By Ronald E. Keener

Asking questions often can be a first means to resolving church conflicts, say two authors of a new book, Redeeming Church Conflicts: Turning Crisis into Compassion and Care (Baker Books, 2012). “We begin by helping leaders and members learn what it means to ask not just the right questions but the ‘best’ questions so that the path followed to redeem and resolve conflicts avoids the pitfalls generated by the pursuit of non-essential controversies,” say authors Tara Klena Barthel and David V. Edling.

“Too often people involved in church conflicts fail to recognize that until everyone is on the page concerning what issues are at stake efforts to bring about resolution are wasted,” they say in respond to questions on the book from Church Executive. “The best way to get everyone on the same page is through a careful crafting of the best questions that capture the heart of the real conflicts and not just collateral matters. With some instruction the church member can certainly do this and become a peacemaker contributing to the unity of their church.”

Barthel is a former attorney and director of the Institute for Christian Conciliation, a division of Peacemaker Ministries. She lives in Billings, MT and is a mediator, arbitrator and conflict church intervention team member. Edling was a director of Peacemaker Ministries, and living in Colorado Springs, CO, and is in private practice of Christian conciliation through his church’s reconciliation ministry (see sidebar).

What is it about churches that seem to engender conflict?

First, many people have a misunderstanding about the nature of the church. The church of Jesus Christ is not just another volunteer organization that can be joined or left like people join or leave their local gym. The word translated “church” in the New Testament is a compound word literally meaning “the called out” and “the gathered assembly.”

If more people recognized that the church is to be a place for God’s called people gathered together by him for his purposes they would likely be more careful both about joining and leaving.

Second, many people in the church don’t recognize that the church is composed of a wide range of differing levels of spiritual maturity, including those who may not even be actual believers regenerated by grace through faith.

Third, because we live in a very “loud” majority secular culture many people bring into the church concepts of governance and tolerance from their secular experiences that they believe are also appropriate in the church.

And, fourth, religious beliefs for many people go to the core of their personal identity and whenever those treasured beliefs and practices (even if inconsistent with the Scriptures) come under attack they respond with deep emotion and anger. All of these factors make churches places ripe for conflict.

You write that “leaders must lead” but when does that begin to look autocratic and nonproductive?

Whenever church leadership becomes anything but shepherd-leadership the authority granted by Christ to lead in the church is lost. True shepherd-leaders champion humility and all of the other spiritual character traits that qualify a person for a position of church leadership.

God’s Word condemns the “hired-hand” as a church leader as well as any who would prey on God’s eternal children. True leaders lead through the compelling nature of God’s Word being applied in a manner that people following intuitively know that it is Christ’s faithful under-shepherd promoting God’s agenda for the church and never his own.

Further, faithful church leaders know their leadership will not be productive whenever it strays from God’s model of gentle shepherding because it will not be based in his revealed truth. God’s under-shepherds are called to be examples of holiness so that those they lead will grow in their own holiness. Such models of holiness are never, of course, autocratic.

You write that “Christ enlists us as his co-laborers in the process of peacemaking.” But you say we are “saturated with worldly ideas of what personal relationships are to be,” that “church members don’t read or understand their Bibles,” and “many of us make our church conflicts worse.” How so?

Christians become meaningful co-laborers with Christ when they study God’s Word and follow the principles, precepts and rules that govern life in the faith. Because we have been so crafted into the pattern of this world in our thinking and acting we need first and foremost the correction of Scripture to transform our thinking by the renewing of our minds so that we may be useful and effective co-laborers with Christ as we redeem conflicts for God’s glory and our spiritual growth.

The evidence of such usefulness and effectiveness becomes apparent when our goals and desires align with the goals and desires of Christ for His people. People who inhabit the church who fail first to understand God’s process for the redemption and reconciliation of conflicts only contribute to deepening and extending conflicts that destroy the witness we are to have to one another and to the watching world.

Many church members do read and understand their Bibles; however, unless consistent application of those truths is practiced such knowledge becomes ineffective and unproductive.

How does governance structure help or hinder a church in the midst of a conflict?

A church’s polity (governance practices) will often set the boundaries within which efforts to respond to conflicts in a biblically faithful manner can be undertaken. Clear expectations for governance are an important aspect of doing everything decently and in good order. The opposite is also true. When there is confusion over governance practices there will usually be little order and lack of progress in the quest to redeem and resolve conflicts.

Of course, polity structures must be consistent with God’s Word so that both church leaders and members have confidence that more than merely man’s wisdom is being followed. Frequently, a church’s rules of order become seen as merely human wisdom used to manipulate and control. That will undermine the efforts being taken to redeem conflicts and bring about the kinds of change needed to satisfy the legitimate concerns of those who rightly desire a more Christ-centered church environment.

You note that churches, despite having a system of church governance in the bylaws, over time deviate substantially from its own documents. So does the conflicted church then turn to its practices in real life?

The point we are making is that when conflicts come to the church there will frequently be those who will use official written policy as a weapon against those who have been following an unwritten practice that has taken on the apparent force and effect of policy.

In such cases the written policy will be upheld by the courts of both the church and the state, so, no, actual practices as governing policy usually fail. While some in the church may argue that unwritten practices should triumph, the usual pattern is that people will feel that they have been misled by leaders and wrong expectations have been established. This dynamic usually brings about mistrust of leaders and is another important reason why leaders and members alike know their written bylaws and other governing documents and follow them with consistency.

How does a pastor deal with factions in his conflicted church and get beyond that?

Factions in the church reflect a level of spiritual immaturity that should be seen and used by the pastor as an opportunity to teach and model God’s call for unity among his eternal children. Pastors should, in our opinion, never ignore the fact that factions may exist in the church and then tackle the issue head-on. That is what the apostle Paul did.

Failure to face the issue with the force of Scripture will only feed the notion that factions in the church are acceptable. The appropriate use of redemptive, corrective church discipline may be required to hold accountable those who perpetuate the idea that factions can continue. Unless God’s own methods for curtailing factions are employed the church will never be free of divisions that will undermine the mission of the church. Dealing with factions can be a pastor’s golden opportunity to help people grow in their maturity if addressed biblically with confidence in God’s Word.

The last five pages of the book deal with “the illusion of a conflict-free church,” that churches alternate from keeping the peace to denying obvious problems. What are early warning signals for conflict and heading it off at the pass?

One early warning sign is when factions begin to appear and people associated with those factions begin advocating favored outcomes over God’s priority for meaningful relationships. Whenever evidence emerges that relationships are being placed in a secondary position behind favored agendas then the need for biblical peacemaking efforts are in order.

Also, when people stop having a passion to honestly pray for one another — prayer that is other-centered and not self-centered, then the danger signs should go up. In the church, if people aren’t honestly praying for one another there is a need for a serious discussion related to what is at the center of any conflicts that may be emerging.

Usually, “heading it off at the pass” means getting back to the basics of the Gospel and all of its implications. God expects us to have a bigger heart and passion for His priorities than our own and that means renewing our commitment to His call for “making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit through the bonds of peace” that unite us in His church.

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Congregations have reconciliation ministries

Village Seven Presbyterian Church (PCA), a congregation in Colorado Springs, CO, of about 2,000 members, has a ministry called Peacemakers of Village Seven. As a church-based reconciliation ministry, it provides conflict coaching, mediation and arbitration services to members of the church as a benefit of their church membership. There is no charge for this service.

The church has a team of peacemakers staffed by church members who have been trained by Peacemaker Ministries, Billings, MT www.peacemaker.net and they stay busy assisting church members in resolving marital disputes, family conflicts, business and employment issues, and church conflicts involving members and church leaders.

Peacemaker Ministries encourages churches to develop Peacemaking Teams and provides helpful support services. They also have group discount rates for team training and team attendance at the annual Peacemakers Conference (this year in Denver, Sept. 13-16).

David Edling notes, “As a conservative Presbyterian church our members take their faith seriously and desire to live consistently with the commitments they have made. We are not an especially contentious or conflicted congregation, just one where members know that the peacemaking responses to conflict are to be pursued over the escape and attack responses that so many others seem to follow. Having a ministry of the church available to quickly assist and equip members to respond to conflicts biblically has been a great benefit and spiritual blessing as marriages have been reconciled and relationships healed.”

Tara Barthel is a member of Rocky Mountain Community Church (PCA), Billings, MT, and a participant in the congregation’s peacemaking team. On their website, they explain: “We have adopted the Peacemaker’s Pledge as a practical guideline for how Christians should resolve their differences, and we are committed to assisting our members in living out these principles in the midst of life’s conflicts.”

The process is defined and remedies are available if you take appropriate steps.

The Wall Street Journal sounded the alarm on the rise in church foreclosures in a Jan. 25, 2012 story titled “Church Foreclosures Seen as ‘Next Wave’ in Crisis.” It is very important to take the issue of defaulting loans seriously and address them as soon as possible.

One of the first things to do in a commercial foreclosure process is to review all loan documents. Review the lender’s entire loan file and talk with the loan officer in charge of the file. Common documents to be reviewed include the basic loan documents of the note(s), mortgage(s), all applicable amendments or modifications and co-lender or participation agreements if the loan is participated.

Other documents include assignment of rents, cross-collateralization agreements, security agreements and guarantees. These documents will give you an idea of what is involved in the loan, who may be responsible for payments in the event of default, and how foreclosure may occur upon default.

If you are in default, what happens next? The timeline for commercial foreclosures is based on state foreclosure laws, and may also depend on whether the property is owner occupied, and in some cases the property type. It is important to consult with a professional who has the basic knowledge of the process for the state where the loan is located.

Procedures will vary
Although foreclosure procedures vary from state to state, the following is a general overview of the commercial foreclosure process.

All foreclosures begin with the lender notifying the borrower that it is in default of the loan agreement.

Once a church defaults on a commercial mortgage, the lender will send a notice of default via certified mail and will include the total amount that must be paid by the borrower in order to reinstate the loan.

If the borrower fails to reinstate the loan, the lender will send him a notice of acceleration demanding payment in full within a specified period of time to avoid foreclosure.

The third notice is a notice of foreclosure notifying the borrower of the lender’s intention to foreclose. The notice contains the total amount due on the loan, the date, time and location of the foreclosure sale, and identifies the instrument by which it claims the right to foreclose.

The final notice is the IRS notice. If the IRS has a tax lien against the property, the lender must send the IRS a notice at least 25 days before the foreclosure.

The foreclosure sale
Once the notice requirements are satisfied, the lender will be able to proceed with the foreclosure sale and, depending on the state, foreclosure can be by advertisement or by judicial action. Most commercial loan agreements have a “Power of Sale” clause in a note or security instrument, which allows the lender to foreclose and sell the property if the borrower defaults on the terms of a loan.

After satisfying all statutory notice provisions, the lender may proceed with a non-judicial foreclosure, which is an auction-type sale that usually takes place on the courthouse steps in the county where the property is located.The property is sold to the highest bidder; if there are no bids, the lender is automatically deemed to be the highest bidder and takes possession of the property.

Post-foreclosure sale
After the foreclosure sale is completed, the church is left with eviction, and possibly a deficiency judgment and redemption. Eviction occurs after the sale is completed; the lender or a new buyer may evict the church from the premises. State law governs the eviction process.

In some states, the lender may also pursue a deficiency judgment to go after the balance of the loan from the borrower if the lender is not able to recoup their original principal. This is not allowed in all states, and may also depend on whether a judicial or non-judicial foreclosure process was used.

In some states, there is a redemption period for commercial properties. A right of redemption after a trustee sale/foreclosure sale allows the borrower who just lost their property at the foreclosure auction the opportunity to buy it back from the bank (or winning bidder), usually at the same price as the highest bid at the trustee sale.

To avoid losing the building when in default of a loan, a common consensual resolution is loan restructuring. A church must come up with mutually agreeable terms based on its current cash flow and create a realistic payback of the loan with the understanding the principal will likely not be reduced.

Another option is a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure. Acceptance of this option relieves from personal liability all persons who may owe payment, or the performance of other obligations secured by the mortgage except to the extent that person agrees not to be relieved in an instrument executed contemporaneously.

A third option is consent foreclosure, which forecloses the interests of the mortgagor and any other lien claimant, other than the United States (which can be foreclosed only through a judicial sale).

Other things to consider
It is important to retain consultants knowledgeable in the legal and lending arena to protect the church’s interest to negotiate a resolution and keep the building. Far too often, the church leader walks alone in the process, becomes overwhelmed with the financial issues, neglects the spiritual issues and ends up leaving the ministry.

Stay away from residential mortgage modification “specialists.” And maintain constant, honest and direct communication with a lender. Do not lie. Do not run away from calls, meetings or other communications with your lender.

Provide all requested information and supplement financials to give the lender a clear picture of what is happening at the church. Most lenders want to work with religious borrowers in modifying loan agreements. However, if the church fails to communicate or is not honest in its dealing with the bank, expect swift, expensive and difficult foreclosures to occur.

Daniel Dalton is the cofounder and partner of Dalton & Tomich PLC, Bloomfield Hills, MI. www.daltontomich.com

Conventional wisdom says that the average youth pastor stays only 18 months.

Right now at some church in America, someone is asking the question many of us have heard at one time or another: “Did you know a youth pastor stays at a church an average of only 18 months?”

While there may be data backing up this statistic, what’s interesting is how conversations like this color the youth pastor as a commitment-phobe, laying all of the blame at the youth pastor’s feet.

What if part of the problem – and the solution – were in the church leadership? What if churches asked, “What can we do to hire – and keep – a great youth pastor?”

Our team brainstormed and came up with a number of ways that can help churches increase the chances of a long, fruitful tenure for their student pastors.

Don’t treat student pastors like second-class staff: It’s probably not intentional, but a lot of youth ministries get looked down like the “baby church” compared to the “big church.” Because most youth ministries have their own programming and staff, it’s easy to look at them as an ancillary part of a church. This causes youth pastors and their teams to feel isolated from the church’s overall vision.

To avoid this, integrate your youth ministry with the mission of your church. Give your youth pastor input into overall strategies and opportunities for ministry.

No bread crumbs: Youth pastors often get the budgetary bread crumbs, both in pay and in money available to their ministry. Remember these pastors are not only dealing with adolescents, but with volunteers, as well as parents. They work weird hours and go to places your pastor of adults would never have to visit.

This is a unique skill set and they should be compensated appropriately.

Develop them: Provide opportunities for learning, networking and mentoring. Don’t be afraid your youth pastor will leave if they network with other churches. For many pastors, it’s this kind of camaraderie that they can’t and don’t get in the church where they serve. Encourage them to reach out to others. They’ll stay engaged and not burn out. Pay for their conferences and networking lunches.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Some youth pastors leave because the church where they serve imposes regulations that simply don’t make sense in their context. Having an 8-to-5 schedule on top of their nightly meetings, dressing in professional attire and being treated like a student instead of a pastor are things that get youth pastors searching for that next job. Allowing flexibility for student pastors will show that you value them and their ministry approach.

Create a safe place: Many times, pastors worry their student pastors are simply using the position as a stepping stone into other ministry roles. Sometimes, that is the case. But there are those who truly have a calling and a passion for students. Create a safe culture where young pastors can be very honest about their calling and specific career paths. Too often, senior leaders are driven by scarcity, a fear that something won’t last. As has been said so many times before, get the right people on the bus, develop them and see what God does.

Communicate: You may understand and support your student pastor, but is this message being communicated throughout the entire church leadership? Are your elders or deacons, other staff members and key volunteers viewing your youth ministry through the same lens?
Junior high and high school are such critical years. Students are trying to understand so much about life, faith and relationships during these six short years.

By supporting, valuing and encouraging student pastor in your church, the students will be shepherded in ways that allow for spiritual growth to continue.
These students will be our decision-makers in a decade or less. Pouring into your youth ministry with due diligence is vital to creating disciples who will influence your community for generations to come.

William Vanderbloemen is CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group, in Houston, TX, a retained executive search firm. www.findourleader.com

Religious freedom has flourished in our country for 235 years. Given this backdrop, a sentence of death because of one’s Christian faith is unlikely.

But such an outcome is not far-fetched in other parts of the world. In October 2011, regrettably, one newspaper reported, “The self-styled Islamic Republic of Iran has sentenced to death by hanging a Christian pastor, born to Muslim parents, for apostasy. At the time of writing, Youcef Nadarkhani, head of a network of Christian house churches in Iran, is on death row for refusing to recant and convert back to Islam.”

The difference between these two scenarios is context. In one, Christianity is freely permitted. In the other, it is not. Context impacts outcomes.

Consider something as simple as your car key. The only reason it makes sense for you to carry around this oddly shaped piece of metal is because it fits into the ignition switch of your car. It makes sense to you.

Stumble across some weather-worn key buried in the sand at the beach, you ignore it or throw it away. There is no larger context (car) into which it fits.

Church conflict
Conflict in churches is usually viewed in the same way as the lost key. People don’t know what to do with it.

It doesn’t positively fit into a larger context. Members view it as an aberration to the way a church is supposed to be. There is no value associated with it. To the contrary, it is viewed as destructive. This leads to an attempt to suppress it, but the ability to do so successfully is rare. Too often, both people and ministry are hurt for months, if not years.

Conflict finds fertile ground in churches because of another contextual reality universal in all organizations: bad news gets filtered out on the way up. This means that those in leadership have a rosier picture of reality than is warranted. The CBS television show, “Undercover Boss,” provides graphic evidence of this. The CEO of a large company puts on a disguise to work with front line employees for a week. Invariably, the program shows how clueless the

CEO is to the actual difficulties employees face in their jobs. The show typically ends up with the CEO returning to his board with a list of changes he or she wants to see happen based on that firsthand experience. This reality would have otherwise remained outside his or her purview.

A whole host of problems get filtered out on the way up in churches as well. The larger the church, the more pronounced this becomes. In this context, conflict escalates. Pastors are among the last to know about an issue that has been brewing. When it finally explodes onto the scene it may be too late to prevent real damage.

A healthy church
Conflict can have a healthy impact on congregational life if it occurs within the right context. With the help of the accompanying diagram, reflect upon what a healthy church looks like.

Leaders set forth the vision of the church. Policies and procedures are established to support the attainment of this vision. Within this structural framework, staff and volunteers engage in the work of the church to make the vision a reality. Conflict inevitably emerges. The question is, “Is there an in-house peacemaking process in place, one that is based on solid biblical theology and best practices for organizations?” If the answer is no, the work and fellowship of that church are in unnecessary jeopardy. If the answer is yes, conflict will more likely be resolved. But this should not be the end of the story.

Healthy churches not only have a pre-existing blueprint to deal with conflict, but built into the overall process is a feedback component for leadership. In the plan I personally advance, the First Responders Initiative (based on the theological Judeo-Christian Model of Peacemaking), the director of the initiative intermittingly reports to the board (without breaking confidentiality) the kinds of conflicts that have been addressed by volunteers who have been trained to resolve in-house disputes among members and staff.

The board is now in a prime position to determine if policy or procedural changes need to be made so that the same problems don’t arise again. Within this larger system, conflict gains new meaning. It becomes the fuel for long-term ministry improvement. In this environment, disputes are positively transformed.

Fellowship becomes stronger. Ministry becomes more effective. Members become more loyal because leaders have become more responsive at the point of their need. This is the practice of “servant-leadership” at its best.

Conflict’s larger context is a major factor determining whether its impact will be for good or ill. For it to take on a constructive meaning, a regenerative framework needs to exist into which it is integrated.

Chances are your church does not have such a framework. Why not establish one? In the same way God established his peace plan before any of us ever sinned and entered into conflict with Him, should we not do the same to make and maintain peace with each other? The answer is obvious.

Dr. Ken Newberger, a former pastor and living in Fort Myers, FL, has a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution. He is a leading authority on resolving church conflict and facilitating congregational health. www.ResolveChurchConflict.com

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Judeo-Christian model of peacemaking vs. Matthew 18

Matthew 18:15-18 is a passage that outlines the process of church discipline. For it to be carried to fruition, a number of conditions have to be met (notice the five “if” clauses). The first condition is that there has to be chargeable “sin.” Differences of opinion, for example, do not come under this category (see Acts 15:36-41). Additionally, for this process to advance, there must be “witnesses,” not to the accusation of sin, but to the act of sin itself (see Deut. 19:15, the passage Jesus cites in Matt. 18:16, cp. Numbers. 35:30).

Being a witness to the accusation of sin proves or disproves nothing. Being a witness to the act of sin is required (cp. Mark 14:56 with Mark 14:61-64). When two or more people are witnesses to another person’s sin, Matthew 18:15-18 takes precedence over any other process. However, Matthew 18 cannot and should not be used if these two conditions do not exist, lest one misapply the text.

What then do you do when there is conflict in the church and Matthew 18 cannot be used? This is when the Judeo-Christian Model of Peacemaking is utilized. This model mirrors the process that God used to make peace with mankind (which was not Matthew 18). To learn the model’s specific contours, I have authored Hope in the Face of Conflict: Making Peace with Others the Way God Makes Peace with Us (Three Sons Publishing, 2011). — KCN

Leaders at the very top fail to realize that no one else in the organization can do what they do in maintaining a cohesive team.

When church administrators work at building their team or merely conduct a meeting they must “compel the process,” says management consultant

Patrick Lencioni, and when it doesn’t happen it is more often because “they have a misplaced sense of humility.”

Lencioni, president of The Table Group that specializes in organizational health and executive team development, is a favorite speaker at church conferences. He has authored nine books with more than three million copies sold, and the latest one is The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012).

Church Executive asked Lencioni to apply the advice in his book to pastors and executive pastors of churches as well as to companies:

We don’t hear much about humility in business?

Being humble is one of the most critical things a great leader must be. But being humble means that leaders know that they are not more important than the people they lead. They are servant leaders. However, even servant leaders need to understand that their words and actions are, in fact, more impactful than those of others.

When they fail to recognize this, regardless of the rationale, they often hesitate to stand up and take responsibility for what they are uniquely qualified to do. What they must do is simultaneously embrace their humility and their role to get out front and be a public leader.

Where do leaders go wrong, mostly, whether in the corporate or church setting?

Too many leaders delegate responsibility for building a healthy organization. In a world of participatory management and shared responsibility, leaders at the very top of an organization sometimes fail to realize that no one else in the organization can do what they do in terms of maintaining a cohesive team, and creating, communicating and reinforcing clarity.

In almost every other aspect of running an organization, the leader can delegate. But in building a healthy organization, which is the most central of all responsibilities, the leader must keep his or her hands on the wheel.

You note that “being the leader of a healthy organization, more than anything, is just plain hard.” What few things, of behavior or preparation, can lighten the load for the already overburdened pastor?

The most effective and important behavior of any leader who wants to avoid the exhaustion and frustration of being overburdened – and certainly this applies in a big way to a pastor – is vulnerability. What I mean is that the leader must be completely naked with his team about his faults, mistakes and shortcomings. As painful as that might seem, it is extraordinarily liberating and the only way I know for a leader to build lasting trust and credibility with followers.

During difficult times, this, more than anything else, pulls people together and makes the burdensome job of a pastor possible. They don’t have to pretend they’re something they’re not, and they can share the load with others who now see them a human being, not a perfect person.

When the senior pastor or executive pastor gathers department heads around the table for the weekly “staff meeting,” what dynamics should he expect, avoid, or encourage that can lead to a healthy congregation?

A pastor should always be looking for and fostering healthy disagreement during meetings. When people aren’t disagreeing, there is a decent chance that they aren’t addressing issues that could become bigger over time. They should avoid people feeling pressure to agree with one another, especially with the pastor.

“No action, activity or process is more central to a healthy organization than the meeting,”  you write. Why such trust in that “m word”?
Briefly,  meetings are the most important activity of a healthy organization because that is where teams live, and where they make decisions. If the decision-making process in an organization is broken, the organization will be broken too.

So why do most of us see meetings, especially staff meetings, as “a form of corporate penance, something that is inevitable and must be endured,” in your words? What is it that we do wrong?

I think we’ve just given up on meetings and decided they are a necessary evil. Most of us have had so few encounters with great meetings that we’ve decided there must be something inherent about meetings that makes them dreadful, boring, tedious, and wasteful. The fact is, meetings should be the most compelling parts of our days, and they are probably the greatest artifact of a healthy organization. This is especially problematic in churches and parachurch organizations, where meetings tend to be extremely “nice” and therefore, boring.

One of the biggest factors that make a meeting effective is keeping people interested in what is going on, and the greatest way to do that is to ensure that people are engaging in conflict. Not mean-spirited, interpersonal conflict, but productive, respectful, passionate disagreement about what is important.

If people disagree on the best way to do that, shouldn’t they enter the fray with one another and “have it out”? The truth is, they usually don’t because they think that disagreeing isn’t being “nice,” and that isn’t Christian. Loving someone enough to disagree about something important is completely Christian, as long as it is done with genuine love.

So what is the meaning of your title, The Advantage, when it comes to organizational health?

The best way to read the title is to put an emphasis on the first word, “The.” What I mean is that I believe that organizational health is THE most important and impactful advantage that any organization can have. In a world where people have come to believe that technology, finance and strategy are what make organizations great, it’s actually the ability to eliminate politics and confusion, and get people rowing in the same direction, that create the greatest competitive differentiator and advantage.

In times of lean staffs, your church can become volunteer-centered

Five steps in making your church a more effective volunteer-led congregation.

By James Higginbotham

With the recent economic downturn, some churches are closing their doors due to lack of money. Many are choosing to downsize their facilities or abandon their multi-million dollar buildings in an effort to stay open. Churches are often forced to lay off staff members, some of whom were recently hired. Now, churches are trying to find out if it is possible to keep the 
church running smoothly while running with lean staff.

One church that has been running with a lean staff for many years is Calvary Austin [ www.calvaryaustin.com ]. They currently have five staff with about 1,000 members. During their early years, the church existed in a low income neighborhood, generating lower-than-average offerings from its membership. Running with a lean staff was essential to cope with their increased growth.

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From volunteer baristas for their onsite coffee bar to volunteer-based building maintenance, they learned that not all church activities had to be performed by the staff. When volunteer resources were not available due to time or lack of specific skills, they contract to local businesses. This not only extended their skill set beyond the membership, it offered opportunities to get to know local businesses and invite them to weekend services.

Volunteers reduced labor cost

As they began to outgrow their current building, they started a building campaign to raise funds for a new location. The cost of the new building, renovations and materials were beyond their means, so they again turned to their volunteers for help. They purchased a building previously occupied by a grocery store and converted it into their new church building using their volunteers to reduce the cost of labor.

Utilizing more than 200 volunteers, they converted one-third of the building into their new church location in just six months. Tasks the volunteers performed included project and volunteer coordination, financial tracking and reporting, preparing meals and babysitting for work crews, landscaping, painting, demolition, stage setup, media setup and cleanup.

While they have experienced additional growth during this time, they still utilize a lean staff and depend heavily on volunteers to accomplish much of their church operations.

Using volunteers well

How did they do it? Let’s examine five steps you can take to become a volunteer-centered church.

1.) Have a well-defined vision. A volunteer centered church requires that your volunteers know and understand the vision of your church. Volunteers are often occupied with a career and family, so having a focused vision will help them to know if the work they are doing for the church is contributing to this vision.

Create a short, memorable vision that helps focus your volunteers. The more complicated or wordy the vision, the more likely they will forget it. Make sure the vision is easily visible and permeates throughout your printed materials, sermons and signage.

Volunteers have short memories. Be sure to communicate it often, as volunteers are busy and need to be reminded on a routine basis. It will also help them to make better decisions during their day-to-day volunteer work, as they will use your vision to guide them.

2.) Limit your programs. The natural desire for a church is to attempt to address every opportunity that comes its way. The result is a drive to add more ministry teams and staff to tackle these opportunities. The problem with this approach is that it isn’t a scalable solution. There are always more opportunities than you can handle and never enough money or people to go around.

Limiting programs allows your volunteers to select from a limited list of serving options. While it may seem that more programs mean more opportunity for volunteers to signup, marketing research indicates that more choice can paralyze rather than encourage decision making. Restricting your programs makes it easier for volunteers to find a way to use their skills while still providing plenty of opportunities to serve their church.

3.) Invest time with your volunteers. Staff members are often inside the same building and are able to spend time together on a personal level, creating camaraderie. While volunteers should be focused on the tasks at hand, they desire the same fellowship and personal growth as your staff. Your job as staff is to create this kind of environment not only for yourself, but for your volunteers as well.

Encourage your leaders to create quarterly team meetings that are casual, allowing volunteers to share in recent successes and discuss upcoming projects. Have them spend one-on-one time with volunteers over coffee outside the normal work time. Reward your volunteers often with praise and small gifts from the church, such as a gift card to their favorite restaurant or handwritten thank you note.

4.) Provide guidance and opportunities for growth. Volunteers need guidance from their staff and leaders during difficult times, but they also need room to grow. Every volunteer brings a unique mix of personal experience and talent to the church. Find the balance between micro-managing your volunteers and failing to give them the support they need.

A great way to create this kind of balance is to break larger tasks or projects into smaller milestones. Each milestone should have a small list of tasks to accomplish toward the larger goal. At the end of each milestone, review the tasks accomplished, provide some feedback, and discuss the next milestone. These smaller milestones can provide great teaching and discipleship moments, help the church improve their volunteer process and ensures that volunteers are on the right track.

5.) Constantly develop and train volunteer leaders. Raising volunteer leaders is essential for churches with a lean staff. These leaders will be directly involved with their team’s day-to-day effort and will know the volunteers that are excelling or require special ministry needs. They can also identify candidates for future leadership positions within the church.

The most effective way of developing volunteer leaders is through consistent training. Finding or developing a core set of training materials will provide the foundation they need during difficult leadership situations. It also demonstrates the staff’s desire to invest and support their leaders.

Servanthood focused

Finally, remember that a lean staff must learn to be servants of its volunteers. Don’t let your staff perform all of the big projects and leaving the leftovers to the volunteers. Instead, let the volunteers own the projects.

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This may require more time, training and course correction, but it will create a more creative and independent volunteer base as time goes by. Plus, it will reduce the burnout of your lean staff.

James Higginbotham is the editor of www.VolunteerCentered.com, a website focused on helping churches with volunteer management, leadership and recruiting.

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Learning from lean staffs during lean times

With many congregations facing tighter budgets as they weather the worst economic recession in decades, a survey earlier this year of U.S. church leaders by Christianity Today International and Leadership Network shows that a small percentage of churches are able 
to continue doing ministry while keeping staffing costs — the single-biggest expense for nearly every church — well below national averages. Lean Staffing survey of 735 leaders 
of Protestant and evangelical churches shows that one in seven spends less than 35 percent of its annual budget on staffing costs.

Responses included churches of all sizes, from attendances of 50 to 20,000. Among 
findings:

• Lean staff churches do a better job with volunteers and lay leadership development.
• Lean staff churches invest a noticeably higher percentage of their budget beyond the
• walls of their church.
• Growing churches spend a smaller percentage of their budget on staffing costs, so
• they’re “leaner” than plateaued or declining churches.
• Staff costs become leaner with size — as overall weekend worship attendance increases, but not dramatically so.

Historically, churches in recent years spend, on average, about 45 percent of their total budgets on staffing costs — and sometimes more. The Lean Staffing study separated 539 respondents to generate the “lean staffing” comparison: 15 percent of that group spends less than 35 percent on staff, while the rest spend between 35 percent and 65 percent. The study used 35 percent or less as a benchmark since it represents a sizable decrease from national averages and helps with statistical comparisons. A 46-page report on the survey results is available for free at store.churchlawtodaystore.com/lestsure.html.  — RK

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Knowing more about volunteercentered.com

VolunteerCentered.com is a website that provides in-depth articles on volunteer leadership, management and recruiting. They also offer a variety of resources, including a free eBook on volunteer recruiting.

In addition, they offer consulting to churches that desire to improve their administration, church building campaigns, technology and volunteer management processes.

Full-time staff members and church volunteers will find a number of resources to help make a positive impact with volunteers and community.
— JH

‘HIGH NOON’ at Coral Ridge: Dissidents challenge the leadership of a new pastor

The high costs, but eventual victory, of replanting an old line congregation.

By Ronald E. Keener

Tullian Tchividijian is the grandson of evangelist Billy Graham. There, that’s out of the way. But maybe even more important in his bio is the fact that he took over the congregation of D. James Kennedy after his 2008 death. But it was a transition that did not go easily when a number of members, including Kennedy’s daughter, tried to oust Tchividijian.

The matter became a messy public dispute, and the dissidents eventually left to form their own church after a vote did not go their way. Tchividijian, 38 this month, merged his New City Church with that of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

His newest book, released in June, is Surprised by Grace (Crossway), and his next book, tentatively titled Jesus Plus Nothing Equals Everything, is based on Colossians. “It’ll be used to tell the story of what happened with me in 2009 [the dissidents challenge], and how God helped me rediscover the Gospel.

“Colossians showed me that when we are united to Christ, we don’t need to spend our lives trying to earn the approval and acceptance of those around us, because Jesus has already earned God’s approval and acceptance for us.”

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The congregation now has 2,400 members and 1,800 to 
1,900 people in worship in two services on Sunday morning. Since the merger one year ago, the church has grown by about 600-700 people — and that’s with about 500 leaving to start another church. Says Tchividijian: “So Christ is clearly rebuilding his church at Coral Ridge, and we are all amazed and humbled at what he’s done in just one year. It really is one new church!”

Church Executive asked him some pointed questions about the church’s quarrel. He notes  too that Coral Ridge Ministries, the media arm of Dr. Kennedy’s content that also has a strong political emphasis, is entirely separate from Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church.

Did you or the elders have any inkling about the coming dissension when you interviewed for the position?

Interestingly, I never inter-viewed for the position. Coral Ridge came to me three times over the course of eight months inquiring whether I would consider becoming the pastor. Twice I said, “I’m honored and humbled that you would ask, but I’m not interested.” When they came back a third time, we began discussing the possibility of merging New City Church — the church I had planted five years earlier — with Coral Ridge.

After examining that possibility for nearly three months, both sides concluded that this was what God wanted. We knew it was going to be difficult — and we turned out to be right. We knew that Coral Ridge — which had been in decline for nearly 10 years — needed to be replanted. We knew that while the majority understood this and wanted it, there was a small, politically charged minority that didn’t.

Were any of the elders on the side of the dissidents?

Yes. While we didn’t know who they were at the time of the merger, we knew that there would be some who opposed me and my team from the get go. When the two elder boards were combined, we ended up with about 30 elders. Of those 30, eight resigned over the course of the first 10 months. So there were many more with us than there were against us.

What was your first tip-off that there was trouble brewing?

Trouble started brewing before the merger was complete. Those who wanted everything to stay the same, who wanted nothing to change, circulated letters and developed anonymous blogs calling my leadership, theology and character into question. Those who wanted Coral Ridge to maintain its focus on politics were the loudest.

Coral Ridge had become widely known for what it was against much more than what it was for. And I vowed to change that. I wanted the city of Ft. Lauderdale (my hometown) to know that we were going to become a church in the city, for the city. I made it very clear from the outset that we were going to be a church that rolled up our sleeves and got our hands dirty in service to our city. I said that if our ministry was not attracting the same kinds of people that Jesus attracted, then we were not preaching the same message that Jesus preached. Most people loved that! Some hated it—and they made it known.

You have said that you hope and pray that the church “will respond to this conflict in a way that demonstrates for the watching world the reconciling power of the Gospel.” Any evidences of that reconciling power?

Yes. Handfuls of people who originally left have come back. Now that the dust has settled, people are seeing more clearly. The Gospel is winning. People are being changed and transformed. The church is growing. People have apologized and repented. I’ve never seen the transforming work of the Gospel happen so quickly and tangibly as I have over the last four months or so. Personally, I’ve been changed and transformed by the Gospel. For instance, I never knew just how dependent I’d become on human approval and acceptance until God took it away. Through this painful trial, God helped me rediscover the freedom that Jesus plus nothing equals everything!

You’ve noted that Frances Schaeffer “once said that division inside the church gives the world the justification they’re looking for not to believe.” Isn’t this just as true when preachers talk about the Satanic effect in Haiti and other outrageous statements that poke Christianity in the eye?

Yes. The Bible makes it clear that we have permission to offend people with one thing: the Gospel. We don’t have permission to offend them in any other way. They will know we are Christ’s disciples by our love.

You’ve said that the dissidents did not take their grievances to the church, but took them to the streets, and did not invoke Matthew 18. In your ministry have you seen Matthew 18 invoked and used well? Is our society too contentious to use — and submit to — the results of Matthew 18?

I haven’t seen Matthew 18 used nearly as often as it should be. I think what saddened me most was that those who stirred up the most trouble had never even attempted to come and see me, they never once asked to meet with me face-to-face, which indicated to all of us that the issues they were raising weren’t the real issues: wearing a robe, preaching politics, the exclusive use of Evangelism Explosion, traditional music, etc.

The real underlying issue was a perceived loss of power. When new members join the church, they promise “to promote the unity, purity, and peace of the Church.” One of the quickest ways to break this vow is to gossip — to “chatter idly about others behind their back.” This seemingly innocent activity can cause a world of hurt. The corrective is found in Matthew 18.

I’m convinced that most divisions in the church would never happen if we took God at his word and scrupulously observed Matthew 18. When we sin against our brother or sister in Christ we sin against ourselves. A sin — such as slander — against any one of us is a sin against all of us. It’s like shooting ourselves in the foot, only much worse.

In the months following that final vote, what has the church and its leadership done to move ahead in healing and reconciling the church?

We spent the first two months after the second vote meeting with people, sending letters to the members, and doing everything we could to answer people’s questions, address their concerns, and clarify their confusion. But since then, we’ve focused our energy and attention on the future, not the past. And that has proven to be the thing that has healed our wounds quickest. We have a super excited, brand new church that is ready to press on.

What goals, strategic decisions, and plans does the congregation have for 2010 and beyond?

Once the dust has completely settled, we want to multiply the work God is doing at Coral Ridge by expanding our media ministry, planting churches, developing satellite campuses, and in other ways extending God’s great redemptive work that he’s accomplishing here at Coral Ridge. As I mentioned earlier, we wholeheartedly believe that God is doing something special here, and we have both the responsibility and privilege to steward what he’s given us in bold and courageous ways. We want to see God’s kingdom come “on earth as it is in heaven” — we want to spread the fame of Christ — and we are willing to do whatever God tells us to do in order for that to happen. We are dreaming and operating as if ceilings don’t exist!

How will your goals and hopes for Coral Ridge differ in coming years from Dr. Kennedy’s?

I’m not sure because I didn’t know what Dr. Kennedy’s goals and hopes for Coral Ridge were. I know that, like Dr. Kennedy, I want to reach the lost and change the world for Christ. We are super serious about replanting, recasting and renewing this church with the Gospel — by the Gospel. We really need to massage the Gospel deep into the fabric of this one new church so that she can get healthy.

The new mission statement is: “Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church exists to spread a global passion for the renewing power of the Gospel.” We want to see the Gospel work concentrically: it changes individuals, which changes the church, which changes the culture. So, we believe in the individual dynamic of the Gospel, the communal dynamic of the Gospel, and the cultural dynamic of the Gospel.

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What would Jonah do?

Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels started out as a series of sermons I preached right in the middle of the dissent. It proved to be a functional lifeline for me, not because of things I learned about Jonah (everything we learn about Jonah we learn by way of negative example). But because of things I learned about God’s amazing, sustaining, pursuing grace.

I learned that God’s capacity to clean things up is infinitely greater than our human capacity to mess things up. I learned about the “stubbornness” of God to accomplish his will, regardless of how hard we may try and thwart it. In fact, as I reflect on that painful season of my life now, I can honestly say that I am genuinely thankful for all the ache I experienced. For, it was during this trying time that God helped me recognize the practical relevance of the Gospel — that everything I need and long for, in Christ, I already possesses.

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The theme of Surprised by Grace is that most Christians assume that the Gospel is something non-Christians must believe in order to be saved, but after we believe it, we advance to deeper theological waters. The truth is, however, that once God rescues sinners, his plan isn’t to steer them beyond the Gospel, but to move them more deeply into it. After all, the only antidote to sin is the Gospel — and since Christians remain sinners even after they’re converted, the Gospel must be the medicine a Christian takes every day.

For me, it was through probing the story of Jonah that I came face-to-face with the fact that the Gospel is not just for non-Christians but also for Christians. Jonah is a storied presentation of the Gospel, a story of sin and grace, of desperation and deliverance. It reveals the fact that while you and I are great sinners, God is a great Savior, and that while our sin reaches far, his grace reaches farther. This story shows that God is in the business of relentlessly pursuing rebels — a label that ultimately applies to us all — and that he comes after us not to angrily strip away our freedom but to affectionately strip away our slavery so we might become truly free. I wrote Surprised by Grace because we all need to be.  — TT

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‘Daddy Bill’  wanted to ‘set things straight’

In working your way through the conflict in the church, did your grandfather give you any counsel on the matter? Did you have an opportunity to spend time with Billy on the porch of the Montreat home and discuss the conflict and how to work through the issues?

Yes, my granddad (we call him Daddy Bill) gave me great counsel on numerous occasions. When the subject of the two churches possibly merging first came up, he was against it. He knew that, while Coral Ridge had been used by God in some very mighty ways, it was now struggling.

And so he was concerned that it would consume me and get me off track. In other words, he was concerned that I’d become so busy trying to keep the church from dying that I would not have time to focus on my primary calling which is to preach. But as he saw walls coming down and God moving the two churches together, he recognized the invisible hand of God’s providence at work and began praying very hard for my protection and the church’s success.

When all of the opposition began to emerge, he couldn’t sleep! He was so sweetly concerned about me that he wanted to come down himself and “set things straight” on my behalf. Of course, because of his health, he couldn’t. But he kept praying and telling me that God was in this and doing something uniquely strategic. He comforted me by telling me story after story about things people had said about him over the years and how badly he wanted to defend his name, but instead kept silent.

He encouraged me by telling me to trust in the sufficiency of Jesus and refuse to let these attacks get me off track. He reminded me, in fact, that Jesus plus nothing equals everything and that everything minus Jesus equals nothing. He exhorted me to allow even my harshest critics to teach me about sin, grace and the Gospel. He reminded me of all the times in history that God used unjustified, slanderous criticism of men to develop character, focus, and a deepened sense of call and mission.

Being with him over those months was one lifeline God threw me to keep me attached. I thank God for Daddy Bill! —TT

By Ronald E. Keener

Silo thinking; we’ve all seen it in our churches and organizations. Usually a staff member — it’s always the other guy — can’t seem to think in lateral terms, across department boundaries and grab the “big” picture.

Jeffrey Cufaude calls himself an architect of ideas, working to build communities of ideas and idealists. He makes his living, at Idea Architects in Indianapolis, IN, helping others think across the boundaries we put up in our organizations that impede creativity and getting the job done.

Church Executive asked Cufaude how silo thinking gets in the way of church staffs working more effectively:

What is an unhealthy silo mindset in any organization, church staffs included?

Perhaps we should begin by thinking about a healthy silo mindset and what it would entail. Silos exist in agriculture to store and protect grain. In an organization a healthy silo mindset is one that appropriate stores certain functional responsibilities and protects accountability for their results.

We need some division of responsibilities, but when that division becomes divisive it has crossed over into unhealthy territory. An unhealthy mindset is one in which individuals take almost exclusive interest in and accountability for only their part of the whole, without regard for how their contributions affect others and determine overall success for a church’s efforts.

They close themselves off from others’ feedbacks and treat their functional area as a gated community open only to select individuals to whom they grant access. But being healthy isn’t a permanent state, so we have to regularly monitor our organizational wellness in how the work is being done.

When hiring staff, how can a pastor guard against the silo mindset?

For any quality you hope to hire for I think a pastor has to exercise due diligence and examine how that quality is promoted and assessed in every aspect of the hiring process: the position posting, the job description, the application, the interviews, the reference checks, the employee performance reviews and compensation rewards, etc.

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If you want to attract candidates not predisposed to silos, you need to send a clear and consistent message that the church’s culture is one of interdependence among colleagues and not independence between competitors. Then you need to talk with candidates about times they’ve worked in interdependent and collaborative cultures and what they learned from doing so, how they see themselves supporting their colleagues and contributing to their success, and how they will assume accountability not only for their own specific responsibilities but also for the success of the church in its overall strategic objectives.

Briefly, describe a healthy mindset in the best of all organizations.

I’m a big believer in Robert Greenleaf’s Servant Leadership philosophy. It’s not about us. We are here to service others consistent with our stated purpose and to achieve a desirable future that others will find valuable. Each of us brings unique experiences and strengths to this work and has specific responsibilities to perform.

But the organization will only be successful when we blend our respective capabilities and gifts with those of our colleagues in ways that allows us to collectively achieve more than is possible individually. Doing this will require open and honest dialogue and a willingness to entertain perspectives different from our own. At times this will create conflict, but let the conflict remain confined to ideas and initiatives, not personalities or politics.

How might leadership at a church transition from a silo mindset to cross functional teams without firing everyone and starting over?

Whenever you are attempting cultural change you need to have very frank conversations about the way things currently are and the way you want them to be in the future, a before/after set of stories. You need to explain the benefits of the new story for individuals and the organization.

Then you need to help people talk about what elements of the existing culture they would hate to lose and the meaning behind those elements. You can then begin to identify ways (if appropriate) to reflect that meaning in the new story and culture you are creating.

You have to recognize you’re changing the rules and some may resent that. They were hired with a certain understanding and now that’s being changed. They may feel this is unfair. So you give them an opportunity to enroll in the new story, to opt-in or opt-out. You offer them support regardless of their choice. Some may opt-out and that’s OK. Don’t try to hold people hostage.

We thank them for their service and do everything we can to help them transition to a new setting where they will feel more comfortable. And for those who opt-in, we need to keep discussing the transition and ways people can support each other, and solicit their feedback regularly. A great resource I would highly recommend is Managing Transitions by William Bridges. It’s a classic.
[ IdeaArchitects.com ]

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HOW SYSTEMS THINKING IMPROVES OUTCOMES

We asked Jeffrey Cufaude about another organizational approach called systems thinking: Just what is it, and how does it make for a positive influence for a church staff?

His response:

In short it is looking deeper and considering the whole versus managing the moment and selective components. It goes beyond considering what’s happening now and explores why this might be happening, what policies or organizational choices might be causing current events, or what mindsets and mental models people hold that could be behind current behaviors.

Rather than fight fires, systems thinking asks us to focus on what might be the kindling or catalyst for the flame and to direct our attention there. The discipline of systems thinking has much to offer those who lead organizations and is well worth being a part of their ongoing professional development. As a starting point I would recommend people subscribe to The Systems Thinker, a monthly newsletter from Pegasus Communications.

Systems thinking provides a language and tools that a church staff could use to manage the genuine complexity of its efforts instead of trying to reduce problems to simple if-then frameworks that rarely are accurate. Churches are complex entities with a myriad of relationships involved. Systems thinking can help better understand the interconnected nature of these relationships, the various influences at play, and what interventions might more likely produced the desired results.
 [ IdeaArchitects.com ]

The benefits of long-term incentives

A well-defined benefits approach will attract and retain ministry talent.

By Sherre Stephens

Effective and gifted employees are essential to a growing church or ministry. Their services impact ministries and their communities. By offering long-term incentives, churches will have better employee retention. Other than traditional benefits, there are additional programs that keep ministerial staff engaged over the years.

Some churches offer a sabbatical commensurate with accumulated service. Other ministries fund travel abroad that enriches the employee’s ministry discipline. Also, churches will fund the cost of an advanced degree or extra classes.

Taking that a step further, churches can establish and fund a scholarship in the employee’s name at his or her Alma mater or seminary of choice.

Still, traditional benefits typically account for about 40 percent of a minister’s total average compensation package. In an economy where employees face rising costs of everything from food to gasoline, benefits are increasingly important for employees considering a new position.

The value of health insurance

Recent research shows that most Americans value their employment-based health benefits far greater than the actual dollar amount that employers pay toward the coverage. In fact, a 2009 Health Confidence Study from the Employee Benefit Research Institute reports that when asked to choose between $7,800 in employment-based health benefits and $7,800 in taxable income, 72 percent of those surveyed chose the health coverage.

Economic factors and trends affect ministries. A 2008 Southern Baptist Convention Compensation Survey found that the denomination’s senior pastors change jobs, on average, every seven years (six years for other ministerial staff). This is comparable to professionals in the secular world. The Department of Labor cites that professional secular employees change jobs an average of every six years. Not surprisingly, benefit coverage factors heavily in attracting and retaining ministry talent.

A well-designed benefits approach is effective in attracting and retaining talented and gifted employees. Depending on the location and ministry needs, the addition of certain incentives can give any church a leading edge. A judicious and well-balanced benefits package reflects the value your church places on the staff — and valued employees naturally focus more on their ministry assignments.

Establishing a salary and benefits package entails some research. Often a compensation committee takes on this role. Benefits package design should take into account the wide range of  options available on the market today. It is important to align the ministry assignment with salary and benefits that are comparable and consistent with churches in your region.

Many view healthcare coverage as the foundation of all benefits packages. Although expensive, it is an important way for churches and ministries to provide for the welfare of their staff. To reduce plan costs, church leaders can have staff members pay the difference for family coverage. Alternatively, they should consider a cost-sharing approach.

Next level health plans

There are new options that take health plans to the next level, mitigate the cost to the organization and attract staff known as Consumer-Directed Health Plans. These insurance plans are getting a lot of attention, both from the media and from potential employees. That’s because these plans allow employees to assume greater responsibility for the level and cost of healthcare, while the organization saves on plan costs.

Consumer-Directed Health Plans use three separate and distinct programs provided by the IRS:

1. Health Reimbursement Arrangements: Employer-owned funds that save employers money yet also allow them to provide first-dollar benefits for their staff. When used in conjunction with high-deductible health plans, the savings in premiums provide funds to reimburse employees all or a portion of their deductible expenses.

2. Health Savings Accounts: Employee-owned accounts that allow employees to save for personal healthcare expenses in a tax-free and portable vehicle. You must use an HSA only with a qualified high-deductible health plan.

3. Flexible Spending Accounts: Completely employee-funded, and contributions are good for one calendar year plus a three-month grace period. They allow employees to pay approved out-of-pocket expenses with pretax dollars.

When employees plan for the future they should consider the possibility of disability, accident, serious illness and even death. Offering both short-term and long-term disability plans is an excellent way to protect an employee’s financial security.

The most common type of retirement plan for churches and ministries is a 403(b) plan. For employees who are maximizing contributions to their 403(b) plan, consider offering a non qualified deferred compensation plan.

Beyond the traditional benefits package of retirement and health/life/disability insurance, here are some additional employee benefits offered by an ever-growing percentage of ministries:

Long-term care coverage: A study by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services says that people who reach age 65 have a 40 percent chance of entering a nursing home. And about 10 percent of those who enter a nursing home will stay there for five years or more.

Enhanced disability coverage:  Look for disability plans that offer a greater percentage of income replacement.

Milestone rewards/ recognitions: At a set number of years, add another week of paid time off, increase employer-matched funds or contribute a dollar amount to an employee’s nonqualified deferred compensation plan.

Relocation reimbursements: Make a down payment on a home and/or cover moving and transition costs.

Financial and estate planning: Reduce personal concerns by assisting with financial and estate matters.

The right benefits package can factor heavily in whether pastors and staff members commit to a life of serving your church.

Sherre Stephens is director of executive services for GuideStone Financial Resources, Dallas, TX. [www.guidestone.com]

By Sam S. Rainer III

In 1988 General Motors started an aggressive advertising campaign aimed at lowering the average age of Oldsmobile buyers. The ad theme, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile,” did not work. The slogan not only alienated loyalists, it did not attract the next generation. The brand that represented respectable middle-class achievement in the 1960s and 1970s lost to the “cool factor” of the 1980s and 1990s.

Ultimately, it became a victim of its own brand. The attempt to distance the Oldsmobile from everything it once stood for failed. The brand was phased out totally in 2004.

There is a new U.S. demography on the horizon. The demographics in several key areas are shifting in the early 21st century. They aren’t your father’s population trends, and the church must be positioned to better serve the changing culture.

There is much to be learned from the spiritual successes of previous decades, but there are also new challenges in society today. No church body desires to phase out because they didn’t attract new people. How local churches address these macro changes in demography, however, will either help or hinder their part in God’s Gospel mission.

The Brookings Institution, one of Washington’s oldest think tanks, awhile back released a report on the latest population trends re-shaping the nation’s largest 100 metropolitan areas. These metro areas account for two-thirds of the U.S. population and they represent the driving force of cultural shifts in our nation. The researchers pulled data from a variety of U.S. Census Bureau sources and examined several population trends currently reshaping Metropolitan America.

Let’s look at some highlights of a new metro demography:

Staying put — for now. Within the industrialized world, the United States has the highest rate of internal migration. In other words, Americans move a lot. Domestic migration across state lines and to other metro areas, however, has slowed substantially in the last two years. In fact, across state movement has been sliced by more than 40 percent since the beginning of the millennium. Places that were once attracting new people are not seeing as large of influxes.

For instance, Florida saw a net decrease in domestic migrants last year, the first time in its history. Additionally, cities that were losing people are seeing slower declines. In the Midwest, 30 of the 44 large metro areas either gained more people or lost fewer people.

Much of this pattern can be attributed to the slower economy, specifically the housing market. Once markets rebound, migration will likely pick up. What is not known is where people will flock, to what degree, and how soon. This trend may not last in the long-term, but it will still be influential in the next five years.

Diversity spreads out and gets younger. Both the source and destination of the foreign-born U.S. population has undergone major shifts in the last several decades. In 1970, only 30 percent of the foreign-born population came from Latin America and Asia. Today that number is 80 percent. In fact, half of the nation’s growth since 2000 is attributable to the Hispanic population.

Previously, immigrants of all backgrounds clustered in urban cores of traditionally diverse cities. The new geography of immigration now includes metro areas that are not accustomed to this diversity. Additionally, the U.S. population is predicted to turn minority white by 2042, but the preschool population will cross this point in 2021. Diversity is spreading geographically and it is becoming younger.

Riding the aging boomer wave. The first of the boomers will hit 65 in less than two years. As a result of this wave, the senior population will grow 36 percent from 2010-2020. Boomers are the first true “suburban generation,” a large segment of them living the majority of their lives in the suburbs. It is likely that many of them will remain in suburban areas, and these areas will “gray” faster than urban areas.

The massive growth of aging boomers will occur in areas unaccustomed to housing older people, specifically in the suburbs of metro areas. The metro areas that are expected to gray the fastest are in the intermountain West, the Southeast and Texas. The senior population will expand by as much as 70 percent in some of these places.

The new metropolitan demography calls for new approaches from the church. Not every change will affect individual churches or communities, but almost every church and community will be influenced by at least one of these newer trends. How might some ministries change in response to these cultural shifts?

1.) An outreach ministry less dependent on new residents. Due to decreased domestic migration, some churches will need to become less dependent on new resident outreach. There are churches that have depended entirely on new residents for their outreach focus. Understandably, someone had to reach out to new people in the community. Unfortunately, these opportunities are not as great in many areas now.

Local congregations should not intentionally neglect ministering to any one segment of people, but there will be many communities that experience substantial drops in new residents. This stoppage may be temporary. During the migration halt, however, these churches would do well to refocus their outreach strategy on existing lost residents. Once migration resumes, they will be well positioned to minister to new and existing people.

2.) A fundamentally different senior adult ministry. With waves of boomers rushing towards the senior adult life stage, churches will need to adjust how they minister to the first suburban generation. Many churches are already experiencing the “I’m not part of that group” mentality with existing senior ministries trying to get older Boomers to join. In short, there is a generational divide.

Boomers are less likely to take fellowship trips or go to group entertainment events. Boomers are more likely to have experienced divorce and have differing family dynamics. Boomer women are more likely to have occupied professional and managerial positions in the workplace compared with previous generations. Boomers are more educated than previous retirees. These reasons plus many others mean that churches will have to rethink how they minister to Boomers as they enter the retirement life stage.

3.) A fundamentally different children’s ministry. Not only will older adult ministries change, but also children’s ministries as well. As diversity spreads out geographically, and as preschools become more diverse, churches must prepare for a different type of ministry to children. Specifically within predominantly white churches, ministry leaders should begin to think about how to accommodate for an influx of children from differing ethnic backgrounds.

While the year 2021 is over a decade away, many metro communities are already beginning to see these types of changes in the preschools and grade schools. Now is the time to begin preparing how your church will respond to the unique make up of your community.

4.) An attitude shift from homogeneous to heterogeneous. As the younger generation ages, they will not recognize the homogeneous unit principal that was championed in the early years of the church growth movement. Basically, this principal states that people desire to worship and serve in church with other similar people, and the best way to reach people is with others who are similar.

The younger generation, as an ethnically diverse group, will not know homogeneity in the same way as previous generations. Many of the younger generation are third culture worlders. Third culture is a sociological term used to describe a person who has spent significant time in another culture, thus incorporating their birth culture with a second culture and creating a third culture. (See Rainer’s article on this in the November 2009 Church Executive.)

The term is typically attached to children who spend large portions of their developmental years outside of their parents’ home culture. Churches should be at the forefront of breaking barriers associated with differing races and ethnicities. It is these churches that the new, more diverse generation will see as normative and culturally relevant.

A new U.S. demography is coming. In many ways, these changes are upon us. There is much to take with us from previous decades and generations. But there is also much we must do in order to reach a changing culture for Christ.

Sam S. Rainer III is president of Rainer Research, and recently became senior pastor of First Baptist Church, Murray, KY. [www.rainerresearch.com, www.fbcmurray.org]