How to Respect Your Pastor

It's not something we as lay leaders say out loud but we think it. We generally think of pastors respecting our leadership not the other way around. After all, we conclude, that we lead "real organizations" in the "real world" with challenges that far exceed the study and preach routine of a pastor.

You may not admit it, even to yourself, but most lay leaders have been there. It is an inappropriate view of all involved.

I believe that being a pastor is one of the hardest "jobs" known to man. Their leadership skills are tried and challenged every single day by church members and leaders who do not respect their abilities or authority. We often see the pastor as someone who was brought into this world by a committee and can be easily taken out of this world by committee. We underestimate the amount of personal challenge they experience in their role. They need and are due our respect.

In general, to fully respect someone, we must understand who they are as a person and what they are encountering in their journey. This is difficult information to garner from a pastor. They are often not at liberty to share with us the who and what of their difficult day. They are not comfortable sharing with us their genuine feelings and frustrations. Pastors often isolate themselves internally to project an external persona as expected by their congregation.

To respect we must understand and to understand we must gain trust. Gaining and cherishing a pastor's trust is an important element of becoming an exceptional lay leader. It takes quiet times of listening to your pastor's fears, goals and frustrations without judging or offering the bullet points of generic success. The trust building conversations will start small and inconsequential. Your pastor must learn they can trust you. When they find that you break that trust, you will not have the opportunity to respect them. When they find that you step up to champion their cause and their performance, they will begin to trust your motives as genuine.

If you distrust your pastor, it is your obligation to remedy that relationship. Our pastor is given obligations by God on our behalf. God has given us obligations as lay leaders to respect that authority and pastoral position in meaningful way. End the cycles of distrust in your church by reaching out to your pastor with respect.

Re-Recruiting Champions

Think about your team and what you need to do in the next week or month to build your team. If you are typical, your leadership mind went to the problem child and the behaviors you need to correct or the motivation you need to build. You likely gave but a passing glance to your stars. Stars, you conclude, don't need much attention. That conclusion should be viewed with caution.

Stars are a dream to work with. They get things done. They move the agenda. They compliment and encourage. The are a joy to be with. They self-manage so you can spend your valuable and limited leadership attention on the more needy team members. The last one wil get you in trouble. That belief that champions need less attention should change if you want to breed excellence and grow a thriving church.

Champions should continually be re-recruited. They need to hear why the organization values their time and effort. They should have their own "one-on-one" meetings with you and other leaders to praise them on their performance. Recognition among their peers should be routine. Treat champions as if you may lose them at any minute.

Re-recruiting a strong team member re-engages their commitment to the organizational effort and holds them out for lower performing team members to study and emulate. Taking champions for granted is a common and costly mistake. It takes years to rebuild from the loss of a champion. Champions should be cherished.

Take a look at the percentage allocation of where you invest your time. Chances are, if you are typical, you invest about 80% of your leadership time with your team on generic team matters or dealing with low performers (or cleaning up their mess). Flip it. Challenge yourself to spend 80% of your time with champions and almost-champions. You'll find the energy and effectiveness of your team are exponentially higher than before. Make it a habit to recruit daily your champions to stay on the team. (And lay leaders, re-recruit your champion pastors in the same way!)

Organizing for Future

I see it as a "wink of the eye" from God when his creation, namely man, has a sense of what should be but doesn't look far enough in application. IBM recently completed a survey of over 1,000 corporate leaders to gain a collective perspective of what the organization of the future will look like. In the "collective insight and wisdom" of these corporate leaders they came up with these five elements:

1. Hungry for change
2. Innovative beyond customer imagination
3. Globally integrated
4. Disruptive by nature
5. Genuine; not just generous

My first impression upon reading the list: Church

God plants within the heart of these unsuspecting business leaders the recipe for a dynamic organization. People are people. People respond to organizations in similar ways. Organizations are effective in similar manners. The five elements of an effective organization of the future, appear to me to have merit for churches desiring to make a significant impact on their community.

1. Hungry for change: A never ceasing hunger to see people change their spiritual groundings, their lifestyle, their behavior and their compassion for others. Hunger is not a sensation to which our culture can relate. It requires that we set aside comfort, personal goals, success to hunger for something different in ways to reach others with something different.

2. Innovative beyond customers imagination: Not innovation for innovation sake or as a "competitive advantage" for the church around the corner to steal market share from the next closest church, but rather a innovation in reaching out and individually seizing people in ways and with meaning that resonate with their soul.

3. Globally integrated: Technology has made global integration a possibility for churches and should be a by-product of pursuing the other four characteristics. Global integration includes serving others who are doing the task better than your church. Integrated carries with it a "behind the scenes" role rather than a global domination strategy for the sake of notoriety.

4. Disruptive by nature: History showed and valued and applauded a disruptive church. The present finds plenty of disruption internally over carpet colors and committee seats, but little in the way of stopping the flow of a life and culture that is headed for ruin. Few churches can be found today challenging the culture. More need to be caught in the act of disruption.

5. Genuine; not just generous: Gulp. Guilty. Genuine church is rare. Genuine church is overwhelmingly attractive. Genuineness is the magnetic pull that brings people face to face with the purpose of the church. Generous is culturally hot with each cause identified with a new plastic wrist band. But generosity as a fashion statement is self-centered. Self-centered generosity is not generous. Those churches that "get it" will and are reaching people in ways and rates not recently seen. Genuine should be the core belief and effort of the five characteristics.

It started with people searching for the organizational answer. It followed that God puts in our heart as lay leaders and pastors what it will take to reach people. It is a shame to let insights into the heart of an effective organization be "wasted" on corporations. What will you do now that you know?

Hiding in an Office

The most dangerous position from which to lead a church, business or organization is from an office.

In terms of the lowest rate of return of any real estate in the organization, the office is by far the winner. An office becomes a deadly organizational trap as leaders experience upward mobility within the organization. A more prominent position brings with it a more private and comfortable space. Keyword being "space."

An office puts an arbitrary space between the leader and the people of action. An office is typically a hiding place far away from the hassles, moans and whining of those on the front-lines of organizational purpose. Leaders build a cocoon of retreat in which they can "think" strategically or plan "purposefully" yet they are so detached from the real action that their thinking and planning are unrealistic and out of touch.

Leaders must keep themselves in the midst of the daily flow of organizational activities. They cannot hide. They cannot retreat. They must see time spent in an office as a detached existence. Conversations with those serving and those being served must take place away from the sterile, paradigm numbing walls of an office.

If your church seems to be out of step with your leadership, honestly assess the time you spend locked in your room. It is time to come out and engage.

Have We Moved the Boundaries?

"Do not move the ancient boundary which your fathers have set." - Proverbs 22:28

I'm always a little apprehensive when I get off in the weeds of theology in a place where so many well informed pastors and lay leaders visit. But I wonder if we, the lay leaders and pastors directed by God to lead matters of His church, have moved some ancient boundaries.

As way of review and not instruction to our learned readers, we know that land, given by God, was a sensitive topic in bible history (Deut. 19:14). God gave land to head of families to in turn assign individual plots. The warning of Proverbs 22:28 was to highlight the importance of respecting those initial assignments and not showing disrespect for the decision of God and ancestors.

I wonder (open question; inviting our readers to expound) if God assigned the "land" to which individual churches are responsible, including the inhabitants of that land -- to particular churches? Are we responsible for certain "dots on a map" defined as our community? Do the curses and implications of Job 24:2, Isa. 5:8, Deut. 27:17, Prov. 15:25, 1 King 21:16-19; Hosea 5:10 hold true for the modern day church?

Should my church, your church, be content with what God has given us to the extent that we are more careful about "stealing market share" for the sake of growth? Are we guilty of moving the boundaries that God set forth? Hmmm?

The Origin of Culture

Confession: Over the span of my 25-years of leadership, I have read several books on creating culture and they have all left me confused.

The "do this and then do that" approach to creating culture, I believe, is flawed. A theory of culture that adequately predicts the variations thrown at a leader is either too shallow in its approach or so complex that execution is beyond managing. My experience has led me to believe that culture is developed when we simply focus on doing the right things.

I hear the sighs of disappointment when such a claim is made. We all hope for the three step, fool proof approach to creating culture. That elusive promise doesn't exist. Culture is a by-product of showing up and doing what is right every minute of the day. The collaboration of lay leaders and pastors agreeing to what is right and then executing on that rightness, brings about lasting, positive culture.

Culture is a reflection of how your church feels about their leadership, and ultimately, each other and their joint purpose. Leadership creates the elements of culture. Culture is simply an expression of that leadership. When a leader "endears" others to his or her leadership, the spark of a positive culture begins to emerge. Culture becomes an after-thought of our efforts. We do right and on occasion look back over our shoulder and see the boundaries of positive culture forming. We don't set out to create culture, we set out to do what is right for and with those we lead.

Doing what is right takes mental toughness and discipline. Leaders fail daily for lack of these two important abilities and convictions. Culture reflects the actions of leaders. If a leader allows favoritism or ignores challenges to the church's purpose, the culture will reflect that decision.

The complexity of how and why culture exists has led me to focus on the key drivers instead of the culture itself. I have found that when a leader (1) cares deeply for those they lead and acts accordingly and (2) creates an environment in which those they lead can make a distinct difference in life -- a meaningful and supportive culture will develop.

Stop trying to create a culture for the sake of creation -- instead, develop the leadership discipline of doing what is right.

Commit to Capture

Observation: (1) Pastor and lay leader team work depends on strong relationships and (2) strong relationships depend on doing what you say you’ll do and (3) keeping your commitments requires remembering them and (4) keeping track of your “to do” items requires an “air tight” capture system. All successful efforts begin with an effective capture system.

I’ve noticed, and I’m guilty as a lay leader, of catching one of our pastors on a Sunday with a request or finding myself unprepared to capture a “to do“ from them. In the fast pace of Sunday activities, that’s probably not the best time for us to discuss a next action, but that is the day that the most interaction occurs. A capture system solves that problem.

While there are many capture mechanisms, and I have tried most of them, my present system is based on the Getting Things Done (GTD) approach. Before I describe my system, let me mention some “runner up” systems that I’ve used that almost fit the bill for me and might fit your routine.

Some prefer to be totally digital incorporating laptop, desktop or handheld solutions. If that is your preference I recommend the applications from 37 Solutions. Entry level use is free and more expanded access is cheap. I use one of the solutions (BackPack) in my current approach, but more about that in a minute. For a straight forward “to do” list design, I recommend the Ta Da product that replicates a simple “to do” list design.

I also spent several years using the Task list along with OneNote on Microsoft Outlook. It is very effective for those who have continual access to their computer. You can of course capture on a slip of paper and enter as a Task on the computer later.

For many “GTDers” the paper approach called Hipster PDA is an effective solution which at its core design is simply a stack of index cards clipped together. My current system uses a variation this approach to capture not only my next action items but notes.

I use a modified Hipster approach with a Levenger Circa 3x5 index card punch. I print the cards on my Canon iP1800 printer which accepts a stack of blank index cards. I print templates, which are abundant if you Google Hipster PDA template, on the blank cards, punch them and insert in my Levenger 3x5 Circa notebook. I carry extra cards in my pocket in case I encounter a hallway conversation without my notebook. I use a fine lead mechanical pencil instead of pen since the writing space is small and I can change entries if the item changes.

The cards follow the GTD philosophy, arranged around the context or place I will do the action item. I have an @office, @home, @errands and someday maybe card to record actions. I use the previously mentioned BackPack from 37 Solutions to keep more extended notes on a project or other long document needs. Each BackPack page has a distinct email address so you can forward an email to a specific page to process later. On the Circa card I’ll remind myself there is more backup by recording (BP) by the action item to prompt me to look in BackPack for more details. On the BackPack site I put a key word from the card in the BackPack internal search engine which pulls up that tagged page.

For email threads that drive an action item on my Circa card I record (OF) to indicate more detail in an Outlook Folder where I have saved the email. I prefer to use Google Desktop to search my Outlook files (I use only a few folders and let Google find the documents) instead of using the Outlook search function.

The journey to an effective capture system that is designed for your personal needs begins with a strong desire to capture and execute on your commitments followed by some experimentation. Grab a stack of index cards and see how the flow feels. Take a peek at the 37 Solutions applications and play around with the free versions. Learn a little more about the capabilities of your laptop, handheld or desktop. Keep revising it until it feels right. Capture the commitment!

Trends May Point to Freelance Pastors

As several trends begin to align, the potential for an increase in freelance pastors is a plausible outcome. As younger generations are more broad in their financial giving as opposed to retiring baby boomers who have been primarily focused on giving to their church, the prospect of cash flow problems are likely for many American churches. Churches with extended mortgages, when faced with reduced cash flow and high building costs will be required to reduce staffing.

The younger generations who are more diverse in their giving will likely be more loyal to causes that match their personal preference for ministry which will open the door for an increase in non-church affiliated ministries to seek funding for these more specific ministry projects.
To leverage their ministry, these non-profit freelancers may return to the traditional church setting with the offer of "outsourcing" their ministry. For example, an independent youth pastor may serve multiple churches providing individual congregation ministry and support while at the same time aggregating ministry activities to include all churches he covers. Loyalty with the minister rather than loyalty to a particular church or denomination will likely be more prevalent causing a more scattered approach to giving and a more conducive environment for freelance pastors.

The growing dissatisfaction among young pastors with the traditional board and committee approach to church governance, will further fuel this outsourced pastor approach allowing them to focus more on the goal of their ministry without having to manage the "politics" and risk of high turnover often found in more traditional church settings. It is plausible that independent pastors will eventually combine across multiple specialties to form an association of non-profit ministries that could eventually outsource an entire church ministry team, allowing the formation of new church start-ups to accelerate their development time-line and be more intentional in their particular area of ministry emphasis.

Courtesy of Trend Ping