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Barriers to Leading Change

Sean Cronin — Sat, 15 May 2021 09:00:00 +0000

By Ken Adams: Good leaders understand a necessary part of their job is leading change. They understand the need for change and they have the desire to lead it, but often they face major obstacles in bringing it about. Barriers to change can cause even the best leader a great deal of frustration and discouragement. It’s imperative that every leader be able to identify barriers to change.

The Church can be one of the most difficult places to lead change. The “we’ve never done it that way before” mindset is enough to drive any church leader crazy. Let’s take a quick look at some of the most common barriers that affect leading change in the local church.

1. Failing to understand the mission. When people understand the mission and are passionate about seeing the mission accomplished, it makes change more acceptable. Misunderstanding the mission keeps people stuck in what they are comfortable with and resistant to change.

2. Leaders who don’t trust the Pastor. Let’s face it, leading change begins with the pastor, and key leaders can make it hard for for that person to lead. If a core group of leaders are pushing back against the pastor’s leadership, it will be almost impossible to bring change without hurting the church.

3. A Pastor who cannot be trusted. There are times when pastors have their own agendas in mind and can’t be trusted to lead the right way. When a church has a pastor who cannot be trusted to lead selflessly, positive sustainable change probably will not happen.

4. Comfort means more than the cause. I know a leader who says, “If you are comfortable, it is cause for concern.” I agree with him. Growing churches need to change to grow, and if leaders of the congregation care more about their own comfort than leading change, it probably won’t take place.

5. A lack of resources needed for change. Often times change requires financial and/or “people” resources. There will always be times when change is needed and wanted, but the lack of resources keeps it from happening.

6. Fear of losing people. Let’s face it, sometimes local churches do not change because of the fear that people will be unhappy and leave. Here is a real truth. You will likely lose people if you change and you will likely lose people if you don’t. Make the change even if it means some people will not like it.

Leading change is a challenge in every organization, and especially in the local church. People get caught up in traditions and power struggles that prevent change from happening. It takes real courage to lead a church to change.

A good leader with the right heart and the patience to bring others along with the mission can successfully navigate change when and where it is needed.

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By Ken Adams. Used with permission.

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Source: Barriers to Leading Change

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The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

Sean Cronin — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Home > Blog > The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

By Ed Stetzer

In Part 1 we looked at the different categories of people in terms of their views of the pandemic and how to communicate with them. In this article I want to focus on the lesson of leading your church in a given moment to stay focused on the mission to our world, rather than turning more inward.

For over 15 years we’ve seen books and blogs call the church to be missional in their communities. Last March, the pandemic accomplished in three weeks what none of these resources could: propel the church out of buildings and into the mission field.

In the first century persecution thrust the early church across the Roman Empire to share Christ (see Acts 8:1-4 and 11:19-26). In 2020, a pandemic forced the church out of the routine of weekly services to face a world in need. While some churches focused most of their energies on figuring out how to meet together again as the top priority, many churches stepped up, looked outward, and stood in the gap to minister to their communities in ways that are God-honoring and surprising.

In the midst of this the uncertain moment we can’t escape the desire to create predictions or answer questions about the future. Some people predicted the pandemic would spell the end of the large church or the end of the megachurch. Others say no, things will merely retract back to normal when the crisis finally passes.

I want to look at two lessons we can learn from the pandemic in terms of our outward call to love and reach the world: The moment we’re in has provided unique opportunities for God’s people to join him in the mission we’re on.

The Moment We’re In

We’ve witnessed things in this season that we haven’t seen since World War II or the Great Depression. One example is in the sports world. March Madness got cancelled, which for college basketball fans was very maddening indeed. Fall sports were cancelled by the Ivy League, while other conferences made dramatic shifts in football scheduling. The Alabama Crimson Tide won the national championship, so at least some things are normal. Still, a host of bowl games were cancelled. The Masters Tournament was played in November!

We can’t deny the far-reaching challenges brought by our current moment. One of the questions we should ask of the moment we’re in is: What are the things we need to learn to help us to be more effective long term in the mission we’re on?

I don’t think this is the end of the large church. Before the Black Death they built cathedrals. They continued to meet in the cathedrals during the Black Plague, and they met in them after it was over. There’s a resiliency to institutional structures that we’ve seen over two millennia.

During the Black Death, people that close contact with other people was a way the disease spread. They didn’t know the exponential explosion might happen, which is what we’ve seen as well in places where there are large public gatherings. I’m of the view that we’ll return to some sense of normalcy once vaccines have been disseminated and herd immunity is built up. We can be thankful that day is coming closer.

The Mission We’re On

The moment we’re in should inform us on the mission we’re on both now and later. I think this is an opportunity for us to seize. And, by “seize” I don’t mean doing something irresponsible or inappropriate. When we do go back to our understanding of “normal,” how can we as missiologists, pastors, and leaders help to perpetuate some of the new structures, the new paradigms of mission that people are exploring and engaging now in a very powerful way?

How can we help the church to not snap back like a rubber band, but instead create a new normal on the other side or even, to some degree inside the emergency that we’re in? We hope to see God’s people faithfully and fruitfully engaging in God’s mission now that the church has left the building. So many churches turned their energy from preparing for weekly services and all the volunteers involved in the weekly gathering to look outward, engaging the community with volunteers caring for the poor, the sick, and the marginalized.

I hope we can raise a voice that says this moment we are in has some long-term opportunities and consequences. For example, how many people who didn’t think they were church planters are right now leading a small group in their community for their church that met via Zoom? After leading well, pastors and leaders might recognize that they meet the 1 Timothy 3 qualifications for a pastor. We could see many church planters bursting out with new churches because people were given a greater sense of leadership. This may be the kind of church multiplication movement for which we have prayed and which we have sought.

Or, might there be a pushing of God’s mission to the edges, to the periphery, one that we’ve all hoped and thought and prayed for now is taking place and could we help to accelerate it? In change theory, Kotter and others describe how when change comes, you get to a new normal. Then, you freeze that in place for a while. After a season something comes along and there’s another new normal that you once again freeze in place.

What if we can say, “We get that summer of 2020 was not the new normal. But let’s get to the place where we freeze a new normal with a much higher percentage of God’s people engaged in mission distributed to the periphery in church planting and more.”

It would be like our God to take our difficult moment of winter and turn it into a beautiful springtime of mission.

Source: The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

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5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World

Sean Cronin — Sun, 07 Mar 2021 10:00:00 +0000

By Carey Nieuwhof: Finally, it seems like the post-COVID world is finally coming into view.

While different countries, regions, provinces and states will emerge out of COVID at different times, 2021 appears to be the year we will be able to move into a post-pandemic world.

So, as you get ready to embrace the new reality, what should you be focused on?

It’s obviously a tough question to answer because neither in-person church or online church is a panacea. Each has its unique challenges, promises and limits. In-person church attendance has been declining for decades before the pandemic, and online church hasn’t solved all the issues the church is facing either.

That said, there are some guidelines that can help moving forward.

Here are 5 critical mistakes it would be so easy to make right now as a church leader.

1. Taking Your Foot Off the Digital Gas Pedal

There will be a real temptation to once the world moves past COVID to think of digital ministry as an afterthought or something that’s no longer necessary.

You’re certainly free to make that decision, but in many ways that would be a mistake.

Barna research shows that 7 in 10 churched adults agree that, post-pandemic, churches should use digital resources to reach and engage their neighborhoods. In addition, 21% of US unchurched adults are open to watching an online service alone. For those unchurched adults with a high digital openness though, that percentage climbs to 87%.

While in-person church is here to stay, to back off on digital now is to back off on the future and to back off on outreach. If you care about reaching people, that’s a mistake.

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Hybrid church (churches offering great in-person experiences and digital experiences) will be the future because everyone has lived a hybrid life for years. Once moment you’re on social media, the next you’re having coffee with a friend in real life. .

If you want more on the interplay of physical and digital church in the future, including how your online presence serves as both a front door and side door, I wrote more here.

Treating digital as something interesting or nice to have may have been an acceptable strategy in 2011. But this is 2021.

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2. Allocating Most of Your Staff and Volunteers to Ministry In the Church Building

Not much has changed since I wrote this post last year aruing that too many church leaders will step into the past as they step back into their buildings. The same dynamics are very much in play right now.

While it’s true that most churches feel short-staffed and under-resourced, the pre-COVID habit of assigning your online ministry as one line in a job description to your tech person or creative person is history. Or at least if you want a future it’s history.

As distributed gatherings, micro-gatherings and online ministry continues to grow, dedicating a meaningful percentage of your staff, budget, and volunteers to ministry that happens outside the church building is critical.

The pre-COVID habit of assigning your online ministry as one line in a job description to your tech person or creative person is history. Or at least if you want a future it’s history.

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How much of your resources should be allocated to online and distributed gatherings?

I talked to one leader who said that post-pandemic, 40% of his team, time and energy will go into online.

I think that’s a healthy percentage.

While that might seem like a complete stretch for most churches, gradually increasing the resources you devote to online and off-building ministry is possible for everyone.

Don’t have staff or feel understaffed?

Look for 15-25 year old volunteers to help you with your online presence. They see the future because they are the future. And the present.

Don’t have staff? Look for 15-25 year old volunteers to help you with your online presence. They see the future because they are the future. And the present.

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3. Resuming In-Person Services Exactly As They Were Pre-COVID

The jury is still very much out on what’s going to happen to services once the world is re-opened.

But many church leaders are considering running two kinds of services: in-person and then a separate one devoted to online.

In other words, online will become something other than just a live-stream of whatever is happening in the auditorium or sanctuary on Sunday.

While this presents challenges from both a time and resource standpoint, this approach makes sense for a few reasons.

First, almost every church leader has come to realize that online services are best when they’re shorter.

Second, nobody has really figured out what to do with worship music online. The four or five song set that works in church just doesn’t translate online.

Third, preaching to a crowd is great, but it feels less personal when you’re watching on a device. Direct-to-camera preaching (including different camera positions and even the use of DSLRs) can make the online experience much better.

More than a few pastors I talk to are shooting an online version of their message and service mid-week for broadcast on Sunday and for access on-demand, but then doing a different experience in the room live on Sunday that doesn’t get streamed. By different, it could be the same message, just delivered live (or via video), but more music and other elements that may not translate as well online.

This IS a lot of work. I get it.

If you don’t have the resources for it, and least consider doing something different online that’s direct to camera…something like a 5 minute devotion, talk or something other than just the stream of your Sunday morning in-person gatherings.

I have a full training session and application guide on how to create great online content inside The Leader’s Circle. You can get instant access to a free trial of The Leader’s Circle on-demand training for you and your team here.

Finally, when it comes to your in-person gatherings, make the experience more…personal.

Many re-opened churches that are seeing some traction are making the in-person experience different than online by offering food, coffee, parking lot or side room gatherings for people to connect. And they’re providing kids experiences that provide something other than a carbon copy of what you can get online.

The principle here is clear: if everything your church does in the future feels downloadable, probably all you’ll get is a lot of downloads, not a lot of gathered people. (For more on that, read this.)

If everything your church does in the future feels downloadable, probably all you’ll get is a lot of downloads, not a lot of gathered people.

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4. Posting Every Thought You Have On Every Issue Online

Let’s switch gears for a minute and talk less about how and more about what.

This deserves a post of its own, but it’s becoming clear that one of the reasons people who don’t go to church don’t want to go to church is simple: your social media posts.

According to a recent Barna survey, only 30% of non-Christians have a positive reaction when they see people post things about their Christian faith on social media. (45% don’t have a positive reaction, and 25% indicated they don’t know.)

Only 30% of non-Christians have a positive reaction when they see people post things about their Christian faith on social media.

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I am increasingly concerned about the number of church leaders who feel the compulsion to post their opinion online about everything. From negative rants or arguments on vaccines to politics, to legislation, to climate change, to some grievance against a neighbor or celebrity, whatever else they happen to have an opinion on in the moment, the daily tirade I see on my social feed is exhausting.

You know the world is watching and listening right?

Even if you’re posting from your personal account, you’re leaving an impression on the unchurched who follow you.

Influence takes years to build and second to lose. Church, we’re losing a lot of influence right now.

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5. Resenting People Who Aren’t Doing What You Want Them To Do

One truth you’ve consistently faced as a leader is this: people rarely do exactly what you want them to do.

That’s going to get more intense in the post-pandemic era.

People won’t follow the patterns you want them to follow. Maybe people will come back in droves. Maybe they won’t. The early evidence hasn’t been encouraging.

The question is this:

How do you interact with infrequent church attenders who don’t seem to be embracing the mission of your church the way?

I think it’s simple.

You embrace them anyway.

I chose the word ’embrace’ on purpose. Because I know there’s something deep-seated in many of us that wants to reject people if we sense they’re rejecting us. And people who don’t come out to church much on Sunday can feel like rejection if you’re an insecure church leader.

Grow up. Be more secure.

Rather than judging them, why not love them? Judgment is a terrible evangelism study. You run from people who resent and judge you. Why should you expect any different from the people you lead?

Ultimately, people gravitate to where they are valued most. So value people.

Judgment is a terrible evangelism strategy.

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Simplify Staff Training and Save Time With Done-For-You Leadership Development

I’d guess that you know how important team training and development is… but doesn’t it always seem like a scramble to get everything lined up for staff meeting?

You know the drill… every time you have a staff or volunteer training time scheduled, you have to read a book, listen to a podcast, or even go to a conference.

That’s why I’m so excited to introduce The Leader’s Circle to you.

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Learn more about The Leader’s Circle and the 15 months of development content ready to be accessed.

What Do You See?

Those are some potential mistakes I see on the horizon.

What do you see? Scroll down and leave a comment!

The post 5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: 5 Critical Mistakes Church Leaders Should Avoid In the Post-COVID World

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Two Questions Every Pastor Should be Asking

Sean Cronin — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

By Impact Discipleship Ministries: I have been the senior pastor of a local church for over thirty years. Many times in the last thirty years, I have had to “reset” my life and ministry. When I am in need of a reset, I always ask myself two questions. First, what am I called to do? Second, how well am I doing at accomplishing what I’m called to do? These two questions help me to recalibrate my life and help me get back to what I really need to be doing.

Seminary helped prepare me for ministry in several important ways. It increased my theological understanding, it helped me in my preaching, and it better prepared me to provide pastoral care. It did not do a very good job of teaching me how to lead the church to be a disciple making church. That is a major problem, especially when the mission of the Church is to help Christians make disciples of all nations.

The job of every pastor is to preach and provide pastoral care, but it is also the pastor’s job to lead the church to accomplish Jesus’ mission. If I preach outstanding messages and provide great pastoral care but fail to lead my church to be a disciple making church, I have not done my job.

Some would say seminary does not do a good job of teaching pastors leadership. I would take that a step farther and say that seminaries don’t do a very good job of teaching pastors disciple making leadership.

Three decades of ministry have taught me some things seminary never did. It has taught me the six priorities of a disciple making pastor. These six things are not automatic, they must be learned. All six of them are found in the life of Christ and therefore should be found in every pastor. Let’s take a look at the six things every pastor ought to be able to do.

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Lead the church toward mission!

The number one leadership tsk of the pastor is to point the church toward the mission of making disciples of all nations. By doing so, the pastor’s job is to get everyone going in the right direction and the same direction.

Lead themselves first!

Before a pastor every leads anyone else to multiply disciples, that pastor must first be modeling being and building disciples. That pastor must be doing exactly what is asked of everyone else in the congregation.

Lead the church to execute the mission!

Knowing and pointing toward mission is not enough. The pastor must know how to execute the strategy that accomplishes the mission. The pastor must be able to lead the church to help untrained seekers become fully trained disciples.

Lead leaders!

A church cannot become a movement of multiplying disciples unless the pastor can become a leader of leaders. If the pastor cannot lead leader the church will remain a movement of edition and never become a movement of multiplication.

Lead with a plan!

If pastors do not tell their lives where to go, someone else will. Many pastors are not making disciples because they do not have a plan for how to live their lives. Making disciples will not happen by accident. You must have a plan for how to lead the church and you must work your plan.

Lead well!

Leading well is not the same thing as finishing well, although it includes it. Leading well brings with it the idea of thriving and flourishing until the end. It means leaving behind a legacy of disciples who are making more disciples. Leading well means having a “much fruit” life.

Impact Discipleship Ministries provides equipping groups for pastors who want to become disciple making pastors. In seven online sessions, you will learn the priorities of what it means to be a disciple making pastor.

The post Two Questions Every Pastor Should be Asking appeared first on Impact Discipleship Ministries.

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Source: Two Questions Every Pastor Should be Asking

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Great Leaders Live the Mission

Sean Cronin — Thu, 12 Nov 2020 10:00:18 +0000

by Ken Adams: What would you think if I led a discipleship group and encouraged group members to memorize Scripture, but I never memorized Scripture myself? How would you feel if I told group members to read and study their Bibles but didn’t even crack my Bible open week after week? I’m guessing it would not sit very well with you if you had a group leader who kept giving you advice that leader didn’t live by him or herself.

If there was one thing that was true about Jesus, it was that He lived the life He was asking His disciples to live. Jesus was being what He was seeking to help others to become. Jesus modeled the character and conduct He was expecting His disciples to demonstrate. Paul was also living the life He was expecting Timothy and other leaders to live. Paul was living the life Jesus lived and had no problem asking his disciples to live that life.

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Being a great Disciple Making Leader means being the mission yourself. It means living out the life Jesus lived and being what you expect your disciples to be. It means being authentic. It does not mean being perfect or having it all together. It means being a leader who seeks to be an imitator of Christ. Paul was not perfect, but he was authentic. Timothy was not perfect, but he sought to be more like Jesus. Timothy wanted to be like Jesus because Paul encouraged him to be like Jesus. That is exactly what you would call being the mission.

Be Like Christ

I’ve experienced many leaders who were not living out the mission. They were inauthentic. Some have talked about being committed to the mission of Jesus but were not committed to their local churches. Some have said worship was important but skipped public worship services quite often. Others have talked about servant hood but never served. Many speak of sharing their faith and have never even done so. Plenty of leaders talk about disciple making but have never reproduced a single disciple. I’ve known lots of leaders who lack love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control. Lacking the fruit of the Spirit is the exact opposite of what it means to be like Christ.

We need leaders in the Church today who live and lead the same way Jesus did. We need leaders who are walking as Jesus walked and living the way He lived. The Church will struggle to accomplish her mission unless we have authentic leaders who are living out the mission.

By Ken Adams

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Source: Great Leaders Live the Mission

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A Simple & Scalable Way to Reproduce Christians with David Putnam

Sean Cronin — Tue, 03 Nov 2020 10:00:40 +0000

by unSeminary: Welcome to this week’s unSeminary podcast. I’m excited to have David Putnam with us today. David spent many years as a church planter and executive pastor and today consults with churches as a lead navigator with Auxano. David has also founded the organization Planting the Gospel which helps transition churches from a weekend-only disciple-making culture.

David is with us to share simple tools that will help your church make disciple-making organic and accessible to everyone.

What kind of disciples are we making? // We are all making disciples, but what kind? Much of the time, without realizing it, churches make organizational disciples rather than gospel-centered disciples who in turn make more disciples. Covid has revealed to us that when our programming changes, our organizational disciples can vanish. How can we equip people so that even when there are unforeseen changes in the church, our disciples are still fully plugged into Christ and able to follow Him, doing the work of the great commission?What is a disciple? // We’ve allowed religion to take over the gospel and make it more complex than it needs to be. We need to take it back to a place of simplicity as found in scripture. There are three fundamental questions that David suggests we take a look at: What is the gospel? What is a disciple? And what is the church? David defines a disciple as a follower of Jesus who’s learning to live out the realities and implications of the gospel by living like Jesus, loving like Jesus, leaving what Jesus left behind. What did Jesus leave behind? Disciples!Living on mission. // Churches that are focused on making disciples have practical tools in place for their people. This includes life on life, life in community, life on mission. Many churches might have life on life and life in community built into their rhythms, but they neglect the life on mission aspect. How can we maximize our impact by releasing people instead of simply gathering people? We need to be equipping our people to enter the “mission field” right where they are, teaching them to be missionaries where they live, work and play.Disciple-making is evangelism. // David identifies five types of disciples: pre-disciples, new disciples, growing disciples, multiplying disciples, and catalytic disciples. An unbeliever is a pre-disciple. We need to equip people in our churches to engage pre-disciples in disciple-making by providing tools so that they can tell their story, and tell God’s story.The Gospel Disciple Life. // David has created a free resource called The Gospel Disciple Life: A Quick Start Guide for a Micro-Group Strategy for Making Disciples that Makes Disciples that will help you introduce disciple-making to your church. Consisting of simple Bible reading and meeting in micro-groups, this practical tool uses an organic method which is accessible to everyone. Who is the next person you will invite into a disciple relationship?

You can get help with disciple-making at your church by visiting www.plantingthegospel.com.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Chemistry Staffing

Great things happen when the right leadership is in place in a local church… lives are changed and churches thrive.

With all the craziness that has gone on in 2020, we know that many churches are beginning to ask hard questions about what their current team looks like and how ready they are to lead into our new reality. Download Chemistry Staffing’s Restructuring Playbook to develop clarity around where you need to be focusing your time, resources, and team.

Source: A Simple & Scalable Way to Reproduce Christians with David Putnam

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Cast Vision Effectively

Sean Cronin — Sat, 31 Oct 2020 09:00:53 +0000

Home > Blog > Cast Vision Effectively

Cast Vision Effectively

By New Churches Team

Seeing Clearly

The word vision is commonly associated with eyesight. When I think about vision, I picture myself in the eye doctor’s office, covering one eye with a plastic spoon and calling out small lines of letters and numbers, guessing at the shapes and hoping for the best. Let’s be honest, the letter we all feel confident repeating is the large “E” at the top. Vision is an incredible gift that God has given us to clearly see the world.

The Ultimate Vision Caster

However, vision isn’t limited to our eyesight. In ministry, vision is a term commonly thrown around and associated with the mission of the church. Vision casting isn’t limited to pastors or leaders within the church. We cast vision every day. Whether we cast mediocrity or unhealthy thoughts, we create and live out vision in our daily lives.

Derwin defines vision casting as “the art of persuasively creating a mental image of a future that should be, but is not in the hearts and minds of those you want to influence.” One of the biggest responsibilities of church leaders is to cast a vision that serves Jesus. There is no better example as a vision caster than Jesus Himself. Jesus calls us to love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to go and make disciples. His followers are still living out the vision He cast over 2,000 years ago.

Four Parts of Vision Casting

When creating a vision for your church, here are four things to consider.

1. What is the problem?

Derwin states that if America were made up of only 100 human beings, 77 would not be born-again Christians. That is a huge problem. It was a problem for God, and should be a problem for us. To remedy this problem, God sent His one and only son to die for our sins. He offered the greatest sacrifice to rescue us from ourselves. The number of people who do not know Jesus is a huge problem. And for that problem, we need a solution.

To read the remainder of this article, and to listen to the entire video training with Derwin Gray, click here for the full video and post.

This video is part of Plus Membership. To get full access to it, and much more, I encourage you to become a Plus Member. Click here to see all the benefits of becoming a Plus Member.

Tweetables:

Jesus is the ultimate vision caster.
Vision casting is the art of persuasively creating a mental image of a future that should be.
We all vision cast, let’s be effective in our vision casting.
A church’s vision should be the answer to making disciples of the nation. People matter to God, so people should matter to us.
Life is too short to be visionless.
People recognize that there is a problem. The vision is the solution to the problem. And the vision needs to be implemented now, because people matter to God.

Source: Cast Vision Effectively

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CNLP 369: Greg Atkinson on How to Grow Engagement in Online Attendance, Best and Worst Digital and In-Person Church Practices, and Improving the Church Guest Experience

Sean Cronin — Sun, 04 Oct 2020 09:01:51 +0000

by Carey Nieuwhof: Greg Atkinson returns to the podcast to talk about welcoming guests online.

So much has changed since COVID hit, and Greg shares best and worst practices for engaging online and in-person guests, how to move attenders into engagers, and how to best deal with trolls and other people who threaten to take you off mission.

Welcome to Episode 369 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Plus, in this episode’s What I’m Thinking About segment, Carey talks about vanity metrics and why we should stop focusing on attendance.

Guest Links

Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Connect with Greg

Episode Links

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But how do you increase your quality and output of content without a huge expense?

The solution is Pro Media Fire, where you can hire an entire creative team of professionals for less than the cost of a staff hire. And the best part is the plans are month to month.

You can get help today with professional graphics, videos and content to make an impact while navigating this season of digital expansion.

Book your free strategy session today at promediafire.com/churchgrowth.

The Ascent Leader

This is a unique season that is often the most challenging environment to lead. You may find that you’re inheriting a prior leader’s staff, culture, elders and much more.

If you’re a new lead pastor who is leading a church after a recent senior leader transition, I want to invite you to The Ascent Leader cohorts.

In these cohorts, you’ll get to learn from many of the best transition leaders in the church, you’ll be connected with like-minded A-level peers and you’ll have access to a coach who has experience with dozens, and even hundreds, of church leadership transitions.

Apply today at theascentleader.org.

CONVERSATION LINKS

First Impressions Conference

CNLP 132: Greg Atkinson on the Secrets of a Secret Church Shopper: What People are Looking for When They Come to Your Church

CNLP 132 Transcript

CNLP 185: Greg Atkinson on How First Time Guests Get Alienated by Your Church Services

CNLP 185 Transcript

CNLP 357: JP Pokluda on the Future of Online Preaching, What Pastors Can Learn from YouTubers, and How to Influence the Next Generation

Church Online Platform

Crossroads Church Cincinnati

North Point Community Church

ChurchPulse Weekly: with Thom Rainer and Myron Pierce

Some Awkward Questions About How to Measure Online Church Attendance (+ 5 Growth Strategies) by Carey Nieuwhof

The Online Church Engagement Summit

Text CAREY to 33777 to join more than 70,000 subscribers to our leadership content

INSIGHTS FROM GREG

1. Questions your team should be asking in the online chat

It seems like most online chat experiences are either trivial or divisive. People are asking questions like, “What’s your favorite flavor of ice cream?” Or, there are trolls who make everything political, making it a point to disagree with anyone who speaks up. How can you avoid this?

To avoid trivial conversations, have the members of your greeting team intentionally go into the chat and ask highly emotionally intelligent questions and give great answers. The quality of your questions will determine the quality of your chat.

For the trolls, Greg recommends that you try and take the conversation offline. If they’re a member of your church, have a phone call or text with that person. If they’re someone you don’t know, and refuse to take it offline, you will likely have to ban that user. Greg and Carey both often have to ban people online. It’s okay.

2. You’ll be tempted to view your online audience as “secondary” to your in-person audience, don’t

Greg has watched pastors completely forget about their online audience over and over throughout his career, and he thinks that pastors will begin to fall back into that habit as they come out of the current crisis.

Many pastors are already saying things like, “The 30% who have returned to in-person church are the devoted ones, and those staying home are less committed members.” This simply isn’t true.

Some of your most committed members have serious health risks that are keeping them at home. Don’t forget about them in your quest to refill your room.

3. Your church’s future depends on what you learned (or didn’t learn) in the crisis

One of the big questions coming out of the COVID crisis is, “Will church attendance go back to what it was pre-COVID?” Greg thinks that it will return for some churches and won’t for others. He thinks it will totally depend on whether a church learns the lessons that we need to learn from this pandemic.

If you go back to the old way of doing things, your church isn’t going to thrive. But if you learn from this season about how powerful online can be, reinvent yourself, and add a healthy online experience and community to your church, your church will likely thrive.

Quotes from Episode 369

If a church feels like they can’t be a church because of missing a one-hour service out of building, we were missing the point all along, ministering to people. @GregAtkinson

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During times of uncertainty, lead with your humanity. @Andy Stanley

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The gospel has never been proclaimed so largely, so broadly, so loudly as in the past five, six months of this COVID experience. @GregAtkinson

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Never forget your online audience. We’re in that phygital world from here on out. There are always people watching at home. @GregAtkinson

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That front door experience, that very first impression, starts online. @GregAtkinson

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When you tune into an online experience, there should be somebody that sees you and acknowledges you and thanks you for tuning in. @GregAtkinson

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Pastoral care has never been so important. @GregAtkinson

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Let people see your heart, because people really resonate with emotionally engaging content. @cnieuwhof

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Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 369

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Watch Back Episodes of The Podcast on YouTube

Select episodes of this podcast are now on YouTube. Our YouTube Channel gives you a chance to watch some episodes, not just listen.

The Online Church Engagement Summit

So you’ve got people watching your church online. How do you turn them into engagers?

On October 8th, 2020, Carey Nieuwhof is hosting The Online Church Engagement Summit. It’s a free, 90-minute value-packed event where Levi Lusko, Nona Jones, and Bobby Gruenewald will give you their best practical strategies to turn viewers into engagers.

If you feel like you don’t even know where to begin, or if you’ve had success but want to reach and engage more people, this is for you and your team.

Learn more and register for free.

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Spread the Word. Leave a Rating and Review

Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

The best way to do that is to rate the podcast on Apple Podcasts and leave us a brief review! You can do the same on Stitcher and on TuneIn as well.

Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Brad Lomenick

Brad Lomenick returns to the podcast to talk about his new podcast, H3 Leadership, and how to grow your influence without producing more content. Brad explains the power of curating content and connecting people, and how he used that to build one of the largest leadership networks out there. Brad also discusses future trends every leader should watch. Plus, Carey and Brad talk about the launch of a brand new podcast network: Thrivicity.

Subscribe for free now so you won’t miss Episode 370.

The post CNLP 369: Greg Atkinson on How to Grow Engagement in Online Attendance, Best and Worst Digital and In-Person Church Practices, and Improving the Church Guest Experience appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 369: Greg Atkinson on How to Grow Engagement in Online Attendance, Best and Worst Digital and In-Person Church Practices, and Improving the Church Guest Experience

7 Reasons Your Church Should Merge With Another Church in 2020

Esther Ritchey — Wed, 12 Aug 2020 09:00:00 +0000

By: UnSeminary

In this season, many churches have been stalled by their plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations are thriving and making an impact. 94% of all churches in the country are losing ground against the communities they serve. That means that if this trend continues, the message of Jesus will in turn lose ground in cities across the country. Is there a way for churches to combine forces and draw on each other’s strengths to increase the impact of the message of Jesus?

While 2020 has presented challenges for some churches, it has offered unique opportunities for others. This might be the perfect year for your church to consider a church merger to drive the message of Jesus forward!

In some ways, the pressure of coronavirus and the resulting economic fallout is simply accelerating changes that already existed before this crisis came into play. While it’s still too early to gain a statistical analysis on exactly what’s happening, it does seem like churches that were struggling before coronavirus continue to struggle now at an even deeper level because of debt and leadership issues. On the other hand, churches that are thriving are using this season to reach new people, expand their influence and ultimately see more people get connected with the message of Jesus.

I believe there’s no better time than today for your church to consider being a part of a merger.

Broadly speaking, there are two types of churches involved in mergers. Joining churches are those looking to combine their ministry with a stronger church to further their mission. Lead churches are churches with more momentum that are looking to potentially adopt or rebirth another church.

I’ve been a part of multiple church mergers. In my experience, something incredible happens in the heart of a leader when they connect with the bigger vision of what God is doing and ultimately work together with other believers to see the mission of Jesus grow. It’s humbling to see what takes place in a church as it turns around to pursue that mission.

3 Reasons this is a Great Season to be a Joining Church

Your Mission is Bigger Than the Troubles COVID-19 Brought

Why did God start your church?

What was the original vision behind why the church started?

What is it that has animated your church for all these years?

That mission is so much bigger than any troubles brought on by this current crisis. The missional drive to connect with people and to care for your community is bigger than the problems that your church is facing.

If you and your leaders are not sure what step to take next because of the pressure that COVID has put on your church, then this is a perfect season to consider becoming a joining church.

Now is the time for you and your leadership to ask the question, “What other churches have a similar heart as us and have a similar mission that we could potentially join with?”

This could be the time for your church to consider joining a lead church in order to pursue the mission that God has given you.

If it’s just financial resources and leadership that’s holding you back, then maybe the answer for you is to join with a lead church. Before you consider closing or any other drastic measures, consider joining with another church in this season.

Pastoring People Means Making Tough Calls

You know that you started leading in the local church to make a difference. Over the years, you’ve had to make a lot of tough calls.

The pastoral leaders in joining churches are some of the bravest leaders I’ve ever seen. It takes a lot of internal drive and gumption to lead your church through the experience of dying in order to be reborn and rebirthed, to be a part of a resurrection of the church.

You’ve been caring for and loving these people. Now is the time to create the kind of structure that will ensure that the ministry will continue on, albeit in a different form, for years to come. This will be a tough call, but you’re used to caring for people in tough ways.

Others Have Gone Before You

If you’re considering becoming a joining church in this season, you should reach out to other leaders in churches that have been a part of a merge to learn about their experience.

(If you’re looking for some personal references, reach out to me. I’m happy to point you in the right direction.)

The reality is that church mergers are becoming increasingly normalized across the country as joining churches like yours consider how to continue the mission in a new form in their communities. We’ve seen time and again how these mergers, when done right with thoughtful, caring leaders like yourself, can ultimately produce more fruit and help churches reach even more people.

You can be confident that if you walk through this in a measured and caring way with the right lead church, you will see an acceleration of your mission, not a deceleration.

4 Reasons Lead Churches Should Accelerate Merger Plans

The Big-C Church is Bigger than Your Church

Your church is a great outpost of the kingdom of God and maybe over the last few years, you’ve seen increased effectiveness. You’ve been reaching people and seeing them get connected to your church. You’ve found a way to communicate that seems to resonate within your culture. That’s great, but the Church is bigger than your individual local church.

God is already at work in the communities around you and there are churches that could use your help. Although your church might have a lot to offer as a lead church, joining churches have much to bring to the table as well. They bring length of service in a community. They bring deep relationships. They bring the ability to localize the ministry in a way that you may not be able to if you just launched another campus in that location.

The Church is bigger than yours.

God is Already at Work There

The amazing thing that I’ve seen time and again in these merger scenarios is that God has been laying the foundation for them long before the lead churches get engaged.

Oftentimes we see joining churches who have tried multiple things over many years to reach their community. For whatever reason, those efforts are not bearing the fruit that the team in the joining church was finding satisfactory. Maybe God was leading them through that process so they would come to the decision to join your church.

We know that many joining churches have been trying different things in an effort to reach out to people, but those things may not be working or resonating. Today would be an incredible time for you to begin connecting with churches that could potentially want to join you. But remember, God has already done an amazing thing in that community. He’s been at work there for a long time.

The work of God doesn’t begin when you open a church. You get the opportunity to join with him and partner with what he’s already doing.

Don’t Let False Humility Slow Your Church Down

Can we be honest for a minute?

I think the best church leaders to lead these merger scenarios are the ones who have a real sense of humility. The ones that aren’t sure why another church would want to join them in the endeavor. However, that can sometimes bleed over into a false humility that ultimately limits your church’s ability to reach more people.

If your church is growing and making a difference, I believe God may be calling you to be a lead church in this season. What you’re experiencing at your church is different than what is happening in other churches across the country. You have something different to offer to the body of Christ, and this could be your next step.

However, if you pull back and hesitate to lead out of a sense of false humility, you may actually limit the work that God wants to do through you. He could be calling you to be a part of what he’s doing to make a difference in this new community.

Let’s be honest, it’s God that’s at work in your church, not you. It’s his work. So why not try to see your role in the spread of his work into new communities?

Your Community and Their Community Need Thriving Churches

The good, hard work that will have to be done in your heart, leadership, systems and approaches in order to merge will honor the Lord and ultimately help grow his plans for your community and beyond!

Taking time to actually love the joining church leadership and their community will have a profound impact on you as a lead church. Take time to think through what it would look like to translate your church into a different community and think through the systems that will be needed to move the mission forward.

We know that a minority of churches are in the same position as yours. Your community, and the community of the joining church, need more thriving churches.

2020 is a perfect year to think about merging.

Do you want to dive deep and get more information on church mergers?

Thousands of churches are perplexed by plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations nearby thrive. Is there a way for them to combine forces and draw on each other’s strengths in ways that also increase their missional impact?

Join us for a free webinar designed to help your church:

Wednesday, August 12th, 2020, 1:00 – 1:45pm (EDT)

We will be joined by two leading experts in church mergers:

Warren Bird // Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Vice President of Research and Equipping at ECFA.org (Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability). Previously, he held the position of Research Director at Leadership Network. He is widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading researchers of megachurches, multisite churches, large church compensation and high-visibility pastoral succession.Jim Tomberlin // Over four decades of diverse ministry, Jim has pastored churches in New Mexico and Germany, grown a megachurch in Colorado and pioneered the multisite strategy for Willow Creek Community Church in Chicago. In addition to being a multisite and merger specialist at The Unstuck Group, Jim currently serves as the Chief of Staff at Christ Fellowship in Miami.

[Click here to learn more and register.]

Download PDF Article

Source: 7 Reasons Your Church Should Merge With Another Church in 2020

The post 7 Reasons Your Church Should Merge With Another Church in 2020 appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Episode 486: Introducing Church Membership

Sean Cronin — Sat, 04 Apr 2020 09:00:44 +0000

by NewChurches.com: In Episode 486 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss how to introduce church membership as part of a church plant.

“I am calling in with a question regarding introducing church membership as part of launching a church. I’m in a team which is planting in the UK. We’ve been running an outreach mission center for the past 16 years, but in the next few months we plan to launch our church. One of the things that is worrying us is, up to know, there has been no distinction between the people who come to the groups and the outreach center and we are looking toward church plant with a membership as we would have in our sending church.”

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why a clear vision is important
How to equip launch team members for the minstry

Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“My first recommendation would be to not lose the mission and the vision of your outreach mission center.” – @danielsangi
“When you start the church and there are individuals who are part of other churches who will be joining this, everyone will come with their own existing values.” – @danielsangi
“As you are recruiting a launch team, make sure that your vision, mission, and values are so clear that people know what the church will look like.” – @danielsangi
“Church membership has gotten hijacked in the last several decades. Make sure that they understand that God didn’t give us the local church to become a country club.” – @toddadkins
“God placed us in churches to serve each other and our community, and care of others, and pray for each other, and learn to teach, give, and in some places die for the gospel.” – @toddadkins
“Help people understand from a biblical context what it means to be a local church and the responsibilities that come with it.” – @toddadkins
“Your church is only as healthy as its average attendee or member.” – @toddadkins

Recommended Resources:

Read No Silver Bullets by Daniel Im
Learn more about Developing a Core Team

Help us Multiply the Mission:

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Leave a rating and review on iTunes
Ask a question by clicking Send Voicemail on the right hand side of NewChurches.com
If you’re on a phone or a tablet, then go to www.speakpipe.com/newchurches to download the app and record your message
When you’re recording, introduce yourself and your context in about 15 seconds and then record your question for 30 seconds

This Episode’s Sponsor:

For more than 25 years, Portable Church® has helped thousands of churches launch strong and thrive in a mobile setting. They design custom solutions that fit each budget, vision, and venue. Everything you need to launch a mobile church — an inviting worship space, kids ministry areas, welcome spaces, storage cases, etc — all in a system refined to make it fast, easy & fun for the weekly volunteer teams.

The post Episode 486: Introducing Church Membership appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 486: Introducing Church Membership

The post Episode 486: Introducing Church Membership appeared first on Passion for Planting.