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Friends and Colleagues,
Change isn't easy. Many people are in churches precisely because the church is one institution that doesn't change much. It makes them secure in an ever changing society. Last month I addressed the importance of doing grief work, a dimension of leading change that is often not appreciated. This month I do a whirlwind overview of some key dimensions of leading change.
The resource section highlights a book that addresses the dynamic tension between leadership and management.
This summer, are you taking some time to reflect on how you're doing and to set some commitments for fall? I'd love to coach you as you do this, asking deep questions to help you clarify and focus. Give me a call or send an email.
If you know someone who might benefit from coaching and/or my thoughts here,
please use the "Forward to a Friend" button in the newsletter (that
way you'll avoid problems with spam filters).
Here's to clarity about how God is leading us!
Peace,
Bob
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Change? Thanks,
but no thanks! Part 2
Is a pastor or other church leader trying to lead change
just pushing the Mississippi to run upstream???
What leadership helps some churches turn around and thrive - and what
happens when others don't turn around - and often die?
Last month I drew extensively from Kenneth McFayden's book Strategic Leadership for a Change,
noting that helping people face their situation and grieve what has been lost
is critical to moving on. (the URL for
that issue is: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs032/1102564328120/archive/1103469384142.html )
While it's impossible to describe the elements of leading
change in two short articles, I'll pick up with some key ideas again this
month.
First, it's important to get members (especially leaders) to
describe reality as they see it and to measure the situation against some
benchmarks. Simply reacting from the gut
isn't enough. How does your church measure
up to:
- foundational biblical
texts like the Great Commandment and Great Commission?
- current research into what
makes for vital churches (e.g. Diana Butler Bass' books, Schnase's Five Practices of Fruitful
Congregations, The U.S. Congregational Life Survey
which draws from research done by Deborah Woolover, Natural Church Development by Schwartz.)
How is what you're doing it now working for you?
I encourage leaders to do a full blown mission and vision
study (see my article about this - http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs032/1102564328120/archive/1103026322135.html).
The key question is: what
and who is God calling your church to be and do in the next five years here in
this place?
Involve a significant percentage of the congregation (at
least 50% of those who worship regularly) in these studies. Get them to tell stories about when the
church faced challenges before and how they surmounted them - or didn't. What did they learn? Who were key leaders and what did they do?
Since ownership of 80% or so of the congregation is key, you
may need to do things to build trust. Otherwise, you're wasting your time.
You will likely have to turn up the heat - but not too
much. In his book Direct Hit, Paul Borden shares his assertive methods for working
with churches that are on a downward trajectory. "In our region, we have often shown congregations
the year and month (with some preciseness) that they will no longer be able to pay
their pastor, afford health and other kinds of insurance, and have people alert
enough to take care of basic day-to-day business." (i.e. when they'll be out of business) (p -
58) That gets people's attention.
Of course, if you're too pessimistic, then
people will either ignore you or freeze into inactivity. Or if there has been a traumatic incident or
big church fight, you'll need to deal with that.
Next, it's important to develop a clear path that shows
both a big vision and intermediate objectives. Celebrate the achievement of those intermediate objectives. That encourages people that they are on the
right track. You might set a goal of
increasing worship attendance by 5 or 10% by this time next year. Or starting six new small groups. Decide with leaders what specific goals would
stretch people but are achievable. Make
sure they correlate with the bigger vision.
Be persistent and adapt as needed. When something doesn't work, rather than
getting angry and blaming, trying saying "oh, that's interesting" and
ask "now what did we learn from
this?"
I would be glad to share titles of books
I have found helpful in this area. Send
me an email or call.
I'd love to coach you
and/or your governing board
regarding this process. Give me a call
and we can discuss possibilities.
If you know
someone who
might find this newsletter helpful, please
forward it to them - and please use the button
in the newsletter.
Here's to healthy churches - with healthy
leaders!
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Resources - books and other resources that have been helpful
The Business of the Church: The Uncomfortable Truth that
Faithful Ministry Requires Effective Management - by John Wimberly
I think
this book should be required reading for all pastors, especially those who are
new or fairly new to a parish.
Wimberly makes a clear distinction between leadership and management, noting
that most pastors have to do some of both - (1) help a congregation catch the
vision of what God is calling them to be and do and (2) attend to the details
of making sure things are done effectively.
He uses a systems approach, noting how the church works as a system in the
larger cultural system. That appeals to my inclination to try to see the big
picture. Three interlocking inputs - Personnel, Facilities, and Finances
combine to produce the ministry outputs of Proclamation, Pastoral Care,
Program, and Mission.
Under each category he describes many specifics of how a pastor needs to manage,
appealing to people who insist that details be handled competently but who
sometimes have trouble seeing the big picture. I especially like his stressing
the importance of having clear personnel policies and procedures. I have seen
any number of pastors who come into conflict because of unclear expectations,
resulting in the pastor being forced out of the church or members leaving in
anger. As one who has seen some atrocious church websites, I strongly endorse
his assertion that churches normally need to hire someone to do this.
While I quibble with a few side opinions that Wimberly voices (e.g. over the
proper tenure for interim pastors), I think this is a most valuable book. I
have already and will be recommending it to my coaching and consulting clients.
What books or resources have you found especially helpful? I'd be glad (with available space) to share your reviews and/or suggestions.
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Previous Newsletters
Here is a link to a list of my previous newsletters. Just click on the link and you'll be able to select what you'd like:
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs032/1102564328120/archive/1103213242238.html
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Future Issues (monthly)
- Getting Going in a New Church
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I hope you have found this newsletter informative and helpful. Please subscribe to continue receiving it (or unsubscribe to stop). If you'd like to explore coaching, please email or call me.
If you have found it helpful, please forward it to friends who you think would appreciate it. (And please use the forward button on the newsletter itself.)
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Bob
Robert Harris
Harris Coaching and Consulting
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