The church board could not meet at the school for worship was held, and so they sat in an upper room loaned to it by a neighboring church. The meeting opened with prayer and an agenda. There weren’t any reports. Planting a new church is a lot of fun, and also excruciatingly hard work. We’d been meeting in a school multipurpose room. The rent was high, and what was even worse, was the fact that we could not store any of our church worship items in the school. So every Sunday morning, we parked the trailer behind the school. Every item that we needed was carried from the trailer through the parking lot and into the school. At the end of worship, everything had to be packed back into the trailer.
We couldn’t put any permanent signs on the school. Moreover, the school was not even on a main street. Every Sunday morning a volunteer had to place real estate-sized signs along the main roads to let people know where we were worshiping. Week by week without a full-time pastor we struggled with good, but inconsistent messages.

 Practically everyone we knew wanted to fix us.  The denomination was concerned about their investment. They wanted more return for their investment. We got suggestions from everyone. They had one thing in common, however, and that was the word “more.” Get more money. Put up more signs. Have more people walk the neighborhood more often. Have people contribute more money on Sunday. Have more music. Have more prayer.

A lot of church meetings are fueled by coffee, but we were in borrowed space, and didn’t even have a coffee pot. The leader of the board asked each of the committee chairs to give their reports. As they did, he asked what their next plans were. Minute by minute, the energy of the group dwindled.

This was a smart and hard-working group. They had done everything right. They had walked the neighborhood. They had put up signs. They had brought in a great band. They had personally contributed of their time and their money. They were also fatigued.

As I looked around the room in the eyes and the shoulders spoke eloquently. Their shoulders were slumped forward, elbows were on the table, and the eyes were downcast. It was one of those moments in the movies in a hero stands up and gives an inspirational speech. You know, the kind of speech that is met with silence and then one person begins to clap in the back of the room, and gradually a second joins and then a third and finally, everyone is on their feet cheering. The hero leads add them to victory.

This was not a movie; this was real life. Despondent, dejected and tired they were ready to call it a day. It had been after all, a noble effort. And a few people had come to faith. Maybe it just wasn’t the right time to start a church.

I made a suggestion at that point. “What you like to do most in this fellowship?” One by one, each person spoke. What they most valued from their common pilgrimage was the joy and fellowship they had experienced together. They had sung together, prayed together, shared their life stories together.  “Why not do that?” I suggested.

The board agreed to cancel worship. Instead, they agreed to meet once a week in someone’s house to share a meal, prayers, support and to stay connected with each other. They explicitly agreed not to take one any church activities. The contract with the school was canceled, and the last rent was paid. The trailer was parked with all the church’s meager possessions inside.

For the balance of that spring and most of a long summer, they met, prayed, shared and ate together. In August, they found a pastor, who would come in once a week and preach while the other liturgical duties were carried out by the board members. A new location was found. This time, it was visible from a busy street and had lots of parking. The new location had a storage area where the church was able to keep its supplies during the week. The trailer was retired and eventually sold. All through the fall, tiny miracles took place. The choir grew from one person to a dozen. Week by week, Sunday worship numbers increased. By the end of the year, the church put on a Christmas pageant and had called a new pastor.
 

There is an important lesson in their experience. As we pursue our goals of church development, we face many real obstacles. Plowing on ahead, until everyone is exhausted produces burnout. Burnout is one of the factors behind the failure of so many new church developments. This little church stopped, took a sabbatical, connected with its divine purpose, and then moved ahead. By going back to the roots of the earliest church, and finding fellowship in their homes, the church leaders were able to regain their spiritual balance. Many new church plants seek to become Acts 2:42 churches through presenting that for others. This church became such a congregation and then was able to attract others to their fellowship.
 

When church leaders are exhausted they may not take time for personal prayer. The next casualties are the fellowship of the community. Without personal renewal, corporate renewal is impossible. The Sabbath Day was created for a reason. This new church development currently has 170 members and is engaged in a new building program. They learned a powerful lesson; one we should all take to heart. As you minister to your church remember to take pauses for yourself, and for your leadership team. Be rested, refreshed, and filled with the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, so that you can lead others with grace.

Blessings,
Peter Pizor, Churchwright
Email: peter@churchwright.org

Would you like to change your church and also keep your job? Playing with church change is a lot like playing with dynamite. A lot of energy can be released and without caution you can be seriously injured. 

At any given time a church is in a balanced state. Moving it will upset the balance and without knowing the vital laws of church change it could blow up right in your face. Your congregation is complex mixture of people, activities, programs and personnel that have been in place for a long time. Because your church is a dynamic  living system, those who seek to bring about change need to do so with the deep understanding of the church and its environment.  The following little-known but essential laws will help you as you introduce needed change smoothly.   

Secret 1. Go slowly.  

No matter what shape your church is in, it probably got there one day at a time. Most churches are rational organizations led by thoughtful concerned, compassionate people. Everything that you see in your church is a result conscious decision or an unconscious nondecision. Decisions are taken in response to some challenge. The solution, that was selected seem to be the best at the time. Other conditions exist because the leadership group refrained from making a decision. This is often the case with long-term negative trends. For example, if stewardship decreases by just a little bit from one year to the next, church leaders may not perceive this as sufficiently significant. So they may just let it occur. After a number of years, with rising personnel costs, budgets may be altered so that more money goes into personal on a percentage basis, and less goes in to maintaining the building and the grounds. Suddenly a problem occurs. It could be a problem with the roof, with the air-conditioning, or anything else that brings awareness of the long-term trends. Money is short, and the problem is knocking at the door. There is a pressure to do something right away. Stop and analyze the longer-term trend underneath the current challenge. Most of the challenges that need to be addressed in the life of the church were created by an earlier set of decisions. The wise church leader begins long-term positive change after developing a careful understanding of church dynamics. Take time to understand those dynamics before taking action.  

Secret 2. Find the inflection points 

Inflection points are the places where you can make change. This would not seem to be very important, except that it also follows that everywhere else, does not lead to change. You can work with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your might, on a non-inflection point, and nothing will change. Learn to distinguish inflection points. Not everything in a church can or should be fixed at once. As you begin the process of understanding the congregation as a dynamic system identify the key subsystems that make it tick. The physician who takes your health history is systematic about finding information pertaining to diet, lifestyle, previous diseases, and the health of the circulatory, respiratory and other basic bodily systems. In a similar manner, the church is also comprised of five basic systems. Review each of these looking for blockages that can interfere with church health.  One of the descriptions of an excellent church leader is to refer to that person as “an unanxious presence.” Such leaders are unanxious, because they are not goaded into action by every little stimulus. Instead, they constantly monitor the most important operating systems and are frequently able to diagnose problems before they occur. Those key points in the basic subsystems are the strategic levers of change. Change can begin anywhere, but long-lasting change should start with the basic system. Those entry places are called inflection points. Efforts devoted at inflection points will produce larger than expected results; efforts at less critical places usually result in an expenditure of high energy with little lasting result.  

Secret 3. Do not falter 

 Once you have begun an initiative continue it. Tentative decisions initiated with hesitation, create frustration. The frustration, in turn, leads to a re-examination of other decisions. This starts a process where no decision appears to be final. In fact, even when a decision has been made and agreed-upon, under the conditions of tentative leadership, those decisions will be brought back for further discussion and possible reversal. And beware of passive aggressive closure. A church vote, that is 11 to 1 is not like a political mandate. At 11 to one vote is often a tie. More importantly, it is assigned that more work needs to be done.   

Secret 4. The boomerang effect 

This law can be stated simply:  the harder you try to force something out the more it will continue to surface. You probably know the story about the Australian pastor who tried to throw away the unused collection of boomerangs in the garage. The more energetic the toss, the faster and more powerfully they returned.  The boomerang effect is derived from an important principle of systems dynamics.  Forces within a system are at rest until they are acted upon. When they are impacted they will stretch but not quite break. After you have pushed as far as you can, the issue will come right back at you with the force of a bungee cord. In time the oscillations will dissapate, but in the meantime, you will have inadvertently energized something that you wanted to eliminate. Move in other areas. For the most part lack of attention is the best way to let something atrophy. If it is a really bad thing it may weaken all on its own.  Don’t give it the additional fuel of your attention. Focus on the areas where you want to make positive change.        

Secret 5. Break on through to the other side           

It takes a while for a new idea to gain legs and learn how to walk. When NASA launches a rocket it must have the energy to rise and to continue to accelerate until it is able to overcome the Earth’s gravitational pull.  New ideas–really innovative ones–are always attached to the past. Many church leaders begin to see some success and then move on to other projects. Doing so prematurely will prevent an idea from attaining breakthrough speed.  In terms of systems theory this law is similar to the boomerang effect. When you launch new ideas, efforts, or programs make sure that you provide enough of your personal energy and attention so that they can succeed. Churches are littered with great ideas that lacked the fuel to get to a self-sustaining level.      

Secret 6. The ripple effect  

Many church leaders develop a strategy and then begin to initiate it. At first, things seem to go very well. After a period of time the process slows down, but continues forward. After a series of successes sometimes stretching over a span as long as 10 years, the pastor is forced to leave the church. What happens is that in the process of creating each small victory there may also be a disgruntled parishioner. With each in narrow success one or two families or individuals are added into the discordant group. Over an extended period of time, these individuals begin to coalesce and to find each other. Nurturing their wounds, they grow to become a negative critical mass within the congregation. When this phenomenon occurs, pastors reflect back in their career and all they see is a series of victories, and positive accomplishments. As a result, they’re often surprised when they are forced out of their congregation. Beware of little ripples, because they run into other with ripples and overtime can create large waves capable of sinking successful pastorates.       

Secret 7. Resilience and persistence     

This could be restated as “Blessed are the flexible, for they shall not be bent out of shape.” In terms of leading change in within churches it is important to be able to keep your eye on the goals and the vision God has given you.  As you persist in reaching those goals, recognize that you will be off course most of the time. This is a fundamental truth from the physical world, but also translates into the world of church leadership. An arrow leaving a bow is profoundly bent before it even passes the front of the bow. Then it arcs above the line leading to the target. The aero only arrives at its target, because it is flexible and is able to depart from the course in order to secure the objective. It is important to be persistent, and even more important to develop leadership skill of flexible adaptation. 

Blessings as you lead with grace,

Peter Pizor, Churchwright
email: peter@churchwright.org

How do I know? I call churches. I call them every day.

How come you didn’t know? Most likely that’s because you recorded your message when the machine was new and you haven’t given it much thought since. Now, call yourself and suffer through its overly long and thoroughly boring message…Stop reading…Do it now.

Admit it. It was bad. Now call the church across the street. They are not any better.

Most church answering systems are designed to be convenient for the church staff. In a small church, that would be you. Answering machines hold calls when you are out and they often serve to screen calls that you don’t want to take—mostly from those passing through who want to hit you up for a few bucks. It also collects messages from your members. Most churches treat the answering system as a defense mechanism designed to keep the pastor and staff organized. You will be far more effective to think of that message as the front line of evangelism.

If you want your church to grow, treat your answering message as a key contact point. Along with your web site, the answering machine message is the front door of the church. Keep it shiny and relevant.

Decide what the purpose of the message is. Many churches have a very long message that lists all the programs and worship services for the church. Some have a Bible verse of the day. There may be long pauses during the playback. Listening can seem longer than “War and Peace” on an 8-track tape. 

Do you want your church to be relevant to people with busy schedules? First, make your message clear, speedy, and responsive to needs. Get to the point by answering these three questions: 1. Express appreciation for your caller 2. Identify who you are. 3. Direct them to where they want to be with a series of efficient submenus.

For example: “Thanks for calling New Life Church. If you would like to leave a message for one of our staff members, press 1. If you would like information about our worship services, press 2. If this is a pastoral emergency, press 3. Be sure to check out our web site where more information is available. Our web site is www.yourchurch.org.”

Next, build your submenus. Always do these in the order that they are likely to be requested. Your goal is to help the largest number of callers find the information they want in the shortest amount of time. For example, you might say: “On Sunday mornings we have three worship services at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30.” (First level information) Following that, add that “Our traditional service is at 8:30 and our contemporary services are at 10:00 and 11:30.” (These are your smaller, second level pieces of information.) Mention other services briefly, such as “Child care is always provided at all of our services.” (Third level information).

To do this you will need to get an answering machine that accepts submenus. Toss out the antique system that was given to the church by Elder Smith. The point here is to invite people to your church and communicate with your members. Pay for the new machine out of the evangelism budget if you need to, but position your church to be respectful of the pressure’s of todays fast-paced lifestyles.

When people call your extension be sure that each voice mail message is current. Record a fresh message on each day. For example, “Hi, this is Pastor Tom and today is March 8. I am in my office today. Please leave a message and I will get back to you within four hours or less. If you need a faster response, please call my cell phone at (555) 444-5555.”

Make sure that you deliver on all promises. In today’s world it is irresponsible to let a call be unanswered for more than 4 hours during normal working hours. Four minutes is better and that should be your goal.

Learn, lead, and grow!

Peter

Peter J. Pizor, Churchwright
email: peter@churchwright.org

The church is a part of the body of Christ. As such, it contains both theological, divine, and very human elements. The theological and the divine are essential components in understanding the church and its dynamics. As a social scientist and systems analyst I leave these vital topics to others who have deep insights. Without their wisdom and theological direction, effective church leadership is not possible. Those aspects of church leadership are critical, and you need to have them thoroughly in place. The information and advice you find in this web site assumes that you have already developed competencies in these two areas. Church leadership requires competency in each of these three areas, so be sure to use this information to supplement what you already know in the other areas.

Here you will find useful information based on the science of systems analysis, organization development, and deep understanding of the ways in which human beings come together to interact in small groups. In essence, in this web site you will learn about the science that underlies the art of church leadership.

Although every church has the possibility for growth and revitalization, most change attempts fail. Understanding the underlying pattern that leads to failure is the first step in bringing healthy change to your congregation.

The most common pattern goes like this. Someone notices that change is necessary, a committee is formed to study it, and a series of meetings are held. In the fullness of time, a thoughtful report is prepared and presented to the church board. Sometimes with great heat, the report is debated, amended, and eventually approved. The action steps are noted, the committee members that created it are thanked and the report is filed with other documents and placed on a shelf. A year or so later, very little has changed, with one exception. By completing the report, the church has involved itself in a change inoculation effort.

Change inoculation is a condition in which a church has taken a partial step and assumes that change will follow. Adopting a report, blessing plan, or publishing a new vision statement answers concerns of those who wanted change. In a way that is similar to most people’s efforts at dieting, the assumption is that somehow starting or at least thinking about dieting will lead to weight loss. Some initial effort has been expended, perhaps there was a little success. But, six months or year later, nothing will have changed. Even worse, the original conditions will be more severe since the underlying causes were never healed. 

The pernicious thing about change inoculation is that it makes subsequent attempts at change far more difficult. When the subject is brought up again, church leaders can respond in good faith, “Yes, we addressed that with our new strategic vision.”

In church, as in other aspects of our life, partial steps towards change masquerade as the change itself. The steps are directional signs on the highway leading to successful transitions. The problem occurs when the sign on the highway is confused with the journey itself. This is change inoculation.

Wise church leaders take stock of their past efforts and categorize them into two categories: signs pointing towards change, and activities designed to bring about change. The first is about intention. Intentions are good and noble and are a first step. The same time, intentionality is not behavior. The best intentions, held by the most spiritual of leaders, and articulated with words that resonate with poetic meter and powerful images, will take you nowhere, unless they are harnessed to community through aligned action.

Moreover, the trap of intentionality is that it substitutes for real action. In most churches, the existence of a plan serves as a powerful reason why nothing will happen. The plan is the substitute, the sugar pill, and an acceptable excuse for avoiding the real work of building a healthy congregation. When change discussions arise again–as they certainly will–the response will be, “yes, we have addressed that in our vision.” And in so doing, the nonaction of intentionality has prevented real change. The church has successfully inoculated itself from transformative action.

Learn, lead, and grow!
Peter

Peter J. Pizor,
Churchwright
email: peter@churchwright.org