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When I first came to Northgate I was overwhelmed by how much information there was to get my mind around! I came from a church of 150 to a church of 600 so memorizing names alone was a HUGE challenge! Add to that the challenge of knowing systems, policies, schedules, strategies, etc. and it became a bit overwhelming!

I spent over a year asking other pastors, reading books, and wrestling with this question, “Out of all the things that I could know at Northgate, what are the pieces of information that I MUST know?”

At this point in my journey I believe it is critical to know these five things about the church…

Attendance
Giving
Number of people who gave their life to Christ
Number of people who are in some form of a group
Number of people who are engaged in service

We keep track of this information on what we call “The Dashboard.”

Follow me on this one… when you’re driving on a journey to some destination it’s nice to be able to look down at the dashboard of your vehicle and in one look see all of the critical information – how fast you’re going; how many miles you’ve traveled; how much gas you have left; etc.

The dashboard enables the leader(s) to see all of the “Must-Know” information in one glance!

Every week, at our Management Team meeting, we are handed “The Dashboard” which allows us to see the five things listed above with some comparisons (last week; last month; last year). This allows us to get some context on how we are doing.

I want to know these five things because it allows me to get a handle on Northgate life in a glance.

If I see “Red Warning Lights” (e.g. number of people in groups declining) I start asking questions! If I see a significant rise in giving, I ask questions! If I see our attendance going up, but the number of people engaged in service staying the same… I ask questions!

One more cool thing that the Dashboard allows for is a place for stories. Numbers are great, but numbers alone are empty. We regularly take time to tell the story behind the numbers! For instance, if the number of people engaged in service is going up, it is cool to hear some of the stories of those serving! It is great to see that new people are coming to Jesus, but it is even better to know their names and hear their stories! The stories add “meat” to the “bones” the numbers provide! (A bit of a cannibalistic metaphor but harmless nonetheless… I assure you!)

I realize that numbers alone are not everything, but I also know that they are the easiest form of measurement… therefore I watch the numbers and listen to stories!

Comments? Reflections? Observations? New insights?

What should we expect from the church?

Posted on February 20, 2007

One of the questions our Management Team wrestles with continually is the balance between “bringing” and “building” (unchurched and churched)! While both are necessary and biblical, where does the focus rest… on those who are churched or those who are unchurched? Is there ever a point at which we stop taking responsibility for one or the other?

Apparently we are not the only church wrestling with this! One church that did a survey found that, “the most satisfied church members were those who were new believers or early in their faith–and the least satisfied were those who were more ‘mature’ in their faith.” (See more here)

It seems to me that Scripture teaches, the longer you are in the church the fewer rights you have and the more responsibility you have! (see Hebrews 5:12-6:3; Romans 14).

The church is exactly opposite of the world! In the world the longer people are in an organization the more seniority they have and the more their preferences shape the organization! In the church, the longer people are in the “organization”, the less it is about them and the more their responsibility becomes serving others!

So where are we in this search for biblical balance?

Let me go back to the first questions asked in this post…

“Where does the focus rest… on those who are churched or unchurched?” In my opinion, the best case scenario is one in which every believer in the church sees himself/herself as a part of a team that is bringing the unsaved/unchurched into a relationship with Jesus Christ and then connecting with him/her in a discipling relationship! The focus is on getting the believer to focus on the unbeliever for the purpose of leading him/her to Jesus Christ!

And now the ten million dollar question…

Is there ever a point at which we stop taking responsibility for one or the other? Yes. I believe we stop focusing on the believer when one of three things happens:

He/she becomes divisive in the church demanding his/her own way (Titus 3:10-11)

He/she becomes dependent on the church for his/her growth, refusing to engage in service, giving, group life, spiritual disciplines, etc. It is impossible to “build” something that is non-existent. At this point a difficult, but necessary conversation should be had, one that addresses the authenticity of his/her faith claim. (see 2 Timothy 2:23-26 for some guidance on this one)

He/she is deceptive in his/her confession of faith (1 Corinthians 5:9-11)

The bottom line here is that…

We NEVER stop taking responsibility for the unbeliever… Jesus took it all the way to the cross and calls us to the same level of commitment… doing whatever it takes, without violating Scripture, to bring God’s “Cherished missing” back to Him (1 Corinthians 9:16-22).

We bring people to Jesus and build them up in that relationship so that they can bring others to Jesus and build them up in that relationship so that they can bring others…

Teaching “The Ladies” to wink

Posted on February 19, 2007

I’m teaching “The Ladies” to wink! As you can see here we’re not doing to bad!

Lexington…

Reagan…

Dallas… (still working on this one!)

Man, I LOVE being “Daddy” to “The Ladies!”

You Might Live In Upstate New York If…

Posted on February 19, 2007

OK, I’ll not do a lot of this, but this is funny!

Supposedly (I’ve done some research and it appears legit) Jeff Foxworthy has said the following about us…

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 36 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by, you might live in Upstate New York.

If you’re proud that your region makes the national news 96 nights a year because Saranac Lake is the coldest spot in the nation, and Syracuse gets more snow than any other major city in the US, you might live in Upstate NY.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from October through May, you might live in Upstate New York

If you instinctively walk like a penguin for six months out of the year, you might live, bundled up, in Upstate New York.

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance, and they don’t work there, you might live in Upstate NY.

If your dad’s suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead, you might live in Upstate New York.

If you have worn shorts and a parka on the same day, you might live in Upstate New York.

If you have had a lengthy phone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you might live in Upstate New York.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE A TRUE UPSTATE NEW YORKER WHEN:

“Vacation” means going South past Syracuse for the weekend.

You measure distance in hours.

You know several people who have hit a deer more than once.

You often switch from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again.

You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard, without flinching.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked.

You carry jumper cables in your car and your girlfriend/wife knows how to use them.

You design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit.

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow.

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and road construction.

You can identify a southern or eastern accent.

Down South to you means Corning.

Your neighbor throws a party to celebrate his new shed.

You go out for a fish fry every Friday.

Your 4th of July picnic was moved indoors due to frost.

You have more miles on your snow blower than your car.

You find 10 degrees “a little chilly.”

The Top Five Reasons Why Leaders Fail

Posted on February 18, 2007

Last week I asked a question, “Why do leaders fail?” (see it here)

After hearing from a number of you and doing some reflection of my own I suggest that the top five reasons why leaders fail are as follows…

They disconnect from the people they are leading. The reality is that sometimes leaders can get so consumed in “leadership stuff” that they forget what leadership is all about… people! If the people you’re leading don’t like you, understand you, trust you, etc. … you ain’t leading! A great illustration of this is the ex-CEO of Home Depot… I blogged about it last week (read it here). Effective leaders make every effort to enage in “Management by Wandering Around” (for more on this idea click here).

They become proud and refuse to be questioned. When a leader refuses to be held accountable to someone or some standard… trouble’s on the way! I think people will tolerate a bit of ego, but when it becomes the driving force of the organization… the leader is destined to fail! Effective leaders embrace accountability and do not walk away from instruction! Effective leaders are continually learning and changing… implicitly recognizing that who they are today is not enough for tomorrow!

They are not authentic. One of my first mistakes at Northgate was trying to be someone I was not. I followed two godly, competent pastors and was totally unsure about how to pastor a large church… still am for that matter! I was well read in church growth and leadership literature and therefore tried to become someone that I thought the large church needed. MISTAKE! This bad decision cost me and our church. At the end of the day, through the grace of God and Northgate, I am realizing that the best thing I can do is be who God made me… not someone else! The best thing I have done, as a pastor/leader, is to identify my strengths and weaknesses, focus on my strengths, and staff to my weaknesses! Leaders who try to be someone else will fail… and hurt a lot of people!

They are authentic. OK, I know this is in direct contradiction to what I just said, but follow me on this… Sometimes “Being real” is not all it’s cracked up to be! Sometimes it is incumbent upon a leader to be contextually wise! In other words, discernment is critical for a leader! Sometimes, “Just being me” is stupid… so don’t do it! I think that “maturity” is knowing when to do/say what… effective leaders are mature and thus not always “Authentic” (i.e. “Just being me”).

They do to much. Jim Collins suggests that every leader should develop a “Stop-doing” list (read more here). Here’s the scoop… on a scale of 1-10 if I were to rank your “talent level”, most leaders would be between a 5-10 (this is not super analytical you know…). If each number represents the “things you can do well” then here’s the problem – If you can do five things well then chances are you are going to get frustrated when a “Two” or a “Three” tries to do any of those things that you are talented in… so you’ll take over, ’cause you can do it better (and probably you can too). The problem is that you, because you are multi-talented, can do more than one thing well… and because you care so much… you will do them! Unfortunately after time you will get burned out by doing so much “so well.” The struggle for talented people is that they have to say “NO” to some things that they could do a good job at! Just because you can do it, and even do it good, does not mean that you should do it! Effective leaders realize that their effectiveness lies not in doing everything that they can do, but in doing those things that only they can do. For instance, on the week I am scheduled to preach, there are a lot of things I can do, but only one person that can preach… so I should choose to let some things go (delegate them, procrastinate, ignore, etc.) and focus on the one thing that only I can do. Don’t fail because you do too much! Create a “Stop-Doing” list! (For more on this idea see Craig Groeschel’s five part post “Don’t Do It All” (part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5)

OK, there’s what I’m thinking… what do you think?

Leaders and the people they lead

Posted on February 17, 2007

I’m always intrigued at the different ways in which leaders relate with/to the people they are charged with leading.
Tom Peters has an insightful post on the recent leadership change at Home Depot and some insights into the different ways each CEO treated the people (read it here).

Leaders… don’t be elitists!

Small churches (part 3)

Posted on February 15, 2007

Brandon has posted his third in a series of posts “The Quirks of Being Bi-Vocational” … the story of a small church pastor (read it here).

Getting ready for struggling with God

Posted on February 15, 2007

Beginning in March we are going to do a four week series called “Struggling With God.” (see more here)

We started something new yesterday… team sermon prep! We (Vern, Darlene, Anthony, and I) spent an hour yesterday talking through the first sermon of March… the book of Habakkuk (It’s WAY more interesting than it sounds!)

Here are a few good reasons to do team sermon prep:

More people = more ideas

4 people for one hour = four hours of study time!

The diversity of experience, age, and gender provides a fuller understanding of the Scripture

What if you don’t have a staff to do team sermon prep with?

Prepare with pastors from other churches (see here)

Recruit a research team from the church (see here)

I personally like the second idea for three reasons:

It let’s me hear the stories of the people in my church and keeps me preaching to real needs

It encourages people to look for theological application in every day life

It adds depth and variety to stories and lessons in the message

Here are some ideas that are rolling around for the sermon in March… if you read these you still have to come to church!

paulpetersonlive.com

Evolving out loud: thoughts on parenting, spirituality, leadership, & a few other things too

Monthly Archives: February 2007

Christian bloggers

Andy Stanley – free “Drive” video conference

The top five things every pastor should know about his/her church

What should we expect from the church?

Teaching “The Ladies” to wink

You Might Live In Upstate New York If…

The Top Five Reasons Why Leaders Fail

Leaders and the people they lead

Small churches (part 3)

Getting ready for struggling with God

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