Networking for Comeback Change
Turning around a declining church is not easy. Most won't make the change. And, that should not surprise us. Sick people and sick institutions don't naturally change by themselves.
In Fast Company Magazine, two studies were compared--one in which "90% of heart patients can't change their lifestyles" and another in which 77% of patients did. The difference? The latter provided "support groups with other patients, as well as attention from dieticians, psychologists, nurses," etc. In other words, left alone, most patients choose death over change. When in a setting with relational support, the numbers are almost reversed.
And in Comeback Churches, we saw the same pattern in churches--those who changed often did so with help from others.
The Potential of Learning Community
What if more churches and church leaders decided to get real with each other and challenge each other to make a kingdom difference? What if even 20-25% of the 80-85% of churches that are plateaued and declining in North America decided that they were willing to do whatever it takes to see God turn their church around? What if a group of pastors decided that business as usual wasn't going to cut it--they were going to join together to impact the lostness in their communities?
For that to happen, pastors and churches are going to have to be willing to enlarge their thinking, network with other church leaders, and begin to establish some intentional learning relationships. Change is possible. Churches can make a comeback, but they are often going to have to look outside of their immediate church context for help. Left alone, we choose death over change, with others help we can make better choices.
Expanding Your Ministry Worldview
Often, one of the reasons that churches get caught in the trap of plateau and decline is that we are only looking at things in their own little fish bowl. We become comfortable in our own little environment, watching each other swim around in circles. As far as activity goes, things look OK. But, no new fish are entering the bowl.
To see a better future, we often need to "jump out of our fish bowl." If things are stuck or stagnant in your ministry, start looking around at what God is doing in some other churches and ministries in your community that are growing through conversion growth. They don't have to be churches from your denomination or group (really, you will survive if you build a few friendships with some other gospel-centered, like-minded churches). It would be good to look for some churches that fit fairly close to your theological beliefs and philosophy of ministry. And learn from them.
Create Leading Relationship with Other Pastors/Ministries
Then, here comes the tough part. Admit you need a little help and ask for it. In the book that I co-authored with Mike Dodson called Comeback Churches, we talk about the need for intentional, strategic leadership as a vital key for making a comeback. So, find some other pastors that are demonstrating that kind of leadership in other churches and ask them to give you some pointers.
Maybe part of the problem is that you are not a great leader, BUT that does not mean that you can't become a better one with some good coaching from a strong leader, or even some peer coaching from others on the same journey. Every pastor can improve leadership behavior and skills and we often do that by observing others farther along than we. I am not a natural born leader, but I am a better leader because I have let others speak into my life.
If you don't make the effort to step out of your fish bowl, it is not likely that anything will ever change. There is no shame in being plateaued or in decline. The shame would be in knowing that is where you are and doing nothing about it.
Build Accountability Into Your Relationships
No one really likes to hear this verse, but it's true--"No discipline seems pleasant at the time but painful, later on however, it produces a harvest of peace and righteousness for those who are trained by it" (Hebrews 12:11). If you can, build an intentional, accountable network of pastors who would like to see some things change in their lives and ministries. The only way that will happen is through being more disciplined.
One key to having a group like that make a difference is to have at least one pastor involved who has displayed strong, intentional, strategic leadership. Ask that pastor to guide the process by suggesting what issues to address and what books to read. Get real with these pastors and pray hard for each other. Maybe you need to start encouraging each other and holding each other accountable to be witnesses and share the gospel.
Where from Here?
Doing some of these things probably won't be easy or pleasant if you choose to do them . . . at first. But, what's the alternative? Swimming around and around and around in a little fish bowl? Here's the point--If you are stuck, find someone else who can help you get unstuck. Remember, your best thinking got you where you are.
So, if change is going to happen, it will probably not come from you, or at least you alone. It will come more readily when you and your church learn from others and thrive on the counsel of others. "Plans fail when there is no counsel, but with many advisers they succeed" (Proverbs 15:22, HCSB).
Feel free to comment below.
So true. Relational ministry is so essential to growth both on a personal level and for the church body. Ithink people resist seeking gudiance out of fear of things they might have to give up or change in their lives. (Strongholds)
Thanks for bringing this post Ed. Great information, great encouragement, great reminder. Keep up the good work brother.
Ed,
There is a great need for all of us to obtain a kingdom mentality. Most are so focused on keeping their own horse and pony show going. Members are just moving to the best show. We must come together to make some kingdom decisions that retain Christians in Kingdom living. I would love to be part of such a group that thinks out of the box. It has got to be bigger than a SBC thing. A pastor told me the other day that he has nothing in common with people that are not SBC. Denominational living is going to kill all of us even those who are in the denomination of "Non-Denominational". The world will know we are His disciples by our love for one another. Did not mean to get on a soap box. Thanks for your exploration into being what we should be.
Ed, for a coupe of moths now, I have been reading and rereading the book on Comeback Churches. We bought a book for each of our elders, and tomorrow we are taking a day away with them to discuss the book and to work through a comeback strategy that is appropriate for us.
Our church (in Toronto) planted a daughter church, and not the mother church is struggling. Our best and gifted ones went into the church plant, leaving huge holes in the mother church, which for decades relied on the attractional model of growth, and is not beginning to realize that unless we learn all over again that we need to evanglize, we will die on the vine, so to speak.
If you ever have plans to come to Toronto, please let me know.
this is right on, but i'm afraid too many pastors and churches will think this is too hard, which it is.
we are in the midst of this transition. the hard part has been done and we are now seeing the fruit of it and our church is healthier than it has ever been. but it is hard.
i think that in every transition, the leader has a conversation out loud or in their head that goes like this, "is it worth it? do i want to take the arrows? do i want to take the hits and do the hard work? am i willing to sacrifice personally for this?" the answers to these questions decide whether or not a change will even happen and what affect this change will have.
Spot on with the comments above. I guess the take away for me is the notion of looking out of our fish bowls. For a long time I have felt that if we just see the body of Christ as one with many parts/aspects and appreciate those differences we would all benefit. On another note I agree that great leadership is often the missing ingredient but it only comes with great time spent with God to get not just good ideas for advancing ministry, but God Ideas. This is where I and I believe most of us fall short.
To turn around a failing/unhealthy congregation: start with the next person who joins it (work to ensure that SOMEone does!); disciple every person from this point forward correctly regarding how God grows His local church (particularly, via the ministry of Sunday School/small groups), and help that person/those people find his/their spiritual gifts/evangelism styles/geo-geno callings--and use at least soft-accountability to be sure each is implemented (coaching/training/mentoring). Use the success of each new serving person to motivate/encourage the long-term/less-active members (business meetings requiring tough votes: eventually, never lose another important one dealing with the biblical growth of the church). Modify your personal schedule so that "lost people saved, and saved people on-mission with God" go to the top of the list instead of near the bottom functionally/practically.
Celebrate.
Trouble me this. Trouble me that.
I'm glad Mr. Troublefield has the prescription all robot-like SBC groupies can follow on the path to pastoral success.
I for one feel that every situation is different and that programmatic change a la Mr. Troublefield's suggestions will likely only work in churches too idolatrous to survive a real revival of the Gospel.
The common denominator must be the preaching and teaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ combined with pastors living an obedient example-filled life for parishioners to model. I know this is revolutionary for some--especially for those who have already placed their faith and trust in the Lifeway SS curriculum and been baptized in current or past thinking on just how to 'up the numbers'.
But, the necessary change toward the Gospel is going to be something that may wind up pruning normal branches and cutting off the dead weight. It may be that you need counsel with other pastors and leaders around you but what the article above does not really consider in any detail is the fact that many churches and pastors are on the same slowboat already with you wandering across the river Styx fog steadily in place. If you look for leaders to help, make sure you find the right ones: men committed to the Gospel over and above the call to more useless numbers.
It is a trend in our circles for men of smaller churches to seek out seasoned pastors who have already made it up the career ladder in bigger churches. This is a mistake. Go seek out counselors who are steeped in the ways of the Lord and not the CEOs of today's biggest shows in town. Likely the people you need to consort with are the Calvinist pastors who are in smaller churches, who have been there twenty years or more, and who have had the privilege of seeing generational impact due to their tenacity in the pulpit and faithfulness to the Gospel. Of course, their numerical impact won't be immediately obvious but one soul truly converted is worth the thousands that go mindlessly out of the back door after a number of weeks because they felt like saying a prayer and weren't really made new in the first place.
It continues to amaze me how the the plans of men are expected to accomplish the mission of God.
Our Lord God has made the methods clear and simple. His Gospel is simple. Preach the word.
Whenever great movements of God have been seen among His people, the preaching and teaching of the Gospel has been at its center. Whether in Scriptural History or in later Church History, it was the faithful preaching of God's word that God used to change hearts and minds.
- The Reformers *stripped* a lot of the pomp and circumstance out of their churches. The Swiss Reformers removed all images and statues from their churches and made the pulpit the center of focus rather than the Roman Altar and continued a Reformation.
- John Knox prayed prayers that caused Mary Queen of Scotts to fear his prayers than all the assembled armies of Europe.
- Edwards preached his sermons without a lot of oratorical flair and began an Awakening.
- William Carey preached the Gospel for 7 years before he saw his first convert. He became one of the founders of the Baptist Missionary Society
- Spurgeon preached an uncompromising Gospel and had more influence than the Prime Minister of England.
It has been well said, "A holy minister is an awful weapon in the hands of God." (McCheyne)
Once again, I ask all to consider, "What is the power of God unto salvation?"
Mike,
O.K. since no one else is anwering I'll say it! :) THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST! And to further the point I'll quote the same author (the Holy Spirit) writing through the same scribe (Paul).
I Cor 1:17-31
"17For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written:
"I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."[c]
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
26Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him. 30It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
When will we stop "preaching the gospel with words of human wisdom"? The result predicted by the Holy Spirit has come to pass "the gospel of Christ has been emptied of it's power! When will we stop looking to our plans, our programs, our "packaging" of the gospel for power?(this is nothing less than preaching with words of human wisdom) The power is IN THE GOSPEL! When will we have the faith to proclaim the gospel as Paul did?
I Cor 2:1-5 "1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.[a] 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."
When will we have the faith to rely on the Spirit's power? When will we have the humility to " know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified",and to proclaim Him with fear and trembling?
"For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength."
Sigh.
Well, it looks like these comments are becoming a pattern. Any discussion boils down to "it is the gospel, stupid." Well, I probably agree more than I disagree, but we also need to learn from others (the point of this post) and find ways to do things with excellence. That is what we discuss here in some of the threads.
You may disagree with that and that is fine, but there are plenty of places to do that. My blog is not one of them.
Unless it changes, it looks like I will have to join most of my friends and moderate out those who cannot comment on the point of the post and do so in a conversational manner.
Thanks,
Ed
I have done 2 corporate turn-arounds of failing businesses that had declined after good starts. Although very different in the solution that fixed each, they both shared this in common - I was an outsider and could easily see what the insiders could not.
I think a huge part of what this article is pointing to is getting a fresh outside perspective and advise from a trusted person with a track-record. I wont bore you with the scriptures that back this up as you all know them better than I.
Good article,
Russ
Ed,
We are not calling anyone stupid and maybe you can just show me how my post is irrelevant to your original post.
Ed,
I am sorry that my contribution to this blog is causing you distress. I was under the assumption that we were discussing "the issue of declining churches and what are the common factors that helps them succeed in turning around." While I agree that we can "learn from others" it seems ironic to me that in the next breath you threaten to "silence" opinions, well supported by scripture (and church history), on the issue of declining churches and common factors that help them succeed in turning around.
To continue to discuss OUR ideas of "doing things with excellence" (I have seen many opinions and very little scripture cited) without first addressing our abandonment of the gospel is like dressing up a corpse for a funeral. While all the people say "doesn't he look great!" he is still dead. My fear is a well dressed church that is a corpse.
I will respect your request and voice this concern elsewhere.
In all humility, and in Christ's love,
Dan
Great information. I love you stuff. My only problem is that as much as we say this, why don't we see more of this happening? It is like pastors are so poor administratively is that they cannot do what will bring them and their church the most return. From guest services, to follow up and small groups. It is sad to look at churches in the city.
I am praying for all the things you are speaking about. We must have this happen.
Ed,
I believed that what I said was on point.
I pointed to specific examples in church history where great change occurred due to the proclamation of the Word of God.
If we believe that biblical history and beyond is replete with that very point.
I certainly did not call anyone stupid, and I believe that my post was respectful of other views. I simply disagree that anything will bring spiritual or numerical growth if it is not first based and grounded upon the faithful and consistent preaching of God's word and obeying the Scriptures on how one should "do" church.
For what it is worth, I can agree with the larger point, broadly spoken, that pastors should encourage, mentor, and even pastor one another. I also agree that pastors of successful churches (we may disagree on what "successful" means, and that may be part of our communication gap) should mentor those of struggling churches.
I believe that men like Heinrich Bullinger, so called the Shepherd of the Churches during the Reformation, provided a stellar model of doing that very thing.
But, must I point out that mentoring on his part had to do with *removing* methodology and *inserting* or *emphasizing* biblical preaching?
Pastoral encouragement and mentoring should be to "preach and teach these things."
I am a bit taken aback that my appeal to the biblical teachings on these things should be considered irrelevant to your main point. I thoroughly believe that I can substantiate my points by appealing to Timothy and will be glad to do so.
If such discussion is not welcome on your blog, please indicate this to be the case and I will respect your restriction and no longer post.
Ed:
There are blogsites religious in nature at which a contributor can be fairly sure his comments will be referred to as "the dumbest thing I've heard today" and such. Until recently, I hadn't consider yours one of them; instead, I'd been surprised by the lack of fussing and fighting here--and by the respect and simple sharing of ideas even with little direct comments to/about bloggers by bloggers. Again, until recently.
When I want to dialog with someone whose feelings are hurt or some supposed minister of the life-changing gospel unable still to control his ranting, I'll go over to Wade Burleson's blogsite--poor Wade, unfortunately, has a site full of them sometimes. Your idea of editing comments here: sounds like a good one to me that can't start soon enough.
Ideas posted above stand.
Brothers, having been in many churches, I really believe the notion of "preaching the Word" is a straw man as I have never seen anyone not do it. Those that are deriding this point I'd encourage you to change churches, as it is incredibly easy to find one that does.
To reach the world, preaching the Word must be accompanied by HEARING the Word if God is to build up a local congregation, otherwise you might as well preach in Latin. Jesus stooped to incredible lows to reach out to individuals. I cannot imagine leading a sinless life and coming along side the humanity that I am a part of and see daily, including the best of the best (think of Isaiah in heaven and his shock and horror).
My pastor, of a smaller church, took me to Saddleback's training in the mid-90's. My bias was that the only reason we were small and they were large was that Rick Warren compromised to get bodies. I was UNDONE when I discovered that it was not at all true and have never looked back in ministry since that time.
If a 26-year-old preacher who looks like he should be in a mosh pit can get the Word INTO a lost twenty-something, then he will receive a great reward in heaven and he sets an example for us all.
Ed, I would encourage you to edit out the posts that seek to nullify your posts. I run into the same kinds of arguments.. It ALWAYS boils down to the either/or approach..
It's either organic or organizational.. it's either fleshly or spiritual, it's either man-made or divine, it's either the corporate world or the church methods.
I've heard it all my life and I am tired of that false dichotomy.
What really underlies that argument is the implication, "my interpretation of Scriptures on this topic is biblical and spiritual, your way is carnal and worldly".
I think people resist asking for help just because fear. It is easier for someone else to "take care of it." Let someone else worry about it.
Ed,
I am a director of missions. Recently we launched a study group out of bubbling desire to experience the fresh power and presence of God. I invied no one, and asked the Lord to send them Himself and he did, one at a time over the course of a few weeks. They all asked the same question in different ways. Some had been pastoring for 30 years and some only a few. The group became transparent in only two meetings. I have seen their personal lives changed and its flowing into their church leadership now. Wives are remarking that their husbands have changed, no longer living for God but Him living through them. It has been amazing. As Christ has emerged, they are more courageous, can make hard decisions, walk in the Spirit realm and appropriate faith in sanctification, not just justification. We exegete scripture and apply it, share struggles, reveal what God is saying to each of us, admit failures and loosely hold one another accountabile without formailty and work through different books along the way. No one is "the authority", we all have value to share. No "super church" pastor tries to be the guru, and some have thousands of members and some only a hand full, but all view each other as equal members of the group. We see God moving. I belive that iron sharpens iron and our leaders humilty, in coming together, is really no more than they ask their members to do as they come together in Sunday School, cell groups or small groups. They have yeilded to actually surrender to what they ask their members to do. After all a member could say they dont need a small group or Sunday School because they have the Word and a personal relationship with God! We are a theologically conservative group with a passion for the gospel but realize that we can become comfortably independant if not careful. Our churches range from highly traditional to extremly innovative. These meetings also dissolve competetion, rumors and envy as a by product while friendships emerge. I suppose we are a little odd, and its not a program, just something that the Lord did early this year.
Ed:
I think Kevin Johnson is on target with his remarks. What ails the church isn't numerical growth. There's a central concern of fidelity to tending sheep with what they deserve and need, not with what will pack them in every week.
And what's with all this "comeback" rhetoric? Isn't it more tragic for number-mongers to continue their enterprise than it is for Good Providence to fold them up just to save a few from false convert-itis? If there's any lesson to be learned here is that God will never reprimand a small congregation in the face of fidelity and fear of the Lord... Beyond this the question of numbers is irrelevant.
Here's a great test: if Christ appeared to any given pastor here and swore by His own Name that he would NEVER have more than 50 people in his congregation for the rest of his days, would you be *less* inclined to serve faithfully? Would you find something else to do with your time?
Just my .02
Steve