I feel that too often we, church leaders, are really good at what we do without knowing why we do it. Sure, we have a super cool motto for our ministries that reflect our purpose within our ministries, but how do we form those purpose statements? What thoughts, principles and concepts are we drawing from in order to create our ministry purpose? Do we even know what the role of our ministry is (outside of the super cool purpose statement)? Do we even know what the role of the church is?
In my extremely limited experience, I have not seen someone who truly understands the role of the church, or even their own ministry. So those are my current soul searching questions. What is the role of the church? How does my ministry fit within that role?
At my church we have adopted Rick Warrens 5 purposes of the church to become the purpose for our church. I have a problem with this for two reasons. I feel when you limit the purpose of the church to a checklist you limit the potential of the church. This is why I believe the Rick Warren 5 fold-purpose of the church (and other models like it) is inadequate. The church is more organic in nature (as opposed to mechanical) and its stated purpose should reflect this. However, this does open up the possibility of not emphasizing enough structure within the church you can again miss the purpose of the church. Even organics have structure within them.
As church leaders it is our responsibility to discover what the purpose of the church is, and then we must see how each ministry of our particular church fit within that purpose. I believe the specific purpose of each church is different, but the general purpose of the church is universal. Just as everyone has a different body, but we are all supported by the same skeleton. Taking someone elses purpose statement for the church makes life too easy for you - you have an answer to a question but you aren’t able to fully understand the answer since it isn’t your own.
Universally, I feel the Church has a unified purpose. Jack Cottrell, in his book “The Faith Once For All” (a theology text book), states there is a two-fold purpose for the Church. First it is to display God’s glory on earth and second it is to be the means which God shares his goodness with man. I feel this is accurate to scriptures, and is a great summation of the purpose of the Church. With this foundation, we can easily form our own unique purpose statements for our own unique churches.
This allows for a lot of flexibility and creativity to create a purpose statement for your church. It also requires a lot of wisdom, discipline and accountability. You cannot create a purpose statement that is so structured that your ministry becomes nothing more than an equation. Conversely, you cannot create a purpose statement that is so laid back there is no direction for the church to grow. This is a great opportunity for church leaders to reexamine what they wish to accomplish, and will give them the focus the need to accomplish their dreams and goals.
With this in mind, we must identify what ministries will bring about the purpose statement each individual church. For example, does a ladies workout ministry, complete with its own budget and everything, really help bring about the purpose of your church? You must find the ministries that do accomplish the purpose of your church and keep them. You must remove those that suck time and resources with purposes other than the one you stated and remove them. This will leave you with ministries that are effective, and have the ability to accomplish the purpose you have set out to accomplish.
The hardest part (for me that is) is to see how your own ministry accomplishes (or doesn’t accomplish) the church purpose. You have to be honest with yourself with this one. You might have to cut out some of your favorite programs in order to accomplish your church wide purpose, and you might have to add programs you loathe in order to accomplish your church wide purpose. The important thing to remember during this process is that the ministry and the church is not yours. The church is headed by Christ, and the ministry is headed by the church. You are accomplishing Christ’s will, not your own.
I feel this is the most effective way to find purpose, clarity and effectiveness within a church. I am very confident that I have not presented any new ideas for finding the purpose within a church. For me, this blog post was a way to organize my own thoughts. I felt it would be important to share with the world in the hopes that my thoughts might spark a few thoughts of your own. I also accept that what I have written may not be completely accurate and it may not be the best way to find purpose within a church. This was just for my benefit, but I felt I would be remiss not to share it with you. Please fee free to leave any comments (preferably constructive). We are in this ministry/life thing together, so lets work together to change the world for Jesus.
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
On a Journey to Nowhere
When was the last time you got ready for a vacation by packing your kids and your car and hitting the road. No destination, no directions, no GPS no help at all. It's just you and your family and all your stuff in your car. You turn left out of your driveway, right onto the next street, make the next two lefts and a right then you drive until the sun sets...
You would never do that. My wife really enjoys surprise vacations as much as anyone else, but in order for her to enjoy the vacation there has to be one planned. You have to know where you're going and how to get there. You have an idea in your mind how much you're going to have to pay for food, for hotels and snacks along the way. You have to tell your work ahead of time that you're gonna be on vacation so they know where you are and that you are coming back.
More often than not you discuss with your spouse and family where you are going. You make reservations, you budget for food and pack accordingly. It is an organized experience, and a specific location is waiting for you at the end of your journey.
Why don't we put that much thought into our ministries?
Instead of leading a ministry (whether it be youth, children's, adult, men's, women's, special needs etc.) for the sake of leading a ministry, why not focus on the purpose of the ministry (the goal or vision) and how to make that purpose come to life (direction or strategy). That way you aren't just wandering around, but you have a purpose and a plan.
Decide for yourself: easy or effective?
Its easy to lead a ministry just because it needs to be lead. If you're in KidsMin (as I am) it's easy to throw together a few parties, sprinkle an outreach here and there, have a cool Sunday experience and top it all of with a killer VBS. But this makes me wonder what it is you're doing with your ministry. Are you doing stuff just because it's what everyone else does? Do you have a plan for where you want to take your ministry? Or, are you planning parties because that is what a good KidsMin is supposed to do.
It's effective to have a goal and some direction as to how to get there, but this is not easy. If you have a specific place you want to take your ministry to this takes planning, communication and focus. You need to plan out where it is you want to go, communicate that plan with your fellow ministry leaders, volunteers, elders etc. to be on the same page, and you must maintain your focus along the way.
Doing the effective thing means you will step on people's toes. Being effective might mean you remove some program you normally do because it doesn't fit within your plan for the goal you have picked out. Being effective also means you might have to do some soul searching yourself - are you willing to be humble enough to keep a program you don't like because it is effective? (For example, I hate VBS with every fiber in my body. But if VBS fits within the vision of the ministry and is an effective tool I must be willing to get over myself and keep it.)
Do you have a goal, and a plan to get there? Are you being effective? Or, are you leading a ministry just because it needs to be done.
You would never do that. My wife really enjoys surprise vacations as much as anyone else, but in order for her to enjoy the vacation there has to be one planned. You have to know where you're going and how to get there. You have an idea in your mind how much you're going to have to pay for food, for hotels and snacks along the way. You have to tell your work ahead of time that you're gonna be on vacation so they know where you are and that you are coming back.
More often than not you discuss with your spouse and family where you are going. You make reservations, you budget for food and pack accordingly. It is an organized experience, and a specific location is waiting for you at the end of your journey.
Why don't we put that much thought into our ministries?
Instead of leading a ministry (whether it be youth, children's, adult, men's, women's, special needs etc.) for the sake of leading a ministry, why not focus on the purpose of the ministry (the goal or vision) and how to make that purpose come to life (direction or strategy). That way you aren't just wandering around, but you have a purpose and a plan.
Decide for yourself: easy or effective?
Its easy to lead a ministry just because it needs to be lead. If you're in KidsMin (as I am) it's easy to throw together a few parties, sprinkle an outreach here and there, have a cool Sunday experience and top it all of with a killer VBS. But this makes me wonder what it is you're doing with your ministry. Are you doing stuff just because it's what everyone else does? Do you have a plan for where you want to take your ministry? Or, are you planning parties because that is what a good KidsMin is supposed to do.
It's effective to have a goal and some direction as to how to get there, but this is not easy. If you have a specific place you want to take your ministry to this takes planning, communication and focus. You need to plan out where it is you want to go, communicate that plan with your fellow ministry leaders, volunteers, elders etc. to be on the same page, and you must maintain your focus along the way.
Doing the effective thing means you will step on people's toes. Being effective might mean you remove some program you normally do because it doesn't fit within your plan for the goal you have picked out. Being effective also means you might have to do some soul searching yourself - are you willing to be humble enough to keep a program you don't like because it is effective? (For example, I hate VBS with every fiber in my body. But if VBS fits within the vision of the ministry and is an effective tool I must be willing to get over myself and keep it.)
Do you have a goal, and a plan to get there? Are you being effective? Or, are you leading a ministry just because it needs to be done.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Knowing It All
I am not a very patient person - and that is an understatement. I do not like waiting my turn to gas up my car, I go grocery shopping at odd hours so I don't have to wait in line at the register, I would rather take the long way home than drive in traffic, and I refuse to stand in line early for anything. I want whatever it is I think I need and I want it now!
Previously I checked out the website of the church I went to as a kid, and I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. I saw a completely renovated site, new staff positions, a clear vision - and most importantly, success. It was weaved all through their website and Facebook page. This is a church that has it together, they know what they're doing, where they're going and just how to get there! I was/am so excited for them and excited that I was able to be a part of that church in its early and developing stages.
And then the pangs of jealousy began to course through my blood. That was something I wanted to be a part of! They are organized, unified, and ready to change the world for Jesus, and I want to be a part of it! After all, I have been in ministry for a year and a half, I am experienced, I know what a 21st century Children's Ministry is supposed to look like, and how it is supposed to function. I know that in order to help kids develop a faith they keep forever you have to build relationships and partner with parents. I know you have to have super cool worship, engaging story time and most importantly - small groups!
I knew I was ready for the big show, I was ready to head out into the world of big churches and do important stuff! They don't need me here in Clarksville, someone else can do what I do easily enough. So I was ready to pack my bags, move my wife and ministry somewhere else where it would be cooler, and bigger and shinier! I knew I was ready.
...Notice how I write in the past tense? There is a good reason for that.
I get back from my lunch break and the Senior Minister says "Hey Tim! Why don't you step into my office for a moment?"
Uh-oh.
You see, volunteers in my ministry came to him to tell him about me. Apparently, I don't have listening skills. My volunteers have been telling me for weeks about three simple changes that needed to be made to make their life easier - but I didn't listen. I knew that my reasons for not doing those three simple things were solid. I didn't think a minute inconvenience would really bother anyone. Besides, I am ready for bigger and better things, I know it all!
Well, I was quite wrong. I don't know everything. The moment you come to a point where you think you know everything is the moment when you know you are the most wrong. There is nothing holding me back from being the best Children's Minister ever. Nothing other than me.
It's important to remember that even though the parts of ministry change, the base principles remain. That's what I have to learn. I am up to date on the newest and coolest ways to do children's ministry, but if I don't have a solid base, it won't matter how up to date the parts of my ministry are. If I have my eyes too far ahead, I am bound to trip over what is right in front of me.
I don't know it all. You don't either.
Jesus does know it all, and he is in charge.
Never forget that.
Previously I checked out the website of the church I went to as a kid, and I was pleasantly surprised at what I saw. I saw a completely renovated site, new staff positions, a clear vision - and most importantly, success. It was weaved all through their website and Facebook page. This is a church that has it together, they know what they're doing, where they're going and just how to get there! I was/am so excited for them and excited that I was able to be a part of that church in its early and developing stages.
And then the pangs of jealousy began to course through my blood. That was something I wanted to be a part of! They are organized, unified, and ready to change the world for Jesus, and I want to be a part of it! After all, I have been in ministry for a year and a half, I am experienced, I know what a 21st century Children's Ministry is supposed to look like, and how it is supposed to function. I know that in order to help kids develop a faith they keep forever you have to build relationships and partner with parents. I know you have to have super cool worship, engaging story time and most importantly - small groups!
I knew I was ready for the big show, I was ready to head out into the world of big churches and do important stuff! They don't need me here in Clarksville, someone else can do what I do easily enough. So I was ready to pack my bags, move my wife and ministry somewhere else where it would be cooler, and bigger and shinier! I knew I was ready.
...Notice how I write in the past tense? There is a good reason for that.
I get back from my lunch break and the Senior Minister says "Hey Tim! Why don't you step into my office for a moment?"
Uh-oh.
You see, volunteers in my ministry came to him to tell him about me. Apparently, I don't have listening skills. My volunteers have been telling me for weeks about three simple changes that needed to be made to make their life easier - but I didn't listen. I knew that my reasons for not doing those three simple things were solid. I didn't think a minute inconvenience would really bother anyone. Besides, I am ready for bigger and better things, I know it all!
Well, I was quite wrong. I don't know everything. The moment you come to a point where you think you know everything is the moment when you know you are the most wrong. There is nothing holding me back from being the best Children's Minister ever. Nothing other than me.
It's important to remember that even though the parts of ministry change, the base principles remain. That's what I have to learn. I am up to date on the newest and coolest ways to do children's ministry, but if I don't have a solid base, it won't matter how up to date the parts of my ministry are. If I have my eyes too far ahead, I am bound to trip over what is right in front of me.
I don't know it all. You don't either.
Jesus does know it all, and he is in charge.
Never forget that.
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