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Why Churches Move from Growth to Maintenance – Rainer on Leadership #273

Podcast Episode #273

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Maintenance mode can take over in any church regardless of its age or its size. Today, we discuss how to combat it and how to stay focused on the mission.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Regardless of the age or size of a church, the natural tendency is to turn inwardly focused.
Reversing the natural tendency of a church requires a supernatural response.
Churches often have too many activities because they won’t get rid of the ones that need to go.
Almost any time you try to stop doing something in a church you will meet resistance.
When you do something different that how a church has always done it, you will have conflict.
Strategy is implicit and explicit throughout Scripture.
There are very few times when culture is amenable to the church.
A church’s attitude has to turn around before the actions of the church will turn around.

The 11 reasons churches move from growth to maintenance are:

It is a natural tendency.
Too many activities (keeping the plates spinning).
Failure to kill programs and activities
Conflict
Lack of strategic leadership
Pet programs and preferences
Biblical drift
Excuses
Lack of faith
Lack of courage
Comfort


Episode Sponsors

Are you getting prepared for the changing ministry landscape? Get your Master of Divinity degree at Midwestern Seminary. The M.Div—Midwestern’s flagship degree program—is their 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 new culture of discipleship devoted to the local church and committed to taking God’s unchanging Word into a rapidly changing world. Join the movement today.

Find out more at mbts.edu/mdiv.

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.

Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.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 Who Moved My Pulpit?

Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast

I Am a Church Member

Eight Reasons Many Bible Belt Churches Are in Trouble

What a big difference a region makes.

Or use to make.

I served as pastor of four churches, and three of them were in the Bible Belt. One was not. It was my favorite.

The Bible Belt refers to that region of the southeastern and south-central United States where church attendance has been higher historically, and where biblical values are more closely aligned with cultural values.

But the buckle of the Bible Belt is coming off. That means the entire belt will soon fall off. And it is happening rapidly.

There are thousands of churches in the Bible Belt. Sadly, too many of them are not adjusting to the changing realities of the area. They still act like it’s 1975. Here’s why:

They don’t recognize the decline in cultural Christianity. They refuse to admit the world has changed around them. And they are often angered when someone suggests they make methodological and stylistic changes.
They have many “church rules.” The church rules could be related to attire worn on Sunday, or times of worship, or inconsequential polity issues. The point is they do things like they did 40 years ago, and wonder why those on the outside are not interested in their churches.
They have leaders who have never led in a highly unchurched mission field. Of course, the problem is that the mission field around them is growing increasingly unchurched. Birmingham and Nashville, in that regard, are looking more like Spokane and Boston.
They confuse traditions with truth. That is a dangerous reality. When our church members equate biblical teachings with some of the bylaws and processes of the church, the congregation is in big trouble.
They do outreach the way they’ve always done it. So if Tuesday night visitation was effective in 1975, it should be effective in 2016.
They have significant conflict due to frustration. A number of the leaders and members of these churches can’t understand why and how things have changed so much. They want their old church back, but it’s not coming back. Their frustration can lead to conflict that exacerbates their other problems.
They are very slow to respond. Their internal culture moves at a much slower pace than the community around them. If they do respond to an opportunity, they might be five years late. Or ten. Or twenty.
They have significant facility challenges. Many of these churches were built for one big crowd one day a week one hour a week. They might have old and dated education and recreation facilities as well. Some of them are in worship centers with a capacity multiple times their actual attendance. They can have significant unused space and deferred maintenance. A lot of their funds go to keep the lights on.

Many of you readers are in churches in the Bible Belt. I would love to hear your perspectives. Of course, I am always happy to hear from any of you who take time to read this blog.

Pray for Guymon Church of the Nazarene

Location: Guymon, Oklahoma

Pastor: Wayne Dawson

Weekly Worship: English Worship — 10:45 AM, Central; African Worship — 1:30 PM, Central

Fast Facts: Guymon Church of the Nazarene is a loving church with a heart for children and youth in the high plains of the Oklahoma Panhandle. Over the past few decades, Guymon has become a very culturally diverse town with more than 30 languages spoken, and the church is finding ways to reach and disciple its changing population. Please be in prayer for their upcoming Trunk or Treat event this week as well as the neighborhood showings of the Jesus film that they will be hosting. Also pray for the launch of their new youth service as well as the church’s renewed discipleship emphasis.

 

Website: GuymonNazarene.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: October 29, 2016

Eight Ways Pastors Can Cultivate Long-Term Tenures — Sam Rainer

Generally, long-term pastor tenures are better than short-term pastor tenures. The context where the pastor ministers can impact the tenure. The church body can impact the tenure. And the pastor can impact tenure length. Below are eight ways pastors can cultivate their own long-term tenures.

 

10 Tips for Leading Kids to Christ — Jason Allen

My greatest stewardship in life is not training a generation of students at Midwestern Seminary. It is training my five young children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. I feel the weight—and glory—of this stewardship daily and find immeasurable fulfillment and joy as I see my children taking steps toward Christ.

 

4 Ways Worship Leaders Can Serve Tech Volunteers Better — Ana Avila

No matter if you are very close or you barely know the tech guy (or gal) in your church, as a worship leader you can always find new ways to serve them – and with them – better. Here are four ideas, I hope they inspire you to always be seeking more.

 

5 Reasons for Pastors to Appreciate Their Church — Chris Hefner

October is pastor appreciation month. It is wonderful for pastors to know that their churches appreciate them. I’m grateful for every encouraging comment, card, and acknowledgement. But pastors are not alone in their need to be appreciated. Pastors should take the time and energy to appreciate their churches and church members.

 

6 Phrases Young Leaders Can Use to Build Trust — Art Rainer

For young leaders, building trust starts with incorporating a few phrases in their communication with team members. These phrases demonstrate respect for their team members, a foundational element for building trust.

 

7 Hints You’re About to Make a Bad Leadership Decision — Ron Edmondson

Thankfully, the longer I lead, the more I have developed some warning signs I’m about to make another. There are certain clues which help me pinpoint a potential bad move – even before I pull the trigger of decision.

 

Church Compensation Trends featuring William Vanderbloemen – Rainer on Leadership #272

Podcast Episode #272

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

Church compensation is always a hot topic of discussion, so on a recent trip through Nashville, William Vanderbloemen stopped in to discuss some new research and what he’s seeing right now in church search.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Large churches are starting to move toward merit-based bonus compensation for the senior pastor.
“It’s not helpful for everyone to know everything about the pastor’s compensation package.”
Outsourcing administrative staff is only going to increase in church offices.
“Churches are paying more money to fewer people on staff.”
“Children’s curriculum has outpaced the pipeline of qualified children’s ministers.”
Churches should spend their staffing money on ministerial roles, not administrative roles.
“Great student pastors can often make great children’s pastors.”
“Student ministry, like children’s ministry, is mostly about ministering to the parents and volunteers.”
The ownership and usage of parsonages is actually on the rise in churches.


Episode Sponsors

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.

Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.com.

Midwestern Seminary, one of the fastest growing seminaries in North America, exists to train leaders For The Church. The local church is God’s “Plan A” for the proclamation of the gospel, and there is no Plan B. And this is Midwestern’s vision and heartbeat—equipping pastors and other ministry leaders who are called to expand God’s mission in the world through the local church. At Midwestern Seminary: they train leaders ‘For The Church.’

Visit them online at MBTS.edu and start your ministry training today.

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 Who Moved My Pulpit?

Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast

Search
LeadNet.org/salary
eaHELP
BadHireCalculator.church
Uncontainable

Young Influencer List, October 2016

By Jonathan Howe

Once again, the goal with this list is not to inflate the egos of those named, but to make you, the readers of ThomRainer.com, aware of the dozens and dozens of Christian leaders who are advancing the gospel in their respective spheres of influence. And while some pundits may sit back and claim Christianity is declining or dying, these leaders are clearly making a statement that it will not happen on their watch. They are passionate about Christ Jesus, His gospel, and taking it to the ends of the earth. The qualifications are quite simple: under 40 and making a Kingdom difference.

So without further ado, here is this month’s young influencer list:

Jason Zellmer (@jasonzellmer) – Pastor of Peine Ridge Church, Wentzville, MO — In addition to his role as a pastor, Jason also co-founded PlantMidwest, a church-planting movement focused on Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Michigan, and Nebraska.
Jason Petty, A.K.A. Propaganda (@prophiphop) – Poet, Hip Hop Artist, and Emcee, Los Angeles, CA — I first saw Prop perform at Catalyst in 2011. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Amanda Bible Williams (@biblewilliams) – Chief Content Officer of She Reads Truth, Nashville, TN — Amanda helps run the wildly popular website SheReadsTruth.com. And, yes, that’s her real maiden name.
Matt Boswell (@MattBoswell) – Pastor of Ministries and Worship at Providence Church, Frisco, TX — Keep an eye out for Matt’s Advent hymns album coming in November.
Adam Thomason (@redrev) – Author and Speaker, Phoenix, AZ — Check out his latest book, Red Revolution.
Chasity Phillips (@chasityphillips) – Marketing Strategist for LifeWay Worship, Nashville, TN — Chasity leads the marketing efforts for LifeWay Worship.

Please continue to pray for these individuals and their ministries. If you’d like to nominate a young influencer for consideration, let me know on Twitter: @Jonathan_Howe or in the comments section below. For previous young influencer lists, click here.

Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter at @Jonathan_Howe.

Five Ways to Stop the Decline in Your Church

Is there any hope for our church?

Are we doomed to close the doors of this church after over a century in this community?

Those questions were two among many I received recently.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post that explained why churches are dying and declining faster today than historical norms. The article was more clinical and descriptive than hopeful and prescriptive.

I promised I would follow up with suggestions and advice. This article is that follow up.

You should read this next sentence very carefully. The solutions are not easy. In fact, they will be such a challenge that many church leaders and members will deem them impossible for their churches.

That will be a shame.

But if you are willing to make changes, to make sacrifices, and to get out of your comfort zones, there is real hope.

Allow me to explain by repeating the five challenges in the form of questions followed by my answers.

How do we replace those who used to attend for cultural reasons? Cultural Christianity is indeed declining rapidly. People no longer feel they have to attend church just to be accepted in the community. The easier growth is gone. That means you have to reach out into the community to those who are clearly not believers. A first step might be for everyone to make a commitment to invite one person to church on one particular day (We have our own resource for this approach if you are interested. It is called “Invite Your One”). People are usually amazed how many people will attend if you simply invite them. Such a day, if done well, can be a spark for new and innovative outreach into your community.
How do we replace the Builder generation? This older generation, born before 1946, has been intensely loyal to the institutional church. But they are declining in number rapidly. Another 13,000 Builders die every week. You might try something a bit radical. Go to the leadership of a church in your area that is reaching Millennials and Gen Xers. Ask them if they would allow two younger couples to be missionaries to your church for a year. They will offer ideas how to reach their generation. But you must be willing to listen to them and to act on many of their ideas.
How do we replace all the people who have left to go to larger towns and cities? There is no escaping the reality that many churches are in declining communities. But I challenge you to look at the real numbers around you. With few exceptions, most small communities have hundreds of people not in church. Look at the data for your community to see how many unchurched people are near you (I like to use PerceptGroup.com to get this information). Stop the defeatist attitude. Form a prayer group to ask God to give you wisdom about Great Commission obedience. He may surprise you with His answers.
How do we respond to the rapid transfers from our church? People are less likely to stick with a church due to institutional loyalty than in the past. Here is a painful exercise to consider. Select a few of your church members to meet with everyone who left your church for another in the community the past two years. Ask them why they left. Then consider what your church can do differently to keep people in the church.
How do we respond more quickly to the changes all around us? Let go of your personal preferences. Stop fighting over issues such as music style, times of worship, dress codes, and others. Talk to leaders and members of other churches that have embraced change without compromising doctrine. Be willing to let go of your agenda and see what God will do.

I told you these are not easy solutions. But, if your church is one that is experiencing a greater rate of decline, something must change. Be prayerful. Be courageous. And be obedient.

Four Commitments Every Church Member Must Make – Rainer on Leadership #271

Podcast Episode #271

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

Zechariah 4 serves as the textual basis for today’s discussion on being a biblical church member.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

A healthy church is nothing more or nothing less than healthy church members.
The New Testament is clear that believers are to be a part of a local church.
When someone is struggling with change in the church, the first thing you do is treat them pastorally.
The reality for many churches is “change or die.”
No matter the size of the church, whether big or small, we all serve a big God.
“Building the House of God” means having a witness that reaches those who don’t yet know Christ.
As a church gets busier, the two things that get neglected most are prayer and evangelism.
Don’t make anyone else the scapegoat for your evangelistic weakness.

The four commitments church members must make are:

I will wake up to reality.
I will seek God, not my preferences.
I will believe God can overcome all obstacles.
I will build the house of God.


Episode Sponsors

Are you getting prepared for the changing ministry landscape? Get your Master of Divinity degree at Midwestern Seminary. The M.Div—Midwestern’s flagship degree program—is their 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 new culture of discipleship devoted to the local church and committed to taking God’s unchanging Word into a rapidly changing world. Join the movement today.

Find out more at mbts.edu/mdiv.

Vanderbloemen Search Group is the premier pastor search firm dedicated to helping churches and ministries build great teams. They’ve helped hundreds of churches just like yours find their church staff and are uniquely geared to help you discern who God is calling to lead your church.

Find out more about Vanderbloemen Search Group by visiting WeStaffTheChurch.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 Who Moved My Pulpit?

Resources Mentioned in Today’s Podcast

I Am a Church Member
I Will
50 States + Canada Virtual Tour

Six Reasons Congregational Singing Is Waning

Please be nice.

This blog has several million viewers every year, and many of them are not believers. They are watching your interaction with one another.

I know I am touching on several sensitive subjects in one post: the loudness of music; lighting in the worship center; music preferences; and performance versus participatory singing.

But here is the clear reality in many congregations: congregational singing is waning in many churches. In some churches it seems to have disappeared altogether.

I will try to discuss this reality from a dispassionate perspective, at least for the most part. And I don’t consider myself the expert in this area, so I asked the guru of church worship, Mike Harland, to help me understand some of the technical decisions we make.

Ultimately, though, this blog is my own, and I take full responsibility for its content. What then are the primary reasons fewer people are singing in church? Why has that act of worship before God become nominal in so many contexts? Here are six reasons:

Some church members do not prepare themselves for worship. We come to judge, to check off an obligation, or to go through the motions of a habit. We have not prayed for God to do a work in us through the worship. If we do not have a song in our heart, we will not have a song in our mouths.
We don’t know the songs. We sing the songs we know. That is obvious. But if we are introduced to a steady influx of new songs without sufficient time to learn them, we don’t participate. The best congregational singing includes both the familiar and the new, but the worship leaders teach the new songs until we know them and love them.
The songs are not sung in a range where we can participate. Many trained musicians have a wider range in which they can sing. Most of the rest of us don’t. If we are expected to sing in a range that is beyond our ability, we won’t try. Worship leaders make the decision, intentionally or not, if they want to lead the congregation or perform for the audience.
The lighting communicates performance rather than participation. We participate in singing when we can hear each other and see each other. If the lighting for the congregation is low, but it is bright for the platform, we are communicating that a performance is taking place. We thus fail to communicate that the worship by singing should include everyone present.
The music is too loud to hear others in the congregation. There have been quite a few comments at this blog about the right decibel levels for music in a worship service. The greater issue, however, is whether we can hear others. If we hear the voices of others, we are encouraged to join in. If the music is so loud that we only can hear ourselves, most of us will freak out. And we will then be silent.
The worship leaders are not listening to the congregation. If worship leaders truly desire to lead the congregation in singing, they must be able to hear the congregation. Some can only hear the instrumentation and platform voices from the monitors. And some have ear monitors where they are truly blocking the voices of the congregation. Congregational singing becomes powerful when it is well led. And it can only be well led if the worship leaders can hear those they are leading.

Your own perspective about this issue may be one where you really don’t care if the congregation can be heard singing. But if the desire is truly to lift all the voices before God, some things will need to change.

Now it’s your turn to comment. Be kind. Be gentle. Be Christlike.

Pray for Blendville Christian Church

Location: Joplin, Missouri

Pastor: Luke Cole

Weekly Worship: 10:30 AM, Central

Fast Facts: Blendville Christian Church began as a “mission Sunday School class” in 1912. Formally organized in 1915, it became the largest Independent Christian Church in the late 70’s and early 80’s with more than 600 worshipers each week. After that, the church went into decline for about 25 years until the 2011 tornado that ravaged Joplin, MO. Since then, the focus has changed to reach out and minister to the community.

They have seen an other dramatic change toward reaching the younger generation of adults and the next generation of kids and teenagers by offering block parties in their neighborhood. Please pray for their annual Trunk or Treat on October 31 and for the opportunities they will have to connect with neighbors and others from the community. Finally, pray for continued unity around and toward their revitalization vision and mission and for a continued burden for lost people.

Website: BlendvilleChristian.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..