A Church Leadership Idea

In the Acts 16:5 Initiative, we often speak about developing church leaders.  One simple way we develop leaders in the church I serve is through a one-hour, monthly meeting we call, “Council.”  On the first Tuesday of every month our elders, deacons, ministry team leaders, and staff gather in the same room.  The Council agenda each month has two parts.

For the first 30 minutes, we talk about leadership.  The discussion may come from a book excerpt, a magazine piece I give them, a You Tube video I show them, or a leadership-related question I pose to them.  For 30 minutes we talk about leadership as it applies to our role as leaders in our congregation. 

These conversations are always engaging and fruitful. 

For the second 30 minutes, I work through a list of current church topics I want our leaders to know about or about which I want to receive their feedback.  This list might include everything from a review of the Christmas Eve services; to information about an upcoming sermon series; a monthly update on youth ministry; or a reminder to get their annual team goals submitted by the end of the month.  In other words, it’s a time to keep us all on the “same page” of church life.

Just this month, I included a new piece to our Council meeting.  Last Tuesday, with about ten minutes left in the hour-long meeting, I directed them to the back page of the agenda on which I had printed about 25 church-related items for prayer.  I then asked them to spread out in the room in groups of two or three and spend the final few minutes in prayer for our congregation using the listed topics as a guide.  It was moving to participate in and listen to the many prayers of our leaders being lifted up in those final minutes of Council. 

So moving, we’ll do it again next month!

By the way, I encourage our ministry teams to meet the same night as Council.  So, Council meets from 7-8 pm, and then, ministry teams meet from 8-9 pm.  In this model, then, our leaders come out one night for two meetings.  They (and I!) appreciate this more efficient use of time.  Our monthly meeting schedule also allows me to easily touch-in with all of our teams on a regular basis.  I rotate from team meeting to team meeting from 8-9 pm offering support and input.

A Council meeting night like I just described will take some time to introduce and become part of the fabric of church life.  But after many years of practicing this simple monthly pattern of meeting with our leaders, it has become the best ongoing opportunity I have to encourage their growth in church leadership.   

With joy,

Steve Ebling

Open Heart Open Door

Building One Another - Vol. 10, No. 28
Dear Friend, December is often a time of more social gatherings in the life of the church and in our worlds of work, local neighborhoods, friends, and families. Our normal tendency is to gravitate to those we know and to include those with whom we are familiar. Indeed much of the joy of the season is gathering with those we know and love. At the same time, this is an ideal time to open our circles a little. Thus we enjoy the dear one and include the new one.  The open heart leads to the open door. As a matter of fact, this is often the practical key to including people who are newer to us because that very newness may make us a little uncomfortable in reaching out to them. Invite those we don’t know so well to join us with those we do know well. Remember the two friends on the road to Emmaus? “But they urged him strongly, saying, ‘Stay with us, because it is almost evening and the day is now nearly over.’ So he went in to stay with them.” Luke 24:29* They had no idea it was Jesus, the sovereign Lord of the universe.  Secure in their relationship, the two friends who knew each other well invited the one they didn’t know so well. It only changed their lives.
With joy - E. Stanley Ott Copyright 2011 E. Stanley Ott *Scripture from the NRSV
To view archived issues and to subscribe:  www.buildingoneanother.org

Recommendations for Church Transformation

The 90 Days of Prayer adventure really works in a small church. We began in our 36 member church on January 30. 13 members participated from age 13-90. Instead of the prayer trios meeting by themselves each week, we met as a group during the Sunday School hour and the result was been heartwarming. Everyone participated-from age 13 to 90 all speaking and praying together. One 18 year old even began bringing his friend. We took time at the conclusion for the trios to meet for a few minutes to share prayer concerns and to pray together. What an amazing experience, and it is so easy to get started and to do. God really works with us through this study. Praise him!  Judy Mayer,  CLP Washington Presbytery

Is your congregation looking ahead to 2012?

What a wonderful time to begin a transformation experience of prayer.  Please see Vital Churches Resources page for more details.

Drawing People to Your Church and Ministry

In his book, Sticky Church, Pastor Larry Osborne (Zondervan, 2008) says that the best way to “Velcro” people to your church is to “Velcro” them to the two things they need most to grow as disciples:  the Bible and other Christians.  We have found VCI’s Pray Daily devotional booklet to be a simple yet significant way to Velcro people to the Word of God and to each other.  Which has the added bonus of Velcro-ing them to our church’s mission and ministry.

It’s simple:  groups of three people commit to the 90-day adventure in prayer, reading a short passage of Scripture each day, reflecting on some aspect of their life in the light of that passage, and then lifting to God whatever is on their heart that day.  Each day’s reading, reflection, and prayer can be completed in about 15 minutes, but can fill as much time as one wishes to devote.  Sounds like any other devotional book we might recommend, right?  But here’s the difference:  once a week, the triads commit to meeting face-to-face for one hour.  In that hour they:

·       share which was the most meaningful Scripture from that week’s readings and why

·       share one blessing they experienced that week and one prayer request; and

·       have the opportunity to pray aloud for each other, though no one is required to pray out loud.

It is these face-to-face meetings that have been so significant.  Here are just a few comments I’ve received from our folks: 

“I have found the weekly meetings to be so special as I get to know my partners a little bit better and we get to pray for one another.  When one tells you that they almost didn’t come the week before because they were feeling down and then come back and tell you that after that get-together their whole week fell into place and they feel so much better it makes it so worthwhile.  It’s amazing how many of the Scriptures are just what you need on a particular day!”

“Pray Daily has been good for me, as I am doing a much better job at being disciplined.  It probably would not have happened otherwise.  Plus, it is wonderful getting to know your partners better and having them specifically pray with and for you.  All in all, it is terrific!”

“This 90 day adventure has been most meaningful because of the sharing and praying with each other and discussing the scripture passages as they relate to our relationship with God and one another. We also act as accountability partners in our faith journey as a result of being together each week.”

We used Pray Daily coming out of our annual Leadership Retreat with our elders, deacons, and staff.  We just had people count off by threes and put them together in groups. The only rule was that they must not be related to each other or already in another face-to-face group, like a LIFE Group or ministry team.  Some of the groups include people who might never interact with each other on this level in any other way in our church.  What a simple way to get people reading and reflecting on Scripture, discussing it with one another, and praying with and for each other.  This 90-day adventure in prayer engages our folks in the principles of Witness-Prayer-Care-Word and With-Me.  Then each week, they Send one another into their families, workplaces, and neighborhoods with prayer and blessing.  Simple, but oh so catalytic for spiritual growth.

In Christ, 

Kathi Busch

God's Vision: Seeing What He Is Doing in Our Midst

I often return to the first shift concerning vision and expectation that Stan Ott talks about in the Acts 16:5 Initiative and in his book, Twelve Dynamic Shifts for Transforming Your Church.  The reason I keep going back is because I need to be reminded to “see” what God is doing in our midst.  In my personal experience, and in the experience of many I interact with across the denomination, what we imagine in our mind’s eye is sometimes not a very encouraging picture.  The first time Dr. Ott talked about having this kind of vision, I am embarrassed to say that it was like a light bulb that lit up in my mind.  Why hadn’t I thought of asking God for a vision?  Why hadn’t I thought of praying for a vision?  And, much worse, why didn’t I have much of a vision at all?

“How you picture that future has a great deal to do with what will happen by God’s grace.  Imagine your church as a vibrant, transformational fellowship that pulses with life and energy.  How would it look?  How would it feel?” (Ott 25).

How would your church look?  Where does God take your imagination as you dream, pray, and envision the liveliness of your community of faith? 

Personally, as I began to dream about the church where I serve, I started seeing people interacting with energy and with smiles on their faces.  I began to see people who were studying the word of God and were moved by their love of Christ to share it with people in their lives.  The picture kept coming to my mind of people being the hands and feet of Christ as they left our doors, spreading joy out into the community.  A while back, a mother and daughter I had known in a previous church came to visit.  After the service they commented on how lively our congregation is.  Could it be that God was fulfilling the vision, and it took someone from outside to help me see it?

The Dr. Ott’s second question above is equally important.  How would your church feel in a transformational situation?  Answering this question well might take real imagination.  How do the hands we clasp during the passing of the peace feel?  How hard or soft is the chair or pew?  Is the fabric covering it smooth?  Who is sitting next to you?  What does the music “feel” like?  Does it wash over the congregation with notes of warmth and harmony? Is the music lively and energy generating?  Is it like listening to angels singing?  Do you find yourself thanking God when the music elevates like a prayer?    What words of inspiration and faith does the preacher say that lifts your hope to a higher plane?  How do those words “feel”?  What does holding the elements in communion feel like?  Is the bread soft or like a cracker?  Is it wine or grape juice?  How do they taste?    One could walk through every element in the life of the congregation and imagine what it feels like.  If you do this exercise and what you find is not very uplifting, perhaps that is the very place your prayer life and God’s vision need to focus.  Can you imagine it even if it is not happening right now?

I invite you to form a prayer team or ask another person to join you in this work of imagination.  Working through you, God has the ability to do powerful things.  “Remember, ministry begins as an act of faith in God”  (Ott 27).  And may it be so!

In Christ,


Anne Clifton Hebert

A Transformational Defining Vision, Part Three

In Part One of this series we looked at how your personally utilize your congregation's Defining Vision.  Part Two examined how ministry teams might better use their Defining Vision.

In this third installment concerning the vision of glorifying God, making disciples, and meeting human need, you are invited to reflect on the questions from a big-picture view of your congregation.  One overall question to ask is: Do you believe your congregation generally knows what the vision is?  Could most of the participants in your community of faith speak the words by heart?  From the viewpoint of standing on a balcony looking at your congregation as a whole, how much of your life together is driven by this vision?  Here are questions divided into the parts of the statement:

In Your Congregation:

            1)  How are you doing as a congregation in glorifying God?  If Christians don’t

                        only exist for themselves in a church, who does your church need to be

                        thinking about in terms of worship?  Who is not in worship that you are

                        called to reach?  Does your church need to offer something in the area of

                        worship that you do not offer at this time?  And in terms of your current

                        worship services, are they planned and executed as well as they could be? 

                        Could they be improved?

            2)  How are you doing as a congregation in making disciples?  Who do you

                        know who is new to faith in Christ and how is the church helping them in

                        their faith journey?  What is your congregation’s vision of what mature

                        disciples ought to look like?  Are you being called to be more intentional

                        about helping people get there? 

            3)  How does your congregation meet human need?  Do you sufficiently help the

                        community of faith to know they are “sent” to do Christ’s work and mission

                        in the world?  Are there fewer ways that you could serve in order to be more

                        effective?  Who asks the hard questions in your congregation about what

                        God wants your church to be doing and to not to be doing in mission? 

                        What service to others for Christ brings your congregation great joy?

Perhaps you might have your Acts 16:5 Team or your session focus on some of these questions this fall.  As I said in the first blog entry of the series, vital and energized people create vital and energized churches!  That is what God has called us to be and d0.  I hope the focus on your vision will help your congregation become more focused in your life together and in your work for Christ.

In Christ,

Anne Clifton Hebert

A Transformational Defining Vision, Part One

A few years ago, the church where I serve adopted our church vision: Worship God, Prepare Disciples, Serve the World.  It is similar to the Acts 16:5 Initiative focus of glorifying God, making disciples, and meeting human need.  Since most of us in churches are starting a new program year, I thought it would be helpful to revisit the vision and see how it is playing out in three areas: our personal lives, our ministry teams/groups, and in our congregations.  In three blog entries, I’m going to ask a series of questions that I invite you to pray about and to act upon from the standpoint of where your congregation is.  In this article, I invite you to reflect on these questions in regard to your personal life.

In Personal Lives:

            1) Are you taking time to glorify God in your own life?  Are you attending worship

                        services on a regular basis?  Are you taking time to worship God daily?

                        Are you reading the Bible and spending time with God?  Are you inviting

                        others to worship with you or to attend a worship service with you?   What

                        worship service in the last six months really got your heart pumping in

                        God’s holy presence?

            2) In what part of your life are you being prepared as a disciple?  Are you in a small

                        group, a study group and/or a church school class?  Are you not only reading the

                        Bible but also studying it?  With what portion of your life are you devoting

                        and developing mature faith in Jesus Christ?  Who are you inviting to walk

                        with you in discipleship?  Who are you discipling in the Christian walk?

            3)  How are you meeting human need?   How do you offer service in Christ’s name to

                        others?  When is the last time you participated in a service ministry of the

                        church or in a community organization?  To what form of mission is God

                        nudging you to pursue?

It might be overwhelming to read all these questions.  You may have answers to some of them and not to others.  I encourage you to pray about these questions and, then, to write answers to them in a journal or record them in the notes section of your smart phone.  Later you can go back and see what movement you have made, with God’s help.  Perhaps the vision doesn’t fit with where you are in your personal life.  You may want to form your own vision.  Whatever your vision is, God gives all of us opportunities to glorify God, make disciples. and meet human need every day.  It’s a vision that offers us a great adventure in faith. 

Vital and energized people create vital and energized churches!  That is what God has called us to be and d0.  May we reflect our love of God in the way we personally live and fulfill God’s vision.

In Christ,

Anne Clifton Hebert

Fluidity

Change theorist Kurt Lewin used to talk about the necessity of “unfreezing” before change could happen. Think of an ice cube whose shape changes only when it is first melted. Whether speaking of an organization or an individual such an unfreezing is the loosening of attitudes and approaches that frees one to be open to new ideas. 

W. Edwards Deming who helped post-World War II Japan’s business community get back on its feet was known to say, “The present system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets!”  In other words, your congregation is perfectly designed right now for its level of actual fruitfulness in transforming lives as it grows disciples and meets human need and the degree to which it is fruitfully engaged in missional endeavor in its community.

A challenge for transformational ministry today is leading such unfreezing moments in congregational activities, which of course presupposes unfreezing moments in the lives of their leaders and their “opinion makers.”

Some practices that may be used to increase the fluidity and flexibility of those you lead include the following.

·      Use common sense when enabling change and winning commitment.  Always communicate that you respect the people you are leading.

·      Repeat the vision (the what, why, and who) constantly – over and over especially in interpersonal conversations.

·      Show enthusiasm! Passion!

·      Explain the "why's" over and over – and over and over and over.

·      Face the anxiety the people have about the change without being threatened by it.  Their anxiety does not mean either you or they are inadequate.

·      Hi-change requires "hi-touch" (personal presence, I hear you, I am with you).

·      Be open to change yourself.

·      Bring in an outside voice to help inspire the vision you want to impart.

·      Supply books and other literature sharing the vision you have.

·      Know when to push ahead and when to draw back.  Be wise.

·      Don't argue.  Change is often viewed as loss.  We don't argue with grieving people.  We show presence and love them neither trivializing their grief nor making light of it.

Some question to consider:

How “fluid” are you – how open to new ideas and approaches?

How have you sought to “unfreeze” people in the past? What has or has not been effective?

What is a situation that you are currently involved in where a new fluidity would make transformation possible? How will you proceed?

With Joy - E. Stanley Ott