Anchored In
When I think about Anchoring down into the new year...2024...I have a collection of thoughts that I'd love to share with you concerning "church".
What's going to make a church a church of great "affect" to its people and in its community?
Well...
Here are not only my thoughts and burdens upon my heart, but these are first, things I was taught and that I am still learning as well.
There are four categories. Each bear their own weight of significance. These can be treated as matters of prayer as well! (And should be, lol)
Let's dive in...
Building Teams: We should not be afraid to rip the band-aids off (what does that mean?) We need to make things as easy as possible to recruit new people into teams to serve AND if there are things we are doing and we don’t need to do it, or we haven’t done it in a while - it’s just laying around dormant, or it serves no purpose…let’s just get rid of it! We can always restart stuff again down the road. Let’s clean house so to speak. Next, recruit your weakness - not your clone (not everyone who serves needs to know how to do all the things you know how to do, they just need to know how to do the job at hand). I encourage you as well to trust your instincts as you minister and lead. Last but not least, l encourage you to not rule out the opposite sex (all teams should be multifaceted).
Building Trust: You've probably heard the saying, "trust is not given, it's earned". I want to challenge you to try on for size a new frame of thought when it come to trust. Ask for people to trust you and be the first to give it. Pay back trust when it is given to you. Trust is "gained" and "retained" one move after another, kind of like playing chess. Next, allow for hard questions to be asked of you (be an open book and give everyone around you the sense that you are entirely approachable).
Building Culture: Culture is inherited. Because of this, there may need to be some demo of culture you'd like to see changed, before new culture can be built (but think chiseling, not bulldozing). We CREATE culture with words (look around our sanctuary, this is not only our DNA, but part of our culture), how does our church “sound”, what is the sound of Reimagine Church? Take some time to think about that. Next, we CHANGE culture, without words. Preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words. Basically what we are saying is your best witness and testimony for Jesus is the life you are living.
Building Ourselves: We are going to do as much as we can going forward to equip and empower one another. If you are a leader at Reimagine Church, I am going to be investing in you. Then, I want to see you, as ministry leaders, investing in your team members. Don’t just serve with them. Lead each other. I also encourage you to make the bulk of how this is carried out to be organic (meaning, not only classroom or study group based, but doing life with each other). Ex. If I go visit someone in the hospital, or nursing home, you may get a call from me to go with me. If you are going out for dinner, call someone and see what they’re doing and invite them along. If you’re going on a day trip somewhere, see if someone would like to go with you (you guys see where I’m going with this?). I encourage you to make every effort to do life with each other!
What's going to make a church a church of great "affect" to its people and in its community?
Well...
Here are not only my thoughts and burdens upon my heart, but these are first, things I was taught and that I am still learning as well.
There are four categories. Each bear their own weight of significance. These can be treated as matters of prayer as well! (And should be, lol)
Let's dive in...
Building Teams: We should not be afraid to rip the band-aids off (what does that mean?) We need to make things as easy as possible to recruit new people into teams to serve AND if there are things we are doing and we don’t need to do it, or we haven’t done it in a while - it’s just laying around dormant, or it serves no purpose…let’s just get rid of it! We can always restart stuff again down the road. Let’s clean house so to speak. Next, recruit your weakness - not your clone (not everyone who serves needs to know how to do all the things you know how to do, they just need to know how to do the job at hand). I encourage you as well to trust your instincts as you minister and lead. Last but not least, l encourage you to not rule out the opposite sex (all teams should be multifaceted).
Building Trust: You've probably heard the saying, "trust is not given, it's earned". I want to challenge you to try on for size a new frame of thought when it come to trust. Ask for people to trust you and be the first to give it. Pay back trust when it is given to you. Trust is "gained" and "retained" one move after another, kind of like playing chess. Next, allow for hard questions to be asked of you (be an open book and give everyone around you the sense that you are entirely approachable).
Building Culture: Culture is inherited. Because of this, there may need to be some demo of culture you'd like to see changed, before new culture can be built (but think chiseling, not bulldozing). We CREATE culture with words (look around our sanctuary, this is not only our DNA, but part of our culture), how does our church “sound”, what is the sound of Reimagine Church? Take some time to think about that. Next, we CHANGE culture, without words. Preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words. Basically what we are saying is your best witness and testimony for Jesus is the life you are living.
Building Ourselves: We are going to do as much as we can going forward to equip and empower one another. If you are a leader at Reimagine Church, I am going to be investing in you. Then, I want to see you, as ministry leaders, investing in your team members. Don’t just serve with them. Lead each other. I also encourage you to make the bulk of how this is carried out to be organic (meaning, not only classroom or study group based, but doing life with each other). Ex. If I go visit someone in the hospital, or nursing home, you may get a call from me to go with me. If you are going out for dinner, call someone and see what they’re doing and invite them along. If you’re going on a day trip somewhere, see if someone would like to go with you (you guys see where I’m going with this?). I encourage you to make every effort to do life with each other!