eMerge - What’s it all About?
Let’s face it - leading a church is complex.
Over the last few months Pastors all over the Chicagoland area have come together to have an open and productive conversation regarding leading the church in a changing world.
Why Shoud You Consider Getting Involved?
Leading the local church is complex and “today’s pastor must become comfortable being uncomfortable,” according to Pastor James T. Meeks. We gather monthly to have strategic Kingdom building conversations, share ONE BIG IDEA with an implementation guide, and leverage technology for the glory of God.
Therefore, it’s wise we merge to emerge and connect small, mid-size, and large churches to BIG resources. In addition to receiving BIG resources and engaging in meaningful conversation, you will receive a detailed, 1-page implementation plan to share and discusss with your leadership team.
We plan to do this through sharing relevant content and have meaningful conversations. We’re building a place for pastors to discuss & share experiences, ideas and to receive tools to help each other Emerge!
Senior Pastors, if you’d like to join the conversation and attend our next gathering, here’s how:
TEXT: CHURCHGROWTH TO: 444999
Follow the text prompts (you can opt out any time)
Strategy Lesson 1: Organizational Clarity, Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
Organizational Clarity
God wants everyone to be pulling in the same direction. There should be no division within the church. For this to happen, though, the direction must be established, and it must be clear.
The foundation for this clarity can be established by answering these 3 critical questions:
- Why do we exist?
- Where are we going?
- How will we get there?
Let’s dive a little bit deeper into each of these key questions.
Mission - Why do we exist?
Determining the answer to why the church exists will essentially help you align the team around your primary mission. In reality, the mission for every New Testament church is essentially the same. It was given to us by Jesus.
He told us to:
“Go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT)
Vision - Where are we going?
Once you’ve established your mission, you can then start to clarify where you are going as a church. In doing so, you are going to identify your vision for the future. This is your opportunity to try to create a picture of where you believe God is calling your church to be in the years to come.
Strategy - How will we get there?
When it comes to strategy, you need to think about it in two parts:
- What’s our core strategy for how we accomplish our mission and vision?
- What needs action in the next three months?
In other words, there’s a long-term strategy and a short-term focus. For churches, I like to think of the core strategy in terms of growth engines. What are the primary engines that are going to help us encourage both spiritual growth and numerical growth?
Start With Why - Companion Video to Organizational Clarity
In Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action , Simon Sinek presents the idea that great leaders inspire others by putting the Why (the purpose) before the How (the process), or the What (the product). Start with Why created waves of discussion and change around our office.
Strategy Lesson 2: Chick-fil-A in The Church, Pastor Stephen Thurston, II
Pastor Stephen Thurston taught an amazing lesson on “Chick-fil-a in The Church” highlighting The 2nd Mile Service concept. Truly enlightening.
Strategy Lesson 3: Effective Guest/Visitor Follow up, Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.
I (Pastor Clarence E. Stowers, Jr.) had the opportunity to share best practices on Mar Hill's "Guest Follow-up System. Due to inclement weather, we met online via Zoom Video Conferencing. Below, you'll find links to:
- Zoom Video Recording
- Implementation Guide
Strategic Books
Why is it that the best strategic plans and good leadership often are not able to move churches in the desired direction?
Sam Chand contends that toxic culture is to blame. Quite often, leaders don't sense the toxicity, but it poisons their relationships and derails their vision. This work describes five easily identifiable categories of church culture (inspiring-accepting-stagnant-discouraging-toxic), with diagnostic descriptions in the book and a separate online assessment tool.
The listener will be able to identify strengths and needs of their church's culture, and then apply practical strategies (communication, control, and authority, selection and placement of personnel, etc.) to make their church's culture more positive.
- Discusses how to diagnose the state of a church's culture
- Reveals what it takes to put in place effective strategies for creating a more positive church culture
- Author served on the board of EQUIP (Dr. John Maxwell's Ministry), equipping five million leaders world-wide.
This important book offers a clear guide for understanding and recreating a healthy church culture.
Culture Catalyst: Seven Strategies to Bring Positive Change to Your Organization | Another gem by Dr. Sam Chand
Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization. It determines the receptivity of staff and volunteers to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being involved there.
Ultimately, the culture of an organization—particularly in churches and nonprofit organizations, but also in any organization—shapes individual morale, teamwork, effectiveness, and outcomes.
Church Mergers: A Guidebook for Missional Change Kindle Edition by Thomas G. Bandy and Page M. Brooks
Church Mergers offers churches of all sizes and traditions practical advice on how to merge successfully. Authors Thomas G. Bandy and Page M. Brooks draw on decades of experience to illustrate why and how missional mergers are possible.
Church Mergers guides congregational leaders and regional planners through the process of successful mergers. It shares the stories of four churches in the merger process, explaining the steps to assess their situations, build trust, and discern vision.
The book offers guidance to assess the potential for merger, explore contextual relevancy and lifestyle compatibility, overcome internal and external obstacles, define strategic priorities, create new boards, build leadership teams, combine assets, and more. Church Mergers shows that a faithful, healthy, missional merger is possible, and it illustrates that the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts.
Thousands of Protestant churches are perplexed by plateaued or declining attendance, while other congregations nearby thrive. Is there a way for them to combine forces, drawing on both their strengths, in ways that also increase their missional impact?
Church merger consultant Jim Tomberlin, with co-writer Warren Bird, makes the case that mergers today work best not with two struggling churches but with a vital, momentum-filled lead church partnering with a joining church.
In this new book, they provide a complete, practical, hands-on guide for church leaders of both struggling and vibrant churches so that they can understand the issues, develop strategies, and execute a variety of forms of merger for church expansion and renewal to reinvigorate declining churches and give them a "second life.
Web Links/Articles
Dr. Sam Chand FREE Culture Survey
CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FREE SURVEY
This Free Culture Survey was developed by Dr. Sam Chand, Mr. Pat Springle and Professor Tom Snider to help leaders obtain an accurate assessment of the culture of their teams. The survey takes about 10 minutes for each person. It can be used by teams of any size, from two or three to several hundred.
Ever wonder how a restaurant or hotel earns a five-star rating? Is it the people? The location? The service? In most cases, it is all of this and more. Why should your church be any different?
The Five Star Church reveals how you can pursue Christian excellence and uphold the Lord's command to "honor one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:10). It contains tips, tools, and the inspiration you need to build a top-quality church that people will flock to and participate in.
No matter how small your ministry or budget, God can use your church effectively to make everyone there feel welcome and cared for--the marks of a five-star church!
