1. Giving New Life To A Stuck Church
Bill Easum
Bill Tenny-Brittian
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2. Be Forewarned
75% of all pastors who attempt turn around lose their job within the first three years
Because people don’t like change
Pastor blinks when the going gets rough

3. Full of Blessings Nothing compares to giving new life to a church
Because to do so you give new life to people
Count the cost
Can you handle conflict?
Are you prepared to lose some friends?
Willing to stay for ten years?

4. Lessons from My Story

5. Bill Easum’s Credentials
First Sunday I cast a God-sized vision
I preached that vision for a year
Gathered my allies and equipped them
Transformational small group
The goal was a spiritual change in them
Spent 80% of my time with unchurched

6. Bill Easum’s Credentials
We knocked on 2,000 doors
And asked “What is it you need from
The churches in the area that you aren’t getting’
Replaced organist and choir director
We took a “Holy Risk”
Went to the bank and asked for money
Did not to blink when bullies attacked

7. Three Things Happen in Every Turn Around
The church receives a new pastor
Either literally or spiritually
You are the turn around catalyst
The key lay leadership is transformed or replaced
Turnarounds usually require showing one or two people the door
The congregation is transformed by some tactical change
The bigger the change the bigger the results
Usually this is the addition of an indigenous worship service
Or the change in the way the pastor spends time

8. Lets Be Clear from the Beginning
The issue isn’t church growth or church health
The issue is whether the church is faithful to what it means to be the church
Not a hospice where people wait to die
Not a hospital where the sick are tended to
Faithfulness means being with Jesus on the road to mission
Faithful churches measure their success by how many people they send out or away
Not how many they accumulate

9. Only Four Things Grow Churches

10. Knowing Why Churches Decline Holds The Key To turnaround

11. Reasons Churches Decline
Churches don’t reach out to the unchurched 1
Pastor is a care giver instead of a transformer 2
Pastor and staff fail to hand-off most ministry 3
This is another option for an Overview slide.
Staff does not grow along with the church 4

12. Reasons Churches Decline
A debilitating systems story 5

13. 1 Churches Don’t reach out to the unchurched
People don’t come to church on own anymore
Part of the missional conversation going on today is valid
We must find what God is doing in our community and latch on to it
We are a “sent” church
Jesus said “Go” not “come”
If the pastor, staff, and key leaders don’t get this the church will die

14. The Problem With Most Sending
Most attempts fail to fulfill Matthew 5:16
“Let your light shine before people that they may see you good works and glorify God”

15. So Here’s The Question
Do you intentionally focus on sending your people out into the community to bless both the server and one being served and create visibility?
The future depends on how you answer

16. 2 Pastor is a Care Giver Instead of a Transformer
The Great Commission must be embedded in the pastor if it is to be in the leaders
Real eaders ignore laity who whine about not being taken care of
Most Pastor’s mercy gift is stronger than their Apostolic gift
Remember Acts 6
Pastor must always set the agenda

17. Pastor’s Focus Is On Transformation
80% of pastor and staff time spent on transformation
Not pleasing the congregation
You can care for people without transforming them but you cant transform them without caring for them
Amount of time depends on size of church
Under % of time
% of time

18. Focus on Transformation
Don’t blink when someone begins to complain about the church getting too big or you don’t give them enough attention
If they continue to complain show them the door
If you blink its all over for you and probably for several pastors to come

19. Think Multiplication
Re-enforce the Great Commission every time you preach or have a conversation or attend a meeting

20. So Here’s The Question
Are you more focused on transforming people than you are taking care of them?
The future depends on how you answer

21. 3 Pastor Fails to Hand-off Most Ministry
Keep over sight of the Core processes until you have a paid staff person who can oversee them
Inviting
Connecting
Apprenticing
Sending
Hand-off doing everything that isn’t a core process
If the pastor hoards ministry laity become self-centered and demand more attention and the cycle deepens

22. Monkey See Monkey Do
The pastor must hand-off ministry or the staff won’t either

23. What Happens To The Pastor Who Won’t Hand Off Ministry?
BILLT CAN YOU MAKE THIS MOVIE START WHEN THE PAGE OPENS?

24. Why Pastors Won't Hand-off?
The pastor enjoys playing the ministry game
Instead of being a scout and a coach
The pastor doesn’t value getting ministry done through other people
Major value shift as the church grows
Some early participants begin to complain that all the pastor is interested is numbers
Don’t be seduced by this heresy
Every number is a soul for whom Jesus died

25. So Here’s The Question
Do you hand off as much ministry as you can or do you try to do as much ministry as possible?
The future depends on how you answer

26. 4 Staff Does Not Grow Along with the Church
Turnaround always begins with the leader
If you are the founder, you are the problem
If you inherited the church, you are the solution
Either way turnaround begins with you
Tell the story of the pres. Who had been there 22 years before he read Dancing with Dinosaurs and had an epiphany

27. Pastor and Staff Must Grow with the Church
Many staff can’t handle a church past 150 in worship
What’s required at 500 and above is very different

28. Leadership Journey for Pastors
Microsoft Engineering Excellence
Leadership Journey for Pastors
1,000 +
TP4
---Deep teaching
---Coaches at a distance
---Focuses on space
---Mentor campus pastors
---Thinks glocally
TP3
---Releases all ministry
---Supervises 4 Core Staff
---Uses power of the pulpit
---Capable strategist
---Leads once removed
TP 2 `
---Learns to hire and fire and hold accountable
---Sets out clear expectations
---Manages program staff
---Begins releasing ministry
0 to 200
TP1
----Sets the long range vision in place
----Spends 80% of time inviting people
--- Focuses preaching on transformation and growth
Microsoft Confidential 28

29. Leadership Journey for Staff
Microsoft Engineering Excellence
Leadership Journey for Staff
1,000 +
TP4
---Need no supervision
---Reproducing leaders is
key
-- -Developing systems for
their ministries
TP3
---Release all ministry
---Coach leaders who coach leaders
---Need little supervision
TP 2
---Begin to delegate and empower
---Begin releasing ministry
---Coach apprentices
0 to 200
TP1
----Mostly are unpaid volunteers
----First hire is Worship Leader
Microsoft Confidential 29

30. Create A Leadership Path
This is not dialing for people to fill slots in a church
Staff must function as scouts and coaches rather than doers of programs, spiritual hit people, or “pastor fetch”
The congregation must allow its pastor and staff to do what God intended for them to do
Eph. 4:11-12
Everyone follows a leadership path so that 80% do the ministry is done by laity instead of 20%

31. Pastor and Staff Must Grow Along with the Staff
Staff has to make three huge changes at every stage of growth
They have to have a new value
They have to learn a new skill set
They have to allot their time differently

32. The New Value Getting things done through other people
Eph. 4:11-12 is the focus
In the beginning you are the scout, recruiter, and coach
Your legacy is not what you leave behind but who you leave behind
Develop a “to be” list more than a “to do” list

33. The New Skill Set
Learning how to hire and fire staff is the skill set that most often keeps the church small
Never turn this over to a church committee
The larger the church becomes the more important staff become
Never hire just anyone because of the need
Always give clear expectations
Be clear about the difference between delegation and empowerment
Always follow through and hold staff accountable
Being able to fire without hesitation when necessary

34. The New Time Allotment
The key is to ask “What if my church were two or three times its size”
What would I have to stop doing
What would I have to start doing
Go home, sit down, and make your list

35. So Here’s The Question
Are you helping your staff to grow ahead of the church and are you holding them accountable or do you have a hands-off approach?
The future depends on how you answer

36. 5 A debilitating systems story
The key to profound change is to unfreeze the church system story and keep it unfrozen

37. 5 A debilitating systems story Law Think Grace Feel Who’s in control
There must
be more
than this
What is
our purpose
How can we
do it better 1 2 3 4

38. 5 A debilitating systems story U n h e a l t y Law C u r c Think Grace
Policies,
Controlled,
Centralized,
Top Down
Conflicted U n h e a l t y C u r c
Feel

39. Your Church Is Spiritually Dead If…
Your church is conflicted and controlled by a handful of people
Your church is obsessed with staying alive
Your church spends all its time on itself
But remember, every church has a remnant – this is the good news and the place to start

40. 5 A debilitating systems story U n h e a l t y Law C u r c Think Grace
Feel
Grace
Think
Law
Confusion,
Uncertainty, U n h e a l t y C u r c

41. 5 A debilitating systems story c r u C Law y h t l a e H Think Grace
Feel
Grace
Think
Law
Permission,
Decentralized,
Bottom Up
Invite,Grow,
& send H e a l t h y C u r c M V

42. The Way to Tell Where You Are
Every church has a systems story that falls somewhere along a continuum of control to freedom
The top-down stifle story
The Archie Bunker story - Stifle
The bottom-up, permission giving story
The Nike story – “Just do it!”
Control Freedom

43. So Here’s The Questions
If your church is conflicted are you willing to show the bullies the door?
If your church isn’t conflicted are you willing to push the envelope?
Your future depends on on how you answer

44. The Nine Key Check Points To Unstick Your Church

45. #1 A Solid Community of Faith
Has Spiritual leaders – level of progression
Caring about others more than self
Sharing their faith with their networks
Model faith in the workplace
Are willing to be sent out
Are willing to be part of a new start
Functions around trust
No major on-going conflict
You should not proceed if this is present
Desire to connect with the world
This is the primary goal

46. #2 Biblically Sound and Culturally Relevant DNA
A clear mission statement
Resonates in the gut of the leaders
High expectations are in place
Focus is on the community not the church

47. #3 Indigenous Worship

48. Best Way For Traditional Church To Unstick Itself
Starting a new contemporary worship service at a prime hour
9:45, or 10:00 or 11:00 on Sunday morning
Never on any other time unless you have 3 on Sunday already
Of course it is also the best way to lose your job

49. Things Never To Do In Worship
Never begin with announcements
Never begin by welcoming people verbally
Never ask visitors to identify themselves during worship
Never leave them wondering what to do with the message
Always conclude it with a “what now”
Never have lay people read scripture or do the prayers, or make announcements

50. Things Never To Do In Worship
Never mention a long list of ill people during a prayer time
Never use such elements as the “Gloria” or “The Lord’s Prayer” without including the actual words
Never expect first time guests to put money in the offering plate
In a traditional service never have a long organ prelude

51. Things Never To Do In Worship
Never mix contemporary and traditional elements unless you began the services that way
Use language that only Church members know

52. Things You Should Always Do In Worship
Have the unchurched in mind when planning the service
Remember that music is as important as the sermon
Avoid dead spots
In a traditional service the adult choir should sing every Sunday
In a contemporary service always use multi media
Always fund worship needs before anything else

53. #4 Missional Opportunities That Create Visibility
The Trifecta of Outreach

54. #5 Organized Around The DNA
Traditional Org Chart Missional Org Chart

55. Less Organization Is Best
The fewer the meetings the larger the church
The fewer ministries the larger the church

56. #6 Staffed To Grow
Beyond 150 in worship staff become as important as the lead pastor
Learning to staff and set expectations is the most important task of the lead pastor or ex. Pastor
Key question – do you want staff to care for members or transform and disciple

57. Staff Ratios Declining church 1 to 100 in worship
Growing Church 1 to 150+ in worship
The more small groups the higher the ratio can go

58. #7 & 8 Place and Space
Place is to the 20th century what relationships are to the 21st century
So main what image is on your website?
How you feel about place and space says a lot
Dying churches revere their buildings
Thriving churches see them only as tools
You should avoid reaching 80% capacity in anything at anytime

59. #9 Radical Generosity
The more a church gives the more likely it is to thrive
Because people have learned that their standard of living should be determined by their standard of giving
Giving takes on two forms
Inward –support of the ministries
Outward - how many people are you sending out
Money is seldom the obstacle

60. Stress Points Along the Way

61. Stress Points Controllers are asked to leave office
Changing/adding another worship option
Pastor refuses to play “pastor fetch”
Money is needed for the transition
High commitment encroaches on long term members entitlements
New Leaders make a mistake
Replace some long term member of staff

62. Bottom Line

63. Only Four Things Really Matter

65. Questions?