Monday, July 30, 2007
Vote for the New Pastor!
Thank you all for coming to the meeting tonight.
As you all know, we’ve been two long years without a head pastor, ever since we had to let Pastor Jesus go. You all remember how we voted on that issue. Quite simply it wasn’t working out, either for him or for us.
But now we are certain that God has answered our prayers! After reviewing the resumes of literally dozens of potential pastors, we have found one that we think could be a great fit for our church. And last week, Pastor John and his family came up here and spent the entire weekend candidating for the job of Senior Pastor. And we are here tonight to cast our vote for or against him.
But before we vote, we wanted to take a few minutes and review the situation, just to refresh your memories of last weekend. Now, handing over the keys of a building worth nearly a million dollars, not to mention the eternal fate of over two hundred adults and children, to a complete stranger, is not something we take lightly. You can’t get to know someone overnight, after all. No, it takes at least a solid weekend in order to build that level of trust.
So if you were here last weekend, you were a part of the full activities we had planned so we could get to know Pastor John and his family. We had a great barbeque on Friday night and another one Saturday. It was a great, informal time to find out about them. Then he preached in both services on Sunday—what a dynamic, powerful message!—which was then followed up by a question-and-answer session Sunday evening. Thank you for attending these events, those of you who did.
For us, the most important issue was this: Can he preach? After all, this is the most important job for a pastor. You’ll remember from Sunday morning that he did a great job preaching from the Word. He preached on “forgiveness” and told us what we should do in light of Jesus’ words from the gospels. This is exactly what we need at this church—someone to unpack the Bible for us in plain language, not like Pastor Jesus and all of his stories that didn’t make any sense.
And if you recall from the Sunday night meeting, someone asked him the important question: “Pastor John, if you were to land this job, what is your vision for how you would grow this church?” Without batting an eye, he had a ready answer: “My job is to preach the Word and to teach you how it applies to your lives.” Talk about confidence! We believe that this was the best—and really only—answer he could have given. After all, a man who has graduated from both Bible College and Seminary should be able to teach the Bible, but not everyone can tell people how they should live it. This solid teaching will finally start to grow this church, we believe.
How is this going to happen, you might ask? Well, once he gets hired and starts preaching, that will be the time for all of you to go around to your neighbors’ houses and start inviting them to church; and start inviting your co-workers too. After all, we’ll have a new, dynamic pastor who can really preach! With this strategy this church will be sure to grow. All you have to do is get ‘em through the doors here and Pastor John will take care of the rest.
By the way, have you seen the job description for Pastor John? Basically we expect him to put in an average of 50-60 hours a week. He’ll take care of the finances, the building maintenance and grounds, lead several Bible studies throughout the week, preach both services on Sunday and have a new sermon for each Wednesday night service. We also expect him to provide his own cell phone and vehicle and be available for church members throughout the week---basically he’ll be on call 24/7 for all emergencies and problems. He’ll have a week of vacation per year, with an additional week given after five years.
What if there are problems with Pastor John? We want you to know that every member of this church is free to voice concerns. There are several possibilities for this, including e-mails, letters, or you can certainly come to one of us leaders. Rest assured we’ll deal with the issue quickly and discreetly.
And of course, as we’re getting a two-for-one deal here, we expect his wife to be involved in leading several ministries—we need a choir director, for one, and a piano player for church services, and a new Children’s Ministry director. Plus she can probably head up the Women’s Ministry too. But remember that only he gets the paycheck, as technically we’re only hiring him, not her.
OK everybody, are we ready to vote? All in favor of hiring Pastor John, please raise your right hand…
As you all know, we’ve been two long years without a head pastor, ever since we had to let Pastor Jesus go. You all remember how we voted on that issue. Quite simply it wasn’t working out, either for him or for us.
But now we are certain that God has answered our prayers! After reviewing the resumes of literally dozens of potential pastors, we have found one that we think could be a great fit for our church. And last week, Pastor John and his family came up here and spent the entire weekend candidating for the job of Senior Pastor. And we are here tonight to cast our vote for or against him.
But before we vote, we wanted to take a few minutes and review the situation, just to refresh your memories of last weekend. Now, handing over the keys of a building worth nearly a million dollars, not to mention the eternal fate of over two hundred adults and children, to a complete stranger, is not something we take lightly. You can’t get to know someone overnight, after all. No, it takes at least a solid weekend in order to build that level of trust.
So if you were here last weekend, you were a part of the full activities we had planned so we could get to know Pastor John and his family. We had a great barbeque on Friday night and another one Saturday. It was a great, informal time to find out about them. Then he preached in both services on Sunday—what a dynamic, powerful message!—which was then followed up by a question-and-answer session Sunday evening. Thank you for attending these events, those of you who did.
For us, the most important issue was this: Can he preach? After all, this is the most important job for a pastor. You’ll remember from Sunday morning that he did a great job preaching from the Word. He preached on “forgiveness” and told us what we should do in light of Jesus’ words from the gospels. This is exactly what we need at this church—someone to unpack the Bible for us in plain language, not like Pastor Jesus and all of his stories that didn’t make any sense.
And if you recall from the Sunday night meeting, someone asked him the important question: “Pastor John, if you were to land this job, what is your vision for how you would grow this church?” Without batting an eye, he had a ready answer: “My job is to preach the Word and to teach you how it applies to your lives.” Talk about confidence! We believe that this was the best—and really only—answer he could have given. After all, a man who has graduated from both Bible College and Seminary should be able to teach the Bible, but not everyone can tell people how they should live it. This solid teaching will finally start to grow this church, we believe.
How is this going to happen, you might ask? Well, once he gets hired and starts preaching, that will be the time for all of you to go around to your neighbors’ houses and start inviting them to church; and start inviting your co-workers too. After all, we’ll have a new, dynamic pastor who can really preach! With this strategy this church will be sure to grow. All you have to do is get ‘em through the doors here and Pastor John will take care of the rest.
By the way, have you seen the job description for Pastor John? Basically we expect him to put in an average of 50-60 hours a week. He’ll take care of the finances, the building maintenance and grounds, lead several Bible studies throughout the week, preach both services on Sunday and have a new sermon for each Wednesday night service. We also expect him to provide his own cell phone and vehicle and be available for church members throughout the week---basically he’ll be on call 24/7 for all emergencies and problems. He’ll have a week of vacation per year, with an additional week given after five years.
What if there are problems with Pastor John? We want you to know that every member of this church is free to voice concerns. There are several possibilities for this, including e-mails, letters, or you can certainly come to one of us leaders. Rest assured we’ll deal with the issue quickly and discreetly.
And of course, as we’re getting a two-for-one deal here, we expect his wife to be involved in leading several ministries—we need a choir director, for one, and a piano player for church services, and a new Children’s Ministry director. Plus she can probably head up the Women’s Ministry too. But remember that only he gets the paycheck, as technically we’re only hiring him, not her.
OK everybody, are we ready to vote? All in favor of hiring Pastor John, please raise your right hand…
Monday, July 09, 2007
The Leadership Conundrum
Everything rises and falls on… what now?
Oh yeah, I remember what they say: “Leadership.” Well, John Maxwell does anyway.
But you know what, I think he’s on to something. The success or failure of any organization—be it a church, a business, a non-profit organization, whatever—ultimately depends on the quality, (or lack of quality), of its leadership.
Another great definition of leadership is provided by Marcus Buckingham, who said, “Leadership is taking people into a better future.” I like that too, but one thing needs to be clarified—what is a “better future,” exactly? That could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people.
To understand what it looks like in the context of biblical values, I would look no further than Ephesians 4 to find out what that better future is supposed to be about. What I get out of what Paul is saying there is that church leadership—under the headship of Christ—are to be about one thing and one thing only: equipping people in the church so that they—not the leaders alone—can do the various works of ministry.
So what this looks like, as I understand it, is that church leaders should unapologetically be about the business of investing most of their leadership energy into helping individuals within the church to become who they are; to become the person God made them to be. In large part, this involves helping people to discover their God-given gifts, talents, passions and abilities, and then leading them into areas where they can use those abilities for the works of ministry they are indeed passionate about—doing what they love.
I think that if leaders were to do this, instead of running themselves ragged simply trying to keep the typical one-hundred-and one church ministries afloat, and doing much of the work themselves, there would be a major paradigm shift in the ways we think about, and do, church. Think of the average church leaders’ weekly schedule: how much of it is truly spent in pouring their leadership energy into equipping others? On the other hand, how much leadership energy is spent trying to keep everything going, simply in order to maintain the status quo?
In my opinion, I think many churches are in this boat. Here’s a description that I think fits many churches: They have many good and worthwhile ministries. They have many good and honest, hardworking people who sincerely believe in those ministries, whether or not they have ever been actually equipped by their leadership to do them. On any given day of the week one encounters every stripe of ministry—from mothers with preschool children, prayer rooms, coffee get-togethers, men’s prayer breakfasts, and on and on. Now what is wrong with all of those ministries? Nothing, except for one crucial factor: No one running those ministries can tell you how their ministry fits in with the big picture vision of the church.
Hang on, you say, that’s not fair. To be truly fair, we have to ask: Then what is the vision, mission and purpose of that church? Here’s the problem: the leadership doesn’t have one. Or if they do, it’s one they stole from another, “successful” church, or a book on church growth, or from “40 Days of Purpose.” Maybe they even got it out of the Bible—Great Commission, Great Commandment. But do you want to know what the real problem is, bigger than not having a vision, a mission, or a purpose? Two words: status quo.
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that the leaders of the church I just described decided it wanted a complete paradigm shift. Its leaders became convinced that they should be all about an Ephesians 4 culture, a church sold out to equipping its members for ministry, along with everything that statement means. But in order to come to that place, every current ministry would have to be shut down for a period of time, re-assessed in light of the new priorities of the church. Following this time, some hard decisions would have to be made about which ministries get to continue, and which ministries get the axe. Only those ministries that fit into the new vision get to carry on.
Oh, and to make matters worse, all the current leaders would have to step down from their leadership positions for a period of time as well, regardless of how long they have been in leadership. They need to undergo a solid one-year leadership training program that not only equips them to lead their ministry, but also evaluates them during that time to find out if they even have the character and abilities even to be a leader at all. The truth is, some won’t make the cut.
You tell me—how many church leaders are willing to take these kinds of radical steps in order to lead their churches into health? I think we’re not going to see it happen, for the simple reason that many churches exist to maintain the status quo, to meet people’s expectations. As long as everybody gets what they want, the church members don’t complain. Notice I didn’t say they were happy. But if you as a leader try changing things around, try doing some radical surgery like I just described, and here’s my advice: Get your resume up to date.
Say, ever thought of working for Starbucks?
Oh yeah, I remember what they say: “Leadership.” Well, John Maxwell does anyway.
But you know what, I think he’s on to something. The success or failure of any organization—be it a church, a business, a non-profit organization, whatever—ultimately depends on the quality, (or lack of quality), of its leadership.
Another great definition of leadership is provided by Marcus Buckingham, who said, “Leadership is taking people into a better future.” I like that too, but one thing needs to be clarified—what is a “better future,” exactly? That could mean a lot of things to a lot of different people.
To understand what it looks like in the context of biblical values, I would look no further than Ephesians 4 to find out what that better future is supposed to be about. What I get out of what Paul is saying there is that church leadership—under the headship of Christ—are to be about one thing and one thing only: equipping people in the church so that they—not the leaders alone—can do the various works of ministry.
So what this looks like, as I understand it, is that church leaders should unapologetically be about the business of investing most of their leadership energy into helping individuals within the church to become who they are; to become the person God made them to be. In large part, this involves helping people to discover their God-given gifts, talents, passions and abilities, and then leading them into areas where they can use those abilities for the works of ministry they are indeed passionate about—doing what they love.
I think that if leaders were to do this, instead of running themselves ragged simply trying to keep the typical one-hundred-and one church ministries afloat, and doing much of the work themselves, there would be a major paradigm shift in the ways we think about, and do, church. Think of the average church leaders’ weekly schedule: how much of it is truly spent in pouring their leadership energy into equipping others? On the other hand, how much leadership energy is spent trying to keep everything going, simply in order to maintain the status quo?
In my opinion, I think many churches are in this boat. Here’s a description that I think fits many churches: They have many good and worthwhile ministries. They have many good and honest, hardworking people who sincerely believe in those ministries, whether or not they have ever been actually equipped by their leadership to do them. On any given day of the week one encounters every stripe of ministry—from mothers with preschool children, prayer rooms, coffee get-togethers, men’s prayer breakfasts, and on and on. Now what is wrong with all of those ministries? Nothing, except for one crucial factor: No one running those ministries can tell you how their ministry fits in with the big picture vision of the church.
Hang on, you say, that’s not fair. To be truly fair, we have to ask: Then what is the vision, mission and purpose of that church? Here’s the problem: the leadership doesn’t have one. Or if they do, it’s one they stole from another, “successful” church, or a book on church growth, or from “40 Days of Purpose.” Maybe they even got it out of the Bible—Great Commission, Great Commandment. But do you want to know what the real problem is, bigger than not having a vision, a mission, or a purpose? Two words: status quo.
Just for the sake of argument, let’s say that the leaders of the church I just described decided it wanted a complete paradigm shift. Its leaders became convinced that they should be all about an Ephesians 4 culture, a church sold out to equipping its members for ministry, along with everything that statement means. But in order to come to that place, every current ministry would have to be shut down for a period of time, re-assessed in light of the new priorities of the church. Following this time, some hard decisions would have to be made about which ministries get to continue, and which ministries get the axe. Only those ministries that fit into the new vision get to carry on.
Oh, and to make matters worse, all the current leaders would have to step down from their leadership positions for a period of time as well, regardless of how long they have been in leadership. They need to undergo a solid one-year leadership training program that not only equips them to lead their ministry, but also evaluates them during that time to find out if they even have the character and abilities even to be a leader at all. The truth is, some won’t make the cut.
You tell me—how many church leaders are willing to take these kinds of radical steps in order to lead their churches into health? I think we’re not going to see it happen, for the simple reason that many churches exist to maintain the status quo, to meet people’s expectations. As long as everybody gets what they want, the church members don’t complain. Notice I didn’t say they were happy. But if you as a leader try changing things around, try doing some radical surgery like I just described, and here’s my advice: Get your resume up to date.
Say, ever thought of working for Starbucks?
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