Building committees don’t work — building teams do!

By Kurt B. Williams

Is your church getting ready to jump into a building program?

The wrong way to go about starting the process is to set up a “building committee” that comprises a dozen or so representatives of every special interest group in the church. The result of such a committee is predictable: disagreements, arguments, damaged relationships and compromise — often to the point that nothing productive happens.

How often do building programs run aground due to internal disagreements and personal agendas within the building committee? The first step in the right direction is to develop a group of dedicated individuals to serve on the building team.

Necessary characteristics

The right building team members are:

• Fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ;
• Fully supportive of the ministry vision and mission;
• Emotionally stable;
• Respected within the Body of Believers;
• Common-sense thinkers;
• Team players and consensus builders;
• Representative of varied backgrounds and professions;
• Diligent and committed to the process;
• In possession of creative planning skills;
• Knowledgeable about construction.

 The building team has been commissioned to work with a design and build team to take the church’s vision and make it reality. The varied backgrounds, perspectives and professions of a healthy building team will provide a variety of great ideas.

6 Keys to Improve Building Team Operations

1. Keep the team small. Five to seven people is optimal.
2. Include communicators on the team. A strong chairman is particularly important.
3. Keep the senior pastor off of the team. The pastor should be “insulated” from the stress and strain of a building program.
4. Have a staff representative on the team. He or she will serve as a communication link.
5. Choose people who will work well together. Each building team member must have a humble, servant’s heart.
6. Remain focused on the mission of the church.

The best approach involves the maximum number of people from the church, thus increasing their ownership and financial support of the project. To do this, create “focus teams” who are passionate about particular areas of ministry. Each team should be led by a member of the building team who relays information to the building team, architect and builder.

With these focus teams of seven to 15 people, the experience and wisdom of your church are brought into the process. By following the outline above, your church has a framework to plan, design and build a new building — and also include, develop and build the leadership skills of the people of your congregation.

Kurt B. Williams is vice president of church development at T&W Church Solutions — an NACDB member — based in Indianapolis. Since the late 1980’s, Williams has devoted his construction career to successfully leading project teams of architects, engineers, acousticians and construction managers through the process of discovery, architect and construction of church facilities.

By Gary Moore

The ninth chapter of Luke describes the Transfiguration, when Jesus appeared with Moses and Elijah. Peter reacted in understandable awe, offering to construct a building for each. But, God responded by simply saying that Jesus is his Son and we should listen to him.

That hasn’t prevented Christian leaders from wanting to glorify God by building magnificent structures since. We should understand, however, that doing so usually comes with spiritual and financial stress.

Martin Luther launched the Protestant Reformation upon hearing a fundraiser preach some creative development theology. Tetzel was under stress to fund St. Peter’s basilica in Rome. Luther’s “95 Theses” were largely about the Roman church’s pragmatic approach to fundraising.

I glimpsed such stresses when I served on the finance committee, and as chair of the endowment committee, for Robert H. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, CA, at the peak of its ministry. Schuller admired the ministry of architecture; he’d constructed three buildings by four of the greatest American architects, and he hoped for a fourth.

Before I joined the board, it had given Schuller parameters for building that fourth facility, although there were concerns about costs. But, he got it done, as he was terrific at development. Schuller was excited — but some of us still believe it was the “beginning of the end.” Ironically, my impression is that those who most greatly enabled the building were the most vocal to subsequently criticize Schuller, which I thought was most unfair.  Upon examining our balance sheet, I realized Garden Grove was cash-poor and asset-rich, which meant we were very dependent upon cash flow remaining stable. I also came to realize that Schuller more or less liked living on the edge: he seemed to believe that having cash meant he wasn’t reaching enough souls for Christ.

I run across that mentality in pastors fairly often. When I do, I remind them that God’s Word reminds us of the ant that stores up for winter, and that foresight doesn’t exempt temple priests.

Various opportunities

I also remind stressed pastors of churches that are hardly used Monday through Saturday of the famous passage in Malachi that says the temple operated the storehouse — a lot like our modern-day food pantries. When not being used for worship, church facilities have also served as medical clinics, schools and so on. The idea is that there are various ways of being useful. For example, many churches simply donate space for various community events, such as AA meetings. Some also create supplemental income — as did the Cathedral — by operating schools, cemeteries, columbariums, and even turning steeples into cell phone towers.

But, there could be even larger opportunities than these. For example, Crystal Cathedral had auxiliary buildings on prime locations for which I proposed a sale lease-back — a strategy often used in the corporate world. In this approach, the building is sold to an investor and then leased  back to the church for a period of time. The church essentially realizes a substantial amount of cash that can help it survive the inevitable winters. The cost comes in the form of future lease payments, which might better reflect the church’s long-term cash flow projections.

One crucial point, here: The time to consider making such “repairs to the financial roof” is when the sun is shining and investors are willing. When Crystal Cathedral entered its winter, Schuller asked me to come out and help him make such repairs. But, we both knew investors wouldn’t come out in the rain at that point.

A theology of moderation

Despite what you may have read elsewhere, I believe Crystal Cathedral was modestly leveraged; Schuller ran a prudent ship, in my opinion. But, that didn’t keep our mortgage from being another source of stress — a predicament I find extremely common in the American church.

As in Luther’s day, our theology regarding that issue tends to be pragmatic. On one hand are ministries that counsel Christians struggling with consumer debt. They often teach that the Bible discourages, or actually forbids, all forms of debt. I’ve even heard credit cards deemed “evil” by churches. I appreciate their motives; but, as demonstrated by Deuteronomy 15:8 and Luke 6:35, both Moses and Jesus taught that we have a moral obligation to lend to anyone in need, which, to my thinking, means credit is hardly unbiblical.

Even so, I believe too many of us in the financial industry regard debt too lightly. And, as the credit counselors say, it’s also true that the Bible says the borrower is the slave of the lender. Of course, Joseph was a slave — but he still stewarded Egypt — so the word “slave” didn’t have the same harsh connotation some credit counselors lend to it. It simply meant that borrowed money usually comes with restrictions, as do modern-day bank loans. And, Romans 13 is about owing others politically, not financially. So, I believe a theology of moderation is appropriate when it comes to credit.

Credit’s greatest danger is that we might not be able to service it, thereby harming both our neighbors and the reputation of our faith. For that reason, churches should at minimum be financed with one-third donations, one-third borrowings from members who’ll then have “skin in the game” of keeping the church alive, and the remaining one-third coming from outside borrowing.

After talking with a securities attorney, it’s often a simple process to issue bonds or promissory notes to members. They can even be purchased by IRAs and such with the assistance of an independent IRA custodian. Those large pools of savings might even allow megachurches to finance satellite churches. A sale lease-back to a friendly investor might easily substitute for borrowing from members.

Stated simply, I believe the use of credit and creative finance can allow churches to more immediately get on with God’s business, as well as to divert some of our savings from the world’s business —financing casinos, for example. By using credit and creative finance prudently, we need not embarrass our faith or harm our neighbors.

Debt forgiveness

Yet, we should always remember the retirees and future college students who are dependent on our churches meeting their obligations. There will always be risks in financial transactions, particularly in today’s global economic climate. That reality demands a truly holistic theology of credit — one we might not have yet. Over the years, some well-intentioned, but theologically challenged, financial authors have taught that the Bible says borrowed money must be repaid, no matter what — even after filing for bankruptcy. That simply isn’t true; it’s reflective of our capitalistic culture.

Having worked on Wall Street for three decades, I know firsthand that investors like to get their hard-earned money back when they make loans by buying bonds and such. They usually deserve to recoup it, but not always — particularly if it causes enormous stress to borrowers who are truly suffering bad times.

As clearly demonstrated by Deuteronomy 15, a major financial teaching of Moses was seventh-year debt forgiveness. (Notice he even said loans had to be made as that year grew near, even though default was likely.) Nehemiah affirmed the concept of debt forgiveness (5:10-11). Jesus even did so when he taught us to pray that God would forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors.

Gary Moore has written six books on the Judeo-Christian morality of political-economy and finance, including Faithful Finance 101 and Look Up America! He can be reached at garmoco@hotmail.com.

Why one pastor carries a handgun in church

“When people can defend themselves, you’re going to have criminals thinking twice about what they will do.”

By Larry Dickey

Why do I, a pastor, carry a concealed handgun?

For some it is a question that needs to be answered. I do so because there is a need for people to understand that we need to defend families and ourselves. We are not a nation that understands how important it is to be vigilant in safely handling a firearm in a defensive manner – with courts and other segments of our society thinking if we are unarmed we will be a safer people. But there is a phrase that resonates: “When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.” I do not want to see that happen in my community or church.

We are a community of ranches and farmers. Besides our one neighbor behind us, our next nearest neighbor is about 200 yards away. In a five-mile radius of our church, we have fewer than 500 people. The church is one of the oldest in southeast Arizona, built in 1952. We have about 25 to 35 in attendance each week. My wife and I have been pastoring rural churches for more than 35 years.

Arizona has been a right-to-carry state all along. In fact in Arizona you do not need to have a license to conceal carry. However, if you go to another state without an Arizona CCW permit, you will get nailed from the other jurisdictions for no permit at all. Before we moved here, we were on the Nevada-Utah state line. I had a CCW for both states since Nevada did not reciprocate with Utah on CCW permit, because in their training they, Utah, did not require qualifications with your weapon of choice. In fact, there have been a couple of times when I was asked for some identification, and instead of showing a driver’s license for Arizona, I would show my CCW – just as good as a driver’s license issued by the state.

I have been involved with law enforcement since high school. I was in one of the first Law Enforcement Explorer posts in southern California in the 1960s. I have a degree in police science, now called criminal justice, and have been an endorsed chaplain with my denomination for more than 25 years.

Responsibility to protect

I am quite aware of what our police officers are up against. Any time that I can help them, I will. That is the responsibility of all citizens. We need to take a stand where we can and when we can. Too long we have allowed the criminals to take over. When we stand up, they cower like the cowards that they are. We are free people. As a free people we have a right and responsibility to protect our families, churches and communities whenever necessary.

I have seen how under-protected we have become, by solely expecting law enforcement to keep us safe. They cannot. They will be the first to admit this. They need a population that is willing to step up into harm’s way and do what needs to be done, at a time that it needs to be done.

If someone were to come into our church with a gun or a knife, they could do a lot of damage before the police could get to the church. Even if we had officers in the parking lot, by the time they could get inside, it would be over. We, as citizens, need to protect what we love and be willing to lay our life on the line for them.

Some people question whether guns belong in church. In my view, we have seen and read of folks who entered a church with the intent of doing a fair amount of hurt and killing with the guns they carried into houses of worship. They expect people inside to be unarmed and feeling safe inside a church. This is not always the case.

The truth is that in every state where the citizens are allowed to carry concealed guns, the crime rate is down. Conversely, in every state where citizens were not allowed to conceal carry, the crime rate has gone up. Look at California and Illinois. When people can defend themselves, you’re going to have criminals thinking twice about what they will do.

A friend of mine, retired from the local police department, has, on the average Sunday morning, five or six church members actively CCW. They draw from a number of police agencies as well as prisons in their areas. The police cannot be expected to protect everybody and every church. As pastor, it is my responsibility to make our church as safe as possible.

Using gun properly

It’s a matter of having a gun and using it properly. You have to train and go out to the range and know what you can do and what you cannot do. You have to train with every possible scenario and know how to use your weapon.

I choose to stay concealed, because if I were to open carry, I would become a target. If I am in a situation, I want to be able to get the optimum protection and position as possible. I can’t do that if I open carry.

I would like to be able to have folks who would be there to back each other up. However, you cannot plan these scenarios out. We have to react to others and what they will do. No one really knows the criminal mind.

I am a firm believer that if more people carried either openly or concealed, we would not have the crime that we have right now. If you look at the cities and states that have strict gun control laws, their crime rates are very high. Conversely, if you look at cities and states that allow their citizens to protect themselves, the crime rate is lower. The reason is when criminals don’t know if the place that they are going into will be armed and defending themselves, they are going to think twice about their crime.

When was the last time that you heard of a gun store being robbed?

By Eric Spacek

In December 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) voted unanimously to approve new mandatory standards for full-size and non-full-size baby cribs, as ordered by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA).  These new regulations took effect in June of 2011, and include all cribs manufactured and sold, including resale, or leased in the United States. The new safety standards are intended to do the following:

1. Stop the manufacture and sale of dangerous, traditional drop-side cribs;
2. Make mattress supports stronger;
3. Make crib hardware more durable; and
4. Make safety testing more rigorous.

These standards had not been updated in nearly 30 years and with the new guidelines, a safer line of cribs is expected to enter the marketplace. An increase in safer cribs could not come at a more critical time.

Since 2007, the CPSC has recalled more than 11 million dangerous cribs. Since 2000, detaching drop-side rails were associated with at least 32 infant deaths, and faulty hardware can be blamed for additional deaths.

Identifying new safety benefits
While drop-side cribs have received the most press for the number of fatalities they have caused, the new safety standards go beyond removing the drop-side from the marketplace.  They also include cracking down on malfunctioning or faulty hardware. This ensures that when older children begin shaking the frames or jumping in the cribs, the screws or other hardware stay tightly fastened and secure, even over years of use.

Mattress supports, slats and hardware now must be more durable to withstand this type of use. In addition, testing requirements are more stringent in order to ensure that the new beds are compliant with the stricter, safer regulations.

Managing financial investment
Child care centers, daycares and places of public accommodation, including churches that charge a fee for these services, have until Dec. 28, 2012, to comply with the updated safety standards.  If your church does not charge a fee, but your child care workers are paid, the new regulations also apply to your organization. Given the dangers involved, the recommended risk management practice is that churches discontinue their use of non-compliant cribs, regardless of their child care arrangement. Because most current cribs will not meet these new standards, owners are warned to frequently check all non-compliant cribs for loose hardware, and loose, missing or broken parts. These situations should be remedied immediately if any are occurring.

Having to replace multiple cribs can be a costly investment for a church, so organizations are encouraged to have a plan in place to help make the transition less strenuous.  Not only is the CPSC asking all consumers to purchase new cribs, they also are recommending that old cribs not be resold, donated, or given away. Because they are unsafe, no one should be using these older cribs. They are as equally unsafe for at-home use as they are for daycares and churches. The CPSC recommends disassembling the cribs before discarding so that no one else is tempted to use them.

The importance of safety
It is important that churches take these new guidelines seriously.  If an injury or death were to occur from use of an older crib, being found non-compliant could result in a liability claim. It also could do irreparable damage to the trust your church congregation has in your safety and security practices.

Despite the financial investment involved, transitioning to cribs that meet the new federal safety standards is another way to keep the members of your church safe and secure, and help protect your organization from adverse publicity and an expensive claim or lawsuit.

Eric Spacek is senior risk manager at GuideOne Insurance, West Des Moines, IA.  www.GuideOne.com

The use of marketing within the church is still seen as controversial, says one of the authors of Building Strong Congregations (Autumn House Publishing). Bruce Wrenn says, “It depends on whom you ask. Some critics will always be opposed to the use of marketing because they find its function at odds with the spiritual life of the church. Other critics might be won over if their opposition is based on a misunderstanding of what marketing really is, or if they mistakenly believe we are proposing it be used for all components of a church’s mission. We are careful to recommend its use only where appropriate in church settings.”

Wrenn is professor of Christian ministry at Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, and wrote the book with marketing expert Philip Kotler and church consultant Norman Shawchuck. Dr. Wrenn responded to questions from Church Executive. This is the full interview; an excerpted version appeared in the November 2012 issue of Church Executive.

Is the use of marketing by religious organizations controversial?

It depends on whom you ask. Some critics will always be opposed to the use of marketing because they find its function at odds with the spiritual life of the church. Other critics might be won over if their opposition is based on a misunderstanding of what marketing really is, or if they mistakenly believe we are proposing it be used for all components of a church’s mission. We are careful to recommend its use only where appropriate in church settings.

Can or should religious institutions and churches be marketed?

We believe religion, that is, Christianity, shouldn’t, and indeed can’t, be marketed. But a church and its ministries can and should be marketed. We affirm its use for churches because we see marketing as enhancing the achievement of those parts of mission that are concerned with serving people’s legitimate needs—what Rick Warren identified in the Purpose Driven Church as fellowship and ministry. Marketing involves the deep understanding of people’s needs and the development of need satisfying services, exactly what churches are trying to achieve by fostering fellowship and offering ministries as part of their mission. Attracting other believers without a church home to join your congregation is also part of the “can and should” territory of church marketing.

When should a large congregation begin to consider staffing for the marketing function? What is a threshold for this function?

The first thing that congregations of any size should realize is that they are already doing marketing if they are trying to serve the needs of people inside or outside of their congregation. So, staffing may merely consist of the church staff, volunteer or paid, learning how to do it better. Also, because marketing is concerned with serving the needs of others, we all want to become “marketers”, and keep the commandment to “do unto others.” In one sense, staffing the marketing function is merely helping congregants become more committed to understanding and serving people in need.

A case can be made, however, for the strategic planning team to create a marketing plan as part of the planning process, and assign responsibility for its implementation to a specific individual.

You write about the “responsive congregation.” What is meant by that?

Responsiveness can be thought of as a strategic trait of being able to respond to environmental opportunities or threats, but we are using that term here to refer to the behavior Christ was talking about in Matthew 25. I’m referring, of course, to when Jesus said that when we respond to people in need by helping them he feels as though he was the recipient of your help. That is the kind of “responsive congregation” we are promoting, and for which marketing can help become more effective and efficient in achieving that part of their mission.

Some pastors are frightened by the results of surveying parishioners. How can surveying opinions be properly handled?

I suspect the idea is intimidating to many if not most church leaders. I prefer to counsel about the desirability of understanding before we plan or act, rather that stipulate the need for surveying. It’s hard to imagine a situation where you wouldn’t want to understand before you made or implemented a decision. “Understanding” can happen through many methods, surveys being only one example. If we see the merits of first understanding, we will be open to choosing the most appropriate method to acquire that understanding. In the college marketing research courses I teach we learn the importance of matching the tool to the task. Surveys may or may not be the method of choice.

How can congregations use social media to market effectively?

Churches need to fit their use of social media within the larger communication strategy known as Integrated Marketing Communications, or IMC. We want to think in terms of coordinating all our means of communication—our Facebook page, websites, YouTube videos, Podcasts, Flickr page, Twitter messages, even our worship bulletin and the sign in front of our church and all other message media—to provide consistent, well planned and engaging messages about who we are. Using social media is a given, but we need to think beyond Facebook; we need to integrate all our communication methods to contribute to achieving our mission.

We should also remember, however, that online relationships are a complement to face-to-face relationships, not a substitute. This is particularly true for social institutions like churches. People go to Facebook to hear from their friends about what congregation they’ve found is “home’ for them. Those friends haven’t found a church home based on an online relationship. So, yes, you absolutely want to use social media as part of your IMC strategy. Just don’t have unreasonable expectations about its role in helping you achieving your goals.

Are there specific marketing implications for multi-site churches?

Yes, there are strategic decisions that must be made for multi-site churches. The primary decision concerns your desire to either increase the core church’s reach to the same segment of the population (what we would call a market penetration strategy), or use the branch sites to appeal to a different segment of the population than the core church (what we call a market development strategy). That decision will have profound implications for all other decisions about church structure, programs and ministries, worship services, etc.

Other than Willow Creek and Saddleback, what churches have strong marketing? What few things make them more effective?

Actually, some of the “best practices” in church marketing are not necessarily found in the largest churches. One of the unique aspects of our book is the inclusion of a CD bound into the back cover that includes links that you can click on to get to hundreds of sites of value to church marketers. Several dozen of these are devoted to discussion of best practice strategies and tactics being used by church marketers at churches of all sizes. The point is that we can all learn from one another, and need to be open to new ideas coming from any source, but we need to be wary of just trying to copy some other church’s success formula.

We’ve all experienced, or seen, the follies that can come with trying to imitate management practices used by secular organizations or other churches without due diligence given to whether they are appropriate for our organization. In fact, it is sometimes the case that secular businesses should be looking to churches for guidance. I once wrote an article entitled “What Business Can Teach Religious Organizations about Customer Service.” I think it’s time I wrote an article entitled “What Churches Can Teach Businesses about Building a Loyal Committed Customer Base.”

What is branding when applied to a church?

Branding provides a valuable benefit to consumers by helping to simplify an increasingly complex decision making process. Brands signal a certain known quality to us based on past experiences that reduces risk and decision making time. These benefits are present no matter what is being branded.

I recently was talking with a church marketer about how marketing is sometimes defined as removing the barriers to exchange, and that he might be faced with barriers of knowledge, motivation and trust that stand in the way of engaging in exchange with the audience he was trying to reach. Branding can be an effective means of breaking through barriers such as these. I see the most successful churches as having a well-established “corporate” brand, plus scores of individually branded ministries, events, and programs. My guess is that they are giving a lot of attention to continuous improvement of their branding strategies and tactics.

Christianity is on the receiving end of various attacks today. Can marketing be useful in helping in such onslaughts?

This question immediately brought to my mind John 16:33 “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart: I have overcome the world.” Ultimately, our hope will always be in the person of Christ, rather than in ourselves, or institutions, or our management tools, including marketing. However, when the source of our trouble comes from a misunderstanding of mission or motives, then marketing can help in correcting the misunderstanding by educating as to our intentions. Marketing helps you to see things from the other party’s point of view and then construct an appropriate response. Telling your story well always begins with understanding your audience.

ELCA and the Methodists have large, well-funded media campaigns underway. Do these campaigns really help? Are they an effective use of marketing dollars for the larger church? Any thoughts on how that money could be better spent to sway public opinion?

Both of these campaigns have an essential ingredient for religious institutional advertising: authenticity. Both eloquently tell stories that speak to their slogans of “God’s Work. Our Hands” (ELCA) and “Rethink Church” (UM). Viewers will invariably come away with positive impressions about the organizations and the good works they do. Based on execution alone, we would call the campaigns successful. Whether they are also strategically successful would depend on the goals set for them. Every action carries with it the opportunity costs that consist of what might have resulted from expending those resources some other way. Hopefully, we are all considering multiple ways of achieving our goals and choosing the course of action that seems best from among our options.

Is religious programming on TV or radio past its prime? Where might pastors be spending such dollars more wisely for outreach?

It is certainly true that narrowcasting—using media to reach a specifically targeted audience—has replaced broadcasting for many marketers, church marketers included. This question also points out the necessity for churches to develop comprehensive communication plans that include all methods of communicating your message—what I earlier referred to as Integrated Marketing Communications. Churches, with their limited marketing budgets, must be careful to allocate funds among the media in a way that capitalizes on the strength of each medium. In other words, don’t send a radio ad out to do a blog’s job. Radio, TV and newspapers still have their place in the church marketer’s arsenal; it’s just a smaller place than it used to be.

How can a large church most effectively seek converts in today’s culture—other than through personal witness and evangelism?

Well, this is a bit of a trick question because, as we make clear in the beginning of our book, we don’t think marketing can, or should, be used for evangelism purposes. Marketing involves being willing to change what you do to better serve the needs of your target audience. That doesn’t sound like what you do in soul winning. But, there is no doubt that efforts to win converts use some of the tools that marketers, and others, use, such as communication methods. Of course, that doesn’t make an evangelist a marketer anymore than my using a hammer makes me a carpenter (my wife can testify to that!). There are many, many ways churches can benefit from using marketing where it can and should be used without them trying to use it where it can’t and shouldn’t.

What implications should we take from page 509 diagram of Experience Cycle for Worship Service?

Feedback from church leaders tells us that the Experience Cycle is one of the most practical and useful marketing applications discussed in the book. The idea is based on the premise that “Everything Matters” when it comes to building meaningful relationships with whom you are trying to connect. Creating an Experience Cycle that identifies each point at which we interact with those we seek to serve, and then treating each of these points as a “moment of truth” helps us to make those encounters highly successful ones. A moment of truth is defined as any episode where someone comes in contact with your organization and gets an impression of who you are based on that experience. The Experience Cycle reinforces the idea that all of these episodes are important and should be planned to be successful. Nothing is so small that it isn’t better done well than poorly. Everything matters!

Is there some significant way that religious marketing is different from for-profit marketing, or even marketing for other not-for-profit organizations?

Absolutely. I recently wrote an article entitled “Religious Marketing is Different” [Services Marketing Quarterly, Vol. 32, No. 1, 2011] that discussed some of the unique aspects of church marketing. While I can’t do justice to its thesis here, the bottom line is that the goal of secular marketing is to establish long-term relationships via transactions aimed at satisfying self-interest needs (e.g., I keep shopping at your store because I find what I want and you treat me well), but the goal of church marketing is different. [See chart below.]

With church marketing your goal is to get commitment via transformation—people become committed to the organization and its mission by transformation of their interest from self to selfless interest in serving others. For example, when I attend your Grief Recovery counseling ministry, I am seeking help for my grief. But the successful delivery of that service, which is part of the marketing process, causes me to want to be a contributor to the church’s serving ministries and not just a user. This transformation of my motives is also part of the discipling process that is a component of many churches’ mission. Hence, successful marketing contributes to commitment via transformation, which makes our earlier point that churches can, and should, be using marketing to achieve their goals. When it is used this way marketing has achieved its “highest” calling.

By Sam S. Rainer III

Premise of the article: How can lead pastors serve those whose main job description is to serve them?

Whether it’s a paid or unpaid position, formal or informal, most churches have a strong leader serving under the lead pastor. In smaller churches, this person can be a prominent lay person. In larger churches, the position is often an executive pastor. Numerous titles describe this position, including associate and administrator. Other church leadership positions can be second chairs as well, such as a worship pastor. In this article, I refer to the position simply as the second chair.

The second chair position is paradoxical for two reasons. First, a second chair involves the tension of submitting as a subordinate to the first chair while at the same time leading with a high level of influence. Second chairs maintain a dependence on the first chair while at the same time managing the significant amounts of freedom found near the top of the chain of command. The second paradox involves being in an ever-changing role that is difficult to define while at the same time trying to add structure to the vision of the first chair. Second chairs often find themselves in the unenviable position of being the Jell-O others are trying to nail to the wall.

While I do not claim to represent all second chairs, I have served in both a first chair role (currently) and a second chair role (at a previous church). This post is about second chairs, but it is directed to first chairs. How can lead pastors serve those whose main job description is to serve them?

Serve first; lead second. All church leaders should take on the posture of serving first and leading second, but a personal example is not enough. First chairs cannot assume second chairs (and other staff members) will follow the example of servant leadership if it is simply lived out and never taught.

First chairs must do more than encourage others to serve; they must teach others how to be servant leaders. First chairs should direct second chairs and staff to be aware of more than just what they should do, but also who they are in Christ. Servant leadership is more than a list of positive and negative traits. Servant leadership is more than a list of helpful or unhelpful actions. Being a servant leader like Jesus is an identity. This identity has a biblical foundation, and it must be taught.

Create a partnership, not a dictatorship. Living servant leadership and teaching servant leadership are important to creating a culture of servant leadership. But this culture is unsustainable (as is just about everything else in the church) without a partnership. Treating second chairs and staff as partners rather than employees will help sustain a transformational environment of servant leadership. A first chair’s goal is to create a partnership and not give directives. This partnership of servant leadership can be fostered in with transparency.

A senior leader must be transparent about the inevitable consistency of being a first chair leader in the church. Senior pastors have two personas: one the church sees and one the staff sees. They will act differently around people they work with for hours each day as compared with the people they are tasked to shepherd. This dichotomy will be especially true of a second chair.

A first chair will likely spend more time with a second chair than anyone else in the church. This inconsistency is not necessarily a sign of poor leadership, but it becomes problematic if first chairs love on the people of the church while mistreating the second chair and staff. Such a scenario places the second chair in the awkward position of detesting the senior leader the church loves.

Balance authority and responsibility. The temptation for a first chair is to seize power and authority from the second chair. In the hierarchy of command, it is easier for a first chair to pull authority from a second chair than it is for a second chair to take it from a first chair. One of the ministry tensions of the second chair is leading and adding value to the church without the positional authority of the senior pastor. A subordinate leader can only influence upward if the senior leader gives him or her the corresponding authority to do so.

One of the first chair’s primary responsibilities is serving the second chair. Nothing invalidates leadership like abandoning a servant’s heart. A first chair’s relationship with a second chair is one of a partnership, not a dictatorship. In this partnership it is the first chair’s obligation to grant a second chair a high level of authority to accomplish the tasks of his or her responsibility.

Sam Rainer III is the senior pastor at Stevens Street Baptist Church in Cookeville, TN www.stevensstreet.org and president of Rainer Research www.RainerResearch.com.

What can happen when a church is perceived to have “deep pockets.”

By David T. Ball

I learned a few lessons worth sharing with others in defending the American Baptist Churches in the USA against a lawsuit based on tragic allegations of sexual abuse of minors by a pastor’s son. The pastor’s son was literally a bystander in the lawsuit. Having pled guilty to criminal charges, he was in jail.

Instead, the national, regional and district offices were all named as defendants even though as American Baptist entities they had no operational control over the local church, still less over a pastor’s son. Nor did these offices have any means of control over the pastor, since he was hired by the local church acting independently and his ordination was not recognized or approved by these related bodies.

The family was demanding $6 million and the church entities were perceived to be the “deep pockets.” Ultimately all of the church entities prevailed completely. The family’s case against them was so weak that not a single defendant had to pay out a single dollar. Yet these church entities had to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars in attorney’s fees to fund their defense. Fortunately this was covered by their insurance policies.

That church entities (or their insurers) should be forced to pay such huge sums to defend a weak case may seem unjust, but in our legal system this was not that out of the ordinary. Plaintiffs lawyers know that winning a case is not their only obstacle – they must also prevail against a defendant that has resources to pay.

To a church leader who has never been through this experience before, this scenario may seem outrageous. There is no easy way out, however, if a church is named in a lawsuit, no matter how groundless. At a minimum the church will need able representation to seek dismissal—but that may come only after extensive discovery has taken place, which is extremely expensive.

If your church is named in a suit you have a serious legal situation on your hands. Since there is no “easy out” for churches it is important to learn from the experience of other churches that have weathered such a situation before. There are six lessons that church leaders can learn as they seek to navigate these treacherous waters.

Lesson #1: Check your church’s insurance policy

In recent years, with the proliferation of sex-abuse lawsuits insurance companies have begun to exclude coverage for liability arising out of sexual misconduct situations. Many clients are unaware of this change. All churches are encouraged to hire competent legal counsel to review their general liability coverage and their other types of policies (directors and officers liability, for example) to see if sexual misconduct liability coverage has been excluded. If it has, not only is your church not covered for the liability, there is no coverage for the cost of its defense.

Lesson #2: Press for coverage even if sexual misconduct liability is excluded

Even if your church’s policy excludes coverage for sexual misconduct liability, the effect of that exclusion may not be clear-cut under the laws of your state. Often, as in this case, there will be a number of causes of action against the various defendants, some of which would be separate and distinct from the underlying sexual abuse.

For example, in our case, in addition to the claims directly based on the sexual misconduct there were several claims based on allegations that the leadership of the local church had lashed out against the family after the allegations came to light. The family brought causes of action for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress based on this retaliatory activity. Whether the sexual misconduct exclusion barred coverage for these claims was not an easy issue, and the insurer provided coverage as a result.

Lesson #3: Keep any dispute about insurance coverage on the back burner

The case in which I was involved was actually two cases: The family’s suit against the church entities was one, and the insurance company’s against the national office over whether the sexual misconduct exclusion barred coverage was the other. The problem for the national office was that its legal fees incurred in defending against the insurance company’s coverage case were not reimbursed by its policy, whereas its fees in defending against the family’s suit potentially were.

It took some skilled lawyering to persuade the insurance company that the national office’s chances of prevailing against the family’s suit were so high that it made no sense for the insurance company and the national office to burn through more legal fees fighting over coverage in a second case.

In this situation it greatly benefited the national office that the insurance company cooperated by keeping its coverage case on the back burner until the underlying case was won. We were also able to negotiate an agreement with the insurance company that, no matter how the underlying case came out the insurance company would pay the national office’s fees incurred to that point.

Lesson #4: Carefully weigh the advantages and disadvantages of telling your side of the story at the outset

At the outset of a lawsuit, a defendant has a tough choice to make. It can either try to get the case dismissed on the grounds that, even if everything the plaintiff says is true, there still is no case against it under the law. The difficulty with this approach is that there is no way to correct whatever false statements may have been made in the plaintiff’s complaint. The alternative is to move for summary judgment, which allows the church entity to tell its side of the story in supporting affidavits. The drawback to this approach is that the court will likely not rule on the church’s motion for summary judgment until the plaintiff has had a full opportunity to conduct discovery (take depositions, request documents).

In our case, this meant waiting more than two years before the court would rule on our motion for summary judgment, while the plaintiffs deposed numerous individuals, who produced no testimony to support their case and pored over hundreds of pages of documents, most of which were completely irrelevant.

Lesson #5: Vigorously defend against any injunction restricting disposition of church assets

In our case, even before any of the defendants had been served with a summons and the complaint the plaintiffs obtained a temporary restraining order that prohibited the church defendants from disposing of any assets. Fortunately, the temporary restraining order could last only 28 days under state law and to be extended for the remainder of the case a hearing had to be held.

At this hearing the church defendants vigorously defended against such a restriction. There was no sign that any of the church entities was hiding any assets or doing anything tricky. And under the applicable state law it was improper to restrict disposition of assets when the assets were not the focus of the suit. The court properly declined to extend the temporary restraining order for the pendency of the litigation, and refused the plaintiffs’ fervent request to reconsider. This meant that the church defendants were able to manage their finances effectively for the four-plus years that the litigation continued.

Lesson #6: Press the plaintiffs’ attorneys to justify their case to you

Many imagine that opposing attorneys are so hostile to each other that they are barely on speaking terms. In our case I frequently contacted the plaintiff’s lead attorney to ask him about certain procedural aspects of the case in a cooperative fashion and I always took the opportunity to draw him out about what the basis for his case was against the church entities.

My client, the national office, had no knowledge about the alleged abuse until it received a letter from him demanding a huge settlement. The national office had no means of operational control over the local church where the abuse had allegedly occurred. Again and again I asked him how could he possibly prevail against my client. Each time as I pressed him he would refine his theory and be more and more forthcoming about its strengths and weaknesses.

This proved to be invaluable, since it enabled us to develop a strategy for the case that whittled his case down to a very thin thread, which was that although the national office had had no actual involvement and had no actual means of control, the national office was allegedly liable for what the district and/or regional officials had done or not done as the “agents” of the national office.

I hope that these lessons can help a church entity avoid what could easily have happened in our case: The bankruptcy or dissolution of a church entity so swamped by legal costs and potential liability that its ministries are seriously threatened if not extinguished.

David T. Ball is a partner of Rosenberg & Ball Co., LPA, an Ohio-based law firm that assists churches nationwide with a wide range of legal issues. Ball was the 2010 recipient of the American Bar Association’s Outstanding Young Nonprofit Attorney Award. [ www.rosenbergball.com ]

In my opinion, every church executive needs to study seven books:

1. Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting Out of the Box by Arbinger Institute (Berrett-Koehler). This international mainstream best-seller applies what turns out to be the Golden Rule and a few other biblical principles to daily life including marriage, family, work, and ministry. Foundational truth of this book: We all have blind spots. By definition, we can’t identify, let alone address our blind spots on our own. Instead, we need to invite a few respected, trusted individuals to speak into our lives with love and truth about each blind spot, weakness and failing.

2. Leadership Above the Line by Sarah Sumner (Tyndale). On the back cover I’m quoted saying: “If you lead leaders, push other books aside—and make this the next one you read. Leadership Above the Line is 60 percent story, 100 percent breakthrough insights on leadership formation. Dr. Sarah Sumner’s character-based model is clear, her story is compelling and her application tools are transformational. Highly recommended!”

3. The Ascent of a Leader: How Ordinary Relationships Develop Extraordinary Character and Influence by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and Ken McElrath. This best-seller redefined what it means to climb to the top of the ladder. The authors forcefully argue against the traditional leadership ladder and, in its place, present a compelling, biblical, and counterintuitive character-based ladder developed in the context of relationships of respect and trust.

4. TrueFaced: Trust God and Others with Who You Really Are by Bill Thrall, Bruce McNicol and John Lynch. Building on their best-selling breakthrough work, the authors emphasize the pivotal role of trust. Without trust, they argue, we effectively shut out God and others from speaking into our lives—speaking into our character development and the destiny God has planned specifically for you and for me.

5. Free to Disagree: Moving Beyond the Arguments Over Christian Liberty by John Wecks (Kregel). I sometimes jokingly say this book should be titled, Free to Disagree Agreeably. I recommend reading this book together with …

6. One Lord, One Faith by Rex Koivisto. Koivisto’s book differentiates between what the author calls “the core of orthodoxy” over against secondary and tertiary points of doctrine and practice.

Finally, every church executive needs to read:

7. The Peacemaker: A Biblical Guide to Resolving Conflict by Ken Sande (Baker). When Ken Sande speaks, I listen. He’s an attorney, a pastor by heart, and a Bible teacher extraordinaire. In this landmark volume, he presents four basic biblical principles for resolving conflict: Glorify God (1 Cor. 10:31). Get the log out of your own eye (Matt. 7:5). Go and show your brother his fault (Matt. 18:15). Go and be reconciled (Matt. 5:24). Bottom line: Ken Sande says that conflict consistently presents us with the opportunity to demonstrate the presence and power of God at work in our lives.

David Sanford serves as an executive at Spring Mountain Bible Church in Clackamas, OR. David also serves on the leadership team at Corban University in Salem, OR. You can write to the author at davids@springmountain.org.

Today’s day and age has brought forth new ways of communication. Social networking, email, instant messaging and texting are replacing the mail, letters and even phone calls. Wireless phones are replacing landlines and becoming communication devices but not just for the originally planned purposes.

They are now being used to view websites, update social network accounts, read emails and send text messages. These types of uses are being done more often than they are being used to make an actual phone call.  Keeping with the times, churches and other religious organizations have jumped right into the social networking scene, and nearly all of them are using email in some form. Text messaging has been, and still is growing into an ever more popular means of communication.

In fact, through June of 2011, stats of wireless usage show that the average wireless user is sending more text messages than they are using minutes on the same device. This tendency is trending up since 2005, with message usage increasing 9.5 percent per year, and minute usage decreasing by the same 9.5 percent per year.

Churches today are taking advantage of and benefiting from text messaging by using platforms to send out reminders of events or outings to help increase participation. Youth group activities and volunteer openings are spread quickly and timely throughout the congregation. Putting the specific phone numbers into groups allows them to send a more personalized message so that only those who are intended to receive the message will get it

The Catalyst Church is using a text messaging platform for communicating several different things throughout their congregation. Along with the Catalyst Church, there are other religious organizations, such as, The First Baptist Church, Pentecostal Church, Catholic Church and many other denominations are using text messaging platforms for things like:

• Alerts/Reminders
• Special holiday event
• Guest speakers
• Youth activities
• Meetings
• Bible study
• Requests
• Prayer requests
• Volunteer requests
• Staff openings
• Donation requests
• Informational
• Position filled announcement
• Daily inspirational quotes
• Question & Answer sessions
• Keeping in touch with staff

These types of messages help these churches and others increase their attendances at events, activities and worship services; increase participation in study groups, prayer requests and tithes and offerings; keep the congregation and staff informed in more real time

A couple of the key factors that distinguishes text messaging from other means of communication are the read rate and delivery/read time. In comparing a text message to email, instant messages, announcements and even phone calls, the text message reaches a much greater number and in a more timely manner.

Nearly everyone today carries their phone with them everywhere they go and that is why over 95 percent of text messages are read and over 85 percent of those are read within fifteen minutes of receiving them. This gives the churches sending the messages the ability to get it in the hands of the appropriate people within minutes. Sending the text message only takes about five minutes, depending on your platform, and then reaches the wireless phones within a couple minutes.

The effectiveness, coupled with the fact that platforms and packages have become more cost efficient in recent years, has greatly increased the popularity of text messaging among churches. Text messaging has made a huge splash over the past decade and is still pouring its prowess into communities across the globe. Churches and religious organizations using or looking into using text messaging as a means for communicating are on the cutting edge of staying in contact with their community.

Sam Sadlier is a staff member of TXT180 INC., Saint George, UT. [www.TXT180.com]

By Ben Stroup

Apple’s announcement in June of the seamless integration with Twitter in its next iOS update offered another sign that social media is no longer something that young people and techies play around with. It’s now an accepted, proven – though ever-changing – channel of conversation that leaves church leaders no choice but to adopt it as a legitimate way to communicate and interact with its congregation and the larger community in which it exists.

While many church leaders have adopted social media in some capacity, many continue to resist Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or even starting a blog. They cite lack of time, lack of knowledge or training, or lack of direct application as noble reasons not to allow any distractions from the work of ministry. The fundamental flaw is that ministry begins when we connect with other people. And people are increasingly choosing social media as their preferred method of interaction.

Social media is here to stay and is no longer optional. Leaders must choose to break free of their preferences and adapt to new means of communication if they wish to be heard and to continue to be relevant.

Two important observations before moving forward:

1. Social media is not a fad, passing trend, or distraction. It is a genuine way through which people engage and influence one another. Communication at its core is more about the target audience than the preferences of the messenger. When the roles are reversed, the end result is noise, clutter and spam.

2. It is the responsibility of the church leader to remove barriers to communication rather than increase them. Just like a missionary who must first learn the language and customs of the indigenous people he or she is trying to reach, so they must become familiar with the language and practice of social media in order to continue to have the opportunity to be part of the conversation.

How can churches effectively use social media as a way to increase ministry impact? Consider these “10 Commandments” as you build the social media strategy for your church:

1. Encourage User-Generated Content. Social media represents a shift in how content is created and distributed. “Every person is a publisher” shouldn’t be a point of criticism. It should be embraced recognizing that everyone brings their network of influence to the table. Empower the people in your pew to multiply the impact of your weekend experience and mission projects.

2. Make it shareable. When content is posted, some thought should be given to how people will be able to share this. If you make it difficult, many people won’t even try. But if rating systems, “Likes,” “Tweet this,” and “Share This” type buttons are built into how you distribute content, it will make it much easier for someone to in turn expose your church to their broader social network.

3. Keep relationships the primary focus. Social media is not about efficiency or recreating direct mail metrics in the digital space. It’s based off one person connecting to another person. Be different places online because people consume and interact with online content differently. Take advantage of each of those platforms and their unique capabilities. But never forget that the tools are a conduit to long-term engagement and cultivation of interest, volunteers and financial support.

4. Provide value. Don’t just put out stuff to fill “dead space.” Offer content that is explicitly and implicitly beneficial to the person you’re trying to reach. It’s easy to think about what’s best for the organization when the focus must be how the content can help move people to take the next step in their faith journey and feel more connected to our church community.

5. Create excellent content. Take the time to be thoughtful. Content is king and is the only currency that will survive in the economy of digital influence. You will be judged by how compelling, engaging and interactive your content is.

6. Use Social Media strategically, not casually. Take the time to establish goals for each different digital platform. Define key influencers within your church — both lay and staff — to create multiple “windows” into your community. Employ someone to be responsible for the overall goals and objectives of this initiative and do what’s necessary to keep up to speed with digital consumption habits. Be intentional.

7. Keep it short and simple. The digital space is not the place for your magnum opus. Recognize that people don’t spend as much time reading online as they do other, more traditional channels. Keep the content short, helpful, practical and consistent. That’s what keeps people coming back for more.

8. Measure—and measure again. There are some excellent analytics tools that will help you chart your progress. Of course, the ultimate measure of engagement comes through how your investment in the digital space is creating interpersonal, offline relationships through the trust building that takes place when you accurately employe a content strategy. People are checking out your church on Twitter, Facebook and the Web way before they visit your church.

9. Market your social media presence. Tell people that you’re online and where you are active. With a consistent flow of good content and a clear understanding of who you’re trying to engage with among the various tools and platforms, you can have enough information to get started and keep things moving forward. You’ll have to make adjustments along the way, but that’s expected and inherent in the process of relationships anyway.

10. Be patient. Social media has a lower barrier of entry in that it isn’t expensive to get started. Though, the true cost is “sweat equity.” If you want immediate results, then you’ll be disappointed. It usually takes four to six months to begin to see the fruit of your labor. If you’re committed to building influence in the digital space and recognize the multiplying effect, you’ll see that the initial investment is far less than the expected benefit.

Church leaders who embrace social media will create new opportunities to engage with others, expand their reach and ultimately build community in a much more systematic and sustainable approach. The question is not if your church will venture into social media, but when. The real learning begins when we put down books, articles, podcasts, and seminars about social media and start doing social media.

______________________________________________________________________

7 books for social media beginners

1. Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. (Harvard Business School, 2008.)

2. Content Rules by Ann Handley and C.C. Chapman (Wiley, 2010)

3. Tribes by Seth Godin

4. The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott (Wiley, 2010)

5. The Mesh by Lisa Gansky (Portfolio, 2010)

6. The Thank You Economy by Gary Vaynerchuk (HarperBusiness, 2011)

7. Trust Agents by Chris Brogan (Wiley, 2010)

Ben Stroup is a writer, blogger, and consultant who helps individuals and organizations navigate the new rules of conversation to achieve maximum impact. He can be reached at ben@benstroup.com and blogs at thecontentmatrix.com.