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Build a Next-Step Ministry Culture

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Build a Next-Step Ministry Culture

Too many times, our team has made the “giant leap” ministry mistake. Instead of providing an easy and obvious step into ministry or discipleship, we’ve made things more complicated than they had to be.

Churches have a tendency to overprogram as they build layer upon layer of new ministries over time. That produces complex ministry schedules and programs that make it harder for someone new to break in.

The answer, as so many churches have discovered, is to simplify your ministry approach. That doesn’t mean that you leave out the important things, but it does mean that you’re more focused on Scripture-based, life-changing priorities. Here’s how the North Point team describes a next step ministry culture:

When you think steps you start by asking, “Where do we want people to be?” That question is followed by a second, more strategic question: “How are we going to get them there?” The result is a ministry that works as a step—it has been created to lead someone somewhere. This way of thinking makes a lot of sense in the light of what the church is called to do.

Most people won’t or can’t take big steps. But almost everyone can take smaller steps. For some, those steps are first steps. For others, they are next steps. The key is thinking about where you want people to be and how you’ll get them there.

Building a next step culture might include these, well, next steps:

  1. Think steps instead of programs. Instead of creating programs to meet needs, create ministries to lead people somewhere. Ask: “Where do we want people to be?”
  2. Clarify points of entry in every area of ministry. Guests, attenders and new members should have clear paths to participation in a ministry. Each ministry department should know how that happens for someone new.
  3. Evaluate ministries on “usability” or “ease of use.” Evaluate how easy it is for a new face to join the chorus of existing faces in a ministry.
  4. Ask leaders to consider the next step question. The next step question is a “how” question. It clarifies how a person goes from step 0 to step 1 in any ministry.
  5. Communicate next steps clearly (and often). Promote first steps and next steps with a full range of communication channels. Use technology to make signing up for something easy and intuitive. And make information requests meaningful with quick follow-up and follow-through from your team.

So what’s the Big Idea?

Simplify your ministry approach with first steps and next steps. The key is thinking about where you want people to be and how you’ll get them there.

Resources


Source

Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2004), 89.

3 Ways to Measure Church Health

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3 Ways to Measure Church Health

We have long measured outward signs of church health. They tell the story of needs met, people reached and lives changed. But do traditional measures of health tell the most important parts of that story?

Most churches measure the usual things and count them as measures of success or failure. While that can be a useful exercise, there’s more to church health than attendance and money. Andy Stanley and the North Point team say it this way:

Too many church leaders have bought into the myth that to clarify the win means establishing attendance goals and raising a lot of money. These can certainly be indicators about the health of your organization, but strong numbers in these areas do not necessarily mean you are winning.

Consider how you know your church is winning. Healthy churches are known for their worship and their witness.  They are purposeful places of discipleship, ministry, evangelism and missions. They are Great Commission and Great Commandment places of authentic Christian fellowship and community.

The key is knowing with certainty whether or not those words accurately describe your church. You may intuitively know the answer based on experience and anecdotal evidence, but dig deeper to build an evenhanded picture of church health.

Consider 3 ways to measure church health objectively:

  1. Research who you are and where you’ve been. Research helps you know precisely where your church is at this moment. It helps you answer important questions about the people who populate your church (and the ones who don’t). Compile data and gather information on the journey your church has traveled and where it is right now. Map the trend lines over a period of several years so you can visualize areas of strength and areas of opportunity. Read more
  2. Ask the right questions. Analyzing the data you’ve gathered may take some time and effort. It may also require a brainstorming session of your ministry staff team and other church leaders. Pray over the results of your research. Examine the numerical data closely and stay true to what it tells you about your current situation.
    • Ask “why” and “how” questions. Read more
    • Don’t stop asking questions. Read more
    • Consider the sample questions below.
  3. Consider past and present definitions of success. Focus on outputs vs. inputs. Inputs tell you what ingredients go in to something. Outputs tell you what comes out on the other side. Move beyond simple input measures to the more significant outcomes you’re aiming for. Find ways to measure success quantitatively. While qualitative measures are subjective and experiential, quantitative measures, or metrics, are objective and numerical. In most cases, quantitative measures are the best way to measure outcomes without bias. Read more

So what’s the Big Idea?

Research who you are and where you’ve been. Ask the right questions about the information you gather. And consider past and present definitions of success. That’s the way to take an unbiased, evenhanded snapshot of church health.

Resources

Ask the Right Questions

  • What does the raw data tell you about your church?
  • Is your church growing, plateaued or declining?
  • Are you reaching unchurched people in your community?
  • Does the church reflect its community? (race, age and more)
  • How many church members did it take to baptize one person?
  • Does this number seem unreasonably high?
  • Are you reproducing disciple-making disciples?
  • Does the church show signs of spiritual health?
  • What are age division attendance patterns in small groups?
  • What growth opportunities exist in those patterns?
  • Is morning worship attendance advancing or declining?


Source

Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner and Lane Jones, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry (Colorado Springs: Multnomah Books, 2004), 71.

The American Church Faces Its Kodak Moment

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The American Church Faces Its Kodak Moment

Kodak is the textbook example of a successful company that failed to adapt to major changes in its core business. In a spectacular example of mismanagement and organizational hubris, it failed to anticipate the transition from photographic film to digital photography.

An organization’s Kodak moment occurs when peak success gives way to rapid changes in culture and the marketplace, producing a diminished organization unable or unwilling to adapt.

Is the American Church facing its own Kodak moment? Has it begun the inexorable slide towards ineffective witness, waning influence and spiritual complacency? Those questions hit me hard as I read John Dickerson’s book, The Great Evangelical Recession.

He documents 6 “Kodak moment” trends of decline in the American Church:

  1. We are an inflated church. – Evangelicals aren’t as big as we think we are. We likely comprise about 7% of the U.S. population or around 22 million people.
  2. We are a hated church. – It’s clear that the host culture is turning against Bible-believing Christianity in the United States. On a wide range of issues from abortion to homosexuality, Christians are seen as intolerant, bigoted and backwards.
  3. We are a divided church. – Evangelical unity has been undermined by doctrinal, political and social divisions that further marginalize and reduce our influence.
  4. We are a bankrupt church. – We are faced with the prospect of declining financial Wresources as older giving generations die off and younger generations give less.
  5. We are a bleeding church. – Millennials and other young people are leaving the church in large numbers. Many see it as irrelevant or unresponsive to their idea of a difference-making faith.
  6. We are a sputtering church. – Evangelicals are not making disciples like we should and we are unable, or unwilling, to evangelize the lost like we used to. As a result, each succeeding U.S. generation is less Christian than its predecessor.

Have we arrived at a point of no return? I believe the American Church is closer than it’s ever been to an irreversible slide to obscurity. With each year, the road back to spiritual vitality grows longer and harder.

But there is hope.

We rightly define growing Christian churches by their worship and their witness.  They are purposeful places of discipleship, ministry, evangelism and missions. They are Great Commission and Great Commandment places of authentic Christian fellowship and community.

We have to be those things again. We must:

  • Love and worship God above anything else.
  • Demonstrate unselfish love for unchurched people.
  • Value Kingdom-oriented, disciple-making outcomes.
  • Do more with less and become focused stewards of limited financial resources.
  • Address culture directly and confront difficult issues graciously.

So what’s the Big Idea?

The way back to spiritual renewal and revival begins with loving the right things. We must love Christ more than the world, love others more than ourselves, and love the Kingdom of God more than our material possessions. That’s the path to a spiritually vibrant and growing American Church.

Resources


Source

John S. Dickerson, The Great Evangelical Recession: 6 Factors That Will Crash the American Church…and How to Prepare (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2013) 21-120.

Servants Make the Best Leaders

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Servants Make the Best Leaders

Can a person lead effectively without the attitudes of humility and service? I don’t think so. Jesus said it: “Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all.”

Noted author Oswald Sanders reminds us that the word “leader” is used in the Bible just 6 times.  The word “servant” is used more frequently, and that’s a revolutionary leadership idea.

Servant leadership doesn’t appeal to everyone. Jesus knew that it wouldn’t. And yet that’s what he calls a godly leader to be. According to Sanders, the attitudes and inner motives of a true servant are:

  • Dependence – Emptied of self and dependent on God
  • Approval – Reciprocal delight between God and his servant
  • Modesty – Neither strident nor flamboyant
  • Empathy – Sympathetic and understanding
  • Optimism – Hopeful
  • Anointing – Spirit-filled

Here’s what the Bible says about leadership:

Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. – Mark 10:42-44 (NIV)

Those words are a reminder to rethink marketplace ideas about leadership. I’m a “doer” with a tendency to eschew the divine, spiritual parts of leadership in favor of wisdom from the experts, so I need a regular reminder to evaluate my heart.

Don’t get me wrong, practical help and wisdom are important. I’ve learned volumes about teamwork, management and leadership from countless seminars, conferences, podcasts, blogs and books. But most of it rarely addresses the heart motivation at the core of effective leadership.

What’s your expectation: To serve first or lead first? It’s a question every aspiring leader has to ask. The “lead first” attitude is about a desire for power and status. The “serve first” attitude is about something else entirely.

My servant leadership takeaways are simple.  I will:

  1. Demonstrate “serve first” leadership at every opportunity.
  2. Serve my leader with humility.
  3. Encourage a “serve first” attitude in the people I lead.
  4. Seek a “serve first” attitude in potential hires.

So what’s the Big Idea?

The best leadership flows from the attitudes and inner motives of a true servant—dependence (on God), approval (from God), modesty, empathy, optimism and anointing. Servants make the best leaders.

Resources


Source

J. Oswald Sanders, Spiritual Leadership: A Commitment to Excellence for Every Believer, rev. and exp. (Chicago: Moody Publishers, 2007), 21-26.

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