Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 375

Notable Voices (September 6, 2012)

Cooperation, Ecumenism, and Elitism: Learning, and Even Cooperating, with Others without Compromising What You Believe -- Ed Stetzer

Cooperation is critical for global gospel advancement. Ed rightly points out that while some decry cooperation for fear of ecumenism or fundamentalism, it is a needed quality for churches and their pastors.

The Launch of The Gospel Project -- Trevin Wax

This past weekend was the official launch weekend for The Gospel Project, LifeWay's newest ongoing curriculum line. Trevin has a recap of the weekend and the incredible job his team has done in creating this new resource.

Finding Your Dream Role -- Tony Morgan

The journey to your "dream job" is not a short one. But the key to any journey is knowing the destination. Tony's post is helpful for those still trying to identify that destination.

Can Mitt Romney’s Evangelical Ambassador Seal the Deal Before Election Day? -- Dan Gilgoff

With all of the discussion surrounding Governor Mitt Romney's religious affiliation with the LDS church, Mark DeMoss has become a central figure in the Romney-Ryan campaign. Tasked with serving as Romney's unofficial evangelical ambassador, DeMoss will play a key role if Romney is to be elected in November. This profile chronicles DeMoss and the daunting task set before him.

Death by Meeting: Are Your Meetings Killing You? -- Art Rainer

Why I Am Grammar Obsessed

I have taken some solace that a recent Harvard Business Review blog post on grammar has been one of the most read and commented posts the past thirty days. Its title is intriguing: “I Won’t Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here’s Why.” The author, Kyle Wiens, is the CEO of iFixit, the largest online repair community. He truly has a zero tolerance for grammatical mistakes in his organization.

I understand. In fact, I heartily embrace his attitude.

Those of us who are grammar obsessed must endure the chuckles and the bewilderment at our perceived misplaced priorities. We must likewise accept the moniker of grammar cop. It goes with the territory.

My organization is the largest Christian resource company in the world. More than one-third of our revenue comes from publishing. Grammar better be a high priority. I would be, however, the same stickler in another organization. Good grammar is that important to me. Allow me to share why I am so grammar obsessed.

Your grammar shapes how others view you. For better or worse, poorly written and spoken grammar leaves others with a poor impression of you. In a day when first impressions are the only opportunity we may have, it is foolish to lose that opportunity with grammatical mistakes. I recently spoke to a person in an organization that eliminated a candidate for a job because he had grammatical mistakes on his resume. Poor grammar is an indicator of laziness. It can mean that you didn’t take time to learn or relearn basic skills. It can also mean that you didn’t take the time to proofread or have someone proofread your work. Why do you capitalize certain words? Don’t you know the difference between “its” and “it’s”? A basic grammar and spellcheck would have shown you the mistakes you made. Why didn’t you take the time to do so? Sometimes words are all you have. Much of our world is words. You communicate by email, text, social media and, on rare occasions, letter. For most of those who hear from you, they only know you by your words. When you communicate those words poorly, you are often perceived poorly. Those with good grammar tend to be interested in their ongoing development. Learning good grammar is a lifelong process. The more you practice good grammar, the better you become. When I notice that someone has taken the time to practice good grammar, I know that he or she probably excels in other areas. Organizations and individuals will often succeed or fail based on the clarity of their communication. While grammar is but one element of communication, it is a vital element. If we compromise grammatically, communication begins to break down. Clarity is critical in organizations and leadership. Good grammar is critical for clarity.

I have heard from some in my organization and beyond that they didn’t have good basic grammatical training in their educational process. That is no excuse. Anyone can take just a few minutes a week and learn basic grammar skills.

Indeed, I do identify with Kyle Wiens in his Harvard Business Review post. His stand is pretty firm: “If you think an apostrophe was one of the twelve disciples of Jesus, you will never work for me. If you think a semicolon is a regular colon with an identity crisis, I will not hire you. If you scatter commas into a sentence with all the discrimination of a shotgun, you might make it to the foyer before we politely escort you from the building.”

I may not be a grammar cop to that level, but I’m close. At the very least I’m grammar obsessed. So please know your rules for capitalization. Don’t use “myself” as the subject of your sentence. Kindly add an “ly” to those adjectives that should be adverbs. And, if for any reason, you mess up on subject-verb agreement, allow me to leave the room for a few moments. The scream you will hear down the hallway is likely my own.

Organizations Lose $1.3 Trillion by Not Engaging in Social Media

I was shocked. Two presidents of organizations began using Twitter in the past two months. These are presidents I know well, leaders who for years saw no value in Twitter or other social media. As one told me, he had moved over to the dark side.

These leaders are not alone. Only 20 of the CEOs of Fortune 500 companies engage in Twitter. But my guess is that many of them will be moving to “the dark side” as well. The evidence is building rapidly. Your organization is at a distinct disadvantage if it does not embrace social media with enthusiasm.

A new study by the highly regarded McKinsey and Company should move even some of the deepest skeptics. Their research found that, while 72 percent of organizations use some form of social media, very few embrace it strategically. As a consequence, the productivity lost in these companies could be as high as $1.3 trillion. That’s a lot of zeros. In fact, if those dollars were the gross domestic product (GDP) of a country, its economy would be the 14th largest in the world.

The McKinsey study notes that organizations lose both interaction within the company and connection outside the company if they do not engage social media with enthusiasm. Collaboration opportunities are lost and intimate customer connections are forfeited.

While I’m sure the organization I lead could improve greatly, we strategically embraced social media several years ago. Allow me to share four principles I have learned to this point.

1. Embracing social media begins at the top. While social media is a great equalizer, an organization will not embrace it corporately unless the leader of the organization gives his or her tacit permission. My enthusiastic involvement in social media sent a clear message that it was important for the entire organization.

2. An open attitude for the organization is worth the risk. When a large number of employees are active in social media speaking on behalf of the organization, the risks are obvious. We still encourage blogs, tweets, Facebook posts, and other social media interaction. The rewards are greater than the risks.

3. Guidelines are good, but they must not be too restrictive. We do have social medial guidelines, but we understand that too many rules go counter to the openness of social media. We feel that our balance is pretty good. We have many employees engaged in social media; and we have spoken to unwise engagement only four or five times in the past five years.

4. We often make heroes of those who engage in social media well. On many occasions, an employee has engaged in social media in such a way that we think it’s worth telling the story about what he or she did. Those stories eventually become part of the organization’s culture and, consequently, encourage others to do so as well.

Leaders and organizations will ignore social media to their own peril. Ryan Holmes, author of the article about McKinsey’s research, notes: “It seems noteworthy that the report’s conclusions have been echoed of late from the most authoritative of places: Wall Street. In the last year, the world’s largest enterprise software companies--Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, Adobe, and even Ellison’s own Oracle--have spent upward of $2.5 billion snatching up social media tools to add to their enterprise suites. Even Twitter-phobic CEOs may have a hard time ignoring that business case.”

Large corporations, small businesses, nonprofits, churches, and a plethora of other organizations are increasingly realizing the critical need for social media. Ultimately, it gets those in the organization closer to each other, as well as connecting to those whom the organization wants to reach.

The case for organizations embracing social media has been anecdotally powerful for years. But now McKinsey presents overwhelming objective data that cannot be ignored. I can only presume that many will still ignore this clear and powerful evidence. And their organizations will likely suffer as a result.

Are You an Early Bird or a Night Owl Worker?

Conventional wisdom holds that those who rise early and get to work early tend to be the most productive workers. You know, it’s the early bird thing. My problem is that I never liked worms.

My typical workday is 15 hours, but it doesn’t begin very early. I like working at night, so I always assumed my work habits were an aberration. Indeed, there is good historical precedent. Through the time of the agrarian society, workers had to rise early to catch as much daylight as possible. So much of the chores that had to be done could not be accomplished in the dark of evening.

But times have changed, and so have the work habits of many. A recent article by Lydia Dishman in Fast Company makes the case for night owls. She notes recent studies that correlate higher IQ with those who prefer to work late. The article further offers three interesting advantages to late-night working.

1. The evening has fewer distractions. There are less people to distract us, and our senses are not overloaded with a plethora of light distractions. Many people who stay up late began doing so when they had young children. Some of their most productive time began after the children went to bed.

2. Early risers tend to tire more quickly during “normal” work hours. Because early birds have been awake longer during the day, they begin to wear down during the 8:00 to 5:00 shift of typical working hours. The night owls, the article says, are more refreshed during these hours because they have not been awake as long as the early birds.

3. The evening is more conducive to working on major projects. Because of the fewer distractions, a worker can stay focused on one project better in the evening. The daytime tends to have multiple distractions that can cause us to jump from one project to another.

I am sure I was attracted to this article and its research because I prefer the night owl shift. We tend to like those perspectives that affirm what we are already doing.

Perhaps it is fitting to write about work habits on Labor Day. I do know, however, that many people are intensely devoted to the early bird shift. They are able to find their greatest times of productivity in the early morning. They subsequently go to sleep relatively early so they can maintain the pace of early rising.

Are you an early bird or a night owl or neither? When do you do your best work? What are the advantages and disadvantages of the hours you work? Let me hear from you.

Pray for . . . Riverview Baptist Church

Location: Osage Beach, Missouri set near the Lake of the Ozarks

Pastor: Vacant – Mark Arnold, Transitional Pastor

Weekly Worship: 8:00 AM & 10:45 AM Central Time

Fast Facts: Established in 1887 located on a high bluff overlooking the Osage River valley which later became The Lake of the Ozarks. Pray for Pastor, Mark Arnold as he guides the church through the time of pastoral transition. Pray for God to give clear direction in the selection process of the future full-time pastor.

Connect: Website

“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 .

Seven Common Resume Mistakes Pastors Make

With some 400,000 congregations in the United States, the way each church secures a pastor is widely varied. Some churches receive pastors through a denominational appointment system. Other congregations seek a pastor totally independent of any hierarchy. They seek, interview, and vote in a totally autonomous fashion. Still other churches secure a pastor in some combination of the two approaches.

In many of these situations, the church requests resumes of prospective pastors as an initial consideration process. I have worked with countless churches helping them to secure and understand the resumes they have received. Indeed I have looked at thousands of resumes. Many of them are excellent. Others are, well, not.

Allow me to share with you seven of the more common resume mistakes I see. Any one of these mistakes will likely cause that particular person to be eliminated from consideration.

1. Sloppy resumes. These sloppy resumes have careless grammatical and stylistic errors. Capitalization is random and spacing is unpredictable. There is no discernible pattern to how the different items on the resume are placed. Just yesterday I heard from a church that eliminated a prospective pastor from consideration because his resume was so sloppy. “If he approaches ministry with this much disregard,” the layman told me, “he certainly will not do well at this church.”

2. Unverified statistics. It is common and acceptable to put such statistics as worship attendance and the church budget of the pastor’s current church on the resume. Make certain that the numbers are accurate. Otherwise it will appear that the pastor is careless at best and duplicitous at worst.

3. Bad photos. Not all pastors choose to put a photo on a resume. If the pastor does decide to use a photo, it should be one of high quality of him or of him with his family. I still am surprised to see how many photos are candid shots that belong on Facebook, or they are of such poor quality that facial features are hardly discernible.

4. Poor presentation of family. The mistakes here are usually one of two extremes. Some pastors leave off their family entirely. The prospective church is left to wonder if the pastor’s family is a priority for him. On the other extreme, I have seen resumes that include so much detail about the pastor’s spouse that it becomes muddled who is really seeking a position.

5. No sense of prioritization. Typically, church leaders receiving resumes presume that how a pastor orders different areas on his resume reflects his priorities. If education is presented first, that is his priority. If family is noted first, that then becomes the perceived priority. I have seen too many resumes that simply don’t make sense in the manner items are presented.

6. Failure to note ministry accomplishments. Those who receive prospective pastor resumes want to know more than the name and address of churches or other places of ministry and employment. They want to know what was accomplished during that tenure. Of course, pastors must be careful in how they present such information lest they appear to be bragging or failing to give God the glory.

7. Failure to explain gaps in date. If a pastor has a two or three year gap on his resume, he needs to explain it. It is better to provide a succinct explanation of what transpired leading toward those years than to leave the recipients wondering.

What have you noticed about pastors’ resumes? What would you add to my list?

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: Leadership Resources

My giveaway this Friday is a pair of leadership resources.

First is the 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

Also included in the giveaway is David Dockery's book Christian Leadership Essentials. It contains a great wealth of tried and true insights on the distinctive methods of leading Christian organizations and institutions. No matter how much experience a faith-based leader may already have, there are plenty of fresh thoughts and indispensable guiding principles here on topics including finance and budget planning, mission and vision, employee relations, theological foundations, mentoring, crisis management, and more.

Since college football season kicks off this weekend, to enter the giveaway tell us your favorite college football team and why you like that team.

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

Notable Voices (August 30, 2012)

What Nixon Would Have Said if the First Manned Moon Landing Had Failed -- Abraham Piper

Neil Armstrong died this weekend. Everyone in my generation remembers where they were when they heard those famous first words from the moon. However, what would have happened had they not made it off the surface of the moon? These prepared remarks were ready for President Nixon in the event of disaster.

What Successful People Do With The First Hour Of Their Work Day -- Fast Company

How much does the first hour of every day matter? As it turns out, a lot. It can be the hour you see everything clearly, get one real thing done, and focus on the human side of work rather than your task list.

11 Mental, Emotional, and Spiritual Challenges Unique to Rural Pastors -- Able Baker

Rural pastors have a unique calling. As such, they face challenges many of us who have pastored in the suburbs or urban areas will never face.

Nine Signs You're Not Ready for Multisite -- Tony Morgan

As churches grow, there comes a point when the leadership has to make a decision whether to build, plant, or go multi-site. Tony's list helps in making that tough decision.

John Frame’s Advice: 30 Suggestions for Theological Students and Young Theologians -- Andy Naselli

From kindergarten all the way up to the doctoral level, students are headed back to school. Andy's list of 30 suggestions is a helpful reminder for focus, clarity, and passion for those pursuing a theological education.

Three Leadership Traits that Never Go Out of Style -- Vineet Nayar

I read a lot about leadership. And I write a lot about it. I, too, would agree with Vineet that regardless of the situation, trust, empathy, and mentorship are foundational keys to successful leadership.

You Might Be an Introvert If . . .

I have been absolutely amazed at the response to the two blogs I wrote on introversion. I have received countless comments, tweets, emails, texts, and calls. It seems that my admission of my own introversion has thrust me into a group of likeminded persons. We are sufficiently comfortable communicating behind the quiet clicks of a computer with no personal interaction. None of the introverts who contacted me asked to speak with me. I am not surprised. Indeed I am pleased.

So I’ve decided to poke a little fun at us introverts. Here are a few one-liners written in the spirit of Jeff Foxworthy’s “You might be a redneck if . . . “

You might be an introvert if you enjoyed timeout as a child. You might be an introvert if you shop at 1:00 am in the 24-hour grocery store to avoid seeing people. You might be an introvert if you rearrange the name cards at a dinner table so you don’t have to sit next to people you don’t know. You might be an introvert if you like to have an extroverted friend with you so he can carry on the conversations you want to avoid. You might be an introvert if your favorite game is solitaire. You might be an introvert if your favorite number is one. You might be an introvert if you take plenty of reading material on airplanes to avoid talking to people. You might be an introvert if you smile when you see the “Do Not Talk” sign in the library. You might be an introvert if you try to convince family members that you are really okay staying at home for a week of vacation. You might be an introvert if you avoid buying new clothes so people won’t comment to you about them. You might be an introvert if you can’t understand what’s so bad about solitary confinement. You might be an introvert if you enjoy talking to yourself more than anyone else. You might be an introvert if the word “meeting” causes you to become mildly to violently nauseous. You might be an introvert if you work in your garden at night with a headlamp to avoid conversations with neighbors. You might be an introvert if you think social media is the greatest invention in 200 years because you can communicate without being around people. You might be an introvert if your favorite room in the house is the bathroom because you know you can be alone there.

That’s my list for now. What can you add?

The Four Categories of Pastors

Lyle Schaller is one of the most widely read commentators on congregational life in the last four decades. He is adamant that the key reason most churches do not grow or reach the unchurched is because of a failure of leadership. And while I do not fully agree with the way Schaller categorizes pastors, I nevertheless find his basic premises fascinating.

Schaller says pastors can be put into one of four categories. The first category includes those "who fail to pay the rent on time or are not able to pay the rent on time or are not able to pay it in full every month." Simply stated, these pastors, due to poor health, family problems, uncertainty of call, or poor work habits, do not carry out basic pastoral duties. These pastors have too much on their plate. They fail to delegate responsibility and, in the end, burn out and become disgruntled with ministry. As a result, the churches they lead rarely grow over 100.

The second category is the "paying-the-rent" pastor. The "rent" includes preaching and worship, teaching and pastoral care, organization and administration. Schaller emphasizes that paying the rent is not a full-time job. These pastors use their discretionary time for activities that do not establish goals or a vision for the church. In short, they see ministry as a checklist and "success" as maintaining the status quo, and their churches grow no larger than a few hundred.

Schaller's third category of pastors is called "goal-driven pastors." These leaders not only pay the rent, but they help carry out projects and programs initiated by them or others in the congregation. If the goal is to reach younger families with children at home, the goal-driven pastor may seek to build a new preschool wing or to start the latest "hot" program for young families. Goal-driven pastors enlist allies to accomplish tasks necessary to reach their goals. These leaders operate in a constant flurry of activity, but their churches often move from emphasis to emphasis with no sustained plan for growth past 700.

Most pastors and churches fit into these three categories. There are only a small number of pastors in Schaller's fourth group which he labels "vision-driven." These vision-driven pastors see "paying the rent" as important, but involve others in tasks. Instead of activity and busyness, they expect others to be involved. They also cast such a compelling vision that enough leaders cannot help but be drawn to it. For the vision-driven pastor, the goal is not an end, but a building block to something greater and more exciting. They see few limitations and truly believe anything is possible through Christ. Only about four percent of pastors can be described as vision-driven.

What do you think of these categories? In what category do you see most pastors?