1011 words … give it a few extra minutes as you consider the challenge proposed ...
Prior to March 2020, in my work with large churches, leaders had a fairly trackable measure of growth - the average weekend worship attendance. It was not perfect, never has been, nor ever will be … but it is something that can be tracked as one measure of church health. In the months that have passed since the initial live in person worship closings, when I ask churches about their worship attendance, I typically get two numbers. First, the pre-COVID number and then the current number as a percentage of the first. Depending on who you talk to, that percentage ranges from 45-80%. There are a few outliers that are at 100% and some indicate that they have grown in the last 20 months.
I know that a lot is impacted by the fact that the number of people worshipping in person is less by a rather significant percentage - 20% in some of the best cases and 60%+ in others. It impacts energy, volunteers, staffing, morale, not to mention many of our ministry models that are built around being together in the same spaces. And the emotional impact on leaders is significant. It has been a really hard time to lead in any area, especially the church.
Please don’t see my next statement as being insensitive to the challenges, past, current or moving forward. But I wonder if we are a bit stuck. I hear many leaders talking about “getting back to 100%.” What if you considered who you have now as YOUR NEW 100%? Perhaps the focus on closing the gap has created a mindset that is keeping our attention focused on the wrong thing.
If the right primary focus is on making disciples that make disciples (or however you communicate it in your context) then what adjustments would you need to make to do that with who you have? Perhaps it would be changing what you do in the kid's ministry to a model that is less volunteer intensive. Or maybe you need to divert some weekend attention to what happens during the week in terms of groups and study opportunities that help your people build relationships and grow deeper in their relationships with Christ. This may be a time to re-up your commitment to being externally focused by creating experiences that serve the neighborhoods and communities in your sphere of influence.
I know that some may say that this feels like defeat. But I believe that it is simply a willingness to accept “what is.” And I would be quick to say that this acceptance is not an end but a new beginning about what might be … and eventually what will be. This is not a step back as much as it is recognizing the current foundation upon which to build your church.
So how do you get started?
One of the great tools for shaping your “what’s next strategy” is the application of the Three Box Solution, made famous by Vijay Govindarajan in his book by the same name. Following are excerpts from a full treatment of the model written by my friend and former colleague at Leadership Network, Eric Swanson.
First, put everything you do in your church into one of three boxes:
Box 1 represents THE PRESENT and contains all the stuff that is currently working in your church—the weekend services, the topics and style of your preaching, small groups, global missions, the men’s steak fry, etc. We must manage and improve the present. How can we get better and more efficient at what we currently do? How do we know what to invest in? There are strong, clear signals based on results and feedback.
But in COVID land some stuff that used to work no longer is working so we need another box. That’s where Box 2 comes in. Box 2 represents THE PAST—stuff that has worked before but now needs to selectively be abandoned and forgotten because this (program, approach, ministry philosophy, etc.) is a dead horse that is never to run again. We can appreciate and honor these bygone relics of fruitfulness but it’s time to put them on the curb or call the Goodwill truck.
Box 3 represents THE FUTURE—stuff that is on the near or far horizon that may one day be of value but calls for careful investigation. The strong, clear signals of Box 1 are replaced with weak signals, intuition, and hunches. Box 3 becomes the R&D arm of your church. Box 3 is about rapid experimentation and rapid innovation. Box 3 is your “bet on the future.” Box 3 consists of scattering a lot of seeds and seeing what grows.
Organizations that have no Box 3 thinking become obsessed with and double-down on their Box 1 and while they are declining they complain that people “don’t get it.” Remember Circuit City, Borders, Blockbuster, etc. ? They were all at one time record-breaking companies. But they had no Box 3 to determine how they would innovate to prepare for the future.
Ask these questions as you engage in moving forward:
Box 1: What’s really working now? How can we make it even better?
Box 2: What’s no longer working that needs to be respectfully abandoned? Hopefully you already did some of this during the pandemic by not restarting some things.
Box 3: What may work in the future that we should start experimenting with now? What are the changes that have happened in the past 20 months in Society, Technology, Economics, Environment, Politics, & Religion. Take a guess at what might happen in these same areas in the next 12 months. In view of these future possibilities, what experiments might you want to run?
Consider creating a Box 3 innovation team.
Rotate people in and out until you find the high performance, rapidly experimenting, hungry, learning, and curious team that will take you into the future. Have them report out every week on experiments they ran that week and what they are learning.
Don’t do it alone!
Consider one of the following solutions where I can help you maximize your kingdom impact.
Consulting Solutions
There are seasons in every organization where a team must lean in and solve a pressing problem or maximize an opportunity. My process helps you uncover solutions for the season you’re in and execute these strategies with speed and effectiveness. I help you leverage change for positive impact.
One Day Assessment
The one day assessment takes you and your team through a focused and results oriented on-site session that drives to a diagnosis of what is and an exploration of what could be.
Comprehensive Consult
This multi-stage team oriented process will lead you and your team to strategic outcomes and measurable results.
Areas of focus include multisite reimagined, organization change strategy and leadership succession.
If you are interested in exploring what’s next for your church, email me here or select a time to talk that works for you here.
LeadWell Cohorts
Through LeadWell Cohorts, leaders gain unique insights from peer learning environments. LeadWell Cohorts leverage the group setting for leaders in similar roles. The wisdom of well seasoned mentors and expert resources from multiple disciplines empower participants to tackle some of the most pressing issues and opportunities of our time. This collaborative community helps leaders bust through their leadership lids and create plans for accelerated results.
Why be involved in a peer cohort?
There is significant power in the gathering of true peers that results in organizational health and accelerated results. Participating in a LeadWell Cohort prevents you from leading in isolation and provides a diverse set of perspectives on some common leadership challenges and opportunities.
You have led through one of the most difficult seasons this world has ever faced in the midst of a global pandemic, seeking to discern what's next and what's the new normal? And though some things are becoming clear, there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Community brings clarity.
Some of the best learning comes through interaction with leaders from other disciplines. You will have access to subject matter experts in areas as broad as business, science and the arts who will share successes from their context that lead to application in yours.
Not only do you have the support and insight of your peers, each group is served by mentors. These leaders see their role and calling as helping you to avoid some of the dumb tax they have already paid.
The next groups are forming now including senior pastors (under 40), second generation megachurch pastors and executive pastors. If you are interested in applying for a spot, email me here or select a time to talk that works for you here.
------------------------------------------------------------------
Email me your innovation experiments and stories at greg.ligon@generis.com.