There is this instant in the relay race where everything hangs in the balance. Even if every runner does their best job, they can lose it all in a heartbeat if they fail to make the hand off. So, it is with pastors and churches in pastoral transition, everything you worked for and hoped for …
I’ve noticed a lot of churches today are reorganizing their operating structure. I hear about Simple Board Governance, Single Board Operations, Streamlining, Downsizing, Effective Ministry, Winning Teams, and on and on. All of them are attempts to create new more efficient operating procedures. There is an old truism that comes to mind: “Any plan will …
So, your team just won the World Series and you are on your way home from Disneyland/world, and you think to yourself, how do I keep this level of high performance from this great team? For all the great stories about teams that went from last to first – even Jesus tells some stories about …
I’ll tell you a little secret, I will drop out of any team, committee, or board that strives after mediocrity. There are many people you will encounter in life who are just happy to get by pursuing the path of least resistance or are just happy to get something over with regardless of the quality …
Do you feel like your church has been going through a long period of losing seasons? Do your councils, boards, and committees feel defeated and discouraged? Is there a lot of complaining about what you don’t have enough of to build on: people, money, resources? How do you build a winning team when there is …
One of the areas where teams often fail is the overlooked aspect of teaching the team. It comes as no surprise that one of the reasons people stop volunteering to help in the work of the local church is that they felt they were thrown into a job they were willing to do, but no …
OK, admit it, getting picked to be on a team was one of the most traumatic experiences of grade school. The popular and athletic kids got picked first. The unpopular, dorky, geeky, and less athletic kids got picked last. The worst feeling in the world was being the last kid standing, everyone is looking at …
Why Build a Team? A very frustrated pastor once confided in me about his congregation, “These people don’t know how to run the church. If I want something done right, I have to do it myself.” He was trying to explain why with a church of only about 30 active people he was overworked and …
Just as the Wesleyan movement changed the landscape and culture of England and spread around the world, so Starbucks has changed the culture of caffeinated America and now can be found in more nations than United Methodist Churches. In 1971 there were over 42,000 United Methodist Churches and 1 Starbucks. In 2016 there were less …