Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 358

The Four Levels of Scrutiny of Pastoral Search Committees

In a previous post I noted different trends among pastoral search committees. As I stated then, I am using the phrase “pastoral search committee,” even though it does not apply to every congregation. Some churches receive pastors through an appointment system from denominational leadership. Some pastors are chosen from a body of elders. The methods of pastoral selection are numerous.

Every church, however, searches for a pastor in the course of its history. After speaking with dozens of search groups, I’ve noticed a pattern in how they are evaluating prospective pastors. There is nothing new in what they are evaluating. What is new is how they are evaluating.

In a significant number of searches, perhaps a majority, the pastor search process takes place in four layers or levels. While each is important, the church assigns the greatest value to the first. The process is more subjective than objective, but the result is a clear definition of priorities in how a church evaluates a prospective pastor.

Level 1: Biblical, Theological, and Preaching

Does he meet our theological and biblical beliefs?
How does he respond to theological “hot button” issues?
Does his practice match his beliefs?
Is he an effective preacher?
Would his preaching be well received by our church and community?
Does he have several podcast sermons for ready listening?

Level 2: Background Information

Does a legal background check reveal any issues of which we weren’t aware?
Does a credit check reveal any financial concerns of which we should be aware?
What has he communicated in the social media via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, and other channels?
What do his references say about him?
What do others who aren’t references say about him?

Level 3: Leadership and Relational Skills

Is he an effective leader?
How would his leadership style fit at our church?
How does he handle conflict?
Does he have healthy relational skills?
Does he lead his family well?

Level 4: Previous and Current Church Experience

Did he lead his church to healthy growth?
Was he a missional leader in the church’s community?
Does his past experience indicate he understands culture and contexts well?
What were his primary emphases at previous and current churches?
Did he relate to other church staff well?

My simple point in showing four different levels is to demonstrate that most search committees have clear priorities. Rarely, however, are these priorities articulated. They know they will not find a perfect pastor. Since some imperfections will exist in all candidates, the search committee is much more likely, for example, to accept a Level 4 flaw rather than a Level 1 flaw. All of these issues are important to the pastor search committee; some are just more important than others.

Do you see similar patterns as shown in these four levels? What would you add or subtract?

Pray for Royersford Bible Fellowship

Location: Royersford, Pennsylvania

Pastor: Rev. Drew Gysi

Worship Times: 10:15 AM Eastern Time

Fast Facts: Pastor Drew is the new pastor at this church and asks that we pray God would be very evident in their worship and gathering times. He is also praying the congregation would come to have “the Lord’s passion for lost people.”

Website: www.royersfordbfc.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.

 

Four Thoughts on Unfriendly Church Starts

This issue is not new, but it does seem to be one gaining more attention. A new church is started in a community with many members of an existing church. Unfortunately, the existing church has not blessed the new church start, nor has it been consulted about it. In many cases, a staff member from the existing church has led the unfriendly church start.

I have emails that include phrases like “deep hurt,” “betrayal,” and “kick in the stomach.” In other words, this new church start has not been received well at all by the existing church. I understand that there are two sides to these stories, so I am ready to be corrected. Nevertheless, I have some strong opinions about unfriendly church starts. Allow me to share four of them.

The DNA of the new church is a problem. In most unfriendly church starts, the new church is a negative reaction to the existing church. Thus, the very reason for the existence of the new church has negative overtones. The DNA is, at least in part, filled with negativity.
Ill will is immediately established between two churches. There is the perception that members were wrongfully taken from one church. Often the existing church feels the immediate pain of loss of people, finances, and leaders. They simply did not have time to plan to replace those who would leave.
The new church begins with a potential negative reputation in the community. The church is the congregation that “split” or “took members” or “fought” with the existing church. Those words do not enhance the reputation of a church that is trying to reach its community.
Reconciliation must begin with the new church. At some point, the chasm between the two congregations must be bridged. In most cases the new church should initiate that effort, especially since it started without the blessing or knowledge of the existing church.

A few years ago I spoke with a young associate pastor who told me that he had been approached by a large group in the church that wanted him to lead a split and start of a new church. Even though there seemed to be serious problems in the existing church, he refused to make such a move. When I asked him why he was not seizing the opportunity, his response was telling: “God called me here to honor this pastor as long as I am here. There are a lot of problems that I see in the church, but starting a new church is just not the answer. It’s just not the right thing to do.”

I agree. It’s just not the right thing to do.

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 HCSB Study Bible

My giveaway this Friday is the black, genuine leather version of the HCSB Study Bible, a comprehensive, easy to read, and easy to use Bible, with features and formats specifically designed to enhance your Bible study experience. You can also go to MyStudyBible.com and dive right in for a complete digital experience.

This Bible has a retail price of $79.99 and features 15,000 study notes, 290 Hebrew and Greek word studies, 66 highly detailed book introductions, 62 maps, 27 topical articles, 20 charts, and 18 illustrations, all focusing on the most important topics and questions in Bible study.

To enter the promotion, tell us what time of day or night is your favorite time to read.

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

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

Notable Voices – February 14, 2013

How Do Groups Fit into the Overall Strategy of Your Church? – Eric Geiger

It’s hard to find a church without a small-group or Sunday school ministry. But too many churches lack a plan for how those groups fit into the overall strategy of the church. Eric explains how to improve this.

 

Resisting the Urge to Do Cutting Edge Youth Ministry – Cameron Cole

Youth ministry sometimes gets labeled as a mile wide and an inch deep; all flash, no substance. But there is a noticeable movement among youth pastors to change that perception. There is a new, theologically deep paradigm emerging in the world of student ministry. Cameron details why this is needed.

 

Are Millennials More Self-Sacrificing and Community-Minded Than Previous Generations? – Glenn Stanton

All research gets misquoted and misinterpreted, but the research involving Millennials seems to lead the way compared to other generational research. This post examines and corrects a few of those errors.

 

What To Give Up for Lent? Twitter Reveals Top 100 Choices – Christianity Today

The Lenten season started yesterday, and this is an interesting list of the top 100 things people are tweeting that they sacrificing for Lent. Ironically, the number one thing is Twitter itself.

 

A Brief History Of YouTube – Social News Daily

Ten Frequently Asked Questions I Get From Church Leaders

In the course of a week, I get a number of questions from church leaders. Many of them still remember me from my days of church consulting. Others have read books I’ve written, particularly those that addressed issues in the local church. Still others recognize my position as the president of the largest Christian resource company in the world.

The questions come to me on this blog, on Twitter, on Facebook, on LinkedIn, and by email. I try my best to get to all of them, but I find myself falling short too often. As a possible remedy to the problem of time constraints, I will attempt to answer as many questions as possible as I write on this blog.

Here are my top ten questions for now. Feel free to let me know which of them you would like addressed. Also, feel free to add to the list or just to make comments.

How do I lead a traditional church? I prefer to call such churches “established churches.” This question is the most frequent, and one of great concern since the vast majority of churches fit this description.
What do I do if I’m interested in moving our church to multi-venue? That is a very frequent question as more and more churches move to this model.
How do I establish a discipleship process in my church? Can you recommend any resources? I just got one email and three tweets on this matter today.
What is a good assimilation process? What resources do you recommend? Often I have to ask follow-up questions here because many leaders use assimilation and discipleship interchangeably.
How do I respond to an unfriendly church start? I’ve been surprised at the number of questions I’ve gotten on this issue lately. Someone in the church starts a new church and takes members from the church without the blessing or permission of that church.
How do I get a position in a church? This one would move to number one if I counted the requests to recommend someone to a church.
How do I implement the simple church process in my church? I am grateful that Simple Church by Eric Geiger and me was so well received. Now many leaders want specific implementation instructions.
How do I balance expectations of members versus what I can really accomplish? Pastors and staff struggle with the growing expectations of their roles.
When should I add a service or new venue? These inquirers want to know if the move is triggered by growth and capacity or by other factors.
What does our church need to do to attract Millennials? This question often comes after a church leader has read Millennials by Jess Rainer and me.

Which of these questions would you like me to explore more deeply? What other questions would you add to my list? What is your perspective on the questions already asked of me?

Gospel Conversations

By Chuck Lawless

“Brother Jack” was my pastoral hero, yet I heard him preach no more than twenty times. I met him after he retired from decades of ministry. He had no obligation to do so, but he invested in me as a young “preacher boy.” Every major decision I made in ministry I made at his feet until he passed away several years ago.

There is so much that made him a leader in my life. Availability. Wisdom. Experience. Knowledge. Commitment. Prayerfulness. Faith. Perseverance. Discipline. Ability. Humor. Respect. Love. This list could go on and on, but what I recall most about Brother Jack might surprise you. I remember what he said and what he did not say.

Brother Jack liked to go out to eat when we met. I did, too, but not because I wanted a meal. More than that, I wanted to watch a saintly older man interact with people. Jack had a unique ability to connect with anybody, and I knew we would have several conversations during our outing. People in a waiting line, the server at the table, the employee behind the cash register, guests at the next table – all were potential conversation partners with Brother Jack.  He not only naturally engaged them in dialogue, but he also somehow worked conversations into a word about God and His goodness.

I watched it many times. I can hear it now, in fact. “How are you doing today?” Brother Jack would ask. In response to the same question politely returned, he would say something like, “Doing well for a sawed-off, bald-headed Baptist preacher. God’s been good to me.” His sweet demeanor and gentle voice almost dared even the most ardent atheist not to want to talk more. It was not uncommon that we quickly knew another person’s spiritual background, current church attendance, and prayer needs.

In just a few minutes of conversation, Jack could offer attention and respect to another human being, gain his/her hearing, and introduce a brief Christian witness. I don’t think I ever saw him miss an opportunity to speak about God.

But I also remember Jack because of what he did not say – and this point is even more amazing to me. You see, I never heard him say anything I thought would be displeasing to God. For example, I never heard him speak a negative word about another person.

Ever.

Even when he disagreed with others.

Even when others criticized him unfairly.

Even when I lapsed into negativity during our conversations.

Instead of criticism, Brother Jack always turned to prayer. “We just need to pray for him,” he would say. He had learned that praying for others helps guard your heart against a critical spirit. He had lived long enough to know that except for the grace of God, all of us could make dumb decisions.

Moreover, I never heard Brother Jack speak an off-color word. He modeled for me obedience to Ephesians 4:29 and 5:4—“No foul language should come from your mouth, but only what is good for building up of someone in need . . . And coarse and foolish talking or crude joking are not suitable.” I looked forward to my time with Brother Jack, knowing that our conversation would be fully God honoring.

I think much about Brother Jack these days, as God has now placed in my life another man with similar traits. He always evangelizes and never criticizes. His words are measured, pure, and edifying. He, like Brother Jack, is careful in speech because he knows his words are central to his ministry.

That’s the way it is for all Christian leaders. Leadership is obviously more than words, but Christian leadership cannot be separated from our words. Gospel leadership is leadership through proclamation of the Word. We speak the gospel to individuals, teaching them of their need for a Savior who loves them. We announce that message to congregations that gather to hear a word from God.

Ours is a leadership by verbal example. When we keep the gospel to ourselves, we fail in that area of our leadership. Using ungodly words on Monday makes it difficult to trust our words on Sunday. Because words are our ministry, that cost is a heavy one.

We need more leaders like Brother Jack who understand these truths. Our conversation—both what we say and what we don’t say—really does matter.

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.

Five Common Mistakes Made by Leaders When They Speak

Many of the failures in leadership are failures to communicate well. No matter how smart we are or how good our strategies are, they are doomed for failure if no one understands them.

In previous articles, I dealt with poor written grammar, so much so that some of my friends refer to me as “the grammar cop.” In this article, I deal with five of the more common communication mistakes made by leaders when they speak.

Poor grammar. Grammatical mistakes are not limited to written communication. They are much too common when leaders speak as well, including some leaders who are highly educated and in positions of great influence. The most common speaking grammatical error that I have noticed in recent years is the incorrect use of reflexive pronouns. For example the reflexive pronoun “myself” is used improperly in this sentence: “The award was presented to Janice, John, and myself.” The correct pronoun is the non-reflexive “me.”
Too much information. An audience can only absorb a limited number of facts in a given presentation. Some leaders attempt to cover a multitude of items, leaving the hearers bored, confused, and frustrated. Speak to the essential issues and provide supplementary written material if necessary.
Too many visuals. PowerPoint and other visual aids can be either a help or a hindrance to a speaker. Too often leaders try to put too much information in visual aids. At that point the aid becomes a barrier to communication. Consider having no more than one visual aid for each three minutes of speaking. You might be surprised how much the retention of your listeners improves.
“Insider” language. Acronyms should be banned from speaking presentations. At my organization we have one acronym for every molecule that exists in our building. Those who are on the inside may think it’s okay to use acronyms with other insiders. The problem is that the pattern of speaking develops into a habit that will creep into external presentations. Indeed, good speakers avoid acronyms and insider technical words unless they are clearly explained to the audience.
Insufficient pathos. Aristotle divided the means of persuasion into three categories. Ethos is used to establish the credibility or character of the speaker. Logos means persuading by reasoning or logic. Pathos means persuading by appealing to the readers’ or hearers’ emotions. Too few speakers attempt to speak to the hearts of the audience through personal illustrations, humor, or captivating stories. As a consequence, the presentation is often deemed dry and boring, regardless of the quality of the content.

I continue to be a student of effective communication. I still have a long way to go. What could you add to this list? What stories or examples do you have of either effective or ineffective speaking?

Pray for First Baptist Church, Kettering

Location: Kettering, Ohio

Pastor: Dr. Chad Keck

Worship Times: 9:30 AM and 11:00 AM Eastern Time

Fast Facts: Pray that God would bless this church’s Great Commission efforts, especially in their annual global missions offering; pray that the people will have missionary hearts and for God to provide the wherewithal to give.  Also pray that their efforts to refinance their relocated campus might go through so that many thousands of dollars might be saved for kingdom purposes.

Website: http://www.fbckettering.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.

How Churches Count Attendance

Many church leaders and members cringe when they hear or read about numbers and statistics in churches. Such a reaction is understandable. For many years in many churches, numbers were an obsession. They became an end instead of a means.

Statistics can, however, be very helpful. They help us to answer the “why” question. Why did worship attendance increase 25 percent last year? Why did small group attendance decline when worship attendance increased? Why did our attendance increase by only ten when we added 30 new members?

Counting in the Past

For over 100 years, the primary metric of churches was membership. During that span most churches had high expectations of their members. A member was thus clearly expected to attend each week. There was little difference between the number of members and the weekly attendance.

The large exception to this pattern was the Southern Baptist Convention. That denomination focused on Sunday school attendance. The SBC was greatly influenced by the Sunday school movement in Great Britain started by Robert Raikes. For decades, churches of the SBC reported Sunday school attendance more than other metrics.

The Pattern Today

The most common statistical metric today is average weekly worship attendance. The gauge of membership is no longer very helpful. In most churches membership comes with few and low expectations. Thus a church with a membership of 400 may only have 100 in average worship attendance. There is little expectation for members to be active in the church in a meaningful way, even weekly attendance.

But this relatively new metric of worship attendance has its challenges. The simple problem is that different congregations count attendance in different ways. Churches with multiple services may count only those who are actually in the services. Others count children and preschoolers who are present but not in the worship services. Some churches count everyone present in a worship service, even if they attend multiple services (such as a praise team or choir). Other churches only count each person one time, even if he or she attended more than one service.

The counting challenge is greater in some churches because they estimate attendance. In my consulting experiences in the past, I found that estimated attendance was inflated by a factor of over 30 percent. Thus a church with an estimated attendance of 200 would really have an attendance of 140. Other churches conduct an actual count only one time, but then used that number to represent the average throughout the year.

The Emerging Norm

Despite the historical differences and inconsistencies, there is a pattern developing in how churches count attendance. Worship attendance has fast become the most common metric. And more churches are following these guidelines when counting attendance.

Count everyone in every primary worship service, including multiple services and multi-campus services. Include anyone on the church campus at the time such as children’s church, preschoolers, babies, and their corresponding workers.
Do not count any person more than one time. Those who speak, lead worship, greet, and usher are common examples of people who might attend more than one worship service.
Count those who are not in the services, but who are in service for the church. A mission team overseas would be a good example.
Count only primary worship services. Some churches still have Sunday evening services with the same people who attended Sunday morning services. The Sunday evening service, in this example, would not be included in the attendance count.

Those of us who research churches find these issues and trends fascinating. Others of you may be bored silly with discussions like these.

So what metrics does your church use? What do you think of the whole idea of statistics and counting in churches?

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.