IMPROVISE - ADAPT - OVERCOME
Marines get stuff done.
They face impossible missions yet always prevail.
2 Timothy 2:1-6 tells leaders to think like a Marine.
During a recent Leadership Coaching Session, I shared 8 Leadership Lessons from the Marine Corp: Common Sense Principles for Success.
I hope these 8 Leadership Lessons encourage you and your team to fearlessly lead your church to grow!
LEADING THROUGH CHANGE - WHEN STAFF MEMBERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS LEAVE
WHEN STAFF MEMBERS AND CHURCH MEMBERS LEAVE
STAFFING IS A KEY DECISION
1 Timothy 5: “Do not lay hands on a man suddenly.” Any staff hire is a very important, sobering decision. Be slow to hire.
You want to hire someone who is focused on the TOWEL, not the TITLE. You are here to SERVE.
2. HAVE A PROCESS IN PLACE FOR EVALUATING STAFF AND KEY VOLUNTEERS
You are giving people significant responsibilities; have a system for evaluating:
Character — Not just about morality. Look at their work ethic, faithfulness, integrity.
Competency — Are they all hat, no cattle?
Culture — Do they fit well within your existing culture?
Chemistry — Likeability Factor. Do you enjoy being around this guy?
Calling — Look for the fingerprint of God on the hire of that person.
Capacity for Leadership — Can they grow with the role and the growth of the church? Can they reproduce themself and become a multiplier, not a maintainer?
3. UNDERSTAND + ACCEPT THAT SOME STAFF + CHURCH MEMBERS WILL HAVE TO TRANSITION
Understanding this will save you a lot of heartache.
Think of your church like a bus with stops along the way. What happens at a bus stop? Some people get on and some people get off.
There will be significant transition points as your church grows.
When this happens, remind yourself that this is just all part of the process of church planting.
Don’t lose perspective. Your “loss” may actually be a huge win!
Some folks need to get off the bus.
Why do people leave your church?
Sometimes staff will leave you because the responsibilities have grown beyond their capacity to grow with the role.
They may outgrow the responsibilities. Your job is to always make sure your staff are being challenged.
They may lack the character / competence / chemistry required to stick with it.
They may not want to do the spiritual and emotional work in order to grow.
Unexpected circumstances arise in life. Think seasons. Life happens in seasons.
4. REMEMBER THAT ALL STAFF AND MEMBERS NEED TO BE HELD LOOSELY.
Anything you hold tightly you suffocate.
5. PROMOTIONS TO KEY LEADERSHIP ROLES SHOULD BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED THROUGH PRAYER.
Faithful in the little before being faithful with much.
Make sure they have been tested.
This doesn’t always work: people fool you. Potential staff will lie to you to get a job.
Be very careful in giving out titles… You can’t take it back.
It doesn’t feed your ego, it fits your function.
6. CELEBRATE THE STAYS AND POSITIVELY RELEASE THE GO'S.
For some churches the only time the Staff has a party is when someone leaves. When is the last time you had a party with the people who STAY?
Sometimes God calls you to go but often God calls you to STAY!
Sometimes someone goes and it’s a good thing. Sometimes someone goes and it’s painful. Sometimes people go when they shouldn’t and you can see the truck that’s about to hit them, but they won’t listen to you.
7. BE PREPARED FOR + POSITIVELY PROCESS THE EMOTIONS THAT WILL ACCOMPANY THE EXIT OF PEOPLE.
Loss leads to Grief, which can confuse people. Be prepared for the grief. You love the person, you’ve invested in them for years.
When you feel grief, don’t beat yourself up about it. Allow yourself to experience and feel.
8. GIVE CLEAR GUIDELINES TO DEPARTING STAFF ON YOUR EXPECTATIONS REGARDING COMMUNICATION.
Information Void can crank up a church gossip grapevine: “What’s happening behind the scenes?”
This happens when there is too much of time that passes between their decision and the communication.
It is foolish to allow departing staff to announce their departure.
Provide information to fill any potential void. SOMEBODY is going to tell ‘the story.’ You need to protect the health of your church as it continues moving forward.
9. EXPECT EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO ANY STAFF MEMBER’S DEPARTURE.
Help them process, give them assurance.
10. LEARN LESSONS FROM DEPARTURES THAT CAN MAKE YOU AND YOUR ORGANIZATION BETTER.
How can we improve for next time?
What can I learn from this?
How can this make me better?
11. AVOID PROLONGED DEPARTURES.
When someone says they want to leave, let them.
Don’t drag it out or they will drag people down with them.
When they say they want to leave, their heart has already left.
Be generous in their transition.
12. BE APPROPRIATELY GENEROUS TOWARD DEPARTING PEOPLE WHO LEAVE WELL.
Err on the side of grace, not pettiness.
Oftentimes people who leave will talk badly about you behind your back. Be gracious.
13. EXPECT A HONEYMOON PERIOD ON SOCIAL MEDIA AT THE DEPARTING PERSON’S NEW PLACE.
“This new place is amazing!” Which means your place wasn’t.
At some point real life will kick in and they’ll stop.
Weather their honeymoon. You don’t need it in your spirit.
If it’s getting to you, delete the app.
Social media can feed a failure mentality.
14. DON’T GET DISCOURAGED.
Don’t Think You’re the Only Person This Happens To.
This is the secret: don’t get discouraged. Fight it.
People WILL leave your church.
Staff members WILL betray you.
Don’t give air to fear.
Pruning leads to better fruit and a better future.
Get up and keep going by faith.
Sometimes you have to wait 11 years to see someone who left in a bad way come back in repentance.
WISDOM FOR DEPARTING STAFF
If you’re leaving a church, get planted somewhere. Don’t wander.
When you get planted somewhere, be a son or daughter of that House.
Be an honorable, loyal, ethical, trusting Christian. Integrity matters. Honor your former pastor. Don’t go bush-league.
If you’re leaving a church, do not play the “God told me” game.
Don’t run from your issues! Your next church won’t change things. Geography doesn’t fix your problems.
Remember whose spiritual platform you have been using and you have been benefiting from. You were LOANED a platform. Never take the power and trust.
Never steal sheep.
Never steal staff. That is unethical behavior.
Fulfill your commitments. Don’t cut and run. That only hurts God’s people.
Leave your assigned area of responsibility stronger, not weaker.
Encourage commitment and faithfulness to the House that you’re leaving.
Watch your words, non-verbals and your actions on the way out… …because God is.
THE THREE STRUGGLES OF PASTORS
THE THREE STRUGGLES OF PASTORS
- by Chad Graves -
In the last week I have had meetings with multiple pastors. It has been a reminder and an eye-opener. Pastors all over the country are dealing with intense stress. Recently, 3 different churches asked me if I knew of anyone I would recommend as a possible candidate for them. Many churches are without pastors.
I will repost something I worked on a couple of years ago below. Pastors, if you are reading this, I hope this is helpful to know you are not alone.
Pastors tend to have three struggles:
The struggle with people.
The struggle with self.
The struggle with God.
These three struggles and how you respond to them will determine the length of your tenure.
The average tenure for a pastor is just around 3 years at a local church. The average tenure of a man’s pastoral ministry is ten years according to some research.
I have been interviewing pastors and studying what a pastoral tenure looks like over the years. These Interviews range from pastors who have been in ministry 37 years to men who have burned out to fresh new pastors in their first years.
I think these are common stages in most pastorates:
The Honeymoon Question:
Can you believe we get to do this?
The Titus 1:5 Question:
How am I going to address issues?
The Loss of Innocence Question:
How can God bless such brokenness?
The Harvest Question:
Will success or failure become my identity?
The Team Building Question:
Who will be invited to the table?
The Crisis of Self Question:
What do I do when I am at the end of myself?
The Decision Question:
Will I Keep Doing this?
The Boredom Question:
Is this it?
The Emptiness Question:
Why has this become so painful to do?
The Sustained Question:
Will I be faithful?
The Mentoring Question:
Will I leverage my influence?
The Legacy Stage Question:
Will I finish well?
Well I hope this helps. I love pastors.
May God help them as they faithfully continue.
NO RESERVES, NO RETREATS, NO REGRETS
One of my heroes of the faith is the little-known missionary William Borden.
William Borden’s funeral took place at The Moody Church in Chicago.
During my college years, I discovered the beauty of the gospel while attending The Moody Church.
Here's something my team filmed a few years back on location.
THE PRESIDENT AND MY GRANDPA
14 years ago, my Grandfather spent 5 minutes one-on-one with then-President George W. Bush.
Set aside your politics for a moment, because this is just a neat, purely American story about my Grandpa Storey.
My Grandpa Roy Storey didn't take his freedom for granted. He sacrificed a lot to immigrate to the U.S. from India with our family in the 1950's.
14 years ago today, this elderly man who came to the free world met the leader of the free world.
My Grandpa Roy was personally honored by the 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush.
It's breathtaking for our family that the President spent 5 personal minutes with my Grandpa (all captured by television crews below), tenderly holding his hand, thanking him for his volunteer service, and then motioning over my aunts to join them beside Air Force One.
Original newspaper report from Peoria Journal Star:
When Roy Storey got a call from Washington, D.C., telling him he was going to meet the president of the United States, the Peorian hung up the phone.
"I thought it was the telemarketer," he said with a laugh. "She called back immediately. She said, 'Mr. Storey, I don't want to take your money.'"
The mistake was understandable, and the 85-year-old was elated to learn that President George W. Bush will present him with the President's Volunteer Service Award as he arrives in Peoria on Friday.
"To me it's a big honor," Storey said Wednesday. "It's sort of a surprise - I'm just an old guy, going on with my daily work."
During his six years volunteering with the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP), "Grandpa Roy," as he's known by students, tries to instill some parental guidance in children who he said have grown up in hard times, much like him.
His earliest memories are of growing up in an orphanage in a little village in the foothills of the Himalayas.
He recalls being beaten by teachers during his time in the orphanage and said he had a very poor education. Through all the hardships, however, he kept his quick wit and work ethic.
"Those values I try to teach the students," he said. "I tell them my stories, I share with them. I'm a very strict mentor."
Storey's tutored more than 100 students a year at three Peoria District 150 schools, Von Steuben, Glen Oak and Hines elementary schools. He teaches reading and math to the 5- and 6-year-olds four days a week and said he's thinking of adding more schools.
"I like to keep busy," he said, adding he can't wait for school to start again.
In addition to the tutoring, he also reads to children at local libraries and has visited area nursing homes.
"It's about trying to make a difference in people's lives," he said. "That's my aim in life."
The president will present the national award during his trip to Peoria for a fundraiser for state Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria, who is running for the 18th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Bush has met with more than 650 volunteers since March 2002 as he travels throughout the United States.
In addition to that award, the Illinois Humanities Council, a not-for-profit educational organization, awarded Storey with the Studs Terkel Humanities Service Award for his work with RSVP.
RSVP is a program for residents older than 55 to share their skills and life experiences through volunteer service.
Storey said his three daughters are also proud of his upcoming presidential recognition. Two will be joining him for the honor.
"I have to behave myself," said the self-proclaimed prankster.
Pausing long enough to get out a burst of laughter, he added, "I will."
