Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 160
April 30, 2018
Six Reasons Churches Are Taking Too Long to Find a New Pastor
I wish I had objective data on the length of time between pastors. I can say anecdotally the time is much longer than it used to be. A whole lot longer.
To be clear, I know we cannot presume on the call of God. I get that. But, all things considered, more and more churches are struggling because they are going longer periods of time without a pastor. Attendance often declines. Budget giving often declines. Morale often declines.
So why are search committees and appointment processes (I will refer to all search entities as search committees for simplicity) taking so much longer? I see six clear reasons.
There are no longer ready-made networks to provide a steady supply of pastors for churches. Denominations and other networks could provide a list of names in the past, many of whom could fit most churches in that network. Today, churches are different more than uniform. Communities are more diverse. The “denominationally-groomed-and-ready” pastor just does not exist today.
Search committees are often poorly equipped to find pastors. They typically do not know the right places to go and the right people to ask. They don’t have time to devote to seeking applicants and culling through resumes. Most don’t know the profile of a best qualified applicant.
Search committees often still use old paradigms. Advertise in denominational or network publications. Wait for a flood of resumes to arrive with mostly unqualified candidates. Go to a candidate’s church to hear a sermon. Go through resumes one by one in an excruciatingly slow and painful process. Wait. Wait. Wait.
Many search committees don’t use a search firm. I’ve heard all the reasons not to do so. Some think it costs too much. But most churches save a lot of money and time using a search firm. For example, during prolonged interim periods church giving usually declines—which can lead to financial struggles. Other churches think the search firm chooses the pastors for them. No, the search firm finds qualified candidates for the church to choose (Full disclosure: Vanderbloemen Search Group (Vanderbloemen.com) is a sponsor of Rainer on Leadership podcast. They are incredible!)
Search committees often represent a cross section of the church rather than the most qualified members. I understand the sentiment to have every group in the church represented. Unfortunately, such representation is not often commensurate with qualification. And an unqualified search committee is most often a slow search committee.
Some search committees and churches don’t think it is spiritual to find a new pastor too quickly. In most cases, a church should be able to get a new pastor in six months or less. God is really able to work that punctually. There is nothing inherently spiritual about taking a year or two years or more finding a new pastor. In fact, in many cases it is really bad stewardship to take that long.
Many churches are simply taking too long to find a new pastor.
As a consequence, many congregations are struggling without a leader to guide them.
April 29, 2018
Pray for First Baptist Church of Deerpoint Lake
Location: Panama City, Florida
Pastor: Michael Vosbrink
Weekly Worship: 10:15 AM, Central
Fast Facts: First Baptist Church of Deerpoint Lake was founded 37 years ago. Pastor Vosbrink came to the church less than a year ago, but the church has already seen forward progress and better health. Several outreach ideas have been implemented in that time and the church has received positive feedback and results. Please pray for FBCDL’s upcoming Vacation Bible School in June. This is one of the mainstays of the church, and they are praying for new families to minister to during the week and after. Finally, be in prayer for Pastor Vosbrink as he serves bivocationally as a full time regional correctional chaplain and as pastor of this church family.
Website: FBCDeerpointLake.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..
April 28, 2018
Notable Voices and the Week in Review: April 28, 2018
What to Do Between Services on Sunday Mornings
— Sam Rainer
It may seem strange, but I have to be strategic with the time between each of the services. People approach me in rapid-fire succession. There are emergency times of prayer, evangelism opportunities, quick counseling sessions, and, oh by the way, the gym commode is overflowing. Where’s the plunger? I love every minute of it, even the plunging. How do I manage the time between services? How do I make these twenty minutes strategic?
Pastors’ Housing Allowance Faces Uncertain Future — Facts & Trends
For six decades, the housing allowance tax break has been one of a minister’s best friends. The allowance, which lets pastors use tax-free dollars to pay for housing, saves pastors about $800 million in income taxes, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation. But it could soon disappear.
7 Reasons You Need a Sermon Evaluation Team — Chuck Lawless
Many of us remember our seminary preaching classes that included critique from our peers and professors. In fact, I still remember the negatives my classmates pointed out after I had preached—and I took that class almost thirty years ago! Still, I think all of us who preach regularly need to have a team that evaluates our preaching. Here’s why:
Seven Dangers Facing Your Church — Juan Sanchez
In Revelation chapters 2 and 3, we read about seven churches and the dangers they faced—the very same dangers that we still face today. It’s both a warning that we need to be on our guard and, much more importantly, an encouragement that we can trust fully in our all-powerful, all-conquering Savior. As you read through these seven dangers that could be facing your church, don’t forget that God is with us, God is for us, and God guides us through his Word.
This Week at ThomRainer.com:
Autopsy of a Deceased Church Outreach Ministry
What has happened? How can we explain the death of ongoing outreach by our churches? I’ve worked with thousands of churches, so I have a few ideas…READ MORE
Church Sickness #5: Activity Acclimation
Activity Acclimation happens when church members see busyness as the same as commitment and/or godliness.
Seven Signs a Church Member Is Leaving
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership
http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/Episode426.mp3
Six Myths about Outreach in the Local Church
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership
http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/Episode427.mp3
Five Loves You Must Have to Be a Successful Pastor
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Revitalize & Replant
http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/RevitalizeReplant/RR-Episode038.mp3
April 27, 2018
Six Myths about Outreach in the Local Church – Rainer on Leadership #427
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio
There are many myths that are pervasive which keep church members from actively inviting guests to church or initiating gospel conversations with them. Today, we debunk them.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
Following up with guests is not the same thing as church outreach.
I’m afraid too many churches prematurely abandoned systematic outreach and didn’t replace it with anything.
Non-Christians are often more receptive to the gospel than we think they will be.
Don’t be afraid to use theological words in your preaching, just explain them when you do.
The six myths we cover are:
Outreach is the same as visiting guests.
If you invite them, they will not come.
The majority of non-Christians are resistant to the gospel.
The sermon cannot be too deep or it will turn off non-Christians
Attractional outreach is the most effective.
Most church members will reach out to their friends, neighbors, and acquaintances naturally.
Episode Sponsors
The ministry landscape is changing, and the need for biblical training is more necessary than ever. It’s time to get your Master of Divinity degree. The M.Div —Midwestern Seminary’s flagship degree program — is the primary track for ministry preparation. At just 81 hours, the Midwestern M.Div offers a complete foundation for full-time ministry leaders, offering everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Join other students in vibrant Kansas City as you train in a unique collaborative environment focused on the local church or study online in your current ministry context. Midwestern Seminary is developing a discipleship culture devoted to the local church and committed to God’s unchanging Word. Why not start your training today?
Find out more at mbts.edu/mdiv.
Our friends at Vanderbloemen Search Group help churches and ministries build great teams by finding their key staff, but did you know they have a ton of resources around team building? Their newest addition is TheCultureTool.com, a free comprehensive staff engagement survey to help you build, run, and keep a great team. It’s brand new and still in beta, so check out TheCultureTool.com to be on the cutting edge of this new tool that will help you improve your church staff culture.
Visit TheCultureTool.com to learn more.
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.
Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast
Becoming a Welcoming Church
We Want You Here
The Unchurched Next Door
Invite Your One
April 26, 2018
Five Loves You Must Have to Be a Successful Pastor – Revitalize & Replant #038
A love for the Word, your Savior, and your calling is foundational to ministry. But what other loves should a pastor have. Today, we discuss five of them.
Today’s Listener Question:
FROM PETE
It seems that a lot of success in revitalizing or replanting in the local church has to do with the people knowing you love them as you shepherd them. What are some specific things to communicate to the people to grow this affinity?
Episode Highlights:
You cannot successfully lead a church in your own strength and power.
Don’t have church activities to get people in your building, have them to get your people into the lives of the community.
Those who’ve been dealt most generously with should be the most generous.
Pastors, love the church you lead, not the one you wish you led.
Your family is your first line of ministry.
The five loves we discuss are:
Love of the heritage of the church
Love of the community of the church
Love of the members still in the church
Love of you own family as you lead the church
Love of God’s work regardless of recognition
Resources mentioned in this episode include:
ChurchReplanters.com
ChurchAnswers.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.
April 25, 2018
Activity Acclimation, Church Sickness #5
Activity Acclimation happens when church members see busyness as the same as commitment and/or godliness.
Some highlights from today’s Rainer Report:
Being busy is not important; being productive is.
God wants us to use our time and energy to make a Kingdom difference.
Look at someones checkbook and calendar, and you’ll see what their priorities are.
A busy church is not always an effective church.
Watch Previous Church Sickness Videos
7 Potentially Deadly Church Sicknesses Overview
Attitudinal Angst, Church Sickness #1
Slippage Syndrome, Church Sickness #2
Detail Distraction, Church Sickness #3
Institutional Idolatry, Church Sickness #4
April 24, 2018
Seven Signs a Church Member Is Leaving – Rainer on Leadership #426
SUBSCRIBE: iTunes • RSS • Stitcher • TuneIn Radio • Google Play • iHeart Radio
Church members leave churches. It happens. Sometimes it can be avoided, sometimes it cannot. Today we cover seven warning signs that someone might be about to leave the church.
Some highlights from today’s episode include:
Small group leaders need to track attendance and reach out to those who are frequently missing.
Someone in the church needs to be monitoring giving just to be aware of any potential issues.
The sticky factor in any church is relationships.
Church members sometimes take out unrelated frustrations on the pastor or staff.
The seven indicators we cover on this episode are:
Less frequent attendance
Decreased giving
Isolation from relational connections
stepping down from ministry positions
Conflict with other members
Negative votes at business meetings
Family problems
Episode Sponsors
Our friends at Vanderbloemen Search Group help churches and ministries build great teams by finding their key staff, but did you know they have a ton of resources around team building? Their newest addition is The Culture Tool, a free comprehensive staff engagement survey to help you build, run, and keep a great team. It’s brand new and still in beta, so check out TheCultureTool.com to be on the cutting edge of this new tool that will help you improve your church staff culture.
Visit TheCultureTool.com to learn more.
The ministry landscape is changing, and the need for biblical training is more necessary than ever. It’s time to get your Master of Divinity degree. The M.Div —Midwestern Seminary’s flagship degree program — is the primary track for ministry preparation. At just 81 hours, the Midwestern M.Div offers a complete foundation for full-time ministry leaders, offering everything you need, and nothing you don’t. Join other students in vibrant Kansas City as you train in a unique collaborative environment focused on the local church or study online in your current ministry context. Midwestern Seminary is developing a discipleship culture devoted to the local church and committed to God’s unchanging Word. Why not start your training today?
Find out more at mbts.edu/mdiv.
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.
Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast
Becoming a Welcoming Church
We Want You Here
Who Should Be Able to See Individual Church Giving Records?
16 Quick Adjustments
April 23, 2018
Autopsy of a Deceased Church Outreach Ministry
His statement shocked me.
To be certain, I knew the anecdotal evidence was not good, but his words surprised me beyond my worst expectations. He had ministry responsibility for calling on nearly 250 churches. He knew most of them well. His comments still ring in my mind: “Almost none of the 250 churches I serve have an ongoing outreach ministry in the communities they are supposed to serve. A few of them think they do, but they are really just following up with guests who visit.”
Wow. No ongoing intentional outreach. At best follow up of guests.
And we wonder why our churches are struggling. We aren’t reaching people because, well, we aren’t trying to reach people.
What has happened? How can we explain the death of ongoing outreach by our churches? I’ve worked with thousands of churches, so I have a few ideas.
We became so enamored with the worship service as the front door, we concluded that it was our outreach. But cool and dynamic worship services are not outreach into our communities. They are attractions to attend.
We don’t know how to get into our communities. I agree that cold-call visitation is difficult. But if you have killed that in your church, with what did you replace it? What is your church doing every week to connect with people in the community?
We rejected programs because we think programs aren’t cool or relevant. Let me give you a clear example. Vacation Bible School is the number one evangelistic tool in America. But many churches have given up on VBS because it’s a program, or because it’s traditional, or because it’s not cool. By the way, it’s not too late to change your mind about a summer Vacation Bible School. Check it out: https://www.lifeway.com/en/shop/vacation-bible-school
We call everything outreach and evangelism. If everything is outreach and evangelism, nothing is outreach and evangelism.
We’ve become so busy doing good things in our church that we neglect the best. True story. The most hours of “ministry” in one church I know is the flower ministry. Okay, if you are working in a flower ministry, that’s fine. But if that’s the number one ministry of the church, it’s not fine. And flowers in the worship center make me sneeze.
We decided to do away with intentional outreach because of a lack of participation by members. I almost did exactly that very thing in a church I served because we only had an average of 12 people per week doing any kind of outreach in the community. Then I did the math. Those 12 typically had three types of meaningful outreach contacts a week. That’s a total of 36 contacts a week and 1,872 a year. That’s big.
We have become so comfortable and complacent with the way we do church that we don’t want any outsiders to mess it up. In other words, we will fight for the precise worship style or carpet color we want, but we will yawn at the thought of our neighbors going to hell.
I am performing several autopsies of deceased outreach ministries in churches. Soon I will be performing autopsies on those same churches themselves.
Reach out into your community and live. Or neglect it and die.
It’s really that simple.
April 22, 2018
Pray for Bayside Community Church
Location: Olivia, Texas
Pastor: Ruben Castillo
Weekly Worship: 10:40 AM, Central
Fast Facts: Bayside Community Church was planted 18 years ago. When Pastor Ruben was called to lead the church in 2012, the church had just 17 members. Today, after six years, the membership has grown to more than 125 with 75-80 in weekly worship attendance. Bayside continues to seek God for His will and guidance through a needed building expansion. At their recent SonRise Service, they had nine baptisms. Please pray as the church launches brand new children and youth ministries. Also pray for the worship team as they seek musicians and vocalists.
Website: YourBaysideToday.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..
April 21, 2018
Notable Voices and the Week in Review: April 21, 2018
6 Ways to Avoid Owing Taxes Next Year — Art Rainer
Tax Day has come and gone. For many, yesterday was a painful experience as they realized they owed the government more than expected. The good news is that, a year from now, filling out your 2018 taxes does not have to result in a repeat performance.
Today is a great day to take a few steps in helping ensure that you will not get caught off guard next year.
Too Many Pastors Are ‘Digging Their Graves With Their Teeth’ — Facts & Trends
There’s a good reason for the spring in Jeremy Atwood’s step. The Glasgow, Kentucky, pastor has lost 240 pounds over the past two years on a quest to restore his physical and spiritual health. For Atwood, food had become a vice that was sapping his energy and hindering his ministry. Years of unchecked eating had brought him to the brink of 500 pounds.
4 Reasons Why Pastoral Honeymoons Are Shrinking — Eric Geiger
In the last several years, I have had many conversations with pastors who have expressed surprise over how short “the honeymoon” period was at their new church. At first I thought that maybe it was a few isolated cases, but I have been hearing it continually for several years. All of these pastors had served faithfully in other contexts, and in those other contexts experienced longer honeymoons, but not so this time around.
On Meetings that Should be Emails: How to Handle Time-Wasters — Joel Rainey
Ever heard “You don’t have to show up to every fight you are invited to”? Most pastors I know understand that not every intra-church battle is worth fighting. But few pastors live by a closely-related maxim: “You don’t have to grant every meeting requested of you.”
This Week at ThomRainer.com:
Avoiding the Church Comparison Trap
Comparing your church to another church can be one of the worst things you do as a church leader. Comparison for the sake of comparison is bad. Let me share a few thoughts about this issue to expand upon the concern…READ MORE
Church Sickness #4: Institutional Idolatry
Institutional Idolatry happens when church members have an unbiblical devotion to inconsequential matters.
Key Issues for Follow-up of Guests
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership
http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/Episode424.mp3
Small Church Essentials with Karl Vaters
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Rainer on Leadership
http://media.blubrry.com/thomrainer/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/Episode425.mp3
Some Keys to Success in Church Revitalization
by Thom Rainer and Jonathan Howe | Revitalize & Replant
http://media.blubrry.com/revitalizereplant/s3.amazonaws.com/TheExchange/RevitalizeReplant/RR-Episode037.mp3
