Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 283

Top 14 Podcast Episodes of 2014

Thanks to you, 2014 marked an incredible year of growth for Rainer on Leadership. The weekly podcast has grown so much that we are going to twice-weekly in 2015 with the second weekly episode focusing on specific practical ministry issues. So to end 2014, here are the top 14 episodes of the year.

Episode 60 – Nine Rapid Changes in Church Worship Services
Episode 70 – Pastoral Tenure & Expository Preaching with Alistair Begg 
Episode 65 – Millennials and Worship Style
Episode 69 – Why Church Members Don’t Invite Others to Church 
Episode 71 – Six Symptoms of a Dysfunctional Church 
Episode 72 – Leading from the Second Chair 
Episode 64 – The Decline of Sunday Evening Services 
Episode 55 – Dangers of Denial for Dying Churches 
Episode 68 – 8 Warning Signs of the Most Common Factor in Declining Churches 
Episode 74 – 15 Church Facility Issues
Episode 59 – Pastoral Advice
Episode 73 – Innovation and the Local Church 
Episode 79 – 14 Traits Found in Toxic Leaders 
Episode 53 – Autopsy of a Deceased Church Book Launch

If you haven’t subscribed yet, you can do so here:

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Merry Christmas

Like many of you, Christmas is a favorite time of year at the Rainer house. Nellie Jo and I love celebrating with our family and friends. But this can also be a very busy time of year. Intrinsically we know what Christmas represents. Year after year we repeat the sentiments: “Jesus is the reason for the season,” and“Keep Christ in Christmas.” And yet we can easily fall victim to the commercialism, consumerism and general busyness this season brings.

In Mark 6, the disciples were doing many great works. They were accomplishing exactly what Jesus instructed them to do. They were very busy. Mark 6:30-31a says, “The apostles gathered around Jesus and reported to Him all that they had done and taught. He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a remote place and rest for a while.’”

No, it’s not a traditional Christmas passage, but in this season of packed calendars and lengthy to do lists, we may need to come away and rest. I am thankful for you, the readers of ThomRainer.com. Whatever great things you are doing for the Christ child this season, let’s come away and rest in Him. Rest on His promises. Revel in the beauty of the gift of His Son. I pray we will each find ways to reflect on Him even in the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season.

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Seven Christmas Gifts for Your Pastor (That Won’t Cost You a Dime)

I love pastors and church staff. I think their vocation is incredibly tough. In fact, it is impossible without God’s strength and comfort.

As we reflect this Christmas Eve on the blessing of our Savior’s birth, let us also reflect on the blessings of the pastors and other church staff who serve us, who care for us, and who love us.

May I be so bold and presumptuous to suggest some Christmas gifts you can give those who serve in your church? They have no financial cost, but their value is inestimable.

Tell your pastors you pray for them. And let them know you do so because you find joy in praying for them and loving them.
Give your pastors some words of encouragement. They have plenty of self-appointed critics. You can be one of the “other group.”
If your pastor has children at home, offer childcare. Be specific. Tell your pastor that you want to look after the kids on three specific dates, and that you expect to receive those dates to put them on the calendar.
Send your pastor a handwritten note. The computer keyboard has almost made handwritten notes extinct. So those who do receive them treasure them. Send your pastor a treasure.
Speak positively about the pastor to one of the critics. You likely know one of the perpetual naysayers every pastor has. Go to him or her and say something like, “I just love our pastor. The church is blessed with such godly leadership.” You may actually silence the critic for a brief season.
Note three specific positive things to your pastor and church staff. While this item is certainly in the category of encouragement, this suggestion is for specificity. For example you may tell the children’s minister that you love her smile that puts the kids at ease, that you appreciate the long hours she works, and how much your own kids benefit from her ministry.
Say a compliment to pastors about their family. One of the greatest gifts you can give a pastor or church staff member is to say something positive about his or her family. The families of pastors often feel like they live in a glass house. It is incredibly affirming to these families when church members see good things in the glass house.

Pastors and church staff members: Thank you for your ministries. Thank you for your families. Thank you for your faithfulness. And thank you for taking care of the rest of us.

And to all of you who read this blog: Thank you. I am humbled that you spend a few minutes here from time to time. Merry Christmas to all of you. Thank you for letting the Christ of Christmas shine through you.

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10 New Year’s Commitments for Healthy Church Growth Leaders

By Chuck Lawless

I understand that “church growth” has been associated with pragmatism and a watered-down gospel, but properly understood historical church growth is rooted in Bible-based, strategic evangelism and discipleship. It is, in Thom Rainer’s definition, “effective evangelism that results in fruit-bearing disciples in the local church.”

As a new year approaches, I encourage church leaders desiring to see healthy church growth to make these commitments:

I will pray every day with my spouse and family. Growing churches are praying churches, and praying churches are led by praying pastors, staff, and lay leaders. Church leaders who really pray begin by praying with those that matter most—their family. If even for only a few moments each day, make family prayer a priority.
I will read through the Bible this year. Church leaders who want to make a difference long to hear from God each day, and they hold themselves accountable to reading the Word. They thus lead churches with conviction and certitude—two traits that research indicates attract the unchurched. Start this next year by following a workable Bible reading plan, perhaps one found under “Bible Study Tools” at crosswalk.com.
I will memorize at least one scripture verse each week. Healthy church growth involves a spiritual battle, and we can rest assured the enemy will strike churches that want to reach people and make disciples. Only the best armed spiritual leaders are ready for that battle. Memorize the Word, and have the Sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17) ready when the enemy seeks to discourage and defeat you.
I will walk in holiness. Let’s be honest: even leaders struggle with sin. Many leaders, in fact, wrestle in secret areas of their lives. The strongest spiritual leaders, though, bring sin out of the darkness through confession, turn from it, and follow Christ. It’s a basic Christian commitment – but it’s a non-negotiable one for leaders who desire God’s blessing.
I will speak about God to someone each day. Most of us will be better witnesses for God if we simply speak about Him more often to anyone—including other believers. Rejoice with others when God answers prayer. Steer conversations to God’s goodness. Simply talk of his righteousness all day long (Psa. 71:24), and witnessing to non-believers will come much more naturally.
I will seek opportunities to share my faith weekly. One word—intentionality—characterizes evangelistically growing churches. If you want your church to grow in the new year, lead intentionally by sharing the gospel at least once a week. Pray and watch for God-given opportunities, and don’t miss open doors (Col. 4:2-4).
I will personally disciple at least four believers this year. God often blesses churches with new growth when they are most prepared to disciple new believers. Effective discipling begins with leaders who intentionally mentor other believers. Commit next year to mentor at least four believers, perhaps working with two for six months at a time.
I will increase my commitment to global missions this year. With two billion people having little or no access to the gospel, Christian leaders cannot ignore this global need. You may give more, pray more, send more, or go more – but plan to do something more next year than you have this year.
I will honestly evaluate the church’s growth throughout the year. Too often, growing churches become comfortable with only “swapping sheep” with other congregations. This next year, lead your church to ask recurrently, “Is God using our church to reach non-believers and make disciples?” If not, pray the Word of the Lord would spread rapidly through the ministry of your church (2 Thess. 3:1).
I will hold myself accountable to someone for these commitments. Healthy church growth does ask questions about techniques and strategies, but it does not start there. It begins with God and His called leaders who walk with Him, love His Word, share the gospel, and invest themselves in new believers. In many ways, healthy church growth in this next year will be about doing old things well – and so deeply committing to them that you hold yourself accountable.

What other commitments do you intend to make in the new year? Let us know, and take time to pray for each person who responds.

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: iancorey via photopin cc

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Seven Myths about a Pastor’s Workweek

It is an old joke, one that is still told too often. You go up to your pastor and say, “I wish I had your job; you only have to work one hour each week.” It is likely your pastor will laugh or smile at your comment. In reality your pastor is likely hurt by your statement. Indeed the reality is that too many church members have made wrongful and hurtful comments about the pastor’s workweek.

Sadly, some church members really believe some of the myths about a pastor’s workweek. And some may point to a lazy pastor they knew. I will readily admit I’ve known some lazy pastors, but no more so than people in other vocations. The pastorate does lend itself to laziness. To the contrary, there are many more workaholic pastors than lazy pastors.

So what are some of the myths about a pastor’s workweek? Let’s look at seven of them.

Myth #1: The pastor has a short workweek. Nope. The challenge a pastor has is getting enough rest and family time. Sermon preparation, counseling, meetings, home visits, hospital visits, connecting with prospects, community activities, church social functions, and many more commitments don’t fit into a forty hour workweek.

Myth #2: Because of the flexible schedule, a pastor has a lot of uninterrupted family time. Most pastors rarely have uninterrupted family time. It is the nature of the calling. Emergencies don’t happen on a pre-planned schedule. The call for pastoral ministry comes at all times of the day and night.

Myth #3: The pastor is able to spend most of the week in sermon preparation. Frankly, most pastors need to spend more time in sermon preparation. But that time is “invisible” to church members. They don’t know that a pastor is truly working during those hours. Sadly, pastors often yield to the demand of interruptions and rarely have uninterrupted time to work on sermons.

Myth #4: Pastors are accountable to no one for their workweek. To the contrary, most pastors are accountable to most everyone in the church. And church members have a plethora and variety of expectations.

Myth #5: Pastors can take vacations at any time. Most people like to take some vacation days around Christmas. That is difficult for many pastors since there are so many church functions at Christmas. And almost every pastor has a story of ending a vacation abruptly to do a funeral of a church member.

Myth #6: The pastor’s workweek is predictable and routine. Absolutely not! I know of few jobs that have the unpredictability and surprises like that of a pastor. And few jobs have the wild swings in emotions as does the pastorate. The pastor may be joyfully sharing the gospel or performing a wedding on one day, only to officiate the funeral of a friend and hear from four complainers the next day.

Myth #7: The pastor’s workweek is low stress compared to others. I believe pastors have one of the most difficult and stressful jobs on earth. In fact, it is an impossible job outside of the power and call of Christ. It is little wonder that too many pastors deal with lots of stress and depression.

Pastors and church staff are my heroes. They often have a thankless job with long and stressful workweeks. I want to be their encourager and prayer intercessor. I want to express my love for them openly and enthusiastically.

I thank God for pastors.

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Pray for Living Hope Fellowship

Location: Lafayette, California

Pastor: Vance Hardisty

Weekly Worship: Sundays at 11:00 a.m., Pacific.

Fast Facts: Living Hope Fellowship was founded over fifty years ago by Southern Baptists who moved to California. After almost three years without a pastor, they have a pastor and are united in making several changes to the church. They actually renamed the church from Calvary Baptist Church. To involve the community, they launched a website, , to seek help in choosing the name. Living Hope also hosted a winter festival on 7 December. Please pray for the follow up ministry from that event and that the church will have a heart for reaching the lost in their community, state, nation, and the world.

Website: thelivinghopefellowship.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, download this information form and return it to the address on the form.

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Eight Changes in the Church with Potential High Conflict

No organization, including a church, can avoid change. Church leaders are either proactive toward change or reactive to change. There is no other choice.

Every church is different regarding its response to particular changes. The wise leader tries to understand the context to lead at the best pace of change.

As I have consulted and conversed with church leaders and members for over a quarter of a century, I can say that there are typically eight changes that will engender the most resistance or conflict. That is not to say that all churches will respond in the same manner, nor to say that leaders should not move forward with these changes.

It might be helpful, however, for church leaders to know that their peers in other churches have met the stiffest resistance with eight specific changes. I list them in my perceived order of intensity.

Relocation. One of my first consultation projects was helping a fellow pastor lead his Anglo church to either reach its community or sell its facility to an African-American church in the community that needed more space. It was a no-brainer that the church would not survive without moving toward one of those two options. It did neither. The church died within a decade. Relocation often meets the stiffest resistance.
Change the name of the church. . The comments were amazing. One church leader attempted to lead his church to change its name from First Baptist Church of Smithville (or whatever the community name is) to Smithville First Baptist Church. The rationale was clear and simple. There were many other First Baptist churches in the area. Placing the community name in the front would distinguish this church from the other First Baptists. The congregation rejected the change.
Worship style. The “worship wars” are probably waning, but they are far from over. While I am optimistic that this issue will not be as volatile in the future, it is still a point of contention in many congregations.
Number of worship services. Adding or subtracting a worship service can also engender conflict. In either case, there is disruption that may not be pleasant for many leaders. Unfortunately, too many church members are more concerned about their preferences than what is best for the congregation to have its greatest impact.
Times of worship service. This change is similar to number four. I always thought such stories were anecdotal until I helped a church do a survey of its congregation on worship times. At the time of the survey, the church had one Sunday service at 11:00 am. One member, rightly understanding that the leadership was considering a different worship time, wrote “I will leave this church if we stop having worship at the biblical time of 11:00.” I’m still looking for that verse in the Bible.
Order of service. I am sure you see a pattern in numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6. Members get comfortable with their style of worship at their worship time with their preferred order of worship. For example, I have seen church members get in an uproar when the offertory was moved to a different place in the service.
Building programs. You might be surprised that a building program is listed as far down as number 7. Though the change is disruptive and the cost is usually significant, many churches respond positively to a building program. Of course, a number of them don’t.
Church staff person leaving involuntarily. The staff person may have been fired. The position may have been deleted. Or the person may have felt the pressure to leave. In any case, most any church staff member will have some level of loyal followers in the congregation. The departure will undoubtedly upset them and others.

I would love to hear your responses to these eight change issues. Also, let me know of other issues of change in your church that have been particularly problematic.

photo credit: Matt From London via photopin cc

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Leadership Lessons for Pastors – Rainer on Leadership #085

Podcast Episode #085

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In this final podcast episode of 2014, we cover a number of topics thanks to the listener questions that have been submitted over the past few months. Remember, if you have a question you’d like to have answered on a podcast, you can submit in the form at the bottom of the podcast page.

Some highlights from this week’s episode include:

When considering rebranding a church ask: “What is the gain?” and “What is the cost?”
Church membership is a voluntary activity, and you need to be careful overstepping that volunteer aspect.
The steps for church revitalization should be fully contextual.
When you have less-frequent business meetings, you tend to cover more substantive items during them.
The first thing dying churches must do is to face reality.

Episode Sponsor

This week’s podcast is brought to you by the Autopsy of a Deceased Church. Whether your church is vibrant or dying, Autopsy of a Deceased Church will walk you through the radical paths necessary to keep your church alive to the glory of God and advancement of Christ’s Kingdom!. Find out more at thomrainer.com/autopsy.

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

Eating the Elephant
Autopsy of a Deceased Church
Five Stages of a Pastor’s Ministry

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Notable Voices: December 18, 2014

The First 30 Days of Your New Job — Art Rainer

For some, the new year will bring a new job. So, here are eight tips from Art to help you get started on the right foot in the first 30 days.

 

5 Ways for Your Church Staff to Take Advantage of the Holidays — Katie Fridsma

Christmastime is incredibly busy for those on church staffs. Christmas parties, socials, banquets, special services, performances, and events often crowd a typically busy family schedule and can make December anything but the most wonderful time of the year. Katie shares five ways you can turn the holiday season into a positive experience for the staff.

 

10 Lessons I’ve Learned From 10 Years of Blogging — Aaron Earls

I’ve been routinely blogging for nearly four years, and it’s been one of the most beneficial things I’ve done in so many ways. While Aaron’s been blogging for much longer than I have, I have learned these 10 lessons as well.

 

7 Clean But Hilarious Church Jokes — Michael Krauszer

These are oldies but goodies.

 

Dear Suicidal Friend, There Is Hope — Paul Tautges

Paul tackles a very serious issue many face with 12 sobering points about the hope we have in Christ.

 

5 Online Trends Your Church Can’t Afford to Ignore — Darrel Girardier

I’ll be giving my 15 trends to watch for in the church for 2015 in the next few weeks. And every one of these could be on there if I wanted to add them.

 

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One Sentence That Pastors and Church Staff Hate to Hear

The moment they hear it, they feel the “cringe factor” throughout their body. Even as the first few words are spoken, the recipient feels his or her emotions plummeting. It is the one sentence that is uniformly dreaded by pastors and church staff. It typically begins with these words:

“People are saying that . . . “

The full sentence could say; “People are saying that you don’t visit enough.” Another example is: “People are saying that our student ministry is not doing well.” Or one more example is: “People are saying that you don’t have good office hours.”

The sentence might specify a group while maintaining anonymity for the individuals: “Some elders are not happy with you” or “A lot of the staff are unhappy.”

You get the point. It could be phrased a number of ways, but the meaning is still similar. “People” is never defined. The true complainer is never identified. It is one of the most frustrating and demoralizing sentences pastors and staff will hear. Here are some reasons for the frustration:

The complainer lacks the courage to speak for himself or herself. So he or she hides behind the deceitful veil of “people are saying.” Leaders in churches know that when complainers lack courage to speak for themselves, or when they have to hide behind anonymous complainers, they are trouble in the making.
The leader has no recourse or action to take. These complainers never identify the source or sources. So the pastor or staff person cannot follow up and speak directly to the dissidents. He or she is left with a complaint that cannot be resolved due to anonymity.
The leader immediately questions the motive of the complainer. The moment the ministry leader hears those words, “People are saying . . . “, he or she doubts the credibility and the heart of the complainer. The approach is cowardly; it thus is always seen through the lens of doubt and frustration.
This approach is a double frustration for the ministry leader. First, he or she has heard yet another criticism. Most ministry leaders have to deal with criticisms too often. Second, the ambiguity of the complaint and the source of the complaint can leave a leader wondering if the problem is really bigger than reality. He or she can waste a lot of emotional energy on something that really may not be such a big deal.
Indirect criticisms can be the most painful criticisms. Most ministry leaders deal better with someone who is direct and precise in his or her concerns. But indirect criticisms such as “People are saying . . . “ or “I love you pastor, but . . . “ hurt more because cowardly actions and duplicitous behavior are added to the criticism itself.

As a leader in a local church and in other places, I got to the point where I did not entertain such veiled criticisms. I tried to be polite and say, “I am sorry, but I cannot listen to you further because you will not give me the specific sources of the concerns. If you are willing to name those people specifically or, even better, get them to speak to me directly, I will be happy to hear the concerns.”

Has my approached worked? Frankly, I don’t recall any of these critics being happy with my response. But I have had to learn that there are certain people in churches and other organizations who have the spiritual gift of complaining. And they will exercise that gift frequently and with vigor.

I have to move on to those who have positive and encouraging solutions. Life is too short to deal with cowardly complainers.

Let me know what you think about this issue.

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