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Shawn McMullen 10/03/2011

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4 Proven Insights for Thriving in a Small Church

What are you running these days?

It’s the question church leaders hear—and dread—usually at conferences or seminars, anywhere Type A personalities have gathered to talk about ministry and their churches. Unfortunately, in our American church culture, the measurement of how good you are as a person and as a pastor seems to rely on your answer to the question—that one telling number we define ourselves by.

I still remember a pastor who had brought me in to lead an an evangelistic meeting for the small church he led. While I was there, I spent several days as a guest in the pastor’s home. In the late afternoons, he and I would sit on the family’s front porch and invariably people strolling by would stop to talk, often expressing their appreciation to the pastor for his counsel or encouragement. One morning, we walked into a nearby diner for breakfast and this personable preacher stopped at every table (I’m not exaggerating!) to talk and laugh with someone he knew.

This man and his family were making a profound impact on the people in their small community. But when the days’ meetings were over and we sat on that same porch in the quiet of the evening, the preacher’s gregarious voice grew soft and subdued as he talked about the discouragement he felt in his ministry. Many of his seminary classmates had gone on to serve much larger congregations. By comparison, he felt as if he’d failed. I sensed a similar feeling of inferiority among some members of his congregation.

For lack of a better phrase, this pastor and his church suffered from low ministry self-esteem. In their thinking, because they weren’t big, they weren’t successful—or effective—or healthy. >>>

Tom White

Session #1 ~ Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Tom White, Presenter

Tom coaches in several cities for Loving Our Communities to Christ and has an international coaching ministry.

John and Bill (brother), Brian, Howard, Tom, Paul, Dennis, Bill, Phil

Practical tips for those coaching city movements

Coaching is a balance of intuition and illumination (guidance of the Holy Spirit).

Coaches “make a ton of mistakes” – we learn through those mistakes.

How to be more effective of birthing collaborative city movements that balance word and deed that results in measurable fruit?

1. Apostolic, catalytic leadership- more impartation from the Lord than training and skill set
   1. Ability to envision: to see what God is doing
   2. Ability to articulate that vision (get their attention)
   3. Ability to activate (implement) a collaborative movement
   4. >If God has given you this calling:
      1. Doors will begin to open
      2. Other catalytic leaders will recognize your calling
      3. Seeing what God is doing
      4. Ability to speak what you see
      5. Results, fruit, outcomes of your coaching
2. Birthing and developing a city/region Church(expression of the Body of Christ)
   1. Paul was extremely relational (mother and father to Thessalonians)
   2. Coaches are carriers of the Word of the Lord (1 Thess 2:13: accepted the word of God)
   3. Metaphor: Ephesians 2: building of a house; 4: healthy body
3. Relational dimension of coaching
   1. Identify the apostolic, catalytic leader in that city as a first step (friendship)
   2. Adapt to that leader’s communication style (patience)
   3. Beware of picking the wrong point person; be careful, do not select to quickly or presumes he/she is that person
   4. Avoid someone with too much ambition, character issues … “follow your red flags”
   5. Look for a gifted administrative person who focuses on details and communication (“often a woman”)
4. Spiritual gifts / Skill sets
   1. Helpful to function in the office of an apostle, teacher, pastor but not a prophet or evangelist
   2. Gifts: discernment, word of wisdom, exhortation/encouragement, leadership, prophetic ability
   3. Seeing – Speaking Leading but in a way that is not directive nor overly detailed
      1. Most cities have an independent, local identity, mind-set – the coach is not to try to dismantle that -
      2. Local leadership teams must own and implement the vision
   4. Skill set:
      1. Intuition
      2. Active listening – tuning in, picking up cues
      3. Ability to ask the “elephant question” – a spiritual gut to ask the hard question in the right spirit and the right time
      4. Facilitate honest sharing; drawing people out .. so that the team is capable to make an effective decision
      5. Spiritual authority that is graced with an anointing; not about the person but about the Spirit
      6. The ability to write is helpful – to construct an agenda, talking points for a roundtable, a letter that communicates state-of-the-movement
      7. Increasingly efficient in technologies and organized when conducting those teleconference/videoconference conversations
5. Core Components -Three legs to the cityreaching stool
   1. Authentic relationships; Kingdom friendships – across ethnic, gender,generational barriers
   2. Transformational prayer – praying with a “word” for your city, prayer that identifies strongholds, brings breakthrough
   3. Intentional collaborative mission: Pray for the city to discern this, fashion the leadership team, assets
6. Operate within the context of a leader’s prayer summit
   1. Get the leaders into a retreat setting, extended time to be in the presence of God and build spiritual relationships – an encounter God brings down barriers and reveals next steps that we can recommend to the city leaders
   2. Creates a sense of forward momentum

Roundtable

Dennis: revisit the role of transformational prayer

Tom:

• Prayer must originate with the Holy Spirit
• Requires good listening skills, facilitation skills
• Prayer that ask the Lord for his heat (strategic) more than a list of simple, standard requests
• Utilize a “corporate inquiry” – ask God to speak to us (silence0, then praying from what God has stirred in their mind or heart

Paul: Part Two?

Tom:

• Focus on the leadership team
• Is the right leader in place? ow to make changes when necessary
• What is the right strategy for that city?
• Kingdom forums/roundtables with a diverse mix of that city’s ministry leaders (kingdom assets)

Howard: Integration of the business/marketplace person into a spontaneous/”spiritual” culture

Tom:

• Separate meetings with ministry people (Ezra component) and business (Nehemiah)
• Devote ample time (1.5 years in one city) to mesh these sectors
• Bill: Share how you communicate differently to each group next session

Session #2 ~ Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Skills Sets, Roles, Tool Kits

1. The fine line between wisdom and “meddling”
   1. If I come to a city with a predetermined plan it wil meet with resistance and is not necessarily God’s wisdom
   2. What don’t I know that I don’t know? (blind spots of history (feuds), cultural distinctives )
   3. Ask meaningful questions, active listening before “answering”
2. The fuzzy art of appointing and adjusting Leadership Teams
   1. Paul spoke into the life of the Church in a region based on his apostolic authority t help them advance the Kingdom
   2. Letters to the Church (revelation) has condemnations and commendations
   3. Criteria: the key person(s)
      1. Chemistry: relationship
      2. Competent – demonstrated
      3. Character – proven
      4. Communication – that leader’s style (adjust to a wide variety of styles)
      5. Goal: a team of leaders that is diverse (mixed generations, gender, ethnicities, theological spectrum, church/marketplace/non-profit)
      6. …with a diversity of kingdom assets
      7. Avoid tokenism and expectation of a quick start (give 1.5 to 2 years to the process)
      8. Leaders must be devoted to collaboration and commitment to participate in scheduled meetings
      9. Seven step process
         1. Identify candidates in 6 spheres: pastors, non-profits, marketplace (business, government, educator), citywide prayer, compassion ministries, emerging/young leaders
         2. Bottom line goal: Put in place a team of cityreaching/city-minded “elders”
3. Envisioning and implementing next steps
   1. Team in place … key leader identified … the coach should be hearing the Holy Spirit revealing next steps (questions to ask, issues to raise) … “hold them loosely” and be ready to submit into the conversation as a recommendation;
      1. who is Responsible?
      2. what are the Resources we need/
      3. what is a Reasonable timeline/date?
4. Helping discern a cityreaching strategy in their context
   1. Two cities are implementing the prayer-care-share strategy
   2. Every city has multiple outside Godly influences (Otis, Perkins, Palau, SIlvoso, Wagner/Sheets, I Am Second …)
   3. Coach needs wisdom to weave these together
      1. Bounded-set: separates people (doctrine, strategy)
      2. Centered-set: agree on common actions (compassion, justice, evangelism, prayer))
      3. Coach must help align these centered-sets as tributaries moving toward a cohesive strategy
         1. KC; Prayer-Care-Share strategy can bring cohesion of city/villages, pastors/others)
5. Aligning team and assets for collaboration
   1. Much wisdom to bring together diverse leadership and align them for a common enterprise
   2. Leadership Prayer Summit format effective at building trust, revealing vision
   3. Forums/Roundtables – several hours of a variety of kingdom focused leaders meeting, talking of their vision
   4. Coaching – meeting, consulting (online or onsite)

Roundtable

Howard Boyd: The value of prayer … Do you encourage the coach to facilitate the summit?

Tom: Good if the coach can facilitate but at least be present

Dennis Fuqua: What is the minimum amount of contact with the point person and time with the Lead Team?

Tom: Every two weeks with the lead person (monthly is not adequate) (more than email or texting) to ask a series of probing/progress questions. Quarterly is best with the Lead Team but it is usually twice-a-year onsite (fall/spring) (2.5 – 3.0 hours) (pre/post meetings with key leaders of prayer or business) – Are there any holes in the leadership mix? WHo might that person be (especially ethnic).

Bill Berry: Learning from mistakes – top three?

Tom:

1. Cultural issues of time, energy, resources -resistance to unity if the team is forged in a way/timeframe that feels forced, superimposed
   1. I should have asked what I am not aware of historically?
2. Trying to merge two teams: pastors (considered themselves the spiritual guides/guards) + marketplace
   1. I suggested a change in the context of the team (to get it done) instead of person-to-person with the person who needed to step aside
   2. I went to the offended person asking for forgiveness
   3. Check your personality leanings that may hurt someone or appear to be controlling

Paul Cedar: Any experience in training those who serve as coaches?

Tom: This is high on my prayer list and the direction I am moving; a new stage – this is affirmation for me … This is a new paradigm, early stages, but many cities will need and ask for coaching.

Tom’s Toolkit:

1. DVDs by Larry DeWitt & Alan Doswald on Prayer-Care-Share (cast vision / inspire)
2. LC2C Coach’s Folder (assessing tools
3. Tuscaloosa video of their Hope initiative (churches and government)
4. George Otis’s “Quickening” video on transformation
5. Ray Bakke’s interview at Movement Day in 2010 (12-14 minutes)
6. Dennis Fuqua: I use Phill Butler’s Well Connected book (has several helpful charts)
7. Howard Boyd: Quickening is an excellent tool

…will be held at the White Oak Conference Center near Winnsboro, SC (close to Charlotte, NC) in October, 2012. The Full Session will be October 3-12, and the Short Session October 3-8. Mrs. Kate Ring (serving with The Seed Company) will be the lead facilitator, and Dr. Evelyn Davis (SIL International Training Consultant) will coordinate. Participants will experience a number of prayer and reflection topics, as well as work in a small group with a staff member, learning how to lead the topics for others. Funds are available for partial scholarships.

Please contact kate_ring@tsco.org. Also, please pass the information on to anyone else that you think might be interested.

You are invited to join other leaders on a stimulating Mission America Coalition Cityreaching Conference Call with Guests: Dr. Jeff Bass and Liza A. Cagua-Koo of Boston’s Emmanuel Gospel Center (considered one of the leading cityreaching/community transformation models in America and globally). EGC is setting a standard upon which effective sustained cityreaching/community transformation includes diverse ethnic and gender leadership. Many believe that if cityreaching/community transformation leadership structures or models are simply made up of the “good ole boys” lasting impact IS NOT going to take place. Come join this conversation about how we can serve better together!

The first one-hour call of the year begins at 11 a.m. Eastern Time (10 Central, 9 Mountain, 8 Pacific).

To join the call, dial 1-712-432-0075. When prompted, enter code 9310472#. We would appreciate an rsvp to info@cityreaching.com if you plan to join the call. For more information about the Emmanuel Gospel Center, Jeff and Lisa visit: www.egc.org.

The call is hosted by Jarvis Ward from the Mission America Coalition and Glenn Barth from GoodCities.

WE TRUST YOU TO SHARE THIS INVITATION WITH KEY LEADERS YOU ARE IN CONTACT WITH.

Visit www.cityreaching.com for info on previous calls. (Communicate tab – conference calls)

@JarvisWard @cityreaching @GlennBarth #cityreaching

By Wendy Griffith and Craig von Buseck

Watching or reading the news is an opportunity — an opportunity to give in to fear and despair, or an opportunity to make a difference!

In Praying the News, concerned readers will find a practical guide to discovering the power, joy and peace of partnering with God. Veteran news reporters Wendy Griffith and Craig von Buseck offer an unvarnished assessment of the media as well as a comprehensive biblical plan for effective, world-changing prayer. They tell  behind-the-scenes stories not only of effective prayer for the news but also stories of their prophetic intercession while reporting the news. Bad news is no match for the Good News of God’s kingdom!

Watch an interview with the authors.