Parking Wars – Church Edition

If you were to monitor your church parking lot, you may be surprised at what happens in the last few minutes prior to the start of services and for the next ten minutes.  Most pastors and church leaders never see this because they are normally inside doing ministry.  Here are some examples of what you may observe:

• A traffic jam created by many cars arriving at the last minute.  This sometimes includes traffic backed up into the public street.
• All the spots near the building are long gone, which requires people to drive around and around looking for any parking.
• Several cars are parked in driveways, further impairing navigation.
• Many people (adults & children) are crossing in front of traffic while trying to hurry into the building.
• Sometimes horns honk and people “greet” each other with the universal sign of displeasure (yes, this has happened in church parking lots!).

I could go on, but you get the picture.  Remember, the last people who normally show up are visitors.  What is this scene telling them?  It says, we really don’t have room for you or, worse, you are not a high priority to us.  In fact, many visitors have been seen driving into church parking lots late, driving around and leaving without even getting into the building.  Here are some things to consider as you endeavor to create a user- friendly arrival:

• Be sure that you have enough parking to support your building occupancy.  Most churches need a parking space for every 2 – 2.5 people in the building.  Building codes are not sufficient.
• Make sure you have enough acreage to balance your site with ample parking.  You can park 90 – 100 cars per acre of usable land.  If your building can hold 1,000 people, you need to park 400 to 500 cars.
• Work hard to master plan your site to create good traffic flow and safe, easy walking access.  Think of a shopping mall where parking is close to multiple entrances.
• Recruit, train, and deploy volunteers into a parking ministry.  They are exterior greeters, not traffic police (I actually had a parking attendant ask if he could start issuing tickets! – He didn’t get it).
• Be sure you have some parking spots near your building specifically for parents with young children.
• Be sure to have some spaces reserved for visitors.
• Hire off-duty police officers, if needed, to control traffic on the public street to keep traffic flowing safely and effectively.
• Be sure you plan for all of this before you build.

Are You Leading? Why?

A good question for those of us placed in positions of leadership is this –  “ Am I focusing more on the authority I have been given or on the positive influence I can have?”  Authority, almost by definition, insures that you will have influence, but it does not insure whether or not that influence will be positive.

Here are some ways we as leaders can make life better for those around us:

* Choose to allow God to renew our minds with His Word –  (Romans 12:2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

* Choose to believe the best about others.

* Choose to trust God for His promises and to live that faith out before a lost and dying world that desperately needs a Savior.

* Choose to feed our minds positive things – (Philippians 4:8) gives us a beautiful list that fits this criteria.

* Choose to give whatever you are doing your best.

* Choose to serve others  – Jesus clearly communicated that leaders should be committed to serving others.  He said in (Mark 10:45), “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”  Wow, that is the prime example of service!

* Choose to find people you can serve without concern for reciprocation.

* Choose to have a positive attitude regardless of circumstances – don’t be disingenuous, but choose to live knowing that God loves us  (He does!)

* Choose to respect and care for ourselves,  so we can better help others.

* Choose to begin to apply these principles liberally every day with our spouse, children, family, and friends.

This is just a list to start your thinking.  I write this not because I live this way, but because I want to.  I want to be available 24/7 for God to use as a positive influence in the lives of others.  It doesn’t take any authority to do that, just action.

If you have any other actions to add to this list, please respond!

Good Church Debt?

The landscape is strewn with examples of churches that took on too much debt and are dealing with the negative consequences. Here are some of the obvious outcomes:

• Staff layoffs
• Ministry budget cuts
• Endless debt retirement fundraising
• Inability to fund new ministry opportunities

In short, too much debt keeps us from being the church that God has called us to be or at the very least, creates a distraction that pulls us away from our mission.

That being said, it seems to make sense to take a no debt stance. However, ruling out any debt can have an equally negative impact on your God-given mission advancement. Interestingly, the negative impact is less obvious. When we, as church leaders, fail to exercise some faith and trust God for the future, we fail to steward ministry opportunities. This is comparable to Jesus’ parable on the talents in which the owner rebuked the steward for burying his talent in the ground, thus having no return on the “investment”. If we are called to lead His church, we need to steward everything including the opportunity to reach more lost people. It is worth some risk.

So the best question is, what does “good debt” look like? Here are some ideas:

• The plan to pay it back is not assuming rapid growth in giving
• You have a plan to pay it back in a reasonable timeframe – Maybe 5-8 years instead of paying the minimum on a 20 or 25 year loan
• Be sure you only borrow what is actually needed for the next phase of ministry for core ministries only
• Be sure your facility plan scales financially as the space is needed. I have never worked with a church who can build everything at once (they shouldn’t even if they could)
• Your church body should understand how this debt moves your vision forward so they have the opportunity to “buy in” to it
• Be sure you understand how to build and maintain some free cash flow into your budget for downturns or for ministry opportunities that arise

It takes courage to lead out. Be sure you pray and process before you act. Make sure you hammer out a clear understanding of who God as made you as a church and what He is calling you to do. If you have that level of clarity, it will make the next steps easier to see and take.

Relevance is a Biblical Mandate

I smile when I hear a church state that they feel called to be culturally relevant. I applaud them and am encouraged to hear about churches focused on staying in tune with the people God has placed them near. I would argue that this is not a new strategy, but rather a biblical mandate.

The Apostle Paul talked about being relevant to the Romans; not in order to be like them but to win them to Christ. Jesus was always mindful of who He was talking to and what their frame of reference was so He could communicate timeless truths about Himself and His Word without barriers. It is not surprising that He talked with the woman at the well about living water that would allow her to never thirst again. To this woman who made the trip over and over and over again to draw water from the well, the contrast of that from living water could not have been more impactful. After Jesus built a bridge of communication, he was able to take the discussion with her to a much deeper level.

Some questions for you:

• Who has God placed you near?
• What are some felt needs in your community?
• What are people in your area blogging or tweeting?
• What is being discussed on local talk radio?
• What is true of the history of your area that might be important to know?
• Where do people go to hang out in your area and what are they talking about?
• What does the community think about your church?
• Is their perception accurate?

As you begin to learn more about the people around you, you will find ways to serve them better and to be more relevant to them. Think about assigning a group to go out and learn more about your area. Gather the group back and compare notes. As you come to some consensus, begin to formulate a plan to be more relevant to people. This is part of the fun of doing ministry together!

Man Church

I recently walked into one of my clients and saw a brand new four-wheeler in their lobby. I learned that they were also serving nachos and popcorn in their 3^rd place area. I soon learned that they are making a concerted effort to reach young men and are willing to give a four-wheeler away to aid the effort. As I have gotten to know this church, I have learned that this is not just a promotional gimmick but rather an attempt to live out their God-given mission.

This church and many others realize that if they want to attract and minister to men, they must appeal to them. They have seen the positive impact to families when husbands and fathers are reached and discipled. Transformed men also have positive impact in their churches, communities, and businesses.

Part of successfully implementing the men mission is to make sure men are comfortable in your facility. Too many church buildings make men uncomfortable according to some recent studies. That is especially true of un-churched men. If you agree with this direction, you might want to take a hard look at how these men experience your church. One thing we noticed is that women will give up a lot of their own comfort if their husbands and fathers are excited about attending.

The Game Really Has Changed

General Shinseki of the US Army has often been quoted as saying “if you don’t like change, you will like irrelevance even less”. Depending on your temperament and season of life, this quote might evoke a reaction ranging from a smile to outright panic. As a church leader, it should create a profound sense of urgency. If there is anything that we desire for the church, it is that it remains relevant to our culture. Jesus called the church the hope of the hope of the world. He chose the church as the vehicle that He would use to reveal Himself to generations of people. We can’t afford to be irrelevant given the stakes!

I have been involved in church leadership in one role or another for twenty five years, and have never seen a time of such significant change. I believe that many of the changes are positive but not if we don’t understand them and lead make changes to our thinking and leadership. Paul was a great example of adjusting to the culture he was in without compromising the gospel. We, likewise, must be students of our culture and how it is changing so we can lead His church to a place of maximum influence. The stakes are too high to do anything less.

One way to engage the change would be to sign up and be part of the Cornerstone Knowledge Network event in Middle Tennessee on October 25. Here is a link to learn more and to register: The Game Has Changed

The Unasked Question

I remember when my boys were young, they always had a question and, at times the questions came rapid fire. Daddy, why is the sky blue? Is it going to rain? Does God know that my toe hurts? Is it hard to drive a car? And so it went. I miss those days! God created children to be naturally inquisitive. That is how they learn.

As we grow older, we often don’t ask enough questions. I am not sure why. Either we think we know everything we need to know, or maybe we believe that our questions don’t have answers. I will submit that when we stop asking questions we stop learning. One thing I have noticed is that most of us are not comfortable when asked a question that doesn’t have an easy answer. The tough questions of life mess with our paradigms and preconceived notions. That is right were God wants us, sailing out of our safe harbor of self-sufficiency into the deep water of leaning into Him and into other people. The right question, at the right time, can serve to launch just such a voyage.

The best questions are never asked by someone who has any clue what the answer might be. They are asked by those who seek breakthrough learning and growth. These inquisitors risk much to break new ground. I would go so far as to say that if your team is not asking these kinds of questions, you are stuck under a self-imposed glass ceiling of mediocrity. God made you for so much more. If you owned a race car, would you only use it to run errands? If you owned a world-class race horse, would you allow him to pull a milk wagon for his whole life? I know, those were meant to be rhetorical questions. Let me ask you this, if all I have said is true, what is more dangerous than an unasked question?

User Design Process

A few years ago I visited a college campus with one of our sons while he was considering schools. As an aside, our guide mentioned how well placed the sidewalks were and how they better served the students’ needs. We learned that when the school underwent a major renovation, they purposely did not put in any sidewalks. Within a year, well-worn paths in the grass showed clearly where the students wanted to walk. The following year, the sidewalks were installed in those exact locations. Wow, the users became site architects and designed a more effective campus.

If you are planning ministry or building a facility, what can you learn from that? Plenty! Here are a few thoughts:

1. Choose a design process that involves many people with a variety of perspectives.
2. Be sure that your goals/objectives are clear before you start.
3. Be sure someone with competence and experience in facilitating an integrated design process is helping you navigate these waters. It is not as easy as it looks or sounds.
4. To achieve the best design results, you must have a clear plan and timeline.
5. Start earlier than you think. This kind of process shouldn’t be rushed.

One of my leaders recently spoke to a group a church staff from various churches. At the start of his talk he asked for a show of hands answering this question: “how many of you are ministering in facilities that are not well designed to accomplish your mission”? To his surprise, almost everyone (representing dozens of churches) raised their hands. Before you enter into a major initiative, take a cue from the school with the strategically placed sidewalks.

MANAGING CHANGE

KEY TO MINISTRY LEADERSHIP

I was on a plane when I witnessed a real cool thing. The flight attendant found out from the cockpit that she needed to relocate someone from the first two rows to the back half of the plane. I was in row three so I was safe but it gave me a great vantage point. She started by saying that she needed a volunteer to move from the first two rows but instead of stopping there, she continued to say that row ten was totally open so the relocated passenger would get a seat to themselves. In no time at all she had her volunteer and the deed was done. Wow, that was smooth!

Here is the principle: don’t ask someone to move or change without having an alternative. Hopefully, you can help people see why the alternative is better for them and works better going forward. Don’t stop with them. Since we don’t want to encourage consumerism in the church, be sure to cast a vision showing how the change moves everyone toward a better future. Remember to remind everyone that this change is consistent with your core values.

Let’s look at an example of this that I helped a church work through lately. They were trying to migrate from an adult Sunday school model and migrate to a small group model. Many older members didn’t want to give up their classes and long-term relationships. After talking this through, here are the action steps we took in sequence:

1.  We defined what the church wanted to happen in all adult groups. We started calling all of these environments (small groups and adult classes) ABC environments short for authentic biblical communities. We defined what should happen to fit this definition. In this church, they decided that a common commitment to care for one another and to grow together spiritually were non-negotiable.

2.  Leaders were trained to facilitate that kind of group interaction regardless of when or where they met.

3.  The church began to share life-change stories from these groups to cast vision for those not participating but also helped everyone one see that the same thing can happen in very different settings.

4.  The leadership demonstrated to the members that they could effectively minister to many more people without building as much space by growing the small group ministry.

Instead of being a divisive, win-lose issue, helping people see and experience a good alternative helped this to be a uniting experience. Learn to lead from the flight attendant. She used influence instead of authority and everyone won.

5 Facility Glass Ceilings

In my previous role as an Executive Pastor at a rapidly growing church, we woke up one day and discovered that we were out of facility space. Actually, the process was a little more gradual than that, but we did not respond as quickly as we should have. As I began to quantify the problem, I discovered that we did not have a facility glass ceiling. We actually had 5 glass ceilings. Here is the list:

1.  Worship Space – This is the one that everyone sees and experiences so it is rarely a surprise. Our problem is we were up to 5 worship services and kept believing that we could attract the same attendance at sub-optimal times.

2.  Children’s Ministry Space – Obviously, if we say that we value ministry to the next generation and to families, we need enough space to carry that out. If you stop there you can still miss this one. You need to understand your philosophy of ministry in this area before you plan space and build. A large group/small group model requires vastly different square footage than a Sunday school model.

3.  Youth Ministry Space – What I just said about children’s space is also true for youth.

4.  Ingress/Egress/Gathering Space – This is often overlooked or very underestimated. You need to create ample space for people to flow easily in and out of the building with gathering areas where people can get out of the flow and connect with others. This should be customized to your church and its DNA. Most churches do not think through a way finding strategy the will help people navigate from the site entrance and all the way through the building.

5.  Parking – I can’t tell you how often I visit churches that don’t have adequate and accessible parking. They can never maximize their facility space. I recently visited a church that could park enough people to fill about 50% of their facility with no prospect of purchasing any additional land. They will never recoup the cost of over-building as they sell and relocate.

How do you avoid multiple glass ceilings? Choose a design team best suited to learning who you are and what God is calling you to accomplish. Be sure your design team knows and serves churches on a regular basis.