Two Things Only A Pastor Can Do To Grow a Healthy Church
Churches that see healthy growth have people who are pursuing God and getting a fresh sense of God’s passion for the lost every week. There are many things a congregation can do to see healthy growth but two that only a pastor can do.
Leadership Skill For A New Day
In any church, the two causes of plateau and decline are lost vision and inward focus. Lost vision means we’re no longer aimed at God’s purposes. We wander around in our self-designed wildernesses and never get to where God wants to take us. The telltale signs of inward focus appear when a congregation changes the meaning of “service” to “serve-us.”
It takes leadership skills to restore vision and lead outward-focused change for a new day. (Two useful resources are John Kotter’s book, Leading Change, and Steve Brown’s Leading Me.)
The first thing only a pastor can do is grow herself or himself. You are responsible for your own growth. And if you’re growing, what you touch will grow too. The people who are following your leadership can’t grow past you. The good news is when you’re growing, the world around you looks better.
The most productive area for a pastor to grow in is the ability to lead successful change for a new day. It took me six years to realize I needed to have the courage to lead change. Asking the right questions is part of that leadership skill. Alton Garrison suggests there are four questions a church must say “yes” to before a new day can emerge:
Do we know we need to change?
Are we willing to change?
Do we know how to change? and
Are we willing to do that?
It’s amazing how unwilling a plateaued or declining church can be to say “yes” to those first two. Honestly, having the right answer to #3 doesn’t matter if you can’t get a “yes” to the first two.
Rephrase those questions to your leadership ability: Do I know I need to grow? Am I willing to change? Do I know how? Am I willing?
A willingness to grow yourself starts with growing a team around you.
When A Leader(ship) Gets Better, Everyone Wins
Craig Groeshel says, “Everyone wins when the leader gets better.”
Two foundational pieces needed to build a church with a vision and outward focus are growing yourself and developing a strong team. A pastor needs to start building that team yesterday.
A strong leadership team gives the church and the pastor the people resources to begin expanding a healthy ministry. Also, a strong team provides the support and encouragement a pastor needs to be able to do her or his part effectively.
Perhaps the two most common ways pastors resist the idea of a strong team are these: First, the pastor says, “I already have a good team.” Well, that’s good to hear. But there’s a difference between having a good team and building a strong one.
Are you growing your team?
Do you have a plan for increasing their capacity through discipleship and leadership training? Are the members of your team growing because they are on your team?
Taking this step starts with planning learning time in every team meeting. If your team is a pastoral staff, or group of board members, or a pastor’s council, spend the first 25-30 minutes of every staff or board meeting in learning mode. One way to do this is to read a book together.
Give each team member a copy of an important book and spend those initial minutes discussing a chapter or two each month. Or perhaps you can listen to a podcast before the meeting and discuss individual takeaways together. Don’t preach another message to your leaders but be sure to engage them in learning through discussion.
Book Ideas
The More With Less Church, Eddy Hall – staffing, ministries, facilities, finances
Sticky Teams, Larry Osbourne – build, and maintain healthy, productive teams that last
A Spirit-Empowered Church, Alton Garrison – 5 ways the Spirit works in your church
Developing The Leaders Around You, John Maxwell – classic for new leaders
The Advantage, Patrick Lencioni – one thing you can do with your team for health
Subject to Change, Mike Clarensau – brilliant perspective on leading change from the pew
The 4 Disciplines of Execution, Jim Huling – creating last change
Heromaker, Dave Ferguson – 5 practises from the ministry of Jesus
Thank God It’s Monday, Paul Bartlett – empowering people to act for God, Monday to Saturday
Deep and Wide, Andy Stanley – preaching, programs for the devoted and skeptics
The Power of the Other, Dr. Henry Cloud – having the right kind of connections
The Starfish and the Spirit, Alan Hirsch – unleashing the full potential of a team
Podcasts
200 Churches Podcast – for pastors leading churches of 200 or less (episode 416 is a gem)
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast – 10/01/23 addresses 3 Leadership Temptations
The Stetzer Church Leaders – navigate and lead through the cultural issues of our day
The Think Orange Podcast – 21/02/23 thinks about irresistible environments for kids
Because your team is connected to you, they should be growing in ways that affect their entire lives. Invest in them, and your influence as a leader in their lives will grow. And as you do, their capacity will increase.
Start Small
The second area of resistance happens when you hear yourself say, “But I don’t have anyone to work with.” Then start small.
Choose two or three individuals that support you and start growing them. Meet over a book for coffee or lunch. Start growing someone as you grow yourself. If you don’t have a team, don’t wait any longer to start building one. This effort will impact your church’s health more than any program you can establish or sermon series you’ll preach.
Bring together, at least monthly, staff or volunteers overseeing First Impressions/Hospitality, Follow-up, Children’s Ministry, Worship, and Small Groups.
A pastor was building a team of teenagers. Those were the people he had to work with, so he didn’t let their age keep him from growing their leadership capacity.
No matter where you are, you can start somewhere.
Find a few to invest in. That’s what Jesus did, and through sacrifice and much effort, He built a team that became world changers.
The pastor has two steps only he or she can take in establishing a healthy church: growing herself or himself and building a strong team. Get growing!
Concepts from Church Transformation Initiative used with permission.
Bob Jones is the founder of REVwords.com, an author, blogger, and coach with 39 years of pastoral experience. Bob is also an Advance Coach with the ABNWT Resource Centre. You can connect with Bob here.