The Established Church Pastor

Conference for Pastors on Change

2010-08-03T11:04:00.000-07:00

Leading Change in the Established Church is a conference for pastors who are experiencing the difficulties and struggles of leading their church through change.

Hosted by Rolling Hills Baptist Church, and jointly sponsored by RHBC, the State Convention of Baptists of Ohio, and the Baptist Association of Greater Cincinnati, this conference will inform, encourage, and motivate the pastor who longs to see God move through His church.

October 26-28
Begins noon on Tuesday and goes until noon on Thursday.
Includes meals, conference, and lodging (if needed).

Large Group Sessions will be led by Bill Elliff, Pastor of The Summit Church in Little Rock, Ark., and author of the book entitled Navigating the Rapids of Church Conflict.

Large Group Session Topics:

Session 1-- What's the Problem in your Church? What factors will keep your church from necessary change?

Session 2-- What's the Secret of leading successful Change?-- a look at the leader, and key qualities necessary for leading change.

Session 3-- Where do I start? What are the practical steps you need to take to successfully navigate change?

Session 4-- How do I create momentum to move from Casting Vision to Taking Action?

Breakout Sessions will be led by local church pastors:

Resolving Conflict in the Established Church-- Steve Hopkins
Lessons on Change I learned from Nehemiah-- Darrel Gabbard
Innovation and Change in the Established Church-- Marcus Mecum
The Overlooked Key to Successful Change-- Vann Kissell
The number one reason change efforts fail in the established church.

A round-table discussion with lay leaders will offer invaluable insight to pastors: "Layman to Pastor-- how to change the church without destroying it or killing yourself."

Separate sessions will be held for pastor's wives. These will be led by former IMB missionary and pastor's wife Leann Rollins. Participating wives will also have a special outing on Wednesday afternoon.

Cost is $37.50 (wives are free), which includes meals, lodging, and resource materials.

To register, go to www.rhbaptist.org

For more information, contact Danny Rollins at pastorrhbc@fuse.net, or Steve Hopkins at sdhopkins@scbo.org

Space is limited, so register soon.

Which Change should I make?

2010-05-24T20:16:00.000-07:00

Pastor John Marshall has this practical advice for pastors:

When I moved to FBC I begin to make a list of every suggestion, every change that every person wanted. I compiled that list and still keep it. That list runs the full range of what every church wants to change to become more "effective" to remaining the same because they are already "effective". It is a very diverse list but I used that list to remind myself that it isn't the voice of the people that I am going to spend my time listening to but the one voice, my God, who called me to be a pastor. I didn't act on any of those changes but I begin to be faithful in being who God wanted me to be as a pastor.

The results: After four years, I pulled that list out and realized that almost every item has been dealt with one way or another. So many of the concerns took care of themselves and many items of change just happened. There were times when I had to go through the front door to make some adjustments. Other times I had to sit down and talk with a group of key leaders to make some changes but in every situation I saw God going out and fighting my battles. So many times we think that we are the lone warrior fighting for a noble cause but in the end we are able to fight greater foes and see mighty victories when we spend time on our knees in prayer, letting God fight our battles, and listening to one voice...God's!

John Marshall has served in churches in the midwest, as well as serving as a church planter for 8 years in Brazil with the International Mission Board. He currently pastors First Baptist Church of Casper Wyoming.

2 Keys I've discovered for Change

2010-05-24T20:13:00.000-07:00

This advice for pastors comes from Shawn Thomas:

I think one has to be to pick his battles. Sometimes pastors are unjustly persecuted; but sometimes we bring it upon ourselves by making too much of our own personal preferences. Every hill is not a hill on which to die. Is the change something that is really needed, or just a "fad"? There is much to be said about this ...

Secondly, I would not discount as a trite answer the importance of prayer. There have been situation diffused, when things could have really "blown up", after really seeking God in prayer. Plus EVERY week without fail I pray for His protection vs. Satan's divisive attacks in the church. I just think this is a vital preventative. (I think it is instructive that just after Jesus had us pray "forgive us", He had us pray "lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil" -- as if to say: "You've just asked for forgiveness, now realize that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure -- pray not to get into it in the first place.")

Shawn Thomas has served as pastor of churches in Oklahoma, and currently pastors First Baptist Church of Moss Bluff, La., where he has served for 10 years.

When to Change Things

2010-05-24T19:57:00.000-07:00

Stan May offers this advice for pastors:

Pastors who rush into churches, introduce significant change, and then flee are merely hirelings.

Wise pastors begin to pray for their people by name, love them to change S-L-O-W-L-Y, and communicate effectively through church meetings (not necessarily business meetings) where people can hear the plan, talk freely, and discuss the pros and cons without fear of labels from the pastor.

Wise pastors also take under their wing existing leaders who have vested leadership, seek to communicate vision to them, and pray that these significant people will embrace the change and spend their influence capital helping the body see the need and accept the wisdom of change.

Pastors who don't love their people and preach Bible-centered messages to help them grow in grace won't impact their people for eternity and won't be able to introduce lasting, productive change.

Dr. Stan May has pastored churches in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Tennessee, as well as serving as an international missionary in Zimbabwe for 6 years. He currently serves as Chairman and Professor of Missions at Mid America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tn.

Turning Around an Aircraft Carrier

2010-05-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Steve Bennett offers this key piece of advice to any leader wanting to bring change to his congretation:

Turning around an aircraft carrier. Lots of time and space. Get the influencers on your team first, they will influence many to follow. Here is the change curve in the congregation:

3.5% are innovators and will follow you anywhere quickly.
45% are early arrivers and will follow in a short time.
50% are late arrivers, they will get there but with more time.
1.5% are laggards and will never change no matter what.

If the pastor is not planning on being at the church for AT LEAST five years, don't change anything. He must be there to help them live through the change.

Dr. Steve Bennett has pastored churches in New York, Louisiana, Texas, and currently pastors The Heartland Church he planted in Southaven Ms.

Being a Change Agent

2010-05-24T19:13:00.000-07:00

Isaac Newton discovered 3 laws of motion that, roughly interpreted, state : the natural state of an object is at rest; a moving object must overcome resistance; motion produces friction. Wow!! I wonder if he did his research for these discoveries in a Baptist church? In leading an established church, a pastor constantly faces those same 3 challenges: natural inertia, resistance, and conflict. No wonder so many first-year seminary students are opting for ministry outside the traditional local church. What are pastors to do in a day our changing culture needs the church as never before? Joshua gives us some practical help.

Joshua 1 focuses on the primary issue a pastor must have settled in his heart if he will lead his church through significant change: he must know God has put him there. God told Joshua, “the time has come for you to lead these people…” . (1:3 NLT). Few pastors I know do not feel called by God to be doing what they are doing where they are doing it. Over time, though, inertia, resistance and conflict tend to dull that sense of calling. Then Joshua meets the Captain of the Lord’s Host: “are you for us or for our adversaries?” he asks. The battle-weary leader can lose a sense of God’s calling as he struggles with daily challenges. God came to remind Joshua that His side was all that mattered. If you ever get lost in who you are trying to please, whose mark you’re trying to make, you will forfeit the ability to lead your people to significant change.

I remember our first Pastor Appreciation Month here at Rolling Hills. We received so many cards and notes of thanks, that, laid in a stack, measured about 8 inches high. 5 years later, they measured less than an inch. Ouch!! Some of those folks have gone on to glory, and a few others have left the church.

This past Sunday, we baptized 15 people, and had 3 decisions for Christ.

I’ll take His smile any day.

Have you Given Up on Change in your Church?

2009-12-16T11:20:00.000-08:00

The average established church knows how to train fleas.

Fleas are incredible jumpers. In fact, a flea can jump over 150 times its own size. If a man had the same strength, he could jump over 900 feet high. For some perspective, the Statue of Liberty is 305 feet high from base to the top of the torch. In addition, a flea can jump 30,000 times without taking a break. Imagine if we had that kind of strength and stamina. We could accomplish anything.

But if a FLEA TRAINER puts a flea in a jar with a lid on it, the flea will, of course, begin to jump, but after a while, the flea will lower his jump. Once they become accustomed to the fact that they cannot escape, you can remove the lid and the flea will only jump as high as where the lid was. He will never escape the jar because he has been reprogrammed to only jump so high.(1)

The flea limits it's incredible power because of conditioning and experience. The "school of hard knocks" has left its mark.

Pastors can wind up like a trained flea. Once a pastor of vision, of innovation, of giving it 100%, of God-honoring risk, of boldness and courage. Over time, resistance, complaints, anonymous letters, ugly business meetings, innuendo, criticism and disappointment take their toll. The lid on the jar is too much. They give in. And give up.

(1)cited from online reference

Testimony and Background

2009-12-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

After 20 years ministering in the established church, I've seen patterns, experienced the ebb and flow of the work, and learned a little bit along the way. I've made enough mistakes to write several books, but have learned a few lessons along the way also.

Through this blog, I hope to put some of those lessons on paper, with the hopes that they will help some other dear brother or sister who may be struggling all alone, looking for answers. If I am able to help one person, I will count this time a success.

I saw an article recently that was discouraging as it cited many examples of entering seminary students who felt God wanted them in ministry, but not in an existing local church. A large number of students are now saying they will be involved in ministry outside the local church-- they feel the local church is ineffective, bogged in tradition, and unable to change radically enough to truly make a difference in a dark world. (I have tried to since find this article, without success. If you happen to have a reference, please let me know.) They've given up on the church! I've been in ministry a long time, and I've felt the frustration and temptation to give up on the church also.

This blog is my effort to help the cause...

My prayer is that you'll find some helpful hints for your leadership journey in the established church and be encourage and strengthened for the journey.