Exponential Blogging Tournament Round 3

We’ve reached round 3 of the Exponential Blogging Tournament. We are down to the final four. On tap for this week is a topic that the majority of planter’s struggle with, leadership development. In a recent survey of church planters in years 2-5, we found that leadership development was one of the most significant struggles planters face and have not yet overcome. Bloggers were asked, “How do you develop leaders in the new church?” If you like what you read, click on the bloggers name to go to their blog.

Rules:
1. 300 words or less
2. Top 2 Vote Getters Move on to Round 3
3. Voting Ends Sunday at 11:59 pm

Mark Doebler – The Grove – Peoria, Illinois

Leadership – According to trusted experts everything rises and falls on leadership. If that’s true, that elevates the need for leaders within any organization to a very high level of importance.

However, I believe leadership identification is a larger challenge than training. Training leaders who aren’t leaders only causes frustration. Identification is much harder than it would appear to be. I believe ther are two significant hurdles to proper leadership identification:

1. A Desire to Work and Succeed – Most people attracted to a church plant want to see it become “successful”. It is new and fresh. The possibilities are enormous. There is a willingness for many to put their hand to the plow and do whatever needs to be done. The challenge is that many put their hands to plows that should be held by someone else.
2. Few “True” Leaders – Peter Drucker in “Effective Executive” laments that we seem to be getting to the point where we are searching for a “universal genius” and universal geniuses have always been in scarce supply. According to Drucker, “we will therefore have to staff our organizations with people who at best excel in one ability. And then they are more than likely to lack any but the most modest endowment in the others.”

Putting people in wrong positions is bad for both the individual and for the church. And simple availablity or willingness to help does not indicate leadership. We have struggled through this question for a couple of years. I have no magic bullets and more questions than answers. I can say that God will bring the gifts that we need into the church. Spiritual gifts are key, so I would counsel, based on our own struggle, to start with identification through gift assessment first. Then pray for wisdom and discernment.

Matt Mehaffey – Pursuit Christian Church – Miami, FL

“We have come to an impasse. I can not justify worshipping at a church that allows a person like that to serve in any capacity within the church.”

Yep, those were the words a former member of our three-month-old church used. He was even on the core team.

One of the most common quotes among church planters is, “I am starting a new church in order to reach the unchurched not Christians.” I know, I’ve said those words many times. But it’s moments like this when it’s gut check time.

When we started The Pursuit in South Florida, we knew it would be different than a new church in the Bible Belt. That is not a complaint. It’s a fact and I love it. We knew our core team was going to be a lot different than new churches where the majority of people are either churched or dechurched.

We unapologetically, will allow people to use their talents in many different roles in the church before they give their life to Jesus. Before you plant you need to determine for yourself who you will fight for.

Will you fight for the person that knows Jesus, tithes, and fills vital positions in your church that frees your time up to do things you love to do? Or will you fight for the broken and lost. Be warned. One of the two will take a lot more time to mature and be ready for leadership.

This is one thing we were crystal clear on. That’s why it was easy to tell him, “I didn’t move 1400 miles away from everything I knew to start a church filled with Christians.” He saw the exit sign and took it.

Welcome to church planting. I can’t imagine doing anything else with my life.

Jeremy Myers – Planting in Montana

If you want to find the leaders in your church, you need to look for marshmallows. No, not people who are puffed up and white. We have enough of those already. Instead, look for six other good marshmallow leadership qualities.

First, marshmallows are tasty. They can make bad things taste good (Marshmallow Yams) and good things better (Fluffer Nutter). Similarly, leaders are enjoyable to be around. They will be people of grace, kindness, tenderness, and compassion.

Second, they bind together and are sticky. Rice Crispy Treats would be just a bowl of cereal without the marshmallows. And have you ever tried to get melted marshmallow out of your hair? Leaders bring people together and bind them around a common purpose or goal.

Third, they always rise to the top. Ever try to sink a marshmallow? It can’t be done. People naturally follow leaders and leaders naturally lead. In your church, who do people look to for solutions? Who do they go to for answers and advice? Who do they turn to for comfort and safety?

Fourth, marshmallows are multifunctional. Marshmallows are not only good for eating, they can also be used to generate laughs (Chubby Bunny anyone?) and for endless holiday crafts. Similarly, leaders are flexible enough to work in a variety of situations and flow effortlessly from one role to another.

Fifth, they’re often singed because they’re frequently near fire. A good church leader storms the gates of hell. They make friends at the fringes and take risks where they might get burned or come home smelling like smoke.

Sixth, when they get in the fire, they actually get bigger. Leaders learn best in the forge. If they can stand the heat, they will increase their leadership skills, expand their sphere of influence, and become great leaders.

Dave Milam – Kinetic Christian Church – Charlotte, NC

Church meetings stink!

When I began Kinetic Church, I vowed that we would care enough about our members to save them the torture of death-by-meeting. So we didn’t meet.

You know what’s worse than meeting? Not meeting.

Over the past three years, I’ve learned that if it’s worth doing, it’s worth meeting.

Not meeting is incredibly dangerous. When you don’t meet, you threaten the team’s health in three key areas.

VISION LEAK
Remember those good old church camp days? On Wednesday night you cried, and Thursday, you promised to change the world and save Africa…two weeks later, the vision had “leaked out.”

Here’s why: every two weeks, vision leaks.

If the leader doesn’t recast the team’s vision every two weeks, the team’s entire purpose is at risk.

RELATIONAL INSTABILITY
A team only becomes a team AFTER they have spent time together.

When a team doesn’t meet, it functions as a group of acquaintances doing a job instead of a team of soldiers on a mission. Meetings create margin for relationships to form. When you eliminate the margin, you destroy the team.

Interestingly enough, Carl George tells us that teams (and small groups) must meet a minimum of twice a month to insure strong relationships.

SKILL ATROPHY
Ever wonder why your team never seems to “get it?” Maybe it’s because they’ve never been trained! When do you want your team to discover and rehearse new skills: in the game or in practice?

Effective team leaders are tenacious about training and helping their team achieve new levels of success. Planned meetings provide opportunities for new skills to be polished and acquired.

Finally, here’s my bottom line: meeting intentionally and regularly (when organized for the purpose of renewed vision, skill development and relationship building) will exponentially increase the effectiveness of your team.

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