Church Strategy - MinistryTogether

The Lazy Person’s Guide to Leadership

Leadership is exhausting. On top of all the stuff you have to get done there’s all the stuff the people you’re leading have to get done, and all the stuff the people being led by the people you’re leading that has to get done. I need a nap just writing that sentence, but we haven’t even gotten to the part where you have to develop all the people developing all the people, and you have to hold all the people accountable for holding all the people accountable for developing all the people. Oh, and next Sunday is Easter.

Its almost too much for one person to handle. Which may be the point.

What if our challenge with leadership isn’t that we’re not working hard enough? What if the challenge is that we’re working too hard? As I have gotten older I’ve realized that the most effective leaders actually do less, not more. Perhaps laziness is the unspoken hero of leadership qualities. If that is the case, here are some tips on how to be a lazy, effective leader.

Don’t be Google

As leaders we love to answer questions. It makes us feel smart and important, and when we answer the questions we know the answers are right. (Because the answers are ours.) There are a few challenges when I become Google for the people I lead. First, if I answer the first question then I’ll need to answer the second, third and fourth questions. Soon there will be a line at my door of people with questions only I can answer. Have you ever tried to take an afternoon nap with a crowd at your door demanding answers? Its almost impossible.

The second challenge with trying to be Google is that I don’t always have the best, or even the right, answers. I’ve found that when I let people figure things out for themselves they often come up with better answers. It is a killer to my ego, because I always want to be right, but my ego often needs a little deflating.

The third challenge with filling in for Google is I am keeping people from growing. Growth comes from trying, failing, getting back up and trying again. I can give insight from my own experience, but for the most part it is healthy for people to learn for themselves rather than just parroting what they hear from me. It also leaves me a lot more time for my siesta.

Don’t be Jiffy Lube

Every time I take my car to Jiffy Lube for an oil change they find 15 other things I urgently need to fix. “Mr. Surratt, your catalytic converter isn’t converting, your tie rods are untied, and your oil pump has pumped its last.” They don’t understand my philosophy of car repair; if you ignore a problem long enough it will eventually go away. Unfortunately this philosophy hasn’t worked out so well as a car owner.

On the other hand, its actually a decent leadership philosophy. Similar to our urge to be Google, as leaders we often want to jump in and fix things. We jump on every urgent email thread with the solution to the problem. What I’ve discovered, however, is that if I’ll hang back and not provide the instant solution, many problem will indeed fix themselves. Sometimes the solution isn’t exactly what I would have suggested, but its usually good enough. And it didn’t interrupt my afternoon game of golf. (I haven’t golfed in years, but you get the point.)

Don’t be Netflix

Netflix constantly has suggestions for what I want to watch next. “Because you watched Ted Lasso you might like Bend It Like Beckham, or Drive to Survive, or Ted.” You know me so well, Netflix. Leaders are tempted to do the same thing, but instead of making suggestions based on the other persons background, all of our suggestions are based on our own experience. “When I was a youth pastor back in the 90’s, before you were born, lock-ins were really big. You should do a lock-in.” Never mind that lock-ins and the Backstreet Boys have had been equally popular with teenagers over the past 20 years. We mistakenly think our nostalgic suggestions are even remotely helpful to this generation of leaders.

A much better approach than Netflix is the Braintrust process developed by Ed Catmull, co-founder of Pixar. His book, Creativity Inc., is worth the read, but here’s an excerpt describing the Braintrust process.

Don’t be Waffle House

Breakfast at the Waffle House may be the most American experience possible. Truck drivers and bar tenders sharing a meal with a sweet little family of four on their first foray into the world of smothered and covered hash browns. And breakfast is served 24/7/365, the Awful Waffle is always there for you. Even on Christmas Day. Especially on Christmas Day.

Great lazy leaders don’t share Waffle House’s hours. There are hours of the day, days of the week, and weeks of the year when you aren’t open for business. You don’t answer email, respond to texts, or “jump on a quick call.” Waffle House leaders burn out leaders, including themselves. 99% of leadership challenges either resolve themselves or can wait until you get back. You aren’t a short-order cook in a greasy kitchen.

A healthy, effective, sometimes lazy leader is a gift to the church, non-profit, or company they work for. They empower the leaders around them, and present a model of life-giving leadership to everyone in the organization. So take that nap, play that round of golf, and practice the art of lazy leadership.

Should Women Preach or Lead in the Church? Maybe…

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]While being interviewed by key leaders for a teaching pastor position, an elder asked me whether I was a complementarian or egalitarian. I confidently stated that I was a complementarian, and than began down the long list of women pastors on my spiritual journey. The group looked more and more uncomfortable the further I went until the lead pastor finally interrupted, “Are you sure you are complementarian?” I immediately realized my mistake, “Oh, I’m sorry, I meant egalitarian.”

You could fill the air lead the room, it would have been better if I’d said I was a satanist. Elders suddenly remembered they had urgent appointments elsewhere, and staff had an urgent need to get back to their offices. Soon the group dwindled to me, the lead pastor and one clueless staff member who was still hoping for a free lunch. The pastor, who’d invited me to the interview, looked like I’d kicked him a few inches below his gut. He gave me a quick tour of the building and then invited me back to his office. Once inside I tried to ease the tension with a joke, “Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?” He apologized profusely and admitted he should have vetted my theology of women (Is that a thing? Feminology?) before dragging me through the inquisition. We agreed to remain friends, knowing we’d never work together at a church.

And that’s how I learned the difference between complementarian and egalitarian.

My views have continued to morph, however, in the years since. After a lifetime of study, experience, thinking and prayer I have finally decided I am both complementarian and egalitarian, I’m a complegalitarian

Complegalitairan: In some contexts and cultures women are gifted, qualified, and called to lead, preach, and exercise authority in the church. In other contexts and cultures those roles are better served by men.

I have landed in this camp (so far I may be the only one here) because it is the only way I can make sense of scripture, history, and my experience in the real world. I understand the implications of 1 Timothy 2, but I have to balance that with other passages where women were not only not silent, but preached, led and held positions of authority over men. From Miriam to Deborah to Huldah to Priscilla to Phoebe to the daughters of Philip (Acts 21:9), some women in some contexts prophesy (preach), teach, hold office and lead. I can’t accept an argument that says women are forbidden to hold certain offices, have authority over men, or preach when there are clear examples in the Bible of women doing all of the above, seemingly with God’s full blessing.

I also recognize that in some cultures and some contexts the fact that a woman is leading could overshadow the presentation of the Gospel. We have to remember that at the end of the day the Gospel trumps all other concerns. That is why Jesus did not stand up to they horrible abuses of the Roman government and Paul did not advocate for the end of slavery. They were both focused on the main thing, the hope of the Gospel.

Paul said he became all things to all people so that by all means he might save some. His primary concern was “Christ in you, the hope of glory”. I suspect in ancient Greek, Roman and Jewish culture the most effective messenger for the Gospel was often a man because of the patriarchal bent of society. I do not think that is always the case in every context and culture. Neither, it seems, did Paul.

I have been watching from the sidelines as Southern Baptists tear each other apart over this issue. There was a huge uproar when Beth Moore preached at a church on a Sunday morning, and subsequently left the Southern Baptist denomination over the fallout. The roar got even louder when Pastor Rick Warren announced Saddleback Church ordained three women as pastors. Seminary president and Southern Baptist Convention President candidate Albert Mohler has led the charge against women preaching or leading in SBC churches (except in narrowly defined roles), recently saying,

“If you look at the denominations where women do the preaching, they are also the denominations where people do the leaving.”

The irony of this statement is overwhelming when you realize that over the past 15 years SBC has lost 2.3 million members, 14% of its total membership, while adhering to a strict complementarian standard. At the same time what is being called “Spirit-empowered Christianity” (aka Pentecostal and Charismatic), which is almost entirely egalitarian in practice, has exploded in growth all over the world.

The current SBC President, J.D. Greear, along with all of the other candidates to succeed him, agree with Albert Mohler that women preaching and leading above certain levels in the church is a line in the sand they will not cross. While the SBC has to determine the future of the SBC, it seems from the outside that this issue is overshadowing the mission to bring the hope of Jesus to a lost and dying world. The message I fear is being unintentionally amplified is that men simply want to maintain authority over women.

That is why I am now a complegalitarian. I believe God created men and women with different gifts and abilities. I think some women are gifted by their creator to lead in some circumstances, and some men are gifted by their creator to lead in other circumstances. I think in some contexts the practice of women leading men can so overshadow the message of the Gospel that it can be destructive to mission of the church, and I believe in other contexts the practice of barring women from certain levels of leadership and preaching can also be destructive the mission of the church. I think this is why Paul gives Timothy instructions that limit women’s roles in the church and in Romans commends women for filling those very roles. I think Paul may have been the first complegalitarian.

‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God— even as I try to please everyone in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.’ 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 (NIV)

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What if everything we knew about church changed? What then?

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Sundays feel weird. Normally Sundays are energizing, challenging and exhausting. On Sundays we get to do the things we are wired to do; preach, lead worship, teach kids, and connect with people we love. Now a typical Sunday consists of watching a pre-recorded service and making small talk in an online chat room. When we get done we don’t even have sports to sleep to. Weird.

Mondays feel weird too. The past couple of weeks we’ve scrambled to get our services online, create virtual small groups and find ways to love our community while keeping our distance. Now we have a lot of that figured out. Sure we’ll tweak and fine tune, but most of the things that we’ve worked so hard to adapt are coming into shape. Now its Monday again and what do we work on now?

We still have to write sermons and find way to record content without infecting each other. We have to check on attenders and reach out to community leaders. We have to make sure online groups are happening and figure out the things that aren’t working. But what is our mission? What are we really focused on now that we cannot gather as a church for many weeks to come?

Here’s my recommendation for a things to work on this week. I think if we focus on these three things we’ll make incredible progress in our new normal.

Celebrate

Let’s take time to celebrate. We are doing things as a church we wouldn’t have thought possible three weeks ago. We are preaching to a camera and getting pretty good at it. We are connecting with people we’ve known for years, and people we’ve never met, in ways we didn’t know was possible. We are figuring out communion and baptism and giving and prayer without being in the same room, and its working. We are seeing creativity and passion from people who previously sat on the sidelines. We are bringing hope and light to our community at a time when they desperately need it. We are being the church in ways we couldn’t have imagined way back in February. That calls for a socially-distanced virtual party.

Mourn

We’ve lost some things that are really hard to let go of. We will not gather on Easter. We will not have Good Friday communion together. We will not go to that conference we’ve been looking forward to for months. Each of us have lost or will lose many things, and we need to take the time to mourn. There are many aspects of our current situation that suck, and pretending that they don’t doesn’t help. Take some time to grieve what you’ve lost.

Innovate

I love seeing stories of companies pivoting right now to manufacture things they’ve never built before. Car makers are making ventilators, and shoe companies are making masks. This morning I read about a scientific group in Ohio who’ve figured out a way to turn shipping containers into sanitation units for health care workers’ personal protection equipment (PPE). It gives me hope because I see incredible innovation happening around the world.

The same innovation has to happen in the church world. We can no longer to do what we’ve always done. I see little glimpses of innovation in the way churches are doing services, but that is barely the tip of the iceberg of the innovation that has to come. Obviously we have to create opportunities for people to connect, worship and learn together, but that barely scratches the surface of what we have to figure out.

The challenge is innovation is uncomfortable. For many of us in ministry we’ve spent decades learning to do what we do. Years in college and seminary, and more years working for churches figuring out how to create the best environments possible for ministry to happen, and now those environments don’t exist. We’ve been to conferences, connected in cohorts and leaned into coaches (I have to use my alliteration skills somewhere) to learn the very best way to do church. And now most of what we learned is secondary at best. Let’s be honest, it feels really strange sitting on our couches watching a pre-recorded Sunday service. We try to make conversation in the chat, but its hollow at best.

We have to invent new ways to do what we are called to do. Our calling hasn’t changed, but our methods of ministry have to. We can’t continue to focus on how to do what we’ve always done, but do it online. We can’t just focus on making our 45 minutes on Sunday the best they can be. We have to understand the needs of today and how we can help. We have to innovate.

Here are some innovations I think we need:

Teaching Pastors

How can we teach people to dig into the Bible for themselves? Rather than giving them an already baked bread like we normally offer on Sunday, how can we point them to the flour, eggs, yeast and milk and challenge them to bake their own loaf? How can we create enough hunger in people that when they finish watching us teach they feel compelled to pull out their Bible (or App) and figure it out for themselves? I think the opportunity for innovation is not just how we preach, but what outcome we hope for.

Worship Leaders

No band, no haze, no moving lights and no graphics. Just you staring at a camera trying to lead people in worship. What do you hope people are doing as they watch online? Singing, praying, sitting silently? Is it unrealistic to think the average guy watching is going to suddenly burst into off key singing while sitting in his PJs with his family? If its not participation, what is the goal of Sunday worship? How can you innovate in how you lead? I think this is more crucial than recording the next viral worship song created by your team singing into cell phones. I don’t know where we need more innovation right now than in the area of worship.

NextGen Pastors

Kids are currently spending more time with their parents than their peers, teachers or church leaders. Now is the time to get serious about helping parents know how to have honest conversations with their kids about faith. No matter how good your online experiences are right now, they pale in comparison to the daily conversations kids and students are having in their homes. Are you connecting with parents to understand how you can help? Are you coming up with creative resources that parents are actually using?

The biggest mistake we can make as church leaders right now is to think the adaptations we’ve made to make what we’ve always done available online are an adequate response to our new reality. There is a good chance church will never be the same, how are we innovating to lead our congregation into this new season? What if we sat down together and rewrote our job descriptions for this season? Let’s cross out the things that don’t really apply right now and add in the things that are essential. Let’s create time in our schedule to celebrate, mourn and innovate. Let’s become the church God wants us to become through this crisis.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][social_buttons full_width_icons=”true” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” linkedin=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Stop counting attendance and start counting care

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]For the past 30 years the primary indicator of health in churches is weekend attendance. We know that “healthy things grow”, so obviously the faster our church grows the healthier it is. We celebrate the largest and fastest growing churches as the models we all want to emulate. When a new church plant explodes in growth we crowd around the pastor to learn his secrets.

The challenge is that healthy things aren’t the only things that grow. Weeds grow faster than healthy plants, and cancer cells kill the body by growing faster than other, healthier cells. By focusing on numerical growth in the church we may inadvertently feed the very thing that could choke out true health.

Another challenge with tracking attendance is it doesn’t always measure what we think it does. I remember talking to another pastor in our community a few years ago. He was excited about the sudden growth he’d seen over the past few months. I wanted to be excited for him, but the church I served had recently gone through a moral failure by a key leader, and our attendance was shrinking at the exact time his was growing. Attendance growth isn’t always as it appears.

Finally, measuring weekend attendance is becoming irrelevant. In a culture of online church, sermon podcasts and declining frequency of attendance even among committed members, the number of people sitting in pews or stack chairs from week to week no longer reflects the true size of a congregation. We need to move beyond butts in seats as a primary measure of the health of a congregation.

So what should we measure? The go to answers are baptisms, giving and small group participation. There is nothing wrong with measuring these areas, but it is still incomplete. To truly understand how healthy we are as a church we have to know how we are caring for the three circles of people we are called to shepherd; our neighbors, our followers and our disciples.

Neighbors

Key word: Compassion
Key questions: Who are our neighbors and how are we easing their pain?

A neighbor is anyone who comes into contact with your church. Neighbors live next door to the church and next door to people who attend your church. Neighbors are the school and city officials who interact with your congregation. Your neighbors are the people who serve your members in restaurants, stores and entertainment venues. Your neighbors may never walk into your church, but they are still your responsibility.

In the story of the Good Samaritan Jesus not only broadens the definition of a neighbor, he shows how to treat our neighbors with compassion. Unlike the religious leaders in the story, the Samaritan has compassion for his neighbor. He bandages his wounds and provides for his needs. He isn’t concerned about where the injured man attends synagogue; he is a neighbor so he cares for him. A major component of the mission of our church is to discover where our neighbors are hurting and how we can help.

A healthy church cares for their neighbors both corporately and personally. When there is a crisis in the community a healthy church is the first to step in to help, and when there is a need in a neighborhood healthy church members are the ones who stand in the gap. Measuring health begins with tracking how compassionately we care for our neighbors. How are we easing their pain?

Followers

Key word: Provision
Key questions: Who are our followers and how are providing for their needs?

A follower is anyone who considers your church their church. This is tricky, because there are a lot of people who claim your church whom you’ve never met. They may attend only on Christmas and Easter, they may drop in a few times a year, or they may just watch online, but a follower would consider your church the place to:

Get married
Have a family member’s funeral
Be baptized
Dedicate their baby

Regardless how deep their connection, if they consider your church their church they are a follower and you have responsibility for them.

We see Jesus’ provision for followers in the story of feeding of the 5000 when he says to Phillip, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (John 6:5) I imagine the disciples thought, “Why are they our problem? They are adults, let them figure it out for themselves. Besides, it would take a miracle to take care for all these people.” Jesus believed, however, that He and the disciples should care even for casual followers.

The bigger your church grows the more followers you attract. Conservatively your church has twice as many followers as average weekend attenders. A church of 300 on Sunday has 600 followers, a church of 3000 has 6,000 followers, and a church of 30,000 on a weekend carries the weight of 60,000 people. That is larger than the town I live in. We love to attract huge crowds, but if we are faithful to Jesus’ example we have to also provide for the needs of the ever growing circle of followers.

Disciples

Key word: Direction
Who are our disciples and how are we helping them grow?

A disciple in this context is anyone committed to the vision, values and mission of your church. It includes the staff, leaders and elders, as well as the committed attenders who support and love your church. You are responsible to do everything possible to ensure the disciples are growing in their faith and reflecting the model of Christ.

The growth of His disciples was Jesus’ primary mission while he was on earth. He taught them, challenged then and rebuked them, all with the goal of seeing them grow in their understanding of him and their commitment to the Kingdom. When he knew his time grew short and the cross loomed ahead, he withdrew with his disciples for one last time. He washed their feet, he fed them, and he taught them the core value of love. As he faced the cross his attention was on the 12 men who would soon abandon him. His commitment to the disciples wasn’t based on how much they gave, led or served; it was based solely on his love and care for them.

This is the commitment we are called to as leaders in the church. We are never told we will give an account for the number of people we can convince to sit in an auditorium on a Sunday and listen to us talk and sing. We will, however, be held accountable for the disciples who follow us as we follow Christ. How are we loving them and helping them grow?

The Shift

Before Online Church, traveling youth sports teams, and the ability to work from anywhere, weekend attendance was a decent indicator of the effectiveness of a church. Today weekend attendance is nothing more than a popularity contest. The “winner” is the church with the best band, coolest website and best speaker. Churches grow to thousands overnight and we all want to know the secret to their phenomenal growth.

The bigger question is how are caring for the flock God has entrusted to us? How can we measure the impact we are having on the hurts in the lives of our neighbors? How can we discover the true needs of the followers of our church and how can we know we are meeting those needs? How can we make sure that the disciples around us are growing more like Christ?

When we are faithful with the people God gives us, our neighbors, followers and disciples, He can trust us with more. Our job is to plant and water, it is God’s job to make it grow. What if over the next 20 years we become as intentional on measuring and improving how we are care for people as we’ve been on filling buildings for the past 20 years? Can you imagine the harvest?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][social_buttons full_width_icons=”true” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” linkedin=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Why your church needs to be thinking 100 years down the road

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Recently I heard the founder of Patagonia, Yvon Choulnard, describe a very difficult season in the early days of the company when growth outpaced revenue and they had to lay off some of the workers. This was incredibly difficult fo Choulnard because he tried to treat his employees like family. The turning point came when he asked this question:

“How would decisions change if we were thinking about our company 100 years from now?

That is not a question American marketplace or church leaders ask very often. We focus on how we can grow quickly, how we can address today’s problems today. Sometimes we’ll try to look five or ten years down the road, but we’re quickly back to the urgency of growth today. There is no Outreach Magazine Top 100 Slowest Growing Churches list.

Greg McKeown, the author of Essentialism, sees great value in a 100 year viewpoint,

“This kind of tremendously long-term vision starts to help us to discern between the absolutely essential things and the total, trivial many. With that perspective, you can start to see that most of what we are consumed with and even worried about are things that won’t even matter five years from now.”

What would happen if we did take the extreme long view in churches? If we thought more about the impact of our decisions in 100 years rather than focusing almost exclusively on what’s right in front of?

How would a 100 year viewpoint impact church staffing?

The amount of turnover right now in churches is overwhelming. Every week I hear from a pastor looking for their next staff member. They don’t have time to develop anyone from within, they have a hole they need to plug as soon as possible. Who do I know who would do an amazing job?

If we were looking 100 years down the road I think we would see how important it is to grow leaders from within rather than constantly trying to pick fruit off of other people’s trees. Once we’ve picked all the trees around us clean, we will still have holes with no one to fill them. With a long view, however, we would see that children’s ministry may not be great tomorrow or next week, but with the right coaching and encouragement we could likely develop great leaders over the next 10 years.

How would a 100 year viewpoint impact building decisions?

Church buildings are often made built on the need of the hour. We need children’s space. We need auditorium space. We need a student building with all the bells and whistles. We never think about what might be useful in 20 years, or 50 years. With a longer horizon we might not be in such a hurry to spend millions of dollars to build what we need right now. On the converse we might not be so quick to saddle the next generation with massive debt to solve this generation’s challenges.

How would a 100 year viewpoint impact local outreach?

What if we had a bifocal vision for outreach? We continue to help our community now, but we are also planting seeds that will potentially change our community in 20 years. How could we invest in Kindergartners in a way that will make an impact when they are Seniors?

In the same podcast Patagonia founder Chouland said this, “The faster a business grows, the faster it dies. We decided on a growth program so that we would be around 100 years from now.” What would happen if we stopped pursing growth for the sake of growth? What would change in your church focused on a 100 years from now?[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][social_buttons full_width_icons=”true” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” linkedin=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Cheerleaders, kiddie pools and middle school accountants; how lead pastors can reach the next generation

[vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Tomorrow morning at a ridiculously early hour I will head to The Orange Conference, a gathering of over 8000 NextGen leaders from all over the world. I have been attending or teaching at this conference for over a decade because I can’t think of a better way to invest than to sow into the people who lead kids and students in the local church. The potential fruit is exponential. Here are some of the reasons I continue to invest in NextGen leaders:

The vast majority of Christians decide to follow Christ before they turn 18
A majority of young people never return to church after they go to college
Many teenagers quit church when they become sophomores, the year they get their drivers license and/or their parents let them choose not to go
Children often decide by 3rd grade whether they like going to church, though they can’t quit until 10th grade

The future of the church is being determined by how we minister to the kids and families in our churches. [bctt tweet=”Better programming, outreach or small groups are meaningless if the next generation leaves and never returns.” username=”geoffsurratt”] If I were a lead pastor I would make kids and student ministry my number one priority, and here’s how I’d do it…

Act like a cheerleader

[bctt tweet=”The most effective thing a lead pastor can do is be the cheerleader for NextGen ministries (kids, students, families.)” username=”geoffsurratt”]
In most churches what the lead pastor champions gets done. One lead pastor I worked with was a frustrated rock star, so the music ministry got all the cool toys. Another lead pastor saw the world through the eyes of a counselor, so the church funded a large counseling center. Andy Stanley is passionate about the next generations, so North Point church has incredible kids and student ministries.

So how can you be a cheerleader for NextGen ministry?

Use illustrations from family ministry in your sermons
Celebrate NextGen ministry wins or milestones publicly
Never disparage working with students or kids. I cringe when I hear a lead pastor say, “I’m glad I don’t have to work with middle schoolers.” It is demeaning and deflating to those who do.
Make working with kids and students a place of honor

Budget like a middle schooler

[bctt tweet=”The budget reveals more than the mission statement about how much a church values the next generation” username=”geoffsurratt”]

Nothing reveals values like a bank statement; you spend your money on what you care about. What does your church’s bank statement say about how you value the next generation? If you want to impact kids and students, budget for it. Here’s how Craig Groeschel told me this works at Life.Church:

“One of LifeChurch’s core values is stewardship. Because of that—and not in spite of it—we spend a lot of money on kids. Considering the scope and scale of the ministry that LifeKIDS executes each week, it really doesn’t matter how it compares to other ministry departments or programs. That’s an apples to oranges comparison.”

Swim in the kiddie pool

[bctt tweet=”Pastors who want to impact the next generation show up regularly in student and kids environments” username=”geoffsurratt”]

When a senior leader participates in children’s or student ministry it allows them to experience what the volunteers and kids experience, and it shows support for the ministry. Many pastors feel they are too busy to show up, or that their presence will be a distraction. I would counter that their lack of presence sends the message they only care about what happens in the adult auditorium. To counteract that impression why not

Volunteer in the nursery when you aren’t preaching
Teach the elementary lesson from time to time
Help lead a middle school small group
Go as a leader on a high school missions trip

I understand all of these ideas are tough to pull off and not your favorite thing to do, but I can’t imagine a better way to invest your time in a very vulnerable generation.

Let the kids sit at the adult table

[bctt tweet=”Reaching the next generation means involving them at every level of the local church” username=”geoffsurratt”]

Can we call a moratorium on “Student Takeover” weekends? You know, the weekend you have teenagers do the greeting and ushering, the student band lead worship, and the youth pastor preach. Not only is the experience not great for the attenders (all the parents and grandparents love it. Everyone else, not so much), but its really just a form of tokenism. Unintentionally we send the message that NextGen is the “B” team.

Instead why not weave students into everything we do?

Invite teenagers to be ushers and greeters, involve students in the tech booth and add teens as a regular part of the worship team.
Use NextGen leaders to do the announcements,
Have the youth pastor do one point of the sermon occasionally

Rather than a “sink or swim” once a year context, invest in younger leaders every weekend.

Beyond just including them on the weekend, make sure NextGen leaders are at the decision making table during the week. It is a mistake to expect to be effective in ministering to kids and students if the leaders are not a part of shaping the direction of the church. It will take some creativity, but leveraging your influence to include younger leaders will pay significant dividends down the road.

All is not lost

Despite the dire warnings that Millennials are already gone and Gen Y is close behind, all is not lost in the local church. I believe if pastors will take the lead in focusing on the next generation there is a bright future ahead, but it will take intentionality, courage and patience. Lots and lots of patience.

You can read more practical advice,,based on research on interviews, on reaching the next generation in the free eBook The Church Will Thrive. You can download your copy here.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”in_container” full_screen_row_position=”middle” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom”][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][social_buttons full_width_icons=”true” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” linkedin=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Kicking Camels on the Monday Before Easter

It’s the Monday before Easter, Super Bowl week for the local church. This weekend you will likely see more new faces at church than you’ve seen all year. You and the other leaders at your church are focused on creating the best experience possible for your guests, and praying that at least some will consider coming back. Underneath all the preparation and prayer is a deep desire for people to come face-to-face with the risen Jesus.

We put a lot of pressure on ourselves every Easter. Everything has to be perfect, the music has to be amazing and the sermon has to present the Gospel effectively. It can feel like everything is riding on what happens this weekend.

The reality, however, is everything doesn’t ride on what happens at your church on Easter. Some churches will see huge crowds, some will not. Some churches will have amazing experiences, others will have camels kicking guests in the face (a true story for another day). Some pastors will Instagram pictures of 100s being baptized and others will delete their social media accounts. Regardless of what happens at your church on Easter, here is what I know:

The reality of your call will not be determined by the size of your crowd.
The truth of the Gospel will shine regardless how tarnished your presentation.
Your Father sees your heart and is proud.

I will be praying for you this weekend that, in spite of the challenges you may face you, will hear the voice of God saying, “Well done, my good and faithful servant!”

But try not to let any camels kick the guests. That’s not good.

Is your event a cul-de-sac or a roundabout?

We love living on a cul-de-sac. We know many of our neighbors, the grandkids can play in the street without a lot of concern and we never have cars speeding through the neighborhood. (If they did they’d wind up in our neighbors front yard.) Cul-de-sacs make a great destination, but a lousy thoroughfare.

The opposite of a cul-de-sac is a roundabout. These are very popular in Europe, but they are becoming more common in the U.S. The purpose of a roundabout is to keep traffic flowing toward multiple destinations. A roundabout makes an efficient thoroughfare, but a lousy destination.

[bctt tweet=”The key to effectiveness in church is to understand the difference between a cul-de-sac and a roundabout, and to plan accordingly. ” username=”geoffsurratt”]

Most events in a church are planned as cul-de-sacs. You come to an event, participate in the programming, and leave the way you came. There is no plan to help you move toward a destination, its simply a place to be. It is a cul-de-sac.

Here are some of the common cul-de-sacs churches:

Marriage retreat
Women’s conference
Fall Festival
VBS
Night to Shine
Concert
Global Leadership Summit
Easter and Christmas Eve services

These cul-de-sacs because participants are simply that, participants. They come, experience the event, and then leave by the same road they came in on. Hopefully they learned something, had some fun, or met someone new, but for the most part they are no nearer a destination than when they showed up.

We can transform ministry cul-de-sacs into roundabouts by offering clear next steps. Every participant should be able to easily identify and take a next step toward a preferred destination. To create effective next steps we need to understand the dynamics of a roundabout:

We need to offer more than one potential next step. People come from different situations and not everyone is ready, or needs, our one prescribed way forward. A next step may be as simple as signing up for a Facebook group, reading a short devotional or meeting with a leader over coffee. It is important, however, that next steps aren’t simply new cul-de-sacs. Each step should be followed by a step, each designed to help someone toward a destination.
We shouldn’t offer too many options. A roundabout with three possible directions can be challenging, a roundabout with ten possibilities would be a nightmare. Offer two or three possible next steps at every event (even weekly events). Never tell people, “Go to our website and look at all of the options available.” That is paralyzing and ineffective. They need a limited number of options they can take right now, not a catalog of potential choices eventually.

[bctt tweet=”Never tell people, “Go to our website and look at all of options available.” That is paralyzing and ineffective.” username=”geoffsurratt”]

At your next weekend or event planning meeting ask this question, “What are two or three obvious, simple and likely next steps we can invite participants to take?” If you can’t find next steps you are creating cul-de-sacs. You won’t be making progress, but the grandkids will love it.

Is This the Best a Man Can Get?

There has been a great deal of controversy around Gillette’s commercial in which they address “toxic masculinity” played out in a “boys will be boys” mindset, bullying and objectification of women. Whether you agree or disagree with the viewpoint of the commercial, I think it raises an important question for church leadership, “Is this the best a man can get?”

As I look at church leadership in America, which remains predominately male, I am challenged by the question. Regardless of our theological nuances, do we believe that the picture we convey of a male Christian leader, not the one we espouse but the one we live out, reflects healthy male leaders in scripture? Of particular concern is how we relate to women.

The model

As in everything in life Jesus is our model. Our template for behavior and attitude starts and ends with him. How did he relate to women? Over and over again we see Jesus treating women as equals to men in a culture where they were considered little more than property. He did not objectify them, and he did not treat them as weak or helpless. He did not create barriers between himself and women, and he never put a woman in a compromising position. He defended women in front of men, not because they were weak but because the men held all the power. Jesus is the model of the best a man can get.

The Apostle Paul followed in Jesus’ footsteps in setting the standard for male leaders interacting with women. We often focus Paul’s instructions on differences in the roles of men and women in very specific cultural situations, but we lose sight of how Paul consistently partnered with women in leading the early church. In Romans 16 Paul makes it crystal clear that he valued the contribution of women equally with that of men.

The Bible sets a very high standard for men, especially in how we relate to women. My fear is that in America we are falling well short of that standard and we’re continually wounding our wives, sisters and daughters. Here are a few of the ways I see we are coming short of reflecting the models of Jesus and Paul:

No women at the leadership table

It is very common to have no women at the table when major church decisions are made. This in spite of the fact women make up the majority of many churches. The ironic thing is that churches that stress the differences in men and women most emphatically are the least likely to include women in decisions. If women and men are so different, and they are, why do men think they don’t need a woman’s perspective at the table? I’m often told they don’t need women at the table because they talk to their wives. I wonder how that would play if women used the same excuse when leading, “I don’t need your input because I already asked my husband”?

Women restricted to leading either women’s or children’s ministry

Some women are wired up to lead women and children in your church. Other women are gifted to lead small groups, or discipleship, or communication or finance. When we restrict a woman to very specific roles we lost the opportunity to benefit from a wide range of gifting, and we block a woman from serving in the way God created her.

Only certain roles for women celebrated

Some women stay at home, and some work outside the home. Some are single, and some are married, divorced or widowed. Despite this diversity, churches often celebrate only one or two “ideal” roles for women. Unintentionally this devalues women who don’t fit this mold.

Women are patronized

Although most churches have moved beyond the typical secretarial stereotype they still patronize women in administrative roles. Their opinions carry less weight than men’s, if their opinions are sought at all. Men are described as “good leaders with strong opinions” while women are pigeon-holed as “hard to work with” and worse.

Men and women being treated differently when there is a moral failure

When a male leader is caught in a moral failure with a woman the man is often treated differently than the woman. This pattern goes all they way back to the woman caught in adultery in John 8. The woman was humiliated in front of Jesus while the man was allowed to sneak away.

Can we do better?

I am painting with a broad brush; there are many churches that do a tremendous job celebrating the leadership gifts of both men and women while honoring their unique roles. My fear, however, is too often we hide behind our interpretation of Biblical masculinity, mixed with insecurity and misogyny, to hinder and harm the women in our church. I’m also concerned that we hamper the spread of the Gospel as people outside the church see how we treat women and say, “No thanks”. I think we need to continue to ask ourselves and each other, “Is This the Best a Man Can Get?”

You can’t measure Gospel impact

I wonder how the speaker felt at the end of the service that night. She and a friend had been so moved by an encounter with the Holy Spirit they decided to travel from town to town in western Oklahoma, sharing the Gospel with whoever showed up. They didn’t own a tent like other traveling preachers of the time, so they conducted their meetings under a brush arbor (a temporary shelter made of poles and straw). I wonder if the speaker went home disappointed with the size of the crowd, or the response to the appeal for salvation. I wonder if she struggled with doubt. Maybe she considered giving up her incredibly difficult ministry. She may have felt that all her effort was in vain.

She didn’t know that a young mother, suffering from an incurable illness, was listening that night. She was too weak to sit under the shelter, so she reclined in the backseat of the family car, straining to hear the good news that Jesus loved her. When the speaker asked if anyone wanted to respond to the Gospel the young lady feebly raised her hand in the darkness. No one saw, and no one knew, but that sermon changed everything.

The young lady was my grandmother, and that night she became a Christ-follower. Soon my grandfather also follows Jesus. Eventually he becomes a church planter, his sons become pastors and his daughter marries an evangelist. Directly or indirectly thousands of people eventually hear and respond to the Gospel through my grandmother’s family, and it all began with an anonymous sermon to a small crowd of farmers gathered in red dust of an Oklahoma field. I doubt the preacher of that sermon ever knew its impact.

I don’t know who heard your sermon yesterday. There may have been thousands of engaged listeners, or a handful of half-awake attenders. You may have walked away feeling like you hit a home run, or you might have snuck out the back door feeling like you struck out trying to bunt. What I am sure of, however, is the Gospel does not come back empty. There is no way to gauge the impact of what you preached yesterday. You can’t measure it in attendance, or offerings, or hands raised, or cards turned in. The impact of the Gospel isn’t limited by talent or time. The potential fruit of the seeds you plant is almost incomprehensible.

No one would have looked at the tiny, dying bootlegger’s wife in the back seat of an dirty old Ford that night and thought, “Now there’s a world changer.” And everyone would have been wrong. Someone just like my grandmother may have heard your sermon yesterday. My prayer for you this morning is you will see just a hint of what God will do with the Gospel you preached. [/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/1″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][social_buttons full_width_icons=”true” facebook=”true” twitter=”true” linkedin=”true”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row type=”full_width_background” full_screen_row_position=”middle” bg_color=”#efefef” scene_position=”center” text_color=”dark” text_align=”left” top_padding=”20″ bottom_padding=”20″ overlay_strength=”0.3″ shape_divider_position=”bottom” shape_type=””][vc_column column_padding=”no-extra-padding” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”1/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][image_with_animation image_url=”5935″ alignment=”” animation=”Fade In” border_radius=”none” box_shadow=”none” max_width=”100%”][/vc_column][vc_column column_padding=”padding-5-percent” column_padding_position=”all” background_color_opacity=”1″ background_hover_color_opacity=”1″ column_shadow=”none” column_border_radius=”none” width=”2/3″ tablet_text_alignment=”default” phone_text_alignment=”default” column_border_width=”none” column_border_style=”solid”][vc_column_text]Navigating this new chapter in church history will require balancing the tension between what is necessary from the past and what is needed for future. I’ve spent the last several years thinking about and researching this challenge, and share my insights in my new eBook, The Church Will Thrive. You can get your free copy here.[/vc_column_text][divider line_type=”No Line”][nectar_btn size=”jumbo” open_new_tab=”true” button_style=”regular” button_color_2=”Accent-Color” icon_family=”none” url=”https://mailchi.mp/ministrytogether.com/99nvr59fdz” text=”Download here”][/vc_column][/vc_row]