How Healthy Church Systems Help You Persevere through Tough Situations

Unless this is your very first time reading this blog, you probably know that I’m a firm believer in the power of systems for the health and growth of your church.

In fact , over the years I’ve gained something of a reputation as “the Church Systems guy.”  You can download a Free Copy of my “Healthy Systems, Healthy Church” E-Book by clicking here.

One of the biggest reasons for developing your church’s systems is because, well, life happens.

Bad weather shows up at just the wrong time, unexpected circumstances throw off your schedule and unfortunately loved ones pass away. Healthy systems allow your church to keep moving forward through even the toughest situations.

Here’s a recent email that I received from Maceo Smedley, a Tele-Coaching Participant and the Pastor of Promise Church in Houston, TX and he gave me permission to share with you.

He tells how his church’s systems and preparation allowed God to do some amazing things in spite of what could have been a devastating time, personally:

Nelson,

I wasn’t going to say anything until I heard the prayer for the Pastor whose staff member lost his wife.  Just a little over a week ago my father passed away on January 19, at the age of 58.  He had been in ICU for two week and could never bounce back from his bout with pneumonia.

He was a dedicated member of our church.  His responsibility was putting out our signs every Saturday morning.  Every time someone would join our church due to seeing those signs, I would call him and tell him what a great job he was doing for the Kingdom of God.  I prayed along with my congregation every morning that God would heal him, so they too where devastated by this loss.

Because he was a former educator whose heart went out to troubled youth, his funeral was jam packed.  It gave me joy to see the many people who wanted to come and say “thank you.”  Here is the catch to the story.  His funeral was on Saturday, January 23^rd, and we had a big day scheduled for Sunday, January 24^th.

Because of your willingness to return what you’ve learned, we had our biggest “Big Day” yet with over 150 in attendance which is more than double our average attendance.  Because of the preaching calendar, I was also able to preach one of my best sermons yet instead of trying to figure out what to say while fighting back tears after losing my dad.

We raised more money that Sunday than ever before with one donor giving a third of our Christmas Offering.  Most of all several people came to either give their lives to Christ for the first time or to rededicate their lives.  Thank you so much for unknowingly helping me and my church get through this tough time while we did our best to make the devil mad.

Thank you for your prayers,

Pastor Maceo Smedley
The Promise Church
Houston, TX

We continue to lift up you and your family Maceo – and praise God for all the great things that are going on in your church!

P.S. If you are new to Church Leader Insights or just looking for a refresher when it comes to your church’s systems, Download my “Healthy Systems, Healthy Church” E-Book for FREE ($23.95 Value) by clicking here.

Church Systems and the Concentric Circles

The Purpose Driven Church is one of those “must have” books that every pastor should have on his bookshelf (like all of mine – ha!).

One of the paradigm-shifting concepts that Rick Warren shared with the church leadership world in this book is the “Concentric Circles” that help us visualize how people move step by step from the community into the core of our churches.

I’m often asked how the Five Concentric Circles interplay with the Eight Church Systems that I describe, so I thought I’d take a moment this morning to elaborate.

First of all, the concentric circles do NOT overlay the systems exactly.

That’s actually the way it should be – some systems impact people at a number of levels by their very nature (think of how many of the different levels to the left are affected by your Worship Planning System, for example).

There are, however, a couple of systems that connect very cleanly with the circles.  One clear connection comes with The Evangelism System, which is designed to move people from Community to Crowd.

Another such connection is The Assimilation System, which moves people from Crowd to Congregation. By strict definition, someone becomes part of your congregation when they become a member of your church – the same goal of your assimilation system!

Beyond that, though, the remaining systems overlap numerous circles.

Take the Ministry and Small Groups Systems.  Each of them move people at all levels from Crowd to Core.  The Leadership System mainly fits people in either the Congregation, Committed and Core, while Stewardship interacts with all levels except the Community.

And of course, your Strategy System helps tie it all together in a way that keeps your church growing and healthy.

At the end of the day, there is no neat, “tie it in a bow” way to describe the connection between your church’s systems and the concentric circles, but they are integrally connected.

The systems of your church – when functioning properly – keep people at all levels moving inward along the five circles (and growing closer and closer to God along the way).

If you had to declare it today, which of your church’s eight systems would you say is “strongest” and which is “weakest”?

Now… what can you do between now and next week at this time to improve that system?

P.S. To jump-start the improvement of your church’s systems, you may want to consider The Systems Seminars Package – it’s all seven of my system seminar resources at more than $200.00 off the regular price.

The Systems Seminars Package is available now on CD or as an Immediate Download.

Q & A – Church Systems, Where to Start?

Here’s a recent question I answered from a church planter:

Q: Nelson, thanks so much for all you do. I came across some of your resources recently and have really learned a lot from them.

Our new church has just launched and I’m wanting to start implementing the systems, where do I start?

It’s a little overwhelming and any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

A: Thanks for your kind words and congratulations on launching a new church!

As far as systems go, the first thing I would recommend is for you to download my Free Church Systems 2.0 Report (PDF). Reading that should give you a good primer on church systems and a better “big picture” of how they all work together.

After that, I encourage you to start with your Assimilation System. In many ways it’s one of the easier systems to implement and it yields results quickly (in more people getting plugged in to your church). You’ll want to implement the full Assimilation process before moving on.

Next, move on to Evangelism (my next book Ignite can help with this). The Evangelism System is all about getting people from your community to attend your church for the first time. This flow of new people is essential to the health and growth of your church.

Following Evangelism, you can then move on to the Worship Planning System. This is about how your church plans, executes, evaluates and improves the weekly worship service.

So, basically, strengthen your guest experience, outreach and worship services first. Those three should be your priority for now.

Then, as you grow beyond about 110 average adults in attendance, you can implement Small Groups.

The most important thing for you right now is to get started. By breaking it down in this order you should be able to immediately move forward step by step without allowing yourself to be overwhelmed.

I hope that makes sense.

P.S. Ready to jump start your systems implementation?  Check out my Systems Seminar Package and save more than $325.00!

Free Church Systems Teleminar on Wednesday

In case you missed it, you have one LAST CHANCE to sign-up for my free Church Systems Teleseminar on Wednesday (the Tuesday one is already sold out at 999 people!).  Here’s the info:

Join me for a FREE 75-minute tele-seminar without ever having to leave your office or home! I will teach you all the basics of church systems and how to use them to make your church more effective than ever.

God designed all the parts of the body – both the church body and the physical body – to work together, allowing us to fulfill God’s purposes and plans on this earth. And both of those respective bodies function best through well-developed systems.

This event will fill up, so REGISTER TODAY.  Once registered, you will simply call in to participate. This is a great opportunity to train your entire staff with this free tele-seminar.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009
1:30PM – 2:45PM Eastern
12:30PM – 1:45PM Central
11:30AM – 12:45PM Mountain
10:30AM – 11:45AM Pacific

Here’s what you can expect to learn:

• How healthy church systems honor God
• How to distinguish system problems from people problems (and why your people may not be the problem)
• How well designed systems save you stress, time, energy and money
• The 8 systems of a church (and the vital role that each system plays)
• The relationship between good systems and good people (and how to maximize your church’s effectiveness through each)
• How far church systems can take your church (and what systems can’t do)

Space is limited – REGISTER TODAY!

Tele-seminar participants will need a phone with long distance to participate. Long distance charges do apply.

Click Here to Register Now!

Talk to you on the call,

Nelson

P.S. I’m doing this free seminar, in conjuction with the release of my new Church Systems 2.0 report.  You can download it for free at this link.

FREE Report – Church Systems 2.0 [PDF]

It’s official!  Today is the official release of my brand new Church Systems 2.0 Report!

I’ve taken the church systems basics that I laid out in the original Church Systems Report and completely revised and expanded it.

The Church Systems 2.0 Report includes diagnostic questions and recommended resources, in addition to proven, practical advice to make your church healthier and more effective than ever.

And best of all, it’s a Free PDF Download!

Simply head over to:

www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/systems2

Fill out the form and we’ll send your FREE REPORT!

P.S. I’m also doing a FREE Church Systems 2.0 Tele-Seminar next Tuesday – for more details and to register, CLICK HERE.

The Power Of Systems In Mobilizing Disciples

I wanted to share this brief article that I wrote recently:

You and I may look different on the outside but beneath our skin we are a function of common machinery. We both have hearts that pump blood, even though we are different blood types. We both have senses that take in the world, though some of yours may be more elevated than some of mine.

In the same way, all churches are made up of a set of common systems, even though we may utilize those systems in slightly different ways based on our individual calls to ministry. The question isn’t whether or not these systems are in place, but whether or not we acknowledge and maximize them.

Even if you are not sure what the eight church systems are, much less how to keep them healthy, they are there, ready to help you achieve God’s purpose for your church – and we all know that part of that purpose is to mobilize disciples.

None of the eight systems of the church would be able to function without people. In fact, I like to say that relationships are the tracks on which systems run. Each system encourages you to fine tune your skills for developing disciples and mobilizing them to carry out the work of the church.

That said, there is one system that focuses specifically on this goal: The Ministry System. The Ministry System asks, “How do we mobilize people for significant ministry in our church?” God wired people to grow as disciples through serving. If you don’t have a system in place that helps your people get plugged in, you will be hurting both yourself and your untapped leaders.

You will never mobilize disciples if you aren’t continually creating disciples and teaching them to have a heart for service. And since all of the eight systems will ultimately be run by volunteers, you need as many dedicated servers as possible.

Your church will thrive – and you will save yourself a lot of stress, time, energy, and money – when you have well-developed systems in place and stocked with people who are motivated in pursuit of a common vision. How do you make that happen? By understanding and strengthening each of the eight systems that operate within your church.

To learn exactly what these systems are and how you can do your part to cooperate with God by maximizing them, check out my free report “Healthy Systems, Healthy Church” at:

http://www.churchleaderinsights.com/resources/church_systems_report.php

God is not haphazard with His church, and neither should we be. Let’s all do our part to develop the eight systems of the church fully so that God can work through them mightily.

I Love Church Planters!

I’m honored to be a part of an incredible lineup of speakers today at the ChurchPlanters.com Conference near Atlanta.  There is something exhilarating about being in a room full of people who are so passionate and driven by God’s call on their lives that they are stepping out to start new churches all over the country.  I love to think about how many lives God will change through the faithfulness of the church planters I am with today!

I’m talking today about one of my favorite topics: the importance of building healthy systems to manage a growing church.  The biggest of all the reasons why I love church planting is because it is effective: church plants reach more people than existing churches.  However, without the right systems in place, even the most passionate and gifted church planter will struggle to lead a growing church.

If you don’t mind, please take a moment to pray for me and all of us at this conference (speakers and attendees).  Thanks!

For more information on church systems, click here to download my FREE “Healthy Systems, Healthy Church” Report.

P.S. I will be leading the LIVE One-Day Launch Conference in the Baltimore area on Tuesday, March 17 (my only one for the year).  Click here to find out more or to Register Now.

Super Bowl Savings on Champion Resources

It’s that time of the year again. When the two top teams from the NFL
compete for the title of Super Bowl Champion!

In keeping with that time-honored tradition, we too wanted to be part of the
Super Bowl fever and create our own mini Super Bowl!

So here it is. We decided to look over our resources that have made the
greatest impact in 2008, and from there have our very own Super Bowl offer
featuring those seminars and resources.

Here they are:

• The Evangelism, Assimilation, Stewardship, Small Groups and
  Strategy Seminars
  
• 10 of our most in demand sermon series (that’s over one year’s worth of sermons)
• Breaking Growth Barriers workshop
• Leadership Skills For A Growing Church
• Time Management For Busy Pastors
  
• PLUS 14 MORE GAME WINNING RESOURCES!

We’ve put all of these “top performers” in one package and we’re making it
available at over 50% off!  This offer is good until midnight Monday.  So,
before your team wins or loses go ahead and place your order here: CLI Super Bowl Package

Now, I know what you might be thinking, “But I already have some of these
resources.”  Well, you could give away 1/2 of the resources, help some other
pastors and still save money.

For more info or to order go to:
CLI Super Bowl Package
or call 800-264-5129 today.

Please review the package and you will agree there are so many great
resources – an incredible price – that will benefit you, your family and
your church!

Happy Super Bowl watching!

Nelson Searcy

P.S. Enjoy the game and make sure that you too have your own personal Super
Bowl plan and goals for 2009!

P.P.S Yes, the game is still a few days away, but we couldn’t wait any
longer to share this great CLI Super Bowl Package with you! Click here for the CLI Super Bowl Package.

Are you a portable church?

Since 2002 we’ve meet in portable locations – nine different locations to be exact. From schools to renovated funeral homes (not recommended) to cinemas to off-broad theaters to concert venues.  I love being portable and I love the benefits of being portable (keeps the entrepreneurial spirit alive, mobilizes more volunteers, keeps you fast and fluid, frees up money for evangelism, etc.).

Recently Bob Franquiz and I sat down and recorded a new resource entitled The Portable Church Challenge. I had hoped to send the CLI family an email about it today and offer it for purchase but there have been some delays in packaging.

But, my delay is your gain – I want to offer you the complete resource as a download at a big savings. But more on that in a minute.

In the new resource, Bob and I discuss

The Portable Church Challenge: 10 Commandments for maximum growth in a portable location is the ideal resource for sustaining growth in a portable facility.

And lead you through:

-    Finding committed servants who take ownership in the church
-    How to cast vision to fund your portable church
-    Learn to keys to hiring gifted staff that thrive in a portable church
-    How to be innovative with the facility you meet in
-    Transforming any environment into a place of worship
-    Understanding what does and doesn’t limit you as a portable church
-    Learning to focus on what matters most
-    And much more!

Building a church is about building people. Don’t let facility keep you from becoming the church God wants you to be!

As I mentioned there is a delay in the CD production but the full 2-hour download with all the supplemental resource is available now.  It will regularly sell for a $67 investment but I want to give it to you as a pre-sale for $20.00 off.  Simply enter this special code: blog112 when you check out. Here’s the link to the download.

The Portable Church Challenge – Complete Resource Download – Save $20.00 – Click Here

Remember, enter this special code before you check out : blog112

This code will expire in one week.

Nelson

How to Conduct a Christmas Offering

Last week I released my latest report entitled “How to Conduct A Christmas Offering.” Its been the fastest downloaded report I’ve offered (over 1000 people in a few days!).  If you haven’t snagged your copy yet, grab it now (its not too late to plan a Christmas Offering) – its FREE:

HOW TO CONDUCT A CHRISTMAS OFFERING FREE REPORT LINK CLICK HERE

If you’ve already downloaded the report (and assuming you found it helpful) will you send this link to a friend or let the pastors in your network or on your blog know about it? I want it to help as many people as possible.

We are rolling out our Christmas Offering this Sunday.  That’s a little early for most churches but it ties in with my message this weekend.  You would be fine to roll out your offering on the Sunday before Thanksgiving or even December 7, depending on the amount you want to raise (start earlier if the amount is more than three or four times your regular weekly offering). Check out the free report for more details on the hows and, more importantly, the why’s.

I’ll try to post some of the documents we are using in our Christmas Offering tomorrow.

And let me be the first to say…Merry Christmas,

Nelson

P.S. I’m sure I didn’t cover everything about Christmas Offerings in the report so if you have any questions, use the Ask Nelson button on the right!

Why I Do Coaching…

Today, I’m in Tampa for my Senior Pastor’s Coaching Network. On the flight down, I found myself thinking: Why do I do this? Why do I take a day away from home to fly a thousand miles to invest in coaching? Once I started asking these questions, they kept coming: Why am I driven to do a NY Coaching Network plus a Tele-Coaching Network? Why do I push the folks at CLI to offer quality coaching for Worship Leaders, Church Planters, Executive Pastors and Small Group Pastors?

From time to time, it’s good for us to ask ourselves such “Why do I do what I do?” questions.

Here’s the conclusion I came to 30,000 feet in the air: I’m addicted to the results that these coaching networks produce for the pastors who participate!

Yep, I’m addicted to net Kingdom growth. I love evangelism; I love church growth and I love pastors.

In the four years that I’ve been doing coaching networks I’ve seen:

- churches double in size in six months to a year.
- churches that have been in decline for 30 years start to grow again.
- pastors regain a passion for evangelism and church growth.
- big rewards from little tweaks in a church’s systems.
- pastors grow and find balance in their lives, while leading a growing church.
- church planters launch with over 300 people.
- pastors avoid major mistakes because they received input and guidance from the network.
- pastors make lifelong friends by being around like-minded pastors.

Plus so many more incredible things… pastors lead their churches to over 100% adult participation in groups; Executive Pastors avoid hiring disasters; Worship Leaders get on the same page as their pastors and…. well, you get the picture.

All over the country I meet pastors who say, “I’ve heard about your coaching network and I’ve been meaning to get involved.” Well, now is your chance!

The coaching networks we offer are unique. Here’s why:

1) Each is based on a proven system that has delivered personal and church growth to all types of pastors and churches. (In other words, there’s a specific agenda we will work each month. We aren’t just making this up as we go, or spinning our wheels each month with nothing to say).

2) All of our networks are positively focused on church growth (not on blaming our denomination or our rehashing our past mistakes).

3) Each network is led by a practitioner who is leading daily in the area they are teaching you about. (For example, our church planter networks are led by church planters who have launched within the last few years; I lead the Senior Pastor Networks and I’m neck-deep in the daily leadership of The Journey, etc.)

Several major Coaching Networks are starting between now and early 2009. This is the time to request more info so that your application can receive priority treatment. Here are the coaching networks slated for early 2009:

- Senior Pastor Coaching Networks with me in NYC and Tampa, FL (Starts early 2009)

- Small Groups Tele-Coaching Network with Kerrick Thomas (New Network!)

- Church Planting Tele-Coaching Network with Bob Franquiz (Starting Dec 2008!)

- Worship Leader Tele-Coaching Network with Jason Hatley (Pass this along to your worship leader)

If you are interested in receiving an application for any of these networks, send an email to cristina@churchleaderinsights.com and let her know which one interests you.

Four years ago, I was invited by a good friend to co-lead a network with him. Since then I’ve coached over 400 pastors. I’m just as addicted to the Kingdom results of these networks as I was after that first Church Planting Network. I can only believe that God is going to continue to do even greater things through these networks in the future. I hope you’ll join me for the ride!

Nelson

Does Satan Care About Your Church? – A Saturday Quote

“The devil doesn’t care how big your church is – he cares how influential it is.”
- Brian Houston, Pastor, Hillsong Church, Sydney, Australia

(Quote courtesy of Perry Noble, read the entire post here)

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 8 of 8

SYSTEM #8: THE STRATEGIC SYSTEM

It’s hard to believe that we’ve worked our way to the last post in our weekly, Wednesday “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” series! If you have been taking this opportunity to spend some quality time with your systems over the last eight weeks, I trust that you are already seeing the effects. If you haven’t been following along, make sure you go back and check out all of the Slack=Lack posts.

Today, we’re going to wrap things up by looking at the system that sits above the other seven systems and ties them all together – The Strategic System. This is the system that asks, “How do you constantly evaluate and improve your church?”

Think of the Strategic System as your church’s annual physical. Just like with your body, if you don’t pay periodic attention to how the systems are working, disease can creep in. The Strategic System keeps your church humming along efficiently, by making sure that you are continually evaluating and improving all of your other systems.

To get an idea of how things are going with your Strategic System, ask yourself these questions:

• When was the last time I checked in with my eight church systems? (Hopefully, this blog series has helped you with that one!)
• How prepared am I for what God wants to do in and through my church?
• Do my staff members know and understand our strategy?

Strategy has a bad wrap, but without it, we continue to re-invent the wheel week after week, month after month and year after year. A well thought out strategy will help you become more faithful and fruitful in every area of your ministry.

Take some time this week to think through your church’s Strategic System. Meet with your strategic team and discuss ways to improve your strategy. As you sow some time and effort into you Strategic System, you will reap the reward in your other seven systems.

Don’t skimp on strategy. It’s the thread that ties your church systems together.

Here’s your mantra for the week:

In my Strategic System, effort = excellence.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this blog series as much as I’ve enjoyed writing it. Let’s all commit to no more slack and no more lack!

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, which details all eight systems and how they work together.

P.P.S – For more on developing a strategy for your church, check out The Strategy Seminar.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 7 of 8

SYSTEM #7: THE LEADERSHIP SYSTEM

Welcome back to the weekly, Wednesday “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” series! If you’ve been following along with us for the last six Wednesdays, let me commend you for putting in the effort to take your systems up a notch. As we learned a couple of weeks ago, effort = excellence when it comes to building stronger systems!

Today, we’re going to be diving into the Leadership System. This is the system that asks, “How do you develop leaders at all levels of your church?”

As your church grows, you will need to develop leaders at every level – staff, lay leaders and high power volunteers. A well-planned Leadership System will make sure you are developing the right people in the right ways. This system will help you with staff management, organizational efficiency, and personal development.

To get an idea of how things are going with your Leadership System, ask yourself these questions:

• When was the last time I invested in developing new leaders?
• How am I helping my current leaders grow personally and spiritually?
• Am I modeling the kind of leadership I want to see from my leaders?
• Are any of my levels of leadership in need of more people?

Here are a few tips to help you start structuring this system for health: Define the expectations of every leadership position in your church. Assign requirements for each role, and make sure that you don’t let anyone blindly climb the leadership ladder. And put deadlines on service roles, so that everyone who agrees to serve in a high level volunteer position knows that it isn’t forever.

I encourage you to carve out some time this week to sit down with your Leadership System. Think through your leader development process. Take a hard look at who is moving up through the ranks and make sure that you have enough leaders at all levels of service. Pick up and scan a book on leadership that you might want your staff to read together.

By the way – Don’t forget to make the connections between systems. The Ministry System that we discussed two weeks ago is a direct inroad to the Leadership System. Everything works together for optimal success.

The more attention you give your Leadership System, the better the leaders you’ll attract. So make this your mantra for the week:

In my Leadership System, attention = attraction.

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, which details all eight systems and how they work together.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 6 of 8

SYSTEM #6: THE STEWARDSHIP SYSTEM

Wednesday has rolled around again! Time for the weekly installation of our eight-part “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” series. I’m particularly excited about the system we are looking at today. It’s a crucial system and one that’s surrounded by a lot of questions and misconceptions…

Have you ever had a hard time getting new believers to tithe? Have you ever wished you had more faithful givers? Of course you have. We all wrestle with the money issue. That’s where The Stewardship System comes in. This is the system that asks, “How do you develop extravagant givers at your church?”

Stewardship is a tough issue. That’s why most of us, as church leaders, tend to separate it from other spiritual disciplines, like praying, reading our Bibles and going to church. We are afraid to hold our attenders accountable in the personal area of money.

But, let’s face it – money is not only essential to Kingdom growth, it’s also an essential factor in the spiritual growth of our people. We will never develop strong disciples until we learn to develop strong givers.

How effective is the stewardship system you have in place? To get an idea of how things are going, ask yourself these questions:

• Are you modeling extravagant giving?
• How do you know when someone gives a gift for the first time? How do you respond?
• When was the last time you taught on the spiritual discipline of giving?
• Have you given your people a tithe challenge in the last year?

Most new givers – and even a lot of more seasoned givers – don’t understand the importance of bringing the full tithe. There is a path we have to lead them down, as they mature in their understanding of stewardship. That kind of growth doesn’t happen haphazardly. But as God blesses and works through the Stewardship System, we can build churches of faithful, and even extravagant, givers.

This week, spend some time with your Stewardship System. Think through your process for explaining the importance of giving. Think about how you follow up with those who give. Write out your own financial testimony.

If you will give this system some true attention, you can begin to recast the sticky issue of money as the important spiritual discipline it really is.

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together for the healthy growth of your church.

P.P.S – To dig deeper into this issue of developing extravagant givers, check out The Stewardship Seminar.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 5 of 8

SYSTEM #5: THE MINISTRY SYSTEM

Welcome to Part 5 of the weekly, Wednesday series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack!” If you’ve been tracking with me each week, I hope the effort you’ve been putting in is creating a new level of excellence in your church.

If you have you ever had a hard time mobilizing volunteers, then you are going to like today’s system – The Ministry System. We’ve also been known to call this system The Volunteer System. However you want to label it, it’s the system that asks, “How do you mobilize people for significant ministry?”

God created people to serve. It’s part of how they grow as disciples. You have to have a system in place that will help them get plugged in, or you will be hurting both yourself and your potential leaders.

At The Journey, our goal is to get 50% of our people involved in serving at least one hour each week. What’s your goal? Do you have one?

If you have multiple services on a Sunday, try asking volunteers to serve at one service and attend another. You can never have too many volunteers.

To take the pulse of your Ministry System, ask yourself these questions:

• How many passionate volunteers do we have?
• How many passionate volunteers would we like to have?
• What are we doing to make people want to serve?
• When was the last time I personally invested in our volunteers?

Encouraging people to serve will strengthen your church on every level. Ultimately, all of the eight systems will be run by volunteers, so you need as many dedicated servers as possible.

This week, spend some time thinking about what steps you need to take to create a volunteer system that makes people want to get involved… One that makes them want to do the things that you can’t hire people to do.

If you will give this system some true attention, I can guarantee you will begin to attract more volunteers.

Make this your mantra for the week: In my Ministry System, attention = attraction!

Nelson

P.S. – Don’t forget to download the free Church Systems Report to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together for the health of your church.

Tele-Coaching: Making Tough Decisions

Tomorrow, I have to make some tough decisions about who will be a part of my new Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors. The response has been overwhelming and I’ve already accepted a number of great pastors, but I’m still waiting on an application from you

Let me encourage you to send over your application ASAP so I can review it tomorrow and get you a decision by next week. You can find an application and all the info on where to send it by clicking here.

This is a year-long tele-coaching network where I will meet with you and the others in the network for two hours each month by phone. Plus you will receive unlimited email access, special call in times, thousands of dollars in resources and…well, too many benefits to outline here….learn all about them by clicking here.

I hope to see your application before my meeting tomorrow. As a reminder, the network starts on August 28.

Nelson

P.S. Most scholarships for the network have been used but I can promise you that the investement you make will be returned to you over and over. But don’t take my word, see what past alumni have said by clicking here.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 4 of 8

SYSTEM #4: THE SMALL GROUPS SYSTEM

Welcome back to our weekly Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” If you’ve been keeping up with these posts each week, I trust that your church systems are beginning to undergo positive transformation. Hopefully, you’ve pinpointed some areas that have suffered because of slack and started turning that lack around!

Today, we are going to keep with this week’s small groups theme here on the blog by talking about The Small Groups System. This is the system that asks, “How do we fill and reproduce small groups at our church?”

A lot of pastors I talk with have a hard time believing that it’s possible to get 100% of their attenders involved in a small group. But it is possible! The Journey is a perfect example…

Since we started our small groups system almost five years ago, we have averaged over 100% participation each and every semester. How? By implementing a strong system that specifically answers the question I just mentioned about filling and reproducing groups.

Think about your Small Groups System for a minute. How are things going? Are you doing your part and seeing God’s blessing? Or have you been slacking off and experiencing lack? To take the pulse of this system in your church, ask yourself these questions:

• How many of your regular attenders are actively involved in a small group?
• Are you competing against your own groups by offering too many other activities?
• How many passionate group leaders do you have?
• Are you and your staff all involved in a small group?

If you have a weak Small Groups System, you will see problems in many of your other systems as well. But a strong Groups System will help you solve leadership, pastoral care, volunteer, and hospitality issues across the board.

Can you guess what the challenge is for this week? You got it – to spend some time taking a hard look at your Small Groups System. Be honest about the level of excitement in your church over small groups. Be honest about your participation numbers. Sketch out some ideas about what you can do to improve your system next semester.

To get the ideas flowing and to help you put a strong plan in place if you don’t have one, let me encourage you to take a look at my new book, Activate: An Entirely New Approach To Small Groups.

Make this your mantra for the week: In my Small Groups System, slack = lack, but

Effort = Excellence!

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together to keep your church healthy and growing.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – Part 3 of 8

SYSTEM #3: THE ASSIMILATION SYSTEM

It’s Wednesday again! Time to take another step in our weekly Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Hopefully, you’ve been keeping up with us in this series and have been giving some real attention to whether there is slack (and therefore lack) in your church systems.

If you missed the series’ first post on The Weekend Service System or last week’s post on The Evangelism system, be sure to check them out in the archive.

We’ve got a fun system on tap for today – The Assimilation System. This is the system that asks, “How do you move people from being first-time guests to being fully developing members?” As we looked at last week, lots of churches have an evangelism problem – meaning that they have a hard time getting first-timers through their doors – but even more have an assimilation problem.

You know that you can’t just expect your first-time guests to come back without any intentional action from you and your staff. You have to make sure you are creating environments that make them feel comfortable and welcome.

Think about how many first time guests you have over the course of a year. An average of just 3 guests each week means that you influence over 150 new people every 12 months. How many of those are sticking around?

To get a gauge on how well you are keeping on top of your Assimilation System, try asking yourself these questions:

How many of your first-time guests end up becoming members? Are you happy with that number? If not, where is the problem?

When was the last time you looked at your church through a guest’s eyes?

Have you filled out your own communication card to make sure it is user-friendly?

What do people say is their first impression of your church?

Assimilation is one of those systems where a little bit of tweaking can reap big results. Simply by keeping your finger on the pulse of this one system, you will see a huge difference in growth.

So I challenge you to spend this week getting real with your Assimilation System. Be honest about how well it is working and what kind of improvements you need to make. When God blesses you with guests, you need to make sure you are doing your part to give them unhindered access to learning His truth!

Make this your mantra for the week: In my Assimilation System, effort = excellence!

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together.

P.P.S. – To dig deeper into the area of evangelism, check out my book on assimilation, Fusion, or The Assimilation Seminar.

Where There’s Slack There’s Lack – 2 of 8

SYSTEM #2: THE EVANGELISM SYSTEM

Today, we’re moving ahead in our new Wednesday blog series, “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Last week, we kicked off by examining your Weekend Service System and calling out the slack. Have you spent some time working on that system since last Wednesday? What kind of changes have you made?

This week, we’re going to keep working from the outside in by looking at your Evangelism System. The Evangelism System can also be called the Outreach System or the Marketing System. No matter what name you give it, it’s the system that asks, “How do we attract people to our church?”

Most of you know the principle of spiritual readiness – that God will never give you more than you are prepared to handle. As church leaders, we have a responsibility to plan for and be prepared for first-timers before they come (more on that next week). That way, when we do the work of evangelism that we’ve been called to, God can bless our efforts.

How have you been doing? What has this system looked like in your church over the last six months? Are you seeing a lot of first-time guests? If not, there’s a good chance it’s because you’ve been slacking on evangelism.

To start getting your system back up to par, ask yourself:

When was the last time you did a big direct mail campaign?

Have you invested in servant evangelism lately?

Who was the last person you invited to your church?

When was the last time you challenged your people to bring friends to a big day?

As you begin to think about this system, make sure you are maximizing the seasons of the year when people are most willing to come to church for the first time. (Do you know what those are?) Keep your culture in mind. Know whether your community will respond best to postcards, emails, phone calls, billboards, or a specific combination of outreach methods. It’s true that God attracts, but we have to do our part of the preparation.

I challenge you to spend this week digging into your Evangelism System. Think about specific steps you can take to reach your community next week and next month. Lead the way through your personal evangelism. Give your people opportunities to invite their friends and then support them any way you can.

Evangelism is critical to what we do. We’ll never be able to bring unbelievers into God’s kingdom if we can’t first bring them through the doors of our churches!

Make this your mantra for the week: No slack = No lack.

Nelson

P.S. – If you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report, to learn more about the eight church systems and how they work together.

P.P.S. – To dig deeper into the area of evangelism, check out these resources.