Volume 1, Number 17
IN THIS ISSUE
¯ Admit It—Change Is Scary!
¯ Are You Sure You Are Done?—Milo Arnold
¯ Building Ministry Teams
¯ Strategies for Replicating Jesus’ Team-Building Model
Rich advent preaching resources prepared for Nazarene ministers can be found in
Preacher's Magazine and online at www.preachersmagazine.org.
ADMIT IT—CHANGE IS SCARY!
I remember the experience well, like it was yesterday. As pastor of my sweetheart church at Pompano Beach, Florida, I was hosting our guest speaker. He was a veteran churchman, well known and loved by thousands. We were in the car.
At a quiet lapse in our conversation, my friend remarked without any apparent context or connection, “You know, he’s an apostle of change without purpose.”
“Who are we talking about?” I asked.
He replied, “You know, we’re talking about Pastor Smith (not his name) out in the West.”
For days afterward I wondered if my trusted friend was speaking in generalities or if he wanted me to slow down change in the church I served. His observation forced me to remember a bedrock principle—do not make change unless it accomplishes something significant. If we believe change is necessary, how can we help people to embrace it wholeheartedly?
1. Progress requires change. Think about every advance you have ever experienced. Almost immediately, it becomes apparent that every small step of progress required someone to change, and perhaps change a lot.
2. Fear is different than opposition. Perhaps we need to be more sensitive to those who resist change. When they oppose change, it may not be because they are cranky, disloyal, selfish, or stingy. They may simply be terrorized. Change is not always progress, but no progress is possible without change.
3. Respect timing. Some changes can only occur within a narrow window of opportunity. A proposal that was rejected five years ago may work well today. Sometimes conditions, attitudes, or even personnel have changed since the idea was previously suggested.
4. Reasons for change must be carefully communicated. With little forethought and no explanation, a pastor I know removed the pulpit, publicly ridiculed hymnals, replaced the organ with a guitar, and received the offering at the door as people left. When he met tough resistance, he felt discouraged and wounded. Is it any wonder? He unnecessarily unnerved his congregation, and they forced his resignation.
5. Try refurbishing existing ministries. Before attempting radical surgery, try infusing new meaning and creative energy into existing ministries to make them more effective. Variety, resourcefulness, and originality are often accepted enthusiastically when applied to existing ministries.
6. Everyone sometimes resists change. Conflict arises not only when pastors change things. We pastors can be just as resistant to the changes suggested by our members. A forward-looking woman in her 80s was overheard to say at a seminar on change, “Our pastor loves change, just as long as he thinks it up.”
7. Methods matter. It is logical and even necessary that ministry methods should change from year to year and from generation to generation. But be warned: Churches divide more often over methods than over doctrine. Since there are many ways to accomplish most goals, a leader should try to be flexible regarding methodology, while keeping absolutely resolute concerning mission and message.
8. Essence must be retained. Since saving the lost and making disciples of them are equal parts of Christ’s Great Commission, these two tasks must be preserved and regularly refreshed. The New Testament requires worship, preaching, intercessory prayer, and fellowship. These components of a church’s ministry must be taken seriously and continually renewed.
As the times change, the Church must change strategies to communicate the unchanging good news about Christ. Though she probably did not have the Church in mind, Catherine the Great (A.D. 1729-96) understood our dilemma about change when she said, “A great wind [of change] is blowing, and that either gives you imagination or a headache.” It is so easy to walk right past great opportunities because they would require someone to change, maybe us.
Adapted from They Call Me Pastor, pp.93-97.
BUILDING MINISTRY TEAMS
Building Teams in Ministry (Dale Galloway) is an excellent book designed to make your church more effective, regardless of your size. Consider these ways to encourage lay ministry in your church:
Communicate vision. Keep sharing your vision with everyone who will listen, and keep emphasizing how many people are needed and wanted to make it happen.
Emphasize spiritual gifts. The Creator gave every person some ministry gift. The church and her leaders must help every congregant discover their gifts and learn how to use them.
Share satisfactions. Serving people are happy people. “(People) can’t row and rock the boat at the same time.”
Cultivate esteem from ministry. Just as your self-worth increases as you do ministry, similar positive feelings are experienced by lay ministers as well.
Require professional staff to be recruiters. No church has enough resources to hire people to do all the ministry needed. Each staff member’s number-one job priority should be recruiting, motivating, equipping, and involving laypeople.
Be realistic about your pastoral care span. If your pastoral care span is more than 10 people, you have limited your ability to lead your church. Pastoral care, a biblical expectation and a human need, cannot be abandoned. But pastoral care can be shared effectively with laity.
Model ministry while teaching ministry. Effective lay ministry instruction is not just telling people, but showing them. The model/mentoring approach is . . . an effective way to learn.
Intentionally develop lay ministry. No person is likely even to consider becoming involved unless the pastor gets the vision, shares the potential, and ties the whole effort to what Scripture teaches about service.
ADVICE FROM AN ESTEEMED MENTOR
Are You Sure You Are Done in This Assignment?
Occasionally a minister is tempted to believe he/she has pushed back the boundaries of the parish he/she serves. The idea is that not much more can be done considering the limitations of this community. The pastor may think all the people who are reachable by the church he/she serves have already been reached.
It may be true that some communities do not offer a very large field so far as the number of persons within reach are concerned; but let no pastor think the work is done as long as there is one person who does not know the Lord. . . . Our horizons are not bound merely by the number of people in the community but by the growth potential in each person. Even if there were only five persons in an area and the minister had led them all to God, he/she could still spend a lifetime helping them become more Godlike. . . .
Our task is always being opened by the Lord to new exposures by the changing needs of our work, the changing experiences of our people, and new doors opened by new days.
—Milo L. Arnold
STRATEGIES FOR REPLICATING JESUS’ TEAM-BUILDING MODEL
In the local church and especially among decision makers, most issues revolve around human relationships. Teaching His disciples to love each other was a major component of Jesus’ training plan for them. We must teach our leaders to love one another, so they will be vested in each other’s successes. Love overlooks faults and failures. Make it a priority to shape your decision group into a loving fellowship.
Here are a few more ideas for creating teams among your lay leadership:
· Annual leadership development retreat. Place a leadership development retreat on your church calendar annually. Find a time when the church schedule is light, then invite your board, along with leadership prospects, to attend the retreat. Discuss leadership philosophy, tools for recruiting, and the care of volunteers. Instill your vision in your leaders. Pray together.
· Put lay leadership on the agenda. A short teaching time, on the agenda of every board meeting, could focus on some aspect of lay leadership development. If you do it routinely, this practice will keep your mind focused on leadership development, and will incrementally increase the skill of your leaders.
· Preach lay leadership development. Refer to the importance of developing gifts frequently. Paint a biblically accurate picture of the importance of leadership in the church. Talk about commitment to leadership tasks as care of the flock.
· Give books away. Finding the right books to read is vitally important. Your leaders are less likely than you to take the time to sort through lots of leadership books to find the ones that will help them. Do the task for them. Give them what you think will help, along with suggestions for other books that might encourage.
· Share personal testimonies. Who were the lay leaders who influenced and shaped you? Tell their stories. Who among lay leaders is inspiring you today? Tell those stories, as well. Demonstrate the influence and significance of lay leadership. It will inspire your leaders and help them to grasp how important their ministries really are.
—DEW/NBW
Dr. Wynkoop was one of a kind—theologian, teacher, affirmer, preacher, and waymaker for women clergy. Some students affectionately called her Saint Mildred because she modeled the theology of love.
Marching Orders from Dr. Mildred:
Our heritage does not tie us to the past, but harnesses us to a dynamic that propels us into the demands of the future faster than we are often prepared to go. If we follow Jesus, who is “the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever” (Heb. 13:8), we will have to put on seven-league boots and use them. Jesus is not behind us; He is a long way ahead of us.
We pray God will give us the desire and the stamina to marathon for Him. Run the race! Fight the fight!
Neil and Dan
Developed and edited by Dan Whitney and Neil Wiseman.
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