Sylvia Plath hit me between the eyes this morning:
I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn’t make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
Paralysis by analysis is real.
I am becoming increasingly convinced that part of my job in working with churches and pastors is not telling them what to do, but rather giving them permission to not do everything all at once. I believe that the most valuable gift that I can give a church leader is to determine what is most important now, and help them plan out how to get there… leaving everything else to the side until the time is right.
As you reflect on your current work with churches, what is the most valuable gift that you can give? I’d love to hear.
I found this interesting…
Snippets of articles, videos, and other things that have gotten me thinking over the last month. These are not complete summaries but bits and pieces picked up along the way.
This was stunning to me:
The Presbyterian Church (USA), a mainline Protestant denomination that has historically been one of the most influential Christian missionary-sending agencies, recently fired missionaries around the world and ended its foreign mission agency.
Greg Garrison, Presbyterian Church (USA) fires missionaries, ends mission agency.When things are unstable, it can be easy to seek certainty…
Ask Questions That Transform Chaos Into Wonder
In times of uncertainty, our instinct is to seek certainty and to search for immediate answers. Instead, develop the skill of asking better questions. What opportunities exist right now that others may not see? What (possibly false) assumptions am I making? What would this look like if it were easy?
The quality of our questions determines the quality of our thinking. Rather than fixating on “Why is this happening to me?” ask “What can I learn from this?” or “How can I use this situation to create something meaningful?”
What question do you know you need to ask, but are avoiding?
In times of chaos, don’t seek certainty. Seek clarity.
Todd Henry, How to Thrive in Uncertain Times.Thom Rainer has been noticing a trend in millennials bucking the tradition of pastors stepping into larger churches. The Chemistry team has seen all five of them at play, but the 4th one is a bigger deal than most people realize:
They are financially locked into their homes.
Many millennial pastors bought their homes when prices and mortgage rates were much lower. Even though they could sell their homes at a gain, they would have to put all of their gains into their next home, which is now higher priced. And most of them would have to pay a higher mortgage rate and, thus, have higher monthly payments.
Thom Rainer, Five reasons millennial pastors are not moving to larger churches.
The road ahead…
What do you see happening in the next 12 months that we need to prepare our churches for?
From Matt Steen, one of the co-founders at Chemistry Staffing.
I have hesitated to do this using my own insights, but have been having too many conversations about this lately to not share it more formally. I believe we are about to see two trends intersect that we are not quite ready for: succesion and a lack of bench depth.
Right now, youth pastor searches are one of the toughest that we do, due to the limited number of the rising generations pursuing a call to ministry. There are a number of reasons for that, but the biggest one (in my mind) is that we just haven’t encouraged them to do so. The second trend that I am seeing is a drastic increase in the number of “I’m thinking about retirement” conversations that I am having. We’ve known that this is coming for a while, but I think we are in the early days of the mass retirements taking place.
What does this mean for us? I think there are two things that we need to be thinking through as we work with our churches:
Call out the called. The next generation of pastors are sitting in our pews… we just haven’t encouraged them to consider it. What are ways that we can be developing the next generation of church leaders and by extension, the next generation of pastors?
Succession is inevitable. I tell pastors that the best time to begin planning for succession is 90 days after they start at a new church. The second best time? Today. Having a basic plan in place, and welcoming the conversation is a gift that every pastor can give their church right now, and spare a good bit of pain down the road.
Nugget of wisdom…
What is one way that you have learned to stay spiritually healthy while working with churches?
From Sean Nemecek, incoming Executive Director of PIR Ministries:
By being curious and not controlling.
I can't change the church, it has to want that on it's own. I can listen, ask questions, offer suggestions, but ultimately the outcome isn't in my hands. This has helped me differentiate myself from the church so I can focus on what I can control in my walk with God.
What a pastor wants…
What do I need from a church consultant that most guys miss?
From Caleb Smith, Executive Pastor of Autumn Ridge Church in Rochester, Minnesota:
Guess what every pastor knows about consultants? They are trying to make a living. Guess what many pastors assume about emails that say something like, "Hey. Been thinking about you. How can I be praying for you?" The email is automated and sent to just keep me in a pipeline of communication so that I might hire them.
So, church consultants, please practice the following:
Authenticity: If you're going to pray for me and the church I'm serving, then ask how you can pray for us. If you're not, then don't. Just as the most effective preachers and pastors are those that are the same on stage and in the lobby, you be the same in communication and personal practice.
Transparency: If your priority is truly wanting the best for me and the church I'm serving, then send me stuff with no strings attached, even telling me how my church might be able to accomplish something without hiring you. If your priority is getting contracts signed, then just state that and keep trying to get me to hire you until I do or until I unsubscribe.
Understanding: I want to give a shout-out to pastors of churches under 250 (the VAST majority of churches in the world). And maybe it's just me, but so much of consulting seems and feels geared toward large churches. I've served in eight churches, spanning 150 single-site to 2500 multi-site. Please don't ignore, forget, or minimize the vast majority of pastors out there. They may not be able to pay you, but they still need to be and feel supported and part of the family.
Where’s Matt?
Where I’m planning on being in the next 3 months, if we’re in the same place, let’s get together!
May 5-7: XP Summit, Nashville, TN
May 16-17: Converge PacWest Bienniel Meeting, Turlock, CA
May 20-22: Abide Conference, Temecula, CA
June 8-11: Southern Baptist Convention, Dallas, TX
June 10-11: Converge Mid-Atlantic Bienniel Meeting, Canfield, OH
July 14-18: Cru 25, Milwaukee, CA
Let’s talk!
I’d love to catch up and hear what’s going on in your life and ministry. Let’s find some time to connect.
The Fine Print
The Sausage Maker’s Guild is intended to be a community of people seeking to serve the local church through coaching, consulting, and other services. The goal is to provide care and value to you as you provide care and value to the churches you serve. Feel free to share this with others within our space and encourage them to subscribe, but my hope is that the content shared here is for our community and not for the broader public.