Turning Churches - Changing Direction

I was finishing reading Doing Church as a Team by Wayne Cordeiro this morning and one point he made got me thinking. Was was talking about turning churches, or changing direction.

I was thinking that we need to remember that when a church is new, and small, it is easier to turn quickly. Like a speed boat, there isn't much in the water, so it can turn in a short radius. It's also like a recently planted plant. It can be transplanted without too much effort because the roots haven't grown deep or spread to far.

An older church, or larger church, takes more time and effort to turn. Like a large ship may take miles to turn around, or a plant that has had time to develop deep roots, or has spread them wide. More care needs to be taken in making this turn. I'm certainly not saying the turn shouldn't be made! If a turn or change in direction is what's best for the church in better enabling it to accomplish it's vision and purpose, then whatever the cost, it needs to be turned! I'm just saying that you need to remember that it isn't a speedboat any more, and it will take more time and effort to make the change.

Just some thoughts.

Sunday in Review

It may sound redundant, but I'll say it anyway, what an AWESOME day! I'm sure it can get better, but it hardly seems possible. So many lives are being changed, and the excitement level around PVC is so charged up that it's obvious that God is doing huge things in the hearts of many who call PVC home, and those He is bringing. We have felt that God was about to do something big, and if this isn't it, then hold on to your hat for when He does! Here's some highlights of the day/weekend:

- Adam rocked "Move Along"! Okay, honestly, I had to ask him to explain it to me - Oh, I get it!
- Derrick was really funny introducing "Oh, Happy Day"! - Oh, that version!
- Some of the best messages are simple! Greg did a great job explaining Bible study, journaling, and the SOAP method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer).
- Twelve people came to the Fresh Start Class. There were some powerful ministry moments after the class. God is really challenging some of these new believers, and some are facing some huge battles!
- We had crowds at the Fresh Start Table after some of the services. Pray that the Lord brings workers to the harvest! It was really cool to talk to one couple who gave their lives to Christ for the first time, together during service!
- If I haven't said it before, the stage looks awesome!!! Thanks to Derrick and his team for all their hard work!
- I miss Caleb! That sounds random, but he went back to school this week and barely stopped by for lunch today before heading back to school. Just having him around is a blessing. I'm so proud of my boys!
- Greg seemed over-dressed for PVC :-). It must have been winter attire (For somewhere)!
- I still saw lines for Bibles and journals! WOW! We've sold over 600 Bibles. People are so excited about reading Scripture together! Many of the new believers are on the journey to, that's so cool!
- J.T. rocks! I thank him a lot, but never enough for all that he does. He leads our set-up and tear-down of the check-in stations and helps with putting up and taking down banners, and helps with the big stuff in elementary (He has the gift of strength). Today during tear-down he looked really winded. He said he had been walking fast to get in a workout while he was serving! I think he's one of God's "mighty men" that it talks about in the O.T.! Thanks J.T.!!!
- I can't wait for next week!

Is Multi-Site Biblical

I loved reading this post from JD Greer this morning about the multi-site church. It made me think about some things I hadn't thought of. Here's a link. I encourage you to read it.

http://jdgreear.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/is-the-multi-ca.html

One thing he points out is the phrase in Acts 2:42 that says "they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching. How did they do this? There were thousands of new believers meeting in homes. They didn't have curriculum, DVDs, or podcasts. Did the apostles teach a lesson and then others taught it in their homes, or did the apostles split up and each go to a number of homes to share the same message? Hmmm!

Ministry 101 - Dead Churches

Contrary to what my heart says, sometimes churches die, and that's not always a bad thing!

First, what is a dead or dying church?
A dead or dying church is one that is no longer fulfilling it's mandate to fulfill the great commission and great commandment (Making fully devoted followers of Christ - see Colossians 1:28- by loving them to Christ)

Second, how do you know a church is dead or dying?
1. There are only occasional visitors. The visitors who come are typically new to the area and found the church in the phone book. If the church has stopped advertising and people have stopped inviting friends, these are clear signs that the church is dead or really close!
2. No one can remember when someone other that a church leader's child accepted Christ or was baptized. This is the point when the "us four and no more" mentality is really evident. Churches often don't even realize that they have hit this stage. A church can have several hundred in attendance and still be dead or dying, the people are typically too self-absorbed to notice.
3. Weekly addendance is completely predictable. Counting isn't necessary, you could use the church almanac to determine within ten what the attendance will be on any given weekend. The variable of ten is nearly always less, not more.
4. No one can remember when the last change occurred or new program launched. There is nothing wrong with consistency, but complacency and staleness are sure signs of death, think rigermortis!
5. The pastor (if there is one) hasn't heard anything new from the Lord about direction or what needs to be taught. This is an indicator that their own spiritual life is dead or dying!

Third, what do you do with a dead church?
1. Sometimes, you have to let it die! In fact, sometimes you have to gracefully help it through the process. A church that has been around forever and has not responded to change in its community may have nothing left but a few elderly Christians who love the Lord, put don't have the ability to impact their community for Christ. Don't disrespect that they have been faithful in their lives and their leadership didn't lead. If the bills are paid, let them continue. A great transition would be to help them see the need to reach their changed community and actually start a new church in that place.

2. Sometimes there is so much disfuntion and the stench of death is so overwhelming that disbanding the church and selling the property is the best thing that could happen. I know of one church who had so much infighting that they never noticed that the culture around them had completely changed (including the language of the people). Mercifully, they were dibanded and the property sold to a new church that was reaching the community.

3. Sometimes, a dying church can be resurrected! God has the power over life and death, even for churches. He can resurrect a dying church. It may take a great change of heart in the people and perhaps even a change of leadership (I'm not just talking about the pastor!), but churches can change. For a church to change from near death to strength, it takes reliance on God's power (which the church probably hasn't done in some time, so it will be a paradigm shift). I'll write more about resurrecting a dying church soon.

Leadership

During my life I have had the opportunity to be in nearly every position and play nearly every role in the church and in business. Here's a few key things that I have learned:

1 Keep it simple! The more complex you make structures, the less likely people are to be willing to support them. Entwined in this is clear and constant communication.

2 Keep lines of authority and responsibility clear. People need to know the chain of command.

3 Hire well! Hire people for skill, experience, creativity, and potential, not for their education, connections, or who they worked for.

4 Clearly define roles. People need to know the expectations, and limits. In this, provide opportunity to grow. What is their path forward to move up?

5 Provide autonomy. Turn people loose (as much as possible) to accomplish their tasks that fulfill the expectations. Don't micromanage it limits trust.

6 Provide authority. Give people as much authority as their position will allow, even a bit more than you are comfortable with (within reason). If they live up to the trust, give them more, you can always pull back if they aren't ready or able to handle it.

7 Hold them accountable. If someone meets expectation, praise them and encourage them. If they aren't measuring up, let them know, provide opportunity for growth, then cut them loose if they still can't get it done.

8 Inspire creativity. Challenge them to accomplish more than they think they are able. There is a fine line between being challenged and being overburdened so be careful here.

9 Serve the people who serve you! Jesus provided this example over and over, we should do the same. What can you do to show them that they are valuable to you better than serving them? More pay and bonuses are nice in any job, but people want to feel needed and appreciated more than anything else. On that note, pay them better than they expect, and be on the upper end of the scale rather than the lower end. That shows value too.

10 Cast vision and reiterate purpose often. Constantly remind people of the vision and purpose for doing what they do. Keep it in front of them. You must also show them that you are striving to accomplish the vision and fulfill the purpose as well.

I hope that these insights are helpful.

How old do you have to be to be baptized?

Let the debate begin! I would love some input here. How old is old enough to be baptized? How old is old enough to meaningfully accept Christ? Is the concept of the "age of accountability" really Scriptural?

Here's a link to an article that fuels the debate. http://www.gotquestions.org/young-salvation.html

I thought I was clear on my theology on this topic, but now I'm not so sure. If we believe that a child of whatever age actually accepts Christ, then shouldn't that child also be baptized as a step of obedience to their savior? At what age to we say that their decision is valid, what what do we tell them about their decision before then?

Tied to this, at what age do we allow them to take communion? If they say that they have accepted Christ, isn't that the requirement? Who decides?

I'm among those who see numerous people get re-baptized because they didn't understand or remember being baptized when they were young. I think this is why we rely on the "age of accountability" concept which is tied to the Jewish right of passage at 13. I think that this is why I am relunctant to support baptizing children. Am I invalidating their decision for Christ?

What do you think?

Deployment

I was reading some of my favorite blogs the other day (Like Tony Morgan, Gary Lamb, Greg Rohlinger, Perry Noble) and was challenged, as I often am, to think more deeply about ministry. I take the whole issue of calling very seriously. I believe that when you are called to a church you need to stay there, through thick and thin, until God releases you or calls you to another church. In the blogs I was reading (I think it was Tony's) he was talking about being re-deployed to another church. That got me thinking about the parallel between calling in ministry and deployment in the military (makes me think of the old song "Onward Christian Soldiers").

I think the parallel is perfect. In fact, I don't think it's a parallel, I think it is the same thing. God deploys us to a "theater" or mission field. A church is an outpost in that field. It is a place for soldiers to be equipped to go out into that field and confront the enemy. Lest we forget who we are fighting, it's the evil one, not the people! I'm glad that I'm currently deployed at Palm valley Church. The mission field around us is growing rapidly. The battle is truly being fought in the trenches. Christians in the marketplace here are working hard to reach their family, friends, and co-workers with the truth of Jesus Christ. It is so great to see lives changed on a regular basis. I hope God never re-deploys me to another place, but if he does, I'll gladly go, because a soldier doesn't question his commander, he obeys orders. My commander is God and it's a true joy to serve Him.

Sometimes when things get hard at a church people leave. When they are offended, they leave. When things don't go as they think they should, they leave (or stay and complain). If you are deployed by God to serve Him in a particular place, you need to serve Him with gladness in that place until He either sends you elsewhere or releases you to leave. When this happens, it should be through much prayer and counsel from other mature believers, not personal choice or opinion. We do things sometimes at PVC that I don't like. I hope we always do. I know that sounds odd, but I know I'm not the audience we are trying to reach. There is a great deal that I do like, but when there is something I don't, I just remember that it's all about Him and keep on serving. I hope that's your attitude. In the heat of battle, things will be done, or said, that will offend you. Get over it and keep on serving!

It's Easy to be a Pastor

If you're a pastor, read to the end before you freak out! A friend of mine, who is hoping to be in full time ministry at some point said that being a pastor is easy. He didn't mean it the way it sounds, and after the week we all had at PVC it was pretty commical to hear that comment yesterday.

As pastors, we've heard the people who think that we only work on Sunday morning and have plenty of time during the week to play golf, help people move, or go change someones flat tire. I actually do have it pretty easy, compared to some of our staff members. I only wear a few hats and because of my health, I get a fair amount of downtime. I see how hard our staff works and the long ours they put in. I pray often that they will be protected from burnout and attacks from the evil one. I spent time with a family in mourning and did a memorial service on Thursday and some of our staff were helping kids and teachers in crisis in our community after a horrific event took the lives of the parents of four kids who were very involved in our community. Easy? Not hardly!

As to the comment, I know what my friend meant. I've said it too. I've been there, wishing I could be back in full time ministry. For those who work a full time job, and then volunteer counless hours at church, looking at the prospect of full time ministry does sound easy. From that perspective it seems to be! I greatly appreciate the volunteers that I serve with. They work hard during the week and then work hard for Christ on the weekend. That's not easy, and I am amazed sometimes at the effort of some that I know (which makes it more disappointing to see people who can but aren't serving).

I love the fact that my job and my service are connected and that I only have one focus instead of two or three. Yes, he is right in saying that being a pastor is easy in that respect, and I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to serve Him as my job. No, the job itself isn't easy. Few worthy endeavors are easy! I'm not saying it's more difficult than another job, it's all relative. All jobs have good points and bad. Easy parts and hard parts. That's why God gives us all different gifts, so that we can each do something different to make the world work. There are other jobs that I think look easy, but I know from friends that do them, that there are hard parts to them.

I love being a pastor with the easy stuff and the hard stuff. I believe that I am doing what God wants me to do. Is it easy? Yes! And, No!

Vision

Vision - It's easy to have, but not so easy to pass on to others! The Bible says that without vision, the people parish. I love the title of a book I read in college that says, "If you don't know where you're going, you'll end up someplace else."

Getting others to grasp and embrace the vision God has given you is the essential part of leadership. It is also the most difficult part of leadership I believe.

I have realized that I need to do a better job in this area. I know where I want my ministry teams to go, but they don't. I can't lead them if I don't bring them with me! It's so true that if you say you are a leader, but turn around and find that no one is following, than you're not really a leader.

To focus more on this, I'm planning to begin doing these things this year.

1. Meet with my teams once per quarter to hear from them, and share vision.
2. I am also planning an update note of some type every month.
3. I will also pray more for the teams in this area.
4. Continue to pray for God to continually update and clarify the vision He has given me.
5. Re-read some great leadership books I have, and read a couple of new ones. Some are actually secular business management books, but they are right on when it comes to leadership in general and easily applicable to leadership in the church. I'll blog on them as I read them.

No Church Sunday

This past weekend we didn't have church services. It's so strange, but it was nice to have the break. Paige and I spent the day together which is always awesome! First we went out to the land to see the progress, then we went to the Desert Botanical Gardens. I love the place! It's nestled below the Papago park and the views are incredible. It was great to spend time worshipping God in His creation. It was cool to learn about plants that attract hummingbirds, butterflies and bees (bees aren't cool, but important). I love cacti and plan to have many at the new house. We have annual passes to the garden and are talking about renewing this year. If you haven't been, you should take a few hours and go.

Palm Valley Church Rocks!

There were so many volunteers it was awesome! The services (4 of them) were off the hook! Not just the main service, but the kids areas as well. Greg really brought home the Gospel message talking about Light (Jesus). The tech guys would say that there were a lot of problems, but the lighting and camera effects I saw were great! Michael wasn't there to see all of his hard work come to fruition, but it was great (he'll have to watch the video). Twelve people that we know of accepted Christ. One of the stories was particularly amazing and a true Christmas miracle. And all that was just Christmas eve weekend!

Christmas was amazing! I love that we begin Christmas in our family with prayer and reading the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then we celebrate God's gift to us by giving gifts to each other. This we set a pretty low dollar limit so that we can contribute more inthe spring to our building fund at the church. I loved the creativity required to give great gifts and stay within the budget. I'm usually the biggest offender when we set limits, but I love giving gifts to my family. I actually stayed within budget this year, and Santa did too! Even though there wasn't a lot of cash spent, there sure were a lot of gifts! The creativity was great, and it was a lot of fun stuff, not just practical things.

I hope that you had a great Christmas celebrating God's gift of Light through Christ Jesus.