I wanted to share a few key insights from the book that may change how I approach leading this congregation through the next 18-24 months:
- there are two wildcards at play in the world today that make it difficult for churches to be successful while maintaining a status quo operational strategy: the cultural wildcard and the financial wildcard
- strategic dreaming trumps strategic planning during hard times
- there are ministries that should be cut during tough times (office personnel, missions, youth, non-essential ministries, money in the bank)
- there are ministries that should be allocated more financial resources during tough times (worship, children, evangelism, marketing, continuing ed, volunteer ministries, small groups, spiritual formation)
- hard times are the times to return to the basics - "sheep have a habit of getting so involved in feeding themselves that they munch along for hours without ever looking up to see where they are....Many Christians do the same. We munch our way so far from our roots that we don't realize how far we have removed ourselves from what we once were and what once made us great. Our greatness is only a memory." (pg 18)
- "Without Jesus Christ, our congregations are nothing more than clubs on the lookout for just enough new dues-paying members to support their programs and keep their buildings open....Sadly, far too many churches actually organize themselves around this loss of passion for Jesus. Instead of organizing to spread the Gospel, they organize to run the institution." (pg 21)
- cancel all the committee meetings you can for the next six months and see what happens
- "If you have any money saved up for a raining day, let us remind you lest you hadn't noticed. It's raining." (pg 29)
- in hard times, churches need to be led with quick and decisive action, flexibility, intuition, and self-regulation
- all of this (reading the book, making strategic budget cuts, etc.) is worthless if there is unresolved conflict within the church
I have already given copies of this book to our Finance Chair, our Business Administrator, and our Director of Discipleship. If you would like a copy of this book, email me and I'll get it to you.
2 comments:
Now that your honeymoon with the church is over, it's obviously time to start moving forward in a positive direction. The ideas you presented will all have resistance. I know you're expecting that. I can't imagine what our church would do without committee meetings. We do use them as a crutch. Going to a meeting at church does not replace the ministry of the church, but many feel they are fulfilling the ministry by being on a committee. Do many see it as the end result or do they see it as the beginning of the work?
Liz,
Thanks for announcing that the honeymoon is over.
I think that having a meeting just to have a meeting is silly and a waste of time - especially when no new ground is covered during said meeting.
Let me ask this: when was the last time someone became a Christian at a committee meeting?
And to answer your question: Those who feel that serving on a committee is "fulfilling the ministry of the church" have a skewed view of what the church should be about. Meetings are one place where the troops can gather for their orders, but it is not the place where the battle happens - that happens outside our walls.
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