Thom S. Rainer's Blog, page 69

Ten Realities for Regathering Churches

Though we don’t have a precise picture of what churches will look like two years from now, we are at least getting some early indicators as the congregations regather. Positively, there is a genuine excitement as more churches open and as more members return. The potential challenge is dealing with the expectation that your church will look like it did in 2019. It will not.

Here are some early indicators or realities for churches as they regather. Most of them apply in the North American context. These ten are the most pervasive issues we see right now.

1. If a church is to grow, it must come from evangelistic efforts. Transfer growth and growth from cultural Christianity will be a dwindling source for growth. Congregations must be serious about reaching people with the gospel.

2. Churches will have about 20 percent fewer people in attendance one year from now. That is the median point of the trends we are seeing. We will update you if that trend shifts in either direction.

3. Church facilities will be reconfigured. This trend was already underway. It has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We have mentioned on numerous occasions that worship centers will be smaller, but other facility trends are on the horizon as well.

4. A core of members will have a greater commitment to serve through the church. That’s good news, but we don’t yet know how big that core will be. We will keep you posted.

5. Digital giving will increase to about 70 percent of all giving. That number will probably be realized in about a year. Keep in mind, that percentage is a median. Your church could likely be different.

6. Churches will evangelize and minister to their communities greater than at any point in the past several decades. Again, this news is really good. It also portends well for the rebirth and renaissance of neighborhood churches.

7. The number of churches with Sunday evening worship services will decrease from 15 percent of churches to 10 percent of all churches. Again, this trend was underway before the pandemic, but it has been accelerated.

8. Church adoption will continue to grow. Church adoption is almost synonymous with church replanting. It takes place when an existing congregation decides to become a part of the family of another congregation.

9. Church fostering will continue to grow. This is an incipient movement that continues to have momentum. A healthier church agrees to help a less healthy church for a defined period, usually a year or less.

10. Shifting demographics will favor rural churches and churches in smaller towns. The pandemic taught employers and employees that most employees can work from any location. Many of these workers chose to move to less populated areas with a more reasonable pace of life.

 Many of these realities are in their early stages. At Church Answers, we are monitoring them and others to keep you up to date on what we see.

In the meantime, we would love to hear from you about developments in your church or churches in your area.

The post Ten Realities for Regathering Churches appeared first on Church Answers.

A Plea to Pastors for Easter Weekend

After a year filled with lockdowns and online options and outdoor worship services and socially-distanced indoor services and mask mandates and hand sanitizer by the truckload, Easter 2021 has the potential to be a very large weekend, indeed.

Besides the emergence from a global pandemic, Easter weekend is one of the two largest church attendance weekends in any calendar year. People attend church with Grandma. Irreligious people come because it’s still the socially acceptable thing to do in some parts of the country. Folks who are normally sporadic in attendance wouldn’t think of skipping church on Easter.

But because of COVID, Easter may feel like the right time to return. People may have subliminally set Resurrection Sunday as their “back to church” date. Decreased case counts and increased vaccination rates may give people the courage to gather in a group again.

But whether we’re talking about unusual years like 2021 or somewhat more normal years (whatever those are), we need to talk about pastors.

It’s a sad but true statement: we pastors generally don’t know what to do with the new-found fullness of our auditoriums. So we panic. We nervously resort to humor or snarkiness or futile attempts at bridging the gap.

We say things like, “We want to extend a welcome to the poinsettia and lily crowd!” or “Thanks for coming. We’ll see you again at Christmas.” Or the covid-era favorite: “I’m not sure why you’re complaining about face coverings … some of you have worn masks to church for years.”

And while we think it’s cute, or funny, or disarming, it’s really anything but.

What we mean to be appealing is insulting.

What we hope makes a point is really pointless.

Instead of drawing people in, it chases them away. Instead of bringing comfort to the outsider, it just keeps them on the outside. And instead of helping your cause, it’s hurting your church.

We have to remember that any step towards the church is still a step. It still takes effort. You’re going to have guests on Easter weekend who wrestled with the decision to come, who wrestled with their anxieties about crowds, who are taking a chance on your safety protocols and your welcoming spirit, but in the end, they honored you with their presence. So please, don’t insult them with your comments and give them one more reason not to show up the following weekend.

Rather than snarky one-liners, how about grace? How about an easy next step? How about a way to connect to other people, and most importantly, to the cross?

Jesus took those who were on the outside and he brought them in. Regardless of how long it had been, regardless of how far they had wandered, regardless of how far they had to go … the message of Good Friday and Easter Sunday is that new life is available to anyone who asks and the grace of Jesus meets us at the point of our deepest need.

And more than anything else people need in 2021, people need the hope of the empty tomb. They need that hope more than they need a job. More than they need a vaccination. More than they need a clean bill of health or a fixed marriage or a solution for their wayward child.

They need the hope of the resurrection.

Pastors: they’re coming. The Holy Spirit is drawing brand new honored guests to your services this weekend. How will you serve them?

The post A Plea to Pastors for Easter Weekend appeared first on Church Answers.

The Next Big Push for Pastors

At first, I didn’t like the title of this article. Let me explain.

As a lead pastor of a normative size church, I feel like I have been making big push after big push since the end of 2019. I ended 2019 with a vision for 2020. That vision was thrown out of the window when 2020 unfolded. And we all know what 2020 was like.

I ended 2020 with a lot of fatigue. I had decision fatigue. I had vision fatigue. Now, the months of 2021 seem to be flying off the calendar. But there feels like a newness is starting to surface in the church I have the privilege to lead. There feels like there is a growing hunger for God’s Word, community, and hope. The idea of another big push coming seemed exhausting at first.

What is this next big push?

There is going to be another big push back into ministry. As we enter into whatever our new normal is going to look like, the churches we lead are going to be looking to us for the next hill to take. The hunger for community, for worship, for God’s Word is going to grow in a way that we as church leaders need to start preparing for. For some churches, that means relaunching ministries. For other churches, that means beginning new ministries. The next big push for people to begin re-engaging church life is coming.

Where do I start?

The biggest question I believe you can answer right now is “where is God leading my church to reach my community in the next 18 months?” There is going to be a tension to turn 100% inward as more and more people start re-engaging. I would encourage you to lower that percentage. Yes, take care of those inside the church. But lovingly lead them to take the hope of Jesus to those outside the church.

How do I prepare for the next big push?

Let me give you a few practical ways that might help you answer the question above.

Pray. Seek God first. Let prayer be your first priority.Start networking with other church leaders. You aren’t alone. There are other church leaders who are facing the same challenges and opportunities that you are. Meet with other local church leaders or connect with church leaders all over the world at Church Answers Central.Go spend time alone with God. I love the spiritual discipline of silence and solitude. If you can, get away for 24 hours and just listen to God.See your community through new eyes. Drive on a road you’ve never driven on before in your community. Learn about your community. Fall in love with your community again.Let the opportunity fuel you. The people in your church are getting hungry again. That’s a huge opportunity! While it will take another big push of emotional and physical energy, those people in your church are getting hungry for God and what God is going do next. That’s exciting! Let the opportunity fuel you into more Kingdom ministry.

It’s another big push. But this big push just might lead to people discovering the hope of Jesus and begin an eternal, everlasting relationship with God.

The post The Next Big Push for Pastors appeared first on Church Answers.

Six Reasons Senior Pastors Should Lead a Mentoring Group

A Christianity Today article quoted leadership guru Peter Drucker as saying the four hardest jobs in America are, in no particular order…

President of the United StatesUniversity PresidentCEO of a HospitalSenior Pastor

The article’s disclaimer questions whether Drucker actually said this, but based on my conversations with pastors, this idea isn’t far off. Senior Pastors feel the strain of navigating their various roles and responsibilities … communicator, team leader, counselor, hospital chaplain, program director.

So, there’s no way a Senior Pastor would lead a mentoring group, right? To answer this question, I consulted my friend Ronnie Cordrey, the Men’s Ministry Leader at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY. Ronnie was instrumental in launching Radical Mentoring at Southeast Christian, and he’s co-mentored two groups with their Senior Pastor, Kyle Idelman.

I asked Ronnie why he thinks it’s essential for Senior Pastors to mentor, and he shared the following six reasons…

1. It keeps the Senior Pastor connected to the outer rim of the church. The longer a Senior Pastor is at a church, the more he is naturally pulled to the center of the organization. But if the only voices the pastor hears are those of elders and senior-level leadership, it’s easy to lose relevance with the people the church is trying to reach.

2. It protects the Senior Pastor from 100% crisis management. The role of a Senior Pastor can be consumed with crisis management … praying for and dealing with people whose houses are on fire (i.e., marriage problems, addictions, etc.), which produces sporadic, “one-and-done discipling.”

3. It models “leading from the front.” When a Senior Pastor intentionally engages with a Radical Mentoring group, it removes the excuse from every potential mentor in their church. No more, “I’m too busy to invest in a mentoring group for a year.”

4. It makes a Senior Pastor easier to follow. Any Senior Pastor who engages in intentional disciple-making is easy to follow because he’s in the trenches … it gives him handlebars for saying and living out 1 Corinthians 11:1, “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

5. A Senior Pastor’s sermons will improve. A Senior Pastor’s sermons will become better because he’ll see the struggles of those in his church, up close and personal. A super well-known Senior Pastor who finished co-leading his first Radical Mentoring group concluded, “I’ve been preaching the wrong sermons.”

6. It will increase the quality of the Senior Pastor’s ministry. Connecting him to men he can be real with will help remove him from the extreme isolation and loneliness this role can unintentionally produce. And in doing so, it will increase the quality and effectiveness of his life and ministry.

Ronnie also added, “Radical Mentoring is not the only solution to any of the above, but it is a powerful tool to help a Senior Pastor (and church elders for that matter) engage in intentional disciple-making. Kyle and I are growing as much as the men we’re discipling, which is part of the brilliance of the Radical Mentoring model … it produces mutual transformation. I can confidently say that a Senior Pastor who says yes to mentoring will be glad he did.”

And so you know it’s not unique to Kyle or Southeast, here is what three other Senior Pastors who said “yes” to mentoring reported about their experience:

“The day my group shared our stories was one the best days of my life – watching men demonstrate authenticity, and vulnerability, crying as they shared their real stories. After the fourth guy shared, I went back and shared more from my story! It is a new day for me personally and for my ministry.”  –Chad, The Church at LifePark

“As a Lead Pastor, I can declare: there is no single resource that has breathed life into our church and my soul more than Radical Mentoring.” –Brian, Crosspointe Church

“Radical Mentoring has kept me in contact with my members and grown me personally to more than a pastor but a friend and mentor to many of the men of our church.” –Hale, Park Avenue United Methodist Church

If you’re a Senior Pastor, will you consider leading a group? If you’re a pastor in another role or even a lay leader, will you consider inviting your Senior Pastor to co-mentor a group with you?

We’d love to help you explore how you and your church can launch a small group mentoring ministry. We’ve laid the whole process out for you at radicalmentoring.com. And the best part, our entire resource library, including our coaching and guidance, is available to you for free. Learn more here.

The post Six Reasons Senior Pastors Should Lead a Mentoring Group appeared first on Church Answers.

Do You Really Know the Community Around Your Church? Four Often-Missed Demographics

Your church address is not an accident. God sovereignly placed your church in its location to reach the people around you. Do you know them? Jesus’ Great Commandment (Matthew 22:34-40) gives clear instructions: Love your neighbor. Knowing your neighbor is the first step to loving your neighbor. 

Do you really know your neighbors? Church leaders often miss four basic demographics. I’ll use my community in Bradenton, Florida as an example.

1. How many people live within a drivable distance to your church? Typically, church leaders dramatically underestimate how many people can easily drive to the church. I’ve asked this question numerous times. I’ve heard answers that underestimate by tens of thousands. In my own community, some of my church leaders were surprised to know there were almost 250,000 people that live within fifteen minutes of the church.

 

2. What percentage of your community is ethnic minority? Like the first question, most underestimate the ethnic population in their community. In many communities, growth is fueled by ethnic minorities and immigrants. Of those that live around my church, almost four out of ten are an ethnic minority.

 

3. How many people regularly participate in and give to a religious organization? At Church Answers, we’ve analyzed thousands of communities around churches. I’ve seen surprises on both sides of this question. Below are the figures for my community.

 

4. How many single-parent homes are in your community? In many communities, single-parent homes make up one-quarter to one-third of homes with children. The number of single-parent homes in your neighborhood will drastically change the way you do children’s ministry in your church. In the area around my church, over 45% of homes with children are single-parent homes.

 

It’s hard to reach your community if you don’t know your community. How can you create an outreach program without knowing the people you are attempting to reach?

It’s easier to love your community if you know your community. Once you understand who they are, then you can know how to love them better. 

The call to lead a church is a call to shepherd the community. You cannot separate the calling of church and community. They are one and the same.

Perceived demographics are often different than actual demographics. You may think you know your community, but in many cases, church leaders have a skewed view of who lives around the church.

If you don’t know the answer to these questions for your community, I have a solution. Church Answers, in partnership with Revitalize Network, has created a resource to answer these four questions and many more! It’s called the Know Your Community report. We offer this incredible demographic and psychographic report to help you reach and love your community.

Know your community. Love your community. Reach your community.  

 

The post Do You Really Know the Community Around Your Church? Four Often-Missed Demographics appeared first on Church Answers.

7 “Old-Fashioned” Church Growth Ideas to Consider Today

As I think back across 40 years of full-time ministry, I’m reminded of some older ways we did church then that could still work today. These ideas from years ago, in fact, make me wonder how we might use them today: 

1. “Friend Day” – I know that’s a strange thought in COVID days, but I trust we will move past these days at some point. Regardless (and for now, assuming we can provide proper space), there’s value in challenging believers to make intentional efforts to invite their friends to church.

2. 24 Hour Prayer Wall – In my day, church members signed up on the “prayer wall,” came to the church, and prayed in 15 or 30-minute segments—though some older folks still prayed at home. Today, we can use electronic means to make this same commitment to prayer.

3. Annual Bible Study – Every January, we used three consecutive nights to teach through a book of the Bible. I’m convinced believers still want to know the Word, and they’ll attend as long as we provide the strongest teachers. Weak teachers, though, will kill such a study.

4. Prayer Chain – We did it via telephone then, but it worked this way: someone in need of prayer called the prayer line, and the leader called the next prayer warrior on the list . . . who then called the next person, and so on. Today, we can easily enlist members and groups who stand ready to pray as soon as they learn of a need (most likely, by an electronic means).

5. Care Group Shepherding – Each small group had “care group leaders” who were responsible for shepherding an assigned list of members of the small group. If, for example, a small group member missed a gathering, the care group leader would follow up that week to check on him or her. This kind of follow-up and ministry is still in order.

6. Weekly Small Group Leaders Training – Every week, we met together to pray, to discuss the next week’s study, to follow up about guests, to do training, and to encourage each other. In fact, we enlisted small group leaders with this expectation in mind. Even if we do it via Zoom these days, building a team of small group leaders will make a difference.

7. Weekly Contact Groups – In this process, a group of members met at the church each week to contact other members and guests. Some made phone calls, some wrote notes, some made personal visits, and some covered the whole process in prayer. How we do this would likely be different today, but intentional, ongoing contacts will pay dividends.

What are your thoughts? What other “old-fashioned” ideas might you implement today?

The post 7 “Old-Fashioned” Church Growth Ideas to Consider Today appeared first on Church Answers.

Five Ways to Reach Those Who Stopped Attending Worship Services

It’s a challenge that has been around for decades, but it has been exacerbated by the pandemic. Members who were once active have stopped attending worship. 

Indeed, some of the most frequent questions we get at Church Answers are related to this issue. How can we get those who stopped attending to return? What is the best approach? Is it worth our effort or is it a lost cause? 

To be blunt, these members are indeed hard to get back. Once they left, they established new patterns and habits, and church was not one of them. Some of them may not be Christians; they attended worship to be accepted or to please someone.

But, biblically, we must not give up on the one who has gone astray. Evangelistically, we have an opportunity to keep the gospel before them. Even if the efforts are difficult, they can really make a difference.

As we hear from church leaders around the world, we are listening carefully to some of the most effective approaches to reach those who have left. These are five approaches that are used by a number of churches.

Call them once. Yes, it can be that simple. One pastor took a Sunday afternoon and called twelve persons representing twelve families. He simply told them that he missed them and hoped they would return. He then prayed for them. Three of the twelve families returned within a month.Pray for them. Many churches have prayer ministries, and some of them have intentional prayer for those who have dropped out of church. One church makes it a point to send a “we prayed for you” email once every other month. The emails are personal and written specifically to the person who is no longer attending.Keep them on a separate email list. One church leader explained it this way. You don’t put them on the email list you send to all members. They would recognize they are on a list that everyone gets; they would not be motivated to return with this approach. Instead, have someone craft an email that addresses these people specifically and pastorally.Be aware of points of need for these people. A pastor in Ohio shared that he finds someone who has a personal relationship with the member who is no longer attending. He asks the active member to let him know when the inactive member has a specific need to which the church can respond. One family of seven returned to his church when several people ministered to them when the primary breadwinner lost his job.Stay in touch with the children of the family. When a family stops attending, many church leaders said they had success getting the children or youth to attend specific activities. One student minister reported success especially when their peers invite them to an event.

There is nothing new about church dropouts. But the rate of dropout accelerated during the pandemic and was exacerbated by it. Yes, it is not usually easy to get people back in the discipline of gathering as a church. 

But God continues to work in many churches and in the lives of those who dropped out. 

He has not given up on them. Neither should we.

The post Five Ways to Reach Those Who Stopped Attending Worship Services appeared first on Church Answers.

How Social Media Can Hurt Your Church

I think we can agree that social media has helped many churches grow their online presence. Even in the secular market, social media platforms have helped startup companies go from very small to very big, all in a matter of seconds. For the most part, this is a good thing; however, there is a downside to all of this.

Social media could be hurting your church, and you might not know it.

Let’s take a closer look at four ways that social media could be hurting your church.

You’re Moving Too Fast

I’m prone to move quickly on things. Sometimes I move a little too fast. Churches who move too fast on social media can end up producing “low-value” content that does a disservice to their audience. You have to weigh every piece of content and assess its value.

Moving too quickly is one way that churches can lose their audience. Moving too fast could be why your audience growth is slowing down. Maybe it’s not them. Perhaps you need to slow down.

If you keep it up, you could damage your reputation. If you create too much low-value content, you begin to crowd your social media channels. In your mind, the channels are full of content. In reality, your channels are vacant of any real value. Do you see the difference?

You Don’t Ask for Anything

You have to provide clear calls to action. You can’t just go onto a social media platform and expect your audience to figure out what you want from them. You need to tie the two together.

Your calls to action don’t necessarily have to be related to events or money. They can be spiritual challenges (read the Bible in 90 days) or social media related (share this content). Regardless of the call to action, your audience will want you to give them direction at some point.

You Measure the Wrong Things

There are lots of tools you can use to manage your company on social media, but not all of them are guaranteed to help you understand what’s working. While a tool may tell you how many “likes” a post is getting, it doesn’t necessarily mean that your social media is serving your church well.

You need to figure out what real engagement is. At our church, we determine engagement by building funnels in Google analytics and seeing how many people complete our calls to action. While we don’t build funnels for everything, we do make them for small group registrations and online donations.

These funnels can tell me when social media calls to action work despite the number of likes or shares. While it’s nice to have a massive reach on Facebook, if people aren’t completing the calls to action, then the social media content is not working.

You’ve Outsourced Your Social Media

If you’re going to have your social media scale, you’re going to need volunteers. Keep in mind that while a volunteer might be good with social media, they might not be good for your church’s social media. Just because someone is good with social media does not mean they’re good at understanding how your church brand needs to be represented on social media. Learn to identify the difference.

If you can’t find a volunteer who understands both, you might need to do it yourself until that right person comes along. It might mean more work for you, but it will be worth it to protect your church’s social media presence.

Your Church is Not Seen as Likeable

I don’t mention this to be cute. Not all social platforms or content need you to be creative. If you try too hard, you can come across as flippant.

However, you need to make sure your church’s content is not “all business.” Your audience will respond to content that’s down-to-earth. While doing this, you do still need to get your message out. If you have something beneficial to say, don’t try link-baiting, you can shoot straight with your audience. However, it would be best if you kept a balance between the two.

Don’t forget when your church is being transparent, that you also need to keep your personal beliefs separate from your church’s social media. Mixing the two is a good way to have your church members turn away from you on social media.

I’m a big proponent of churches getting online and engaging their audience. However, I think social media’s pitfalls can do real damage to a church’s online reputation that can take some time to repair.

Final Thought

We’re living in a microwave culture. We all want it fast, and we want it now. However, the best way to serve your church and your online audience are by slowing down, measuring the right things, and delivering high value to your audience.

The post How Social Media Can Hurt Your Church appeared first on Church Answers.

The Big Baby Boomer Opportunity for the Church

In the 1830s Alexis de Tocqueville wrote about democracy in America: “Each new generation is a new people.” At the time, America was rapidly expanding. Political thinkers like de Tocqueville were watching to see how American democracy would balance liberty and equality. The American experiment that began in 1776—a political miracle of sorts—created a climate in which each generation could reinvent, change, and become something unlike their parents.

Fast-forward to the 1960s, and the Baby Boomers started demanding change within American democracy. War raged. Hoses sprayed. Postmodernism was undermining absolute truth. At least music got a whole lot better. Ironically, the Boomer challenge of democracy in the 1960s was only possible within the democratic system that de Tocqueville observed coming to life in the 1830s. This American ethos was represented well in Steve Jobs, who perhaps in many ways was the quintessential Baby Boomer. Jobs once quipped, “Never trust anyone over 30.” Alexis de Tocqueville was barely 30 when he wrote on democracy in America. I’m sure de Tocqueville would have loved the Apple I. Jobs certainly typified de Tocqueville’s prophecy. Each new generation in America really is a new people.

The Boomers are now 30 again. They doubled-up on years and are in their 60s. From this point until 2030, about 10,000 Boomers will retire every day. The leadership baton is passing to Millennials. A new people are beginning to lead churches. As one among the oldest of my generation (I was born in 1980), I have been the first Millennial pastor of a few churches, following Boomer pastors in leadership. Like a lot of new, younger pastors, I inherited a large population of Boomers in my congregation. We are left with a key question: What should we do with all these Baby Boomers?

Let’s look at three simple truths about Baby Boomers. Here’s the Boomer reality most churches face in America:

There are lots of Boomers. Just over 76 million Boomers live in the United States. Approximately 40% attend church, which means we have over 30 million Boomers in our churches. That’s a lot of people.

They are here for another 30 years. Boomers are healthy. Many will still be kicking around in 30 years. In fact, a 60 year-old today is easily expected to live another 20 years. To get an idea of how the aging of Boomers has affected American demography, take a look at the figure below. You can see the swell of Boomers through the decades. Even in 2060, some hearty Boomers will be around to remind us all that everything changed 100 years prior. They might even tell you not to trust anyone born before 2030. 

Source: US Census Bureau

They have a higher level of religious affiliation than Millennials. Much has been made about the rise in the number of Americans who do not identify in surveys with any religion. Indeed, the “nones” are increasing at a dramatic pace. This growth, however, is largely due to generational shifts. Millennials are more likely than Boomers and older generations to have no religious affiliation. The converse is true as well, Boomers are more likely to have a religious affiliation. 

Don’t miss the importance of these three truths. First, there are lots of Boomers. Second, many are in your church. In fact, Boomers are probably the largest one group of your congregation. Third, they have a level of religious affiliation, which means many will have some understanding concerning what it means to be committed to a particular congregation. Lots of people . . . in your church . . . willing to do some work—that’s the Boomers. 

And they are retiring now. As noted earlier, 10,000 Boomers retire every day. If you are a pastor, then you must have a strategy for utilizing this generation. I believe it’s a gold mine of gospel energy. Could the next great gospel movement in America bloom from the flower children? Perhaps. But I do know there are several ways to put them to work in your local church. Let me offer a few suggestions

Stop pushing them into the senior ministry. In most churches, the senior ministry begins at retirement age. I’ve seen this ministry called Plus (as in age, not size), Keenagers (because age should bring wisdom), and MAGIC (Maturing Adults Growing In Christ). If you’re a Millennial, don’t laugh at these names, because your kids will make fun of the Journey Catalyst Life Church down the street.

Senior ministry in most churches is not contextualized for Boomers. In fact, Boomers are not seniors. Seniors are their parents. Just because Boomers are reaching retirement age does not mean they will fit into the ministry paradigm of their parents.

Hire them part-time. The transfer of wealth that is occurring from those born in the 1920s and 1930s to Baby Boomers is measured in the trillions of dollars. Obviously, not every Baby Boomer is wealthy. But most retired Boomers do not need full-time pay. Churches could benefit by hiring Boomers part-time to fill what were previously full-time positions. Not only does it help the church immediately with a lower personnel budget, it also prepares the church culturally for a future in which part-time and bi-vocational staff will be more normative.

Give them flexibility. Boomers have grandkids. They want to see them . . . regularly. And they may have to travel in order to do so. Churches that capture the Boomer energy will understand the need for flexibility. Most Boomers will not be as regular church attendees as their parents, mainly due to travel. While Boomers may not attend as faithfully as their parents, they could potentially give the church more ministry hours over the course of a year. But you will need to be flexible with them.

Bring them into your big ideas. Nothing is more frustrating as a seasoned leader than being left out of the creation process. Retiring Boomers bring a wealth of experience in understanding how to take calculated risks. Boomers are not afraid of big ideas. In many ways, they are the generation of big ideas. If you’re a Millennial church leader, just realize Boomers will not process big ideas in the same way as you. However, a Millennial/Boomer collaboration on big gospel ideas is bound to benefit God’s kingdom.

And remember, you can’t trust anyone over 30. Well, except for Jesus, that is.

The post The Big Baby Boomer Opportunity for the Church appeared first on Church Answers.

Where Have All the Church Volunteers Gone?

It is one of the most vocalized challenges church leaders express. As the church regathers, the number of volunteers returning does not seem to be proportionate to those who have returned. After our Church Answers’ team heard from hundreds of church leaders, we saw a few common threads. 

Volunteer ministry is a discipline that has been neglected during the pandemic. That makes sense. Ministry is a discipline like Bible reading, prayer, and fasting. Church members have gotten out of the habit.Some of our most committed volunteers have yet to return. Though this observation crosses all types of churches, we see it most clearly in those churches that have older members. Many of them will not return until they’ve had their vaccinations and until COVID is largely under control.Ministries that require close human contact are especially vulnerable. We have seen this reality most commonly in welcome ministries in the church. Some members simply are not ready to volunteer where regular and close human contact is part of the ministry. We do anticipate these volunteers will return this year.Church leaders are re-emphasizing the importance of all church members being involved in ministry. This emphasis has returned with urgency and clarity in new member classes. Many pastors are emphasizing the point more frequently in their sermons. One pastor told us he had become complacent about ministry volunteers before the pandemic. He is recommitting himself toward emphasizing this ministry.Church members, like most of the population, are weary from the pandemic. Some have been sick or had family members who have been sick or died. The quarantine also took its toll on church members. They are easing back into roles they once had, and volunteer ministry is one of those roles many have not yet re-engaged.There seems to be a direct relationship between churches’ recovery of their health and the level of ministry volunteerism. Of course, this relationship is likely a cause and effect. More volunteers help the church get healthier. A healthier church engenders an environment more conducive to ministry volunteerism.Now is the time to assess your church’s ministry complexity. Are all of your ministries and programs really necessary? Before the pandemic, were you stretching your ministry volunteers too much with unnecessary activities? Now is the time to look at your church as a blank slate. What do you need to start doing? What do you need to stop doing?

We are optimistic that most of your church volunteers will return this year. Of all the factors we are observing in churches, we see the new member class (or whatever you call your entry point into the church) to be pivotal. As more people regather in your church, make certain that ministry volunteerism is a clear expectation of the new member class. Eventually, the emphasis will bear fruit.

Above all, do not take ministry volunteerism for granted. It is a vital facet of healthy churches or churches that desire to recapture their health. The leaders must truly give priority to being Ephesians 4:12 leaders and equipping God’s people to do the work of ministry. 

How is your church faring with ministry volunteerism? We would love to hear from you.

The post Where Have All the Church Volunteers Gone? appeared first on Church Answers.