Palliative Care

Palliative (Pal-lee-ah-tive) – Alleviating pain and symptoms without eliminating the cause.

Palliative care is what you get when you check into a hospice in the end stages of life. It is the care you get when treating the illness is no longer an option and the only thing left to do is provide as much comfort as possible. Sadly, it is also the care that many churches unknowingly receive from their leadership.

I realize that palliative care has a level of intent about it. It is a cognitive decision to stop medical treatment and begin medical comfort. But what if it wasn’t? What if with full intention of treating the cause all that was being accomplished was treating the symptoms? Would the net result be any less palliative?

This is precisely what many churches are struggling with and why they grow weary and frustrated. Think back to your last board or committee discussion. You may have spent hours trying to come up with a treatment plan to solve a “problem” in your church.

Actually you didn’t: More than likely, without recognizing it, you spent hours discussing symptoms rather than the underlying cause. In other words, you were practicing unintentional palliative care! We see this all the time in our consulting practice. Seriously, we see it in every church we work with!

Providing “medical comfort” to a church that can still respond to “medical treatment” is a significant contributor to the plateau and decline of the majority of American Churches. Granted: Palliative care is not their intent – it’s just their unintended reality.

 

Symptomology

My stance? The Body of Christ (your church) and the body human, are both living breathing organisms – not organizations.

Living breathing organisms experience symptoms.  They don’t experience the underlying cause of the symptoms. If you catch a cold, you don’t experience the virus causing the cold, you experience the symptoms created by the virus.

Churches are the same.  Without knowing it, churches all across the country are embroiled in discussions about how to treat the symptoms.  The problem: They think they are curing the cause.

Here’s the thing, treating symptoms works – for a brief period of time.  However, if nothing is done to cure the underlying cause, the symptoms will return.

This is where many church leaders experience frustration. They think they are treating the cause. They experience a momentary sense of improvement, only to have the symptoms return – stronger than before.

My recommendation: See a Church Doctor. Partner with someone who is trained to recognize, interpret, and diagnose the symptoms.  Allow someone from the outside to prescribe treatment (in the form of recommendations) to cure the underlying cause of the symptoms.

Tired of not experiencing the expected outcomes you desire in your church? Contact Church Doctor Ministries and request a free inquiry kit today!

 

Church Arsonist

Arson (ar-sen) – The burning of a building or other property for a criminal or malicious reason.

Do arsonists exist in church? Speaking analogously, Yes!  One of the most common concerns I hear from church leaders is that they are exhausted from putting out all the fires.

It goes without saying, but if there is a fire to put out it had to be set by someone.  Hence the existence of church arsonists.

This scenario caused my mentor and fellow Church Doctor, Dr. Kent Hunter, to make the following statement:

“While many church leaders are burning out putting out fires, little is being done to take away the matches from the people who are starting them!” – taken from his book Discover Your Windows

The matches used by arsonists come in the form of words and are many. Here are some of the most common: “We Can’t afford that…”  “A lot of people are not happy with that…” “If you keep this up I’m going to leave the church.”  Again, there are more, but you get the idea.

While the intent of a church arsonist may not be malicious, the results of their actions often are.  They control church decisions, stir up tension  in the congregation, and are, in short, destructive to the body.

So why isn’t more being done to take away the matches? Because it is easier to put out the fire than it is to confront the arsonist.  Taking away the matches means holding arsonists accountable for their actions

How do you arson proof your church?

1) Change how church “get’s done”. Move away from a system of high control and low accountability to a system of  high accountability and low control.

2) Give church leaders permission to confront church arsonists using Matthew 18 as a guiding principal

3) Work with an outside consultant.

-end-

 

Holy Twitter, Batman!

Communication: It’s been part of the cutting edge of every significant Christian movement known throughout history.

Be it word of mouth, stick drawings in the sand, or the printed page; Christian movements have used the communication tools of the day to effectively impact their culture.

Today communication is called social networking, and its gone global!  I can tweet on my twitter and my friend in Australia can “hear me” in a matter of seconds.

I found an interesting article in Time on how some churches are using twitter to boost their own members and reach people far from God. See Twittering in Church, With the Pastor’s Okay

This got me thinking: What would a special twitter Sunday look like in YOUR church? Seriously, I want to know!

If you want your church to reach more people then terms like tweet, twitter, and facebook need to be part of your vocabulary. It’s missionary 101: If you plan to reach the culture you must first speak their language.

Social networking has rapidly integrated into the culture.  To ignore this is to add another layer to the increasing perception of irrelevance held by those outside the church.

Can of worms you say?  Go ahead – Bring it!

 

Alternate Venues

Have you ever considered a venue other than a church building for a worship service?  It is a trend worth following – especially if there is a church plant in your future.

Here is an article I found interesting:

Currently 180 churches are renting movie theater space under one-year contracts with National CineMedia, which manages rentals in 1,400 theaters nationwide. That’s an increase from three churches six years ago… Read More

 

I’m the New Guy

I’ll never forget the experience. I was conducting a worship consultation for a client church. I came 15 minutes early – no one was at the door to greet me. I walked inside the building with the intent of looking lost – no one approached me to help. I navigated my way to an information table where I was told I had to put on a peel and stick visitor name tag that was a different color than the regular name tags. When I asked if I could have one of the regular name tags instead I was told, “No.” The lady working the table smiled and said, “We want our visitors to know they are special!”

You need to understand, this “special visitor name tag” was brightly colored. It screamed, “Hey! I’m the new guy!” Apparently no one heard its cries.

The church had a gathering space outside the sanctuary with tables for seating. I sat down at one of the tables and proceeded to make eye contact with every person brave enough to look my way. I even overemphasized the presentation of the side of my chest with the name tag. No one stopped to talk with me.

Finally some greeters arrived at their post at the Sanctuary doors. I thought certainly the greeters would respond to my neon name tag. Nope! I know they saw me, because I made eye contact with both of them. I guess neither one of them wanted to stop their conversation long enough to greet the new guy.

Honestly, I felt like I had some kind of disease. Instead of my name tag inviting the members of the church to great me, I felt like it sent a message for them to stay away. Ironically, during my follow-up with the church leadership, they took pride in telling me they were a friendly church! My response: “Really… let me tell you about my experience…”

By now you have figured out I am not a fan of specialized visitors name tags. However, if you insist on doing it – go all the way. Make sure everyone in the congregation knows their responsibility to approach, welcome, and befriend everyone with a visitor name tag. If they have children, offer to help them find the nursery and children’s Sunday School. If you provide coffee and donuts, invite them to come with you and introduce them to your friends. Help them find where the need to be and yes, even offer them a seat next to you in church.

Best solution: Coach your members (not just the greeters) to look for people who look lost when they walk in. Create an environment that encourages your members to approach these people and offer to help them. Most of all – destroy the name tags! They are counter-productive to your efforts.

 

e-bay ecclesiology – part 2

In my last post I opened the subject that consumerism is alive and well in the American church (See e-bay ecclesiology part-1).  I mentioned a board member who told me,  “The people who give their money to the church should get what they want out of the church.”

It is important to point out this board member is a Lord loving, eternally bound Christian.  He is also representative of a growing demographic within the church body.  Christians, saturated by our consumer culture, who have allowed a worldview of consumerism to permeate the church.

Make no mistake, consumerism is thriving in the church.  As a Church Consultant I see it over and over again.  In fact, it is one of the most common ceilings to growth I see.

Granted, everything in the church is not up for sale on e-bay.  However, most everything is up for vote; begging the question, are people voting the will of God or are they voting their personal preferences?

True to form, the aforementioned church board member voted in line with his consumer worldview.  Being a person of influence many others voted with him.  Bottom line: his church consumerism derailed the mission of his church.

Today’s consumer also works in the mindset of consumer rights, which says, “If I don’t get what I want I will take my money and go somewhere else.” This is best illustrated by a gentleman who stood up in a congregational meeting and said, “If you don’t get me a new pastor, I am going to leave the church!”

The net result of church consumerism is that God’s mission is not being accomplished in the local church.  Why? because the will of God is being held hostage to the will of the people.

So, what can church leaders do about consumerism in the church?  A great place to begin is Philippians 2:5-8.  It starts by saying our attitude should be the same as Christ’s.  It then goes on to describe continued examples of how Christ subordinated his own will for the sake of accomplishing God’s mission.

 

e-bay ecclesiology part 1

Welcome to the new world of church government and fund raising. It’s called e-bay ecclesiology. It’s simple, really. Every church Decision, every sermon topic, every hospital visitation, every staffing decision, every Sunday morning song list, every outreach event, every Sunday School lesson, every serving position; everything that goes on in the life of the church is up for sale. It’s all listed on e-bay and the highest bidder wins the decision.

You say you want to be more involved in the life of the church? Fire up a Pay-pal account and get busy outbidding your fellow church members. Didn’t like last week’s sermon? Then dig into your savings and spend a little more on next week’s message. Upset because you didn’t sing your favorite song in church on Sunday? Perhaps your financial priorities are out of line and you should reallocate some emergency funds to be used in those last minute bidding wars.

Think about it: All the decisions are made by the highest bidder and all the church’s financial woes are solved. You will never have to listen to another sermon on Tithing again! After all, who is going to place a bid on a sermon that makes them feel uncomfortable? Nope, from now on you can count on a happy feelgood message every week! Bottom line: you are in direct control of everything that happens in your church because you get to vote on everything with your Credit Card!

Alright….Baaaaad Idea. Yet it’s closer to reality than most care to admit. Consumerism is alive and well in just about every American church. I’ve actually had a church board member tell me, “The people who give their money to the church should get what they want out of the church!”

There is much more to this story. Look for e-bay ecclesiology part 2 in a future post.

 

Is your outreach “Flushed”?

Question: Are the bathrooms in your church what they should be?

Better Question: Do you know what your first time guests think of the bathrooms in your church?

Best Question: Should you allocate some significant money to renovate the bathrooms in your church?

How you answer these questions is a good indicator of how serious you are about reaching people far from God. Before you “flush” the rest of this post, hear me out.

It might surprise you, but yes, bathrooms matter! That’s right: many people will decide if they like a church based on how well they like the parking lot and the bathrooms. This is especially true of those with little or no church background.

Take stock: Are your bathrooms clean? Are they big enough? Do they have enough – um – “receptacles?” Are they well lit? Are they well maintained? How is the decore? Do they smell? Do they stink?  Is there a baby changing station? Are baby wipes and extra diapers available for those who forgot or ran out?

I know, you’re probably thinking this guy is crazy! You may be wondering if spending money on bathroom renovation is good stewardship. You may be asking, “Where is the theology in all this?”

Bottom Line: Bathrooms matter to unchurched people and unchurched people matter to God. Do they matter to you?

 

The Church Flu

Another Flu virus has garnered the national and local media spotlight.  By now you have heard of the Swine flu – now being spun as the H1N1 flu.

Question: What about the “G1 flu”?  It is perhaps the oldest strain known to man. It affects all of society, and for some reason it seems to thrive in the church. It is referenced almost 30 times in the Old Testament and Jesus taught us how to cure it in Matthew 18.

So what is this “G1 flu” affecting society and the church? The G stands for Gossip and it is the #1 virus crippling churches today. Yes! by every sense of the definition gossip is a virus!

Medically speaking a virus can’t live without a host cell.  In and of itself, it can’t sustain life.  In order to survive, it must attach itself to a healthy, living cell.  Once that happens it attacks the cell; altering the structure and disfiguring the healthy cell to take on the characteristics of the virus.

The same is true with gossip.  It can’t survive without a host.  In order to continue it must find another person in which to attach.  Once this happens, the gossip alters the information of the host; disfiguring the truth and causing it to take on the characteristics of the gossip.

Just as globalization has increased the spread of viral infection, so to has the internet increased the spread of gossip.  No longer is the gossip infection process limited to one-on-one conversations.  Now, through e-mail and social networking programs like facebook and twitter, gossip can be propagated globally  to countless thousands in the time it takes to click send.

Whether it is done through modern technology or old fashioned “face time” gossip is still gossip.  If you are talking to someone about someone else, it’s gossip!  If you are listening to someone tell you about someone else, it’s gossip!

There is nothing good about gossip.  If you are the one talking to someone about someone else – than you are functioning as a virus.

If you are the host – the one being gossiped to – listening to gossip  is perhaps the fastest way to disfigure and stunt your spiritual growth.

Bottom line: If no one listens to gossip – gossip will cease to exist.  So don’t listen!

If you are one who is drawn to gossip, follow this prescription. Remember that your sins aren’t any better than the person you are talking about, they’re  just different.