Thriving or Declining: Building Effective Church Systems

Source: Ray Johnston, www.baysideonline.comCCN Online, May 10, 2001

What’s your “System?”

Declining Church Systems

87% Protestant congregations in US are stagnant or declining

77% of people on church boards said the quality of their spiritual life “went down” while serving

Every group of churches over 20 years old are declining as a group

Thriving Church Systems

Barbarians

Leaders

Administrators

Bureaucrats

Aristocrats

Anything left of center!

The Top Ten Essentials for Developing Thriving Churches

10. Passion

The one constant in growing churches of all types: Atmosphere

What kills passion? 1. Problem-solving syndrome 2. Busy-enough now 3. No vacancy (no more energy) 4. Nostalgia 5. Lazarus syndrome (recovering the dissatisfied)

9. Core Values and a Commitment to Expansion

Unhealthy core values that drive churches (Rick Warren)

1.Tradition (what did we do before?) 2. Personality (what does the leader want?) 3. Finance (how much does it cost?) 4. Program (what are we already doing?) 5. Building (if you have a room the teens cannot use …) 6. Seeker (do we simply give people what they want?)

8. Balanced Ministry Strategy

Three types of people attend church:

1. Casual (ready to visit) Reached by outreach ministries

2. Curious (ready to grow) Reached by spiritual growth ministries

3. Committed (ready to serve) Reached by equipping ministries

Thriving church systems minister to each stage!

7. Intentionally create new waves of people.

Seasonal waves 1. Christmas 2. January 1 3. Easter 4. Mother’s Day 5. Father’s Day 6. Start of school year

Making More Waves

Front door waves Marriage conferences, recovery ministries,

having a variety of services (style, location)

Message waves Preaching in series (start on key days) Postmodern (conversational) style Titled for take-home value

Staffing waves Bringing on folk who attract new group of

people (more on this in a moment)

6. Prioritize ministry to kids and teenagers.

50% of world is now younger than 16 and 80% become Christian before age 21

Wrap up VBS on Sunday a.m.

Pay heavy attention to middle school ministry (and younger)

2/3 high school students have part-time jobs Launching high-school ministry from scratch is

nearly impossible, but m.s’ers graduate And, middle schoolers like something to do M.S. parents have more disposable income

5. Grow an expanding staff.

Build a staff which builds ministries which build people The future is “above the line!”

Staff which Attracts Growth

Staff Which Supports Growth

Present

Future

Staffing Keys

Hire for: 1. Character (can I trust them?) 2. Competence (can they do it?) 3. Chemistry (can I fish with them?) 4. Energy (I need to chase them home)

Part-time hires The future is soccer moms & retirees

Make outrageous “asks” up front

4. Mobilize laity.

People grow and serve best when they know what the steps are i.e., the 5 G’s at Willow Or, Saddleback diamond What’s your game plan and

how do you teach it to people? Spiritual gift implementation Being “high expectation”

3. Build healthy homes.

Friday p.m. – Sunday a.m. marriage retreat, with leader being the Sunday speaker

Annual parenting and marriage series of sermons Those who are not parents or

spouses are educated for other roles in relation to these

2. Prioritize building small groups.

A church can get bigger as long is it keeps getting smaller.

Different spiritual needs are met by different size groups in the church.

1. Climate control.

The #1 job of the pastor is to guard the “spirit” of the church

Model healthy family relationships

Public/personal encouragement

Creating atmospheres of grace while making phonies and critics squirm

What’s your “System?”

When churches deal with these factors, they pollinate the church … and create the kind of greenhouse in which seeds can grow and flower.

Thriving or Declining: Building Effective Church Systems

Dr. John P. Chandler www.rasnet.org john.chandler@vbmb.org Copy Right John P. Chandler, 2002