Will Mancini

“Denomination” and “momentum” are two words that don’t often go in the same sentence. That’s why I think that St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Newport Beach, CA is a church to watch. Under the leadership of Richard Kannwhischer, the church has experienced 35% attendance growth in the last year. Rich brings strong preaching gifts, attention to strategic clarity and a highly relational leadership style to the team. 

In February, the church engaged with Auxano to keep the principle of “clarity first” at the helm of their growth. I have really enjoyed getting to know the team and will be blogging more about the church in days to come. Today I spent some time with Jon Bartarse the communications director. Jon’s been executing a blogging strategy that is working well.

He built a blog at Highlightslive.com. that ties into the church’s web presence. Folks at the church are encouraged, through a variety of sources, to share their stories on the blog. In particular, the blog attracts stories of missional service adn profiles the church’s global engagement.  But that’s not all. They have woven the tool with sermon series, including a current series called Summer Road Trip. As people engage their summer vacation, they are encouraged to share stories of “God on the Move” in their lives. The Highlights blog is promoted well on the church campus and has a feed on the church’s home page. 

Jon is also the founder of ThankChrist.com, a simple but powerful little web idea dedicated to gratitude. Jon says that his gift is “not taking things for granted.” The value was forged in his soul through dramatic 2-week  life-experience in high school that brought a new appreciation for all God provides.

Rather than adopting the latest program, churches that walk the  vision pathway with Auxano  find their own practices and nuanced approaches to engage people who are far from God.

Through the years of helping design missional initiatives and evangelism training, I have found  five essentials that any strategy MUST have in order to work in your local culture. 

#1 TOUCH – Evangelism starts with proximity, and genuine interest expressed through conversation and organic relationship building. Oftentimes churches start evangelism training with how to articulate the gospel. But when your church folks no longer have connection with people far from God, it doesn’t matter how eloquent your gospel presentation rolls.

#2 TALK - When you develop your own strategy, you can’t help but develop unique language for the process of evangelism. This distinct terminology flows out of your church culture for your surrounding community culture. In a sense, new language is a part of incarnating the the truth of the gospel in your time and place. For example, one church in the bible belt, uses the language of “hope” as a door opener in conversation. Another, in the deeply unchurched Pacific Northwest uses the terminology of  ”self-reliance” to clarify the problem of a life disconnected from God.

#3 TOOLS – Peter Drucker said that the greatest problem with non-profits (he definitely had churches in mind) is a lack of focus and a lack of “tool competency.” As a pastor, you want your people engaged in sharing their faith. The single most important question you can ask yourself is, “What tools have I provided for my people to evangelize?” Studies show that people are more inherently motivated than we think. More times than not, their primary motivational question is NOT, “What’s in it for me?” BUT “What tools are you providing for me to do what you want me to do?” Recently Gloria Dei Lutheran created a simple tool that resembles the oil change sticker  you put on your windshield. On the sticker is the name of someone to consistently pray. This simple tool undergirds their mission for membership: Helping one another live life with Jesus everyday.

#4 TRAINING – Obviously, training is an important part of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. Your church does not need another pre-packaged or denominationally based program like you think. God has already provided everything you need to get training done. How, you ask? He has given gifts to men and women and gifted men and women to your church. Some of them have the gift of evangelism. We tend to think that the gift of evangelism is for a few people to do the work of evangelism. That’s not accurate. Remember that spiritual gifts are given with one purpose: the edification of the body. (Eph 4:11-16) Therefore, your job is to release the inherent gifts of evangelism in your church to train and lead the entire body in the process of evangelism and missional service. 

#5 TINGLE - In the end the work of evangelism is the first thing that suffers with the temptations and distractions of the world around us and the flesh within us. Motivation is a critical element. Vision casting and storytelling must consistently invigorate and refuel the people of God. In the end, the greatest tingle factor for the people of your church is your own life model. Remember pastors, that we teach what we know, but we reproduce what we are. As you motivate yourself for the work of evangelism, tell your own stories of success and failure. Always celebrate each precious step that each precious saint makes toward intentional living with redemptive passion. 

These little phrases came from Max Lucado. “I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father.”  John 15:15

• His greatest sermon can be read in eight minutes (Matthew 5-7)
  
• He summarized prayer in five phrases (Matthew 6:9-13).
  
• He silenced accusers with one challenge (John 8:7).
  
• He rescued a soul with one sentence (Luke 23:43).
  
• He summarized the Law in three verses (Mark 12:29-31)
  
• He reduced all his teaching to one command (John 15:12)

 He made his point and went home.

I am on a call with missional thought-leaders and experimenters led by Alan Hirsch. The group is called Future Travelers. Today we are discussing the missional model developed by Jeff Vanderstelt at Soma Communities. I wanted to share three observations about the Soma model for you to benefit from in your own ministry leadership:

1) Great models all have great clarity. The Soma model has a uniquely formed language that drives it’s culture. Two of the most common missing elements of vision (five questions of the Vision Frame) are modeled really well at Soma. The first is “when are we successful.” Soma articulates a four-fold missional life-mark as “Identity: Who we are.” The church is not successful based on attendance, buildings and cash, but on the development of identity. These are the kind of people, the kind of disciples, that the community produces.

• Family
• Missionaries
• Servants 
• Learners

The other missing piece in many churches is strategy or “missional map.” How do we actually accomplish the mission on the broadest level? Soma has articulated a beautiful 6 component strategy that they call “Rhythms: How we live”

• Story-formed
• Listen
• Celebrate
• Bless
• Eat
• ReCreate

2) It is rare to see vision, thoughtfully integrated into communication.

A fantastic model of vision integration on their website is an EXTREMELY RARE and bold presentation of what I call “identity over activity” thinking, rather than the typical “activity and events drive everything” mindset of church. Simply stated, you don’t find about the different types of church events and activities without first clicking on the identity. That is real vision integration!

3) When you learn, pay attention to the questions that you ask. 

All of the questions of my group today had to do with tactics and product rather than process. This is where photocopied vision arises. No one asked, “What process did you follow to come up with a clear, beautifully articulated ministry model?”  As you look at the Soma vision, let it motivate you to discern and articulate better what God is doing in your church and your community. Use the Church Unique Vision Frame to guide you.

Before my transition to coach-consulting in 2001, I led several different ministry areas at Clear Creek Community Church. An unexpected season of leading the children’s area engaged my love for vision around the importance of serving children. What I learned through this season has changed my life forever. I believe that children’s ministry is THE golden opportunity for these seven reasons:

#1 The Golden Heart: Children model the ideal kingdom participant. Each of the gospel writers record that stunning moment when Jesus rebukes the disciples and tenderly engages some young children (Luke 18:17). In the face of self-importance, Jesus shockingly points to a child as the model for how to enter the kingdom. Maybe serving children holds unexpected benefit for Christian maturity?

#2 The Golden Years: Childhood is the most effective window for responding to the gospel. Eighty percent of people receive Christ between the ages of 4 and 14. Enough said.

#3 The Golden Glow: Children have a longer life to serve Christ and accomplish more for God’s glory. If you had a candle to burn for a nice romantic evening, would you choose the one that’s three-quarters used up, or would you choose a brand new candle? (It makes you wonder why generally speaking,  our children get so little attention in ministry leadership!)

#4 The Golden Baton: Serving children plants the gospel into the next generation. Yes, the gospel is always one generation from extinction. You choose if the race is all about your short window to live or the enduring story of global redemption.

#5 The Golden Gate: Winning a child is a gateway to winning the whole family. I can’t tell you how many redeemed families I have seen on the beachhead of a child’s testimony. And yes, the more our culture idolizes their children, the more we can leverage this negative tendency for the gospel.

#6 The Golden Moment: Children’s lives are moldable and full of teachable moments. There is nothing like the moment of awe and insight, when  child learns or asks a genuine question. Play and plant in the rich soil!

#7 The Golden Crown: Serving children has a unique significance which leads to special blessing. In Matthew 25-31-46, Jesus shares the parable about serving, “the least of these.” It’s apparent that “the least” include people of some status or need where they cannot repay if they are served (hungry, sick, imprisoned, estranged, poor) Children, though not listed explicitly, certainly fit this list by virtue of their inability. I believe that serving children brings an unexpected treasure of blessing.

This post is dedicated to my beautiful fiancée, Romina Andreotti, who spent the last year serving 12, 2-year old children at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church. Those kids are the most fortunate kids on the planet and I am grateful for her model of love and service that nourishes my own spirit.