KevMcCord

CEO Missions

Often I am presented with a request to consider whether our church would assist with a ministry or missions opportunity. I've found it is easiest for me to divide the ones our church can consider into three categories:

Missions Efforts or Ministries We Will Celebrate

A good example is a medical mission trip engaged by one of the people in our church.  They dont need our help, but they share with us their dream, their timeline, and the result.  We celebrate this by letting them tell the story on our website and sometimes as part of our worship gathering.  This works best for people who are in a relationship with our church to start with.

Missions Efforts or Ministries We Will Endorse

A good example is a vision on the heart of one of our people to feed the homeless or to minister to a group of people in our society who share a common pain.  We aren't going to organize the ongoing ministry, but we may collect an occasional offering, allow the use of our facilities, and encourage our people to get on board.  An effort we endorse is also one we would celebrate.  Another way to say we endorse a ministry is to say we partner with it.

Missions Efforts or Ministries We Will Organize (or Operate)

A good example here would be a mission trip one of our pastors leads or a food closet at one of our campuses.  This is the traditional church-run ministry effort.  The difference here is that we are responsible for the finances and other operational aspects of this effort.  Sometimes a ministry we endorse graduates to become one that we organize and operate. 

This is what I mean by C.E.O. Missions.  We can't do everything, but we can endorse much more than we we can organize.  There are far fewer limits on what we can celebrate.  This approach also allows me to avoid dampening someone's enthusiasm when they approach the church to share an opportunity with us.  It is good to know which of the three levels of engagement with the church they want and then to share with them only the hurdles for that level of engagement.

It is my opinion that we should approach more things like this.  This approach makes sense for small groups, and Bible studies, and seminars.  One of my hopes is that my church will increasingly become a facilitator and encourager of ministry on many levels instead of feeling like we must program things ourselves.  All too often equipping never ends and we're left forever supervising.

This Week In Church News

• Boy decapitated while on trip with church group (story). 
• Texas Court: 1st Amendment Protects Church's Exorcisms (story)
• Teen From Faith-Healing Family Refuses Treatment, Dies (story)
• PBUSA overturns ban on gay clergy (story)
• VA Law For Church Secession From Denomination Upheld (story)
• Granite slab with image of Jesus to be donated to church (story)
• Church closes on Sunday to visit other churches (story).  I love this idea.

The Enthusiasm Curve

Everyone has a graph these days.  I earned the right to put a graph on this blog post by graduating with a degree in Economics.  As you know Economics is the study of graphs and shaded areas and the lines we add to graphs with shadded areas to help people understand something they aren't quite sure they need to know beyond the test.

My graph today is the church enthusiasm curve.

1. The "X" Axis is time
2. The "Y" Axis is enthusiasm

The notion is that many churches are very good at ramping up enthusiasm, but they often have a sudden drop within just a few years.  A few basic points to begin with about the enthusiasm curve:

1. Do not confuse someone's enthusiasm for your church with spiritual growth.
2. Do not pretend some people aren't losing their enthusiasm for your church.
3. Sometimes good people fall out of love with the way you do church.

How do you make a church enthusiasm graph?  Just draw it out!  As I'll explain below you don't have to generate it from your database.  There is conversational value in just drawing one out.  However, I guess you could try to generate one that is based on data.  Here are a few ideas on how...

1. You could do a survey each year and ask people how enthusiastic they feel, then plot it over time.
2. You could track giving patterns if you think that correlates well.  For some it might.
3. You could track ministry involvement, but that might not be enough.
4. You could track attendance in Worship, but that doesn't normally work beyond the kiddies
5. You could ask a person who knows and loves them to make an observation.
6. You could try to make some crazy algorithmic hybrid of the above ideas.

What you do know is that most people's enthusiasm starts at 0.  They don't have an opinion either way.  The chart above is an over-simplification since enthusiasm probably goes up and down several times.  Some people take a while to ramp up, but most people get enthusastic fast or they leave.  Some people (often staff) stay well beyond the time when their enthusiasm has dropped below 0 and they are now hurting themselves and your church.  Some people leave while their enthusiasm is high because they have to leave.  They are forever in love with your church!  How sad that churches generally go on to ignore them.

What can we learn by looking at the enthusiasm curve of people at our church as a group?

1. We can learn on average how long someone is likely to be "fully engaged" or "voluntarily engaged" based upon their enthusiasm.
2. We can learn the symptoms and casues of someone who is ramping up too fast and those of someone who is dropping off too fast.
3. We can create a culture where people are willing to talk about enthusasim changes without fearing ostracism.
4. We can sometimes recommend rest and at other times provide a challenge.  Knowing which one depends on our relationships.
5. We might find ways to extend the time they are enthusiastic about our church by re-directing them into new areas some of which are outside our walls.
6. We might challenge them to change their focus from "what I get from the church" to "how I minister as part of the church" at the peak of their enthusiasm.
7. We might release them sooner to "go where God can give them a new excitement" before they reach negative enthusiasm and begin to diminish the church and their relationship with the people who are still enthusiastic about it.

The abstract value of the enthusiasm curve is in our willingness to admit that there is a cycle to these things.  The cultural value is that we can work to help people avoid confusing enthusiasm with spiritual formations.  Just because you aren't still in love with how we "do church" doesn't necessarily mean you are a consumer Christian and it doesn't have to mean we are a bad church.  The specific value of the enthusiasm curve might be as an assessment tool for someone who has demonstrated signs of ramping up or dropping off too fast.

Note that none of those uses required we actually produce an enthusiasm curve from data in our database.  Our database might tell such things as how long people tend to remain at the church.  Knowning why they left might allow us to control for external reasons (job change) and internal reasons (no relationships, disillusionment).  Our database might give us hints that someone is on the up-swing or the down-swing, but the database is unlikely to present a perfect enthusiasm curve for everyone or even just for someone.

This blog is about organizing ministry.  The enthusiasm curve is one tool that might be used to help a discussion that we don't like to have, but one that can really impact our ability to remain in relationship with people we loved and served and ministered with long after our ability to remain part of the same local body of believers has passed.

Dear TSA...Thank You

Dear Tranportation Security Administration,

This past Thursday you select me for extra screening.  Thank you for being an equal-opportunity invader of privacy.  You never know when a chubby white guy with blue eyes and brown hair might be thinking of doing something crazy.  Thank you for not assuming I am harmless.

I also want to thank you for selecting a TSA officer who was even more portly than I am to pat me down.  Somehow this made the whole experience less insulting. 

Finally, I'd like to apologize that the clothes in my suitcase were not properly folded.  I assure you this won't happen again.  You see, I was on my way home and I just stuffed the dirty cloths in my carry-on suitcase.  While I would prefer you screened me on the outbound leg of my trip, I can appreciate that people might get wise to this and plan all their mayham for the return journey.

I do think that folks who get extra screening should get a little sticker to wear.  Something like you get when you vote.  Something subtle, but still something we can wear with pride.  I'm thinking...

1. TSA Approved (Check with USDA for pricing)
2. I spread-em today for America
3. I was groped for my country
4. They sniffed my stuff for national security

Perhaps there might be a grab-bag of different "flare" for people to wear.  Maybe a wall and we can point to one that fits our personality.

Keep up the great work!

Kevin

Reconciling a Big Bank Account

Let me be brief since most of you don't suffer through this each month...

There are a few tips that can help you reconcile a big bank account.

1. Pretty much all your deposits and withdrawals should clear monthly.  If they aren't, something is up.
2. If the stuff in your accounting system doesn't match the bank statement item for item 99% of the time you need to change your entry process!
3. Reconcile twice if you must.  That means don't get lost in the details.  If you get stuck, clear everything and start over.  It helps if you have some automated way to get most of it cleared.
4. Pay attention to the number of items processed by you as opposed to the bank.  Don't just get fixated on the start/end balance.  You can sometimes tell if you have 1 mistake or several and get a big clue.
5. Reconcile mid-month or even weekly if you find yourself getting lost each month in the weeds.
6. Go away and come back if you are stuck.  You might need to go away and come back one month later!
7. Try not to force it.  If you have to make a minor adjustment document why and move on.
8. Be sure you clear your voided checks quickly so they will stand out like a sore thumb if they then find their way somehow into your bank account (they swore they'd rip it up!).
9. Remember, there are three major types of items.  Those that originated with your system (checks/deposits), those items that originated at the bank (Journal Entries), and those that originated in merchant accounts or other bank (online payments, ACH, credit cards).  They each tend to cause different problems.  Keep a list of the problems you see in each.  Six months in you'll be a pro.
10. Don't get anxious.  It's just money.  It worked out last month.  It will work out again this month.

There are special things to know when you reconcile an account that has not been reconciled for months.  However, the most important thing about reconciliation is to understand the origin of a transaction that hit the bank account and to know how stuff gets put into the accounting system.  Everything else is details.  Also, make sure you aren't wasting time!  Whatever system you use be sure you are talking ot other users to learn their tips and tricks!

The Environment Matters

I'm not one of those Administrative Pastors who will go on about the last remodeling or building project we went through as a church.  I routinely visit churches of all sizes and types.  I love it when I see quality and thoughtfulness, but it rarely moves me.

Today I walked into a church building that was set way back from the road, across a bridge, and behind some trees.  It is a big church building, but the message it gave me was that what mattered was on the inside.  Even more importantly, it said what mattered is what could/would happen on the inside.

I entered a large auditorium with fixed, theatre style seating.  What struck me first was that each chair was a different color from its neighbor.  A half-dozen or so colors were interestingly dispersed throughout.  It was clear that this would keep the room from feeling empty if it were half full of people.  That was a bold move.  How many folks would have settled on a single color or two contrasting colors?  It impressed me more than the state-of-the-art audio-visual setup.

I visited a coffee shop that would be a nice place to drink quality coffee while studying the Bible or meeting a friend.  On a nice day like today, this can happen while enjoying a cool breeze on the outdoor patio 30 feet above a creek.  The enviornment mattered more to me than the fact that it was a Starbucks inside a church.  In fact, I've never been in a Starbucks I liked more.

I picked up a floor plan that instantly made me familiar with the facilities.  They layout somehow just jumped off the page and made me confident about navigating the place.

I entered tastefully appointed church offices that were efficient and also comfortable.  There was quiet to facilitate work, but proximity between people for building team. 

While quality design was evident throughout, there was not the over-the-top architecture that sometimes characterizes a mega-church complex.  The statement to me was simple. What matters is on the inside.  We care to make the best environment we can make to help people focus on Christ, hear the Gospel, and connect them with one another.

Christians

You've heard or seen the bumper sticker Christians Aren't Perfect Just Forgiven.

My version is:

Christians Aren't Perfect They're Possessed (by Jesus)

The Back Door - Atrophy

I recently discussed The Back Door.  By this I mean people who slip out unnoticed for unknown reasons from your church.  I broke folks down into three categories that relate to their level of engagement before they slipped out.  The second post was about folks the church fails to retain.   This post is about atrophy.  By this I mean folks who attended, but never fully connected before they disappeared.  These folks catch on and become attendees. They moved out of the guest category, but the never did quite get completely included.

First, a slight disclaimer.  I like to work forward just like you do!  I'd much rather work with a brand new family that is excited to be at our church.  It is much easier to make calls and send letters to people that have no expectation that you know them personally.  The biggest issue with the atrophy category is that we often feel we should know someone who has attended, but we don't!

Measuring Atrophy

The basic measure of atrophy is the number of attendee families that cease to attend your church each month.  The difficulty is that in many cases time has to elapse before we can be certain they are no longer attending. 

One of the first things I do when working with a new church is try to get a feel for who is truly active as opposed to those that may be languishing on the church mailing list without any recent evidence of activity.  That means we have to decide if we have enough measures of attendance and participation to feel we can say with some certainty that a family has been around in the past 2-3 months.  Conversly, if we can see who hasn't been around in say 4-5 months we are starting to get at the measure of atrophy.  Clearly we don't want to wait 4 months to contact someone, but there is value in observing atrophy over time in order to decide:

1. If we track enough information to make good decisions.
2. When the best time might be to contact someone who seems to be missing. 

Understanding Attendees As A Group

At any given time you should know who the attendee families are.  They are folks who have made it into your database through multiple interactions.  Maybe they went through your initial assimilation process.  Normally that involves a letter or two, a phone call, and maybe some kind of orientation.  You might have evidence their kids are attending or they may have given a few gifts.   Hopefully you can tell who the Attendee families are and you have ways to distinguish them from guests and members in your ChMS.  Hopefully you have identified the key things that move them into this category and that move them out of this category into a more involved "member" or "connected" category.

Atrophy related issues and quesitons

1. Understanding how atrophy works over time in your church can create a baseline.  If it is common to lose 50 families each month, you may begin to investigate if you see an increase.
2. Some atrophy is a normal part of ministry.  In transient areas like South Florida I believe it runs to about 15% each year.
3. High atrophy may indicate there is a problem with the structures that exist for people to engage the church at a deeper level.  You may be teaching on Bible study, small groups or finding a place to serve; while failing to provide consistent and clear paths to connect.  If there is a window of time when an attendee is open to these things it may be too short to last until your next big ministry fair or the start of a seasonal program.
4. Often no one has a personal relationship with the person who only attends worship.  A relationship would make it natural to call them if they stop showing up.  Without a relationship you are left with data.  Data is inferior to relationships, but that doesn't mean it should be ignored.
5. I've not seen the church that has a proactive follow up for folks in this cateogry.  Generally they have to graduate to membership or get involved in Bible Study or a Ministry Team before this happens.
6. Churches routinely express an interest in sending letters and emailings to these folks when they stop attending, but I haven't seen this done on any large scale as a sustained process.
7. While we sometimes know the person's spiritual journey, more often this is not documented.  It is difficult to know whether this was a seeker, a new believer, or a mature Christian who failed to fully connect with the mission and community of the church.
8. People sometimes decide to remain in this category for a long period of time.  Some don't seem to want anything beyond the weekend worship service.

Unique Aspects of My Approach

1. I consider it critical to automate the discovery of activity and change in categorization from guest to attendee.
2. I move the family from guest to attendee as a group.  Activity by any member of the family is assumed to be evidence for all.
3. I prefer to automate the monthly IN-activation of attendees who haven't had activity in many months.
4. I have not implemented two levels of attendees, but I suspect this could be helpful.  Knowning whether someone is sporadic or consistent might be helpful, but I believe this is probably a distinction that would apply well to both attendees and members making it another dimension of participation.

I suspect that you might agree with me that more should be done to understand why people fall away.  I want to know if we are not making our mission clear or if they had a hard time connecting meaningfully into the life of the church.  I'm sure much of the time their life gets complicated.  I'm sure some people just decide they don't like something about the church.  However, I'd like to think there are cases where just asking would help them and help us and maybe even those who attend our church in the future. 

The problem is that it seems as though putting energy in the direction of understanding atrophy would take it away from the very things people need to connect.  I have a feeling were missing some important strategy.  Do you?   What if someone just made calls for 6 months and documented what was happening?

On the other hand, I also think the job of the support staff is to sustain the environments where the pastors and ministry leaders can equip people to connect with and minister to one another.  In that sense, if we have dedicated lay ministers (teachers, small group leaders, team leaders) and they are available to those who attend we shouldn't need to look back quite so much.

Handlers & Gatekeepers

Does your senior pastor have handlers or assistants?

An assistant helps the pastor do important things by handling the mundane things.  A handler makes sure other people's important things don't get in the way of the pastor's mundane things.

Justify Your Sloth

Just in case you are having a hard time getting anything done today, please consider the following rationalizations to ease your conscience.

1. There were a lot of church events last week.  I've got a break or two coming.
2. They don't pay me as much here as I could get elsewhere.  I'll just check my ebay listings.
3. Blogging is how I take breaks, and it is my way to share what I know with other churches.
4. Bible study in my office is a godly thing.
5. Blog reading is job research
6. I read and write a lot of emails at home so writing a few personal emails here is just fair.
7. I have to come up to the church tomorrow night so I'll leave early this afternoon.

I'm only half serious.  Some of the above things are true some of the time.   I tend to worry less about the above rationalizations and more about the following questions:

1. Am I meeting and exceeding expectations?
2. Is there something I am avoiding?
3. What example am I setting? What perception am I creating?
4. Would my boss/supervisor agree with my reasoning?
5. Why didn't I share my reasoning with my boss/supervisor?
6. Am I presenting a different explanation to others than what I use to justify my actions to myself.
7. Am I constantly thinking about reasons to justify my actions?  Why is that?

My dad cuts through all this stuff when he senses someone in ministry leadership is losing their excitement.  He just asks them whether they still have a dream about what they can do on their team in their ministry.  If you aren't dreaming about what God can do with you in your capacity you may need to pray about a change of scenery.  If your dream is big your focus is usually easy to maintain.