Will Mancini

Today I spoke to 25 stewardship strategists with Generis, a group that I consider to be the leading player among folks who want to help you raise money for your church. What I appreciate most about them is their desire to add value beyond the typical campaign approach that has been around for 40 years. At their annual training event they spent time learning about how to be thought leaders, and how to leverage the message of Church Unique- casting missional vision and creating redemptive movement.

It’s an exciting time to think about renewing and reinventing our approach to capital campaigns. What can you look for? Savvy leaders are moving beyond campaign language and even stewardship language to the ideas of transformation and creating a culture of generosity. The movement is away from an event orientation to an ongoing process with unique approaches for each local context.

I have presented our vision process to four churches in the last four days. Each presentation is guided by the Q & A with committed staff and lay leaders. Here are some random thoughts fresh out of the lion’s den:

1) If a vision process at another time did not work, does that excuse us as a leadership team from having a clear, concise and compelling articulation of our identity and direction as a church?

2) If we have never agreed on a usable, shared articulation of mission, how in the world will we ever agree on the more difficult decisions with strategy and metrics?

3) What meeting at our church is worth having if leaders and volunteers can’t articulate WHY they are there before the meeting begins?

4) Is our church living the mission of Jesus through the understanding of our unique strengths and opportunities or are we just “doing church.”

One idea that really stuck with me was delivered from Mark Batterson. He challenged with the idea that “our dreams are too small” and asked us if we had ever repented about it. He inspired us with the reality that our best thought on our best day is 13 billion light years away from the greatness of God’s thoughts. Has the memory of what worked in ministry days past high-jacked your ability to imagine new things in the future? Is what you are doing now flowing from a dream the God conceived deep in your spirit?

I ran across the post by Anthony Coppedge. He captures well the burning platform that drives my life calling and the message of Church Unique:

I have friends at Fellowship Church, Saddleback Church, Granger Community Church and North Point Church. They know I love and respect them, so this post isn’t about ’slamming’ them. Hardly. They’re all great churches doing great things. Love it.

Each of these churches offer conferences which give insight on the why and what of how they do things. Again, great things. Love it.

But there are more churches contacting me who have lost their own identity in the race to implement the Fellowbackgrangepoint Church model. What model is that, you say? Why it’s the mash-up of all of the best practices of each of those churches distilled into an unreproducible, unauthentic version of their own church!

Now before the flame-mails start flying… don’t be hatin’. Like I said before, those are great churches doing great things and I love it. And while we should all learn from others, taking best-practices and applying them where appropriate and applicable, trying to overlay multiple models on top of each other leads to a church without identity.

“Come visit our purpose-driven, seeker-friendly, creatively-inspired, pop-culture manic, church-in-a-kitchen. What does all that mean? Simple: we’re all things from all churches for all people. And we’re hip/casual in a Starbucks kind of way.”

What’s the vision for your church? Who are you trying to reach? How good are you in identifying with your local community? What unique attributes make your church unique? How is God moving in your church?

Those are the questions we should be asking. And, yes, we should be learning from those churches above – after all, they don’t suck. But at the end of the day, don’t create a brand of sameness. Dare to be different! Embrace your unique staff, volunteer and community attributes and celebrate the church God has called you to be!

I especially enjoy watching talented leadership in fields that I have little experience. One such arena is conducting a symphonic band. Three years ago, my 6th grade son, Jacob, had never held a trumpet in his hand. Today the skill he exhibits blows me away (pun intended), both individually and when his band comrades work their magic together. What has guided his development? The work and passion of Doug Eger his LCIS band director. Recently, at a spellbinding performance, Doug took a moment to describe the work of developing the score for the piece, American Civil War Fantasy. He mentioned the over 100 hours of detailed handwork, including sundry highlights and plentiful conductor’s notes that mark the USA Today sized book of musical measures. I absolutely love the attention to detail and disciplines of repetition that it takes to deliver a symphonic delight!

I long for church leaders to pay the same attention to orchestrating their staff teams and lay leaders. Many church environments are filled with jangling discords rather than uplifting harmony when it comes to kingdom synergy. As a leader, what is your score? What is your constant point of reference to keep your people moving with synchronized steps? What is your vision that attunes the heart of your followers?