6 Organizational Requirements Growing Churches Embrace
I hear it from church leaders, elders, and staff al the time. “Our church is an ORGANISM!”
I understand their passion. I also know no organism can function well outside of some great organization. Take a car or your physical body. It’s all the integrated and interdependent systems that make it work.
The same is true for the church. In this post, I point out 6 organizational requirements growing, healthy churches embrace.
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A LOT of churches have asked me about my Church Engagement Journey Model. It’s a framework for integrating evangelism and edification, digital and physical. Learn more here: https://gavinadams.com/church-discipleship-model/
Don’t Allow Theology to Stall Ministry
REAL QUICK: So many churches are asking me about my Church Engagement Journey model. To help, I’m offering a FREE WEBINAR this Tuesday at 2:00 pm EST. Even if you can’t attend, register anyway to get the replay and a discount code for the “REMODELING YOUR CHURCH MODEL” Course and Masterclass.
CLICK HERE: https://gavinadams.com/webinar-remodel-your-church-model/
ON TO THE POST…
It’s inevitable…
You’re in a meeting. Perhaps with the staff, elders, or maybe core volunteers. Your church isn’t dying, but you know it could and should be better. It MUST be better. There’s too much at stake. Too many lives in your community lived far from God. And you have a passion and desire to do something about it.
From this place, you begin to address how you do church. Not what you do or who you do it for, but how.
How is a strategy conversation. Your strategy, ministry model, and plans represent the how of your mission and vision.
Then it happens. It’s basically inevitable.
Someone in the meeting can sit still no longer. They blurt out,
“I thought we existed for the Gospel!!! We’re not a business!!! We aren’t an organization!!!”
Happens nearly every time.
It’s happened to me from time to time.
Theology and ministry often find themselves in a church cage match. But it need not be this way. If we all this to exist, we find ourselves in church quicksand, incapable of getting out and moving forward.
Read this NEW POST to learn more about the different AND how to live with both as a church leader.
Use This “Stop” Doing List to Start Growing Your Church
POINT OF THE POST…
Leaders spend so much time thinking about what they can DO to make things better, but they rarely consider what they should stop doing. This post gives leaders 5 things to stop doing.
1. STOP Leading in Fear.
2. STOP trying to Keep People.
3. STOP confusing theology and strategy.
4. STOP attempting to Control Everything.
5. STOP believing the old way will work in our new time.
Read the post to dig into each one.
ONE MORE THING: I love working with leaders. So much that I recently created a Leadership Toolbox Course:
https://gavinadams.com/product/course-leadership-toolbox/
The course contains 6 specific leadership tools you need to lead your team, organization, company, or church well. Check it out.
How You Can Help Your Community Trust Your Church Again
POINT OF THE POST…
This post is focused on how people outside your church see your church and, more importantly, what you can do about it.
Here’s a quick glimpse. Check out the entire post for some solutions:
I subscribe to several research organizations like Gallup and Barna. Last week, Gallup sent an email with their year-end highlights that felt much more like lowlights. The article was titled “Highs and Lows of 2022, U.S. Edition.”
It was a synopsis of the “most momentous shifts in public opinion in the U.S. this year.”
Here are a few “highlights:”
1. Belief in God in U.S. Dips to 81%, a New Low
2. Americans Less Optimistic About Next Generation’s Future
3. Media Confidence Ratings at Record Lows
4. Confidence in U.S. Institutions Down; Average at New Low
Yikes.
These data points should terrify and encourage you if you’re a pastor or ministry leader. The terror is easier to see. We’ll get to the encouragement in the post.
FYI: I’m working with many churches to resolve the cultural issues around reaching our community and growing our church body. I have a course I’m releasing soon, but I’m giving you access to the FIRST COURSE MODULE FOR FREE: https://gavinadams.com/product/free-module-remodeling-your-church-model/
Thanks, Gavin
5 Decisions Every Church Must Make
I believe the church’s mission is the most important mission on the planet.
Do you believe that, as well?
If so, this post is for you: 5 Decisions Every Church Must Make.
If you’re not ready to do some hard work to move the KIngdom forward, perhaps skipping this post is best. 😉
Also… if you read this and want to discuss these decisions, let me know. I am launching a new COURSE and MASTERCLASS on the Church Engagement Journey soon.
4 Preparation Commitments that Make All the Difference
In this NEW POST, we’ll look at preparing to lead at our best.
With the New Year just around the corner, we all tend to evaluate the next 12 months, set some goals, and define a few resolutions.
I’d like to add a few commitments around preparation for your next year.
In this NEW POST, I give you 4 that have changed my leadership life.
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Also, if you’re working to be a better leader next year, I recently launched a NEW COURSE: YOUR LEADERSHIP TOOLBOX – https://gavinadams.com/product/course-leadership-toolbox/
This course contains six specific tools every great leader must possess. We talk culture, delegation, trust, and more. Check it out. And through December 31, save 10% with the CODE: finishstrong
Four Realities that Hold Leaders Back from Moving Forward
What needs to change in your church or organization right now?
I suspect you could list several things. Some of the issues you are facing don’t have clear solutions. Many do, though.
What’s keeping you from implementing these solutions? What’s keeping you from fixing the problems?
If we sat down together, you’d offer plenty of reasons the solution cannot be quickly executed. After all, if it were an easy fix, it would still be a problem! But you feel somewhat held back, don’t you? You know how to fix the problem — or you at least know how you’d like to begin fixing the problem. But it feels impossible to move forward. Why is that? What’s holding you back?
It’s rare to see only one element holding leaders back from making progress. It’s most often a combination of issues. Let’s look at four:
“Relevance” Isn’t A Dirty Church Word
THIS IS AN IMPORTANT POST FOR CHURCH LEADERS OF ANY KIND – Senior Pastors, XPs, Students and Children, etc.
If you are in church leadership, I suspect you want next year to be your best year. I’d love to help you turn that hope into reality. After all, hope isn’t a strategy!
POST DETAILS:
Too many churches have misused and abused the term “relevant.” One thing is for sure: We don’t want to be irrelevant!
This NEW POST addresses this question: How relevant is YOUR church?
We talk about measuring relevance, and I offer you 5 practical steps you can take to move your church to better engage with your entire community.
If you find this helpful, please pass this along to any and every other church leader you know.
Merry Christmas! Here’s to making things better!!
Why Are Christians Always So Angry?
Today, I’m writing about angry Christians for two reasons:
1. I’m a recovering angry Christian. And
2. I tend to still get angry at angry Christians.
Give this a read, and I’d love to know your thoughts.
If you’re a pastor, I suspect we could do some really great preaching on this topic!
Do Your Sermons Impress Your Seminary but Confuse Your Church?
Preaching and speaking are emotionally taxing experiences.
There are few places in our life where we are expected to stand in front of a large group of people and be interesting, insightful, helpful, and accurate.
Can you imagine a political speech that maintained these requirements?
Did I mention these speeches happen every seven days?
Luckily our preaching goal isn’t to impress but to help people digest. The digestion of truth allows for application that leads to transformation.
In this post, I focus on making messages more simple. Not simplistic, but simple.
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One more thing: I’d love to work with you, your team, or your campus pastors on communication and preaching. I offer a six-session mastermind course on this topic online or in person – https://gavinadams.com/speaking/
Additionally, I’m happy to preach for you one Sunday and spend time that afternoon and the following day working together. If that’s of interest, let’s chat soon. My 2023 calendar is filling up. I’d love to save you a weekend. Just reply to the email and we’ll go from there.
Talk soon.
