I am reading Growth By Accident, Death By Planning, a book that is subtitled, “How NOT to kill a growing congregation! 
Often times pastors make bad decisions in a context where God is moving, and consequently stunt the growth! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!
In this book, Bob Whitesel discusses some of those bad decisions and outlines ways to avoid them. This is a great read for any pastor of a growing church!
One thing in particular that sticks out to me is that a growing church can be derailed when the leadership begins making decisions based on the convenience of the staff!
When the convenience of the staff trumps the needs of the people… trouble is just around the corner!
Some practical ways that this can happen are - service times; ministry programs; availability; etc.
The staff of a growing church MUST be continually balancing needs and vision! The reality on the one hand is that the role of staff must change as the church grows, and yet on the other hand, what the staff did in the first place must continue to happen, though perhaps not necessarily through the staff (e.g. nurture; accessibility; etc.)!
Sheesh, this is tough stuff! I’m not totally sure how all of this fleshes out yet! We’re working like crazy to not make decisions based on the input and convenience of the staff alone (see here for one of the ways we’re doing this).
Church leadership is FUN and CRAZY!
Filed under: What I've learned from books, church, leadership
