Few things can be more devastating to a church than when the Sr. Pastor does not lead. This can be because the church does not allow him to lead or because he is incapable of or unwilling to lead. Either way, the results are the same. While the ramifications are endless, here are 5 that will cripple a church.
1. There is a lack of vision. One of the Sr. Pastor’s most important responsibilities is to seek, receive, and cast God’s vision for the church. When the Pastor does not effectively present the vision God has for the church, multiple substitute visions develop from the agendas of well meaning members. A vision will usually emerge but it will be blurry, short-sighted, and ineffective. Anytime Satan can get God’s church to settle for less than His perfect will, he has succeeded.
2. The staff is ineffective. If the designated leader does not lead, those meant to be led will compete for the leadership position. A leader will usually emerge from the non-leaders who may or may not be effective. Worst yet, multiple leaders will compete for a following. The result will be confusion, in-fighting, and wasted energy.
3. The church’s priorities constantly change. If there is no leader to set the priorities, the church’s priorities will always reflect the latest best selling book, most popular conference, or the church who won the latest growth award. The result will be that the congregation will be confused and recruiting volunteers and lay leadership will be a major challenge.
4. The Pastor’s critics are fueled. Critics are silenced, not by verbal responses but by effective leadership. In the absence of strong leadership, criticism is given more credence than it deserves and the weak are easily led by the highly critical. Any pastor who vacates the position of leadership opens his church to the influence of those critical of the vision God has put before them.
5. High capacity volunteers disappear or won’t commit. High capacity volunteers demand a strong leader. They simply will not commit to a weak leader. When a high capacity volunteer finds the leader he has committed to has become weak, they simply disappear. They will find a leader to follow who will maximize the return on their volunteer time. They want to be effective in the time they give to any organization and that is impossible without a strong leader.
If you are a Senior Pastor–lead. Lead in the areas that you must and empower your staff to lead in the areas you can entrust to them. Be consistent in your leadership and supportive of your staff as they lead. Never allow your church to be in doubt as to who is leading. Like many other churches, they will perish without a leader!
This week-end we hosted 11 6th grade girls and their leader for a disciple now weekend in our home. Having been in Student Ministry for over 25 years, we love students of all sizes and shapes, even 6th grade girls. As we approached the weekend, the church called to let us know that one of the college leaders would not be able to make it because of staph infection. We would only have one leader.
The leader that would be leading the group in our home was relatively new to student ministry. She was a young lady who had struggled in school. As a matter of fact the doctors had originally told her parents that she might not even be able to attend school. She had had over 18 surgeries, numerous illnesses, and had not spoken until she was 3, and then only thru hours of speech therapy. Life seemed to be a constant struggle and now college was proving to be even harder.
My wife and I wondered if she would be able to handle this, or would we have to step in to ensure the girls had a good experience. Why had the church not assigned someone else to step in and help? The thought of having to handle the discipline of 11 6th grade girls for the weekend was not appealing.
As we began to watch this college student take charge and lead the weekend, our fears had no foundation. I sat outside the room where see was leading the session and realized I would not have much to do this weekend. She had it under control. The girls respected her and responded to her. It was more than OK. It was very good.
What makes this special for us is that we were there when the doctors told us she might never walk or talk and or be able to attend school. My wife, Cindy, took her to hour after hour of therapy and would not believe the doctors when they said “she can’t do this”. She spent 2-3 hours every night of her school life helping her learn the material.
This leader was our 22 year old daughter, Brittany. The doctors forgot to tell her a lot of things that she would not be able to do. She recently told me that she thought God was calling her into student ministry. He will make that calling clear to her, but one thing is clear to us. The ministry she has had in our lives has been amazing!
Vision
“Where there is not vision, the people perish.” Prov. 29:18 KJV
Each “First Impression Team” volunteer is a link in the chain of someone coming to Christ!Excellence. As a leader, you have got to lead your team to catch the vision that God has given your church. Each volunteer must see what they do on weekends as helping to accomplish the vision. Just as the worship pastor and the Sr.pastor have responsibilities in the services they are vital to people coming to Christ, so do your volunteers. You realize this–but do your volunteers? Their understanding and “buy-in” of your vision is essential to seeing it accomplished.
Excellence
“Serve wholeheartedly, as unto the Lord, not men, because you know that the Lord will reward everyone for whatever good he does.” Eph. 6:7-8 NIV
As leaders, we set the pace. If we want our volunteers to serve with excellence, we must serve them with the same excellence. The training we offer to prepare them to serve must be done with excellence. If we cut corners in how we do our presentations, training manuals, and appreciation events, we send the wrong message. We cannot hold them to a high standard without accountability. The fear of loosing a volunteer can’t keep us from calling every team member to serve with excellence. A volunteer who is out of step with the standard that is set for your team can cost your church the opportunity to reach hundreds of guest who simply do not return because they were not properly received.
Attitude
“Your attitude should be the kind that was shown us by Jesus Christ who, though He was God, did not demand and cling to His rights as God, but laid aside His mighty power and Glory, taking on the disguise of a slave and becoming like men.” Phil. 2:5-7 TLB
When people volunteer, we have an incredible opportunity to speak into their lives in many areas. One of those areas is their attitude. Let’s face it: People we deal with at church don’t always have a Christ like attitude. Whether it is a person in the parking lot determined to park where he wants to regardless of the direction of the parkers or a mother with a crying baby who refuses to leave the worship service, we have a great opportunity to work on our attitudes and to teach our volunteers as well. A former pastor of mine taught us, “People act like they act because they are where they are with the Lord.” That positive attitude is so contagious to guest.
Leadership
“…so He got up from His meal, took off His outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around Him.” John 13:4-5 NIV
If we want our lay leaders to be servant leaders, we must lead them by serving them. We reproduce after our own kind. They will catch it quicker from example than they will learn it through the best lecture. Not only will a servant make a good volunteer, your volunteers can penetrate your entire congregation with a servant heart that is contagious.
One of the biggest challenges senior leadership face is the decision to release a staff member. In the past, about the only reason a staff member had to worry about being released by a church was if he or she was caught in immorality. Today, churches do a much better job of evaluating and setting expectations for staff members. However, with all the homework done, it still can be very difficult to release a staff member.
Having the ability to release a staff member really begins when you hire that person. Ministries throughout America are robbed of their full potential because people serving on their staffs are “un-fireable” due to their standings within the congregation. A recent trend has churches hiring staff from within their membership in large numbers. At the time of their hiring, this question should be asked, “What will the ramifications be if this person does not work out and we have to release him or her?” We often hire high capacity volunteers only to find out that they were a much better volunteer than they are a staff member. When a spouse of or a key lay person is released, the result is often the lost of that couple and their service and financial support as well.
Churches will move an ineffective staff member to another position rather than release them. While sometimes we simply have a person in the wrong position, more often than not if a person is ineffective in one position, it will be the same in the next position. Now we have done harm to 2 areas of ministry. We have taken the time and resources to train that person in 2 different areas with nothing to show for it but 2 frustrated department heads. We still have to deal with the situation.
Another factor that we often struggle with is the thought that: “we will loose a lot of members who are loyal to that staff member if we fire them.” The real question is how any people are you loosing every week because of the ineffectiveness of that staff member? The price of people lost can be much higher by letting that staff member stay rather than releasing him or her.
The real fact that we should consider is this: Every day we allow a person to stay in a position where they are not effective, we are hurting them and the ministry that God has put us in. We are keeping the person from finding the place where they can be a “10″. We are also missing out on the opportunity to reach the people God is going to hold us accountable for reaching.
When God says, “Let him go!” We should be efficiently obedient. We should be generous with severance and honest in words. But care more about the lost than the immature saved who might not understand. The stakes have eternal ramifications. Don’t wait!
“The Anatomy of Business Integrity”
The The PCC Network is an organization composed of 12 companies that are committed to serving the local church. While their products, services, and purposes vary greatly, their commitment to excellence is unparalleled. Any business would do well to adopt this organization’s core values. Check out the Network at www.ThePCCNetwork.com.
The PCC Network Core Values
1. Honest Presentations
- Only promise what you can deliver.
- Only promise what you price.
- Only claim what you can document.
- Only share differences, never criticize your competition.
- Realize that what you are really selling is yourself.
- Never, never, never, never, lie.
2. The Church Comes First
- Never forget that you are dealing with the Bride of Christ, and He is very protective of His Bride.
- Before you sell anything, seek to understand the church’s vision.
- Listen to the Pastor’s need: Your need to hear him is more important than your need for him to hear you.
- Only sell the church what you truly believe will enhance their ability to accomplish their vision.
- Not every church you meet is a church you want as a client: Some sales are too expensive for you.
3. The Product Fits
- Sell only products that are equal to or superior to the competition: If products are equal, you be the difference.
- Never stop improving your product: The need never stops growing.
- If your product can’t do it, admit it. You can’t be all things to all people.
- If your product doesn’t fit, walk away.
4. The Service
- If you say you will do it, do it.
- If you see you are not going to get it done, let the church find out from you before you fail to deliver.
- Respond to every client quickly, even if the answer is, “I don’t know yet, but I am still working on it.”
- If you mess up, own up.
- Never throw a lower level staff member under the bus to save yourself.
- Never, never, never, never, lie: Tried to call, left message, out of town, family crisis.
- Weigh your promises carefully. Your integrity is at stake.
There are many reasons churches are small. Every small church is small because of a combination of many of those reasons, but there seems to be one common denominator: Small churches think small. Or I should say, “smaller churches think small”.
There are some churches that are 1,000, 2,000 or even larger that are no larger than they are because they still think small. They have grown in-spite of themselves. That small thinking keeps them from being churches of 5,000 or 10,000. At the same time, there are some churches of 100, 200 or 500 that in all reality should be much smaller, but because they think “big”, they have grown.
Here are 10 examples of how small churches think small in contrast to how large churches think:
Small Church — Large Church
Last minute — Advance planning
Assume everyone knows — Assumes nothing
Makes excuses for failures — Honest evaluations
Staff does everything — Utilizes volunteers
Fears upsetting members — Fears the lost going to hell
Postpones making strategic decisions until everyone is on board — Leadership leads
Refuses to remove ineffective leadership — Does what’s best for ministry
Doesn’t hold staff accountable — High value on accountability
Refuses to call volunteers to high level of commitment — Realizes people respond when adequately challenged & trained
Often talk about quality, seldom about quantity — Knows numbers represent lives
The key for many churches to experience the growth God desires for them the leadership must learn to think “big”. The best way to change your thinking: Be around people who think the way you want to think. You can find a big “thinker” through the www.PCCcoachingnetwork.com. Find yours today!
