More-with-Less Church

Eddy Hall, Ray Bowman, Skipp Machmer J.

Description

In our challenging economic times, it is no surprise that churches must get creative with their resources. But the authors of The More-with-Less Church believe pastors, leadership teams, and planning committees should look on times such as these not as hurdles to overcome but as opportunities to reconsider entrenched but inefficient ministry practices that are siphoning time, money, and energy from their churches. Drawn from time- and field-tested strategies, this practical resource helps church leaders avoid costly mistakes and maximize the return on their investment in four areas of church life--ministries, staffing, facilities, and finances.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie

Informations

• Publié par: Baker Publishing Group
• Date de parution: 28 octobre 2014
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781441221117
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

© 2014 by Eddy Hall and Ray Bowman
Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com
Ebook edition created 2014
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means for example, electronic, photocopy, recording without the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.
ISBN 978-1-4412-2111-7
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2007
Scripture quotations labeled CEV are from the Contemporary English Version © 1991, 1992, 1995 by American Bible Society. Used by permission.
Scripture quotations labeled Message are from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NIV are from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com
Scripture quotations labeled NLT are from the Holy Bible , New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled NRSV are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989, by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations labeled TLB are from The Living Bible , copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
To protect the privacy of those who have shared their stories with the author, some details and names have been changed.
“This volume is chock-full of practical insights on how church leaders can free up more money for the real mission of the church our impact beyond the church in helping people live better lives. The counterintuitive suggestions are just spot on.”
Reggie McNeal , author of Get Off Your Donkey !
“ This book speaks my love language ! The old ministry paradigm ‘ find a need and fill it ’ produces overextended and unfocused churches , diluting local church impact . The new mantra for church health is ‘ less is more .’ The problem with many churches today isn ’ t a shortage of ministries , staff , buildings , or finances but an abundance of all these resources that are overprogrammed , underutilized , or poorly managed . The More - with - Less Church shows you how to fully maximize your church ’ s resources to fulfill its mission and vision . Don ’ t start another program , hire another staff member , lay another brick , or raise another dollar until you read this book !”
Jim Tomberlin , founder and senior strategist , MultiSite Solutions ; author of 125 Tips for Multisite Churches , Better Together , and Church Locality
“ As the new pastor of a church that was nearly seventy - five years old with a history of struggles , I was excited that the church was growing and good things were happening but overwhelmed by the many voices telling us what next steps to take . Among our leaders there was no clear sense of what we needed to do when it came to our facility , finances , ministries , and staffing . Some wanted to build , but the church was still saddled with debt . Partnering with Living Stones was the most providential moment for our church , as they gave us tremendously helpful insight in all of these areas as well as how to help our church become even healthier . Our two planning processes with them helped us to more than double our attendance over the next eight years without adding one square inch of space , to eliminate our debt to free resources for ministry and staffing , and to set ourselves on a pathway to increased effectiveness in our ministries . The More - with - Less Church now makes available to a much wider audience the principles that have been so life - giving for Riverside . I thank the Lord for the ministry of Living Stones and how God used them to help us in an amazingly comprehensive way .”
Tom Lundeen , senior pastor , Riverside Church , Big Lake , Minnesota
“ The conventional church growth wisdom calls for bigger , bigger , bigger . Bigger staff , bigger budgets , bigger buildings . The More - with - Less Church is different . It flips the dominant paradigm on its head and shows it ’ s actually possible to impact more people without breaking the budget or burning out your staff . The authors are not ivory tower theoreticians . They ’ ve served in the trenches of ministry and walked alongside hundreds of other church leaders . Their ideas are field - tested and practical . As you read this valuable book , you ’ ll soon be seeing ways you can employ these principles to be more faithful and effective in your ministry .”
Drew Dyck , managing editor of Leadership Journal and author of Yawning at Tigers : You Can ’ t Tame God , So Stop Trying
Contents
Cover 1
Title Page 3
Copyright Page 4
Endorsements 5
Our Stories 9
1. The Possible Dream 11
Part 1: More-with-Less Ministry 17
2. To Accomplish More, Do (and Spend) Less 19
Self-Test: Is Your Church Over-Programmed? 25
3. To Reach More People, Disband Your Evangelism Committee 28
4. To Make More Disciples, “Teach” Less 34
Making Disciples Three at a Time 41
5. To Empower for Ministry, Ax Committees 45
6. To Multiply Leadership, Recruit Fewer Leaders 53
7. To Improve Health, Stir Up Conflict 61
Self-Test: Working through Unhealthy Conflict 67
8. To Increase Unity, Throw Out Your Vision Statement 70
9. To Make Big Changes, Start with Baby Steps 77
Part 2: More-with-Less Staffing 85
10. Hire Equippers to Multiply Leaders 87
Pay Your Staff to Pray 94
11. The Case of the Overpaid Secretary 96
12. Build a Dream Team 104
Part 3: More-with-Less Buildings 113
13. Confessions of a Surprised Architect 115
The Principle of Focus 123
14. Can Building Kill Church Growth? 124
15. The Myth of Sacred Space 130
16. Three Things Church Buildings Can Never Do 136
The Motivation Test: Why Do You Want to Build ? 141
The Principle of Use 143
17. Teaching Old Church Buildings New Tricks 144
18. Adding a New Service 150
19. More-with-Less Classroom Strategies 159
The More We Teach Together 167
20. Three Things Great Church Offices Do 172
Self-Test: Is Your Church Open for Business? 179
21. One Church, Multiple Locations 180
The Utilization Test: Do You Need to Build? 187
22. When It’s Time to Build 189
Part 4: More-with-Less Finances 197
The Principle of Provision 198
23. Your Church Can Be Debt-Free 199
24. The Hidden Costs of Debt 204
25. Getting off the Roller Coaster 209
No More Building Funds 214
26. From Vision to Provision 216
God on Giving 223
The Money Test: Are You Financially Ready to Buy or Build ? 226
Conclusion: The Blessing of Inconvenience 227
Acknowledgments 229
Appendix A: How to Write a Program of Needs 231
Appendix B: More-with-Less Budgeting for Building 242
Notes 247
Contributors 251
About the Authors 253
Back Ad 255
Back Cover 256
Our Stories
The mission of Living Stones Associates is to help churches become healthier through integrated planning of ministries, staffing, facilities, and finances. The Living Stones team, now made up of ten consultants, has been partnering with churches throughout the United States and Canada for more than thirty years.
Every church the Living Stones Associates team has consulted with over the last thirty-plus years has been our teacher. Most of the stories in this book come from our experiences with these churches. Throughout the book, “we” typically refers to the Living Stones team, not just the authors.
When we tell where a church is located, we use the actual name of the church. When we name a church without a location, the name may be changed to protect privacy or the story may be a composite of several churches.
When one of us tells a personal story, the story is preceded by the author’s name Eddy , Ray , or Skipp . The end of these first-person stories is marked by a divider unless the first-person narrative continues to the end of the chapter.
1 The Possible Dream
Do you have a dream of what God could do in your church?
In 2004, Riverside Church in Big Lake, Minnesota, was at a crossroads. Over the past year, average attendance had grown by more than one hundred people to reach 670 in two services. Unless they added more space—and soon—they would in effect be posting a “No Vacancy” sign at a time when God was bringing them many spiritually hungry people.
Leaders had brainstormed several options: Sell their property, buy a larger site, and build. Buy land for expansion. Build a bigger worship center. Plant a sister church in a nearby community where some church families lived. Start a third service.
Riverside still owed $700,000 from their last building program, was spending 10 percent of the budget on mortgage payments, and had no building fund. Plus, the staff was stretched way too thin. Without adding more staff soon, the church would quit growing and maybe even shrink.
Riverside had two options: stop growing or find creative ways to do more with less. So Riverside’s leaders enlisted outside coaches to conduct an in-depth assessment of all their ministries, staffing, facilities, and finances to identify barriers to healthy growth and help them develop a plan to remove those barriers. Over the next tw