Generous Giving – It’s In the WHY, Not the HOW

by William Cowles  

We receive a lot of church newsletters and many of them, particularly as they start their stretch runs to the end of the year, are ramping up their giving appeals.

With few exceptions, their pitches are couched in “how to” terms, such as the example here (church identity removed). This appeal appears in various forms every week and this church is good about reporting its giving results, even when they are consistently below their budget need. But, if they have to repeat it every week – it’s not working.

So, here’s our gift to share with all churches everywhere that have ever needed to ask for more giving:

Instead of hammering “3 easy WAYS to give,” share“3 powerful REASONS to give."

People are smart. They know “HOW to give” – what they need is a reason “WHY to give.”
  

That ought to be easy for you churches that are actively discipling in your communities, because you can see growth and life change all around you. People (givers) want to know RESULTS. What does the money do to make some part of the world better? Who does it help? What more can be achieved with more giving?

This is an easy first step in building a culture of generosity in your church. Try it – you’ll like it!

Preventing Ignorance, Indifference, or Arrogance

by William Cowles

You can stop growth-choking attitudes before they start in your church.

In my previous blog, I looked at three attitudes that signal that a member-church relationship may be in trouble – that the journey isn’t going as smoothly as the initial alliance promised. Church cultures are heavily populated by occasional participants and volunteer leaders, and a broadly based attitude change can sneak up before it’s ever noticed.

For each of those dangerous attitudes, then, here are some ways that healthy churches can help themselves avoid these traps:

1.       Ignorance – They’re clueless. When member attendance starts slipping, when giving starts to trickle down, when participation becomes less and less frequent – church leaders, staff, and pastors don’t notice. This may be the most dangerous of signs because it develops slowly and subtly over a long time, and people who have created that unawareness, just can’t see it. 

• Repeat yourself, over and over. Restate your vision each week. Remind everyone of the church’s purpose.
• Assume nothing. State the basics regularly. Don’t take understanding for granted.
• Diversify your messages. Don’t rely on one medium – use them all because people learn differently. Use print, use digital, use speech, use drama, use art, use music, use participation.

2.      Indifference – They’re care-less. When attrition starts accelerating, they chalk it up to external factors they don’t think they can control. They rationalize – some people always move away for better jobs; some people die; some people just can’t be happy anywhere. This sign shows a lack of accountability by people who are good at pointing the other way.

• Don’t settle for ‘”good enough.” It’s too easy to get used to mediocrity or less because what becomes familiar and comfortable, eventually becomes “right.”
• Empower and equip the “people people.” Put gregarious people in position to greet and engage others. Put great communicators on the platform. Give social people social  power.
• Reward results. Celebrate individual and group accomplishments. When lives are changed, rejoice. When projects are completed, applaud. When people achieve new or greater things, pat them on the back publicly.

3.       Arrogance – They’re thoughtless. When all the planning and participation is done by just a few well-placed people – leaders, staff, or pastors – that defines a church that has fallen in love with its own power and purpose, and outsiders just don’t matter to them. New people are not allowed into the inner circle, so they never get challenged and never grow. This is the most obvious of the three signs, because its perpetrators love to show off their wisdom and skill at running the church.

• Shift the power base regularly. No one should sit in the same seat of power for more than three years. It either stagnates or burns them out. It offers no room for others to grow. Make it a policy to re-upholster the seats of power and then stick to the plan.
• Apprentice new leaders. The main job of each leader is to find his/her replacement. Make it a priority goal for each and every leader to find and bring the next leader from the ranks of non-leaders, then let them walk alongside.
• Encourage the opposite points of view. Some people are way too good at pressing their own ideas and agendas in forceful and convincing ways. Make it a practice to always present and weigh the opposites before making decisions.

Yes, some of these are harder than others to get done, but your results will be spectacular even when your church has slipped into disrepair.

Instill these strategies and you will create a culture of openness, acceptance, and energy among your people that will keep them fully engaged in the life of the church. It’s way too hard to slip into harmful attitudes when you’re accomplishing great things for God, nurturing others in faithful service, and having some fun at the same time.

3 Attitudes that Drive Church Members Away

by William Cowles

What’s your church’s attitude about its members? After new recruits have signed the pledge and joined the club, does your church continue to embrace, engage, and energize your disciples the same way it did when they were wooing them? Or, does it take them for granted?

We talk a lot about visitor first impressions that either pull people in or push them away from a church, but there also can be slow-developing feelings of discontent that regular pew-fillers get over time. Too many church leaders often fail to recognize that, for newcomers, the courtship and honeymoon end pretty quickly. No matter how attractive and energizing the church’s vision, mission, and purpose were to them at first, people get restless when they’re put on the shelf and taken for granted. And when people become discontented, the church rarely realizes it until it’s too late and good people are gone.

Healthy churches understand people’s needs for fuel. They continue to nurture relationships among even their most faithful, sacrificial, serving, and humble leaders and members. Unhealthy churches typically fall into attitudes of ignorance, indifference, or arrogance about people whom they see as comfortably in the fold. Healthy churches look at each and every person as a fresh opportunity for spiritual support and equipping. Unhealthy churches take their people for granted and leave them to find their way on their own.

In this blog, we’ll take a look at the three attitudes that signal that a relationship may be crumbling – that all isn’t smooth sailing on the surface of the church-member alliance. Then, in Part 2, we’ll offer some ways that healthy churches can help themselves avoid these traps.

Unhealthy churches don’t recognize these attitudes in themselves:

1.     Ignorance – They’re clueless. When member attendance starts slipping, when giving starts to trickle down, when participation becomes less and less frequent – church leaders, staff, and pastors don’t notice. This may be the most dangerous of signs because it develops slowly and subtly over a long time, and people who have created that unawareness, just can’t see it.

2.     Indifference – They’re care-less. When attrition starts accelerating, they chalk it up to external factors they don’t think they can control. They rationalize – some people always move away for better jobs; some people die; some people just can’t be happy anywhere. This sign shows a lack of accountability by people who are good at pointing the other way. 

3.     Arrogance – They’re thoughtless. When all the planning and participation is done by just a few well-placed people – leaders, staff, or pastors – that defines a church that has fallen in love with its own power and purpose, and outsiders just don’t matter to them. New people are not allowed into the inner circle, so they never get challenged and never grow. This is the most obvious of the three signs, because its perpetrators love to show off their wisdom and skill at running the church.

Do you see signs of those attitudes in your church? If so, it’s time to step back and check your attitude. Take a 30,000-foot look at how others perceive their relationship to your faith community – before you have to close the doors for good.

Change Can Change Everything

by Reba Collins

As I said in last week’s blog, watching children grow and develop reminds us that change is a constant presence in our lives, and it is necessary for growth. While God may be the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow, we and our world are not. That includes our churches.

Change is God’s birthplace for new visions to emerge within us or through us. When you sense the need for your church to change because conditions have changed around you, it’s time to re-envision the future.

You can begin your own Re+Visioning process with:

1. Taking a break. Gather a group of leaders to pause and pray. It might take a month, two months, or a year before God’s path becomes clear. But cut through the chaos of busy ministries to discover how God has used change to change your church.

2. Getting some good information. Your church community and the community around your church are changing. Every. Single. Day. The problem is that most of it is so incremental that you’re not aware of its effect. Take the time to assess the changes that are out of your control before deciding how to respond to them.

3. Find an objective observer. Fresh eyes see you differently. They aren’t carrying around the extra change of your organization and can be an unanxious presence in highly emotional environments. And don’t kid yourself, change is personal for those who care. Every. Single. Time. A neutral third-party sees things you can’t, and says things you won’t.

Each change has the potential to bring a new perspective of what’s possible for us, for those we love, and for the organizations in which we experience life. This is where new visions are born.

Is it time for you and your church family to change your vision of what’s possible? Is it tomorrow yet?

New Visions Begin with Change

by Reba Collins

The more things change, the more they remain the same.

Do you think that’s true for everything? I don’t. I’m reminded of the fallacy of this when I think about the changes that are constantly occurring in my children. They certainly carry the same DNA they were born with, but each year they become very different in appearance, attitudes, interests, and how they envision their futures. An aspiring Halloween costume snipper today can easily see herself as a world famous theatrical designer many years later.

The reality is that visions change with time, because of different conditions, and in response to unplanned-for situations. It’s true with kids, and it’s true with churches.

Whether in individuals or churches, God uses change to birth visions. When we tune into God’s plans, each change creates the opportunity for us to give new purpose to an old vision. Change allows us to re-envision what’s possible, and the future always looks slightly different when we pause to reflect on what was, in light of what is, and in hope of what can be.

Does your church family have a time each year when it pauses to look at the changes that have occurred within the church and the community around it? Are you catching the opportunities for growth that accompany change? Is it past time to Re+Vision and find a better future for your church?

 Churches decline and die if they stay the same when conditions, communities, and cultures change around them. In last week’s blog, we gave 7 signs that let churches know when it’s time to reflect and redirect. Next week’s blog will tell you how you can start Re+Visioning as a church.

Our children grow up and change quickly. As they do, we anticipate it. We plan for it. And, ultimately, we re-envision with them their futures with each mile marker. That is how God created us.

Our churches are a collection of God’s children. When we expect and anticipate their changes, we bring new visions to who we are and what our purposes are to be. And when that happens, we see that God remains the same today as he was yesterday and as he will be tomorrow, encouraging us to change for a better future.

The 7 Signs Your Church Needs a New View

by Reba Collins and William Cowles

 

Loss or lack of vision is too common in too many churches – regardless of age or size. Ironically, the signs of loss/lack of vision will be obvious to everyone except the church's most faithful leaders and members – often including the pastor!

Re+Visioning is the key to restoring health, vitality, and growth in a local church. Even one or two of the following signs can indicate that a church has lost or is losing its vision:

1.       Passive worship – People come in, sit and stare, and get up and leave. Every service feels like a funeral.

2.      Little or no visitor stream – A quick glance confirms that everyone you expect to be there is in their self-assigned seats; all is good.

3.       Low ministry/mission participation – Each and every event and activity has a small, devoted following of pretty much the same people time and again.

4.      Volunteer drought – Soliciting volunteers never ends because enough people never step up.

5.      Stagnant small groups – Groups and classes never change; never multiply.

6.      DIY discipleship – Whether or not you learn and grow is up to you alone.

7.       Financial scrambling – Campaigned begging never seems to end; needs are never met; the most effective solutions are those that cut costs and reduce ministry, not expand it.

Churches that either don't see or ignore those signs will experience decline. But decline doesn't have to be deadly.
 

By Re+Visioning  –  rediscovering or  refocusing your vision, mission, and purpose  –  your church can get back on a healthy track before people get to that point of panic when they say, "We have to save the church!"

Does your church need to Re+Vision? Click here to discover the powerful impact Re+Visioning can bring to your church, then contact us at ACTIONPoint Ministry Consulting and Coaching.