1. Pastoral Care is important.
Being a pastor is a lost art. No, pastors don't need to be at every party, at every hospital stay, every birthday or funeral, but they do need to be knee deep in the manure of their community. Life is messy and it takes time. The point of being a pastor is not to free up your time so you can manage and administrate better - healing happens one person at a time.
2. Strategic Planning is not the point
The larger you get, the more strategic you become. People's stories become a means to an end instead of the point. Yes, the church is an organization, and it should be organized and the mission should be clear and the question of how something is going to be a accomplished is important. But, Holiness is much more substantial than a few more buts in the seats.
3. Developing leaders is a tricky art that takes a long time, and it is prone to failure
Jesus took 3 years to develop his leaders, and I suspect he spent time with them before the three years we have recorded in the Gospels.
4. Volunteers need the opportunity to mess things up
Excellence is not what the church is about. Yes, we need to do things well, but if we are hindered by quality control, we will never give people the opportunity to learn through practice.
5. A church ruled by small groups is dangerous!
Yes, small groups are important in the life of the church, but they are not the answer to all the church's problems. They are not a substitute for pastoral care, and they are not what gives you church a better sense of community. Discipleship, life on life irritation, is best served over coffee over many weeks.
6. Your analytics change for the worse
The way you understand success changes as you get bigger. There is a point when people take a back seat to a hyper focus on the implementation of the mission for each event.
No comments:
Post a Comment