Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 107

Pray for Oak Grove Baptist Church

Location: Nacogdoches, Texas

Pastor: Pastor Craig Ireland

Weekly Worship: 10:30 AM, Central

Fast Facts:

Oak Grove Baptist Church is in the process of revitalization. The pastor has been at the church for 2 years, and they are seeing the wonderful work of the Lord’s reviving grace in their midst. The church has a strong college outreach to the students at Stephen F. Austin State University. Please pray for the church as they reach students for Christ and for a large building project they are beginning for a children’s ministry center.

Website: www.OakGroveNac.com

“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.

If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, fill out this information form..

Notable Voices and the Week in Review: October 5, 2019

From Around the Web:

5 Signs You May Be Losing Your Edge as a Leader — Carey Nieuwhof

I have a theory that everyone needs to renew their leadership every 7-10 years or you grow stagnant. If you don’t renew yourself, you stagnate. And if you stagnate, you’re really not leading.

7 Casualties of Being a People Pleaser in Leadership — Ron Edmondson

Every pastor and leader I know agrees people-pleasing is not a good quality for a leader. Talking with hundreds of pastors every year, however, I’d have to say this has to be one of the most frequent weaknesses pastors admit to me. For the pastor, when our aim is to please people, many times we are motivated more by what people want than even what God wants for the church. This is obviously dangerous. Hopefully, I don’t have to build the case here.

What to Look for in Ministry Resumes — Vanderbloemen

Finding a new staff member for your team is not only a big job, but one to be handled with discernment and care. And it’s important that the committee enter the process with the right mindset and without bias. Start with these five steps, then you’ll be prepped to take a truly objective look at each resume.

Measuring Church Health: 5 Signs of Dysfunction — Tony Morgan

Staff, elders and board members are free to serve in leadership roles even though they may not be fully supporting the church with their finances. One church I was recently with just confirmed that 40% of their leaders weren’t contributing financially to the church’s mission. If you’re not invested in the ministry of your church, how can you expect your congregation to do the same?

4 Practical Ways to Have Fewer Announcements in Your Worship Services — Eric Geiger

I acknowledge that the desire to give announcements comes from a good place – a place of wanting to help people in the church get connected to something helpful or connected to people who will provide care and encouragement. Ministry leaders live with the burden to help people take steps into the life and mission of the church. Announcements feel like a solution to that burden. Giving lots of announcements in a worship service is the easy solution to the challenge of getting people connected, but it is not the best solution. Here are four practical ways to have fewer announcements in your weekly gathering.

This Week at ThomRainer.com:




















How Do You Handle Improper Use of Social Media by Church Leaders and Members? Five Questions

We live in a digital age. Some of our primary communities are found on the internet. But there seems to be something about the relative anonymity of speaking with a keyboard (or digital voice solution) that encourages us to say some things we would not say otherwise….READ MORE

Five Documents That Say Something About Your Church

We can learn a lot about a church by reviewing its written documents….READ MORE

A Case Study of an Established Church Adopting a Struggling Church

by Thom Rainer | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode576.mp3







Five Key Reasons Many Churches Struggle to Reach Their Communities

by Thom Rainer | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode577.mp3







Anatomy of a Revived Church Seven Findings of How Congregations Avoided Death

by Thom Rainer | Revitalize & Replant

http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Revitalize-and-Replant/RR-Episode113.mp3

Five Key Reasons Many Churches Struggle to Reach Their Communities – Rainer on Leadership #577

Podcast Episode #577

SUBSCRIBE:

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The local church is responsible for engaging the community. Many churches today are declining because they are too inward focused. In today’s episode Thom and Sam discuss the basics of engaging the community and neighborhoods around the church.

A few episode highlights –

The call to pastor a church is the call to pastor a community.
Established churches can become busy with programs and get distracted from serving the community.
If you are going to reach the community there needs to be an intentional plan.
God honors churches that put prayer as a priority.
The pastor needs to take the lead on inviting people.

The five key reasons are:

Busyness with activities
Lack of intentionality and priority
Scarcity of tools
No prayer about or for the community
Leaders and members who fail to become an active part of the community

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast:

EST – Podcast
Church Answers
Hope Against Heroin
Pray and Go
Invite Your One


Episode Sponsors

The mission at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. The school offers more than 40 different degree programs, including the new Master of Arts in Church Revitalization in partnership with Church Answers and the Revitalization Network. This 37-hour degree is designed to help students move established churches from flatlining to flourishing.

Learn about this program and more by visiting sebts.edu. Where are you going? Southeastern will help you get there.

Vanderbloemen has 12 Vanderbloemen Differences that allow them to serve their clients better than anyone else. One of those is Theology Matters. Vanderbloemen’s staff has more seminary and theological experience than any other search firm with 250+ collective years of church leadership experience.

To learn more about all 12 of Vanderbloemen’s Differences, visit VanderDifference.com.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Becoming a Welcoming Church.

Anatomy of a Revived Church Seven Findings of How Congregations Avoided Death – Revitalize and Replant #113

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In today’s episode Dr. Rainer unpacks his most recent research project that studied the revived church. The qualitative research reveals 7 characteristics of churches that have moved from dying to revived.

Episode highlights include:

We have a tendency to blame others of the plight we find ourselves.
Churches that are revived expanded their score card to include faith conversions.
Revived churches got serious about prayer and prayed for other churches in their community.
There are toxins in churches, and when left in the church toxins will be fatal over time.
A toxic person is not a critic but has a repeated pattern of being divisive.

The 7 characteristics are…

Accepting Responsibility
Overcoming the Traps of Traditions
Expanding the Scorecard
Committing to Powerful Prayer
Dealing with Toxins
Seeking Silver Bullets No More
Creating Meaningful Membership

Resources

Autopsy of a Deceased Church
High Expectations

 

Revitalize & Replant is sponsored by the North American Mission Board and ChurchReplanters.com. More than 10% of churches in North America are at risk of closing and the North American Mission Board is committed to reversing this trend by decreasing the death rate of existing churches while simultaneously increasing the birth rate of new churches. To learn more about what it means to become a replanting pastor or to explore resources for replanting and revitalization in your own church, visit ChurchReplanters.com.
Submit Your Question:

Do you have a question about church revitalization or replanting for us to use on the podcast? Visit the podcast page to submit your question. If we use it on the show, you’ll get a copy of Autopsy of a Deceased Church and Reclaiming Glory.

Five Documents That Say Something About Your Church

By: Chuck Lawless

We can learn a lot about a church by reviewing its written documents. I encourage you to evaluate your own congregation based on these documents.

1. By-laws. The by-laws of a church typically speak to day-to-day operations and are often more easily changed than a church’s constitution. Quite often, by-law amendments such as these examples tell us something about the church’s history.

Any former member who re-joins ___________ Church may not vote in a business meeting and may not serve in a leadership role for a minimum of six months after joining the church.
Worship services at ____________ Church may take place only on Sunday.
Persons who serve as administrative assistants at __________ Church may not be members of the church at the same time.

Whether or not you agree with these by-law amendments, what do you suppose had happened in the history of these congregations?

2. Calendar. A church’s calendar gives some indication of a congregation’s priorities. Take a look at your church’s calendar, and consider these questions:

What percentage of activities focuses only on meeting the needs of church members?
What percentage is intentionally and clearly directed toward reaching unbelievers and unchurched folks in the community?
If members were to attend everything offered (or even a particular percentage of the events), would they have time to focus on raising families and reaching friends and neighbors?

3. Budget. Likewise, a church’s budget illustrates what the congregation believes to be most significant. Consider the church that has devoted 55% of its budget to personnel and 30% to debt retirement. Few funds are left for ministry programs and missions support. It’s possible the church is simply inwardly focused, unconcerned about budgeting to reach others. Among other possibilities, it’s also possible the church has experienced attendance and giving decline without making necessary staff changes.

Based only on a review of your church’s budget, what are your congregation’s priorities?

4. Prayer list. I am convinced churches lack power because they operate in their own strength. At the same time, I fear that too many prayer lists reflect an inward focus. With that concern in mind, think about these questions as you look at your church’s prayer list:

How much does the church pray for church members? for unbelievers? for professed believers not currently attending church?
How strong is the focus on praying for the church members to be evangelistic (Eph. 6:18-20)?
Does the church pray consistently for missionaries (or only when you hear of missionaries who face difficulties)?
Do you pray for sister congregations in the community?

5. Attendance records.  Many churches don’t keep this information, but this data can be informative. Consider these questions you might ask, among others:

Is the church growing numerically? If so, is the church growing through reaching non-believers? by members of other churches transferring their membership to your church?
Is your church’s back door wide open – that is, are more people leaving your church than joining?
What percentage of your church’s worship attenders are also involved in a small group? in doing ministry? in giving?
On average, how many guests attend your church every week? What percentage returns for subsequent visits? What percentage joins the church?

These documents are only a few among many in most churches. They’re just pieces of the puzzle in evaluating the health of a church. What other documents would you add to this list?

A Case Study of an Established Church Adopting a Struggling Church – Rainer on Leadership #576

Podcast Episode #576

SUBSCRIBE:

iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio • Spotify

Today’s episode features new co-host Sam Rainer, Lead Pastor of West Bradenton Baptist Church in Bradenton, FL and President of Church Answers. The discussion today is about neighborhood church adoption.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Adoption is more theologically accurate than merger or acquisition.
Relationships and ministry should be priority when adopting another church..
Remember, the principle of “eating an elephant” may need to take place when two churches merge.
An adopting church must be willing to send missionaries to the adopted church.
The local community or neighborhood is still the focus when adopting a church.

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Obstacles in the Established Church: How Leaders Overcome Them
Church Answers
Revitalize2020.com


Episode Sponsors

Vanderbloemen has been serving churches for nine years, but did you know that Vanderbloemen also serves Christian schools, nonprofits, and Christian businesses? So if you’re listening, and you know a Christian school, nonprofit, or values-based business that is hiring, contact our friends at Vanderbloemen for your staffing needs.

For more information, visit Vanderbloemen.com.

The mission at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. The school offers more than 40 different degree programs, including the new Master of Arts in Church Revitalization in partnership with Church Answers and the Revitalization Network. This 37-hour degree is designed to help students move established churches from flatlining to flourishing.

Learn about this program and more by visiting sebts.edu. Where are you going? Southeastern will help you get there.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Scrappy Church.

How Do You Handle Improper Use of Social Media by Church Leaders and Members? Five Questions

As I am writing this post, I just concluded a coaching call with an incredible friend and member of the Church Answers community. He was facing the uncomfortable situation where some of his church staff and church members engaged in a social media debate that did little good and, likely, a lot of harm. He painfully imagined the non-Christian community reading the heated digital conversation. He concluded that those Christians and his church had undoubtedly seen their Christian witness damaged.

I am typically not hesitant to offer my own opinion of issues related to church life and church leadership. This time, however, I would rather you the readers shape the narrative. I am not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but I know there are some incredibly wise and godly people who read this blog.

Would you help me and the community who read this blog? Would you read each of the following questions and respond to one, a few, or all?

Should the church have a policy regarding how paid staff interact on social media? We have addressed this issue in the past at Church Answers, but I really want to get your perspective.

If your answer to the previous question is “yes,” what would be the guidelines or parameters you set? I am curious to know if you think it’s all subjective, or do you think there are some clear objective guidelines that should be included?

What guidelines or steps should you take if church members are obviously behaving poorly on social media? This question was the most difficult the pastor and I discussed. At what point, if any, do you confront church members about their misbehavior on social media?

Do you preach or teach on this issue in any fashion at all? In other words, do the members ever hear from the leadership about how our conversations in social media are seen by the watching world? One pastor told me a large group in the community has encouraged a boycott of his church because of the social media misbehavior of two church members.

What are the lines that cannot be crossed in social media by church members? How do you define those lines? If they are clear to the members, what do you do when they cross those lines? What are the consequences?

We live in a digital age. Some of our primary communities are found on the internet. But there seems to be something about the relative anonymity of speaking with a keyboard (or digital voice solution) that encourages us to say some things we would not say otherwise.

How do you deal with these issues? I am really seeking godly and biblical solutions. Let me hear from you.

Pray for College Road Baptist Church

Location: Ocala, Florida

Pastor: Alan Cotney

Weekly Worship: 8:00, 9:30, 10:30, & 11:00 am, Eastern

Fast Facts:

College Road Baptist Church is one church in two languages at two locations. They have English and Spanish services at their Ocala and Dunnellon, Florida campuses. They are a multigenerational and multiethnic congregation in a fast growing part of their city.

Please be in prayer for a new bilingual campus pastor for their Dunnellon campus and for the church’s “Invite Your One” friend day on October 6. They will also be hosting a large outreach event on October 31 as a Halloween alternative that will see more than 1,000 people come through the church for food, candy, fun, and a gospel presentation.

Website: CollegeRoad.org

“Pray for . . .” is the Sunday blog series at ThomRainer.com. We encourage you to pray for these churches noted every Sunday. Please feel free to comment that you are praying as well.

If you would like to have your church featured in the “Pray for…” series, fill out this information form..

Notable Voices and the Week in Review: September 28, 2019

From Around the Web:

One of the Most Revealing Questions to Ask Your Church — Sam Rainer

Over the years, I’ve refined the types of questions I ask and the way I ask questions. Some questions don’t elicit much of a response. Other questions cause people to pause and think. Then there are the questions that get people talking. Some of the best learning experiences as a leader come when you ask a good question and listen. After twenty years of researching churches, I’ve found one question more than any other seems to get people talking.

4 Tips for Preaching in a Rural Church — Facts & Trends

Make a firm commitment to preach the Word faithfully. There’ll be times you don’t want to, but we beg you to keep your hand to the plow. Stick to the Bible, preach the unchanging Word, and watch the Spirit do His work. As you do, here are four tips for preaching in rural churches:

Unforeseen Benefits of Expository Preaching — Skylar Spradlin

I recently finished preaching through the gospel of Luke in three and a half years. That is over 36 months and a little more than 150 sermons. Here are the unforeseen benefits that our church experienced as a result of this long-haul look at Luke’s Gospel that I hope will encourage you in your own expository preaching.

12 Ways We Overcomplicate Church Leadership and Church Growth — Chuck Lawless

Often as I work with churches, I’m reminded that church leadership and church growth aren’t typically “rocket science.” We leaders are the ones who make them more difficult than they ought to be. Here are some ways we do that:

This Week at ThomRainer.com:




















Five Trends of Retiring Baby Boomer Pastors

We recently asked a number of retired or retiring Boomer pastors what they planned to do in their next stage of life. We received five common responses among them…READ MORE

Stop Getting Mad at People Who Question Change

Bold change almost always raises questions from people. Getting mad at people who raise the questions does nothing to help move them through the process of change…READ MORE

Goodbye Jonathan, Part 1

by Thom Rainer | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode574.mp3







Goodbye Jonathan, Part 2

by Thom Rainer | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode575.mp3







Why Some Churches Wait Too Long to Replant

by Thom Rainer | Revitalize & Replant

http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Revitalize-and-Replant/RR-Episode112.mp3

Goodbye Jonathan, Part 2 – Rainer on Leadership #575

Podcast Episode #575

SUBSCRIBE:

iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio • Spotify

This is Jonathan Howe’s last episode on the podcast. For those who may have missed it, he was recently at the SBC Executive Committee. So today, we are saying goodbye to “The Voice.”

Episode Sponsors

The mission at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ by equipping students to serve the church and fulfill the Great Commission. The school offers more than 40 different degree programs, including the new Master of Arts in Church Revitalization in partnership with Church Answers and the Revitalization Network. This 37-hour degree is designed to help students move established churches from flatlining to flourishing.

Learn about this program and more by visiting sebts.edu. Where are you going? Southeastern will help you get there.

Vanderbloemen has 12 Vanderbloemen Differences that allow them to serve their clients better than anyone else. One of those is Theology Matters. Vanderbloemen’s staff has more seminary and theological experience than any other search firm with 250+ collective years of church leadership experience.

To learn more about all 12 of Vanderbloemen’s Differences, visit VanderDifference.com.

Feedback

If you have a question you would like answered on the show, fill out the form on the podcast page here at ThomRainer.com. If we use your question, you’ll receive a free copy of Becoming a Welcoming Church.