“Designer disciple” is not a great term. It conjures up all sorts of images and most them are not good. But I’ve never heard a better term, so for the moment, we’ll stick with it. The concept is not to be confused with the “Saddleback Sam” or comical “Green Bay Gary” type character who is […]
FOCUS GROUPS – Strategic Planning Template #5
In my experiences of helping churches with strategic planning tasks – clarifying their purpose, mission, designer disciple, values, vision and strategy – the most controversial part of the process has always been the possible choice of a target or focus group. A focus group is a demographic niche which a church deliberately decides to concentrate […]
VALUES – Strategic Planning Template #6
Valuable Thoughts On Values: Values are the underlying assumptions and beliefs about what is important, that guide our decision making and our behavior. They are what’s important to us as we seek to achieve our purpose, fulfill our mission and realize our vision. They are a big part of a church’s CULTURE. Values […]
VISION – Strategic Planning Template #7
The creation of a vision statement vies with the identification of a focus (or target) group as being the most controversial aspect of the strategic planning (hereafter: SP) process. It has, in fact, been said that there are two kinds of pastors in the world: those who love talking about vision and those (probably a […]
STRATEGY – Strategic Planning Template #8
Introductory Quotes: Do you agree or disagree? Why or why not? “For most churches, doing anything intentionally would be an improvement.” Anonymous “Vision is worthless without strategy.” Attributed to Aubrey Malphurs “…anyone who fails to define their strategy is not only foolish but also demonstrating poor management of the time, talents and treasure of their […]
Four Bottom-line Truths About Vision
Vision is like the weather: everybody’s talking about it but nobody’s doing much about it. Let’s try to de-mystify this a bit, and maybe we can do something about it. Vision is simply a dream, a mental picture, of a better future. As leadership begins with dissatisfaction with the current state of things and a […]
A Different Way To Download A Vision
Just about everybody knows that vision is important. It gets us dreaming and praying and moving in the same direction. When a Christian ministry believes it has received a vision from God, it’s very powerful. The “catch” of course, is how we get this vision from God. There are innumerable opinions on the subject as […]
Mission And Vision Contrasted: Why Pastors Need To Share Their Dreams
SUMMARY: Sharing your church’s mission is good, but also sharing what you believe God wants your church to become (your vision) is even better. Here’s why: You’ve probably heard management and leadership contrasted: “Management deals with what already exists; leadership deals with what will or should exist.” “Management deals with present realities; leadership deals with […]
Book Review: Pastor Unique – Becoming Turnaround Leaders
Pastor Unique is not just another indictment of the American Church or American pastors. Authors Lavern Brown, Gordon Penfold and Gary Westra have given us a roadmap for real change and it is practical and doable. One clarification: PASTOR UNIQUE is about turnaround pastors in the sense of long-term (not transitional or interim) pastors, who seek to lead […]
Falling In Love With Our Communities
Isn’t it amazing what love can do to a normal human being? Take the 16 or 17 year old guy. His whole life has been about himself. He’s never done anything very unselfish, let along sacrificical, nor has he given any lavish gifts to anyone. And then SHE comes along! He’s head over heels in […]
Church Boards: Coach Your Pastors!
The relationships between church boards and senior or solo pastors are challenging. In most evangelical congregations, the board and pastor have a complex, not easily negotiated relationship: All board members, including the pastor, are brothers in Christ, and equals before God. The board, in most cases, was significantly involved in the hiring of the pastor […]
Is Planning Unspiritual?
In a recent post, Ten Planning Principles From The Book Of Proverbs, I shared the results of a study I did on the subject of planning in that heaven-sent, down-to-earth book. I concluded at the end of my short summary that God commends planning which follows the principles found in Proverbs and He will bless pure-hearted, prayerful […]
Five Reasons Why We Must Storm The Gates
Before Jesus gave his disciples the New Commandment (John 13:34,35) or the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20), he pronounced the Great Prediction of Matthew 16:18 (NIV): “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.” There’s no actual command here. […]
How We Can Storm The Gates Of Hades
‘Need something exciting to do? Does your church need an exhilarating new mission or purpose? How about “storming the gates of hades,” a phrase used by Jesus in connection with his first mention of the church? Here’s Matthew 16:18 (NIV) in its entirety: “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock […]
More Great Ways To Storm The Gates Of Hades
In a post worship service discussion, a member of my congregation took me to task for comparing churches to support groups. What I meant was that as Christians in churches, we support and encourage each other as we go through life. What she heard, however – and, of course, every attendee hears a slightly different sermon […]
Three Great Expectations For A Leader
Individuals and organizations have all sorts of expectations for their leaders: good ones, bad ones, ugly ones. Our overriding concern with our expectations for our leaders should not be what we want or what they want. It should be for what works and what works should be defined in terms of the organization’s mission. If […]
Three Steps To Great Leadership In Your Organization
In an earlier post (Three great expectations for a leader) I’ve described some “best practice” leadership expectations for organizations that want to achieve real mission success: Expect your leader to dream – to pray down a vision from God for your organization. Expect your leader to design – to implement a strategy for mission fulfillment […]
Three Dangers In Mixing Politics And Religion
It’s easy to mix a little politics in with our Christianity. As evangelicals, we avoid the old “social gospel” like the plague, as well we should. The social gospel is what the Apostle Paul would call, “another gospel which is not another,” (Galatians 1:6) for it confuses the good news that Christ came to die […]
Three Reasons To Not Bring Your Politics To Work
“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may […]
Why Pastor Johnny Can’t Lead
In 1955, author and writing consultant, Rudolph Flesch published what would become his most provocative book, Why Johnny Can’t Read: And What You Can Do About It. The volume was a critique of the “look-say” method for teaching reading and compared reading education in the US unfavorably to other advanced countries. In 1976, leadership guru […]
Book Review: Hit The Bullseye
It’s not every day that I would review a fifteen year old book, but Paul Borden’s Hit The Bullseye: How Denominations Can Aim The Congregation At The Mission Field, is as timely, or even more timely, than when the author penned it. The former Executive Minister of the American Baptist Churches of the West, renamed […]
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