Unsame Your Ministry Vision
Are you going to be satisfied with a future for ministry that is more of the same?
Very few pastors break from norm of mediocre church ministry. But I am convinced it doesn’t have to be that way.
Last fall I was honored to participate in Leadership Network’s roll-out of their Leadia Experience. My conribution was FLUX: Four Paths to the Future. FLUX provides a guide for thinking, adapting, and innovating in order to discover new possibilities for your church. It starts with one whiteboard drawing and gives you a matrix for assessing and planning your future.
I encourage you to engage with the full experience. But for now, I challenge you to rethink and reimagine your ministry with this post mini-series from FLUX.
Do not quench your inspiration and your imagination, do not become the slave of your model - Vincent Van Gogh
Every once in while, I find a new feature on my Mac or iPhone, because I discover a default switch or button that I didn’t know existed. In fact there is a specific definition for this:
Default: a selection automatically used by a computer program in the absence of a choice made by the user
Many times it’s no big deal, but sometimes I want to kick myself for missing out on some cool functionality. I didn’t know the default switch even existed!
After a decade of daily conversations about vision with ministry teams, I have discovered a hidden vision switch with a default position in the minds of church leaders. But this default setting is not just about missing out on a nifty feature. It’s about a fundamental mode of thinking that’s limiting us.
Let me explain.
One question I always enjoy asking church leaders is “How do you want your church to be different two years from now?”
What kind of answers do I get?
The most common two-word response is “more people.” Of course that expresses itself in many forms:
- Increased worship
- More growth
- Higher attendance
- Additional services
- Reaching more people
- Reversing decline
Think about that for a minute. “How do you want your church to be different in two years?” Imagine the infinite number of answers possible to this question. For example, pastors could have responded with answers like:
- More desperate for Jesus
- More intimacy between husbands and wives
- More engaged in social justice and civic responsibilities
- More families having devotionals together
- More friendships with people far from God
- More students serving other students
But for the most part, they don’t give answers like this. Despite the rainbow variety of gospel-centered, life-transforming possibilities the most common answer is always, in one form or another, “More people.”
Keep in mind that the one-dimensional answer of “more people” transcends an incredibly wide variety of church settings and leaders, from uptown to small town, mainline or online – from the newest staff newbie to the post-retired, hard-to-expire. Everyone wants “more people.”
And “more people” is good. Jesus wants more people too. And yes, churches “should count people because people count.”
But there’s something important behind the answer of “more people.” And that something reveals this default setting in the life of the everyday pastor. Church leaders are not just saying that want “more people.” What they are really saying is…
The Guide to Ministry Model Making
In the introduction to Church Unique, I shared my passion that instead of leading a great model, “I would rather work behind the scenes as a model maker. My greatest joy is seeing a leader for the first time articulate a stunningly unique model of ministry for his or her church.” As this month marks my eleventh year as a full-time coach/consultant and the fourth birthday of Church Unique, this passion has never been stronger. So I am teeing up a few special posts on ChurchUnique.
I am still moved when I read a review that captures the heart behind the book and the pulse that keeps its ideas alive. It encourages me that the concepts resonate with all kinds of church thinkers and ministry leaders. And I imagine the “aha” synapses firing as leaders see the better future for their church.
Therefore, I am grateful for pastor and blogger, Andy Kinsey’s and his thoughtful review on the blog, Notes on Practical Divinity. His understanding of these days as church-history-crossroads is well-stated:
“with the rise of congregational studies, and the increased focus on church practices, organizational theory, spiritual formation, and the growth of emergence and missional in the church’s consciousness, there is something unique happening at this moment in history… Church Unique is part of a much larger movement, one that is coming to terms with a rapidly changing, postmodern culture on the one hand and the fragments of a vibrant post-Christendom culture on the other”
There is something unique happening indeed!
Here are a few highlights from the review. If you have already discovered your church unique, I hope these nuggets inspire you to stay the course. If you have not, I hope these pique your curiosity to learn more.
Church Unique: How Missional Leaders Cast Vision, Capture Culture and Create Movement:
- prompts deeper questions into why the church does what it does
- guides leaders into how they may understand their church’s own particular ‘microculture’ and discover ways to minister at the same time to the church’s surrounding ‘macroculture’
- highlights the pitfalls of church growth strategies that move into uncritically adopting assumptions that are harmful and not truly ‘purposeful’ of local church culture and custom
- functions as a manual to discover, the ‘Kingdom Concept’ that drives the church to realize Christ’s Great Commission and Commandment, while helping leaders cast the vision uniquely given by God’s Spirit
- brings out the specific ways churches may work to bring into alignment the various parts of their histories, cultures, and ministries
How has Church Unique influenced you as a model maker? I would love to hear your story!
Do More of What You Do Best with 6 Powerful Secrets
Okay, I couldn’t resist calling these “secrets.” Why? Well, they are such as missing practice in ministry today, they functionally behave like secrets. You be the judge:
Secret #1: Ask God for supernatural insight into your “ministry best.”
He already knows what you can do best because he created you to do it. Every other step in this process fails without a spirit of great dependence on God and the full realization that ministry is a stewardship, not derived from you. Peer into your history. Reflect on your identity. Gaze at your strengths. Pray for vision.
Secret #2: Define your “ministry best” with great clarity.
Have you found that amazing place where the right words symbolically yet powerfully capture your “ministry best?” Great leaders usually do and they know it’s worth sacrificing the time for internal wrestling and outside coaching. Clarity isn’t everything but it changes everything. Name your “ministry best.”
Secret #3 Refine your leaders’ understanding of your “ministry best” with great patience.
Be confident in this: Leaders always overestimate how much their team “get’s it.” Check out Jesus’ ministry to strengthen this point. Your tools to create understanding are time and dialogue. Make the time. Tee up the dialogue. Start with your inner circle. When they are clear get every leader in your ministry together and do it again. You are not done this process until everyone responsible for money or people in your ministry is clear.
Secret #4: Communicate your “ministry best” to everyone with great passion.
Now it’s time to open the flood gates. Weave it into every sermon. Bring it up at each meal. Tell the story at today’s meeting. But remember to increase your passion. How do you do that? Consider what problem your “ministry best” solves. Stir your heart with that problem. Communicate the answer in a way that other’s will really feel it, not just hear it.
Secret #5: Consistently change, modify, or tweak the least effective one-third of what you are doing in light of your “ministry best.”
Does this sound hard? It’s really not when you do the first four practices well. In fact this can be a lot fun, once the leadership team is aligned. To help you identify the “bottom” one-third of your ministry activity, work as a team to place all of your ministries in three buckets, ranked A, B and C. Be courageous.
Secret #6: Reinforce the awareness and appreciation of your “ministry best.”
Pray about it daily. Remind people about it weekly, Celebrate it monthly. If you start doubting it, go back to secret #1. Don’t let the idea of “being best” put pressure on yourself. Remember that the foundation of a “ministry best” is God’s work. He is the power source. He brings the fruit. Stay completely connected to and dependent on Him. If you take these secrets seriously, it will be very important to stay connected to Jesus to keep your success from going to your head.
Who Are You? Really?
For years, I have been thinking about, and writing about, how to discover and apply a unique vision in your personal life. But, I have primarily shared these ideas with friends and pastors who I have close relationships with. They have responded positively to these concepts and have encouraged me to share this with more leaders. I am really pumped to share these with you now.
So, what would it look like if you could have stunning clarity about your gifts, leadership, calling and direction? I will be sharing more about this in the future. For now, I would like to invite you to attend two workshops I will be conducting at #Exponential.
It’s Your Call: Finding and Aligning Your Personal Vision
Do you ever feel stuck in your ministry or wonder about God’s next step for your life? Are you tired of the same old personality assessments or identifying a list of strengths that never impacts your role description? If you are ready for a fresh approach to really grasping your unique life purpose, don’t miss this session. I will cover four imperatives that will move you toward the full engagement of your gifting and calling with tools for both the long-term horizon and immediate next steps.
Unlocking Your Motivational View of the World
Yes, you were created to glorify God and to follow Jesus. But many ministry leaders stop there when it comes to articulating their life vision. The result is an over generalized sense of purpose that fails to bring stunning clarity to personal leadership. What if you could know, with greater precision, why God put you on planet earth? What if you could name in a simple and compelling way, your totally unique contribution to the world? That’s what your motivational view of the world is all about. Don’t wait any longer to unlock this powerful perspective.
I hope you are intrigued and will join me along with members of the Auxano team and the other presenters and leaders at this great conference.
7 Reasons Why Your Church Should Create an Annual Report
You’ve heard of annual reports, but have you thought of creating one for your church? The point of course is not to imitate a common corporate practice, but to leverage every opportunity to cast vision. As we scan a few reasons why you should do this, let’s start with a definition.
Wiki: An annual report is a comprehensive report on a company’s activities throughout the preceding year. Annual reports are intended to give shareholders and other interested people information about the company’s activities and financial performance. The details provided in the report are of use to investors to understand the company’s financial position and future direction.
Why you should leverage this communication tool:
#1 An annual report creates a great “excuse” to cast vision. Most people know what an annual report is, but don’t expect their church to provide one. Why not leverage the “placeholder in their mind” to make a positive impact?
#2 An annual report utilizes a natural rhythm for reflection and refocus. Remember, God created the cycle of a year. Since you use the year to define everything else in your life, why not use it to nourish the vision for people in the church?
#3 An annual report is a great tool to retell your best stories. Hopefully you’ve been sharing stories of life change throughout the year. Now tell them again. As a leader, it’s important to know your “folklore-” the stories of God that are worth sharing over and over and over.
#4 An annual report is an act of gratitude toward God. What if you saw the process like writing a thank you note to God. Even if your church didn’t have the best year, you have something for which you can express gratitude to God. Use the report to honor God and point people to Jesus.
#5 An annual report is a helpful accountability mechanism. I get that fact that accountability is not always fun. Sometimes you don’t like prepping sermons. But this Sunday keeps you accountable. Chances are, no one is going to wake up and bug you for that 2011 annual report. That’s what makes this point a big deal. You can initiate the commitment and hold yourself and your team accountable to this kind of vision casting.
#6 An annual report builds credibility with people. While an annual report is not everyone’s “love language,” some people will take a giant step forward because you took the time to provide this tool. It shows the leadership’s willingness to be honest with financial information and communicates the deeper “whys” behind ministry decisions and direction.
#7 An annual report is a perfect project to experiment with some new talent and creativity. Since this communication tool is not weekly or urgent, you can recruit some people who are new or uninvolved and see what they produce. If you haven’t done a report, you have nothing to loose by trying. Ask them for something fresh and different. Here are a few examples of reports to get the creative minds sparked.
If you plan on doing an annual report for the first time, I would love to hear about it. If I can help you in anyway through Auxano Design, let me know.