Blog

Four Essential Leadership Traits

February 24, 2010

Good leadership is essential for any organization to move forward. In hard times, it is even more important. What traits does a leader need to posses in the midst of hard times?

1. Honesty And Credibility.

You can’t hide, fake or bluff your way through tough times. If you don’t know the answer to the problems or need help finding solutions, ask.  Allow those you are leading to see you as someone who is humble, honesty and willing to seek counsel. They will respect you for your authenticity. 

2. The Ability To Inspire. 

Tough times bring on frustration, uncertainty and anxiety in most people. As a leader you have to focus on what could be. Help those who follow you become realistically optimistic about the future. They need a vision that will excite and drive them to work for something better.

3. Be Willing To Face The Brutal Facts.

Gather all your information and look at reality as it is. Your ability to see reality will help you generate a vision of what could be.

4. Boldness.

In this time of uncertainty everyone is tightening the belt. Ministry is slowing or coming to a halt. It may save you cash in the short-run, but it will be detrimental to the future of the ministry. It will take a risk-based faith to step out and strategically do something new when there is little money and no guarantee of success. Yet, faith is critical for the church in the midst of tough times. God has not changed even though everything else around us has. What good will it do to limp to the finish line and find nothing there? “What good will it do for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose his soul?”

Don’t stop doing the right thing. Its not about what you can afford to do, it is about doing the right thing. God will do the rest.

Posted 2/24/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment

Saving The Titanic

February 18, 2010

On April 15, 1912 the unthinkable happened when White Star Lines unsinkable ship, the Titanic, sank. The sinking resulted in the deaths of 1,517 of the 2,223 people on board, making it one of the deadliest peacetime maritime disasters in history. Could the Titanic have been saved? Could this disaster have been averted and what lessons can the Church learn?

Many mistakes were made by those who were responsible for this voyage, but five problems stick out, from which we can learn.

1. Multiple warning signs of impeding disaster were ignored.

Captain Smith ignored seven iceberg warnings from his crew and other ships.

2. The Ship builder's decided to cut corners.

About three million rivets were used to hold the sections of the Titanic together. Some rivets have been recovered from the wreck and analyzed. The findings show that they were made of sub-standard iron.

3.The ship's speed and course was not allowed to be altered.

To meet this schedule the Titanic could not afford to slow down. The owners had something to prove.

4. Improper Structure's

The Titanic had sixteen watertight compartments that did not reach as high as they should have.

5. Failure of others to pay attention and help

At around 11.15, Californian's radio operator turned off the radio and went to bed. Sometime after midnight the crew on watch reported seeing rockets being fired into the sky from a big liner. If the Californian had turned on the radio she would have heard the distress messages from Titanic and would have been able to reach the ship in time to save all passengers.

Like the Titanic, many churches and their leaders are shocked when they find themselves in a desperate situation. These leaders, like those involved in the disastrous voyage of the Titanic, made these five mistakes. 

1. Multiple warning signs of impeding disaster were ignored.

Many churches and their leaders have been hearing and experiencing the warning signs of plateau and decline, but they have failed to listen to these warnings, steam ahead and now find themselves in a disastrous situation.

2. The Church leaders decided to cut corners.

Far too often church leaders cut ministry corners. Instead of doing the hard work and paying the price to protect the vision, create disciples and grow healthy leaders, they look for the quick fix or easy road to growth. All the while, under the surface major problems develop. What seems so small on the surface eventually leads to the demise of the church.

3.The Church's speed and course is not allowed to be altered.

To often leaders are afraid to slow down, think about the course of the church and make positive course corrections. Instead they stubbornly steam ahead feeling like they have something to prove to the rest of the community. These leaders refuse to make mid-course corrections in the ministry of the church, its relevance to the community and its philosophical methodologies.

4. Improper Structure's

Every system is perfectly designed for the outcome it produces. A failure to look at the church's structures and systems will simply perpetuate the problem and weaken the church's ability to hold up under pressure. Most churches don't grow due to structural problems they are unwilling to face.

5. Failure of others to pay attention and help

Allow me a brief opportunity to get up on my soapbox. Too often Pastor's tend to be either to timid to confront  a problem head on or opportunistic. We are to be accountable and responsible to one another. I think the Bible mentions this idea a few times. If we see a disaster coming, we are to help others see it. I know we all want our churches to grow, but we should never wish for the demise of any other church in our community so that ours might grow. That is not the Great-Commission!

So how are you faring? 

Posted 2/18/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment

Movements vs. Institutions

February 12, 2010

Posted 2/12/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment

To Merge or not?

February 10, 2010

Merging is an option many declining churches consider, especially when two or more churches of the same denominational family exist in the same urban landscape. In fact, it seems to be a growing trend. Some, like  United Methodists, use mergers as a denominational strategy. Yet, rarely  do mergers produce the expected results. Stories do exist of powerful instances where a merger was a saving grace, but these seem to be the exceptions, not the rule. More often than not, mergers end in disaster. The rationale for attempting a merger goes like this: If two declining, struggling churches can merge into one larger church, we will be able to do more ministry, have more money, add on to a decaying building, and build a larger membership base. In theory, it sounds like a good idea— in reality, it very rarely pays off. Mergers are tough. The belief that two struggling congregations will produce one strong, vibrant church borders on mythical. So, merging should be a last resort, if even that. In most cases 2 + 2 will still equal 2. If a congregation of twenty- five merges with another of thirty, it will not produce a strong body of fifty-five. After time, history has proven that the new congregation will settle between twenty-five and thirty. The success rate makes this a
high-risk option and one that only a specialist could accomplish. So, why do these mergers so often fail?

Three reasons why mergers fail

1. Unhealthiness.
While Bethlehem Baptist Church sought to change in a positive way, the underlying issues of unhealthiness were never addressed. In fact, neither congregation stopped to consider why they were in their present situation. The potential positive change was stymied by unchanged methods, mind-sets, and traditions. No matter how much positive change a congregation makes, if it does not address the underlying issues, progress will be halted every time. As mentioned earlier, once a church reaches the point of death in its life cycle, revitalization is possible, but not very likely. Even if one church has addressed these issues, more often than not a struggling congregation attempts to merge with another church in the same state of decline that has not addressed the underlying, unhealthy issues that brought decline.

2. Vision
The power of a unifying vision cannot be overstated or underestimated. Every church has a vision of a preferred future. But often two merging congregations do not articulate or communicate their unshared and unspoken visions. Mergers muddy the waters as it concerns vision and direction. A merger will often create a new church with multiple, conflicting visions. These conflicting visions will create tension and cause an unhealthy atmosphere in the church. Factions from each existing congregation will defend their model for ministry and set the stage for destructive conflict. For instance, one church may have been founded on the concept of social reform while the other was formed on the concept of building strong family-type relationships. While both visions are good, one focuses outward while the other is more inward focused. These conflicting visions may not be evident at first, but as the church begins to move forward in ministry, they become vehicles for contention. Even if the new congregation promotes a new vision, the old ones may linger in the hearts and minds of members. Why? Because the vision of each prospective church was probably what attracted the original members. Those who remained in each church did so because they believed in the vision and direction of the church. A merger will often give a congregation a short-lived illusion of shared vision, but in reality differing opinions still exist about the ultimate direction of the church. Never assume that people are on board just becasue they give a verbal "YES".

3. Control
Let’s be honest: two or three families in the congregation run most small churches in America. These families have either grown up in the church or were the original families who started the church. They have invested thousands of dollars, hundreds of hours of sweat-equity, and multiple years of their lives in the church. These controlling families, regardless of how right or wrong it may be, make most of the final decisions.

The problem arises when two or more congregations attempt to merge with these types of existing power structures in place. Inevitably the power brokers from each congregation will begin to vie for power in the new church. So, you can almost count on fireworks being a part of the newly merged congregation if these strong individuals are not willing to let go of their power. Tension of this nature will not help grow a church. Newcomers will sense the tension and never come back.

To pull off a successful merger takes a special person with strong leadership skills and an ability to bring a sense of control to a potential hotbed. Rarely do mergers ever produce the desired result. Statistically speaking, they are not a good bet.

Posted 2/10/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment

School of Hard Knocks

February 8, 2010

Church planting reminds me of the Indiana Jones movies. Every plant is a new adventure full of excitement and potential doom. Indiana was always chasing the elusive prize and never knew what pitfalls he would face around the next corner. None the less, he pushed ahead and faced each problem in a new and creative way. 
Remember the scene in the third movie where Indiana was standing on the side of a cliff looking across to the other side of a deep chasm? In order to get to the other side, find the Holy Grail and save his father, he had to take a leap of faith. He didn’t know that a hidden bridge would catch his fall and provide safe passage to the other side. Church planting is a lot like that dramatic moment. To do it, you have to take a wildly dangerous leap of faith. Church planting is the most exciting, the most frustrating, and the most brutal ministry anyone can do. It’s exciting because it involves attempting something big for God. It’s the most frustrating and brutal because it will test every area of your life. Church planters have to be dreamers, visionaries, planners, and like Indiana, they have to have nerves of steel and thick skin.

Church planting will make you feel alive, and it can push you to the brink of insanity. It will give you a new sense of God’s presence and convince you that Satan is alive and well. You will celebrate the birth of a new church with unearthly joy, and experience betrayal from friends and family in ways you never thought possible. As a church planter, you will experience high highs and low lows. It’s dangerous and dramatic. As they say on television—kids, don’t try this at home.

After 16 years of pastoring established churches, God called me into the arena of church planting. God called me, Stephen Gray, a skewed and flawed individual. What kind of a guy am I? I’m one of those driven individuals. I don’t like to win; I like to dominate. My little ducks, though they stand in rows, need to be smiling and looking directly into the camera. I’ve been diagnosed as a type "A" personality along with a very useful case of Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder. And God called me.

My preparation for this new ministry adventure was both difficult and frustrating. As I prepared for this new adventure, I quickly discovered that church planting was not a very refined process. A multitude of varying models, philosophies, and conflicting opinions existed under the umbrella of church planting. With confidence and authority, each expert offered their opinion about the process and procedure and every seminar or book led in a different direction. In a short time, the whole church planting idea became overwhelming. I felt like writing these expert names on a dartboard, putting on a blindfold, and chucking a few darts. In truth, all of the books, the seminars, and the opinions were helpful, but none of it actually prepared me for my actual church planting experience.

Bottom line is this: planting a church is tough and most, if not all will go through the school of hard knocks as they set out to plant their church. The only thing that will help you through those trying times is an overwhelming sense of God's calling for this ministry. Likewise, we should always keep in mind "that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes." Dan 4:25 If you understand that simple truth, you will be able to weather any storm that comes your way.

God has called you. God has placed you in your position because he chose to do so. Your position of authority is not based on your wisdom, your knowledge, or your good looks. Nor is it based on another's desire for you to be in a position of authority.

Posted 2/8/2010 in Church Planting | 0 Comments - Add Comment

Fade-Away

February 5, 2010

In Feb 09, my new book Full Disclosure: The F-Words of Church Planting, will be releaed from ChurchSmart Resources. In this book Barry Smith, my co-author and I speak about the dangers of "Fade-Away." What is fade-away? It is the constant and unfortunate fading of vision, most churches suffer. Below is an expert from this book. If you like what you see, you can pre-order the book in the store.

"In 1979 Neil Young came out with a song on his Rust Never Sleeps album called, “My, My, Hey, Hey.” Now, that song my not ring a bell with you, but out of that song comes a lyrical phrase that most have probably heard, “Better to burn out than to fade away.” That phrase became even more popular after it was found April 8, 1984 in the suicide note of Kurt Cobain, lead singer of Nirvana. In both cases, that lyrical phrase had to do with the death of a rock icon. The first was Elvis Presley, the second was Kurt himself.
No one desires to simply fade away into oblivion when they die. In fact, most spend a lifetime trying to build some kind of legacy that will last beyond their time on this earth. Local churches are really no different. Like individuals, most churches desire to leave a lasting legacy as well. Sadly, many churches have experienced vision drift and their original passion has faded away.
If you do a google search on the average size of the American church, you are likely to be frustrated by the facts. No one really knows for sure, but it is estimated that attendance, in 75 percent of American churches, ranges somewhere between 75 -100 or less on any given Sunday. To make matters worse, the median age of those attending church is on the rise while the median age of the unchurched, continues to decline. Many churches are quietly fading away with little to no trace that they ever existed.
Some mainline denominations are experiencing a major crisis due to the age of general membership. According to David T. Olsen:
“In the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the average age of church members is 58. For United Methodists, 61 is the average age. Sixty percent of Episcopalians are over age 50; 38 percent are over age 60. The older the members of a church are, the slower the church grows. Why? Older members do not have children, so they do not help the church grow through reproduction. Older members also tend to adjust slowly to cultural changes.”

What is happening to these churches? They have lost touch with their original vision. The vision of their founders propelled them into the forefront of early American culture and helped them to gain a spiritual stronghold in a newly conceived country. The evangelistic drive that was once at the core of these churches and denominations has been supplanted by a new ‘vision’ of maintenance and comfort. But this is not only a problem for the established church. Too often a church plant can fall into the same pattern. In fact, in many ways, that pattern is to be expected.
The early years of a church plant are chaotic, to say the least. As the church begins to mature and grow, the church experiences greater financial stability, membership starts to climb and the chaos of the early years begins to fade. Many planters welcome this sense of calmness. It is often during these times that the planter must re-engage the vision. The planter or planting team will need to choose between change or stability; between being conservative or remaining bold."

Posted 2/5/2010 in Stephen Gray | 0 Comments - Add Comment