Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 216

Notable Voices: October 22, 2016

5 Business Books for Pastors — Eric Geiger

If a pastor can more easily describe a marketing guru’s social media philosophy than clearly articulate the story of the Bible, I am concerned for the health of his soul and church. At the same time, the Lord does teach us through common grace, and leadership/business books contain observations of how people are organized and led.

 

8 Reasons Why Pastors Should Not Leave Their Church for the Same Reasons Members Do — Josh Buice

Let’s face it, there are some good and necessary reasons to leave a church. If the church is preaching heresy or condoning worldliness, it might be time to part fellowship. However, before packing your bags and moving on, you might want to consider some of the really bad reasons people choose to leave their church. Don’t follow their example.

 

6 Things Church Leaders Need to Know About Small Churches — Karl Vaters

Ninety percent of the churches on earth are under 200 people. Eighty percent are under 100. There may be no segment of the church that is more normative. But they may also be the most misunderstood.

 

4 Times Spurgeon Was Almost Assassinated — Christian George

Spurgeon was almost stabbed with a knife, killed by cholera, bludgeoned with a stick, crushed by a boulder, hung from the neck, and blown up by a bomb. It is a remarkable testament to the providence of God that Spurgeon outlived his life expectancy by seventeen years (he was only promised forty years of life when he was born on June 19, 1834).

 

Autopsy of a Financially Deceased Church — Art Rainer

I have seen many churches in financial distress. It is a sad situation to witness. They are worried how they will pay their staff. They are worried how they will pay their bills. The ability to do ministry has dwindled. And they are not sure how they got to this place.

 

How Ministry Transitions Affect the Pastor’s Wife: 5 Questions to Answer — Kathy Litton

From transitioning ministry opportunities, to transitioning ministry styles, to church revitalization, the pastor’s wife often feels like the driftwood caught in a roiling tide. While her pastor husband may discuss things with her, any changes of ministry direction are usually beyond her control. The results, however, may directly affect her in negative ways. I encourage any pastor who God is leading to lead in a transitional situation to consider these ways in which your wife may be affected.

 

Multi-Level Marketing in the Church and Other Listener Questions – Rainer on Leadership #270

Podcast Episode #270

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

We cover listener questions on a host of topics including multi-level marketing in the church—something we’ve never really discussed on the podcast or blog.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Fellow church members should not be seen as targets for multi-level marketing and sales.
One of the worst things an associate pastor can do is become disloyal to the pastor.
Pastors should get over the idea that they should only be working in the office.
It takes intentionality to build relationships with non-Christians.
Church leaders should prescribe curriculum or curriculum choices to their groups.
You have to be intentional about training small group leaders.
It’s always easier to connect training to weekly worship service times because people are already on campus.

The five topics we cover in the questions are:

Multi-level marketing and sales in the church
Leading from the second chair
Building relationships with non-Christians
Helping members financially
Selecting groups curriculum and training leaders


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

Leading from the Second Chair podcast episode with Brad Waggoner

Questions covered on today’s podcast

From Matt

Within all of the churches I have been a part of there is the issue of the attending salesmen. It could be a member who has an insurance company, owns a mechanic shop or sells Avon. Often I have an impression or an overt request, that because the members offer goods and services it is expected that everyone within the church “network” use their product. What is the best course of action for leaders and congregants to take, especially if one would rather use other sources for the same product?

From Eric

I am a young pastor and I am only in my fourth year of full-time ministry as the associate pastor in our church. I have tried to move slowly in creating change and I have done my best to be sensitive to the feelings of our congregation when the need for change arises, but they often see me as nothing more than a young pastor who just wants to change for the sake of change. (We even have one member who refuses to refer to me as anything other than “little boy.”) Our senior pastor is a gifted preacher and well-known within our convention for his gifts in preaching, but he is, as he so often reminds me, not an administrator. I have read book after book on leadership and change (including Who Moved My Pulpit?), but I do not want to overstep my boundaries in my role as an associate pastor. So, my question is. . . How do I lead from what is seen as a lesser position? What can a young pastor, like myself, do to be seen as a leader despite the title of “associate”?

From Michael

What suggestions do you have for ways that busy pastors can better connect with non-Christians in the local community?

From Joe

This question may not fit your show or it may be too specific but I would love to hear Dr. Rainer’s thoughts on how involved should a pastor get in the life of a person who is struggling in their congregation. We have a person seriously struggling financially and I have felt this burden like I need to do something or say something to them but then I also feel like I need to be careful that I don’t overstep my appropriate bounds and arrogantly act like I know how to fix them.

From Mark

Hi Thom, I am a pastor of a very small church. I just read the chapter on Home Groups in your book “I will.” I wholeheartedly agree. The philosophy of our “denomination” is to teach through the Bible Verse by Verse. I want to make sure that our home group(s) are very Biblically centered to inspire people to apply it to their lives instead of people just getting more theological information. Do you have any ideas on what material to use? There have been suggestions about doing some sort of an Inductive Bible Study with the group. There are some who would want that, others may shy away from that due to the “homework” involved. How to I bring in material that would help both types of people? Our church is so small (40 adults for Sunday Morning Worship) that we would only have one group. Thanks and God bless!

Five Ways for Churches to Utilize Facebook This Christmas

By Jonathan Howe

Yes, I realize it’s not yet November, and I’m writing about Christmas. But I’m not advocating to erect a manger scene in the front yard or to begin playing Christmas music around the house.

This post is about planning for Christmas. Hopefully your church already has a plan in place for your Christmastime services this year. With Christmas Day falling on a Sunday, some churches will alter their regular schedules, and some won’t. But how can you leverage your church Facebook page to engage as many people as possible with the good news of the birth of Christ? Here are five simple ways:

Switch to Christmas-Themed Facebook Images. Simply change your header and Facebook profile picture to promote your church’s Christmas theme. With the new image locations on Facebook pages, your entire header image now can be used to promote dates and times of your major Christmastime events and services. These slight image changes will help draw attention to the events your church is hosting at Christmas.
Use Facebook Events for Church-wide Christmas Events. If your church is having a cantata, a special night of caroling, a birthday party for Jesus, a Christmas Eve service, or a special Christmas Day service, set up a Facebook event for the event. Invite core leaders in the church that are involved in the event and ask them to share the event on their Facebook profile as well. This is a great way to promote church events to those in the community for free.
Utilize Facebook Advertising. Facebook ads and promoted posts are the best way for you to inform your local community about church functions. Unchurched neighbors, friends, and acquaintances are the most receptive to an invite to a church event during the holiday season. Use this to your advantage and promote what your church is offering during the holiday season. Even a limited budget can be effective when you select your target audience wisely.
Stream Events or Parts of Events on Facebook Live. Does one of your small groups or Sunday school classes go caroling every year? Send someone with them and stream the caroling using Facebook Live. Consider streaming dress rehearsals of your Christmas cantata over Facebook Live. Do you host a living nativity? Stream the setup and preparation or even the actual event to help promote it. With all that is going on around churches at Christmastime, there are likely to be several opportunities for you to use Facebook Live.
Share Images for Advent Devotions. You can create simple images for each advent theme (Hope, Peace, Joy, and Love) and post them to Facebook. These serve as great reminders of the coming Christ and will encourage your church members to live out those themes daily. Bonus: If you’re looking for a book to use as an advent guide, The Expected One is a great resource to consider.

We are less than 10 weeks from Christmas and less than six weeks until the beginning of Advent. You still have plenty of time to plan for the Christmas season. I encourage you to consider how you can use each of these five examples to help your church reach more people in your community as you celebrate the birth of Christ.

Does your church already use any of these? What else does your church do on Facebook for Christmas?

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.

Twelve Key Reasons for Church Staff Conflict

My email inbox is full of these stories.

Messages to me via social media hit this topic too frequently.

There is a lot of church staff conflict out there.

To be clear, conflict exists in all relationships. And when I use the phrase “church staff,” I am referring to all who serve in vocational ministry at a local church, including the pastor. Conflict is certainly not unique with church staff. But among the several reasons for staff conflict, there are some that seem to be more pervasive with these relationships than others. Here are twelve of them.

Many church staff persons are woefully trained in leadership and relational skills. Pastors often have superb theological training but they have never led people nor have they been trained to do so. Other church staff have similar backgrounds.
Often the church staff involved did not have a role in selecting their team. The pastor inherits a staff. The staff have no say in the selection of the pastor. A search committee did not ask the pastor for any input for the selection of the worship pastor. These are some examples where church staff members feel that a team member has been forced upon them.
The chemistry among the staff is bad. It can happen in all relationships. Church staff members are not exempt.
The priorities among the staff are not aligned. I am seeing this reality more frequently. Failure to align is a guarantee for failure to move forward.
There is jealousy and insecurity. I recently heard from a worship pastor who decided to leave the church because the new pastor was so insecure and jealous of the relationships the worship pastor had developed over several years before the pastor arrived.
There is clear insubordination. Here is an excerpt from an email a pastor sent me. The communication was from the worship pastor to the pastor: “I am going to lead the worship service the way I want to lead it, and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Church staff have formed unhealthy alliances. Different alliances within the church, both formal and informal, often develop around specific church staff. It can feel akin to hostile political parties always seeking to win their way.
Communication is poor. The staff do not spend time together sufficiently in either formal or informal settings. The pastor decides to lead down a certain path, but he has not gotten buy-in from others on the team. They may not even know about it.
There are work ethic divergences. One staff person works 60 hours a week. Another works 30 hours a week. But they are considered peers with similar pay. Resentment is likely to build.
The staff spend time pointing blame at each other. Obviously, such actions are terrible for relationships. They are destructive rather than constructive.
Solutions are frustrated or thwarted. The pastor goes to the personnel committee to seek help dealing with an insubordinate and lazy student pastor. The personnel committee refuses to support the pastor because any proposed solutions “would not be the Christian thing to do.”
There is a consistent lack of appreciation. One of the key ways to promote church staff unity is to show appreciation. One of the key ways to promote church staff disunity is never to show appreciation.

I often write about the negative realities of church life because too many church staff members and church members are unwilling to admit them. But I have a greater purpose. It is my desire to uncover these challenges so we can know exactly what we can do to be redemptive and unifying to bring glory to God through these important relationships.

Pastors and Writing with Jared C. Wilson – Rainer on Leadership #269

Podcast Episode #269

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

Jared Wilson joins us today to talk about how writing informs blogging and vice versa as well as what it’s like to go from pastoring in one of the most-churched states in America to one of the least-churched.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

The way people consume content online has really changed over the past 10-15 years.
“I would rather have my preaching drive the way I blog than the way I blog drive my preaching.”
“Sermons need to be driven by a text; blogposts don’t.”
“The blog world is a great place to test drive content and process how you think about a topic.”
“The downside of being on the front end of something is that you don’t really know what you’re doing.”
“I was in a place in New England where people weren’t Christians and knew they weren’t.”
“Be patient enough that you’re not pushing people, but leading them.”
“You find what a church’s idols are by changing things.”

About Jared C. Wilson:

Jared C. Wilson is the Director of Content Strategy for Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and Managing Editor of For The Church, Midwestern’s site for gospel-centered resources.

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

The Gospel-Driven Church
jaredcwilson.com
Gospel Wakefulness

The Seven Deadly Sins of Church Announcements

Have you ever had a cringe moment listening to church announcements?

Most of you are probably nodding your head affirmatively.

So what are the biggest factors in bad church announcements? Here are seven of the deadliest:

Not beginning on time. Most church announcements precede the worship service. If they begin late, the entire service is thrown out of kilter.
Not being scripted. It is best for the person making announcements to have a verbatim script that he or she has rehearsed. For the more accomplished speakers, detailed notes are a minimum.
Going too long. Announcements should be crisp, clear, and brief. Don’t take time away from prayer, music, and preaching in the worship service.
Trying to be funny. Church announcements are not the place to try your infamous humor. And don’t try to tell jokes. You will go too long and the jokes will probably fall flat.
Speaking in code. Here is an example of an announcement made in code: “The MYPL will meet in Santuck 183 instead of their regular place. If you have any questions, you can ask Dorothy who will be at her usual spot after the service.” Here is a clear test to make sure you aren’t speaking in code: Could a first-time guest understand exactly what you are saying if they knew nothing about your church?
Asking others for information in the announcements. Have you ever been in a church service where the person making announcements says something like these words: “Hey, Jim, how long do you think your meeting will last on Monday night?” Cringe moment. Awkward moment. Bad announcements.
Taking personal privilege. I once spoke at a church where the man making announcements decided “to take a moment of personal privilege.” He then proceeded to tell us about his double hernia surgery, and how grateful he was for the prayers. He even got choked up and had to pause for an interminable moment. Don’t get me wrong. The sentiment was nice. And hernias are nothing to laugh about. Especially double hernias. But the announcements were really not the place and time for his comments.

Some churches are avoiding the “announcements risk” by eliminating them altogether. Instead they are keeping announcements confined to the newsletter, website, emails, or texts. Other churches have video announcements, either recorded in house or by an outside firm.

What are your experiences on church announcements? I would love to hear from you.

Pray for First Baptist Church of Coffeyville

Location: Coffeyville, Kansas

Pastor: Dr. J. Dean McNamara

Weekly Worship: 10:45 AM, Central

Fast Facts: First Baptist Church has a long history as one of the largest churches in Coffeyville. However, the church has suffered at least two splits in its history. This has affected the reputation of the church in its community. However, under the leadership of pastor McNamara, FBC of Coffeyville has been blessed with double-digit growth in membership during 2014, 2015, and again in 2016. Please pray for the on-going personal evangelism in the church and for urgency from the membership to share Christ with their neighbors, friends, and loved ones. Also pray for God to revive this church and to draw them closer to Him, and to give them His strength to reach out to the lost all around them with the love and grace of Jesus Christ.

Website: CoffeyvilleFBC.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: October 15, 2016

3 Major Downsides of a Busy Church Calendar — Eric Geiger

Many church leaders have wisely encouraged people to slow down, not to sign up for every sport, and not to commit to every extracurricular activity. Ironically, and painfully so, is that many churches don’t follow their own counsel. So while many church leaders have bemoaned the busyness in their communities, they have failed to bemoan the busyness in their churches.

 

5 Things to Do During the First Month as a Church Social Media Manager — Darrel Girardier

You want to have immediate wins and show your church the importance of social media. Yet, it can all seem overwhelming. So where do you start? Do you start publishing content? Do you set a Hootsuite account? The possibilities are endless when it comes to what you should during your first month.

 

Why Millennials Won’t Build the Kinds of Churches their Parents Built — Karl Vaters

Millennials won’t build the kinds of churches their parents and grandparents built. I don’t know what kinds of churches they will build, but they’ll be very different than what we’ve been used to in the last two generations. Here’s why.

 

5 Significant Signs You’ve Stopped Growing as a Leader — Carey Nieuwhof

Sadly, too many leaders stop growing long before they stop leading. When that happens, they become leaders in title only. So, in the hopes of staying fresh, alive and vibrant as leaders, here are 5 significant signs ls you’ve stopped growing.

 

The Pastor’s Facebook Feed — Lauren Hunter

While other articles might address your church’s public Facebook page, this article is about the pastor’s personal Facebook page. We all know that ministry is really intimate work; while in some professions you’d never friend your boss or co-workers on the big FB, as pastors, connecting with your parishioners via your personal Facebook page is needed, and even required, to be authentic in your church community and in the lives of the people you aim to serve.

 

The Disciple-Making Parent — David Murray

The Great Commission is a call for followers of Jesus Christ to reach out to our world, to our towns, and to our neighborhoods. But, in the Great Commission there is also a call to make disciples in our own families.

 

Five Reasons to Have Multiple Styles of Worship – Rainer on Leadership #268

Podcast Episode #268

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

We conclude our two-part series on multiple styles of worship in today’s episode. If you missed part one on why you shouldn’t have multiple styles of worship (Episode 267), you can listen to it here.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Overall, I am more for a singular style of worship at a church than multiple styles.
Most communities do not have an abundance of musicians, which makes multiple worship styles difficult.
Most of the time, we change worship styles by default, by accident, or by crisis.
Don’t presume one style that is in style is the style for the style of the day.
The demographics and psychographics of an area might call for a style of worship that might surprise your church.
Treating one style of worship service in your church as a step child will cause division and conflict.

The five reasons to have multiple worship styles are:

It is absolutely necessary for the unity of the church.
You truly have multiple types of congregations.
You have an abundance of different types of musicians.
It is a part of a prayerful and well-thought strategy.
There is a strong effort and intentionality to avoid the stepchild syndrome.


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

Percept Group

Six Thoughts on Bulletin Inserts

By Jonathan Howe

In the comments section of last week’s post on dying practices in church communications, an astute reader mentioned bulletin inserts.

While I wouldn’t classify this as a dying practice, there are some concerns with bulletin inserts. However, since every church bulletin/worship guide/handout is different, sometimes there are benefits to bulletin inserts. And sometimes there are problems with the inserts.

Let me start with the merits of having one or two specific bulletin inserts:

They can help draw attention to special events or giving opportunities. This past week in my denomination was Global Hunger Sunday. Special offerings were collected in churches across the country. One way this was accomplished was through special envelopes which were inserted into bulletins. These special envelopes drew attention to the emphasis and undoubtedly led to greater giving.
Pages for sermon notes are more portable when inserted. Some churches print the notes on the back page of the bulletin. Others offer a blank page for note taking. Some churches offer nothing at all. But the most common practice is to have a half-page insert in the bulletin with the sermon notes on it. Attendees can then file the note pages away for later reference.
Loose connection cards are more likely to be filled out. If you want guests to fill out connection cards, make them simple, freestanding cards that can be inserted into bulletins. The less work guests have to go through to fill out and turn in these cards, the more likely they are to do so.

And now, the down side of having multiple bulletin inserts:

They can create clutter. When there are multiple inserts, there are multiple opportunities for more trash to be left on seats. If you have multiple services, you likely have to sweep the sanctuary to clean up the leftover inserts after every service.
They are often wasted. Like announcements, if the inserts don’t apply to the majority of the church, they will likely be ignored. All the work, time, and expense that go into a bulletin insert need to have a payoff. If the insert gets ignored, you’ve wasted valuable time, energy, and money.
They lessen the importance of special announcements. If you never have a bulletin insert and all of the sudden there is one, it stands out. People take notice and understand that insert is important. If there are four or five inserts every week, nothing stands out. An added insert becomes just another piece of paper and the impact is lost.

Your church ultimately has to decide which is best for you, but I would suggest limiting inserts to as few as possible.

Does your church have multiple bulletin inserts? Do you have too many? Could you do away with some?

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.