Posts Tagged 'Larry Osborne'

SHOULD A PASTOR KNOW WHO GIVES WHAT? (Facts & Assumptions)

Published March 29, 2010 Leadership 32 Comments
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One subject that’s always good for a little controversy is a discussion of whether or not a pastor should have access to congregational giving records. Years ago I was a proud card carrying member of the “I-don’t-know-who-gives-what” tribe. But I changed my mind after being challenged and realizing that . . .

  • I had a hard time explaining why a pastor is any different from other ministry leaders (think missionaries, parachurch ministries, Christian media, seminaries, and the like).
  • I had a hard time explaining why capital campaigns are different. No one seems to object to the pastor knowing about large commitments and gifts to a building project. So how is this different than gifts to the general fund?
  • I found nothing in the scriptures supporting my viewpoint. Frankly, all the verses I used to support staying in the dark could just as well be applied to missionaries or anyone leading any ministry - even the church treasurer – something that no one I know of advocates. The idea that a local church pastor is somehow different is simply not Biblical.
  • Even though I took pride in not knowing, I still made subconscious assumptions. I couldn’t help it. It’s human nature. But once I had the facts in hand, I was amazed at how inaccurate most of my assumptions were.

A while back, I was discussing this with a group of pastors at a gathering I was hosting. The very next day I had an experience that showed once again why having the facts is always better than making assumptions – and how having the facts radically changes (and should change) the way we deal with individuals.

Our church was being picketed by the carpenters’ union. Their huge “Labor Dispute – SHAME ON NORTH COAST CHURCH” sign showed up during the week and during our worship services in an attempt to “motivate” us into firing a non-union subcontractor we’d hired to work on our new campus construction.

After the first weekend of picketing, we received an email from a concerned parishioner. He informed us that after prayer and reflection his family would no longer be giving their “first fruits” to our ministry. He said he would still give the Lord what was His, but it just wouldn’t be to North Coast – at least not until the issue with the union was resolved.

He then went on to say that though he didn’t particularly care for the methods the union was using, he felt our church had a moral obligation to support companies that provide a living wage in order to show the community that we care about people and not just the bottom line. He concluded by thanking us for the way our ministry and teaching had blessed his family and promised that his entire family would continue to pray for us as we worked to resolve the issue.

_____________

If you were in my shoes, how would you respond?

Not just what would you say or write; but how would you feel?

Based on content and tone, it’s clear that the writer is a union member, but he’s also a strong Christian, fully committed to the church, praying for it regularly, and supporting it with his “first fruits.” My bet is that you’d wonder if other families like his were thinking the same thing – and if they were; what they might do in response.

_____________

Here’s how I responded.

I asked my assistant to get me some facts. Who was this gentleman? What was his attendance pattern, involvement in our small group ministry, AND his giving record?

Here’s what I found out.

He’d attended our church for a couple of years. He’d never been involved in a small group. His “first fruits” giving the previous year was all of $500. Year-to-date, it was zero.

_____________

Now come on. Let’s admit it. That changes things a bit, doesn’t it?

Frankly, for me, the facts changed everything. Rather than crafting a response appropriate for a strong Christian, highly committed to our church, I needed to put together a response designed for a big hat, no cattle Christian making an empty threat about cutting back his non-existent financial support. It needed to be addressed to someone who talked a good game, but whose deepest loyalty ran far more with the union movement than his local church.

Once I had the facts in hand, I realized the best way to respond would read something like this:

Dear _________

Thank you for sharing your concerns about resolving the issue with the protestors. I fully understand in light of your union loyalties why you might be hesitant to give God’s “first fruits” to a church that hires non-union workers.

Perhaps that’s a sign that we are not the best church for you or your family at this time; especially since we’re likely to continue to use our donated funds to hire the lowest qualified bidder on this and other projects in the future.

In light of your concerns, I have asked our finance department to return to you all the “first fruits” gifts you have given to our church so far this year so that you can forward them on to a ministry you can fully support. Unfortunately, we couldn’t find a record of any such gifts.

Rest assured, if we find any, we will send them to you posthaste. In the meantime, may God guide you and your family as you search for a church worthy of your full support.

Sincerely,

Pastor Larry Osborne

_____________

Now, did I really send it?

That’s between him, me, and the Lord.

In the meantime, what would you have done once you knew the facts? And how might that differ from what you would have done with nothing but some assumptions based on his email?

WHY I’M PUMPED ABOUT THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN CHURCH

Published April 27, 2009 Leadership , Spirituality 16 Comments
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It’s fashionable to decry the current state of Christianity in America.

But frankly, I don’t buy it.

Some of the most popular conference speakers on the circuit today excel at drive-by-guiltings. They paint a picture of a church that lacks guts, cowers from dying to self, and lives out a self-satisfied, what’s-in-it-for-me Christianity.

In most cases, I like these speakers. They are good guys. I respect them. But I just don’t agree on this issue.

I’ve noticed that their audience is usually a room full of charge-the-hill-type young leaders who eat it up and then return home to look with disdain upon other churches, pastors, leaders, and often their own congregation (oblivious to how much they have in common with the self-congratulatory zealot in Luke 11: 9-14).

__________________________

Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll agree that we have lots of carnality and self-centered living in our churches today. But come on, that’s nothing new. It’s been like that from the beginning. It’s simply not accurate to paint a heroic picture of the early church without also pointing out its many failures. In reality, the early church was pretty messed up, about as messed up as the American Church.

Have we forgotten . . .

  • Those who willingly sold what they had to share with those in need thought Jesus was returning any day. So when the Pentecost pilgrims who stayed rather than return home ran out of money (no one carried a debit card) the Jerusalem Christians sold possessions, fields, and homes to meet their need. I’m sure I would too if I thought Jesus was returning in the next couple of weeks. 
  •  They ended up broke. So much so that the Gentile churches took up a special collection for the impoverished saints in Jerusalem. Between persecutions and previously selling much of what they had, the Jerusalem church ended up in poverty. Perhaps Acts 2:41-47 is descriptive rather than prescriptive. After all, I know of no one who suggests we should be meeting daily, in Jerusalem, in the temple courts.
  • The early church ignored Jesus’ command to take the gospel to the world. They flat out disobeyed. They stayed in Jerusalem. Eventually God had to send a great persecution to drive them out of their holy huddle and jump start the expansion of the kingdom. That’s the only reason they left according to Acts 8:1
  • The early church was unwilling to share the gospel with Gentiles. And once they did, they didn’t want to allow them full status as Christians. Only after a contentious debate at the Jerusalem council did things change. And even after that, the battle raged on. That’s one of the major reasons we have the books of Galatians and Hebrews in our Bibles.
  • The Apostle Paul’s church plants were so messed up (both doctrinally and morally) he later had to write a bunch of letters to get them back on track. The Corinthians were visiting temple prostitutes, ignoring sin in the name of grace, hoarding the good stuff at church pot-lucks. And they seem to have forgotten that the resurrection really mattered. Timothy had to be reminded not to appoint the town drunk as an elder. The Galatians’ and Colossians’ flirted with heresy. And that’s just the beginning of a long list of sins and goofy thinking that had to be corrected.
  • The early church leaders were as feisty and flakey as today’s leaders. Paul and Barnabas had a messy split over how to handle a young intern named John Mark. Peter fell into hypocrisy and pretended to be a legalist until called out by Paul. And didn’t everyone skip out on Paul during his time of greatest need?
  • Jesus also had some rather unflattering things to say to the New Testament churches. Most of the churches mentioned in Revelation 2-3 hardly set an example I’d want my church to follow. 

So when we call for a return to the New Testament church, do we really know what we’re asking for? In many cases, I think not.

__________________________

And in light of that, here’s why I’m so pumped about the future of the American church.

  1. Jesus said he would build his church and the gates of hell could not hold it back. So I’ll bank on his promise despite some occasional setbacks.
  2. As seen above, things might not be as bleak as they appear. Yes, we’re messed up, but so was the early church; and God used them to turn the world upside down.
  3. God has already hand-picked a new breed of leaders and shepherds to care for his flock and beautify his bride. In my travels around the country, I run into them all the time. I wish everyone could see what I see and spend time with them as I do. They are the real deal. Many are already leading huge churches at a young age. Thousands more are heeding the call to become church planters. A plethora of church planting networks and organizations have spontaneously formed to recruit, train, and deploy these folks into ministry. It’s not only encouraging, it’s humbling.

__________________________

Does that mean they will win our nation back?  

I don’t know. That’s out of their control. They can only be faithful and prepare the horse for battle. God will determine the outcome.

I said I was pumped about the future of the American church – not America.

So what do you think?

JUST RELEASED – My Latest Book

Published April 14, 2009 Leadership , Spirituality 8 Comments
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Over the years, I’ve focused my teaching and writing ministry on two broad categories: Leadership and Spiritual Formation.

 

10 DUMB THINGS SMART CHRISTIANS BELIEVE is my latest book in the spiritual formation category. It was finally released today (that’s author speak for the long wait between finishing a manuscript and finally seeing it released to the public). I think you will find it to be a careful and approachable look at ten of the most dangerous spiritual urban legends of our day.  

 

I call these dumb ideas spiritual urban legends because like all urban legends, they’re widely believed and quickly passed on by otherwise smart people who hear them, think it makes sense, and then pass it on without checking the facts – in this case, checking to see what the Bible actually says about these issues.

 

But unlike the typical urban legend, spiritual urban legends are dangerous to our spiritual health. They don’t just misrepresent the facts, they set us up for profound disappointment and disillusionment with God when he doesn’t come through on a promise he never made.

 

Here is a list of the big ten. See if you don’t agree with me that lots of us have come to think and believe these things – so much so that calling them dumb ideas is a bit of a fashion (and friendship) risk.

 

  1. Faith Can Fix Anything  

  2. Forgiving Means Forgetting

  3. A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids

  4. God Has A Blueprint For My Life

  5. Christians Shouldn’t Judge       

  6. Everything Happens For A Reason

  7. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

  8. God Brings Good Luck

  9. A Valley Means A Wrong Turn           

10. Dead People Go To A Better Place

 

At the end of the book, you’ll find study questions for each chapter. They are designed for individual reflection or a group study. And for those of you who are teaching pastors, these ten chapters can be a springboard for a powerful and fun sermon series.

 

You should be able to find a copy at your local Christian bookstore, Amazon, and all the usual places. If not, they can order one. Here’s a link to Amazon if you’re interested. (By the way, it’s also available in a Kindle edition.)

 

I had a blast writing this book. The pre-release reviews have been especially gratifying and exceptionally kind. I know you’ll find it personally challenging and helpful in your own spiritual walk. And after you’ve read it, let me know what your think either here or in an Amazon review post.

 

And just for fun, here’s a list of the chapters with all the teasers and subheadings included.

 

1. Faith Can Fix Anything

John’s faith and Susan’s cancer – Why positive thinking can’t change anything - The big problem with faith in faith - How the English language mucks up everything - How faith sometimes makes things worse - One story you can bet the kids in Sunday school will never hear - The one thing faith can always fix  - What a geographical moron and a GPS have in common with a life of faith

 

2. Forgiving Means Forgetting

Four goofy ideas about forgiveness - The myth of a forgetful God - The two realms of forgiveness - Are justice and forgiveness mutually exclusive? – The  strange math of score keeping—why it is nearly always inaccurate - The power of a good mirror – Something for Calvinists and Arminians to fight about  - The prayer of Permission - Why you might want to take a sin walk—and how God will meet you there

 

3. A Godly Home Guarantees Godly Kids

Why Don and Sharon hate it when their friends pull out the pictures - Mike and Rhonda’s head-in-the-sand optimism - The one promise lots of parents count on that isn’t really a promise—and why it doesn’t say what most people think it says - How B. F. Skinner snuck into our churches - Mitch’s foolish pride – How Ten Rules for Raising Godly Kids became Three Suggestions for Surviving Parenthood - Why bad kids often make great adults

 

4. God Has a Blueprint for My Life

Why does the search for God’s will feel like an Easter egg hunt? - Why a blueprint is a bad metaphor for God’s will—and why a game plan is a great metaphor for God’s will - Is there a reason why the New Testament ignores the kind of decisions we typically stress over? - Why God doesn’t do consulting, and what happens when we think he does - How obedience makes everything (even some pretty lousy decisions) better

 

5. Christians Shouldn’t Judge

How to get your non-Christians friends to quote the Bible - Why “Do not judge” doesn’t mean what most people think it means - When and how the idea of tolerance changed from “You have the right to be wrong” into “Nobody is wrong” - Log-in-eye disease - Did God really forget to put some important stuff in the Bible? - Why it’s a bad idea to judge non-Christians by Christian standards - Are judgment and grace incompatible?

 

6. Everything Happens for a Reason

Nancy’s cancer  ¡ Happy talk and other stupid things people say - How Romans 8:28 became the most misunderstood and misquoted verse in the Bible - Two conditions most people don’t seem to notice - Are self-inflicted wounds God’s doing? - Why Murphy matters - Can a bad thing be a good thing? - Why we might want Jesus to wait a while before coming back - The power in a path called obedience

 

7. Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide

The one type of person I’ve never been able to help – The musings of a tax dodger -A Jiminy Cricket code of ethics—why so many people trust it and why that’s not a smart thing to do - How our conscience is more like a thermostat than a thermometer - Blind spots and bad software - What heart disease does to our conscience - The one thing everyone’s conscience does with unerring accuracy

 

8. God Brings Good Luck

Why I worry when someone angles to be last in line - Tim’s rather “unusual” choice of words - The high price of unrealistic and unfounded promises - Job’s wife and Asaph’s journal ¡ Eddie Haskell Christians—do they really think God is stupid? - Do we? - Why it’s never a good idea to judge a king’s banquet by the finger food - One cliché that’s not only wrong but flat-out absurd - Why an abundant life might not be so abundant

 

9. A Valley Means a Wrong Turn              

Why my Dark Years had nothing to do with a wrong turn. - How extended valleys can make our friends’ advice nearly worthless - Three simple but profound fog-cutting questions - The kind of valley we never want to leave prematurely - Shortcuts we don’t want to take, even if they work - The day a bunch of guys with iron chariots proved to be stronger than a bunch of guys with God on their side - What to do when God says, “Get someone else to help you”

 

10. Dead People Go to a Better Place

How to start a mini riot - The truth about wicked Uncle Ernie - Funeral assurances and the frantic search for a nod-to-God - Blame Jesus – The myth behind the myth - A rather testy e-mail - How and when did obedience become an extra-credit assignment? - Why Mickey Cohen couldn’t be a Christian gangster - The big difference between struggling and setting up camp - The one tell-tale sign of whether or not we love God

 

Take me to Amazon.com

 

 

TIME or TASK? How Many Hours Should Staff Members Work? [Take 2]

Published March 30, 2009 Leadership 2 Comments
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In my last post, I pointed out that asking how many hours a staff member should work is asking the wrong question – and worse, it’s a question with two different right answers.

I then proceeded to look at the question of how many hours from a leader’s perspective. In this post we’ll look at it from a staff member’s perspective.

___________________

From a leader’s perspective, the question of how many hours a staff member spends on the job or in the office is irrelevant (assuming of course their job is not to answer phones or be constantly available in a support role).

That’s because the only question that really matters is, “How well is this person accomplishing the task for which they were hired?”

Everything else is secondary. If someone gets the job done with excellence in far fewer hours than I expected – more power to them. If they need more hours than everyone else – I’ll find a way to keep the lights on.

__________________

But from a staff member’s perspective the question of how many hours I spend on the job is relevant. That’s because the key issue is not just, “How well am I doing my job?” It’s also, “Does my work and work ethic honor God?”

Colossians 3:22-24 puts it this way. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”

Anyone who takes that verse seriously will find that it’s a game changer. I know it sure changed the way I approached my job when I was in a staff role.

Here are some of the impacts it made in the way I thought and approached my job when I was a staff member – and some ways it still impacts me when I’m not the one in charge.

 

To do a good job I have to do the right job. Now that might sound simple, but it’s not. In a staff role, the right job is not what I think should be done first. It’s not what I want to do most. It’s whatever my boss wants me to do.

Frankly I’m amazed how many employees fail to fully understand the importance of putting their boss’s agenda first. And I’m even more amazed by how many think it’s not as important as what they want to do.

 

Go the extra mile. Jesus said to go two miles when asked to go one. At the time he was actually referring to a Roman law that allowed the army to conscript anyone into service for one mile.

Now if the godless Roman army deserved more than the bare minimum required, certainly any ministry I work for deserves the same. That makes it hard to justify an attitude that says, “I did my job, what more do they want?”

 

Toughen up. Ministry isn’t a union job. It’s not about boundaries and benefits. It’s about service and sacrifice.

Lots of us love to talk about the concept of servanthood as long as no one treats us like a servant.

When I was a staff member I used to remind myself that most of the people I worked with were working 40-55 hours a week before attending our worship services, small groups or volunteering. That made it pretty hard to justify a 40 hour ministry work week that included a worship service and mid-week ministry.

 

Be thankful or quit. I once had a job I hated. I learned it wasn’t so bad when I lost it.

I now tell anyone who complains to me about their workplace, boss or job to go ahead and quit – and to do it first thing tomorrow morning.

That always brings some strange looks.

But the fact is, if they can’t find a better job (for whatever reasons, the economy, geographical constraints, family issues or whatever) then they must have the best possible job at the moment. And if that’s the case, instead of complaining they ought to send flowers or a thank you note.

____________

So how many hours should a staff member be expected to work?

The answer depends on what side of the coin I’m answering the question from. Yet ultimately, the only answer that really matters is the one that corresponds to the role I play.

If I’m a leader, the answer is found in whatever it takes to get the job done.

If I’m a staff member, the answer is found in whatever I’d do if I was doing it for the Lord.

____________

So what do you think?

TIME or TASK? How Many Hours Should Staff Members Work? [Take 1]

Published March 24, 2009 Leadership 4 Comments
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I’m surprised how often both business leaders and pastors ask me about the number of hours they should expect out of a salaried staff member. The answer is a coin with two sides.

On one side is what kind of work ethic can a leader realistically expect from the troops? On the other side is what kind of work ethic can Jesus rightfully expect from a Christian?

Today I want to look at it from the leader’s point of view. In my next post we’ll look at it from the staff member’s point of view.

__________________

To business and ministry leaders who ask the “How many hours” question, I always point out that they’re asking the wrong question.  

The right question is: What did I hire this person to do and how well are they doing it?

Here are some important things to keep in mind.

 

If someone can get their job done with excellence in fewer hours than most people – more power to them. If someone else needs more time – keep the lights on. Now obviously I’m assuming that issues like character, integrity, and teamwork line up well. But all things being equal, it really shouldn’t matter how long it takes someone to do the job I’ve hired them to do. It should only matter how well they do it.

 

I’ve also noticed that, “How many hours should I expect?” is often code for “how many hours should they be in the office?” When that’s the question behind the question, it’s usually asked by a leader who has a personality or work style that prefers the office.

These types of leaders tend to forget the many nights out and off-site meetings that some of their staff members have. And since these meetings and events take place out of sight, they fail to add them back into the work ethic equation.

Not long ago I was talking to a pastor who was complaining about the work ethic of his youth pastor. Seems he never showed up at the office before 10am and was often out for long lunches, sometimes never to return.

I asked the lead pastor if the youth group was healthy and growing. He told me it had doubled in size and that lots of great things were happening with the kids. I asked if the parents were happy, He told me, “Yeah, they love him. But I can’t ever keep him in the office.”

I told him to fire the kid and give me his phone number so we could hire him.

 

It’s unrealistic to expect a staff member to think like an owner. Business owners and senior ministry leaders often complain that their staff members don’t have the same work ethic and concern for the big picture that they have.

My answer is, “Of course not.” That’s what sets an owner or top leader apart.  If everyone had the same drive, work ethic, and dreams that owners and top leaders have, no one would ever be satisfied in a staff role.

Healthy organizations need leaders and role players. We need folks who see the big picture and strive to climb to the top. But we also need folks who thrive on doing their job and have no real desire to do more.

 

It’s a sign of emotional immaturity to assume everyone is just like me (or will be when they grow up). Yet I find that’s how lots of us think. You can see it in the way we try to change people. We pepper them with facts and then run them through experiences based on the belief that if they only knew what we know and experienced what we’ve experienced – they’d see the world and behave as we do.

But nothing could be further from the truth. We’re all different to the core. That’s why one of the secrets to building and maintaining a healthy staff is learning to see, treat, and evaluate everyone as an individual.

 

No one is an island – not even a superstar. If “How many hours should I expect” really means “I can never get hold of that prima donna,” the problem isn’t the amount of hours spent in the office. It’s a lack of respect and teamwork.

Failure to take into account the needs of other staff members isn’t a work style issue, it’s a character issue. Even superstars have to play well with the rest of the team. Otherwise you’ll end up with the Barry Bond’s Syndrome (a great performer who destroyed every team he was on).

If availability and predictable hours are genuinely important to the performance of other staff members (who need input or a timely response) then someone who refuses to play along, needs to go – no matter how well they are doing “their job.”

But in an age of cell phones, texting, and email, it’s a mistake to confuse timely access with lots of hours sitting in an office.

 

__________________

Bottom line: Wise leaders never forget that people and staff are hired because we have a job that needs to be done. As long as they aren’t poisoning the team, and as long as they do their job ethically with excellence, it really shouldn’t matter how they go about it or how many hours it takes. Quickly or methodically – in the office or at Starbucks – in the middle of the night or banker’s hours – all of these are secondary.

When it comes to evaluating a staff member’s performance the only question that really matters is: How well are they doing the job they were hired to do?

__________________

So what do you think?

How do you evaluate? How does your board and the rest of the staff evaluate?

How do you want to be evaluated?

A WINE & CHEESE VENUE?

Published March 14, 2009 Just For Fun , Leadership 6 Comments
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As most of you know, North Coast Church offers a ton of worship options and styles each weekend. Currently members of our congregation can choose from 23 different local worship venues (with 16 unique styles and settings).

The names of the venues speak for themselves:  Traditions, Country Gospel, The Edge, Last Call, Early Bird, Encore, Video Café, Live @ 12:35 and many more.

Each one is an attempt to follow the example of the Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 9: 20-23 where he speaks of his willingness to become all things to all people in order to save as many as possible.

Fact is, we are open to trying just about anything as long as it doesn’t compromise the message. We will adjust times, location, worship style, ambiance, and whatever else will remove the cultural barriers that keep people from hearing and responding to God’s Word.

But I have to admit; occasionally some people don’t get it.

I’m not talking about those who object to our creativity and options. We’re way past trying to convince or please them. I think most of those folks would vote against the second coming. No, I’m talking about the people who love our options and come up with new ideas that are (how should I put it kindly?) way out there.

One such proposal came across my desk recently. It wasn’t actually sent to me. It was forwarded from one of our other pastor’s inbox. It said something like this (with a few changes made to protect the innocent).

Dear Pastor _____________

Since we’ve been so crowded at church recently, I have done more than just think about a new venue and ministry idea. I actually tried it out on my San Diego wine group this weekend. I promised the guys I would host some over-the-top wines if they would give a listen to this week’s sermon while we were tasting.

The group agreed even though none are churchgoers.

It worked for a while, partly due to their enthusiasm over the wines I opened. But it started to dwindle as we got further into the sermon. Some of the guys were clearly bored by the teaching and eventually started talking about the wine. One of the older guys actually started to nod off. I think that if I have the courage to try this again, I might have a better chance of holding their attention if I were to use one of Chris Brown’s sermons instead.

Oh well, it was an Interesting idea, but I think mixing alcohol with religion is best left to Mission San Juan. Based on my experience attending some of their fund raisers, they have it down to a science.

But I have another novel venue idea to run by you guys, how about a ‘Sport of the Kings’ venue at the Del Mar racetrack? They have year-round off-track betting and we could slip the sermon in between races. Just a thought, you guys know best.

Anyway, back to the wine venue attempt. I am hoping that you have a budget for this stuff. I opened 6 bottles ranging in value from $80 to $175 for a total value of $720. I am OK covering the cost of the cheese and munchies, but I would appreciate if the church would cover me on the wine. Please don’t consider this a waste, the wine was unbelievable!

Let me know if I can help with anything else. Always willing.

Respectfully

Name withheld

PS. Please don’t share this with Larry. I wouldn’t want him to hear that his sermon was boring and even put one guy to sleep. But you’ve got to admit, I think he mailed that one in. I should have pre-listened.

 

Oh the joys of multisites, video venues and a permission granting ministry.

So what do you think?

Should we go for it?

Should I have Chris preach more often?

THEY’RE PICKETING MY CHURCH! WWJD?

Published March 8, 2009 Leadership , Life 12 Comments
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Well, I guess I’ve seen it all now. Without any notice or any previous contact with our church, the local carpenters’ union has decided to wage a public protest in front of our church. It began Friday and continued through this weekend with a huge 4 foot by 20 foot banner that says: SHAME ON NORTH COAST CHURCH (with the words “Labor Dispute” on the outside edges of the sign).

Apparently the union has an ongoing dispute with one of the companies that our general contractor has hired in the construction of our new campus. So they’ve decided to strong arm us. I say apparently because despite protesting daily with a huge sign declaring, “Shame on North Coast,” they’ve yet to even try to contact with anyone at the church.

Two more things to note:

·   We’ve been told this is their method of operation and they will be standing in front of the church with their huge sign every day (weekends included) until our project is completed sometime next year – or, I suppose, until we do whatever it is they want us to do.

·   We are using lots of other union contractors on the job.

So how should we respond? As I see it, we have four primary options.

1. Give In and Remove The Company The Union Has A Problem With.

That doesn’t seem like an option to me. But it obviously does to the union. All we have to do is fire the subcontractor they don’t like and hire them to do the dry walling (by the way, at an additional cost of about $180,000). Now that would be fun to explain to the folks who have sacrificially donated to this project. “Thanks for your money; and by the way, we’ve used it to hire the highest bidders in a effort to stimulate the economy.”   

2. Ignore Them.

I don’t think many people will have much sympathy for the protesters. In this economy everyone is trying to save money just to survive. Few expect or want a church to pay top dollar with donated funds for a construction project (and that’s what most people will think this is about – and what it’s about). So why not rake in a little free publicity and the sympathy that comes from being the victim of some strong-armed tactics by the carpenters’ union?

3. Get Our Own Sign.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to get our own matching sign that said: “SHAME ON THE CARPENTER’S UNION FOR STRONG-ARMING A CHURCH”? Or maybe we could ask, “Why does the carpenters’ union hire non-English speaking, non-union members to hold their signs?” Or maybe, “We saved $180,000 ticking these guys off!” That might get a little notice in the local press – giving us a chance to state our case.

4. Seek To Remove All Union Carpenters From Our Project.

Frankly, I have no idea if this would even be possible. Contracts have been signed. But if the union leadership wants to strong-arm us into submission – I’m not sure why we want to hire their members – or trust them to do a good job on the project.

So, okay, what would you do?

What would Jesus do?

PARK ‘N RIDE POSSE: “Ride With Me” Don’cha

Published March 5, 2009 Just For Fun 6 Comments
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Each weekend North Coast Church needs nearly 500 cars to park offsite and use one of our shuttle buses in order to avoid turning people away. We’ve used a series of internal commercials and awareness pieces to accomplish that. Here’s one from last weekend that the congregation absolutely loved. Now we’ll see if we get a bump in ridership. After all, isn’t the only result that matters when it comes to marketing? So what’s your guess? Was this clever or effective?  I’ll know by next weekend.

 

By the way – if you thought that was well done, check this out. It blows the Park-n-Ride Posse away http://tinyurl.com/64ml9w

Park-N-Ride Posse: Kirk Jones, Rob Morace, Chris Geddis & Josua “Germany” Klempel.

Lyrics: Chris Brown. Music: Terence Cooper.

Studio Mix: Alan Dicato @ Ground Level Studio

Video Production: Jefferson Drexler & David Hepburn.

Production Assistants: Crew Michael Stephens, Chris Cavins,

Mark Garrett, Austin Genereaux, Jeremy Torres and Charley Curtis.

MULTISITE CHURCHES: Two Things No One Seems To Have Noticed

Published March 2, 2009 Leadership 11 Comments
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Full disclosure – I’m a flag waving member of the multisite movement. I pastor a multisite church. But I’ve noticed two limitations that even the strongest proponents and harshest critics of video venues and the multisite movement seem to have missed.

  • The first is an Attendance Ceiling.

Few video campuses ever break through the 1,000 barrier. Almost all are midsized or smaller. Ten years into the multisite movement, no one has come close to breaking the code for planting multiple large attendance video campuses. And the handful that have planted one all feature very expensive facilities AND a nearby celebrity pastor with an enormous regional following.

  • The second is a built-in Geographical Limitation.

The further from the mothership one gets, the harder it is for a video-driven campus to succeed. Most (not all, but almost all) of the video venue success stories are found within the same geographical region as the main campus. Those that do succeed at the outer edges seldom grow beyond the mid-hundreds.

What does that mean?

Well, to begin with, it means that those who envisioned video campuses as a way to break completely free from geographical constraints and expand their ministry nationwide won’t see their dream fulfilled. It’s not happening anywhere. And it won’t. The constraints of the attendance ceiling and the geographical limitations are simply too strong to overcome.

It also means that those who feared (and were horrified by the thought of) the MacChurching of America can rest easy. The American religious landscape is not about to be dominated by a few high profile celebrity pastors anytime soon – or ever.

THE ATTENDANCE CEILING IS SIMPLY TOO HARD TO BREAK THROUGH

Here at North Coast we do video well. Over two-thirds of our weekend attendance watches either Chris Brown (our other teaching pastor) or me on the big screen. Yet despite our success with video, the biggest hurdle we face on our off-site campuses is always the video.

Yes we reach lots of people, but there are many more we’ll never reach as long as we’re on a screen. Even those who rave about the quality of our sermons often end up somewhere else. They tell us they’d rather shake the hand and look into the eye of the preacher – even if that means listening to a message that isn’t quite as “good” (whatever “good” means).

It’s a story I hear from video campus pastors everywhere. That’s not to say that video venues aren’t working. They are. But most seem to top out at three to six hundred and appear to function best in mid-sized or smaller settings.

THE GEOGRAPHICAL BOUNDARIES ARE ALSO NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO OVERCOME

In the early days of the multisite movement there was a lot of talk about a few churches having hundreds of video campuses spread across the country and even overseas. It sounded a lot like a franchising model. It never took off.

The reason is simple. Ministry is highly localized. There is a context to our preaching that is not only local, it’s regional as well. What plays well in one part of the country is often a dud in another.

Even celebrity status can’t overcome this geographical barrier because one region’s superstar is another region’s “Now who is that again?”

For instance, only a few people in my San Diego congregation have a clue who Andy Stanley is; same for Groeschel, Driscoll and any other non-Southern Californian “celebrity” you might care to name. And virtually no one has ever heard of Ed Young, John Piper or Tim Keller.

Sure these folks are well known among their fellow pastors, leaders, and the thousands who read their books. But the average Christian outside of their geographic region has no idea who they are. And it’s this regional myopia that makes it nearly impossible for any high profile pastor to launch a Wal-Mart like national franchise – which by the way few would want to do anyway.

THE BOTTOM LINE:

Video Venues and multisite churches are here to stay. They’ve proven themselves to be a powerful tool for expanding outreach and ministry beyond a church’s natural drive-time boundaries.

But they’re not about to replace church planting or local ministries any time soon. They fill a void. They draw some people. They help expand the kingdom. But in very few cases will they ever become the dominant ministry in your town or mine. They’re just another weapon in the arsenal.

At least that’s the way I see it playing out.

How about you?

Multi-Site 2.0

INNOVATION’S BLIND SPOT: Is Protecting the Past As Important As Creating the Future?

Published February 24, 2009 Leadership 6 Comments
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If Innovation’s Dirty Little Secret is that most innovations fail, innovation’s blind spot is the failure to see that protecting the past is as important as creating the future.

Recently, while discussing what makes for a successful serial innovator™ with a group of pastors and business leaders, I was struck again that when it comes to leadership and innovation, all the sex appeal is on creating the future. But all the peril comes from failing to protect the past.   

Have you noticed that an inordinate amount of the truly dazzling innovation in ministry and business comes from those who are in a startup mode? With nothing to lose and only a future to create, they can risk it all – and reap great rewards for the innovations that stick.  

Yet most of us are in anything but a startup mode. We not only have a future to create, we also have past gains to protect. The difference between innovating in a startup mode and innovating within an existing ministry or business environment is immense. Those who fail to recognize this innovate at great risk.

Years ago, I watched the management team at Nordstrom’s almost commit organizational suicide by their failure to understand this difference. Concerned by slumping sales, they decided to overhaul their stores in an attempt to become more hip and reach a younger crowd. Following the lead of a couple of fast growing new clothiers who had recently burst onto the retail scene, they made significant changes to their ambiance, inventory and marketing in order to draw the kind of people who were flocking to these new retail outlets. (Does that sound like a lot of churches?)

But here’s what they missed. The customers they already had didn’t want the changes. They shopped at Nordstrom’s because they liked the very things that turned off the younger and hipper crowd. And unlike the new startup stores, Nordstrom’s had a huge infrastructure and overhead to support. Losing large numbers of current customers to chase potential customers put them in a near financial death spiral.

Instead of making such radical and wholesale changes within their existing stores, they should have targeted their unreached audience with new stores aimed directly at them while making consistent and subtle changes within their existing stores. This would have allowed them to preserve their past gains while still laying the foundation for a strong future.

 

The same applies to those of us who lead any ministry or business organization. When it comes to innovation and creating the future, there are three important things to keep in mind.

1. Whenever possible, innovate at the edge of the organization – or even outside the existing structures. A classic example would be the church that adds a new more cutting edge service at a different time slot or location rather than trying to introduce these elements into a more traditional service.

Fact is: over time, our best innovations will often be so successful that they swallow up the old.  But the goal is to have past gains swept aside by the success of the new rather than tossed aside in anticipation of the new. The difference is critical in terms of organizational chaos and pain.

2. Make sure you have both Champions of the Future AND Protectors of the Past. Both are critically important. But too often, one or the other of these is almost completely neglected. In entrepreneurial organizations, it’s protectors of the past who tend to be marginalized. In organizations with a history, it’s the champions of the future who often can’t get a hearing.

Most of us have a natural bias toward one or the other. If your bias is innovation, you may need to identify someone within the organization who naturally wakes up worrying about the negative effects of any proposed changes. If your bias is for protecting the past, you’ll need to find a way to give someone in the organization the freedom or even the job of rocking the boat. That doesn’t mean you’ll do everything they suggest. It does mean they’ll have a place at the table and the opportunity to have their risky new ideas carefully considered rather than relegated to the nut pile.  

3. Remember, the startup phase ends the moment we’ve gathered critical mass and some raving fans who love what we’ve created. It might only be a few months into the process, but once an innovation acquires critical mass and raving fans it has a past to protect.  

When we started a video worship venue called The Edge, it quickly grew to over a thousand each weekend. But with the speed of cultural change, it wasn’t long until what was once edgy no longer pushed the envelope to the same degree.

Some of my team wanted to make wholesale changes to make sure The Edge stayed edgy. But doing so would have driven away six to seven hundred of those who loved it just the way it was. Our solution was a series of subtle changes to keep things moving along and the startup of a new edgier edge called LAST CALL. It allowed us to continue to innovate without losing all we’d worked so hard to gain.

 

So here are some questions you might want to consider as you look to your future and the path of innovation.

What’s my personal bias, creating the future or protecting the past?

Do I have someone near me who sees the other side?

 

What’s my organization’s bias, creating the future or protecting the past?

Do we have champions of the future and the past?

Do they have any real power and influence or are they marginalized?

 

What’s our innovation environment?

Are we in a startup phase with only a future to create?

Are we in a transitional phase with new gains we can’t take for granted?

Are we in an established phase with both huge gains to protect and a future we need to create?

 

So what do you think? How does this fit with your own experiences with joys and heartache of innovation?

 

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