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Avoid a Cascading Ministry Failure

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Avoid a Cascading Ministry Failure

Smithsonian Channel’s “Air Disasters” is must-watch TV in my home. The catastrophic incidents in aviation history are presented with reenactments, survivor interviews and cockpit recordings. But what’s particularly interesting are the insights that show what went wrong and whether or not the crashes could have been prevented.

Accidents sometimes occur after a series of unforeseen or unintended events create the conditions where flight systems, pilot training, safety protocols or mechanical parts fail. And very often, one failure is compounded by another and another producing what’s known as a failure cascade.

A cascading failure is “a failure in a system of interconnected parts in which the failure of one or few parts leads to the failure of other parts,” growing progressively with self-reinforcing momentum. One part of the network fails which triggers a flood of other breakdowns and failures. Then, each new problem gets magnified and grows exponentially as more pieces of the system fail.

Cascading failures in ministry often build for years under the surface and then emerge in some major event that produces a series of stumbles, missed opportunities and downside momentum. It could be caused by the unhealthy exit of a key leader, poor team culture, a difficult or changing community context, church conflict or a creeping sense of apathy and entitlement in the congregation.

When a church strings together a series of these challenging events, the danger of cascading ministry failures increases. And while churches and leaders bear some responsibility for this, it’s often true that unrelated and unforeseen situations come together to create the conditions for a prolonged breakdown.

And while the failure cascade is one possibility, that doesn’t mean it’s inevitable. What do leaders and churches do to stay centered on growth, spirit sensitivity and the Great Commission? They have:

  • Clear Vision — They focus on Christ-centered, missional objectives above everything else.
  • Personal Spiritual Discipline — Leaders who prioritize a heart connection with Jesus are less likely to experience spiritual drift and leadership insecurity.
  • Organizational Spiritual Discipline — A church with biblical preaching, teaching and doctrine will usually have strategies and action plans with gospel impact. Those congregations aren’t prone to complacency or lukewarmness.
  • A Heart for Discipleship — When a church makes disciples who make disciples, it builds the DNA of multiplication into its identity. That’s the very definition of a growth mindset.
  • Intentional Leadership — Leaders who watch for the signs of mission drift and sideways energy spent on second-tier distractions are a key guardrail for the small stumbles that lead to bigger issues.
  • Hyper Contextual Ministry — A focus on reaching its community keeps a church centered on the gospel imperative. Thom Rainer says it this way: “When a church ceases to have a heart and ministry for its community, it is on the path toward death.”
  • Effective Ministry Execution — Intentional ministry, solid planning and resource allocation ensure that what the church does matches what it says about the gospel. Growing churches don’t leave these decisions to chance.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Avoid a cascading ministry failure with a growth mindset centered on the Great Commission. Missional leaders and churches have clear vision, spiritual discipline, a heart for discipleship, intentional leadership, hyper contextual ministry and effective ministry execution.   

Resources


Sources

“Cascading Failure,” Accessed April 8, 2025, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cascading_failure.

Thom S. Rainer, Autopsy of a Deceased Church: 12 Ways to Keep Yours Alive (Nashville: B&H Books, 2014), 28.

Strategy Starts in the Mud

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Strategy Starts in the Mud

The best ideas and strategies come from leaders and teams closest to the people being served and the ministries deployed to meet their needs. Think about that for a moment. While we often make strategic ministry decisions around the conference table, consider that a better way is to create strategy and generate ideas with volunteers, key leaders and teams who make ministry happen every week.

It’s not that big picture, top-down leadership doesn’t matter. It’s still a vital part of the way churches create vision, clarify direction and build out Great Commission strategies for evangelism, discipleship, missions and worship. But it shouldn’t end there.

In fact, a key observation of my 30 years in ministry is that most churches don’t fail on mission and vision. Instead, most churches struggle and often stagnate on strategic ministry execution. And execution success or failure rests with the front-facing teams who do most of the hands-on work and implementation of nuts-and-bolts ministry.

Empowering leaders and volunteers to make ministry happen is a paradigm shift for many leaders. Execution with less control or oversight isn’t always pretty, and it’s usually done in a way you wouldn’t do it yourself. But that comes with the territory. This is the “mud” of day-to-day ministry—an analogy for how laborious, challenging and messy it can be to implement those Big Ideas that mobilize the church to go and make disciples. There’s no question that it’s a glorious calling, but the mud remains. Ministry can be messy.

Enter a strategy planning process that often tells instead of listening. Nilofer Merchant says it this way:

As we all know, simply telling people what needs to be done is rarely enough to produce action. Yet that’s exactly what many organizations often do in the strategy process. Creating excellent strategy depends on collaboration throughout the organization.

Collaboration and collaborative leadership take many forms, but some of the most important are organizational strategies and tactics—everything we do (and don’t do) to achieve our missional objectives. So how do you foster a spirit of collaboration as you make strategy in the mud? Here are a few tips:

  • Lead By Asking Questions — Peter Drucker said: “The leader of the past knew how to tell – the leader of the future will
    know how to ask.” Don’t be afraid to ask questions.
  • Ask for Strategic Input — Most Big Idea strategy development happens at higher levels of leadership, but don’t neglect
    input from others. Collaborate with leaders and volunteers to allow for strategic ideas to bubble up from the bottom of the org chart. Ask them: “What does your team believe they can accomplish?”
  • Collaborate with a Cross Section of Leaders — Devolve as much authority for developing ministry tactics as you can. The most effective action plans develop in departmental groups, volunteer teams and hands-on serving ministries.
  • Delegate Execution Decisions to Ministry Teams — Ask departmental ministry teams and key volunteer leaders to develop the action plans for accomplishing your mission, vision and values. Place a high value on bottom-up leadership, strategy development and execution.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Create strategy and generate ministry ideas with volunteers, key leaders and teams who make ministry happen every week. And for maximum ministry impact, delegate execution to ministry leaders nearest the people being served.

Resources

   
Sources

Nilofer Merchant, The New How: Creating Business Solutions through Collaborative Strategy (Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media, 2010), 32.

Marshall Goldsmith, “Advice on Getting from Here to There” (Business Week), Accessed March 5, 2025, https://marshallgoldsmith.com/articles/advice-on-getting-from-here-to- there.

Change the Environment to Change the Meeting

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Change the Environment to Change the Meeting

Early in my ministry life, I remember a weekly staff meeting around a large conference table in a cramped room (with fluorescent lights and leather-bound club chairs). At the time, I didn’t think much about the setting or the meeting outcomes, but in retrospect, I see how the two things are inextricably linked.

It’s clear that different rooms can often produce very different meeting outcomes. Perhaps you need to create a new leadership dynamic, cultivate a different kind of interaction, or facilitate a specific team collaboration goal. And it might be useful to tweak your team culture in some specific way. Whatever the objective, environmental factors play an important role.

Consider these scenarios and the problems they create:

  • The Capacity Problem — A large group of 40 people gathers in a room with a large conference table that only seats 20 people. The result? The other 20 people become second-tier participants in the meeting because they’re not at the first-tier table. The solution? Reduce the size of the meeting or find a bigger setting.
  • The Engagement Problem — A group meets together in a room with seating in rows and a lectern up front. The result? The leader talks a lot and group engagement suffers. The solution? Circle up and plan activities to “break the ice.”
  • The Formality Problem — A group gathers in a sterile room with tile floors, harsh lights, metal folding chairs and rectangular tables positioned in a square with a head and foot. The result? The formality of the setting impedes open conversation. The solution? Find a new room with couches and lounge chairs to encourage less formality and honest, open dialogue.
  • The Collaboration Problem — A large group of 45 meets in a room filled with round tables while the leader asks for group dialogue and feedback. The result? The leader does most of the talking and group collaboration falls flat. The solution? Form smaller groups with round tables and have table leaders give feedback to the larger group throughout the meeting.

These examples show just how much the environment shapes the meeting. It also tells us that meeting purpose is the most important factor in where you meet, who you invite and what you talk about—the meeting agenda.

Recognize that different meetings have different purposes: information, collaboration, planning, execution or vision. Depending on your objective, you’ll do best when you match the environment with the meeting’s purpose.

Consider these environmental factors that impact meeting goals and purpose:

  • Space — Is there enough space for everyone?
  • Furniture — Is the look and feel conducive for the meeting’s purpose?
  • Seating — Are the chairs comfortable and configured correctly?
  • Setup — Does the room setup contribute to the meeting’s goal?
  • Technology — Does the room have adequate sound and presentation tools?
  • Lighting — Is the room well lit?
  • Composition — Are the right people in the room?
  • Food — Is the meeting long (or early/late) enough to require coffee, water, or snacks?

So what’s the Big Idea?

Change the environment to change the meeting.

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