By Ken Behr

Have you ever wondered where you are going to get all of the volunteers you need in your ministry? If you are leading a volunteer workforce, you are in good company. The US Department of Labor reported that this past year (ending September) that there were 62.8 million people that were actively volunteering in some organization. These people came from all walks of life, all economic classes, some college, some not, all races, both genders, young and old.

On average they spent about 52 hours in the past year volunteering, or about one hour a week.

While you may not remember all these numbers, remember the “one-hour a week.” Many churches have embraced “Worship one; Serve one” as a challenge to all of their members, engaging each one of them in a worship service and a serving opportunity, both likely about one hour a week.

We know that people volunteer for a variety of reasons. These range from identification with the values and mission of the organization and wanting to help, to a desire to get to know other people, make friends and find common interests. Regardless of the reasons given, our churches advance their mission when people identify with our mission and our calling. Identifying the Great Commandment (to love one another) and the Great Commission (to make disciples of all nations) as our mission creates great opportunities for people to serve, make a difference and grow in their faith. Remember, people have opportunities to serve in all kinds of organizations but only the church can give them the opportunity to fulfill the mission Jesus gave His followers.

What is interesting also about one hour is that studies have shown that in about an hour, the average volunteer can be fully trained to perform the job for which they are assigned. The church jobs that volunteers fill range from some simple jobs like handing out the weekly bulletin or folding chairs to more complex tasks like making hospital rounds, supervising a nursery or mentoring inner-city youths.

What is unfortunate is that all too often, we don’t give these volunteers the one-hour of training that they need. This is unfortunate because the church is one big volunteer-run organization. Since the day of Pentecost, the vast majority of the leaders in the Church have been volunteers. Volunteers provide the invitation, the hospitality, the teaching, the training, the development and also the governance of most churches.

When training is inadequate, volunteers don’t get the opportunity to fully understand the importance of their role. Without proper training they can’t lead and without leadership the mission suffers.

Fortunately the best people to do the training are volunteers. We just need to give them the opportunity and let them know it is a priority; let them find the one-hour to train. Let them lead….62.8 million can’t be wrong.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com

By Ken Behr

Over the years, businesses intentionally embraced the masses and got larger and larger. In this pursuit, mass production and mass marketing led to a large and ultimately massive market. Customers that were initially attracted by the lower prices from these mass production techniques eventually lamented the sameness and the lack of uniqueness that was all too apparent in the companies’ products and services.

Henry Ford once said, “A customer can have a car painted any color that he wants as long as it is black”.

Some progressive leaders of these large companies discovered a new concept called “Mass Customization” whereby customers could still take advantage of the availability, low cost and high quality associated with mass production but at the same time could receive a product or service that was customized to the individual and specific needs of the consumer.

Recently, churches have gotten big—really big. Just a few years ago, we used to marvel at megachurches. We now have dozens of gigachurches, churches that serve tens of thousands of people each week.

These churches regardless of their size have one particular thing, one particular offering or service that needs to be very customized. That product or service is discipleship.

Very large churches do a great job in providing spectacular worship; they offer amazing programs and have built remarkable buildings. These are all mass produced offerings. Their worship attracts thousands; many of their programs require hundreds of employees and utilize thousands of volunteers. However, in order for these very large churches to turn out great disciples they also have to learn or acquire the art of Mass Customization of Discipleship.

Embraced small groups
For example, as churches have grown, in order to maintain intimacy and fellowship they have embraced small groups. Small groups are a great way for many people to grow in Christ, discover what it means to become accountable, to understand sacrifice, humility and community. Individuals and couples find their way into a specific small group that fits and meets their particular needs.

Not everyone is ready however for a small group. Many people on the path of becoming disciples need to heal, regroup, recover or possibly relearn some of the basics.  Many churches have found opportunities to offer them medium size and larger group gatherings including divorce support groups, alcohol and drug rehabilitation groups.

Sunday school still offered
I’m very happy as well to see that all the success experienced in years past through adult Sunday school programs hasn’t been discarded. Many of our largest churches are offering new Saturday, Sunday and weekday classes. These class offerings range from some basic classes in the faith to more advanced classes in evangelism, stewardship, marriage and child development. All have been customized to meet the particular needs of individuals.

Here in South Florida as well as in many parts of the country, a large percentage of our visitors and new members have a Catholic background. In order for many of these individuals to grow as disciples, they want to understand some of the historical and cultural similarities and differences.  Churches that offer these classes have designed a customized approach to a smaller but specific group with distinct and individual needs.

Mass Customization of Discipleship isn’t simply offering more but offering that which specifically meets the need of certain individuals, couples and groups. People are attracted to large churches because of the quality of worship, their excellent programing and ample facilities. As these churches continue to grow they need to find ways to minister and customize growth opportunities for various individuals, couples and groups.

Mass Customization of Discipleship maintains some of the advantages of economies-of-scale while creating opportunities for large churches to provide unique and distinctive ways for people from various backgrounds to grow, to learn and to become exactly who Christ wants them to be.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

I always smile when I hear someone that claims they are giving it 150 percent.

I certainly understand why they are making the claim, they are trying to communicate clearly that they are extending every effort to accomplish a task.

Most of us understand that 150 percent is arguably impossible. One of the things I teach as well is that 100 percent is also not a good objective when it comes to church processes, procedures and systems. A more reasonable objective is to achieve 90 percent of what is desired as the additional effort to achieve it all requires a huge expenditure of resources, both capital (money) as well as time that can be better used on other endeavors. In fact studies have shown that often 90 percent of the desired result can be accomplished with as little as 10 percent of the effort: A 90/10 solution.

Let’s assume that you are leading a church that is looking into a computer system that has capabilities that include children check-in, small groups, membership, giving and volunteer tracking.  Being a good leader you assemble the heads of various ministries, announce to them that you are going to be purchasing and/or developing a new system that handles the handful of tasks you have already identified and invite them to become a member of the selection and implementation team.

After a few meetings, the newly assembled team now has some very specific requirements that includes all of the above plus: historical giving information, archived membership information, a social-media interface that provides both Twitter and Facebook updates, a project management system, the ability to track an unlimited number of designated funds, the ability to record prayer requests, track class registration, import and display family and individual photos and another twenty or so desirable attributes.

If the team was actually insistent about achieving all of their objectives including a desire for the resulting system to be so flexible that anything forgotten can be easily added on in the future, they would find that the cost of implementing the 100 percent solution would be extremely expensive. However, if they selected a solution that would hit the ground running and provide 90 percent of all of the desired attributes, the costs would be about 10 percent of the 100 percent solution.

It is actually pretty simple to understand that the first 90 percent of almost any project can be accomplished or implemented with about 10 percent of the effort. This applies not only to church computer systems but also decisions that we make on a daily basis. A chef may take a trip to his favorite market possibly in a different city to select exactly the right cut for a dinner party while those of us with more modest expectations can stop at the local grocery store and find something already cut, packaged and priced at a much lower cost.

This 90/10 approach also applies to church construction, video and audio equipment, furnishings and publications. It is much better stewardship of resources to understand that being able to provide a 90 percent solution is not only much more economical but also allows other projects, ideas and ministry wishes to be considered and funded.

Give 100 percent to those things that are clearly directed by the Lord. Do 100 percent discipleship, encourage 100 percent unity, and develop 100 percent parents. Do more ministry by embracing a 90/10 solution for those things that are desired but not needed.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [ www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

A little bit of intentionality goes a long way.

Most churches are very intentional. The worship set is typically planned out days if not weeks ahead of the service. The sermon is prepared, often practiced and reviewed. The message is so intentional that it is often a part of a sermon series that has been carefully planned and coordinated into a cohesive teaching season.  Even the announcements have been planned to maximize important upcoming events. The bulletin, sermon notes and other weekend preparations are all very intentional.

And then comes the offering.

Typically, the offering is three minutes of random musings, some thoughtful prayer offered at the end of the announcements and the ushers come forward.

The offering can actually be a very powerful and rewarding time for all when it is carefully planned and intentionally delivered. With the right amount in intentionality the time for the offering can become, Three minutes of Stewardship.

It’s often mentioned that Jesus spoke more about money and giving than heaven and hell combined. This is true; for example, 11 of his 39 parables talk about money in some manner.

Throughout the New Testament, there are a number of principles that are related to stewardship. Just to name a few there is the principle of “storing up your treasure in heaven” (Matthew 6:20), “being trustworthy with worldly wealth” (Luke 16:11), “more blessed to give than receive” (Acts 20:35).

Taking the three minutes spent setting up the offering and intentionally teaching one of these reoccurring stewardship principles can transform a local church. Instead of treating the offering as the transition between the announcements and the sermon, three-minutes-of-stewardship introduces one of the most important components of personal worship, teaches biblical principles that cut to the heart of who is Lord of all, and trains new disciples how to not trust in uncertain riches but to trust in the Living God (1 Timothy 6:17).

Over a short period of time, the three-minutes-of-stewardship becomes a powerful weekly reminder that giving is not about meeting the financial needs of the church but a simple and consistent method to keep our hearts aligned with God.

Teaching stewardship for three minutes doesn’t seem like a long time and it isn’t. It is however, plenty of time to introduce one important Biblical principle. Over a number of weeks, the most applicable verses on stewardship can be shared.

In just three months, the three minutes add up to more than an entire 30-minute sermon on how we become true disciples when we understand the manner in which God wants us to honor him with our entire life, including our uncertain riches.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

It’s not unusual for someone to come to me and say, “Pastor, can I share something with you in confidence?”

My response usually surprises them: “Depends on what you tell me.”

Often, church leaders are unsure of how to handle sensitive information that is received within the church body. It’s important to make a distinction between that which should remain completely private and that which requires action and some further disclosure.

The Bible actually has a lot to say about what we would understand as someone coming to another person in confidence and disclosing a personal or moral issue.  As Christians we are instructed that we are to confess to one another (Matthew 6:14; James 5:16). Questions immediately surface however, when it comes to confidentiality that may be expected. While we are often asked to “keep this confidential” there are many times we cannot promise that when we hear certain information, it won’t require a follow-up or other appropriate type of action.

For example:

1)    Information disclosed about abuse, molestation, theft and vandalism typically obligates the receiver to further disclose the information to appropriate leaders who often have an obligation to disclose the same information to others including often the civil authority.

2)    Moral failures, addictions and even mental disorders often require that the person receiving the information take some action. While the person may be requesting confidentiality, the sharing of the information indicates that help is needed and a resolution is desired.

The Bible also speaks about gossip and it is often gossip that is brought to us in confidence. Gossips and busybodies are to be avoided (1 Timothy 5:13). Gossip breaks up friendships (Proverbs 16:28). The word often translated as gossip is the Greek word for a whisperer, a secret slanderer, or a detractor.

However, while gossip is to be ignored, factual information that threatens the integrity of the Body of Christ is a different matter and should not be ignored.  These matters involving the spiritual health of the church, the protection of the sheep from wolves and the restoration of the individual take precedence over a request for confidentiality and secrecy.

The leadership of the church has a responsibility to restore a person that is caught in a sin (Gal 6:1). However, just like a request for confidentiality, restoration is secondary to protecting the rest of the church. Protection is often accomplished through appropriate church discipline.

Pastors, and by extension other church leaders, have the responsibility for discipline within the church.  Anything that compromises the integrity of the church or ultimately harms other church members or causes dissension needs to be dealt with by the church leaders from the biblical aspect of church discipline.

In Matthew 18:15-18, Jesus gives us a four-step approach to dealing with these confidential and sensitive matters in the church. The first step is to confront the individual alone. Steps two through four escalate the discipline, particularly for the non-repentant.

“If a fellow believer hurts you, go and tell him-work it out between the two of you. If he listens, you’ve made a friend. If he won’t listen, take one or two others along so that the presence of witnesses will keep things honest, and try again. If he still won’t listen, tell the church. If he won’t listen to the church, you’ll have to start over from scratch, confront him with the need for repentance, and offer again God’s forgiving love. (Matt 18:15-18)

As believers and members of the Body of Christ, we are all under authority.  Local church authority is a great place to start when dealing with an issue as described above. The first response should always be to encourage the offender to submit to the appropriate authority. If the person is hesitant, the church leader should let the person know that any consideration of confidentiality was presumptuous and cannot be honored because of the nature of the issue.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

To prepare for the impossible may seem like an unlikely assignment. However, I believe that as church leaders it is exactly the assignment that Christ has given to us.

All too often, many of our churches resemble the church of Laodicea in the Book of Revelation. We may think, “I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing (Rev. 3:14).” While we may not ever say something like that out loud (knowing the context), we often wait until conditions are just right before breaking new ground, reaching into the community with the love and hope of Jesus, or hiring staff that would equip and empower others to do the work of ministry.

The needs around us are overwhelming. There are hundreds of thousands that are hurting. Our communities are full of people that need to know Jesus and our families, even within our churches are falling apart.

We have been called by God to make a difference. We are the sent ones—a people appointed by God to fulfill the Great Commission. We are the ones that are responsible to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit … (Matt 28:19-20).”

We have neither the luxury nor the time to wait until we are fully resourced, have plenty of money in the bank and have all contingencies identified and planned. People are in desperate need and we are to be the salt and light to this generation.

In preparing for the impossible and allowing God to confirm the timing and provide the necessary resources I believe we need to follow three simple steps.

We need to embrace our need. As pastors and teachers we need both human and financial capital. We need people to come alongside us and help us in ministry. We may need other churches and ministries that we can partner with to be more effective in mobilizing resources. Preparing for the impossible would involve identifying and praying for the capital needed and selecting and training up those that will be equipped and even employed in ministry to meet the needs.

We need to recognize our calling. We are the ones that are to take this message of hope, peace and salvation to the world.

We need to affirm our anointing. The Apostle John tells us that we have an anointing from God (1 John 2:20). We know the need, we know the truth, and we also know the source. Later, in the same letter, John says, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you.”

Preparing for the impossible is necessary if we are going to move out of our comfort zone within our churches and get back into the communities. Out of our need, God provides. I have found he is never late but will also never get ahead of us.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

I was never a very good carpenter. I didn’t have enough practice to be able to successfully cut a piece of wood to size. I was pretty good at following a pattern or a template, but typically the piece of wood was either too short or too long. Too-long slows you down, too-short wastes wood.

My father always had good advice for me. The advice was in carpentry, “Measure twice, cut once

In the church, we need to follow the same advice. Actually, we need to just measure more. Developing some simple metrics for a church and watching some key indicators can tell you a lot. Church metrics are like business metrics. They provide key data for leaders for analysis and to monitor the organizations performance. All too often, church leaders are called to try to make a decision without some information that would really help them make better judgment calls.

What kinds of metrics are needed?  Often churches keep track of attendance, giving, baptisms and perhaps even guests.  If the church has a number of employees, some performance metrics are often used, perhaps an annual performance appraisal.

Metrics are never to be considered in the absolute, but always with regard to trends. For example, one weekend’s attendance doesn’t tell us anything, however, knowing that weekend attendance has been growing by 10 percent the past few years and has recently flattened out gives us much more information.

One of the questions I get from our church leaders is about the accuracy of the metrics. They are usually surprised when I tell them that absolute accuracy is not as important as consistency and timeliness. The key is constantly monitoring trends.

Attendance for example can vary from church to church. Some churches count just adults in a worship service, others count adults and children. I recommend that churches count everyone including volunteers, those parking cars and everyone on the stage. All of these methods can be fine metrics. As long as the count is being made the same way each week (and each service), church leadership has a tool to use that allows them to have information quicker, make adjustments when necessary and celebrate as appropriate.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

One of the greatest responsibilities of leadership is in developing other leaders.

Developing leaders is actually part of the discipleship process. In the church, we are called to make disciples, not members. To be a disciple of Jesus is actually to be a “life-long learner.” As leaders we need to present very clearly the Gospel of the kingdom and the teachings of Jesus, and we show by example how to become more like him by including how to lead others as well.

If we think of our new believers, congregants and volunteers as believers (or merely students) of Christianity rather than disciples, we may miss the larger opportunity and fail in our responsibility in leading them to lead. After all, a disciple is one that not only learns and believes, but also does.

Developing leaders is critical in leadership as it is critical in the growth of the church.  Many studies have shown that once churches start to become “fully-staffed” they no longer passionately solicit their members and volunteers to assume key leadership positions. New believers and members either fail to grow further as leaders, or find other churches or ministries where their desires and passions are released and appreciated.

Many church growth advocates encourage healthy volunteer-leader to staffing levels. This encourages churches to maintain strong ‘high-capacity volunteer leaders to staff’ ratios or paid staff to adult attendees ratios. As with most ratios, the absolute ratio is not the determining factor of “health,” but the trend is key.

Leaders encourage new believers to grow in their faith by volunteering their time and efforts, and also by learning to lead the various ministry activities. We coach, mentor, encourage and celebrate these efforts as a key component in an individual’s personal discipleship journey. This journey is key in the numerical and spiritual growth of the local church.

Ken Behr is an executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

Some of the best leaders I’ve ever worked with were the best because they kept it simple. Not simple as in “easy-to-accomplish,” but simple in philosophy and in intention.

All too often leadership theory becomes a difficult combination of strange words, unusual or forced principles and too many unnecessary steps. It reminds me of when my wife and I were newly married. We were learning how to not only be husband and wife but then in just a few years, also mom and dad to two little children. Some of the parenting books we read at the time caused us to almost give up hope. The books told us that there was a lot of stuff that we weren’t supposed to do, words that we were warned not to use and particular activities that were to be introduced at very specific ages. It was tempting to throw up our hands and surrender. Ultimately we thought it best to get rid of the books and just use some common sense.

Common sense worked the best, particularly with a little help from the Book of Proverbs.

Leadership is really very much the same. It’s really more about some very simple and very easy to understand values that we as leaders embrace, and then model and ultimately teach. Sir Winston Churchill, one of the greatest leaders of all time, and leading England at the time when the entire world needed him the most, said, “All the great things are simple, and many can be expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope.”

Leadership is all about leading people. Management on the other hand is about managing tasks and not about people. People are much more likely to be motivated to follow time-tested principles and values that have a lasting impact for the greater good. Great leaders have always understood that people are much more likely to embrace the principles and values that help them become a part of that which is greater than themselves.

Jesus in many ways had a leadership style that also embraced that which was simple but that which was also great and transformational at the same time. Joy, peace, truth and love were common themes for Jesus. All of these are one syllable words that have great impact. To his followers, Jesus gave values to embrace and simple instructions to obey. Those that listened to Jesus became his disciples and ultimately changed the world. When we as leaders embrace his principles and his values, we ultimately walk where Jesus walked and can then lead others to follow as well.

Ken Behr is executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]

By Ken Behr

I just had the chance to read “The Confidence Factor” by Tom Mullins. Tom does a great job of using his insight as both a former winning football coach as well as the successful founding Pastor of Christ Fellowship in Palm Beach Gardens in Florida to weave together inspiring stories of people that had the confidence to lead and be successful. Tom also gives us very practical lessons on building confidence.

I’ve really never lacked confidence; which for me has been both a blessing as well as a curse. Being confident certainly is an enabler in leadership and in management. It propels us to find creative ways to solve people and logistical issues and it also helps us to keep striving when challenges arise.

For me, there have been times when I’ve been a little over-confident. Looking back, every instance of over-confidence not only led to less than satisfactory results but always had one common element. The common element was that that I was leaning and relying completely on my own abilities and talents and not fully trusting in God.

Successful churches require confident leaders. Confident leaders are similar to travel guides that make sure we see all the right sites, fitness instructors that improve our ability to exercise and firm up our flabby bodies, and wise professors that challenge us to learn not only the correct answers but also how to reason and use rationale to formulate answers to future and yet unknown questions. These leaders all have the experience in their unique area and also the confidence that they can communicate well what they already know.

One way for us to have confidence is to constantly build on our life lessons and to know that if we let Him, God is also willing to build us up and help us lead with confidence. The Apostle Paul said it well, “Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

Ken Behr is executive pastor at Christ Fellowship, Palm Beach Gardens, FL. [www.gochristfellowship.com]