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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

SYSTEM #1: THE WEEKEND SERVICE SYSTEM

Let’s start this Wednesday series “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack” by looking from the outside in – meaning we’ll work from the systems that are most obvious/ directly influence your people to the ones that are meant more to keep you and your team on track. We’ll jump in with the Weekend Service System…

Also known as the Worship Planning System, the Weekend Service System is what helps you plan, implement and evaluate your weekend service(s). You know that your weekend service is the front door to your church. The way you plan, implement and evaluate your music, preaching, transitions, offering, etc. is key. This is game day… the day you need to be at your best… the day you need to be totally reliant on God… the day you need to have some assurance that things are going to go just like they should so that people will have the best possible opportunity to encounter God. If you slack in prepping for your weekend service(s), the lack will be obvious. So think about it:

When was the last time you watched a “game tape” (a tape of a recent service)?

How have you been evaluating each service to make sure the next one is even better?

When was the last time you really communicated with your worship leader?

If you don’t pay close attention to the details of your worship service, it will atrophy. Yep, that’s just another way of saying that if you slack there will be lack.

I challenge you to spend this week digging into your Weekend Service System. Think about how you can make your service better. Evaluate everything. Give attention to the areas you’ve been neglecting. The worst thing you can do is let your service run on auto-pilot. God is always up to something new. Make sure you are in a position to magnify whatever that is!

We’ll pick up with a new system next Wednesday! Enjoy the rest of the blog between now and then… and if you haven’t already, make sure you download the free Church Systems Report by clicking here.

Nelson

P.S. – For more information on planning weekend services that will have maximum impact, check out this resource.

INTRODUCTION:

I’ve been playing with this phrase in my mind for quite a while now. It’s a true statement, don’t you agree? Where there’s slack (in energy or effort), there will be lack… a lack of fruit, a lack of results, a lack of passion…

Those of you who are familiar with me and with Church Leader Insights are pretty well versed in the eight systems of the church. You know that your church is a bundle of systems that God works through to keep everything on track. There’s the Evangelism System that helps you reach new people, the Assimilation System that allows you to smoothly integrate newcomers, the Worship Planning System that makes sure your weekend service is the best it can be, etc. (If you aren’t familiar with the eight systems, let me encourage you to download this free Church Systems report and learn about them.)

Like with any system, these eight systems give us what they are designed to give us. If we are slack in building or maintaining them, they will not produce the results we want. We have to do our part to make sure that all eight systems are set up and functioning correctly, so that our churches will be healthy and growing…

You may be saying, “Yeah, Nelson. We know. What’s the point?” Well, let me ask you a question. Have any of your eight systems been lacking? Could their lack be caused by your slack? This blog post is just a little introduction to a new blog series I’m going to be doing on the idea of “Where There’s Slack There’s Lack.” Starting tomorrow and continuing every Wednesday for the next eight weeks, I will look at one of the eight systems and challenge you to make sure you aren’t slacking off in its implementation. We’re going to figure out together where you are seeing lack and what you can do about it.

I fully expect that these next eight weeks will take your church systems to the next level. Are you ready? Make sure you stay on track with us. Don’t get slack… You know where that leads…

Nelson

P.S. – Click here to download your free Church Systems report.

This Thursday, Kerrick Thomas, The Journey’s Executive Pastor, will be starting an 8-month Executive Pastor Tele-Coaching Network.  I worked with him to design the network, which will tackle the 8 unique challenges for an Executive Pastor (they include, the systems challenge; the staffing challenge; the senior pastor challenge, etc.).

This is a great opportunity for Executive Pastors or those who currently fulfill the Executive Pastor role or who may be Executive Pastors one day.

Note to Senior Pastors: If you have an Executive Pastor or have someone you think may eventually be an Executive Pastor then I highly encourage you to enroll them in this network.

Most of you know Kerrick as The Journey’s Executive Pastor.  He is also the co-author of two books with me and a highly sought after trainer and coach.  You will gain tons of insight from him and I can almost guarantee it will take your leadership to the next level.

In order to save on travel costs and to maximize participation, this network will be a tele-coaching network.  This means you will meet with Kerrick and 12 – 15 other Executive Pastors each month for two hours by phone plus there will be home work assignments and tons of free resources provided to everyone who participates.

Learn more about the Network and download an application by clicking here (note: the web page says the network starts in June 2008 but it actually has not started yet, the first meeting is this Thursday, July 10).

But hurry, there’s only a couple of spots left and the first meeting of the network is on Thursday.

If you have any questions, just email cristina <at> churchleaderinsights.com

Nelson

P.S. I’ll soon be sending information on a new Tele-Coaching Network for Senior Pastors. Those on my interest list will receive priority applications.  To be added to the interest list, check out this link or email Cristina at the email address above.

One question I get constantly is ‘Nelson, what do you mean by Church Systems?‘

Great question. And one that definitely needs addressed.

Because if you really get ‘church systems’ it will dramatically improve how you lead your church and increase your understanding of how God grows our churches
(often much faster than we think possible)

But if you go about it the wrong way…yeesh.

So for the last few weeks our team (me, Roy, Jennifer and some of my top coaching alumni) have been quietly putting our heads together and cranked out this Special Report titled

“Healthy Church, Healthy Systems”

Get your copy here:

Get Healthy Church, Healthy Systems

You wanted a roadmap? You got a roadmap – and then some.

This is a step by step blueprint describing the ‘church systems’ process that I have taught to hundreds of coaching alumni (many of whom have seen huge spirit produced growth almost as soon as they went to work on their systems), written about in all my books and shared in this top rated podcast.

This report is a guide book to true organic church growth.

(dare I use the words ‘organic” and ‘church growth’ in the same sentence – read the report!).

Get Healthy Church, Healthy Systems

Gotta run… I can’t wait to hear our thoughts on the report.  Also, if you find it helpful, please share it on your blog or direct your readers here to get their copy.

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. Roy has put together a great deal called The Church Systems Package that ties in well with this report.  It’s a great way to jumpstart the growth of your church and to start implementing right away the lesson of the report.  Click Here.

Jay Curlee in Corpus Crisiti, who works with my friend Bil Cornelius, got me thinking about systems today (its not that hard to do – ha!  I talk, speak and write a lot about church systems as most of you know).  Here’s what he asked:

“Progress demands change. It demands a leader who seeks to push through the chaos of change as they drive to the next level. What process should you be challenging right now?”

There are at least three times when you need to courageously challenge the systems of your church, they are:

* After a ‘season of growth’

* During a ‘season of stagnation’

* In a ‘season of testing’

During each of these times we to challenge the systems in our church or else atrophy will set in.

It’s easy to challenge the system during ‘stagnation’ and ‘testing’ but the hardest time to challenge the system is following a ‘season of growth.’

But ‘a season of growth’ is the most important time to challenge, re-evaluate and revision because if you don’t you’ll enter a season of stagnation by default.

Challenging the systems doesn’t mean that you change the Eight Systems of A Church but it does mean you innovate from within, re-evaluate the staffing of each system and imporve the systems so they can take you to the next level.

For a great resource on ‘challenging the systems’ from a non-church but yet critical leadership perspective, see The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner

Nelson

P.S. I just finished a new special report with my latest thinking on Church Systems, its tentatively titled “Healthy Church, Healthy Systems.”  I’ll be giving it away right here on the blog in a couple of weeks (I know, sorry for the tease, but I’m very excited about it!).  In the meantime, you can listen to one of my most popular podcasts on Church Systems by clicking here.