Consolidation of Preachers

Posted on April 28, 2015 Written by

As a strategic thinker, I’ve got a prediction about a specific aspect of church life that will happen in the next 15-20 years. First, some context: consolidation of business is a historical reality in the US. We used to have scores of auto manufacturers and today there are a handful of US-owned car makers. The same is true of phone companies, office supply stores, department stores, and so on. For one reason or another, businesses merge till there are only a few. Call it survival of the fittest, or best, or biggest.

 

I predict some consolidation in churches. Technology allows me to watch via podcasts preachers from around the US. Technology allows my multisite church to have one preacher whose message is viewed in a variety of unique campuses. My prediction is that small and mid-sized churches will select one or more excellent preachers to deliver the weekly message while their on-site pastor focuses on pastoral duties. We are entering an age when there will be fewer but more excellent preachers and they will be on screens in worship venues.

 

Currently there are several outstanding preachers (Andy Stanley, Perry Noble, Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, etc., etc.) whose messages are regularly above your average sermon. They also have large local churches but also national and international followings and even church presences around the world. These are global preachers who, through technology, can preach almost anywhere in the world.

 

A well-developed and delivered sermon requires about 15-20 hours of work. That is time that the pastor of a church cannot spend on other requirements of his or her job. What if churches allowed their pastor to preach less and focus more on being a pastor. The pastor would still preach periodically during the year so the church hears the vision and direction of the church.

 

But most of the year, sermons will be delivered on-screen by a selection of outstanding sermon-givers. That allows pastors & churches to focus on worshipping, caring, mission-doing, teaching, and fellowshipping (the main functions of the church). This gives the pastor 15-20 hours a week to meet people, train leaders, and give direction to the church. This helps the pastor have more family time and less weekly pressure “to produce.”

 

I know there will always be pastors who want to preach and that is fine – there will always be churches who want a “live preacher.” However, technology has the capability of letting churches hear more excellent preachers and help local pastors focus on doing what only they can do – be the local pastor.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

Filed Under: budget, church staff, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , ,

Top Three

Posted on April 21, 2015 Written by

Someone asked me, “What are the top three deficiencies that I see in churches today?” It is a great question and it took me a while to give a well-reasoned answer. Here is what I came up with from my own experience.

  1. Transparency
    • From finances to decisions and even the decision-making process, be as open as possible without breaking confidences. Too many churches circumvent the official processes with backroom deals. This leads to a loss of confidence by members and staff of the church leadership and even the future direction of the church.
    • Share as much info as you can with as many people as possible in appropriate ways. I’m not saying that everyone needs to be involved in voting on everything, but they should be informed about how things happen in their church.
  2. Compliance
    • For a long time churches have been able to not obey tax and other laws to which churches are subject. Some of this is done from ignorance and some from willfulness. Churches must comply with the tax laws, building codes, their own personnel manuals, insurance regulations, and other legal regulations.
    • To not comply means churches are flaunting the law and thus giving a bad witness to their community. They are implicitly saying we are either ignorant of the law or we’re above it. Both are detrimental.
  3. Strategy
    • Too many churches and pastors are simply trying to survive for the next few years. I challenge churches and their leaders to think 5-10 years out. The church is going to change dramatically in the next few years even as society itself changes.
    • For instance:
      • The first iPhone was released in June 2007 and the world has changed in incredible ways due to that invention. How is your church leveraging technology in its future plans?
      • Within the next 10-15 years, the pre-WWII generations will diminish and the Boomers will retire forcing churches to rely on Generations X, Y, & Z. What is your church doing to develop these next gen leaders for their inevitable role?

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: leadership, strategy Tagged: ,

Personal Coaching-How (part 2 of 2)

Posted on April 14, 2015 Written by

Church work is harder than it has been in previous years and decades. I don’t want to get the reasons in this post but I do want to offer some advice to everyone in a leadership position at a church (on staff or a lay person). Everyone in church work needs a coach. Everyone means all ministers and church program directors. Learn from other people, carry out what they say if it looks possible in your situation, be willing to fail, and adapt quickly to “the new” (which seems a daily occurrence).

 

  1. Get a coach or a support group
    1. Find someone who has gone down the same path that you are on and who is willing to walk with you. That person will ensure that you avoid the pitfalls (and tell you about the experiences she or he had in that pitfall), see the rewards, and push you farther down the road.
  2. Meet monthly (at least)
    1. Monthly meetings give you time between meetings to implement what you discussed. Make these meetings a priority on your calendar and help your church understand how these meetings help you and the church.
  3. Talk strategically, not trivially
    1. Strategic items help you and the church do things more efficiently, more effectively, and more excellently. Be strategic in your conversations and actions. Think long-term about what you plan and need to. Be intentional about how you’re going to carry out these actions.

 

The flip side of this is that you must also be a coach to someone. You have valuable experience and knowledge which you need to use to help someone else. If you do not use your own expertise, then you are robbing someone else of your help. In short, make learning a life-long opportunity and routine AND also be a life-long teacher yourself.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church staff, leadership, strategy Tagged: , ,

Personal Coaching-Why (part 1 of 2)

Posted on April 7, 2015 Written by

As I talk with seasoned pastors and leaders, almost all of them tell me it is increasingly harder to be a pastor due to the variety of demands. They need to know more, do more, and be more in the church while being an excellent spouse, parent, and civic leader. Pastors need someone to help them and a coach or mentor can help. A coach need not be a paid counselor; a coach can be something as simple as a good friend – but the critical issue is complete honesty.

  1. Set priorities
    1. All too often a pastor will place professional ahead of personal time and the family suffers. A coach can help the pastor determine which meetings he or she needs to attend and which family issues need attention.
  2. Be a release valve
    1. Pastors are really good at hiding. They have to be so that they don’t betray confidences. But at some point they must open up to someone or else they might explore emotionally. A coach can provide a gentle and confidential opportunity for a pastor to share things he or she can’t share with anyone else and then gain some perspective from another person’s view.
  3. Be accountable
    1. Who looks the pastor in her or his eye and asks for the truth? Other than a spouse, not many (if anyone). A coach can keep a pastor emotionally honest by asking and even demanding truth-filled answers, not shallow replies that pastors can sometimes get away with.
  4. Establish goals
    1. Someone needs to help a pastor determine his or her professional and personal goals. Staff and even a church personnel committee rarely understand the complexities of a pastor’s role. A mentor can challenge a pastor’s self-establish low-hanging goals and establish higher goals. The coach must then follow-up throughout the year on these goals.
  5. Be an understanding ear
    1. Sometimes a coach just needs to listen. Sometimes a pastor just needs to talk about what is going on in his personal and professional life. Sometimes a coach doesn’t need to coach but just hear. Sometimes pastors need someone who has been there and is isn’t critical of what is happening. Sometimes a coach just needs to be a pastor.

 

A coach provides detached distance, non-emotional advice which is needed so much today for pastors and frankly for everyone in leader roles. If you don’t have a coach, get one and listen.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: church staff, leadership, strategy Tagged: , ,

Who Taught Daniel?

Posted on February 3, 2015 Written by

In the Old Testament book of Daniel, there is a story in the first chapter is pretty well-known. After Jerusalem fell to King Nebuchadnezzar, Daniel and his three friends are taken to Babylon because they were the brightest young Jewish men. Babylon was the ruler of the world at that time so it had the best educators and most knowledge. Daniel and his friends were to study at “The University of Babylon” for three years and then take government jobs (verse 5). We presume Daniel and his buds were about 20 years old at the time.

 

Their dorm was interesting: they had all the food and wine they could want. Knowing the times, they probably had access to a nearby harem. It was a college boy’s dream: all the beer, steaks, and women you could ask for!

 

But Daniel and his friends declined. They actually said, “I’ll have the salad, please.” These virile, strong, intelligent young men passed on what every teenage boy dreams of and asked for veggies instead of meat. After a 10-day experiment, their Babylonian supervisor saw that these guys were better off than the others who indulged (verse 15). For the rest of their studies, Daniel and his friends ate according to their wishes and they were ten times better than anyone else (verse 20).

 

We don’t know anything about Daniel’s family. But what I’ve learned about Jewish culture from that time is that children were exceedingly close to their moms growing up. At about age 12, Jewish boys went to synagogue school where they memorized and debated teachings for hours upon end.

 

When Daniel and his friends were faced with a serious test, they relied on their experience – and they didn’t have much of that since they were so young. But they spoke up and said they wouldn’t do what was requested because it went against their beliefs. Who were the persons who taught these four guys to stand up for themselves? Who influenced them so heavily that they would forego every boy’s fantasy? Who inculcated their faith so deeply that they would risk their young lives for salad?

 

We don’t know. We’ll never know. But it does show the value and impact of teachers on young men and women; it demonstrates the lasting effect of a mom on boys and girls. Even when they were a thousand miles from home, with no one around to judge them, and faced with the greatest temptation a young man can have, they instead relied on their upbringing.

 

Here’s to you, teachers of Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah!

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: leadership, wisdom, young adults Tagged: , ,

Church Cuts

Posted on January 20, 2015 Written by

Churches spend money on three things

  • Staffing: church personnel form the heart and brains in leading the work of the church
    • If you cut staff, you may need to replace with untrained volunteers
  • Buildings are the skin and skeleton of the church that holds everything in place and in its place
    • If you cut buildings, you save on infrastructure but it is expensive to tear down and re-build
  • Programming is the blood and muscle of a church; this is what gives the church energy and motion and dynamism
    • If you cut programming, you end up with staff sitting in their offices and nothing to attract people and give the church a mission

 

Where does a church cut its budget when it desperately needs to cut?

 

My first answer is, nowhere. Instead of cutting, the very first thing you do is to raise income. Do all you can to encourage generosity among your members, show them the results of what they’ve done in the past, help them experience the joy of giving, and let them see the people who have been helped by their tithes and offerings.

 

My second answer is, everywhere. IF you absolutely must cut AND you have really tried to raise funds, then you are at a critical point in your church’s future.

  • It may be time to close the church down. Seriously – if people are not willing to give more to help the ministry of the church, then perhaps it is time for the church to close its doors. Think about it – actually, you probably already have thought about closing down the church.
  • The other option in the “everywhere category” is to cut a staff person, and the programs overseen by that person, and shutter the rooms used by that ministry area (lights, AC, heat, cleaning, etc.). This is an “All of the above” strategy.

 

Often churches cut everything by 10% or 20%. That won’t resolve the crisis because you keep doing the same ministry and programs with the same staff in the same rooms but now you’re trying to do it on the cheap. Ministry on the cheap results in cheap ministry. That is no way to do ministry. Death by inches is what people do when they are afraid to lead.

 

When gangrene sets in and antibiotics don’t stop it, sometimes the only option is amputation. It is dramatic, traumatic, painful, and requires learning a new set of skills. But you can get a prosthetic limb. It won’t be as good as the original but it will give you much (not all) of the same functionality you had before. Churches need to be willing to sever some staff & programs (and close down building wings). Cutting one or two of the three isn’t enough. Decide what is the main focus of the church and provide staffing, buildings, and programming money for that. Anything that isn’t a part of the Main Thing is removed. It might be replaced later but if it is not needed now, it is done away with.

 

Before you cut, raise money. But if you cut, cut strategically and not indiscriminately.

 

Lead On!

Steve

Filed Under: budget, church finances, church staff, leadership, strategy Tagged: , , , ,

When A Church Member Pays Staff Directly

Posted on December 16, 2014 Written by

I recently received an email with this question:

Several years ago our church was having budget issues and cut salaries, including the organist. Apparently a member started giving the organist a monthly ‘gift’ to make up for the loss of pay. The church just became aware of this because the member didn’t give a check last month and the organist is looking for her monthly gift. The church knew nothing about it and that was between her and the member that the church was not involved. The church presumes the income is not being reported. Our question is can the church get in trouble for this?  Our thought is no because it is a ‘gift’ and the church is not involved.

My Response

Let me dissect this:

  • If the donor gave the money for the organist and the donor received tax deduction credit, then you have a problem.
  • If the organist got the money in a church check and it was not reported on the W-2, then you have a problem.
  • If the organist got the money in a church check and it was reported on the W-2, then you have a problem with #1.
  • If the organist got the money directly from the donor and the donor never got tax credit and the money never went through the church’s finances, then you are fine (no problem).

Going forward:

  • You still have time to change the tax deduction statement for the donor and the W-2 statement for 2014.
  • You can restate the organist’s W-2 for the prior years (however far back that goes) and quite frankly, that should be done, It will be a headache and it may trigger an IRS audit (BTW, the IRS rarely does a church audit for tax deduction purposes anymore but they are heavily into payroll fraud and will do a payroll audit in a heartbeat).
  • It will almost certainly cause the IRS to issue a penalty and interest statement for unpaid employer FICA.
  • I would also re-issue the donor tax deduction statements for the prior years. If the IRS audits the donor, then the donor can choose to show the IRS the incorrect statements (which were sent out years before) or the newer/corrected statements.
  • Someone needs to have a conversation with the financial assistant.
  • AND (strongly encouraged), get the financial assistant some continuing ed.
  • Everyone should have continuing ed since laws & taxes change.
  • It’s required in some professions (lawyers, doctors, CPAs) and should be required in every profession

Whether or not it is a gift is inconsequential. It is income to the organist and thus should be taxed: Federal, State, and BOTH employee and employer FICA. What matters is whether the gift went through the church’s financial system for both the donor and organist.

As to your financial assistant: at the least she needs some continuing education and training; at the worst she should be terminated. Either way, this incident should be documented and placed in her personnel jacket.

 

The good news in this case is that evidently the money was not going through the church but going directly from the member to the organist, circumventing the church. But that is also the bad news – there is a church member going rogue and funding his or her own favorite thing.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

 

Filed Under: church staff, leadership Tagged: ,

Ruts & Routines

Posted on November 25, 2014 Written by

What’s the difference? A routine is a pattern of behavior that guides you through the mundane, while a rut is a routine that is completely ingrained. A routine can be as simple as the steps you take to get dressed in the morning or how you get to work. A rut is much deeper, though.

Routines are good – they help you get things done without having to put much thought into what you’re doing, because what you’re doing doesn’t require much thought (such as what to eat for breakfast or where to put your car keys when you come home). They help make life easier and more settled. I encourage routines because they allow you to use your brain power for other activities requiring more thought, such as work or family interaction.

Routines that become ruts are sometimes bad. How do you know if a rut has gone bad? Ask yourself this question: “Am I willing to change what I’m doing?” If you are not open to a new pattern of behavior, then you are in a rut. The main characteristic of a rut is that it is cut so deep that you cannot see over the edges to see anything else that is out there. Ruts force you to stay on the same (often narrow) path. They don’t open your eyes to other opportunities. Ruts are hard to break out of; you have to do this intentionally. And when a rut is work or family-related, the entrenched behavior can lead to stubbornness when those two areas require people to be truly flexible.

Routines are good and necessary; ruts are not. As you go through today, ask yourself if what you are doing is a routine or a rut. Could you change if you wanted to? For the sake of others, would you alter what you’re doing? It’s easy to say yes, so I dare you to try it with something simple and see how you react to that small change. You may have more ruts in your life than you know.

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

 

 

Lead On!

Steve

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: leadership, wisdom Tagged: ,
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