Not By Might Nor By Power But By My Spirit Says The Lord.

This may well be the longest Blog entry I have ever written and I wouldn’t blame you one bit for not making the effort to read it all. However I believe if you do, you might pick up a gem or two along the way.  In the four churches where God allowed me to serve we started with limited resources of people but over time in three of the four we had to expand our facilities to make room for the people attending.  

I have been a Baptist pastor all of my adult life and I like to think I have learned a few things about Baptist churches and how to organize them for growth.  In my first church I mostly learned what does not work. I was a novice. I had not even finished seminary yet and so was still in the idealist mode and a believer in everything I had been taught about “How to Grow Your Church.”  What I learned at that small church in Kilgore, Texas was everything that does not work. I bought every denomination plan; our people worked themselves to a frazzle and knocked on virtually every door in town and the results were minimal.  

Now I can hear some of my more fundamentalist brothers saying, “Well, you must have been doing it in the flesh.” Well in a sense they would be correct. We walked down the streets in the flesh and knocked on the doors in the flesh. We worked in the flesh until we were ready to drop. However, we also bathed everything in prayer and depended on the leadership and power of the Holy Spirit. I have never served with a more spiritually minded group of people. We prayed hard and we worked hard and the harvest, well let us just say it was valuable but disappointing. Now the fellow who followed me was able to grow the church. I am happy to have been one of those who God allowed to carry the watering can. 

From there I went to the First Baptist Church of Lomax and we did all the same things and the church grew;  from Lomax we went to Beaumont and the church grew; from Beaumont we went to Pasadena and the church grew. What was the difference. The major difference is what I learned in Kilgore about being a leader as well as a pastor and not just a promoter of denominational programs. I learned the value of a focused ministry informed by the truths of God's Word . . . . . the Bible. 

In each of those churches that grew the Lord taught me progressively how to be a better leader of His people in accomplishing His purposes for each particular church.  What follows are some of the things I learned and that God’s Spirit blessed and used to yield a harvest of souls.  

Now as you read these understand that a great deal of praying and reliance upon the Spirit of God was going on at the same time as we developed our action plans.  Preaching has to be both Biblical and practical and in the power of the Holy Spirit. That should go without saying and be true regardless of growth or no growth.

I began with two Biblical truths. The first was “Can two walk together except they be agreed?” I realized I had to gather people around me who shared the vision God had given me for His church. The second was, “Where there is no vision the people perish.” I realized it was my responsibility under God to articulate a vision for God’s people at each of those churches.  These two things are where good and effective leadership begin. In some cases this meant both blessed additions and blessed subtractions. 

Just because I was called by the church to serve as its pastor did not mean I was the Leader. It meant I filled the position and that is all. Leadership is earned. Fortunately most Baptist Churches will give you about six months to learn who the influence molders in the church are and to get them on board with the vision God has given you for the church.   My mom used to often say to me, “Son, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.”  

It is one thing to have the title of Leader and quiet another to actually be the Leader.  Being a Leader means doing something. It means building and maintaining a local church.  The following material is designed to help you create a foundation on which to succeed as the Leader of the church that has called you to be its pastor. 

Where to begin? By Meeting Your Church Members:  I believe that the very first thing any new Pastor should do is take some time and get to know your congregation . . . . both those who attend regularly and those who do not.  Even in our modern day of technological marvels, I’d still try and get in every home at least once socially. I would contact them by email, twitter, on Facebook by telephone and in person.  

 Develop a Mission Statement and Vision for Your Church:   I am of the opinion that the first thing that any Leader should do is develop and  become familiar with is a Church Mission Statement. A mission statement should define what the Church is at it’s core. It should be in words that people can understand but should not be a collection of Scripture passages. It should be a short statement of what this particular church sees as its mission. 

In my mind the missions statement should be something along the lines of . . . .  

The “ABC Baptist Church” exists to provide its members with an opportunity to develop and understand their spiritual gifts and how to utilize them in the Body of Christ;  to help them discover faith in Christ as Savior and Lord and ways they can grow in spiritual maturity;  influence people to worship and service the Lord; and to support the work of the Lord generally through their tithes, offerings and personal service’ and experience genuine worship. 

As a Leader this would become you “elevator speech” for explaining your Church. It should be short, accurate and to the point.  

Once you understand this mission statement the next step in  becoming a successful Leader is to develop a Vision for the Church. Again, like our Mission Statement our Vision Statement should be short and accurate because everything we do will flow out of this statement. 

My vision for the “XYZ Church” is be have a redeemed membership with every member involved in some kind of ministry and to bring glory to God by becoming the largest and most influential church in our area regarding membership, attendance and ministry.                                     

What Next?

Wonderful, now we have our mission statement and we have stated our vision for our Church. The next question that must be answered is, “How do I get from where we are as a Church to where our vision says we are going and do so consistent with our mission statement? 

If we are to fulfill our mission and realize our vision successfully we must  be proactive.  Every program, project, procedure, ministry, meeting and emphasis should be supportive of the Mission Statement and the Vision for the church.  Everything undertaken should be measured by these before it is inaugurated. When something ceases to support them then it should be discarded.

So, where do I begin? 

Define Success

 First define what success is in regard to your mission statement and vision statement. Our mission statement describes for us the elements of a successful Church meeting. The first thing we should do once we have a mission statement and a Vision for our local Church is to define  what constitutes a successful church that can be quantified, i.e. measured.   

As an example, I personally define a successful Church worship service as “a meeting at which I had an attendance equal to 40%¹ of my membership.²“  I chose this because it is (1) realistically achievable and (2) it can be quantified, I.E., measured. The truth is, unless I get members to attend the meetings then nothing else I do as a Leader really matters. 

Set Goals

Having defined a successful meeting as  40% of Church membership attending Church meetings it follows that a Successful Church is one that averages 40% of its membership at each meeting. That means that I set as an attendance goal for my Church at an average attendance of 40% of my members at each of my Church’s meetings. 

As the membership grows the meeting attendance numbers should also increase but the percentage of membership in attendance will remain fairly constant. This means that should my Church membership reach 100 then my meeting attendance goal is 40 people.³

Keep in mind that your average attendance will over time track your membership at an average of about 20% with minimal effort and at about 40% with maximum effort. What this tells us is that we must be continually adding new members to our Church if we are to maintain our attendance goals. 

This means that along with an attendance goal we also need to set a membership goal that parallels our attendance goal. You will achieve membership goals the same way you do attendance goals. You do it by developing a plan to increase average attendance and a plan to increase membership. What I am saying about developing a plan for achieving your attendance goal will also apply to your membership goal. 

Develop a Plan 

The question I then had to answer was, “what steps do I need to take to reach my  attendance goal?”  What follows are the steps needed to achieve your attendance goal:  

Recognize that to be successful the meeting must provide members with an incentive to attend.  The successful leader will “find members  needs and meet them.” In short, I would need to provide a program that meets the would be attendee’s needs – both perceived and real.  It is really a “find out which way they want to go and then run around to the front and lead them there.”  To do this, I suggest you focus on education and inspiration. 

•                    By education I mean that every Church meeting must provide at least one of the following⁴:

A. Education & Information. Each meeting needs to provide the congregant an opportunity to grow in their knowledge of the Word and purposes of God.  Make sure that you explain what it means to their lives; illustrate how it works in life; and apply it to their lives. Tell them what they can do with what they have learned and share how they can do it.            

B. Operational Information.  Be inspirational.  I mean inspire and encourage.  I mean keeping the meeting upbeat, positive and networking. Worship services and other meetings must be more than just be a venue for the dissemination of information; they must also meet that human need for collegiality and worship. Church is likened to a family in Scripture with good reason . . . . it is a family . . . . it is God’s family.  

Keep in mind that the members of your church spend much of their time working alone in a world that is not receptive of their Christian faith.  Every and anything we can do to encourage and inspire them will be well received.  Consequently I feel our meetings should always have a positive and affirming tone.  Member interaction should be facilitated and encouraged. Try and make your meetings enjoyable both spiritually and socially. 

Promote, Promote and then Promote Some More! 

One of the ways I do this is with a monthly newsletter.  This is important because it becomes a passive reminder.  A newsletter can consists of something as simple as an email or can be a fully developed newsletter.  The later is more time consuming but I believe more effective.  The more effort you put into the newsletter the more seriously it will be taken and appreciated.  Darrel Robinson once told me the reason the constantly mailed to everyone in the community was because one day each family will have a crisis and when they do I want them to think of First Baptist Church.

“Get ‘er done!”

Everything mentioned above can be spelled W-O-R-K.  If we are going to build successful local Church that meets the needs of its congregants, finds acceptance in its community, and honors the God we worship and serve we are going to have to work at it.  It will not just happen. 

The things mentioned above will go a long way in building a successful Church. However, I am not conceited or naïve enough to believe that everything I have suggested will work every time or for everyone.   I fully recognize that not all churches are created equal. Some have large memberships while others have few members; some are located in tight geographical areas while others cover vast areas; some Churches have many experienced members while others are mostly newbie’s.

Every church  presents its own particular challenges.What I do know is that doing nothing will produce just that, nothing.  You must be committed to success. So I encourage you to develop a plan and work the plan.  Whatever you do, do not abandon your plan prematurely --- give it plenty of time to take hold. As one comedian said, “I am a 25 year overnight success.”

If you are having trouble, learn all you can about building a successful organization; talk with other successful leaders about what they are doing that is working.

Disappointment is inevitable but you cannot allow yourself to become discouraged.  There will be meetings where the attendance is less than expected or even embarrassing low.  One of my greatest fears is calling a meeting and no one comes.  I even had one where that fear came pretty close to being reality.   However, the answer is not to become discouraged but analytical. Try to discover what went wrong.  Ask yourself, “Why didn’t they show up?” or “What could I have done that might have made for a better attendance?”  You might even ask church members themselves why they didn’t make the meeting. 

Focus on finding a solution not decrying the problem.  There are no problems only challenges and opportunities. I know it is cliché but I believe that you must see low attendance as a challenge and an opportunity and not a problem.  Perhaps the single most important element in making your church a successful church is the Leader’s (Pastor’s) attitude toward the challenges of being the Pastor of a Baptist Church.

Conclusion:

Each element mentioned above and some that have not been deserves a full discussion in its own right.  Maybe I will do that in the future.  For now I hope that I have shared some ideas that you can put to good use in making your church the best it can be.  Keep in mind that your church will always be a work in progress that will require some work to achieve its potential. If a church is not growing it is dying.

When God blesses our efforts and growth takes place our response should always be "not by might and not by power but by His Spirit."  "This is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our sight."  "Thank you Lord for allowing me to be here to witness your mighty work."

In every church where God blessed us with growth someone had come before me and planted and someone watered what had been planted and God allowed me to harvest the increase He provided. For that I am eternally thankful.

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¹ I based this percentage on what has been traditionally accepted as the average sustainable attendance at meetings of any volunteer organization.  This percentage can be increased for particular meetings but on average a 40% of membership in attendance is what the statistics indicate is sustainable in organizations dependent upon voluntary attendance of its membership.
² I selected a definition of success as a percentage of membership because any and all other goals I have for the Church are dependent upon a good attendance at Church meeting.
³ It is my personal opinion that there is an optimum size for Churches. In my view the optimum size for a Church is 500 members attending. When I Church membership becomes very large the percentage of members at Church meetings go down.
⁴ You need not do all of these at any one meeting but each meeting should contain at least one.