This is a very fun, encouraging, and informative episode with Dan Reiland, Executive Pastor of 12Stone Church in Lawrenceville GA, just outside Atlanta. We affectionately refer to Dan as Dan "the Animal" Reiland on this episode. Forgive us.
Dan talks about how his church launched five new campuses this past January, all on the SAME SUNDAY! Each campus was a public school, where they had to bring everything in, set up, then clean up and tear down when they were finished. Sound familiar to any of you? During their conversation with Dan, Jeff and Jonny relate the principles he's sharing to the small church context. The title of this episode comes from one of Dan's comments about having to believe what he couldn't see, and having to believe God was going to help them in their endeavor. Faith. We all need it, no matter the size of our churches or projects! We talked about a number of resources in this episode, all of which are linked to below by clicking on the images. The one immediately below, 12Stone Church, is an extra link to a FREE RESOURCES page on Dan's church's website. These are some fun extras that you can access by simply clicking on the image below. Finally, Jonny reads a review by one of our listeners at the end of this episode, and Jeff has provided a YouTube video tutorial below on how to leave a rating and review on iTunes for the 200churches Podcast. If you haven't done that yet, go for it! If you've received anything of value from this podcast, please give us a rating and review on iTunes. It helps give our podcast more exposure in the iTunes podcast space. Please, check out the links below after you enjoy Episode 113 - Launching Ministry Initiatives That Truly Require Faith! Click on the 12Stone logo for free ministry resources from Dan's church!Click on the images below to go to the resources we mention in this episode
John and Dianne Finkelde pastored in their church in Australia for 30 years! To say they have seen it all would be an understatement. When John transitioned out of his church three years ago, he began GrowAHealthyChurch.com.
John and Di consult with and coach pastors and pastors' wives, as well as church leadership at every level. They do onsite consults, online consults, Skype pastoral coaching, etc. You can check out their site at www.growahealthychurch.com, where you can find some free resources and everything else they offer. Jonny and Jeff caught up with John early this week and talked to him about life and ministry. With his Aussie accent, he is a delight to listen to, but a blast to learn from! He gives some very practical and important content that any pastor at any level can put into practice this week! In this episode John talks with the guys at some length, giving very practical coaching on four issues : visitors to your church, how to handle the issue of finances/giving, how to evaluate your ministry at every level, and managing yourself as pastor for long term sustainability. DOUG'S BACK TO COLLEGE, AND JEFF & JONNY ARE BACK IN THE STUDIO! With Jeff's son Douglas back at college, (which was a miracle of God and thank you for praying!) Jeff and Jonny are back in the luxurious and opulent 200churches Podcast Studio this week - recording three episodes in this first week of the year. They are moving and grooving with plans already in motion to upgrade the studio and expand what they offer to pastors of small churches this year. They wrote last Friday that their two main goals are to reach more small church pastors, and serve and encourage them even better this year. Let this first episode of the year be an indication of the quality you can expect every single week, Lord willing of course, in 2015! Enjoy this episode, as our gift of encouragement to you! As you pastor your church, we salute you as a man or woman of God, called to love and serve him by shepherding, feeding, and leading his Flock. Jesus died for them, and you live to love and serve them. May God bless you, your walk with him, your family, and your church ministry this year!
If you are like me and Jonny, you are reluctant to get too ambitious setting goals for 2015 or making audacious New Year's resolutions! Oh yes. Been there before, right? By January 5 you have already given up!
Yeah, let's not do that! Right? Boy do we have the podcast episode for you! We are giving you two simple ministry hacks that will begin to improve your ministry effectiveness almost as soon as you implement them. Of course there is no free lunch, but if you follow our two suggestions, you will definitely experience benefits over the coming year, and your people will be recipients of a more productive, more satisfied pastor. Finally, these hacks are simple, not complex; they are doable, not unrealistic; and they are accomplished not by hyper-commitment, but by incremental change. LINKS We talk about delegation in this episode, and you can read more in this post titled The Importance of Delegation - Don't Be A Hero! We also talk about Dave Jacobs, the Small Church Pastor's Coach! We talk about his book. We talk about Karl Vaters, his book, and his site for small church pastors. Have a very Merry Christmas, and may God bless your new year ahead!
Again, welcome to 2014 and the second year of the 200churches Podcast. Can we say it?? We've learned so much from sharing this podcast with you! We have grown in our appreciation and understanding of what it means to be pastors of a 200church.
We had no idea the people we would get to know - YOU! You all have enriched our lives and grown us as pastors, friends, and leaders. We hope to continue building you up as pastors and shepherds of small churches, pastors who are often forgotten and undervalued as you serve in smaller ministries loving and shepherding God's people. In today's Episode 52, we share with you three lessons we are learning as we enter the new year. These three lessons are basic, so basic that we often overlook or forget them. If you lean into these lessons with us, your leadership in your 200church will grow and your church's health will improve. We are going to give you the outline to this episode, and then provide you the links to the resources we reference at the bottom of this post. TODAY'S EPISODE OUTLINE: We are focusing on three lessons to lean into as we start 2014. They are - 1. Getting over our fear of failure. Most people are unwilling to experience the number of failures necessary for success. If we do not try, we will never fail, and for some of us, that's our strategy for success - to never fail. Unfortunately, if we never try, and never fail, we will also never succeed. Is your church small because it has simply reached its Kingdom potential, or, is your church small because you're afraid to fail. Just a thought... -Moses failed -Peter failed -from a human perspective, even Jesus' projects failed - Judas betrayed him, the disciples forsook him, and he was killed on a cross. Perhaps we need a different perspective on failure. Sometimes a failure can accomplish God's will - you think? 2. Prayer. We need God. Our dependence on God is revealed through our time of prayer and communion with Him. How are you doing spending time with your Father, your Savior, and your Comforter? 3. FOCUS on the people you have. This point is, as they say, worth the admission price! You just have to hear what we say about this... LINKS: Two great books about handling failure: Failing Forward by John C Maxwell **Phenomenal Kindle price of $2.99 at the time of this post!! Sometimes You Win, Sometimes You Lo... Learn! by John C. Maxwell Pictures of the books at the bottom of this post are also links to purchase them on Amazon - we are not affiliates and get no kick-back. They are simply GREAT books! Please give us your input: Please email either Jeff or Jonny and share with them a topic you think would be good for us to discuss. Also, feel free to share a person you think we should have on as a guest. Our goal is to provide guests and content that encourage and equip you as small church pastors. We have some exciting guests lined up in the coming months. Jeff and Jonny have a little friendly competition going as for who will receive the most emails. You can email either one of them with your suggestions, their email links are below: jeff@200churches.com jonny@200churches.com :) This week we talk again with Dan Reiland about raising up younger leaders. This is so necessary for us as older church leaders to do if we expect our ministries to continue building the Kingdom of God. Dan calls them apprentices, some call them interns, others just call them on time for supper - and that makes younger leaders happy! If you are a younger leader, you need to ask yourself, Who is building into me, and who am I intentionally pursuing for mentoring, coaching, and growth in my life? If you are an older leader, just turn that question around and say - Who am I training, coaching, and mentoring to succeed me, or at least my generation, in leadership? This is one of those practices that we need to build into our lives as a theme, or mission, of our life work, of our ministry. Mentoring and raising up other younger leaders can't be something we try to put on our to do list, as though it were just another task for us to check off. It comes straight out of Jesus' playbook - he mentored twelve, so that they could carry on his work. Who will carry on your work?
If you had to, could you write down a list of young leaders you are focused on, to mentor? Are there others you are currently mentoring or coaching, even if just on an informal basis? This is like a family. If you are married, but have no children, then you have no one to follow you, to carry on your name, or your life passion. I know many couples cannot have children, so they find others that they build their lives into, that will carry on a legacy of significance for them. Who will carry on your ministry, or Kingdom legacy? Who are you raising up so intentionally that they will carry on your work your way after you are gone... gone gone, or just gone to another ministry? Of course this is also how we multiply ourselves in ministry. We "hire" other leaders around us, even if they are volunteer. Everyone needs to have a purpose, and be needed. I recently asked a man in our church if he would serve as a Deacon. I told him, "we need you." I wanted him to know his gifts and abilities, and his heart, they are all needed in our church. We need what he has to offer. In the same way, as leaders and pastors and of small churches, we need what the people in our church have to offer. The Holy Spirit has placed gifted believers in our churches so that they can help us with the ministry God has called us to. Why not right now, write down the names of TWO PEOPLE in your church that you believe would be good investments of your time and energy - of your mentoring and coaching? Write down their names, and then write up a plan of action for 2014. How will you go about shaping them into leaders who can serve the people of your church? What needs to happen? What are they suited and wired for in your church, your community, their business, or their neighborhood. Get creative! Think way outside the "building", remember the church is the people, not a building. You know that. :) Jesus called twelve and mentored them to take the leadership helm when he would be gone. Eleven made it! Who will you "call"? Write down their names. Get intentional. And go for it! And, while you are at it, use Dan Reiland's book, Amplified Leadership, in the process. You can get it by clicking on the link in the right hand column. You can also see other Pastor's Coach articles he has written that may be helpful to you. HOLIDAY NEWS>>> Jeff and Jonny are taking a blogging Holiday break between Thanksgiving and New Year's. We normally write posts on M/W/F every week. Between Thanksgiving and New Year's, we will be writing only on Wednesdays in connection with our weekly podcast. Our podcasts will continue weekly, just our Monday and Friday posts will disappear during that time. We are both full time pastors and students, and this will help us finish our fall semester strong, and retain our sanity only to lose it another day! We love connecting with small church pastors at 200churches.com and through our podcasts - thanks for being a part of the 200churches community! You’ve heard it before: you can’t just accumulate followers, you must also develop leaders. How true that is. If we only accumulate followers, we will wear ourselves out. Followers have needs and demand attention. The more followers we have, the more energy we must put out. In order to build our ministry and multiply our efforts, we must develop leaders. It sounds strategic, businesslike, and difficult – but it need not be! The reason why we want to develop leaders is to gather a team to help us in the work of ministry. When Jesus fed the 5,000, he had them sit down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He then had his disciples help him pass out the fish and the loaves. There were doubtless leaders in each of these groups of people, who stepped forward and assisted in the serving of the meal.
You had Jesus, his disciples, volunteer leaders in the groups of fifties and hundreds, and then the people themselves (followers). If every pastor of a 200church developed a dozen leaders who would oversee portions of the ministry, so much more pastoral care, ministry training, and outreach could be accomplished. If you are going to develop a team of leaders, you want to make sure you start with people who have potential. How can you determine who has potential? Here are four qualities to look for when searching for leaders to develop: Spiritual Interest – A man or woman could have outstanding credentials and abilities, but unless he or she also has an interest in their own walk with God, they will not pass the sniff test of leadership in the church. Too many church leaders are organizationally equipped on the outside, but unspiritual on the inside. Look for a spiritual person who loves the Lord and desires personal spiritual growth. Personal passion – This is not the same as an outgoing personality. Any personality: a phlegmatic, melancholy, choleric, or sanguine can be passionate. They will reveal their passion in different ways. Passion is about drive and determination to reach a goal or desired outcome. It is about someone believing in something so much that it pushes them to do whatever it takes to get it done. Passion picks up when energy runs out. Natural or spiritual gifting – There must be some natural or spiritual gifting present for ministry to be effective. Ideally a person would have gifting aligned with their desired ministry involvement. An instrumentalist on a worship team would be helped by some natural musical gifting. A worship leader would be more effective if they truly worshiped, and were about to relate well to a crowd of worshippers. Don’t confuse willingness with gifting. What a person wants to do is not always what they are gifted to do. Mission alignment – Look for leaders who want to take a ministry in the same direction that the church leaders want to take it. Their philosophy should align with the mission of the church. If the church’s mission is to reach lost people, a youth worker who only wants to work with churched youth will not be a fit. Their interests, passion, and gifting should align with the vision and mission of the church. What leaders are you developing right now? Could you immediately write down three names if you had to? Do those people have the previous four qualities? If you are not developing any leaders right now, could you write down three names of prospective leaders? We would challenge you to develop leaders who could team up with you to work on the ministry of your church with you! Part of pastoring a 200church is to raise up leaders who can join you in the work of ministry. If we equip people to lead, we can accomplish so much more with them, than if we tried to do it all alone. Develop leaders to multiply both yourself and your ministry! How are you developing leaders in your 200church? This Friday video contains two points regarding moving people toward ministry... 1. Some people just need to be asked - MAKE THE ASK! 2. Some people are eager to get involved - GET THEM INVOLVED! Have a great weekend! Young pastors learn something new every day. And if they don’t, they need to! There is so much to learn. In the process, they often whine about things in ministry that they don’t like, and that frustrate them. Here are five whines of young pastors that I have observed from others, but mostly know from experience! 1. My board doesn't get it. Often a young leader will come to a board member, or to a board meeting, with a pile of fresh ideas and new initiatives, and it seems like they all just get shot down before having a chance to fly. The pastor leaves dejected, discouraged, angry, and after repeated experiences like this in board meetings, resentful.
For most people, if it isn’t their idea, they are not excited about it. Once you’ve built relationships with your board members, the key is to lead and facilitate change in such a way that the ideas are their ideas, and not just yours. People get behind what they own, and they often easily own what they create, or what they are a part of creating. Before any initiative is introduced, there needs to be communication, vision casting, and relationship all happening ahead of time. Leadership guru John Maxwell says it like this: “You have to have a meeting before the meeting, and if you don’t, you‘ll likely have a meeting after the meeting since the meeting wasn’t very good because you didn’t have the meeting before the meeting.” I would say that you have to have communication and relationship before the meeting! 2. Our people are just focused on themselves. The truth is, everyone is focused on themselves as the default position. We are all selfish, self-centered, and self-absorbed naturally. It takes leaders to help a group of people move their attention and affection to others. Any kind of serious paradigm shift simply takes time, consistent encouragement, and the Holy Spirit. The more you talk about “the people who are not here yet” (as in, not in our church yet) and the more you purposefully direct your budget, resources, facilities, and calendar in the direction of others, the more your church family’s attention will turn to the community and outsiders. Again, don’t forget the spiritual dimension of the Holy Spirit. He loves the lost, and he will help you and your people to love outsiders – don’t forget to pray and talk to Him about this. This week, our podcast focused on creating an inviting atmosphere in our 200churches. We believe that an inviting atmosphere begins with the people who attend your church, and we outlined five steps that you can take at your own 200church that will get you started on cultivating a warm, welcoming environment wherever you are, and no matter the size of your budget. While we start with ourselves as people whose characters, personalities, and practices are what shape the atmosphere of our services, we should also pay close attention to the overall feel of our church facilities. Environments are important and we should take time to consider the message that we're sending to people as they walk in our doors. No matter where a church is located or how many people are attending, we should always be ready for visitors to walk into one of our services. As leaders, we're ultimately responsible for the experience that people have when they attend, and a large part of that experience is related to the environment of our church.
The longer you've been at your church, the more difficult it is to be an accurate barometer of its atmosphere. When I first came to work at the church where I now serve, I had so many ideas on how we could make a change here or there to impact the overall atmosphere in our facilities. As time has passed, however, I inevitably have lost some of my ability to recognize those areas. This happens to all of us, so here are some easy ways to get a feel for what your environment is currently like, and how to move forward.
It may sound trivial, but if our church environments are less than appealing, we reduce the likelihood of attracting and retaining new attenders. Not only that, but we're doing a disservice to the people who are currently attending our church by not working to ensure that the place where they come to worship is always inviting, welcoming, and friendly. Here are a few final questions to ask on environment:
If you had to give bad answers to any of the above questions, what can you do about it? Who is going to address these areas? Are there leaders or volunteers who are gifted and passionate in any of these areas, to whom you could delegate some tasks? You may not need to spend much, if any, money, just a little time and energy removing the old, and straightening, cleaning, polishing, and painting what's left! Before anyone comes to visit us, my wife and I spend some quality time picking up, cleaning up, and working to make sure that someone's visit to our home is as pleasant and enjoyable as possible. Whether it's students from our church or some friends we're having over for the first time, we know that environment is important. We understand that about our homes, but because of familiarity and shared ownership, we miss it at church. It's time we applied the same standards to our churches! When it comes to connecting people in ministries, we should learn a lesson from the Cable TV companies – we should bundle! Instead of overseeing twelve different ministries in your 200church, what if we appointed four volunteers, or board members, or deacons, or elders over three ministries each? Then you would only need to connect with four people instead of twelve. Some people are wired to serve in a ministry, others to lead a ministry, and still others to oversee several ministries in your church. It is very common to have people who serve, and people who lead, but too many 200churches do not bundle. They do not utilize people to oversee several ministries at once.
In our 200church, we have doctors, business owners, teachers and professors, supervisors, small business entrepreneurs, people who are self employed working from home, etc. Even though our church is relatively small, we have many people who can oversee several ministries at once, and I'll bet your church does too! All we have to do is change our thinking, expectations, and our approach. Think Differently Perhaps our thinking is just too small. By nature I am a person who enjoys serving more than I enjoy being served. That's actually a large part of why I became a pastor, to serve others. If I am not careful, my internal make-up will unwittingly work against me in this area of how I think about equipping the Body to serve. I have had to learn to think differently about this. I used to think that people were too busy to serve. Now I know that we make time for the priorities in our lives. I used to think that people came to church to receive ministry, now I know that people are the church, and that they were made for ministry. I used to think that I was the one equipped for ministry, now I know that my main role is to equip believers to serve each other and our community. Expect More I have had to adjust my expectations about believers serving in ministry. I used to expect very little, and that is what I got. I used to expect people would not want to serve, but now I expect that when I match people with ministry according to their gifts and passion, they love to serve and they live to serve. I used to expect that people would not do "the job" as well as I could, but now I'm beginning to realize that some people are better suited for certain responsibilities than I could ever be. Approach Proactively Too often in 200churches, we act reactively when someone quits or steps out of a ministry. We respond to the crisis by grabbing anyone to fill the slot. Instead of trying to push someone into a ministry on the fly, we should concentrate on finding people early and equipping them for ministry. As leaders of 200churches, we should keep the deck stacked, and the bench deep, so that there are always others ready to step in, move up, or slide over to meet a ministry need. Bundle for Survival! This is an area where we are growing in our approach. In fact, the way we think, what we expect, and how we approach - these are all areas where we constantly have to be intentional. These things certainly don't just happen by accident in a 200church! As our churches grow from 25 to 50, 50 to 100, or 100 to 200, we have to develop mid-level leadership between us and our members serving in ministry. Where most 200churches fail is that we don't intentionally delegate two or more ministries under one lay leader's oversight. When we do, it makes our administrative tasks so much more doable and allows us to accomplish more by personally overseeing fewer people. If we have five or ten Sunday School classes, we often will have a director of some sort overseeing them. In the same way, we can bundle similar ministries together and place one director to oversee them all. We have bundled youth and children's ministries; small groups, fellowship, and assimilation; discipleship and pastoral care; and we are currently working on bundling greeters, ushers, and hospitality under one couple who will oversee the recruitment, training, and scheduling of all three. We do have to think differently about letting go of ministry in order to hand it over to capable and passionate members of our church. We can change our expectations and see how people live up to higher levels when we believe in them. And when we think differently and expect different outcomes, our approach naturally changes in positive ways. While "bundling" may not always work for our financial benefit in the world of utilities, it sure can help us navigate and survive a growth spurt in our 200church! |
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