In episode 25 Jeff and Jonny are joined by Greg Atkinson, from Carthage, MO.
Greg is a writer, speaker, consultant and campus pastor at Forest Park, a multi-site church based in Joplin, Missouri. Greg has started businesses including the worship resource website WorshipHouse Media, a social media marketing company, and his own consulting firm. As a consultant, Greg has worked with some of the largest and fastest-growing churches across the United States. Greg’s latest writing project is his eBook Church Leadership 101, which has been downloaded by more than 20,000 church leaders around the world.
Greg is a Campus Pastor, so the weekend preaching comes via Forest Park in Joplin and Lead Pastor John Swadley. This gives Greg a unique advantage to pour himself into people, relationships, and leadership at Forest Park Carthage.
When Greg arrived at his church, he faced immediate challenges. He was the third pastor in 3 1/2 years at this multi-site location, and had to quickly earn trust and credibility. Greg shares the specific things he gave his attention to in order to create a turn around at his church. You can find Greg at www.gregatkinson.com, where you can also download his book for free, Church Leadership 101.
No leader wants to admit that their church is selfish, but unfortunately many churches out there are. A selfish church is one that is inward focused, always worrying about internal issues and situations, completely forgetting the surrounding culture and their Biblical mission to be the hands and feet of Jesus into the world. Selfish churches are scary places and most of the time have a toxic environment. Luckily, there's an antidote.
This week on the Podcast we talk about the mission trip that Jonny led to Des Moines last week, and how service projects and mission trips are pivotal to moving a church away from being inward facing to being outward facing. We broke the types of projects that a church can do into two categories that, although different, should be integrated with one another: social and evangelistic.
Social projects or trips are primarily focused on serving a person or community without any explicit evangelism. Evangelistic projects or trips are focused primarily on sharing the good news of Jesus. We at 200churches believe that churches must be focused on BOTH of these missions and we believe that Matthew 25 and 28 point us in that direction. We must make disciples, but can't forget physical needs in the process. So why aren't more churches focused on missions? We believe the answer is that changing a culture feels like too daunting of a task! To go from no service projects or missions trips (aka being a selfish church) to being an outward facing church is a big jump, right? Well, not necessarily. - Those of us in ministry often wonder if what we are doing counts, if it really matters, and if it will yield results in the long run. We try to mitigate our losses by assessing whether the people we are sinking our time into will give us a return on our investment. We want to pour into people who will take what we are giving them and actually do something with it, and not just let it run down the drain. Almost twenty years I stumbled across a ministry practice which has produced more results than anything else I have ever done in ministry. I was able to see lives changed, people grow, and passion flow in very positive directions. That ministry practice can be described in a couple ways and is very common in many churches: missions trip, service project, work project, or very commonly, ministry involvement.
Those many years ago, I led a missions trip from one side of the country to the other. I took eight students and one adult with me, ten of us. We made that same trip for ten years in a row, with more than seventy different students and incredible results. One student went on that trip with us ten years in a row. He is a pastor now. Another went for nine years, she is the pastor’s wife. Another seven years, he is a Christian Camp director. Another is a church elder, four others are youth workers, and on and on I could go. This week we've been looking at a few of the frustrations of leaders and, on Wednesday, on Episode 14, we talked about what we believe is one of the most important ways that leaders can smooth out some of those frustrations: investing in relationships. We looked at eight ways to build relational foundations with those you are leading in your organization. Today we’re going to expand on some of those ideas with practical ways to make those connections. Our first step toward building relationships was spending some one on one (or family on family) time outside of church with your leadership. When you do have this one on one time, we would encourage you to do it not only outside of church, but also outside of your home. There is a tension in asking someone over for dinner—for the host who has to prepare and the guest who has to be on their best behavior—that doesn't always make for the easiest “first date.” Instead, go out to dinner, or find a local sporting/entertainment event that would be fun for everyone involved. Nobody has home-field advantage, and hopefully everybody can drop their guard just a little bit.
Next, we talked about asking for input and actually listening to your leadership team. When you start a conversation, remind yourself that the goal is to keep an open mind and ear to the person you’re speaking with, not just to convince them of an agenda or direction you want to take. That means we don’t enter a conversation with our specific agenda in mind, but instead we really open ourselves up to hear where another person is coming from and their input into a project or situation. When we let our minds wander back to what we want, we stop listening and start strategizing our next move. This takes practice, but will pay dividends in the long run.
This week’s podcast centers on how to work with, and learn from, volunteer leaders in your church. One of our volunteer leaders, Jan Schuiteman, joined us on the podcast today and spoke to 200churches pastors from the perspective of a very invested, very committed volunteer leader. Jan is a successful businessman who has started and developed a number of companies, but his passion is ministry and people.
Jan understands business, ministry, relationships, and the church as all part of one entity – Kingdom life. One of his questions to pastors of 200churches is “what’s the difference between being in vocational ministry and leading a business?” By dividing “lay” ministers from “vocational” ministers, Jan believes we’re creating an unnecessary leadership gap in the church. Jan believes that all leadership is about creating relationships, showing and living grace with people, looking for divine appointments, and making a difference in someone else’s life.
We asked Jan in the podcast to tell our listeners what he has done in the business world and what kind of leadership he has been involved in, and his answer betrays his commitment to God and to others. Jan doesn’t spend time bragging about his success in business, but can talk all day about helping people to serve God where their “eyes light up.” After working with Jan for over nine years now, even Jeff was challenged when we listened to our interview again. Jan truly believes everything he says, and he challenges us all to view life from the vantage points of relationships and grace, not production or profit. I hope you enjoy this special episode of the 200churches Podcast. We know that pastors will be encouraged by Jan as he shares his perspective as a volunteer leader and leadership mentor! This week's theme is working with and learning from our volunteer leaders! What do the people in your church know that you don’t know? The answer – a great deal! What was the last helpful and encouraging thing you learned about someone in your church, or from someone in your church? There is a vast reservoir of knowledge, experience, and wisdom residing in your church family, and you are blessed if you learn from it. When I arrived at my church, I realized there was much I did not know about the church, the community, and frankly, about how best to lead the people toward maturity in Christ. I have enjoyed learning from the volunteer leaders in my church over the years.
Here are some ways that I have learned from the volunteer leaders in my church: Schedule learning lunches. These are mostly informal lunches, usually scheduled in advance, but sometimes on a whim. I use these times to pick the brains of my leaders, share my wonderings and questions, and use them as a sounding board for new ideas. These lunches have been invaluable. Many times my leaders will insist on paying for my lunch, but often, I can’t let them, because I have received so much wisdom and insight from them that I owe them at least the lunch! Take member field trips. I have taken rides on combines and tractors, walked the fields, and rejoiced in some great crops. I’ve flown in their planes and taken tours of their companies. One day I worked fourteen hours with a doctor felling a tree and turning it into firewood. I’ve toured warehouses, sat in offices, had them cut my hair, and eaten in their restaurants and boardrooms. Every time I get out of the office, and spend time with a member or attender of our church, I learn a lot about them and how God is using them in our community. Help them on “property projects.” Many of our members will come to the church property to get some work done that is in their area of expertise. Sometimes I help. Okay, it’s more like watching, but I do help when I can. Those hours spent with a church member are invaluable in getting to know them, their mother’s name, the struggles they’ve been through, and their passion for the church. A couple years ago I even helped one of our guys install some new windows in my house, the parsonage. That was an adventure – but none of the contractors in our church will be hiring me anytime soon. Ask for their input. When there is a big decision on the table, maybe it’s time to dismount a dead horse, or kill an existing program, or start a new one – it’s always good to get input from the key volunteer leaders who will be affected by the decision. Here is where you can learn what your people really think. Some pastors are afraid of this, but I think it is absolutely critical to do this. Hey, you’re going to find out what they think anyway sooner or later, why not have the learning on your terms? Allow them to evaluate. Finally, want to learn from your leaders? Give them an evaluation ahead of time so that they can really tell you what they think about a particular ministry, message, or event. What your people think is likely what many visitors will think. Want input on your Sunday sermon, your handling of the board meeting, or the new staff you’ve just hired? Toss them an evaluation form, put your batting helmet on – then get ready to learn! On the 200churches Podcast this week we are going to hear from one of our volunteer leaders, who happens to run several companies in the spirit of Kingdom business. He’s been a leader in our church for over thirty years. I hope you enjoy the discussion! Learn from your volunteer leaders – they know too much to let them keep it to themselves! |
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