Tracking the Intangible

I’ve been traveling for a few weeks and made my last stop this weekend in Austin, Texas for the South by Southwest Interactive technology conference. Terry Storch and I were speaking on Technology for Results, Not Profits, and the people attending the session were from very diverse backgrounds. Most were from non-profits, but only a few were from churches.  We talked about sustainability for non-profits (keeping the boat floating) as well as the importance of measuring results.

In a for profit company…the one main measurable is obviously profit. In a church context, there are several common tangibles that are measured (attendance, giving, baptisms, members). We track this kind of information at LifeChurch.tv, and created ChurchMetrics to make it simpler.

But beyond these metrics, there are other indicators that can help us gauge whether we’re on the right track (community or spiritual growth, for example). What are some of the intangibles that your church is trying to measure and how?

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Joel A’Bell - 3

Hillsong Church is gifted at developing leaders and taking risks on the next generation.

After seeing how Hillsong raises leaders, I told our staff, “We’re not going to recruit volunteers but release leaders.” Joel A’Bell answers my questions about building leaders.

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UMC - Part 6

This may be the most controversial suggestion I’ll make. I understand that the implications are enormous and complicated. I also acknowledge the “real estate” ownership questions this raises (which is another important issue).

I think the United Methodist Church either needs to become united again or intentionally part ways.

Today, there is a huge divide between liberal Methodists and evangelical Methodists. While I don’t pretend to understand all of the nuances of the issues, I know that division doesn’t help anyone.

While conferences are wrestling with questions around ordaining homosexuals and the inspiration of scripture, Methodist churches are dying daily. More importantly, people are dying daily without a relationship with Christ.

While the UMC prides itself in being open, many of my evangelical peers don’t believe that their conference is very open to them.

Being an evangelical, I’m obviously biased. It is my humble opinion that pastors should boldly preach the life-changing Word of God and the new birth in Christ. Without the powerful proclamation of the Gospel, I don’t see any hope of survival. If liberal leaders won’t support evangelicals, the denomination would be wise to allow them a way to gracefully exit.

I pray God will bless and empower the UM Church to unite and share Christ around the world!

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UMC—Part 4

(Note: I’m very grateful for the spirit of the discussion this week. I hope these posts don’t come across as arrogant but as humble suggestions from someone who cares. I acknowledge that my ideas may not be possible — or may not work, but hopefully, they will spur on helpful conversations.)

When I was an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church, our church grew from about 300 people to close to 700 people (which at the time was considered a very large church).

Each Methodist Church paid their share of “apportionments.” Although I’m not certain where the apportionments go, I’m assuming they support UMC missionaries, hospitals, benevolence ministries, district superintendents, bishops, administrative costs, etc.

It was also my understanding (and my UMC friends can correct me if I’m wrong), that the apportionments also helped support smaller churches that couldn’t make it on their own. I firmly believe that UMC churches partnering together is one of the keys to its future! The denomination’s connectedness is a great strength. But heavy apportionments on larger churches could ultimately hurt the whole. I’ll explain.

At FUMC, we paid approximately 17% of our budget to apportionments. (I was told larger churches paid higher perecentages.) This model could prevent strong churches from growing stronger. If the church has more resources to put toward evangelism, church planting, their own ministry passions, and expansion, perhaps the churches could grow larger and more influential.

If the UMC had more growing and visible churches (like Granger Community Church, in Indiana, Ginghamsburg Church in Tipp City, Ohio and Church of the Resurrection in Kansas City, Kansas), these churches could help attract new leaders and bring a wave of hope and optimism.

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UMC - Part 3

As I continue to think about the future of the United Methodist Church, I’m hopeful that the UMC (and other mainline denominational churches) will attract and retain more young leaders.

To do so effectively would take many fundamental changes. One might include re-evaluating the ordination process.

When I was a UMC pastor, I was an un-ordained “local pastor” for three years, spent four years in seminary (while serving full time at a church) and had two more years before I’d become fully ordained as an elder.

While I appreciate the education and accountability, many younger leaders want to be “in the game” more than they want to leap through lots of denominational hurdles.

Today’s emerging Christian leaders are eager to make a difference—now. Many have already been around the world on mission trips and certainly have a more global and missional mindset than my generation did. If they are tied down to cumbersome process that delays their opportunities to make a difference, they are likely to do ministry elsewhere.

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UMC—Part 2

One of the biggest challenges (in my opinion) for the UMC church involves the itinerant system.

Here is a brief statement about the itinerant system from the UMC:

“The itinerant system is the accepted method of The United Methodist Church by which ordained elders are appointed by the bishop to fields of labor. All ordained elders shall accept and abide by these appointments.”

Basically, once a minister is fully ordained as an elder, the Bishop appoints the minister to whichever church the Bishop (or cabinet/board) believes is God’s best.

This model presents several challenges:

1. The local church doesn’t have much say (if any) in selecting their pastor.
2. The pastor and pastor’s family may hesitate to fully engage in a community knowing their future is uncertain.
3. The people in the church know their pastor could be moved at any time.
4. The length of tenure in the itinerant system is often much shorter than others. This creates problems of building trust, casting vision, and developing long-term relationships.

While this system had advantages and was effective for years, it is largely ineffective today. I am totally convinced that LifeChurch would not be close to what it is today if the staff, the body, or my family knew that any year I could be asked to leave and serve another church.

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Results Verses Reality

To be increasingly effective as a person and leader, we must grow in our self-perception. Without knowing it, many people believe things about themselves that are simply not true.

One of my mentors says, “People are polite. Don’t believe everything good they say about you.”

Instead of simply listening to what people say (or what you believe), look at the outcomes of your efforts.

Here are a few examples:

• If people tell you that you are a great leader; but you have extremely high turnover in your staff, maybe you’re not as great as you believe you are.
• If you believe you are a great teacher, but few people sign up for your class; maybe your best gift isn’t really teaching.
• If you think you are funny, but other people simply don’t get your humor; you should probably keep your day job.

In the early years, I believed that I was effective in communicating God’s principles of generosity. Even though I thought I was effective, our church didn’t seem to grow much, if any, in generosity. People would even say, “That was a good sermon on generosity.” But if we aren’t getting the desired results, it doesn’t matter what people say or what we believe.

Once I realized that I wasn’t as effective as I thought, I opened my heart to hear clearly from God. He showed me I wasn’t as generous as I believed I was. God changed me before He changed our church.

You may believe something to be true, but if you don’t see results, what you believe may not be true.

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Self-Perception

Someone said, “Perception is reality except for self-perception.” The first part of that statement is debatable, but the second part is unquestionably true. (Anyone who doesn’t believe it only needs to watch the tryouts of American Idol.)

Accurate self-perception is extremely difficult to obtain—especially for successful leaders.

Instead of becoming more aware of weaknesses and vulnerabilities, flourishing leaders can easily become increasingly blinded.

One would think that success draws wise advisors. Unfortunately, the opposite is often true. The higher one rises in any organization, the more likely others will tell them what they want to hear, rather than the truth.

This week we’ll talk about how to become increasingly self-aware so we can grow as leaders and as people.

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