Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Help Wanted
Only a few months after officially taking the helms of this blog, I have a confession: I stink. Royally. And to make matters worse, I have a serious case of blog envy.
The main problem, as I see it, is time. I just don't have enough of it. (I know, I know ... it's a universal complaint—deal with it, right?) Behind the scenes of Ministry Today, there's a ton of changes going on. I love changes. In fact, I'm always excited by new things. But I've also been through enough changes to know that they always usher in a season of sacrifice. In my case, that season has involved a significant increase in workload, which has invariably cut into how much blogging I can do. In between the deadlines, meetings, planning, writing, editing ...
At this point, 75 percent of you reading this just cranked up the ol' violin theme music. Either that or you're about to click to another Web site, some other blogger who can handle the stress without whining to his or her readers. BUT WAIT!!!
Here's the deal: I'm honestly dying to know how you bloggers do this. Because the truth is, we're all busy. We all have too much on our plates, say yes to too many people and, in the name of being ministry leaders, take on too many burdens both in the workplace and outside of it (as if those lines are ever clear). So what am I missing?
Every day I get to work and, in my 30 minutes or so that I allot each morning to research, run down my list of "can't miss" ministry blogs. Right now that includes guys like Mark Batterson, Perry Noble, Tim Stevens, Tony Morgan ... the list seems never-ending of leaders who somehow have this blogging thing down pat. And I'll say it again: I'm sinfully jealous! I'm sure each lives a life as hectic, if not far more hectic, than mine. Many of these guys are senior pastors and company CEOs, for crying out loud! And yet each seems to squeeze enough time to share a thought or two each day—and, most of the time, a valuable thought at that! (Otherwise I wouldn't keep coming back to their blogs, now would I?)
So how do you do it? What's the secret to successful blogging? How do you find time to regularly post something meaningful and worthwhile (yet concise) without it significantly eating into God time, family time, personal time, the occasional R&R time, etc.?
YOUR TURN: See previous paragraph. And I'm dead serious: I need advice! :)
The main problem, as I see it, is time. I just don't have enough of it. (I know, I know ... it's a universal complaint—deal with it, right?) Behind the scenes of Ministry Today, there's a ton of changes going on. I love changes. In fact, I'm always excited by new things. But I've also been through enough changes to know that they always usher in a season of sacrifice. In my case, that season has involved a significant increase in workload, which has invariably cut into how much blogging I can do. In between the deadlines, meetings, planning, writing, editing ...
At this point, 75 percent of you reading this just cranked up the ol' violin theme music. Either that or you're about to click to another Web site, some other blogger who can handle the stress without whining to his or her readers. BUT WAIT!!!
Here's the deal: I'm honestly dying to know how you bloggers do this. Because the truth is, we're all busy. We all have too much on our plates, say yes to too many people and, in the name of being ministry leaders, take on too many burdens both in the workplace and outside of it (as if those lines are ever clear). So what am I missing?
Every day I get to work and, in my 30 minutes or so that I allot each morning to research, run down my list of "can't miss" ministry blogs. Right now that includes guys like Mark Batterson, Perry Noble, Tim Stevens, Tony Morgan ... the list seems never-ending of leaders who somehow have this blogging thing down pat. And I'll say it again: I'm sinfully jealous! I'm sure each lives a life as hectic, if not far more hectic, than mine. Many of these guys are senior pastors and company CEOs, for crying out loud! And yet each seems to squeeze enough time to share a thought or two each day—and, most of the time, a valuable thought at that! (Otherwise I wouldn't keep coming back to their blogs, now would I?)
So how do you do it? What's the secret to successful blogging? How do you find time to regularly post something meaningful and worthwhile (yet concise) without it significantly eating into God time, family time, personal time, the occasional R&R time, etc.?
YOUR TURN: See previous paragraph. And I'm dead serious: I need advice! :)
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Taking Potshots
Leaders draw criticism. It's in the very nature of our role. But as any pastor knows, the magnetism of unsolicited potshots for church leaders is astounding. We, apparently, are classified as open targets—take your shot, whether we asked for it or not. Politicians get reemed, as do celebrities. But I believe neither of those two types receive as much tell-it-to-my-face, jaw-dropping punches to the gut as a church leader.
"You know, your sermons need some help. I think people would pay more attention if you just told a few more jokes or stories or something."
"Why haven't you started a [FILL IN THE BLANK] ministry? The Lord sent me to tell you that this church needs to start it now or you'll miss out on His blessing."
"My old pastor would stop by our house every once in a while to pray with me. Why don't you? I thought compassion was supposed to be a spiritual gift of every pastor."
So what do we do with these voluntary "assessments"? How do we handle the caustic e-mails (both anonymous and named), raging voice mails and ranting rumors?
Wisdom says we don't listen to them. Seriously ... we tune them out. Now, I'm not talking about sticking our heads in the sand and never listening to a word our congregations say. Hopefully we're wise enough to surround ourselves with a circle of mentors and counselors from whom we can receive even the most blunt yet truthful words (Prov. 12:15). Yet there is a reason God established you as a leader and gave you a vision for leading His people. That fact should by no means prompt a degree of pride in you, but rather continue to send you to your knees in humility. Leaders are best positioned when reaching up for divine help on a moment-by-moment basis. Fortunately, part of that help comes in the form of godly human counsel.
But that still doesn't answer the question of what to do with the cheapshots, er, "suggestions." Last week I heard Ed Young of Fellowship Church talk about this at his C3 conference. He was as honest and upfront as I've seen a pastor be in leading other pastors, but he spoke from more than 17 years of experience in handling every type of criticism. Today I read a great blog from Perry Noble of NewSpring Church that (somewhat) dealt with the same thing. Both guys echoed a similar sentiment: Just walk away. Your time is too precious to waste debating the critics. As long as you stay in the appropriate leadership posture—humbly, prayerfully leading in the assurance of God's mission for you and the people—then you can ignore the naysayers and doubters. Critics will naturally be those with the loudest, sharpest voices. Yet even when they challenge you personally, you'd be better off realizing that there are more important things to do than fight back.
YOUR TURN: How have you dealt with harsh criticism within your church? What lessons have you learned over the years on how to handle your critics? Should leaders pay more attention to these unsolicited "assessments"?
"You know, your sermons need some help. I think people would pay more attention if you just told a few more jokes or stories or something."
"Why haven't you started a [FILL IN THE BLANK] ministry? The Lord sent me to tell you that this church needs to start it now or you'll miss out on His blessing."
"My old pastor would stop by our house every once in a while to pray with me. Why don't you? I thought compassion was supposed to be a spiritual gift of every pastor."
So what do we do with these voluntary "assessments"? How do we handle the caustic e-mails (both anonymous and named), raging voice mails and ranting rumors?
Wisdom says we don't listen to them. Seriously ... we tune them out. Now, I'm not talking about sticking our heads in the sand and never listening to a word our congregations say. Hopefully we're wise enough to surround ourselves with a circle of mentors and counselors from whom we can receive even the most blunt yet truthful words (Prov. 12:15). Yet there is a reason God established you as a leader and gave you a vision for leading His people. That fact should by no means prompt a degree of pride in you, but rather continue to send you to your knees in humility. Leaders are best positioned when reaching up for divine help on a moment-by-moment basis. Fortunately, part of that help comes in the form of godly human counsel.
But that still doesn't answer the question of what to do with the cheapshots, er, "suggestions." Last week I heard Ed Young of Fellowship Church talk about this at his C3 conference. He was as honest and upfront as I've seen a pastor be in leading other pastors, but he spoke from more than 17 years of experience in handling every type of criticism. Today I read a great blog from Perry Noble of NewSpring Church that (somewhat) dealt with the same thing. Both guys echoed a similar sentiment: Just walk away. Your time is too precious to waste debating the critics. As long as you stay in the appropriate leadership posture—humbly, prayerfully leading in the assurance of God's mission for you and the people—then you can ignore the naysayers and doubters. Critics will naturally be those with the loudest, sharpest voices. Yet even when they challenge you personally, you'd be better off realizing that there are more important things to do than fight back.
YOUR TURN: How have you dealt with harsh criticism within your church? What lessons have you learned over the years on how to handle your critics? Should leaders pay more attention to these unsolicited "assessments"?
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Size Matters
Outreach magazine just released its annual report on the 100 largest and fastest-growing churches. No surprise at the top of the "biggie" list: Houston's Lakewood Church, led by Joel Osteen, sees a whopping 47,000 people come through its doors each weekend. And the fast-growing church in America? According to this year's report, it's Iglesia Cristiana Segadores de Vida, located in Hollywood, Fla.—which is indicative of our country's influx of Hispanic believers that we highlight in the current issue of Ministry Today.
For those with an aversion to ranking congregations, there are still some valuable points to be gleaned from the study. Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research, who partnered with Outreach for this year's report, noted the following trends:
For those with an aversion to ranking congregations, there are still some valuable points to be gleaned from the study. Ed Stetzer of LifeWay Research, who partnered with Outreach for this year's report, noted the following trends:
- From "mega" to "giga": There are more megachurches now than ever, and they continue to grow—so much that Outreach now categorizes congregations of more than 10,000 people as "gigachurches." Thirty-six of the top 100 fell in this category, while No. 100 on the list of largest churches still has an attendance of more than 6,000.
- Go forth and multiply: Going multi-site is becoming the norm among churches. In 1990, there were only 10 multi-site Protestant churches in the entire country; today 16 percent of all churches are currently considering expanding to an additional site. In addition, 25 percent of all megachurches today meet on multiple sites (that's five times what it was in 2000). Among multi-site churches, 60 percent plan on adding another site in the next year.
- Mega-mixture: With Hispanic and Asian populations on the rise in this country, so are the number—and size—of the churches predominantly made up of those segments of society. Obviously, most megachurches have a representation of both Hispanics and Asians within their congregation. Yet judging by the number of Hispanic churches on the fastest-growing list, it's clear that churches exclusively reaching these cultures are experiencing growth.
Though not particularly trend-related, I found a few other stats from this report both fascinating and telling.
- From 2006 to 2007, the average growth of the churches on the fastest-growing list was 1,385 attendees.
- Seventy-one percent of churches on the "biggie" list reported an increase in congregation size within the last year, while only 19 percent reported a decline.
- Of the 100 largest churches on this year's list, 47 were non-denominational.
YOUR TURN: What do you make of the two lists? Do you think it's helpful to list the 100 largest and fastest-growing churches, or does it fall into playing "the numbers game"? Where do you see megachurches going in the next 10 years?
