Learnings @ Leadership Network

Has Your Church Relocated?

During my teenage years, my family worshipped in a large-city downtown church that had almost no impact on its surrounding community. Rather, it was largely a commuter church as most people, my family included, drove into town from the suburbs. And just as quickly drove back home. Eventually the church relocated to the suburbs as well. I regret being part of the "flee the city" migration.

Sometimes, however, there are healthy reasons to relocate from city to suburb. A pastor friend wrote me asking advice, which I'm passing to you:

Their downtown church facility burned down, and the insurance money is now in hand. What should they do?

1. They could stay downtown, but they have NO parking. Even street side parking is minimal.
2. The church is 145 years old, perhaps the oldest in its city, but it's gone through hard times in recent decades, declining in attendance.
3. He's newly arrived as their pastor, with expectation that he'll lead the church into a new era.
4. The members SAY they're open to relocating to the suburbs, and agree there is more growth potential there, using the insurance money to get a fresh start.
5. Other effective churches are in the portion of the city they'd be leaving.

What's your advice?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

How Churches are Dealing with the Flu Pandemic

Living here in Atlanta I interact with several people who work for the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) headquarters. I don't talk to the top doctorss and executives but the normal folks there. Of course I inquired about H1N1 (the flu formerly known as swine but that was an insult to good barbecue!).  I asked about the myths versus realities. "Come on, level with us" I asked.

 

The basic response:

1. The media have overhyped the dangers for most of the U.S. I  paraphrase here "That's not neccesarily bad but as an illustration, we are at about a 3 on a 10 scale in the U.S. and the media is playing it as a 6 or 7." Let's face it, news organizations make their money getting people to watch,  and scary headlines sell. 

I read today that CNN is hoping to extend the story through sweeps ratings season. But I am cynical here.

2. Take normal precautions, not extreme precautions. The simple measures - washing hands often, covering your mouth when coughing, etc., are all that is required at this time.

3. Stay home from work or school or church if you have flu symptoms, and don't return for two days after symptoms disappear.

4. Go to the hospital only if you have severe symptoms, such as difficulty breathing.

Frankly, these are the same cautions you'll find on most medical sites, including the CDC's.

What about Churches?

 

Leadership Network's research director Warren Bird has been spot checking a bunch of churches, especially ones in high vulnerability areas. Here's what he's learning:

 

o Many are developing a plan in case the flu becomes more widespread.

o Most are addressing the issue via email, website, or initial message when answering the church phone. Messages are calming, clear, and specific.

o No one we monitored canceled church services, but a very few did cancel social events that involved children.

 

Things to Think About

1. Should childcare workers wear masks for their own protection or to increase confidence of the parents of children? It might provide a little protection for nursery workers because children can't tell you they are sick but it would probably also increase unwarranted concerns at this time.  In general, masks are probably a good idea for health care professionals and family members who come in close contact with flu patients. But health officials currently say there is no need for the general public to wear them. 

2 . What about skipping the welcome time in shaking hands, hugging and "greeting one another with a brotherly kiss?" That one got a laugh when I asked my CDC friends. Answer: Advise those that have symptons or think they have symptons to stay home. Otherwise the social contact at church is similar to other social settings congregants would encounter throughout the week. 

3. I forgot to ask about Communion/Eucharist/Lord’s Supper because that is not my tradition to celebrate that weekly but there have been numerous news stories about Catholic Archdiocese’s advising on that subject. A google search will turn those up.

 

 

That's the perspective as of today. It may get worse and it may get better. Please add your comments of how your church is handling the situation. 

 

The CDC’s web site about the flu is here: http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/

Dave Travis
Managing Director
Leadership Network

 

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Have you seen a successful church merger?

The idea of church mergers (two or more churches coming together as one church) goes by lots of names. The ones I hear most are "merger," "restart," and "friendly acquisition."

I'm convinced that when mergers occur, they tend to be more successful than in the past. The ones that still rarely work are when two long- established, long-declining churches come together without a major change in vision, culture or leadership. The ones that work best are when a struggling church approaches a healthy, growing church and asks to become part of the larger church's momentum, affirming a willingness to undergo the necessary transitions to get there.

I'll be doing a major research project on mergers in 2009 and would love your advice, based on models you've seen, on how mergers can work best.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. 

What Ministry-Related Blogs Do You Regularly Follow?

  I read several church-related blogs, from Christianity Today's weblog, recently revamped to my sadness as CT LiveBlog to various people such as Ed Stetzer, Craig Groeschel, Mike Slaughter, Geoff Surratt and Dave Ferguson.

But I spend more time using Google Alerts, where I've listed a bunch of  people, churches, and key terms such as "church innovation." I get them in summary form each day, and read the articles or blogs that seem most relevant or interesting.

  I also have a bunch of work colleagues at Leadership Network and pastor friends who send me occasional blog or church website links they think I might enjoy, and usually they're right -- thanks, friends!

What's your pattern and practice?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. 

What Gives Your Church Buzz -- Among Pastors?

"Have you heard what ABC Church is trying to do?" Seems like there's always a buzz going among church leaders, as they learn from each other and are inspired by each other's creativity and faith.

Yet have you ever wondered why one church becomes the go-to place and its pastor the speaker at every other pastor's conference, while another church and its pastor are equally exciting and innovative -- but no one has heard of it?

Here are a few possible reasons why. What are your thoughts?

1. The church is growing at a phenomenal rate, catching everyone's attention. (Note: This means attendance, not "membership.")
2. One or more major media have drawn attention to the church, especially in ways that rank it as "top" this or "fastest-growing" that.
   3. The pastor is an excellent self-marketer, such as through a distinctive book, blog, or series of press releases.
4. The pastor has spoken at a major gathering for church leaders, and done well, being authentic, memorable and distinct.
5. The church offers a series of conferences to tell their story in a way that transcends denominational and ethnic lines.
6. The church has an informative and useful website in terms of resources and ideas of interest to other church leaders.
7. Both the congregation and the entire pastoral team see part of their calling as reaching out to serve and shape other churches.

I did not include visibility on TBN, BET or other cable TV as I don't think these media have much influence on pastors, other than on a few charismatics/Pentecostals.

How would you prioritize or expand this list? Why do you think some churches gain a quick buzz and other churches don't make it on anyone's radar?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation. 

Do you feel oversurveyed?

My computer recently broke and I received an email survey about whether they fixed it right (they didn't) and then another survey about how they're handling the follow-up repair. The day before I received an email survey asking about my recent car rental, and another email with invitation to give feedback about a recent hotel stay. My pastor also called asking for help in polling the church board about something. Meanwhile, I've been on the road for much of the last six months doing in-depth studies of certain churches. These involve focus groups, one-on-one interviews, a staff survey, and a congregational survey at each church. And our research department at Leadership Network is currently completing a survey of multi-site churches with four or more campuses, a salary and economic outlook survey, and a survey of very large churches.

 
Kind of exhausting just to read that list, huh? Would you like to participate in a survey to indicate your feelings about this blog so far? :)

The real issue shying for is how you like to be surveyed (email? mail? telephone? other?) and more importantly, what shapes your decision of whether to participate in the survey. Is it the shortness of the survey? incentive offered to complete the survey? promise of receiving a copy of the findings? relationship with the person or organization who sent you the survey? whether or not you had a very positive (or negative) experience and want to share it? amount of surveys you've already filled out that week?

Probably all of the above to a degree, but which of them influences you most?

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

What have you learned about launching an ethnic or multi-cultural site?

People like Mark DeYmaz have written about and modeled what he calls "the biblical mandate for the multi-ethnic church" -- see his book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church.

Yet this is not the case for most churches. According to research conducted by sociologists Michael Emerson, Christian Smith, George Yancey and others, 92.5% of Catholic and Protestant churches throughout the United States can be classified as “mono-racial.”  This term describes a church in which 80% or more of the individuals that attend are of the same ethnicity or race.  The remaining churches (7.5%) can be described as “multi-racial,” i.e., churches in which there are a non-majority, collective population of at least 20%. By this definition, approximately 12% of Catholic churches, just less than 5% of evangelical churches and about 2.5% of mainline Protestant churches can be described as “multi-racial."

Early research by Dr. George Yancey, published in his book, One Body, One Spirit (Downer’s Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2003), identified general “principles of successful multi-racial churches.”  Mark DeYmaz then adapted and restated them as follows, each a chapter in Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church:

1. Embrace Dependence
2. Take Intentional Steps
3. Empower Diverse Leadership
4. Develop Cross-Cultural Relationships
5. Pursue Cross-Cultural Competence
6. Promote a Spirit of Inclusion
7. Mobilize for Impact

Interestingly, the most multi-racial churches at present are the largest ones. Beyond Megachurch Myths by Scott Thumma and Dave Travis reports on a major 2005 study of very large churches. It asks, "What is the total percentage of attenders in your church that are not of the majority racial/ethnic group?" The average was 19%. Some 36% have 20% minority presence or more. The response to the next survey question was even more telling: "Is your congregation making efforts to become intentionally multi-ethnic?" A surprising 56% said yes.

What about churches that are multi-site? Are they placing much emphasis on launching ethnic or multi-cultural sites? I suspect it's a low priority for many. In Leadership Network's 2007 release named "Survey of 1,000 Multi-Site Churches," we asked for participants' primary motivation for doing multi-site. The overwhelming reply was evangelism" (63%), although 1% did say "cross language or ethnic barriers." we next asked their secondary motivation for doing multi-site. Of the same seven answers, there was a two-way tie for first place: solve overcrowding (27%) and bring our church closer to a target area (also 27%). This time 4% said "cross language or ethnic barriers" -- and those churches were different from the ones who said 1% earlier.  So a total of 5% of the churches indicate it's a top motivation. That's 1 out of 20 cases.

Interestingly, another set of questions asked "To what extent are you reaching the same kinds of people on each campus in terms ofrace?" Only 12% said yes. When asked, "To what extent are you reaching the same kinds of people on each campus in terms oflanguage," only 5% said yes.

What's your sense between multi-ethnic churches and multi-ethnic campuses of multi-site churches? Which is more likely to take the lead, and why?

My prediction is that it will happen through mergers. Our multi-site survey also asked, "Have you used your multi-site approach to assist (or take responsibility for) a declining church?" Of 197 churches that replied to this question, 30% said yes, plus 10% more said "no but we plan to in the future." I think those mergers will open the way to more multi-ethnic congregations.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.

Isn't it hard to go missional?

Helen Lee is working on a Leadership Journal article about the changes that have occurred in pastors' mindsets about the Gospel and mission. She's looking to hear from pastors who are gung-ho about transforming their churches (under 200 in size) to become more missional (and/or emergent), but finding it more difficult to do than they had expected/hoped.

Would you be a pastor or know a pastor that's willing to share your story? You may add a comment here, or contact Helen Lee directly by email [helenleemail@gmail.com]. Helen will be happy to keep any and all comments anonymous, if so desired.

-- DJ Chuang, a Director at Leadership Network

What would you like to know about church-based bookstores?

We're preparing to do a survey of church-based bookstores, as we notice a rise in their number and impact. What questions do you think we should include? When the survey has been conducted and tallied, we'll post our report (free download) and announce it in Leadership Network ADVANCE.

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 19 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.