Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 354

Ten Commandments for Guest-Friendly Church Members

I travel a lot and spend a lot of time in different churches. I have had a church consulting firm that did “guest” visits as part of our services. Sadly, many times I do not feel welcome as a guest when I visit churches.

The Bible is replete with admonitions of hospitality and servanthood. I just wish our church members understood that the servant-like spirit should also be manifest when we gather to worship. Guests are often uncomfortable, if not intimated, when they visit a church. We are to be gracious and sacrificial servants to them.

In response to this need for more guest-friendly church members, I have devised the ten greatest needs, at least from my perspective. I will reticently call them “commandments” and throw in a little King James English for effect.

Thou shalt pray for people in the services whom you don’t recognize. They are likely guests who feel uncomfortable and uncertain.
Thou shalt smile. You only have to do so for about an hour. Guests feel welcome when they see smiling people. You can resume your somber expressions when you get home.
Thou shalt not sit on the ends of the rows. Move to the middle so guests don’t have to walk over you. You’ll survive in your new precarious position.
Thou shalt not fill up the back rows first. Move to the front so guests don’t have to walk in front of everyone if they get there late.
Thou shalt have ushers to help seat the guests. Ushers should have clearly-marked badges or shirts so that the guests know who can help them.
Thou shalt offer assistance to guests. If someone looks like they don’t know where to go, then they probably don’t know where to go. Get out of your comfort zone and ask them if you can help.
Thou shalt not gather too long in your holy huddles. Sure, it’s okay to talk to fellow members; but don’t stay there so long that you are not speaking to guests.
Thou shalt offer your seats to guests. I know that this move is a great sacrifice, but that family of four can’t fit in the three vacant seats next to you. Give it a try. You might actually feel good about your efforts.
Thou shalt not save seats. I know you want to have room for all of your friends and family, but do you know how a guest feels when he or she sees the vacant seats next to you occupied by three hymnals, one Bible, two coats, and an umbrella? You might as well put a “Do Not Trespass” sign on the seats.
Thou shalt greet someone you don’t know. Yes, it’s risky. They may actually be members you don’t know. And you may get caught in a 45-second conversation. You’ll be okay; I promise.

What do you think of these commandments? What would you add?

Pastor to Pastor is the Saturday blog series at ThomRainer.com. Pastors and staff, if we can help in any way, contact Steve Drake, our director of pastoral relations, at  Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com . We also welcome contacts from laypersons in churches asking questions about pastors, churches, or the pastor search process.

It’s Friday But Sunday’s Coming

Sermon by S.M. Lockridge

Video from  The Passion of The Christ

Notable Voices – March 28, 2013

I Blame Senior Pastors for Bad Church Signs – Sam Rainer

On his newly redesigned blog, Sam discusses the communication strategy—or lack thereof—found in several churches today. From church signs to bulletins, pastors have a responsibility to know what’s being communicated and how it is being received.

 

Roger Ebert, Non-Believers, and The Hope of Christ – Brandon Smith

In this introspective look at the faith journey of movie critic Roger Ebert, Brandon provides counsel on how to engage with those who have walked away from their faith.

 

What Happened During Holy Week? – Nathan Finn

Nathan shares a helpful recap of what happened each day of Jesus’ final week leading into his crucifixion and resurrection.

 

10 Things I’ve Learned About Church Drama – Ron Edmondson

Any pastor will tell you that churches provide a great deal of drama—both good and bad. Here are 10 things Ron has learned about church drama.

 

Easter’s Big “If” – Dan Darling

This week we celebrate the most important event in our faith: the resurrection of Jesus. As Dan reminds us, if we hold that to be true, it changes everything.

 

Habit-Forming Worship – Mike Cosper

In this excerpt from his upcoming book, Mike explains how habits have shaped our understanding and our expectations of worship.

Leadership by Urgency or Incrementalism?

Every organization has seasons where different leadership styles are more effective. There are times where the organizational culture resists change significantly. An aggressive change leader can become alienated or fired quickly. Indeed the entire organization may implode if change is pushed too quickly. These are times when leadership by incrementalism (what I have coined as “eating the elephant”) is in order.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is leadership by urgency. The leader recognizes that the organization may not survive the years ahead unless dramatic changes are made. There is really no option to move slowly. There is growing evidence of more leaders moving in this direction in these changing and disruptive times in which we live.

Of course, urgency and incrementalism are extremes on a spectrum. Leaders must determine the point on the spectrum that is best for the organization’s present and future.

I have looked at both cultures for a few years in various organizations from small churches to large churches, from small businesses to Fortune 1000 companies. I have taken some of the obvious characteristics of each of the cultures as points of comparison.

Incrementalism
Urgency




Polite culture. Hesitant to confront lest someone is offended.
Happy with the status quo.
Minimal stress in organization and leaders.
Employees’ job descriptions are stable.
Areas or departments (silos) rarely interact.
Slow responsiveness.
Slow to change.
Not much employee turnover.
Stabilization is normative.
Conflict avoidance.
Leaders view the organization from the lens of an insider.
Uses the same metrics over several years




Truth-speaking culture. Confrontation is common.
Dissatisfied with the status quo.
Significant stress in organization and leaders.
Employees are reinventing themselves for changing times.
Areas or departments interact constantly. Silo busting.
Rapid responsiveness.
Rapid change.
Employee turnover as some employees are unable to adjust to new realities.
Disruption is normative.
Conflict management.
Leaders view the organization from the lens of an outsider.
New metrics are introduced.

Again, these characteristics represent the extremes of incrementalism and urgency. More often, organizations are somewhere in between the extremes, with mixed characteristics from each perspective. It seems, however, that these rapidly changing times call for organizations to move closer to a mode of urgency.

Where is your organization on this spectrum? Where do you think it should be?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 15 Largest Protestant Denominations in the United States

The Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches assembles various data on churches and denominations across North America. I recently gleaned the top 15 denominations by membership in the United States from their reports:

Southern Baptist Convention: 16.2 million members
The United Methodist Church: 7.8 million members
The Church of God in Christ: 5.5 million members
National Baptist Convention: 5.0 million members
Evangelical Lutheran Church, U.S.A.: 4.5 million members
National Baptist Convention of America: 3.5 million members
Assemblies of God: 2.9 million members
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.): 2.8 million members
African Methodist Episcopal Church: 2.5 million members
National Missionary Baptist Convention of America: 2.5 million members
The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod (LCMS): 2.3 million members
The Episcopal Church: 2.0 million members
Churches of Christ: 1.6 million members
Pentecostal Assemblies of the World: 1.5 million members
The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church: 1.4 million members

Neither the Yearbook list nor this blog infers that bigger is better. To the contrary, I have noted on a number of occasions how church membership, unfortunately, is fast becoming a meaningless number. Only the Assemblies of God on this list reported membership growth from the previous year, and their growth rate was only one-half of one percent.

Nevertheless, the numbers are interesting. Does your church belong to one of these denominations? Are you in a non-denominational church? What are your reflections on this list?

Eight Practical Ways to Celebrate Easter

by Chuck Lawless

In just a few days, believers around the world will celebrate the resurrection of Jesus. Congregations will meet before sunrise to focus on the truth that Jesus is alive. Families will dress in their finest clothes for this special day. Folks who typically don’t attend church will do so this week. As you celebrate Easter this year, think about these practical ways to celebrate the holiday:

Focus on new beginnings. We make new commitments at the start of a new year, but let’s be honest: for many of us, we’ve already given up on those commitments by the time Easter comes around. If ever there were a time to start over, though, it’s Easter. The resurrection is God’s reminder that hope still exists. If you’re already behind in your Bible reading for this year, start again. If you’ve failed in your commitment to pray regularly with your spouse, re-start this week. Walk away from that sin that is controlling you. Start afresh, renewed by God’s resurrection power.
Start Easter family traditions. Many families have Easter lunch together, but I’m thinking of more than that. Read the Easter story on Sunday morning, just as you do the Christmas story. Use old photographs to remember loved ones, and talk about the importance of resurrection hope. Bake Easter cookies for your neighbors. Serve a meal at a homeless shelter. Make holiday memories that your children will want to duplicate in their own families.
Send Easter cards or an Easter letter. We expect cards or family letters at Christmas, but not at Easter. This year, send a resurrection card to everyone on your Christmas card list. If you send an Easter family letter, focus more on Jesus than on your family. Talk about his love, his grace, his forgiveness, and his victory over death. Be sure to write about the hope you have in Christ.
Reach out to others who buried a loved one in the past year. Churches usually do well in ministering to grieving families at the time of a death, but that ministry is not always lasting. Eventually, the loving crowds return to busy lives. The holidays are often especially difficult as families find themselves alone. This Easter, call one of those families and pray with them. What better time than Easter is there to celebrate life and look forward to resurrection?
Learn about and pray for a people group who know nothing about Jesus’ resurrection. Missionaries tell us that 1.7 billion people have little access to the gospel. They do not know the name of Jesus, much less the story of his conquering death. Learn about one of these people groups at www.joshuaproject.net, teach your children about them, and then pray they will hear the Easter story.
Tell somebody what Jesus means in your life. As Christians, we know we need to be telling the gospel story. Why not tell others during the Easter season? Maybe you can approach someone this way: “I know a lot of folks think about going to church on Easter. May I have five minutes to tell you why this holiday is so important to me?” You might find somebody who has been waiting for some good news!
Write a thank you note to someone who models overcoming faith. Maybe it’s that friend who experienced disaster, but who trusted God through the pain. Perhaps it’s a missionary who has been faithful even when his life was at risk. It might be your church pastor or a Bible study teacher. It may even be your parent or one of your children. Easter is about celebrating victory – so honor God by celebrating what He’s done through someone else’s life.
Don’t give up. I don’t know what you’re facing. You might be discouraged and hurting. The mountain you’re trying to climb is steep, or the valley you find yourself in is deep. Prayer seems useless. Trusting God is tough because the obstacles are so big. Whatever you’re facing, though, is not bigger than the God who defeated death. Don’t give up – the God of resurrection is alive.

In what other practical ways do you or your church celebrate Easter?

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.

Pray for Beaumont Baptist Church

Location: Spartanburg, South Carolina

Pastor: Rev. Steven McLain

Worship Times: 10:30 AM (EST)

Fast Facts: Prior to Pastor McLain’s coming to serve in this ministry setting, Beaumont Baptist Church had only two pastors in the previous 70 years. Pray as their leaders discuss what becoming an outwardly focused church could mean for their congregation and community. Pray also for the church’s participation in the Intentional Church Multiplication Process.  This program is designed to help the church define its current reality and move toward being the discipleship-making body it was intended to be.

Website: www.beaumontbaptist.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 your church to be featured in “Pray for . . .” contact Steve Drake, director of pastoral relations, at Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com.

 

Five Steps to Get Beyond Sacred Cows in the Church

Many years ago I was serving as pastor of a church where I was an avid supporter of door-to-door outreach. But I struggled with leading people to be involved in the ministry. We kept decent records, so I got the old “outreach cards” for the previous year. My brief research shocked me.

I estimated that we had invested nearly 1,500 hours of our members’ time in this ministry during the past year. The apparent result of our ministry had resulted in, at best, two Christian families joining our church. If you assume a workday of eight hours, our members had worked 187 full days with no evangelistic fruit.

The Encounter

When I presented my research to a leader in the church and suggested we look at other alternatives, he raised his voice almost to a scream: “But we have always done it that way. And ten years ago we saw dozens of people become Christians through this ministry every year. We’re not about to change!” When I asked what we should do about the 1,500 hours of apparently fruitless ministry, he said we should try to increase the number to 3,000 hours.

The Memory

Don’t get me wrong. Your church may have great success in door-to-door outreach. My purpose in writing this article is not to pass judgment on a methodology. My purpose is to ask the question: Are organizational memories, commonly known as sacred cows, hindering our effectiveness for the gospel?

In my church there were great memories of this method of outreach. The thought of looking to other more effective alternatives almost seemed to violate some sacred principle. Interestingly, some of the most vociferous opponents of change were those who no longer participated in the ministry.

The Honesty

Fortunately, we were able to get beyond the emotions to have an honest and frank discussion about the ministry. I brought together leaders from both sides of the issue. We discovered two main reasons our ministry was running into roadblocks that it did not have ten years earlier. First, many of the neighborhoods had transitioned from Deep South transplants to Northern transplants. The latter group was not culturally acclimated to people “just dropping by.” Second, about one-third of the residents were in gated communities, a significant increase from ten years earlier.

We came away from that meeting with a few changes that kept us outwardly focused without the frustration of the old methodology. The critics did not disappear immediately, but we were able to deal with them without major disruption.

The Principles

Organizational memory in our church had the potential of hindering our gospel effectiveness. The initial frustrated response to the problem was to double our ineffective efforts from 1,500 hours a year to 3,000 hours. But we did move beyond this issue. The changes were not without pain though. Here are the five steps we took to move beyond organizational memory.

We involved key leaders on both sides of the issue. Several people had emotional ties to our ministry. It was good for those on each side of this issue to hear the other perspective.
We asked if we could accomplish our goals with more effective means. Even some of the greatest detractors recognized that the means had become an end. We concluded that our true goal was not to maintain a program, but to share the gospel and our church with our neighbors.
We paired leaders from opposite sides for an hour to present possible alternatives. This exercise was immensely valuable. It got all of us thinking about the true goal rather than the preservation of an ineffective program.
We left with an intentional decision to move forward with two pilot ministries. We declared neither new ministry to be sacrosanct, but decided to test them for a predetermined period of six months. We also agreed to return as a group in six months to evaluate our progress or lack of progress.
We recognized as a group that we would still have critics for eliminating the old ministry. Our goal was not to eliminate criticism, but to minimize it and to deal with the critics in a Christ-like manner.

On the one hand, I would evaluate our process as a success. We were able to deal effectively with the sacred cow that was hindering our progress. On the other hand, our replacement ministries were only slightly more effective than their predecessor ministry. At the end of six months, some were wondering if we made a mistake by doing away with the old ministry.

Leading a church to change is rarely a smooth road. It is often three steps forward and two steps backward. But the process we took became very helpful in my leadership in future churches and other organizations.

How do you deal with sacred cows in your church? What have been some of your victories? What have been some of your struggles?

Pastor to Pastor is the Saturday blog series at ThomRainer.com. Pastors and staff, if we can help in any way, contact Steve Drake, our director of pastoral relations, at  Steve.Drake@LifeWay.com . We also welcome contacts from laypersons in churches asking questions about pastors, churches, or the pastor search process.

Friday Is for Freebies: The New Guidebook for Pastors

This week’s giveaway includes a pair of ministry resources. First is The New Guidebook for Pastors. It is written in the tradition of classics like Criswell’s Guidebook for Pastors. But since most pastoral guidebooks available today date back to 1980 or earlier, this new resource by Mac Brunson and James W. Bryant will offer fresh experience-based encouragement to all pastors in their pursuit of excellence and development in their God-called profession. Among the twenty chapters are “The Pastor and His Call,” “The Pastor and His Family,” “The Pastor and His Staff,” “The Pastor and Worship,” “The Pastor and Finances,” “The Pastor, Wedding, and Funerals,” “The Pastor, Politics, and Moral Issues,” and “The Pastor and His Denomination.”

Also included is a black, genuine leather version of the HCSB Minister’s Bible. This newly designed edition is ideal for pulpit use with its large type, wide margins, and extensive ancillary notes from many of today’s top preachers and church leadership voices.

Some features of the Bible include:

Where to Turn When . . .
Plan of Salvation
Four-color presentation page
Various wedding and funeral outlines by Jim Henry
“8 Traits of Effective Church Leaders” by Thom S. Rainer
“21 Essentials of Authentic Ministry” by James T. Draper
“Four Kinds of Expositional Preaching” by Ed Stetzer
“30 Keys to Giving an Invitation” by O. S. Hawkins
“Leading a Child to Christ” by Bill Emeott
“Reaching Students with the Gospel” by Lynn H. Pryor
“The Importance of Baptism and Communion” by Rick White
Commitment Counseling
The Christian Year and Church Calendar
The Apostles and Their History

To be eligible to win, answer the following question:

What characteristic do you like most about your pastor?

The deadline to enter is midnight CDT this Saturday.  We will draw one winner from the entries on Monday morning.

By entering, you acknowledge and accept the terms of the promotion.

Seven Mistakes in Public Speaking

by Chuck Lawless

As a teacher, consultant, and preacher, I talk to groups for a living. In fact, I’ve been a student of public speaking for more than 30 years. I’ve learned by studying in the classroom and by simply listening to others. Too often, I’ve learned the hard way by making my own mistakes.

On a positive note, I have seen that it’s possible to exercise leadership from the public platform. A well-timed, well-delivered address can rally the troops, strengthen the team, and compel them toward excellence. On the other hand, I’ve seen (and exhibited at times, I’m sure) some mistakes in public speaking. Here are a few of those.

1. Not knowing the audience – Speaking to teens is not the same as speaking to senior adults. Communicating with a gathering of relationship-oriented non-Westerners is different than speaking to a group of Western businessmen. Most speakers have some sense of the importance of audience analysis, but understanding analysis and acting on it are two different matters. I’m amazed by the number of speakers I invite to different venues who never ask about the intended audience.

2. Inviting indifference – Maybe you’ve heard speakers do it:

“I’m sure this is not exciting, but it’s important.”
“I really haven’t had much time to prepare, so please bear with me.”
“This really isn’t my area of expertise. I’m sure there are others who are more qualified.”

I understand that humility may be the driving force behind these kinds of statements. Nevertheless, don’t be surprised if the audience is uninterested after you’ve told them you’re unexciting, unprepared, and/or unqualified. Let your hearers make that assessment without your help. They might find you engaging and enlightening.

3. Boring the audience – Here’s the difficult part with this mistake: only once have I ever met a boring speaker who knew he was boring (and he was forced to admit that after he fell asleep during one of his own lectures!). It would not hurt us to have friends who evaluate our speaking and critique us honestly. Good training and increased passion can help overcome a boring style, but not if we fail to recognize the problem in the first place.

4. Using irrelevant stories and illustrations – Much of the world learns best by stories and illustrations, so using stories is a significant communication strategy. Watch an audience when you begin to tell a story or use an illustration; often, they will lean forward, almost as if they are closing the space to hear better. The speaking strategy thus opens the door to effective communication. If, though, the story itself lacks relevance – like using automobile illustrations when speaking to urban poor who never owned a car – the technique loses its force. Again, knowing the audience matters.

5. Assuming audience application – Public speeches have different purposes. Some inform, and others convince. Some simply address a special occasion. Many public speeches, though, are intended to lead the hearer to do something. Support a candidate. Give to a cause. Adopt a belief. Accept a decision. Join the team. Celebrate a victory. Change a lifestyle. The problem is that speakers often fail to state clearly what they want the audience to do. Instead, they assume the hearers will listen intently, naturally connect the dots, and then respond appropriately. A lack of specific instruction from the speaker then results in a lack of intentional application among the hearers.

6. Ignoring time parameters – Seldom are speakers given open-ended time slots for speaking. Most often, we have an established time period that fits neatly into the organization’s overall plans and goals. To ignore those parameters is not only disruptive to the schedule; it is inconsiderate at best, arrogant at worst. Finishing within the allotted time shows respect, and it might even strengthen our speaking by demanding brevity.

7. Neglecting continued improvement – I suspect the more we speak, the less we see a need to improve. Perhaps we subconsciously convince ourselves that practice really does make perfect. There is little question that speaking regularly can make us more comfortable with the task, but actual improvement is not always the result. Growing as a public speaker requires an intentional strategy for improvement.

I realize I’ve included only a few mistakes on this list. What other mistakes have you seen in public speaking? On the flip side, what have you seen that characterizes strong public speaking? Help me to learn from your experiences.

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.