Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 21

Discipleship Requires Management as Much as Leadership (Why Pastors Can’t Neglect Church Operations)

Pastors manage churches as much, if not more, than leading them. Making disciples requires pastors to be involved in the day-to-day operations of a church.

If you’re not willing to manage a church, you’re not qualified to lead a church. Should pastors be involved in every task? No. However, every pastor should have some involvement in the daily operations of church life. Shepherds—by God’s design—are among the sheep. Why is it tempting, and dangerous, to neglect the task of management?

It’s tempting to neglect operations. Operations take time. Few people see operations in the church. Anyone who has served on staff at a church knows a whole other world occurs on the campus during the work week. Air conditioning units must be serviced. Rooms must be organized. The offering deposits must be made. Does a senior leader need to do these operations? Obviously not. But every senior leader should be knowledgeable of—if not the author of—the system of operations that keeps the church running. Operations make discipleship possible. Just because most of your church will never see the operations does not make them less important.

It’s tempting to neglect tasks. Tasks don’t complain. Tasks don’t need counseling. Undoubtedly, we all have things on our “to-do” list that do not involve people. It’s tempting to neglect tasks because people should be the priority. Some leaders enjoy doing certain tasks. Other leaders enjoy managing others who do the tasks. All tasks are managed, not led. You lead people and manage the tasks. And all church leaders must manage tasks. Why? Without managing tasks, you will ultimately neglect the people.

It’s tempting to neglect supervision. Leadership involves people. You don’t lead inanimate objects. The chair doesn’t listen, but the person in the chair does. Supervision of people is a component of leadership that involves management. How many people on staff can take a vacation during Spring Break? How does your church handle health insurance for the staff? What is the process of accountability with group leaders? These questions involve management and require supervision. It’s tempting to neglect them because the immediate reward for properly executing supervision is small. However, the potential downside of failing to administer this supervision properly is enormous.

It’s tempting to neglect finance. Most churches do not expect pastors to know spreadsheets, cash flow, and budgets. It’s tempting and easy to claim ignorance. I believe it’s one of the most significant management holes in the church today. Even the most senior leader at the most prominent church should know the finances well. If you cannot read a basic budget, you should not be in a senior leadership position in a church. It’s dangerous—and I would also add negligent—to know nothing of the finances. Should questions arise about finances, you will be responsible for answering them. The deer-in-the-headlights-look is typically not well-received.

Neglect management at your peril. Pastoring a church is more than what happens in the pulpit; it also involves executing. Execution does not occur without management. All church leaders must manage. Pastors are shepherds. And shepherds manage sheep.

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Speaking in Tongues, Unmarried Living Together, Women Pastors, and Sermon Length: 15 Facts about Churches You May Not Know (A Church Answers Research Report)

I love local churches. I have been studying and writing about local churches for four decades. 

But even though I have been researching churches for longer than some of you have been alive, I continue to learn about them every day. I will never become a know-it-all about churches. There is so much to learn.

At Church Answers, we have one of the most incredible and active communities of church leaders. Our closest community of nearly 2,000 paid members ask questions or make comments almost every hour of the day. They love the fact that they can ask any question and get a question answered that same day, often within the hour. We are truly their church consultant and coach on their smartphone.

Though we seek to serve church leaders and churches through this community, the members of this community benefit me greatly as well. I get to read and

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Eight Essential Qualities of Pastors Who Love Their Jobs

You can do your job well without loving it. However, for pastors, the calling often goes beyond mere duty. It encompasses a passion for serving and guiding their flocks. What distinguishes pastors who love their jobs from those who do their jobs? It boils down to several essential qualities.

They embrace awkward moments. At my first church, the lone deacon would take a smoke break in the middle of my sermon. (Yes, I preached too long.) Then, there was the time someone brought a pet parrot to church. (No, I didn’t get any amens from the bird.) And I’ll never forget the several demonstrators who gathered with signs to protest our women wearing pants. There are many other awkward moments I can’t put into writing—yet. Pastors who love their jobs genuinely enjoy these moments and laugh at the strangeness of church life.  

They don’t take criticism personally. This one took me a while to learn. I remember many years ago, a member criticized my wife in front of everyone for how she led worship.

“That wasn’t real worship! How terrible!” This member then added a few other choice comments about my wife.

I responded, “There are plenty of other dead churches in this town who would welcome another corpse if you don’t like it here.”

It was not my finest moment. But this instance—and many others—taught me to listen, reflect, and discern whether there’s a lesson to be learned from someone’s criticism. Usually, there is. Pastors who love their jobs learn from criticism without it affecting their personal worth or dedication.

They enjoy listening as much as talking. I’m often happiest when I have a microphone in my hand. Like many church leaders, I relish teaching God’s Word. But pastors who love their jobs also excel in active listening, demonstrating empathy and understanding. You preach better sermons when you find great joy in the story of your people.

They create a culture of levity. Church work is serious. The eternity of souls is at stake! But laughter and light-heartedness build community. At my church, we love practical jokes. A culture of fun helps people feel like they belong. Walk into a room full of serious scowls—how do you feel? Like you belong? It’s much easier to assimilate into a group of people who laugh with you.

They accept uncertainty and have a clear understanding of expectations. The path of ministry is rarely straightforward. Uncertainty is everywhere. While the mission of God will take you to unexpected places, you should set boundaries within your congregation. Pastors who love their jobs can handle the uncertainty of the mission dei because they have certainty of expectations in the relationships with their congregations.

They are self-aware and driven. Self-aware pastors are adaptable and flexible. They not only have confidence in their strengths, but they also proactively seek accountability for their weaknesses. You can be self-aware but not driven. These pastors make for enjoyable company but rarely accomplish much.

Conversely, you can be driven but not self-aware. These pastors reach their goals but often run over people in the process. Pastors who love their jobs manage to balance self-awareness and ambition, and they energize the people around them.

They love discovering new activities and people in their communities. Churches are vehicles to send people into the surrounding neighborhoods. If you don’t love your community, it’s challenging to reach your community. Pastors who love their jobs genuinely enjoy discovering new parts of their mission field. When you dislike where you live, it’s difficult to love what you do in ministry.

They focus on reasonable and attainable mid-term goals. It’s one thing to have a vision for the long-term growth of your church. It’s another thing to make consistent progress every few months. Pastors who love their jobs give more time and energy to mid-term strategy than long-term vision. What is a typical timeframe for these strategies? Six months. You are far more likely to love what you do when you accomplish two major objectives a year.

What tasks do pastors love about their jobs? Preaching is usually at the top of surveys, followed by developing or discipling believers. Most pastors say they are satisfied with being a pastor, but many are split as to whether or not they are satisfied at their current church. Research reveals that many pastors enjoy specific tasks but struggle with satisfaction in their churches. Pastors with these eight qualities are more likely to love their jobs.

What qualities might you add to this list?

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It Is Time to Stop Celebrating Church Transfer Growth: A Church Answers Research Article

I love our large community of pastors, church staff, denominational leaders, and lay leaders at Church Answers Central. The promise we make them is they can ask any question or make any comment, and we will respond within a few hours. We usually respond within an hour.

That’s the promise. They can learn from us. 

But, frankly, I feel like I am learning more from the Church Answers Central community than they are learning from me.

For example, one of the pastors in our community posted this insightful comment this week:

“My church has been experiencing growth due to the decline of sister churches around the area. I feel sad for the declining churches, but this also creates a potential problem in my church: the complacent attitude of the members who believe that we don’t need to reach out to people. Can someone see the issue here?”

I responded to the pastor that his comment and question were prescient. He is wise to see the potential harm of transfer growth. So do I. Indeed, please continue to read. I will try not to rant.

Transfer Growth Has Not Always Been Considered True Growth

From my research, it appears that the concept of transfer growth is relatively new in the 2,000-year history of the Church. Donald McGavran, in his 1970 book Understanding Church Growth, classified how churches grow numerically as conversion, biological, and transfer. He offered this typology as a reminder that churches should focus on conversion or evangelistic growth. Sadly, many church leaders took his typology to mean that church growth is growth regardless of its source. That was not what McGavran meant, nor was that the impetus behind the beginning of the church growth movement.

Another historical factor in the focus on transfer growth was how Southern Baptist churches handled members who transferred from one Southern Baptist church to another, usually from one community to another. Historically, the transferring member would present a letter from the church he left to the church he wished to join. The letter would affirm that the person was regenerate and a member in good standing.

Today, very few Southern Baptist churches continue to ensure transferring members are both regenerate and in good standing in their former churches. Instead, transfer growth has become just another category of church growth.

Because the Southern Baptist Convention became the largest Protestant denomination in America in the second half of the twentieth century, its influence was pervasive. This “letter growth” soon became another way of saying “transfer growth.” Again, transfer growth became accepted as a form of church growth that was equal to others.

These two historical developments in the church growth movement and the Southern Baptist Convention contributed significantly to the acceptance of transfer growth as legitimate church growth and as something that should be celebrated.

But Is Transfer Growth Bad?

The simple answer to the question is “no,” or better, “not always.”  Sam Rainer is our lead researcher on growth typologies. He will release a significant Church Answers Research work on transfer growth on May 9, 2024. It will be available for Church Answers members. You will not want to miss this incredible information. Sam does a deep dive into the past twenty-five years of transfer growth. He also offers a typology of growth with four categories instead of three. It makes a lot more sense.

Rather than divulge the details of his research early, I will simply say that he affirms that transfer growth is not always bad. When someone moves from one city to another and desires to remain an active and contributing local church member, that’s a good thing. When someone leaves a church teaching heresy and moves to a church that is true to the gospel, that’s a good thing.

My concern is about other reasons for transfer growth. Even more, my concern is that there exists a celebration culture of transfer growth that is not healthy. I will elaborate, but first, we need to define the “good” growth, conversion growth. 

What Is Conversion Growth?

At its heart, conversion growth is the fruit of evangelism. When someone becomes a follower of Christ, they move from darkness to light and eternity with God instead of eternity apart from God. They are Christians as depicted in Acts 11:26, where the disciples of Christ were given this name in Antioch. 

Conversion growth is also local church centric. While we celebrate conversions anywhere at any time, conversion growth leads to the growth of a local church. If a team from a local church goes overseas and leads dozens to Christ, we celebrate those conversions. But by definition, that is not conversion growth of the church that sent the team. We pray those new Christians will become fruit-bearing disciples in a nearby church. Then, those churches will experience conversion growth.

Conversion growth, then, represents those new followers of Christ who have become disciples of Christ and committed members of a local church.

For most of Church history, conversion growth was the heart of local churches. In recent history, the celebration of transfer growth has become normative. That is not healthy. That is not Kingdom growth.

The Problems with Celebrating Transfer Growth

Do we really celebrate transfer growth? Yes, we do.

We celebrate transfer growth when we list or recognize fast-growing churches without asking how much of their growth came from other churches. I do not have the data, nor have I been able to get such data. Based on our work with thousands of churches, I believe most of that growth is transfer growth.

We celebrate transfer growth when we list or recognize the largest churches. Again, I can only assume most of their growth is transfer growth. 

Like the quote from the pastor at the beginning of this article, church members often celebrate transfer growth when the reality is the church has grown at the expense of other churches. Those members are often lulled into complacency to reach their friends and neighbors with the gospel. Why should they be evangelistic? The church is growing anyway, isn’t it?

While not all transfer growth is bad, it often represents disgruntled church members moving their attitudes and preferences from one church to another. If they don’t get their preferences met in the next church, they will cause trouble or leave again.

You become what you celebrate. More churches are declining than not. But most of those that are growing have grown through transfer growth. When we celebrate them, we celebrate transfer growth.

By the way, if you are in a church that has lost members via transfer to larger churches, please consider your church’s own evangelistic urgency before you lament what the big churches are doing to your church.

Our Present Reality

Earlier in this article, I noted the influence of the Southern Baptist Convention on transfer growth. Notably, Southern Baptist’s peak number of baptisms (its close proxy for conversion growth) was 445,725 in 1972. In 2022, total baptisms were 180,177, a decline of 60%! The Southern Baptist Convention is a macrocosm of the local churches in the denomination. Where is the urgency at the local church level?

This denomination might be the largest for now, but most denominations in America paint a similar picture. And even faster-growing non-denominational churches typically grow at the expense of other churches.

Our present reality today in churches is that they are declining, or they are celebrating the wrong things.

The question should not be, “How many is your church running in worship?” The question should be, “How many people did your church reach for Christ in the past year?”

It’s time to stop celebrating transfer growth. 

Let’s celebrate those churches that are reaching people with the gospel of Christ.

The post It Is Time to Stop Celebrating Church Transfer Growth: A Church Answers Research Article appeared first on Church Answers.

Embracing Collaborative Leadership: Moving Beyond the CEO Model

In recent years, churches and organizations have undergone significant shifts across various facets, spanning from attendance trends to resource allocation and volunteer recruitment. However, one prominent change stands out amidst this evolution: a transition towards collaborative leadership.

Gone are the days when leadership simply meant dictating a vision for others to follow. With younger generations joining our teams and a heightened awareness of ethical and moral failures in senior leadership positions, there’s a growing acknowledgment of the value and need for multiple voices and ownership. Rather than relying solely on top-down directives, today’s leaders recognize the importance of fostering a culture of collaboration where every voice is heard and valued.

But what does this mean for those who may not naturally gravitate towards relational leadership? Here are 4 quick steps I’ve found to help create a creative and collaborative space for those you serve and lead alongside:

Slow Down

At the core of building a relational culture is the simple yet profound act of slowing down. Amidst the hustle and bustle of daily tasks and responsibilities, it’s crucial to pause and recognize the individuals who make up our organization. Culture isn’t shaped in boardrooms or strategy meetings; it’s cultivated on the ground, in the everyday interactions with our team members. By taking the time to truly see and appreciate the unique contributions of each person, we lay the foundation for a culture rooted in respect and empathy.

Be Intentional

Intentionality is the cornerstone of fostering meaningful connections within our teams. It’s about more than just exchanging pleasantries; it’s about creating genuine opportunities for interaction and engagement. Whether it’s a quick chat in the break room or a casual conversation during lunch breaks, these moments of intentional connection can have a profound impact on team dynamics. By showing genuine interest in the lives and interests of our colleagues, we demonstrate that they are valued not just for their work output,  but as individuals with their own stories and experiences.

Remember Details

One of the most powerful ways to show appreciation for our team members is by remembering the little details that make them who they are. Whether it’s remembering a recent milestone in their personal life or asking about their hobbies and interests, these small gestures convey a sense of care and investment in their well-being beyond the workplace. By acknowledging and celebrating the fullness of each person’s identity, we foster a culture of belonging and inclusivity.

Cheer Loud

Celebration is a powerful tool for reinforcing positive behaviors and fostering a sense of camaraderie within our teams. As leaders, it’s essential to be vocal in recognizing and celebrating the achievements of our people. Whether it’s a public shout-out during a team meeting or a heartfelt message of appreciation, these acts of encouragement serve to uplift and motivate our team as they feel appreciated, valued, and that their spot on the team matters apart from what they do. In a world often marked by criticism and negativity, let us be a voice of encouragement and affirmation, cheering loudly for the success of those around us.

As leaders, we have the opportunity to shape the culture of our organizations through our actions and attitudes. By prioritizing relationships, intentionality, and celebration, we can create environments where collaboration thrives, and individuals feel valued and empowered to contribute their best. Let us commit to cultivating a relational culture where every voice is heard, and every person is celebrated.

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7 Reasons Why Pastoral Leadership is So Critical to Producing an Evangelistic Church

If you’ve read much of what I write, you’ve heard me say at some point, “I’ve never seen a strongly evangelistic church without a strongly evangelistic pastor leading them.” I stand by that statement after more than 25 years of evaluating churches. Here’s why I think pastoral leadership is so critical in this task:

A pastor’s shadow falls long on a congregation. That’s especially the case if the pastor has been in that role for some time. What the pastor emphasizes, the church at least hears; what the pastor is silent on, the church gives little attention. A strongly evangelistic pastor will let his passion be known. Many churches have never seen an evangelistic role model—and their pastor can be their first. They may have heard they should evangelize their neighbors and family members, but hearing the challenge is not the same as seeing that heart lived out. When the pastor who speaks to the church Sunday after Sunday regularly evangelizes, the church will have their role model. Most church members do not default into evangelism; instead, they need a push from a trusted pastor. I would hope that believers would always maintain the evangelistic fire they had when they first turned to Christ, but that’s seldom the case. Most members “settle down” at some point and lose their zeal for telling the Good News of Jesus. They need someone whose evangelistic life is credible to challenge them – and their pastor has the most leverage to do so. Pastors can model evangelism inside the church and outside it. Pastors who preach the Word should be sharing the gospel week after week from the pulpit. In that way, they model a gospel presentation each week. At the same time, though, they must not limit their evangelism to a “y’all come and hear” methodology; they must also get outside the walls of the church and model for their church what initiatory evangelism looks like. Their opportunity to influence others is huge. Pastors have the opportunity to tell stories of evangelism. All believers face the danger of being cocooned among other believers, but that’s especially the case for pastors. Those pastors, though, who intentionally get out of their offices to meet non-believers, take the time to tell them the gospel, and then rejoice publicly when they become believers, set the evangelistic trajectory for a church. On the other hand, pastors who don’t evangelize generally don’t talk much about it, either. Even if they are expository preachers working through books of the Bible, they’ll not likely spend much time on any text that emphasizes evangelism. It’s just easier to skim the surface of such a text than dig deeply into it and ultimately bring conviction on yourself.Lead pastors can hold other pastors, staff members, and church leaders accountable for evangelism. My experience is that many evangelistic pastors not only expect believers to evangelize, but they also equip them and hold them accountable. You typically cannot serve long with them if your heart doesn’t capture that same beat for evangelism. 

The significance of the pastor’s influence on a church’s evangelism is one reason why we at Church Answers challenge pastors to take the lead in “The Hope Initiative” (a resource to help churches “jumpstart” their evangelistic efforts). We’ve seen great results from this initiative—and I’m convinced pastoral leadership over the process is a primary reason why that’s the case.

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A Simple Formula to Determine If Your Church Members Are Too Old

I know. I wrote a provocative title for this article. I changed it several times, but I eventually came back to it.

The obvious question is: are the members too old for what? My response is another question, but it could still lack clarity. Are they too old for the church to continue on a path of health?

If you are a senior adult and find yourself disturbed by this conversation, please know that I am one of you. I have been a senior adult for a few years now. I estimate the median age of the attendees of my church is 28. I am 40 years older than the median age!

I am not just old; I am ancient. I will soon be a candidate for display in the museum of antiquity.

Why am I concerned about the ages of church members? Is there any way to determine if your church members are too old for the church to be effective? Let me attempt to answer both questions.

What’s the Big Deal about the Ages of Church Members?

Though this issue is rarely addressed in a public forum, I hear from pastors and other church leaders who express this concern every week. They know that the median age of the church members is much older than it was in the recent past. They express their fears with these ancillary issues:

If we get to the point where we have no youth or children, our church will not have a future. One pastor told us he was “11 funerals away from closing the doors.”Younger church members have a vitality about them that can diminish with age.Younger members are best to lead some ministries in the church.When a young family visits a church with few younger people in it, they are not likely to return.

Please hear me clearly. While I would not want to be in a church with all senior adults, I do not wish to be in a church with no senior adults either. We older people are typically more faithful attenders, more faithful givers, and often have a bit of wisdom that comes with age.

So When Does the Church Get Too Old?

Though our approach is far from perfect, our team at Church Answers looks at the age metric in our newly created Church Health Scorecard. It’s a simple process:

Estimate the median age of the attendees in your church. Remember, “median” is not the same as “average.” The median is the midpoint where half of the population is on either side. For example, a church with a median age of 43 is one where half of the attendees are under 43 years old and half are over 43 years old. Try to count those who attend rather than looking at the membership roll. Don’t forget to count the children and youth, even if they are not present in the worship services.Find the median age for your church’s community. You can get that information from the Census Bureau. Our Know Your Community report has great community information, including the age of the residents in your church’s defined community. The median age of the population of the United States is 38 years old.Then, compare the median age of your church to the median age of the church’s community. We have a Know Your Community report that covers the community within a 15-minute drive of the church. The community has a median age of 34, and our church has a median age of 28. The variance is thus -6 (minus 6).

Now, you can take the variance you calculated and evaluate it with our “traffic lights.”

Green Light: +5 and lower. This number means that the median age of the church is no more than five years older than the median age of the community. The green light also includes negative numbers, which means that the church members are younger than the community. A church with these numbers will relate well to the community, even if it is significantly younger.Yellow Light: +6 to +12. A church with members 6 to 12 years older than the community might be losing its youthful vitality. While the church is not in an “age” crisis, the congregation could be drifting away from attracting younger families.Red Light, +13 and Higher. The church is at least a half-generation older than the community. As the number grows, the congregation will be in an age crisis. The younger community may not view the church as relevant if they know about the church at all.

While these numbers have limitations, they might be helpful for you and church leaders to consider.

Is your church at the green light, yellow light, or red light?

Let me hear from you in the comments.

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Evangelicalism Is Not Dying Among Younger Generations (The Future May Not Be So Grim)

I grew up in a Southern Baptist church in the 1990s. I was about as evangelical as I could be without knowing what that term meant. I had a closet full of Christian t-shirts, a shelf full of books that I had purchased from Daystar Christian Books in my bedroom, and my CD case was full of artists like DC Talk, Jars of Clay, and Third Day. One of the most difficult decisions my youth pastor had to make was which music festivals and conferences the high school students should attend. There were just too many options.

There were festivals like Cornerstone, Ichthus, and Agape that had tens of thousands of people show up to listen to the newest music from the most popular bands in Contemporary Christian Music. Now, all three of those festivals have either disbanded completely or are seeing attendance measured in the hundreds, not the thousands.

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How Pastors Get Compassion Fatigue (Plus Ways to Overcome It)

You’ve likely heard of decision fatigue, when someone makes several decisions in a short amount of time and then struggles to make additional decisions. However, compassion fatigue among pastors may be more prevalent.

Compassion fatigue is an excessive weariness due to the cumulative effect of caring for, listening to, and helping people with emotional and spiritual problems. The issue is more pervasive than most realize because pastors are the first spiritual responders in moments of crisis. They experience repeated exposure to deep and troubling matters. The result is detachment, leading to reduced compassion. Guilt then surfaces because of an inability to serve others, and a vicious cycle forms.

What are some ways pastors get compassion fatigue?

Messiah Complex: You cannot be everything to everyone. You cannot attend to everyone’s needs. You cannot possibly solve everyone’s problems. Pastors still try, and churches welcome the effort. No pastor would claim to be Jesus, of course. But, misguided empathy can lead to an elevated sense of self, a belief that proper care will not happen without your presence. This form of a messiah complex has one end—exhaustion.

Isolation: Burdens are heavier when carried alone. A listening friend can relieve a lot of tension simply by hearing you express frustration. The ear often has a stronger healing property than the mouth. A struggling pastor needs someone to hear words and not say words. When pastors serve in isolation, they receive words from their congregants but have nowhere to share their own words. Tension builds when you have no outlet to share.

No Margin: The calendar fills quickly with requests for time—counseling, weddings, and meetings. Each is important because they come from people in your church. Then, a couple of emergencies occur, and you are at the hospital late. A teen runs away. You help find her. A spouse confesses adultery. You are on the phone for two hours on Saturday. After a few sleepless nights, you’re drained. Sounds like a tough week? No, it’s every week.

Gatekeeper Effect: Pastors are usually the gatekeepers of information in the church. They are the ones who decide what information is passed to others. The problem with gatekeeping is you also become the repository for everyone’s issues and complaints. When you choose not to mention the funeral announcement (or forget), people criticize while at the same time expecting you to serve. It’s an odd dynamic that produces burnout over time.

Pastors with a strong sense of empathy are more susceptible to compassion fatigue. Still, exhaustion can happen to anyone carrying a heavy burden of care over long periods. Some are more sensitive to vicarious traumatization, but no pastor is immune.

How can pastors overcome the problem of compassion fatigue?

Have a strategy for your empathy. Perhaps this suggestion seems odd or nuanced. But it might be a game-changer for you. Empathy can be emotionally exhausting. The goal is to find a way to sustain empathy without it wearing you down. Try to have more empathic concern (improving someone else’s well-being) and less emotional empathy (internalizing someone else’s feelings). Use emotional empathy when others experience joy and empathic concern when people are experiencing distress.

Schedule your boundaries. Pick a day for your Sabbath and stick with it. For me, it’s Saturday. Unless it’s an extraordinary circumstance, I’m saying “no” to a request for my time on Saturdays. If you don’t schedule your boundaries, you won’t have any.

Stop counting on your vacation to be an annual recharge. Your weekly rhythm of a Sabbath is supposed to be how you recharge, not your vacation. Your soul is like a battery, requiring periodic recharges with regular use. You can’t shove more power into a battery and expect it to last a year. In the same way, your vacation recharge will not last an entire year.

Have less screen downtime and more outdoor activity. I know the temptation after a long day. You just want to veg and scroll on social media, travel down the YouTube rabbit hole, or binge-watch a new series. What do we really need? Exercise and time outside. The studies on mental health are too numerous to ignore. Spend less of your downtime in front of a screen and more time doing an outdoor activity.

Determine a realistic workload and delegate the rest. Consider this exercise my father did many years ago as an experiment at his church in St. Petersburg, Florida.

I gave a survey to the twelve deacons in the church (I jokingly said we had eleven good deacons and one Judas!). I listed several congregational responsibilities and asked them to share the minimum amount of time I should average in each area each week. I listed about twenty areas, but they were free to add other responsibilities to the blank lines.

I’m not sure exactly what I was anticipating. I just know that I was shocked when I tallied the results. In order to meet the minimum expectations of the deacons, I had to fulfill the following responsibilities each week:

-Prayer at the church: 14 hours

-Sermon preparation: 18 hours

-Outreach and evangelism: 10 hours

-Counseling: 10 hours

-Hospital and home visits: 15 hours

-Administrative functions: 18 hours

-Community involvement: 5 hours

-Denominational involvement: 5 hours

-Church meetings: 5 hours

-Worship services/preaching: 4 hours

-Other: 10 hours

Total: 114 hours per week

This simple exercise reveals a reality almost every pastor intuitively feels. You will never fulfill the minimum expectations of your church. There will always be someone (or many people!) who thinks you should spend more time in a particular area. What can you do? Set a reasonable weekly workload and delegate responsibilities as you train and equip your congregants. Will you please everyone? No, but trying to please everyone is precisely how compassion fatigue begins.

You should expect seasons of tiredness. All vocations produce them. But you can mitigate the problem of compassion fatigue in ministry.

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An Easy Formula to Evaluate Your Church’s Growth (or Decline)

I get it. Numbers are not everything. Indeed, numbers are not the most important thing.

But a balanced use of numbers can be helpful.

For example, I am frequently asked if churches are growing or declining in the United States since the 2020 pandemic. Church leaders have also asked me how they can evaluate their churches’ growth since 2020 as well.

While no numerical formula is perfect, I suggest church leaders look at this simple way of evaluating their churches’ growth or lack thereof.

Caveats

Before we look at the simple formula, we need to consider some fundamental issues when we evaluate a church’s growth:

No two churches are alike. The differences among churches are key factors in their potential to grow.The demographics of a church community are likewise unique. One church might be in a sparsely populated rural area; another could be in a densely populated urban or suburban location. The different demographic growth rates are also crucial in assessing a church’s growth. A church in an area with many new residents has a greater growth potential, all things being equal. Typically, people new to an area are more receptive to joining or visiting a church. We strongly encourage church leaders to do a yearly demographic and psychographic report on their communities (see our Know Your Community report).Another factor to consider is religious receptivity or gospel receptivity. For example, we have typically assigned lower receptivity to states in the Northwest, while Deep South areas have higher receptivity. However, I just finished a case study research project suggesting that the differences aren’t as significant as ten years ago.The Simple Formula

The formula we use to determine a post-pandemic growth rate is simply the church’s growth rate from 2019 (the last full pre-pandemic year) to the present. For example, if the church had an average worship attendance of 117 in 2019 and 122 today, the post-pandemic growth rate is 4.3% (122 – 117 = 5, then 5 ÷ 117 = 4.3%).

Okay, is 4.3% since 2019 good or bad? The United States population has grown 2.0% in that same period, so 4.3% is more than double the population growth rate. 

Many people, including church leaders, are not aware that the population of our nation is growing so slowly. In most cases, if your church has grown at all since 2019, your church is doing much better than average.

Based on the churches we have surveyed or consulted, over three-fourths of the congregations have declined since 2019. In a comparative sense, therefore, your church is in the top 25% if it has grown at all.

That Post-Pandemic Thing

A lot has been written about church health since the pandemic. Indeed, I am gathering data right now to delve into this matter with greater detail. Though we might think our growth rate is anemic and our churches are weak, your church might be doing better than you thought.

Indeed, if your church has gained average attendance since 2019, your church might be well above average.

I would love to hear from you about your church’s story. How much has your church grown or declined since 2019? 

Let me hear from you.

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