Four Ways to Move Your Church from Inward Focused

The following article written by Dan Reiland entitled, “Four Ways to Move Your Church from Inward to Outward Focused” recently featured on the Clergy Coaching Network’s Facebook page and I felt it was quite pertinent to repost 🙂

Dan writes; The natural trajectory of the church is to drift inward, but its design and destiny is to move outward. 

An inward focused church is not a bad church, it is merely a church that has become consumed with taking care of its own, solving the problems of the church, and investing its energy to keeping the programs good and going.

An outward focused church also cares for the congregation, works hard to keep ministries meaningful, but directs a substantial amount of thought, energy and resources to those who are outside the church.

The natural trajectory of the church is to drift inward, but its design and destiny is to move outward.

Over the last few years, we’ve experienced an elevated level of influences that pull churches inward. For some, it was a sense of what was required, for others it was perceived as a means of survival. For all of us, it was not expected.

Pulling back is a natural response to the punches that life can serve up at times. Like a boxer in a ring, when the opponent is advancing and the hits are hard enough, you can’t help but retreat. The problem with that retreat is that once you are in a corner, it’s easy to get stuck there. Then you’re in trouble.

For the leader, like a boxer, it takes intentionality, willpower, and strength to get out of the corner, away from the ropes and back in the fight.

When a church has drifted inward it’s more difficult to see it than you might expect, and it takes a leader with a strong team to lead the church outward again.

The following are a few common reasons a church can drift inward:

Concerned about safety and security
Safety & security matters to everyone, but if it dilutes the effectiveness of the vision, or pulls the leaders & congregation inward, it may be more about fear than security

Progress meets with resistance
The book of Acts is quite clear throughout the narrative of the early church that progress and problems are inseparable. Progress for the sake of the gospel will always meet with resistance, yet it remains our responsibility to press forward.

Setbacks and discouragement
We can all relate to the reality of setbacks and discouragement. Over time, that drains a leader’s energy and vision which allows drift toward inward rather than reaching outward.

Disconnect with current culture
The moment we fail to connect with or understand current culture we automatically begin to drift inward. It doesn’t mean we don’t care, but it translates that way to those outside the church because we don’t understand how people think and therefore can’t connect or communicate our compassion well.

Leadership has a comfortable sense of busy
It’s easy for churches in general to become “busy machines,” and to eventually find a kind of comfort in that place. The church operates well, but there is little sense of urgency or energy to reach the community.

Progress for the sake of the gospel will always meet with resistance, yet it remains our responsibility to press forward.

4 Ways to Move Your Church From Inward to Outward Focused:

1) Shake off the past

Whatever reasons may have caused your church to drift inward, you don’t have to remain stuck there. Determine to shake off the past and re-engage the passion and confidence you once had to move intentionally outward.

This is not meant to sound like an annoying platitude. We know it’s not easy. The church wants to drift inward, but the pain of remaining stuck there is greater than the risk of pressing forward.

Let me offer you some starter ideas.

• Remember your dreams and vision when you first came to the church.
• Simplify your ministry.
• Take a few days for a quiet retreat to find spiritual rest and resolve to make some changes.
• Ask others to help you. You may have all the gifts and talent you need, and still need a little help to get a breakthrough.

2) Become a student of human nature

To be a compassionate spiritual leader requires more than merely heart to consistently care about people, we must also understand human nature to truly connect and care.

If we are distant from the realities of everyday life because we’re consumed with the inner workings of the church, it’s easy to lose touch with what’s happening around us and therefore lose relevance.

We then lose our salt and light.

We need to take our heart for people and add to it time with people who are outside the church, think and live differently. That will always change the direction of our ministries.

Engaging new friends through kindness and meaningful conversation creates a hunger to do so all the more! It’s a gospel-centered way to lead a church toward outward in nature.

3) Focus on forward

There is a unique leadership nuance that tethers us to the truth that outward must also be forward.

Why?

Because progress is always forward. That’s not so easy to see when you are in the trenches of daily ministry.

It’s far too easy to be busy but not productive, and surprisingly common to work hard but stand still. This is nuanced because there’s a subjectivity connected to your definition of forward.

The definition and measurement of forward must always aligned with your purpose and vision, or again, you may fall into the not so apparent trap of busy but not moving forward.

Here’s a good starting point. It’s difficult for most of us to say no and cut favored but unproductive projects and ministries. Nonetheless, what are the irreducible essentials that cause forward motion toward the fulfillment of your mission? Focus there. That list is nearly always shorter than you think.

4) Invest in the mission over the machine

The larger a church grows, the easier it is to become over-organized and under-evangelized. This results in feeding the machine over the mission.

The machine of the local church can become a monster that is always hungry and growls for more food.

We understand the nature of machine, the necessary but draining functions of operation. More policies, more meetings, more money, more systems, more staff, more stuff. You get it. Just more. Soon all your time and energy goes there — machine over mission, inward not outward!

The remedy isn’t easy, but it’s clear.

Mission over machine.

If we discipline ourselves to feed the mission, that is putting our best thought, time, effort and money there, we eventually move both outward and forward.

This is not to disregard the operations of the church (the machine); it is needed and necessary, but the responsibility of leadership is to keep the mission first.

The machine must always serve the mission.

One great way to do that is to elevate your ministry to the next gen.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂

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Invisible Disabilities Week

This week (October 16 – 22) is invisible disabilities week.

Invisible disabilities are disabilities that are not immediately apparent to others as there are no visible symptoms, and assistive devices are not relied upon continuously.

Not being able to see a person’s disability does not mean it does not have a significant impact on their daily life.

Living with an invisible chronic illness can be a struggle every day. People may have to give up careers that they have pushed themselves hard to get. They may have to give up on future dreams that they’ve been looking forward to and now have to battle a body that has no remorse.

They can get exhausted after doing what many would call simple tasks. They may have to tackle judgements and limitations that they never thought they’d have to deal with.

They may push themselves harder than ever before just to get up and ready for the day and then strive throughout the day so that they don’t let people or themselves down, and then have to suffer the consequences in silence as many people just don’t understand or even see.

Many rare diseases and disorders are invisible, and this can make getting a diagnosis can be extremely time consuming and accessing support services even more challenging.

Around the world steps are being taken to recognise those that are affected by a myriad of rare diseases and disorders and systems are slowly being put in place to provide supports and better diagnosis. But more needs to be done!

In New Zealand we have a long way to go but Rare Disorders NZ is advocating to the government for an equitable healthcare system that works for the 300,000 Kiwis with a rare condition. 

Their aim is to see New Zealand become a country where people living with rare disorders are fully recognised and supported, with equitable access to health and social care.

A reasonably new initiative has started in some of the major airports around the country as they have recognised that airports are busy environments and can be stressful for many people, particularly if you are unsure what to expect on the day.

The Sunflower Lanyard Program provides people with hidden disabilities a discreet way to let airport staff know they have an invisible disability such as autism, ADHD, dementia or a visual impairment, without having to tell staff.

The airport staff are trained to recognise the sunflower lanyard and to provide you with any help you may need at the different stages of your journey through the airport.

For example, if you are feeling overwhelmed, staff can slow down the process for you, keep things quiet and offer extra assurance.

The lanyard does not entitle you to fast track or jump queues but where possible staff will move you to the front of a queue or direct you to the shortest queuing lane.

If you, or someone you are travelling with has a disability that isn’t immediately obvious, some airports within NZ can now provide you with a hidden disability lanyard to wear on your journey through the airport. Find out more here.

Recreation Aotearoa in 2019 recognised that within NZ, most disabled people with support needs have impairments not visible to the eye – and for many that means getting information, getting to places, and participating in everyday recreation opportunities is far from easy.

Coupled with this is the fact that many disabled people are also on low incomes which acts as another barrier to equitable participation.

Their ‘Insights‘ paper explored ‘invisible disability’, some of the ways it may affect people, and how as providers you can actively include a wider range of people in recreation participation.

How will you support and encourage those around you with Invisible Disabilities? How can you raise awareness of Invisible Disabilities on social media and within your workplace? What way can you advocate on behalf of those with rare disorders and diseases so that they get equitable support and care?

Will you help promote #invisibledisabilitiesweek?

You can read about my health journey with an invisible disability (Scleroderma, Raynaud’s & Interstitial Lung Disease) here.

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The Importance of Developing Others

Over the past few weeks or so Annette & I have been in the process of compiling some paperwork for our upcoming 15 year review.

On the one hand, it’s hard to believe that we have been in Officership for that long, it has gone by so quickly and we have experienced many high’s and low’s over the years.

On the other hand there have been times where it has almost felt like time stood still during particular seasons in our journey. But through it all God has stood by us and blessed us in ways that we can’t fully have imagined when we started on this journey.

In some ways it is quite astounding that we (or maybe I should own it, that I) have lasted this long! In a couple of months we’ll be promoted to Major’s – Who would have thought 🙂

Our children have grown up and shared in most if not all of our experiences to date and even though they too would admit that there have been hard times, they are certainly outweighed by the good times, and the many friends and colleagues that they and we have made up and down the country. 

However, one of the areas that the church universal (including The Salvation Army) has not done well in over the years, is in the area of developing others and recognising the importance of it. 

Which kinda flies in the face of what true discipleship is, or at least what it should be, as discipleship is all about developing others in the faith, encouraging them throughout life and is one of the foundations of the early church.

This seems to have been recognised post covid lockdowns by some, so maybe change is on the horizon. However, we don’t want to just turn it into another programme or activity for some to attend at their leisure, as has been the emphasis in the past – We need to have a more hands on approach and involve others in the process.

You see, it’s difficult for someone to grow as a disciple without some connection to a local church, but going to church doesn’t guarantee growing in maturity.

The Bible frequently demonstrates the importance of developing others, through mentorship, coaching and walking alongside another person guiding them to a deeper understanding of and connectedness to God and to other people who are journeying this thing called life.

In an article written by Lee Kricher on The Lewis Center for Church Leadership*, Lee explores the importance of developing others when he writes about his own experiences and leadership within the church; 

The primary role of every leader is to develop other leaders.

Leaders did not just make sure that their responsibilities were fulfilled with excellence, they were also committed to mentoring others to do the same.

Mentoring was not just the pastor’s responsibility. Every leader was committed to mentoring at least two people who could effectively carry out each of their key roles.

That allowed us to be “three deep” (the leader plus the two people being mentored) at every key role in the church. We built a mentoring culture by making it clear that leadership effectiveness is best demonstrated when the leader is not present. I was so pleased to hear one staff member say, “We exist to pull the gold out of people so they can fulfill their purpose.”

The leaders of tomorrow are already here.

Rather than assuming that we needed to hire new leaders from outside the church, we assumed that future leaders would emerge from those who attended the church.

Every leader was engaged in “shoulder-tapping,” inviting new potential leaders to unearth and develop their God-given potential. It was common for volunteers to become part-time staff members and for part-time staff members to become full-time staff members.

We paid for potential leaders to get the education and training they needed, including paying for advanced degrees for several staff members. In fact, we set approximately two percent of the church budget aside for professional development.

The benefits of this approach compared with hiring external were significant. We never had a question about the individual’s passion for the vision of the church. They had already bought into the vision.

We never had a question about the individual’s respect for those in church leadership. They had already been following the lead of those in positions of authority in the church. We never had a question about the individual’s sincerity and faithfulness. It had already been proven.

Leaders grow while doing.

While leaders can learn valuable truths through many avenues, they learn best when in action. That is why “shadowing” current leaders is the primary way we developed future leaders.

After watching and experiencing how a current leader fulfilled their role, future leaders tried it themselves with the support and coaching of the current leader.

Positive feedback coupled with feedback for improvement prepared the future leader for excellence in fulfilling their roles — and modeled for them how they would help to develop other leaders. By the way, shying away from feedback for improvement helps no one.

John Maxwell writes, “When a person’s behavior is inappropriate, avoiding confrontation always worsens the situation. First, the organization suffers because the person is not acting in its best interest. Second, you suffer because the person’s deficiencies reduce your effectiveness. And finally, when a person is acting inappropriately and isn’t told, you have robbed him of an important opportunity to learn and grow in his development process.”

We made providing timely, specific feedback to our emerging leaders a high priority. It is a gift that accelerated leadership growth, effectiveness, and impact.

With these foundational principles in place, we intentionally placed emerging leaders in viable leadership roles — often before some people thought they were ready.

Of course, placing proven, established leaders in key leadership roles is safer. Giving unproven leaders a platform comes with risks.

Some of the leaders we empowered disappointed us. Most did not.

We found that giving next generation leaders significant and visible leadership responsibilities was an important part of the equation when it came to shared leadership and developing a pipeline of leaders.

Annette & I are thankful that in all of our settings to date we’ve seen first hand the awesome privilege and responsibility that journeying with others brings and we have supported and encouraged the development of a number of people. Some of which are now Officers in their own right, others are working in a variety of ministry expressions. 

I pray that God continues to allow us to do this going forward and that others would come to recognise the importance of developing others, especially in the area of their discipleship.

Blessings ’til next time 🙂       

* The Lewis Centre for Church Leadership was formed within Wesley Theological Seminary in 2003 to promote the effective and faithful practice of Christian leadership in the church and the world. They were founded on the premise that effective leadership is critical to fruitful ministry, and they help develop and enhance that in people worldwide.

If you would like to know more about Natural Character Development (NCD), the 3 Color Discipleship Series or faith-based life coaching then drop me a line via email, or leave a comment below – I’d be more than willing to let you know about what’s involved and the costs etc. 🙂  

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Ditching our Covid-19 Framework Makes No Sense

I can remember reading an article written by Marc Daalder, a senior political reporter based in Wellington who covers among other things Covid-19, entitled Ditching our Covid-19 Framework Makes No Sense and thinking – Here we go again!

The article was posted just prior to the announcement that the government would be scrapping the traffic light system, which although deemed cumbersome by many (especially in business circles), did at least help to keep tabs on where transmission was spreading, and help those at risk to be forewarned about increasing community transmissions.

At the time the government and health officials were busy saying that due to the numbers of cases decreasing over the weeks and months prior, and the expectation that they would remain low, we as a country were entering a new phase of the pandemic.

The thing is, the government says that they care for the little people, but in reality do they? Do they really!

As it would appear that they are throwing a small group of people under the bus.

The old sayings; “Common sense just ain’t common any more” and “united we stand, divided we fall” seem to ring true, yet again.

You see, as many people return to pre-pandemic behaviours and governments around the world loosen restrictions (mask use, testing, isolation time-frames etc.) this can feel like an especially perilous moment for older people, those with weak immune systems and other health problems that make the virus especially dangerous, regardless of the level of immunity that the general populace think they have and the amount of booster shots one has had.

While the announcement of the traffic light system being scrapped was welcomed by many, one community voiced its concerns, dismay and anxiety over this move – the disabled community. 

That’s because Covid-19 isn’t over for disabled people (as it is not for everyone – in reality).

So, what’s the plan? You tell me and we’ll both know as even many of the experts it appears would also like to know.

The return to business as usual at our border leaves us flying blind when it comes to the advent of new variants coming through, as border testing provided an early warning system of new variants entering New Zealand, and without this, variants would spread in the community before being noticed. 

Marc wrote that “It’s increasingly clear that Covid-19 will continue to evolve in leaps and bounds, new dramatically evolved variants overtaking one another like ocean waves constantly lapping on the shoreside. This is a major difference from the slow and steady mutation we see in other infectious disease threats, like influenza.” Suggesting that we need a long term framework for Covid-19.

You see, the pandemic might be over in the minds of some. But like it or not, COVID is ramping up for yet another wave.

A recent article reports that as countries loosen their preventative systems and tools (including changing the way that they report cases), new variants of the coronavirus are evading vaccines and antibodies putting those at risk – even more at risk!

Just the other day Tom Hunt, senior reporter for Stuff wrote that Wellington is leading what is tipped to be another national covid wave adding that the “Ministry of Health deputy director general and Public Health Agency head Andrew Old said the national increase in cases was within predictions, and it was expected some regions would have peaks.”

Again I ask – So, what’s the plan? As “the list of new subvariants appearing within New Zealand is lengthy and growing,” the Ministry said in a statement yesterday (13/10/2022). Read Radio New Zealand’s article available here. 

Epidemiologist Michael Baker said a return to some kind of alert level system could help avoid the worst in future Covid-19 waves. 

They, the government and health officials knew it was going to happen, they saw it happen in other countries around the world and yet only a month ago they decided to scrap the only protection measures we had – completely! 

Michael Jackson sang on his album, HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I;

“All I wanna say is that they don’t really care about us.“

Now, I’ve recently received the preventative drugs tixagevimab and cilgavimab (Evusheld) which will provide a level of protection should I be unfortunate enough to catch Covid (which thankfully to date I haven’t caught). This was followed up by a doctor’s appointment a couple of days later in which I’m advised that I’ll probably need to continue shielding from time to time as waves of community transmission appear.

So, how have other countries fared when it comes to dropping covid preventative measures – a number of countries have seen a steady increase in the amount of infections and reinfections, as well as hospitalisations and deaths.

I wonder, to coin a military phrase – acceptable losses?

Where does that leave me and others like me who have invisible disabilities, rare autoimmune diseases and disorders? Where does that leave some of the elderly who are anxious about being out and about as this pandemic is far from over? Do we have to remain socially isolating as the rest of the world go about minimalising the effects that Covid can have on others?

United we stand, divided we fall…

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