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5 Ships Needed To Take Your Church Into The Future
Author : Bryan Cutshall
One of the most common mistakes made by leaders is changing courses to fast. A church is a lot like a ship. If you turn too fast, you will turn the boat over. The sea of life if full of sunken ships that would have survived if the leaders would have transitioned instead of forcing abrupt and immediate change. Change is not accepted merely because it is needed. Many people know things need to change, but would rather settle for mediocrity than venture into the unknown seas of an uncertain future. People will only accept change if their leader has enough influence, track record and integrity to ensure a safe trip into uncharted waters. Changing a church requires at least 5 ships: Leadership, Worship, Discipleship, Stewardship and Fellowship.
Leadership- Unless the leaders are on board, change will be resisted and confusion is imminent. All of the questions have to be answered among the leaders, before the visions is cast to the rest of the congregation. Corporate vision casting should never catch your leaders off guard.
Worship- The key to a successful worship service is flow. A worship service that doesn’t have constant interruption points gives you a seamless experience with God. A service with flow gets you into His presence, and there your mind can be changed. Change must be perceived as spiritual growth. Nothing says that like a seamless flow in a worship experience.
Discipleship- Solve your problems in the smallest possible component. The quickest avenue of change is through small groups. Your discipleship program not only gives you the best results for personal growth, but also provided the perfect vehicle for corporate growth. Vision trinkles down from the top. As the leaders cast the vision, the small groups leaders can have unprecedented influence in creating positive momentum.
Stewardship- The first question concerning change is, “can we afford it.” Churches have got to start thinking outside the offering plate. Growing churches need to create income streams that fuel their ministry budgets. A stewardship plan up front makes a huge impact on how people perceive ideas for change.
Fellowship - The larger a church becomes, the better it has to do small. Connectivity is the key to cohesiveness. Never underestimate the power of a night of eating, laughing and enjoying each other. The church is in the relationship business. We create an environment where individuals can have a personal relationship with God and the family of God. Friends can change the hearts of another friend much quicker that the best ran campaign.
Implementing is the key to the principles behind church growth. These concepts sound good but they will only work for you when you know how to incorporate them into your church. That’s exactly what you need to do. To learn specific ways on how to implement these ideas into your church structure go to my website at http://www.churchtrainer.com/churchgrowthadvice.
All Aboard!
Written by Bryan Cutshall
Author's Resource Box
Dr. Bryan Cutshall offers a Free Newsletter on Church Growth, Church Finance and Pastoral Issues. He also has a complete line of training materials and seminars in his e-store. Dr. Cutshall is a licensed church consultant and pastor of a Mega Church.
http://www.churchtrainer.com/churchgrowthadvice.
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