Innovative Church Community

“I am convinced that nothing we do is more important than hiring and developing people. At the end of the day you bet on people, not on strategies.”   Larry Bossidy (director of the pharmaceutical company Merck.)

Hiring people is the biggest, most challenging decision any organization has to make.  It even more important for churches, because we’re dealing with the flock of God that we are called to lead and serve.

When hiring people, there are two ways to do it:
1.    Build a core, passionate team.
2.    Or don’t.

Very few folks would admit to choosing #2 as an approach, but lots of organizations do exactly that — they hire for reasons other than passion and fit.

I can remember when first starting NHF, my prayer was that God would provide the leadership needed where I was lacking.   We had no money, not a lot of people, we were meeting in rented facilities and a mentor of mine was encouraging me to “hire All-Americans.”    This presented a few problems.   Where do you find them?  And if we did, how could we possibly afford them?

Over the years, we have hired a lot of people.  And as is the case, some of those are still with us, and some have moved on.  Some left on cordial terms, and some…well, you know!   During this miraculous, painful and educational process, we have learned some valuable lessons on hiring the right people for our church.   In fact, we have a very comprehensive plan and program which we will share at ICC in October.

Chances are, you have a church website.  And, I presume, you want people who are searching for a new church home to find your church website if they do a search online.  So what happens when someone in your community is searching for churches in your area?  Does your church website show up?  Or is it buried 10+ pages deep on the search engine?  If you want to maximize the number of people who discover your church website, you need to learn and apply a few principles of Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

So here’s Step 1. Go to one of the main search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.) and do a search for churches in your area using keywords you think someone would use to search for a church.  For instance, I use the search terms “morrisville nc churches” or “churches morrisville nc.”  Scroll through the results and find your church.  Are you the first church listed on page one of the search?  Are you on page two? Page three?  If you’re not #1 on page 1, then you have potential to improve your SEO.  (Before we go any further, just know that there are no guarantees with SEO.  But in my humble estimation, you should be able to at least get your church website to front page of a search.) Read the rest of this entry →

On August 8th, the ICC gathered at Wilson Community Church in Wilson, NC.  Pastor Gary Combs led the session he titled, “Learnings From My Top Ten Leadership Mistakes.”  Pastor Gary shared with transparency as he uncovered how he and WCC grew as church through some of his leadership mistakes in 19 years as a church plant in Wilson.

Here’s the list of mistakes Gary took us through:

1.    Attempting to do too much myself.
Give your job away. Keep only what only you can do.
2.    Putting the target ahead of the team
Make building a team your first target.
3.    Failure to communicate adequately.
Communicate until everyone involved knows what is going on.
4.    Promoting competence over character.
Make sure you test a person’s “4 C’s” first before promotion/hiring.
i.    Character
ii.    Commitment
iii.    Chemistry
iv.    Competence
5.    Failure to recognize my role as chief fundraiser.
Don’t be afraid to share the vision and make the “big ask.” Read the rest of this entry →

“Jesus stopped and called them. ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ he asked” (Matthew 20:32 NIV).

Jesus was always “stopping.” His ministry was marked as much by its singular focus on the cross as it was on its willingness to accommodate interruptions along the way. Jesus accomplished His mission as Savior without overlooking the people He came to save.

Many leaders fail in being able to balance the tension between the target and the team. Most leaders have been promoted to their level of responsibility because they knew how to get things done. They produced results.

However the skill set that got them promoted to leadership often isn’t adequate. The very focus and personal talent that got them results in the past doesn’t serve them well as leaders. They must learn to accomplish the mission with and through others. Otherwise, they will make what Hans Finzel calls one of “The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make.”

Read the rest of this entry →

We did it.  We moved.  Our church had rented space all its life—ten years.  Now we have our very own building.  We bought a warehouse and converted it to worship space.  It has taken us more than a year, but we have the projector hung, flooring down, paint on the walls, phone installed, wi-fi and a few flowers in the yard.  We have arrived!

Yeah, right.  Having a good building is not the point of the Church.  A building is a tool.  It’s like a football team getting a new stadium.  It might look impressive, but it’s no substitute for a game plan.

In the midst of any building project, a church has to incorporate construction issues into its game plan, while continuing the real work of the church.  The real work of the church is to make disciples.  And of course the church is the people, not the building. Read the rest of this entry →

I’m not going to show you a picture of my garage.

It’s not the most scenic (or navigable) of areas right now. One of my goals for this summer is to bring order to the chaos. I might even try to make it possible to (are you ready) park a car in there.

Of course, our garage didn’t start out like that. When we first moved in five years ago, the garage was (nearly) pristine.

Then life happened. And changes happened.

Our youngest daughter outgrew the toddler bed, but it was too nice to throw away and nobody else wanted it and now it’s been standing in that corner of the garage for two or three years.

That box, well, not sure how that got there. I think company was coming over and we didn’t have time to sort through the junk on a table so all of it went into a box and out to the garage. Read the rest of this entry →

For those of you who were a part of our March ICC Learning Community, here are the leadership style descriptions Bud referenced in his session:

Telling (Directive)
When a task is hard, and those performing it are inexperienced or have low commitment or maturity levels, it is necessary to give instructions as to how the task should be done. This instructing style implies a high orientation toward the task, and low orientation toward the person.

Selling (Coaching)
When a task is difficult, and the skill level of the individual is relatively low, for whatever reason. Perhaps they inexperienced, and they are just not capable. However, they are willing – maybe even excited – about contributing. They will need some support and recognition to build their confidence in themselves, and hopefully their abilities will follow. They will also, obviously, need relatively close instruction regarding particulars of performing the task, to help them overcome deficiencies in that realm.

Note: People who consistently fall short in task accomplishment, even if they are the most committed folks in the organization, need to be moved to another position of functional responsibility, in which their level task accomplishment can be maximized. If such a position does not exist in the organization, then there may need to be a separation from the organization.

Participating (Supporting)
This is a tough place to be. The individual’s competence in performing the tasks is adequate – maybe even more than adequate, but their willingness and commitment may be problematic. Perhaps there are attitudinal issues that exist. Maybe they just have significant issues with self-confidence. The leader needs to help the person overcome problems that lead to this situation, and at the same time needs to place the individual in positions where problems with attitude, commitment, etc. don’t adversely affect others in the organization.

Delegating (observing)
There is high competence and commitment as it relates to the individual. The individual is able and willing to work on a project by themselves with little supervision or support. Occasional monitoring allows the leader to stay aware of what is going on with the individual, and through such monitoring can know and understand how to best enable the individual, primarily through resourcing and clearing out obstacles to success.

“Our pastor has just resigned.  He was caught in an affair and now, he’s gone from the church.  I’m just the youth pastor.  I don’t know what to do!”  The young man was frustrated as he spoke to our youth pastor.  The two guys had been seminary friends and childhood buddies before that.  Now, both are married with young kids, one serving as a youth pastor in the deep south, and the other, our youth pastor, here in NC.  His friend called him because he felt overwhelmed by the immense responsibility thrust upon him in the wake of his pastor’s resignation.

Did it need to play out that way?  I don’t think so. Read the rest of this entry →

Mary and John walked into Pastor Davidsons’ office and looked down at the carpet in an embarrassed manner. They needed help and they did not know where else to turn. They were excited about recently becoming followers of Christ and being involved in church for the first time in their lives, but they just did not know how to make this Christian stuff work, especially when it came to their marriage. Pastor Davidson had taken a counseling course in seminary and he was excited about helping these new Christians. He quickly found out, however, he was getting far more than he bargained for.

When he asked them how could he help they said their marriage was in big trouble. In hushed tones Mary told her pastor she had been sexually abused by two different men growing up, and one man was a part of her family that she still had to face at family gatherings. Read the rest of this entry →

Begining in March 2011, The Innovative Church Community is modifying its current structure from Regional to Super-Regional events.  While some of the Regional communities will continue to meet, the focus of the ICC will shift to larger Super-Regional events that will be hosted monthly in varying regional locations.  The first Super-Regional on March 14 will be held at Integrity Community Church in Burlington.

This shift in format is a logical next step in the development of ICC as an leadership community. Dating back to its inception in 2001, the Innovative Church Community was birthed in Burlington, NC as a small group of pastors whose common denominator was a desire to expand God’s kingdom through innovative approaches to ministry.  Almost naturally, the community grew as other NC pastors caught the vision for reshaping their own personal leadership and church structure for maximizing kingdom growth.  Purpose Driven principles served as a rallying point and a launch pad for innovative practices.  The ICC met monthly at Integrity Community Church in Burlington as 40-50 pastors and church leaders traveled across the state to sharpen their ministry skills. Read the rest of this entry →