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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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!