THE LEADERSHIP HUB AND SPIRITUAL INCUBATORS

A while back I posted an article "The Executive Team." It was an attempt to put into language that some of your church leadership for whom "business think" is their default mode to begin to see how leadership in a spiritual organism functions. In discussing this with those in leadership who see a possible danger in using such terms, we reframed his somewhat differently.

In most churches the Lead Pastor is the ranking officer or as we sometimes say, "First among equals." This does not mean the Lead Pastor is the only leader that counts. It means because of the office he has been given and the gifts he has been given, he serves as the point man on the church's mission and in communicating its God-given vision. It is an "office" that carries with it a natural positional authority that is enhanced by relationship authority.

In my own church, however, there are three other officers who have a similar positional authority that is enhanced by relational authority. They are the Council President (i.e., the church lay leader of the church), the Chairperson of the Elders (who leads those persons particularly responsible for the spiritual health and faithfulness of the congregation), and the Chairperson of the Strategic Advisory Team (the group that helps us formulate a unified mission and ministry plan that keeps us true to our vision, and to help all groups evaluate their effectiveness.)

They are a form of "top" leadership which means they are the first to model Servant Leadership.
From their position, they have many groups or leaders answerable to them. From their relationships, they model both the servanthood and Spirit-guided team work necessary to be faithful and fruitful as a church.

We are now treating them as a LEADERSHIP HUB into which ideas, issues, concerns, dreams, problems and opportunities are channeled. Then in their regular dialogue they seek what part of the church structure is best suited to respond to this concern. It is a way for people throughout the church to know where first to take their thoughts and the ones that people can know will be accountable to see that these concerns are addressed or these dreams are fostered.

We are calling the places they are assigned to as THE SPIRITUAL INCUBATORS. In our next post we will attempt to describe that in a helpful way.

It's a new concept that is evolving with us as a church in our desire to be effective stewards of the Great Vision our Great God has given a Great Church. We'll keep you posted.

21 QUESTIONS TO ASK

21 Questions I’ve Been Asking (Myself) Lately

Click on the link and you can see the original website by Timmy Brister from which this article comes.

Several of you will find these questions familiar, but their familiarity does not minimize the piercing factor for this pastor. I wanted to put them out there in case others might find them helpful.

1. If our church would cease to exist in our city, would it be noticed and missed?

2. If all the pastors were tragically killed in a car accident, would the church’s ministry cease or fall apart?

3. If the only possible means of connecting with unbelievers were through the missionary living of our church members, how much would we grow? (I ask this because the early church did not have signs, websites, ads, marketing, etc.)

4. What are the subcultures within the church? Do they attract or detract from the centrality of the gospel and mission of the church?

5. Is our church known more for what we are not/against than what we are/for?

6. What are we allowing to be our measuring stick of church health? (attendance vs. discipleship; seating capacity vs. sending capacity; gospel growth, training on mission, etc.)

7. Are the priorities of our church in line with the priorities of Christ’s kingdom?

8. If our members had 60 seconds to explain to an unbeliever what our church is like, what would you want them to say? How many do you think are saying that?

9. If the invisible kingdom of God became visible in our city, what would that look like?

10. In what ways have we acted or planned in unbelief instead of faith?

11. As a pastor, is my time spent more in fixing people’s problems or helping people progress in faith through training/equipping them for ministry?

12. Are the people we are reaching more religious or pagan?

13. What can we learn about our evangelism practices by the kind of people are being reached with the gospel?

14. What will it take to reach those in our city who are far from God and have no access to the gospel?

15. What percentage of our growth is conversion growth (vs. transfer growth)?

16. How many people know and are discharging their spiritual gifts in active service and building up of the body of Christ?

17. How many people do I know (and more importantly know me) on a first name basis in my community and city who do not attend our church?

18. Am I using people to get ministry done, or am I using ministry to get people “done”?

19. Is the vision we are casting forth honoring both God’s heart for the lost (builder) and God’s passion for a pure church (perfecter)?

20. If money and space were not an issue, what is one thing we ought to dream for God to do in our midst where it is impossible for anyone to get the credit except for the omnipotent hand of God?

21. If being a church planting church is comprised of disciple-making disciples, then how are we doing?

Got any other questions that you could add? Please pass them along!

MORE THAN METHOD - THE MESSAGE AS FUEL FOR MINISTRY

I came across this video on a blog dedicated to important questions being asked of missional churches. Although a traditional church in many ways, Coral Ridge Presbyterian has embraced many missional concepts and clearly exhibits an outward focus. This is video expresses on the key ideas of an effective missional theology.

TYPOS

Note from Steve: I author several blogs. One is called LIFE MATTERS and can be accessed at
http://www.yourlifematterstogod.blogspot.com

Recently one of the readers of that blog who also reads this one suggested I cross post - to give some insight into the quality that needs to considered as you communicate to the world, but also the grace in which you must operate.

I hate TYPOS. I was just reading the header on this blog and found a small typo. I wonder how long it has been there. Any typo that makes it into print has existed too long.

Typos mar your image. They are a literary smudge on your life's script. You can be seen as a genius or even a savior, but a typo causes people to entertain the thought that you are not thoughtful. That you are careless. I imagine Jesus was glad that he didn't have to print a bulletin or publish a blog. There are no typos in an oral presentation. (As I originally typed that sentence, it read "They are no types ..."

I have learned that to proofread your own work doesn't eliminate typos. Your mind "sees" what you intended to say, not its incorrect spelling. And spell check is not a help if the word resembles another word that means something else. (Is that a typo of meaning?) Secretaries who make typos on the boss's stuff make people think the boss is not supervising properly.

The list of the little "hells" that a typo unleashes goes on.

Yet a typo can also actually be the reflection of someone who thinks deeply and creatively. My wife says my typos come because my mind moves faster than my keyboard. I am far down the track in an idea and don't see the typo that has occurred in the aftermath. (I like that explanation.)

Typos are types typed on a keyboard that rise up and embarrass us. But typos may not be so much a reflection of our haste or carelessness as it is a reflection of our humanity. Hopefully people will measure us by the fruit, not our typos.

A LITTLE MORE FUEL FOR COMMUNICATION TOOLS

We continue to be challenged with the implications of the technological revolution in the area of communication and social media. Still I am sure there are people who say, "What's the big deal?"
So here's something to add to the dialogue.

A CHURCH FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T LIKE CHURCH

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=405440397891&ref=mf

I subscribe on Facebook to ExponentialChurchtv.com This video speaks to the essential element of grace in being a welcoming church. Click the link and reflect.

Steve

BEING A "GOD" INFLUENCE - 2

To engage people in culture we must remember that holiness is separation from sin, not separation from sinners. - Ed Stetzer

In 2002 my congregation at Landisville began a series of "Thinking Forward Meetings." The Elders had invited the entire congregation to seek the mind of Christ for the future direction of the church. 71 persons attended 13 of these small group gatherings to share how they had seen God at work leading the church and what they believed we needed to deal with in order to be faithful to God.

In one meeting, 82 year old Bernie McFarland (a life long member of the church) announced, "If this church died tomorrow, no one would really notice. They think of us as the rich church on the hill (a reference to our magnificent stained glass windows), but we have no real impact on this community."

From that statement and similar confirming statements, my congregation set out on a journey to be a church that impacted its community for Christ in life-changing ways. Borrowing a model from Robert Lewis in The Church of Irresistible Influence we set out to build bridges to the community in prayerful hope that our interaction and relationships as the church with the community out in the community would draw people into the Body of Christ.

We also worked on understanding and embodying our core values so that when people connected with the Church they'd meet the real Jesus living in and through us. That meant we had to mature and grow as disciples who each day reflected the character of Christ--trusting the Spirit of God to make us influencers for God in the world without fear that the world would influence us.