5 Keys for Church Leaders

Kevin Martin

Description

A practical guide to growing your parish that focuses on the congregants and community.

In this valuable church leadership resource, Kevin Martin examines the five aspects of congregational life that are key to the development and growth of a strong congregation. Based on the author's popular church growth seminar, The Five Critical Systems, the five keys to congregational growth are:

• Build the team
• Pay attention to generations
• Tend the two doors
• Keep healthy
• Raise the stewardship level

Martin takes the reader on the steps necessary to address each of these keys, whether your church is small and focused on growing or large and concerned with community and retention.

Sujets

• Religion
• Christianisme
• Philosophie et théologie
• Christian Church
• Administration

Informations

• Publié par: Church Publishing Incorporated
• Date de parution: 01 mars 2006
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780898697957
• Langue: English

Extrait

5 KEYS
FOR CHURCH LEADERS
5 KEYS
FOR CHURCH LEADERS

Building a Strong, Vibrant, and Growing Church
Kevin Martin
CHURCH PUBLISHING
an imprint of
Church Publishing Incorporated, New York
Copyright 2007 by Kevin Martin.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Martin, Kevin E., 1946-
5 keys for church leaders : building a strong, vibrant, and growing church / Kevin Martin.
p. cm.
ISBN-13: 978-0-89869-521-2 (pbk.)
1. Christian leadership. 2. Church growth. I. Title. II. Title: Five keys for church leaders.
BV652.1.M27 2007
253-dc22
2006039609
Church Publishing Incorporated
445 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
www.churchpublishing.org
5 4 3 2 1
To my wife, Sharon, my partner in life and ministry
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Introduction
First Key BUILD THE TEAM
1. T HE P ASTOR AS T EAM L EADER
The Myth of the CEO Pastor
What Is Going Wrong?
The Missional Leader
2. A CTING LIKE A T EAM
Who Is on the Team?
Being on the Same Page
The Needs of the Team Members
Learning from a Great Team
3. S TRENGTHENING THE T EAM
What We Have Always Done
Vision
What Is Mission?
What Kind of Goals?
Without a Vision
Second Key PAY ATTENTION TO THE GENERATIONS
4. W HICH G ENERATION I S IN C HARGE?
A Unique Challenge
Adapting or Extending
5. F IVE G ENERATIONS OF A MERICANS
Who Is Out There?
Build It and They Will Come!
6. T OMORROW S C ONGREGATION
Building the Future
Putting the Grid to Work
Placing People on the Grid
Third Key TEND THE TWO DOORS
7. J OINING THE P ARADE
Tending the Front Door
8. I NVITING P EOPLE
Word of Mouth
The Shining Moment
Advertising
Target your Message
The Un-Churched and the De-Churched
Other Methods of Advertising
9. H ow TO H AVE A S PECIAL E VENT S UNDAY
How to Organize a Special Sunday
10. C LOSING THE B ACK D OOR
The Alarm System
The Missing in Action
Fourth Key KEEP THE SYSTEM HEALTHY
11. D YSFUNCTIONAL C HURCHES
Difficult People
Dysfunctional Congregations
12. C REATING H EALTH
Being Proactive
Healthy Leaders/Healthy Churches!
Handling the Parish Terrorist
13. A H EALTHY S YSTEM
The Checklist
A Story about Health
Fifth Key RAISE THE STEWARDSHIP LEVEL
14. R AISING THE C OMMITMENT L EVEL
Lots of People, Lots of Money
One Size Does Not Fit All
15. R AISING THE B AR
Always Asking for Money?
Why Not Promote Tithing?
A Few Last Points in Raising the Stewardship
G ETTING S TARTED WITH THE F IVE K EYS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I want to thank my editor at Church Publishing, Lucas Smith, for his help in preparing this manuscript and for encouragement in turning these practical concepts first presented in workshop form into this book. The conceptual framework for the five keys emerged from my intensive three-year work with the Diocese of Central Florida. I want to thank Bishop John Howe for the opportunity to engage so many of his leaders, especially the Rev. Joyce Holmes, who coordinated the work there.
I am also deeply indebted to the Rt. Rev. Claude Payne, who gave me the opportunity to put my ideas about congregational development into organization reality during my ten years as Canon for Congregational Development in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas. During my time in Texas, Bishop Payne, the staff of the diocese. and our congregational leaders proved that an Episcopal diocese could make a difference and serve our congregations in vitality and growth. Through our Clear Vision Conferences, we inspired other Episcopal leaders and challenged them to make the transition from maintenance to mission. This gave birth to the 2020 Movement, which is still helping Episcopal congregations find new life and vitality.
In 1980, I attended my first conference led by Lyle Schaller. Lyle is considered by most congregational development consultants of my generation as the father of our work. I owe much of what I do to his teaching and influence, but also to moments during the last twenty years when he has encouraged me to develop that idea further because you are really onto something important here. His inspiration to a diverse ecumenical group of church leaders through Leadership Network has helped to reshape and retool Christian churches for the twenty-first century.
INTRODUCTION
For the past fifteen years, I have been helping congregational leaders create vibrant, healthy, and growing congregations. Ten of these years were spent in the Episcopal Diocese of Texas working with 160 different and diverse churches. During my time there as canon for congregational development, the diocese grew considerably in membership, attendance, and stewardship. I was the point person in this effort. Of course, I worked with a remarkable bishop and staff. We had an extraordinary team. We figured out how to grow a mainline judicatory during a time of decline for most mainline denominations.
Through these years, I learned that most congregations have key developmental issues that are essential for comprehensive ministry, meaningful outreach, and evangelism. While doing this work, I was often introduced as the church growth person. I always correct this to church development officer. This is an important distinction. I have found that some congregations have little or no growth potential, but I have also found that every congregation has developmental needs. Unfortunately, many American congregations, located in a consumer-oriented culture, put too much emphasis on program and techniques aimed at growing their churches. Christian bookstores are filled with books that promise programmatic approaches for substantial growth. While it is true that some congregations have found these programs successful, it is also true that the American church scene is littered with failed evangelism programs, small group efforts, and other such activities. I have learned this simple truth: there is no silver bullet that will help all congregations grow.
It is more important to understand that each congregation is a complex social system. Such communities need a systems understanding and approach. The five keys in this work are system dynamics. How is a system approach different from a programmatic one? First, a system approach is holistic. It views the congregation as a totality. We all know that a congregation is more than its individual parts. Second, a system has re-enforcers and balancers. A re-enforcer is something that tends to add energy to the system. The balancer tends to keep the system in balance-to stabilize it. Systems seek stability. Third, each key is interconnected with the others. Addressing any of these affects the rest of the system.
I strongly recommend that local leaders become familiar with each of the keys illuminated in this book. Looking at the whole system, leaders need to address the area (key) that is weakest and most in need of development at this particular moment in this particular congregation. Over the years, my trust has grown in the ability of congregational leaders to diagnose the right and timely issue for their individual congregation. This shines through once they have been given the correct material and allowed to apply it to their situation.
Every recent demographic study makes it clear that Christianity in America is in a time of crisis. As secularism increases its influence among younger generations, the very future of the American church is in doubt and at risk. If there will be a faithful and witnessing future generation of committed disciples of Jesus Christ, it is essential for each congregation to contribute to what we could now call the re-Christianization of North America. We only need to look toward Western Europe to see the price of churches failing in this task. This is a time for urgency. We must be innovative and willing to abandon the failing status quo. This will not be easy. Many congregational leaders seem to define their work as defending the congregation s status quo.
We need to be clear. It is not easy to lead churches today. Our society is increasingly less supportive of the church s place. Our culture is not supportive of the smaller congregation and the vast majority of churches in the United States are small congregations. All over the map are good churches that repeat what they have been doing year after year, and yet find fewer people attracted to their churches. Addressing these five keys will take effort and commitment from leaders, but it will make a difference. As leaders of your local church, I pray that you will make a difference at this critical moment for Christianity.
Anyone who reads my materials or hears me speak should know of the deep influence of Lyle Schaller upon my work. Many of us in the field of congregational development consider Lyle the father of contemporary church development. For further resources, I commend to you any of his many wonderful books and articles. Another helpful resource for me has been the writings by Peter Steinke. He has done an excellent job of translating system theory into congregational life, and he has done this in ways that the average church leader can understand.