Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 277

Six Keys for Reaching Millennials in Established Churches – Rainer on Leadership #101

Podcast Episode #101

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We get questions from listeners every day for advice and with suggested podcast topics. Recently, a question about Millennials stood out so we used it to jump into our discussion in this episode about reaching Millennials. Doug asked:

What is being done or what should be done to broaden the scope of age to bring younger leaders to the table and therefore inspire them to invest more, be devoted and committed to promoting initiatives that we say we believe will change the world for Christ?

Some highlights from the episode include:

Anyone who is intentional about reaching others for Christ will reach more than those who are not. Intentionality is a must.
Churches need to understand that Millennials have different views than previous generations on social issues.
When Millennials look at a potential church, ministries and opportunities for their kids are major deciding factors.
If you want to reach a generation who cares about their children, the church must care about their children as well.
Millennials want to have intentional mentors to come along beside them.
Churches must offer Millennials opportunities to serve and to lead. Don’t make them “wait their turn.”
If your church is relying on the worship style or architecture to reach Millennials, you’re relying on the wrong thing.

The six keys for churches to reach Millennials are:

Be intentional in engaging & understanding them
Be authentic
Offer ministries for their family and children
Offer to mentor them
Offer opportunities for them to serve and to lead.
Have a presence in the community.

Episode Sponsor

This podcast was brought to you by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary’s Doctor of Ministry program. If you want more out of your ministry, want to study with a world-class faculty and need to stay where you currently serve, the DMin at Southeastern is the answer for you. Visit SEBTS.EDU/DMIN for more information.

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 Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

The Millennials
The Millennials Podcast featuring Jess Rainer

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Fifteen Reasons Our Churches Are Less Evangelistic Today

By almost any metric, the churches in our nation are much less evangelistic today than they were in the recent past. In my own denomination, we are reaching non-Christians only half as effectively as we were 50 years ago (we measure membership to annual baptisms). The trend is disturbing.

We certainly see the pattern in the early church where “every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). In too many of our churches today, the congregations are reaching no one for Christ in the course of an entire year.

The Poll

I conducted an unscientific Twitter poll recently to see what church leaders and church members thought of this trend, My specific question was: “Why do you think many churches aren’t as evangelistic as they once were?”

The responses arrived quickly and in great numbers, both in public tweets and in direct messages to me. Indeed, I was still receiving responses four days after I sent my Twitter question.

The Results

The response was highly informative for me. Here are the top fifteen responses listed in order of frequency:

Christians have no sense of urgency to reach lost people.
Many Christians and church members do not befriend and spend time with lost persons.
Many Christians and church members are lazy and apathetic.
We are more known for what we are against than what we are for.
Our churches have an ineffective evangelistic strategy of “you come” rather than “we go.”
Many church members think that evangelism is the role of the pastor and paid staff.
Church membership today is more about getting my needs met rather than reaching the lost.
Church members are in a retreat mode as culture becomes more worldly and unbiblical.
Many church members don’t really believe that Christ is the only way of salvation.
Our churches are no longer houses of prayer equipped to reach the lost.
Churches have lost their focus on making disciples who will thus be equipped and motivated to reach the lost.
Christians do not want to share the truth of the gospel for fear they will offend others. Political correctness is too commonplace even among Christians.
Most churches have unregenerate members who have not received Christ themselves.
Some churches have theological systems that do not encourage evangelism.
Our churches have too many activities; they are too busy to do the things that really matter.

So What Is the Solution?

I received hundreds of responses to this poll. There is obviously widespread concern about the lack of evangelism in our churches and among Christians.

First, let me hear what you think of these responses. Second, and more importantly, offer some solutions to the challenges. Make certain those solutions include what you can do as much as what they should do. I look forward to hearing from you.

photo credit: people talking in paris via photopin (license)

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Pray for Providence Wesleyan Church

Location: Summerville, South Carolina

Pastor: Wayne Otto

Weekly Worship: 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM Eastern.

Fast Facts: Providence Wesleyan Church is a growing church church plant of about 200 that will be two-years old on Easter. Providence is located on the outer rim of Charleston, SC, in an area that is rapidly growing. Their mission is to help people discover that they are Here On Purpose and their strategic Vision is to plant 50 churches over the next 10 years. The exciting news is they already have their second church planter on the ground and developing a launch team before their second birthday. Residuum Church will have a soft launch the day Providence celebrates turning two. They have two more planters preparing to launch as well and are trying to establish a multi-ethnic church in a setting where churches have traditionally been segregated. Please pray for the upcoming soft launch of their church plant, Residuum Church. Also pray for the continued growth and unity of Providence Wesleyan.

Website: JeansJavaJesus.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..

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Notable Voices: February 21, 2015

The Difference between a “Can Do” Church and a “Can’t Do” Church — Sam Rainer

Attitude and outlook are important factors for churches. Negative attitudes and pessimistic outlooks do not foster the growth opportunities like a positive attitude and optimistic outlook do.

 

Is Your Church a Landmark or a Lighthouse? — Danny Franks

Churches focused on their community are lighthouses. A church focused on itself is a landmark. Which is yours church?

 

Best 400+ Online Resources For Pastoral Ministry — David Murray

David’s compilations include some of the best resources available for pastors. This list is no exception.

 

9 Thoughts on Receiving and Responding to Criticism — Chris Hefner

Chris provides a helpful framework for handling criticism and how to respond when needed.

 

Biggest Mistakes Preachers Make #3 – Not Preaching to the People Present — Peter Mead

This is Peter’s third part of the series. In it, he explains the importance of preaching to the group gathered with you.

 

Pastor, Don’t Let One Critic Control Your Preaching — Paul Tautges

This is a common issue with many pastors. A vociferous critic causes you to rethink your sermons or your wording to avoid their criticisms. Paul encourages pastors to please God with their sermons, not avoid the criticism of men.

 

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Pastoral Longevity, featuring Mike Glenn – Rainer on Leadership #100

Podcast Episode #100

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Recording this podcast is one of the highlights of my week. And it’s hard to believe we have made it to episode #100. Thanks to you, the listeners, for making this possible. To celebrate the occasion, we invited my pastor, Mike Glenn, to be our guest for this episode.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

The role of the pastor is not to come in with a vision, it’s to give birth to the vision God has already given to the church.
Transformation doesn’t happen in a microwave oven. It’s a slow, deliberate process.
Big visions are realized through small steps.
There’s something about all of us together that reveals the greatness of God that can’t be realized individually.
Too many pastors end up being David in Saul’s armor.
We live in a time when the ministry often has to come before the message.
Hire slowly. Make sure when you hire someone that they match your culture and DNA.

About Mike Glenn

Mike Glenn is a graduate of Samford University and Southern Seminary. He’s pastored churches in South Carolina and Tennessee and became the pastor of Brentwood Baptist Church in 1991. Under his leadership, the church has grown to a membership of over 9,000 and now has a total five campuses. He and his wife of 34 years, Jeannie, have two adult sons.

Episode Sponsor

This week’s podcast is brought to you by Pastors Today. This weekly newsletter provides pastors with resources and information from around the web written specifically for pastors. For more information and to subscribe, visit lifeway.com/pastorstoday.

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 Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

Brentwood Baptist Church
The Deaf Church
Middle Tennessee Initiative
Mike Glenn Online
Kairos

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12 Reasons Why Church Leaders Don’t Delegate

By Chuck Lawless

I admit it – I don’t delegate responsibilities as much as I should. In my attempts to do better, though, I’ve tried to learn from others who share the same struggle. Based on my own experiences and these informal interviews, here are twelve reasons for church leaders not delegating.

We base our worth on results. If our organization does well, we look better; if not so well, the failure hits at the core of our being. When we base our value on the success of the organization we lead, seldom do we delegate responsibility to others. It’s simply too risky to do so.
We don’t really believe the Body of Christ imagery in 1 Corinthians 12. If God puts the Body together as He wishes, He knows which person should play each role. We deny that truth when we choose to play the role of every part of the Body – either by doing it all ourselves or by following to “clean up” what others have done.
We have never seen good delegation modeled. We struggle because no one ever delegated anything to us as we sought to learn ministry. No leader trained us, trusted us, and held us accountable. Instead, our own role models did the work themselves, and we’ve followed faithfully in their steps.
We suffer from “idolatry of the self.” What else can we call it if we believe (1) no one can do it better than we can, and thus (2) no one else should do it? We may explain it as our simply “sacrificing all for God’s glory,” but it’s really nothing more than self-idolatry.
We don’t have time or energy to train others. Training is time-consuming. It’s messy. It’s risky. Rather than take that chance, it’s just easier to do it all ourselves and cloak our efforts under “the urgency of the gospel.”
We like control. Let’s face it: with every person we train and release, we move one step away from controlling everything under our watch. Anything out of our control creates stress and anxiety, so it’s better on us not to delegate.
We have had bad experience with delegation. We’ve tried delegation, but our past stories are defeating. We spent so much time cleaning up messes that it’s just easier to avoid the mess in the first place.
We have no system in place to help believers determine their giftedness. Because few churches have a clear strategy to help believers recognize how God might use them, we have no clearinghouse to help us trust delegating to others. How can we delegate to people whose lives we don’t know?
Our churches don’t always see the need. “After all,” they say, “that’s why we hire staff.” The congregation that thinks that way may see delegation as shirking responsibility or indicating laziness. The church leader with little patience to change this mindset will likely succumb to the congregation’s wishes not to delegate – or leave.
We fear others will do better (and perhaps get the glory). No one wants to admit this possibility, but some of us wrestle with this thinking. If others do better than we do, it seems we diminish our own role and responsibility. Few people really want to delegate themselves out of a job.
We do not see the vast needs of the world. It’s easy to hold on to everything when the full scope of our ministry is only our church and perhaps our community. Multiply those needs by the 2 billion people in the world who have little exposure to the gospel, however, and the need to delegate becomes obvious. Unless we multiply ourselves by training and delegation, we will not make a dent in that darkness.
We don’t pray enough for laborers. Jesus – our Lord, who Himself delegated the work of the kingdom to a bunch of nobodies – taught us to pray for more laborers even as we work in the fields (Luke 10:1-2). If we truly prayed like Jesus taught us, we would need to be prepared and willing to share the workload with others.

What other causes for failing to delegate do you see?

Chuck Lawless currently serves as Professor of Evangelism and Missions and Dean of Graduate Studies at Southeastern Seminary. You can connect with Dr. Lawless on both Twitter and Facebook.

photo credit: Floyd Abrams by David Shankbone via photopin (license)

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Is It Time to Rethink Church Business Meetings?

It is unwise to assume all churches do things the same way. I certainly know that the readership of this blog includes leaders from tens of thousands of different churches. Even within the same denomination, there are countless different approaches to church practices.

Such is certainly the case with church business meetings. You may be in a congregation that does not have any business meetings. But if you are in a church with these meetings, please stay with me through the remainder of this post.

The Questions

I have been observing churches for decades. And I have been observing how many congregations conduct and utilize church business meetings. This process has led me to ask a few questions. Are we utilizing these meetings effectively? Should they be dramatically changed? Should they be eliminated altogether?

While I certainly don’t have the answers to these questions, I am seeing lower participation and greater dissatisfaction with business meetings in many churches. That is the reason I am asking these questions.

The Observations

While recognizing the diversity of churches represented by the readers of this blog, allow me still to make some observations about business meetings in many congregations. I make them in no particular order of priority.

There are still many churches today where the business meeting is primarily a gathering of critics and malcontents. The happy church member tends to avoid the meetings for obvious reasons.
There is a clear trend toward less frequent business meetings. Quarterly meetings are becoming common, and many churches have moved to annual meetings only.
Though I have not actually done a precise statistical study, I am confident in saying that there is a high correlation between the size of the church and the way a congregation does business meetings. Larger churches tend to have less frequent meetings. And smaller churches are more likely to require votes on more issues than larger churches.
Most pastors and staffs dislike, even dread, church business meetings.
The most common item covered in church business meetings is the finances of the church. For those congregations with annual meetings only, the church budget is the primary item brought as business.
Relatively few churches discuss ministry in these meetings.

Is There a Better Way?

I love local churches. I desire to see God’s glory manifest in these congregations. And I desire to see these churches be the best possible stewards of the resources God has given them.

With that in mind, I am asking the simple question: Is there a better way to conduct the business of the church? Some congregations have already responded by having less frequent meetings, and by empowering staff and lay leaders to make most decisions.

Should we totally rethink the way we conduct the business of our churches? Are there practices that would better protect the unity of the church while making certain accountability and decision-making are working well?

Please let me hear from you.

What is your church doing? What is it doing well in this area? What would you like to see changed?

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10 Tips for Pastoral Care Visits – Rainer on Leadership #099

Podcast Episode #099

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Pastoral care visits are a lost art for many pastors and church leaders. While not limited to pastors making them, these visits are often expected—or even required—for church staff. So today, we cover how to make these visits and proper hospital visitation etiquette. I also tell the story of first funeral I ever conducted, which might have been my most embarrassing moment ever in ministry.

Some highlights from today’s episode include:

Hospital visits or visiting others in the midst of tragedy shouldn’t be limited to just church staff.
The larger the church is or becomes, the more impossible it becomes for one person to take care of all pastoral visits.
In many churches, the pastor is still expected to make all pastoral care visits.
It is more common today to have an appointment before making any in-home visits for the church.
Don’t wear out your welcome when making pastoral care visits. Brevity is generally best.
Pastors can often receive unfair criticism if someone other that the pastor makes pastoral care visits.

The 10 tips for successful pastoral care visits are:

There are many types of pastoral visits: hospital; homebound; nursing home; tragedy; prospective member; funeral home; member visits; and others.
After a church passes 100 in attendance, it becomes physically impossible for one person to take care of all pastoral visits.
Learn where appointments are preferred.
Brevity is generally better.
Balance unreasonable expectations with a pastoral heart.
Learn the community context.
Know the proper etiquette for a hospital visit: knock; ask permission; don’t sit on the bed; respect doctors and nurses; brevity is better; ask how to pray.
Learn as much as you can about pastoral visit expectations before you go to a church.
Equip others: staff, elders, deacons, other laity.
Handle awkward moments with grace.

Episode Sponsor

This week’s podcast is brought to you by RevitalizedChurches.com. Bringing together videos, books, and other resources from today’s top pastors, leaders, and authors, RevitalizedChurches.com is the premier online destination for Church Revitalization and online consultations. Visit RevitalizedChurches.com today for your free download of 114 Things You Need to Know About Church Revitalization by Thom Rainer.

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 Autopsy of a Deceased Church.

Resources

I Am a Church Member

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The Top Ten Most Fiercely Defended Traditions in Churches

I recently embarked on a major research project for a new resource I will soon be offering. Part of my research included a long review of thousands of comments made on this site over the past few years. Though my research had another purpose, I became intrigued by the comments related to church traditions.

Of course, by “traditions,” I am referring to those extra-biblical customs that become a way of life for many congregations. A tradition is neither inherently good nor bad. Its value or its distraction in a given church really depends on how members treat the traditions.

With that in mind, I began noting the most frequently defended traditions in churches. As a corollary, these traditions can also be a potential source of divisiveness. They are ranked here according to the frequency of the comments.

Worship and music style. Though I have noted elsewhere that this issue is not as pervasive as it once was, it is still number one.
Order of worship service. Thou shalt not change any items in the order of worship.
Times of worship service(s). The first three most frequently defended traditions are related to worship services.
Role of the pastor. The pastor is to be omnipresent and omniscient. Many church members have clear expectations of what “their” pastor should do.
Committee structure. Many congregations continue committee structures long after their usefulness has waned.
Specific ministries and programs. The healthy church constantly evaluates the effectiveness of its ministries and programs. That’s good stewardship. Other churches continue their ministries and programs because that’s the way they’ve always done it.
Location of church facility. A church relocation can be an issue of fierce debate, even contention, in many congregations.
Use of specific rooms. Some of the more frequently named rooms are the worship center, the parlor, the gym, and the kitchen/fellowship hall.
Business meetings. Traditions include the frequency of business meetings, the scope of authority of business meetings, and the items covered in business meetings.
Staff ministry descriptions. Some churches insist on having the same staff positions with the same titles with the same ministry descriptions even though the needs in the congregations may have changed dramatically.

My purpose in writing this article is twofold. First, I thought it might be of interest to church leaders. Second, I hope it can provide a cautionary note for those who are leading change.

Let me hear from you. Do these fiercely defended traditions seem familiar in your church? What would you add?

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Pray for Restoration Church

Location: Spokane, Washington

Pastor: Andre Dove

Weekly Worship: 10:45 AM Pacific

Fast Facts: Restoration Church is only a year old and is nestled in a high needs community in Spokane. Their goals are to exalt the Savior, equip the saints, and evangelize the sinners. They are a small, but growing congregation interested in outreach and serving the needs of their high poverty community. They are also working to serve the elderly, teen mothers, and growing a college community. Please be in prayer for continued support and resources needed to fulfill their calling to the community.

Website: RChurchSpokane.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..

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