Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 112

Pray for Mt. Zion Baptist Church

Location: Fredericksburg, Virginia

Pastor: Rev. Dr. Charles W. Wormley, Sr.

Weekly Worship: 10:30 AM, Eastern

Fast Facts: Mt. Zion Baptist Church is a warm welcoming church situated in an urban setting with a unique and humble beginning. During the 18th century, the residents of Spotsylvania and surrounding counties saw a need to build a place in which to worship God. Being led by the Reverend Thompson, they organized and built a secret worship place and called it Mount Zion. The Mount Zion Church of Spotsylvania, Virginia is said to be the oldest African-American church in existence between Washington, D.C., and Richmond, Virginia. Spotsylvania County public records indicate the property was deeded in 1861. The church is excited about how God is working in them and through them at this time. Please be in prayer for their world-hunger outreach event, “Rise Against Hunger Meal Packing Event”, in November.

Website: MtZionBaptistChurchSpotsy.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: August 17, 2019

From Around the Web:

Putting the “Service” Back in Worship Service — Chad Ashby

You show up, and parking lot attendants greet you. Faithful teachers instruct you. Ushers find a seat for you. A well-practiced worship band leads singing for you. Your pastor preaches a faithful, God-glorifying sermon to you. Childcare workers care for your children. And after all that, you pick up your kids and simply return home. I wonder: have we strayed from the way the early church approached their gatherings?

4 Keys to Replanting Rural Churches — Facts & Trends

There are no-name places all over the nation. These are places the rest of the world has forgotten about (it’s called fly-over country for a reason). But in these places are people serving God faithfully who want to see the Kingdom of God expand. Not to mention scores of people who need Jesus.

9 Places to Find Church Workers — Chuck Lawless

Many churches I know struggle with finding workers. It seems that no matter how hard they try, they can’t find all the workers they need. If that describes your church, think about looking in these places for workers:

Sola Scriptura and Christian Charity — Rhyne Putman

Sola Scriptura does not mean ideas found outside of Scripture cannot be helpful, but it means these ideas must be analyzed and held to the standard of Scripture. If there are things destructive or unhelpful in the way the tools are being utilized, then they should be challenged or questioned.

This Week at ThomRainer.com:





















What Do You Do If Most of Your Church Members Do Not Live in the Community?

The most common reason someone attends and eventually connects with a church is relationships. Those relationships are unlikely to develop when church members and community members live in two different places…READ MORE

Five Lessons We Have Learned from the Revitalizer Profile

I am thankful to the North American Mission Board for being our partner in the development of the Revitalizer Profile. And if the initial results are any indicator, God will be using the instrument for years to come…READ MORE

Six Reasons Why “People Are Saying . . .” Is the Most Frustrating Comment for Church Leaders

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode562.mp3








Six Reasons Why the Minimization of Numerical Metrics Is Dangerous

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode563.mp3








Using Part-time Ministry Leaders in a Revitalization or Replant

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Revitalize & Replant

http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Revitalize-and-Replant/RR-Episode106.mp3

Six Reasons Why the Minimization of Numerical Metrics Is Dangerous – Rainer on Leadership #563

Podcast Episode #563

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

Metrics have a bad reputation in some churches. In others, they’re too much of the focus. Today, we discus why you should take a balanced approach to metrics.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

There is a danger in churches becoming numerically obsessed. There is also a danger in churches neglecting numbers.
What gets measured gets accomplished.
Church health and church growth are not in opposition to one another, but they are not always congruent.
Churches shouldn’t see themselves as “a discipleship church” or “an evangelism church”—every church should be both.

The six reasons we discuss are:

History has demonstrated the danger.
It can absolve leaders and members of needed accountability.
Sometimes it is an act of rationalization.
Church health versus church growth are complementary, not contradictory.
Discipleship and evangelism are not either/or choices.
Churches typically have to err on the side of growth and evangelism to attain balance.

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Church Answers
Why the Pendulum on Church Metrics May Be Swinging Too Far – Rainer on Leadership #555
Who’s Your One?
InviteYourOne.com


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.

Using Part-time Ministry Leaders in a Revitalization or Replant – Revitalize & Replant #106

SUBSCRIBE TODAY:
iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • Spotify

When a staff member leaves, most churches automatically search outside the church for a replacement. Today we offer a different perspective on staffing.

Episode Highlights:

Raising up leaders from within to serve on staff is typically a healthier approach to staffing.
It’s often a lot easier to hire someone that fire someone.
When you hire someone from within the church, it takes much less work and time to get them up to speed.
Not every ministry position can be split from a single full-time person to multiple part-time people, but it’s worth considering when an position comes open.

The six reasons we discuss are:

The perspective of fresh eyes
Opportunity for new ministry and new ministers
The cost issue
Coming from the missionary perspective
The key issue of training
Creating empathy

Resources mentioned in this episode include:

RevitalizeBundle.com
ChurchAnswers.com
ChurchReplanters.com
Replanter Assessment
Find more resources at the Revitalize & Replant page at ThomRainer.com


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 Lessons We Have Learned from the Revitalizer Profile

We were optimistic that the Revitalizer Profile would be received well.

Our expectations were far too low!

The Revitalizer Profile is an instrument that guides leaders of church revitalization to understand how God has wired and gifted them to make a difference in His churches. The person taking the Profile needs ten to fifteen minutes to complete it. Once they have taken it, the results are both immediate and private.

The Profile results guide revitalization leaders, pastors, and others to understand their leadership personality. There are twelve possible personality profiles. In addition to the leadership profile, leaders see both their dominant and recessive leadership characteristics, designated by four letters, somewhat like the Myers-Briggs.

We released the Revitalizer Profile in three phases. The first phase was our beta testing. The participants helped us in many ways to refine the tool. The second phase was our early release. We wanted to get the tool out to many more in the event there were other tweaks that needed to be made. And recently we went into launch phase. This phase is the point where we are really seeing the enthusiasm for the instrument.

So, what are some lessons we are learning from the Revitalizer Profile? Here are five; I am sure we will learn many more.

God has equipped many leaders for revitalization. The incredible response is a reminder that God is able, that He is supplying leaders for the massive need of church revitalization. About 300,000 congregations need revitalization. God is equipping an army to lead that charge.

There is no-one-size-fits-all in church revitalization. We are hearing from all types of leaders with all types of leadership profiles. God is using so many of them to lead the great task. I love the variety of ethnic and racial groups, ages, and leadership strengths.

You are never too old to be a church revitalization leader. As I have conversed with many of those who took the Revitalizer Profile, I have been struck by the number of people who are part of the Boomer generation. God is not done with us old folks yet!

Churches need hope; church leaders do too. One of the key features of the Revitalizer Profile is its unique ability to help leaders lead from their strengths. Too many church leaders have been told they can’t. The Profile is a reminder, in God’s strength, they can.

Revitalization leaders are grateful to know their challenges as well. The Revitalizer Profile also points out specific challenges for each of the twelve revitalizer profiles. Leaders are grateful to know those challenges in the context of understanding their strengths as well.

I am thankful to the North American Mission Board for being our partner in the development of the Revitalizer Profile. And if the initial results are any indicator, God will be using the instrument for years to come.

Here is your link to the Revitalizer Profile. If you choose to take it, we would love to hear your thoughts and comments.

Six Reasons Why “People Are Saying . . .” Is the Most Frustrating Comment for Church Leaders – Rainer on Leadership #562

Podcast Episode #562

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

When a pastor hears the phrase “People are saying . . . “, it brings a great deal of anxiety. But should it? Today, we discuss the reasons for the anxiety and how to deal with it.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

We should address grievances directly with one another in the church—not through gossip.
Critical views are typically held by only a few in a church, but their size often gets magnified when they are anonymous.
Criticism is often magnified beyond its real scope.
The negativity of one criticism often feels 10 times greater than the positivity of one compliment.

The six reasons we discuss are:

It is an unbiblical cop out.
It fails to address the critic directly.
It is usually magnified beyond reality.
It is very much like an anonymous letter.
It causes dissent and disunity.
It is a diversion from what really matters.

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Church Answers
One Sentence That Pastors and Church Staff Hate to Hear
Seven Considerations for the Church Leader Who Receives an Anonymous Letter
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.

What Do You Do If Most of Your Church Members Do Not Live in the Community?

Perhaps the most common question I get in church revitalization goes something like this inquiry: “What do I do to get people in the community to come to our church when our members don’t live in or near the community?”

My response is usually not well received. Simply stated, you can’t expect the community to come to your church if your members don’t live in the community. The most common reason someone attends and eventually connects with a church is relationships. Those relationships are unlikely to develop when church members and community members live in two different places.

Further, community members will often feel like you don’t care about them if members live elsewhere. It’s really an untenable situation.

Is it an impossible situation? To call any situation impossible is to deny the power of God. But it is a very difficult situation, one that rarely ends well. A few radical decisions have to be made:

Someone must become a missional presence in the community. You can’t be on the mission field in absentia. You must live there. If the church does not have one or more families living in the community, it does not qualify to be a gospel presence there. In fact, the church should have several families willing to live in the community.

The church must begin to look like the community. If the community is 90 percent non-white and all the church members are white, the church obviously does not reflect the community. Until the demographics of the community and the church are more similar than not, the church in the example will look more like a white country club than a gospel-centered congregation.

The church must yield its leadership to members of the community. A church cannot merely say members of the community are welcome to join us. The church must say we desire to follow you. The congregation must seek to move community members to places of leadership as soon as possible.

The church should be willing to contextualize its ministry for the community. Among other contextual issues, this change may very well mean changes in the worship style.

The members of the church should be intentional about praying for the community. If a church is to make a difference in the community, it must love the members of the community. If the church is serious about loving the community, it must be praying for the residents of the community regularly.

Churches that do not reflect the community are called ex-neighborhood churches. The nomenclature is telling. The church is really not in the neighborhood; only the building is.

There are no silver bullet solutions. The church is confronted with the decision to change or die. And the change the church must be willing to make is both sacrificial and radical.

Pray for Chinese Grace Baptist Church

Location: San Francisco, California

Pastor: Joon Choi

Weekly Worship: 9:30 AM, Pacific

Fast Facts: Chinese Grace Baptist Church is a revitalization/replant of a local Chinese church with a 50-year history in San Francisco, CA. Initially founded by a Chinese missionary pastor from Hong Kong, it has primarily been ministering to first-generation, Cantonese-speaking immigrants from Hong Kong for the past 40-50 years through outreach, evangelism, and missions. The church has been in a transition phase over the last five years to reach more diverse and multi-ethnic people as well as multi-generational groups in the city. Please pray for spiritual renewal and revival among the existing members, smooth assimilation and adaption of new believers, and the development of new and future leaders.

“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: August 10, 2019

From Around the Web:

56 Tough Bible Passages (and How to Understand and Teach Them) — Trevin Wax

We take a contested or puzzling passage of the Bible, walk through the most common interpretations, and then recommend how to preach or teach the passage effectively. The podcast is sponsored by the Christian Standard Bible, and we are sometimes joined by scholars and pastors to help us wrestle with some of the harder texts of Scripture.

10 Hardest Lessons for a Pastor to Learn — Facts & Trends

Pastors have to learn many lessons the hard way, some of them again and again until finally they take. Here are my top ten.

Eight Reasons Pastors Get Fired — Chuck Lawless

Over the past several years, I’ve paid more attention to reasons pastors—including some of my acquaintances and former students—have been fired. In some cases, the congregation has been a “knucklehead” group of people who’ve treated a leader poorly; but, I’ve also seen some leaders who invited trouble by doing the following:

Pastor, Don’t Avoid Uncomfortable Topics — Brett McCracken

Pastors, your people are hungry for clear, compassionate, biblical teaching on the difficult topics facing our culture and their own families. Sexuality. Gender. Racial reconciliation. Hell. God’s wrath. Tithing. Church discipline. Divorce. Greed and materialism. War and violence. Charismatic gifts. Christ’s exclusivity. The Bible has things to say about all of these things. And preachers should, too.

This Week at ThomRainer.com:





















The Ten Most Challenging Counseling Issues Pastors Face

Some pastors spend a lot of time counseling members. Others do limited counseling before referring the member to someone they view to be more qualified. But all pastors are counselors…READ MORE

Nine Reasons Christians Fail to Evangelize

Many don’t know what “evangelism” is.
We have few evangelistic role models.
Some church members aren’t convinced about lostness.
Some churches have provided no evangelism training.
Fear of the unknown halts our efforts.
We’ve “gotten over” our salvation.
Pastors aren’t taking the lead in evangelism.
We don’t really know many lost people anyway.
We don’t care about non-believers.
















Five Reasons Some Churches Celebrate Debt Retirement

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode560.mp3








Five Updates on Pastoral Attire

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership

http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Rainer-on-Leadership/Episode561.mp3








Should We Change the Name of Our Church?

by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Revitalize & Replant

http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/rainerpodcast/Revitalize-and-Replant/RR-Episode105.mp3

Five Updates on Pastoral Attire – Rainer on Leadership #561

Podcast Episode #561

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

Pastoral attire seems to be a hot issue in almost every church. Today, we discuss the response to another recent podcast on the subject and provide a few updates.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

There are a plethora of impassioned perspectives and opinions on the subject of pastoral attire.
Society is trending more casual when it comes to attire, and so are churches.
Even though more pastors are wearing jeans, many of them are still wearing blazers.
There is still a disconnect in church members’ expectations of weekday pastoral attire vs. worship service pastoral attire.

The five updates we discuss are:

It is still trending casual.
The tie is dying: Only 15% of pastors wear a tie.
One-third of pastors wear jeans.
50% still wear a coat.
Highly informal (shorts, t-shirts, etc.) is not catching on.

Resources mentioned in today’s podcast

Church Answers
Seven Thoughts on Pastoral Attire in Worship Services – Rainer on Leadership #553
Revitalize2020.com


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.