Risks and Prevailing Faith
Effective churches, according to Dale Galloway, are led by pastors and lay leaders who possess prevailing faith that makes them risk great things for God. Here are Dr. Galloway’s descriptions of those pastors:
1. The Faith Prevailing Pastor (TFPP) keeps focused on Jesus. “In partnership with Jesus I become so much more than I could be by my own efforts” (10). Our work always has a spiritual dimension that the Lord inspires and energizes.
2. TFPP is a visionary. “Authentic visionary leaders communicate a picture of a preferred future people can see, believe, and support” (11). They see possibilities and see how to accomplish them.
3. TFPP is a pioneer. “Pioneers discover God is often ready to do through them what they were afraid to try by themselves” (13).
4. TFPP is an entrepreneur. “The entrepreneur leader always wants to know why something can’t be done and he/she usually refuses to accept the reasons given” (15).
5. TFPP gathers people. “You have to be consumed from early morning until late at night with a passion to reach new people and a commitment to strengthen the people of God” (15).
6. TFPP is willing to grow. “Before I could lead the church deeper and further in the work of God, I had to go deeper in my own spiritual commitments, to develop new skills, and to release more authority to others” (17).
7. TFPP is a team builder. “If God has given you a vision for the church you serve, you cannot achieve it alone or else the dream is not big enough” (20). Delegation, shared ownership, recruitment, trust, and who gets the credit are all part of team building.
8. TFPP finds ways to be an overcomer. “In every adversity look for the hidden opportunity” (21). Hindrances are always present in any forward move; they must be torn down or circumvented for progress to take place.
9. TFPP endures. “By God’s standards, every starter who endures is a winner (See Hebrews 11 & 12)” (23). Much progress in ministry depends on perseverance and tenacity.
From Taking Risks in Ministry by Dale Galloway and Beeson Institute Colleagues, available through Nazarene Publishing House. Numbers refer to book pages and TFPP is an abbreviation for the faith prevailing pastor.
Five Ways to Improve Your Next Board Meeting
1) Start with focused devotions—Since pastors often start board meetings with devotions, how is this different? The new part is to use the devotional period to help lay leaders understand what the Bible says about leadership and how it applies to your work together. Acts 6, the election of the first church board, is a good place to start, or try Exodus 18 as a pattern for delegation and shared leadership.
2) Personal prayer for board members—Either at the beginning of the session, during the focused devotional period, or at the end of the board meeting, try praying for each board member by name. One of the most powerful things a pastor can do for anyone is to pray for them in their presence by name. This strategy accomplishes two important things in a church board: (1) it keeps the board focused on ministry, and (2) it keeps you reminded that you are first and foremost pastor of all members of decision groups.
3) Establish a policy of recording action motions—A regular motion might read, “A motion was made and seconded that the church buy a new lawn mower.” An action motion might read, “The motion was made by Tricia Townsend and seconded by Mitch Grayson with a vote of 10 yes and 1 no that the church purchase a new lawn mower at a cost not to exceed $250 and that Joe Taylor be given full authority to make this purchase between now and the next board meeting, purchase to be made at Sears if possible.” Notice the difference. The second motion is stronger because it states who is to purchase the lawn mower, how much is to be spent, when and where it is to be purchased. And by recording the number of votes, it shows the strength of the motion.
4) Try to avoid “no” votes—This can often be done by the chairperson giving everyone opportunity to speak to the issue before a motion is framed. After a bit of informal discussion it is usually clear how most people will vote. Sometimes it helps to give freedom of expression by saying before the motion is made, “We haven’t heard from Ken or Jeff-maybe they would like to share their perspective on the issue.” The morale of any decision group is weakened when too many votes are negative. Then, too, it is difficult to implement decisions with a 30-40% no vote. Better to work for greater agreement between meetings and vote in the next monthly session of the decision group.
5) Lead as a Christian—Evaluate your spiritual leadership in official meetings and your attitudes about board relationships outside the board meetings. Identify one area where you would like to grow as a Christian leader and then go to work on it. Share at whatever level you feel comfortable. Think of the possibilities of the whole board stretching to be more like Christ as a result of following the pastor’s lead.