Thriving or Declining: Building Effective Church Systems Source: Ray Johnston, CCN Online, May 10, 2001

What’s your “System?”  Declining Church Systems 87% Protestant congregations in US are stagnant or declining 77% of people on church boards said the quality of their spiritual life “went down” while serving Every group of churches over 20 years old are declining as a group

Thriving Church Systems Barbarians Leaders Administrators Bureaucrats Aristocrats Anything left of center!

The Top Ten Essentials for Developing Thriving Churches  10. Passion  The one constant in growing churches of all types: Atmosphere  What kills passion? 1. Problem-solving syndrome 2. Busy-enough now 3. No vacancy (no more energy) 4. Nostalgia 5. Lazarus syndrome (recovering the dissatisfied)

9. Core Values and a Commitment to Expansion  Unhealthy core values that drive churches ( Rick Warren) 1.Tradition (what did we do before?) 2. Personality (what does the leader want?) 3. Finance (how much does it cost?) 4. Program (what are we already doing?) 5. Building (if you have a room the teens cannot use …) 6. Seeker (do we simply give people what they want?)

8. Balanced Ministry Strategy  Three types of people attend church:  1. Casual (ready to visit) Reached by outreach ministries  2. Curious (ready to grow) Reached by spiritual growth ministries  3. Committed (ready to serve) Reached by equipping ministries Thriving church systems minister to each stage!

7. Intentionally create new waves of people.  Seasonal waves  1. Christmas  2. January 1  3. Easter  4. Mother’s Day  5. Father’s Day  6. Start of school year

Making More Waves  Front door waves Marriage conferences, recovery ministries, having a variety of services (style, location)  Message waves Preaching in series (start on key days) Postmodern (conversational) style Titled for take-home value  Staffing waves Bringing on folk who attract new group of people (more on this in a moment)

6. Prioritize ministry to kids and teenagers.  50% of world is now younger than 16 and 80% become Christian before age 21  Wrap up VBS on Sunday a.m.  Pay heavy attention to middle school ministry (and younger) 2/3 high school students have part-time jobs Launching high-school ministry from scratch is nearly impossible, but m.s’ers graduate And, middle schoolers like something to do M.S. parents have more disposable income

5. Grow an expanding staff.  Build a staff which builds ministries which build people The future is “above the line!” Staff which Attracts Growth Staff Which Supports Growth Present Future

Staffing Keys Hire for: 1. Character (can I trust them?) 2. Competence (can they do it?) 3. Chemistry (can I fish with them?) 4. Energy (I need to chase them home) Part-time hires The future is soccer moms & retirees Make outrageous “asks” up front

4. Mobilize laity.  People grow and serve best when they know what the steps are i.e., the 5 G’s at Willow Or, Saddleback diamond What’s your game plan and how do you teach it to people? Spiritual gift implementation Being “high expectation”

3. Build healthy homes.  Friday p.m. – Sunday a.m. marriage retreat, with leader being the Sunday speaker  Annual parenting and marriage series of sermons Those who are not parents or spouses are educated for other roles in relation to these

2. Prioritize building small groups.  A church can get bigger as long is it keeps getting smaller.  Different spiritual needs are met by different size groups in the church.

1. Climate control.  The #1 job of the pastor is to guard the “spirit” of the church Model healthy family relationships Public/personal encouragement Creating atmospheres of grace while making phonies and critics squirm

What’s your “System?”  When churches deal with these factors, they pollinate the church … and create the kind of greenhouse in which seeds can grow and flower.

Thriving or Declining: B uilding Effective Church Systems  Dr. John P. Chandler   Copy Right John P. Chandler, 2002