May 19, 2012

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4 Ways to Get Your Church Unstuck

May 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

At our recent series of Innovate leadership forums we asked this question; “What one word best describes your church today?”

From Vancouver to Moncton, one of the words we heard over and over was this:

Stuck!

We then profiled Canadian church leaders whose church had found ways to get things moving again. These were the key discoveries:

1.   Leaders must be secure
Laurel Buckingham, senior pastor of Moncton Wesleyan Church, the largest church in Atlantic Canada, stressed that in order for a church to find new traction the point leader must be secure in themselves.

Only out of a secure place can the leader find the courage to ask the tough questions that must be addressed when a church is stalled.

2.   Leaders must focus on soul-care
It’s not possible to lead your church toward renewed momentum when your soul is dry.

This was a key observation of Greg Hochhalter, lead pastor of Sherwood Park Alliance Church near Edmonton.

Greg noted that his marching orders from his board are that he must lead “out of a deep well”, and that his board has provided the means by which he can find the spiritual nourishment he requires.

3. Leaders must be willing to shake up the team
Drawing on more than 30 years of pastoral ministry, our national pastor Tim Schroeder reminded us that the team that “got you stuck” is unlikely to be the team that gets you “unstuck”.

Tim wasn’t advocating the arbitrary dismissal of your leadership team, but did challenge leaders to have the courage to shake things up.

4. Leaders must focus mission and strategy around the church’s core strengths
If a church is to get unstuck it must relentlessly focus on its distinctiveness.

Tim and Greg each reminded us that many stuck churches simply provide too many ministry offerings, thus dissipating precious resources and leading to a lack of ministry focus. A related trap, we learned, was in following trends of other churches, particularly “celebrity churches”.

Instead, we were reminded, to get moving again you must recognize your church’s unique strengths and focus there.

The bottom line in all this?

  • Churches do get stuck
  • They won’t get unstuck by themselves
  • To get things moving again is up to the leader whose heart is fully yielded before God.

Is your church stuck? What are you doing to get things moving again?

Filed Under: Church, Featured, Strategy Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

How 2 Strategic Days Can Advance an Entire Ministry Year

September 6, 2011 By Leave a Comment

When it comes to leveraging The Global Leadership Summit as a key strategy in your personal development, and that of your church, you are likely in one of three categories:

Category 1: You do not attend events like the Summit.

If that describes you, this post does not apply to you.
Category 2: You already committed to attending this year’s Summit, and you’re actively building your team to join you.

If that describes you, this post will encourage you.
Category 3: You are sitting on the fence. You might attend this year’s Summit, and you might encourage others to join you.

If that describes you, this post is vital for you.
Tim Schroeder has been one of Canada’s most influential pastors for 30 years. And in the 3 minute video message below Tim makes an impassioned plea to leaders in that 3rd category.

Tim goes so far as to say, “I’ve come to the place where I don’t apologize at all to urge you to attend this year’s Summit and to bring as many of your church leaders with you as you possibly can.”

Why does Tim bring so much energy to this? Click on the video link and see for yourself.


If you are a “category 2” leader like Tim, what would you say to encourage “category 3” leaders in regard to the Summit?

Filed Under: Leadership Summit Tagged With: , , ,

Turning a Summit Registration into a Leadership Strategy

September 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Global Leadership Summit is coming September 29-30 to 22 sites across Canada. The extent to which this event can impact your leadership might be determined the moment you register.

It’s all about intentionality.

When I see a registration for the Summit show up for a group of two or three people, this typically tells me that they are leveraging the Summit primarily to impact their own individual leadership.

When I see a registration for a group of 10 to 12, this usually tells me that a church is sending its staff and perhaps elders to the event. The intent then is to get all the key leaders on the same page.

When I see a registration for a group of 30, 40, 50 or more, this tells me that a leader intends to leverage the Summit to impact his entire church. This leader understands what God can do in and through a congregation when a critical mass has a shared experience like the Summit can provide.

Whatever your leadership strategy, it’s important to have the right tools in place to achieve your goal. One such tool can be this 2-minute Summit vision video.

Whether you’re trying to cast a Summit vision to your staff, your board, or your entire congregation, consider having them watch this with you, and then challenge them to be a part of this experience.

As you prepare for The Global Leadership Summit, September 29-30, let me challenge you to think beyond a mere registration, and toward an intentional Summit strategy.

Because leaders just know, it’s all about intentionality.

What is your strategy for leveraging this year’s Global Leadership Summit?

Filed Under: Leadership Summit Tagged With: , , ,

RE-POST – Are You Developing a Farm Team for Your Organization?

April 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Every leader needs to build a farm team.
If you follow pro sports you already know what I’m talking about. A farm team is the minor league talent pool from which a pro team draws its future players. When the pro team’s ranks are diminished by injury or retirement, the farm teamgeneral manager dips into the pool of talent being groomed “down on the farm” and a seamless transition takes place.

This principle is equally true in your organization and mine.

You will, over the course of time, lose key members of your team. The question is, will that launch you into an agonizing season of recruitment, during which you will have gaping holes in your organization, or will you simply dip into your talent pool and fill the gap with relative ease?

Building Your Team

In great leaders I’ve known, I’ve learned that they master three critical skills:

  1. Digging a well before you’re thirsty
    Don’t wait until you’ve lost a team member before you start recruiting talent. Always be on the lookout for potential team members.
  2. Investing time in strategic relationships
    Be intentional about getting to know sharp, talented people whom you believe would be a good “fit” on your team.
  3. Checking in regularly
    From time to time connect with these people and find out what, if anything, God is “whispering” to them these days. Sometimes it can point to an upcoming availability.

Bill Hybels has pointed out that God is always in the business of building and re-building teams. In other words, it’s not a question of “if” a key member of your team will leave, but “when”.

But if we learn from the pro sports concept of developing a farm team, the re-building process can be much smoother, faster, and productive.

What’s your strategy for re-building your team?

Filed Under: Action, Development, Leadership Tagged With: , , , ,

Are You Developing a Farm Team for Your Organization?

January 28, 2011 By 1 Comment

Every leader needs to build a farm team.
If you follow pro sports you already know what I’m talking about. A farm team is the minor league talent pool from which a pro team draws its future players. When the pro team’s ranks are diminished by injury or retirement, the farm teamgeneral manager dips into the pool of talent being groomed “down on the farm” and a seamless transition takes place.

This principle is equally true in your organization and mine.

You will, over the course of time, lose key members of your team. The question is, will that launch you into an agonizing season of recruitment, during which you will have gaping holes in your organization, or will you simply dip into your talent pool and fill the gap with relative ease?

Building Your Team

In great leaders I’ve known, I’ve learned that they master three critical skills:

  1. Digging a well before you’re thirsty
    Don’t wait until you’ve lost a team member before you start recruiting talent. Always be on the lookout for potential team members.
  2. Investing time in strategic relationships
    Be intentional about getting to know sharp, talented people whom you believe would be a good “fit” on your team.
  3. Checking in regularly
    From time to time connect with these people and find out what, if anything, God is “whispering” to them these days. Sometimes it can point to an upcoming availability.

Bill Hybels has pointed out that God is always in the business of building and re-building teams. In other words, it’s not a question of “if” a key member of your team will leave, but “when”.

But if we learn from the pro sports concept of developing a farm team, the re-building process can be much smoother, faster, and productive.

What’s your strategy for re-building your team?

Filed Under: Action, Development, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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