Readiness to Rewrite the Rules
Part 2 of What Churches could learn from a major university willing to rewrite the rules to fulfill its mission
Two weeks ago in Church Leader Insider, I described some notes from “Won’t Lose this Dream: How an Upstart University Rewrote the Rules to a Broken System.”
The author, Andrew Gumbel is a British-born investigative reporter who spent several years capturing what Georgia State University had done to transform itself.
It’s always wise to look at other institutions to find what can be learned for churches. A few pastors reached out to tell me they have started into the book and are gaining much from it.
This is part two of the major learnings I took away. Go back and read part 1 but also see the offer below for a discussion guide.
Also – participants in the weekly Senior Pastor Happy Hour call will get a chance to dialogue with the author soon.
Here is part 2. (remember the first four lessons are in part 1) I use bullet points here to keep it brief.
5. Treat Students as individuals
· Changed Advisement – has to be proactive, not reactive. Student success managers to reach out aggressively to students
· Set appointments often for them to come in.
· Ability to help them financially – IF they went to mandatory meetings with financial and academic advisors
· Had to hire more advisors but results paid off with much higher rates of graduation
· Peer mentors increased the chance of graduation by 15%
· For the first half of their student career massive intervention, then can back off. But have to stay engaged early.
· We give these students the same attention we give to student-athletes.
Learnings: We need to be aggressive in mentoring and advising people. Ministry is a person-to-person activity first, not a platform to crowd. The aggressive reaching out by many churches during the pandemic is paying dividends in the spiritual journey and growth of many people. We need to continue. We must be proactive.
After a season of aggressive intervention and pursuit, we can begin to back down the aggression. But expecting people to take their own pace will lead many to fall away.
What if our pastoral team and staff were “Christ-follower success managers” or something similar in their perspective? How would that change the behaviors of the staff to help the followers? And how can we add intentional peer mentoring to our ministries?
From your knowledge of the care and attention given to college athletes in a university context, what would it look like to actively serve people in that way in their first few years of following Jesus?
6. There was a technology component
· AI-driven “advisor” to answer a lot of questions.
· Often would reach out at critical points – tracked.
· Used some natural language and then defaulted to a call from an advisor.
· Also did checkpoints in milestones and markers that were predictive for each major.
· But People =70%, 15% is processed and only 15% technology. Don’t focus on the tech. That is the shiny object that gets attention
· At least 14 interactions but some had more than 100
Learnings: Many pastors love the tech and will lavish expenditures on that end. But note that next to the last bullet – Tech is 15%, not the whole shebang. Also, note – on average 14 interventions via the tech but some greatly exceed that. Many churches use tech means, but few are measuring WHO is tracking with us regularly. That could be a bridge too far for most churches. But even basic databases can now track who opens an email communication and for how long.
And what are the critical points of intervention? In consulting with several large churches in the past few years, they have identified at least one point for first-time attenders – Getting them to attend a THIRD time. In those instances, they are aggressive in invitation and encouragement to get the person to come back at least two more times. Likewise, many leaders see the disengagement of teens as they transition to adulthood. How do we nurture those individuals at just the right time?
And finally, as marriages break down or require counseling, there is often a hidden off-ramp. How do we minister and serve those persons to keep them engaged and connected?
Remember the formula above – 70% of that is people-driven, not technology. But they are tracking that engagement with the technology.
7. Multisite – acquired, with encouragement – a regional community college system
· Expanded out to various counties in surrounding areas.
· Some campuses were there for years, some were in temporary facilities.
· Worked to make a seamless transfer, but it was not easy. The two-tier system had to be harmonized over time.
· Expanded over time to push out to new potential students.
Learnings: To apply to churches, this was multisite by the adoption process. Similarly, it had some complex situations that had to be resolved. But the big plus was a geographical expansion to the surrounding counties, even as far as 60 miles away that captured some access students that would otherwise be shut out of the opportunity.
Most church leaders have seen the impact of the multisite church as an approach over the past two decades. For some, it works well, and for others, not so much. It does extend the geographic and relational reach beyond a single site.
The most important one is after the ad.
As mentioned in the opening, we have a special Senior Pastor Call with the book's author, Andrew Gumbel.
That date is June 2 and it will be at 4 p.m. Eastern.
To get an invitation you need to send an email to Linda.Stanley@generis.com
Just so you know more about the weekly call:
· It is a camera-on, participant-driven call where everyone can ask questions and give feedback to one another.
· It is reserved for large church Senior/Lead Pastors only with the exceptions of some special opportunities.
· Several participants have said: “This is my one can’t miss thing each week.” They find it encouraging and informative.
Are you on the list? If not, send an email today to Linda to get added.
8. Teaching Model -for select areas. The flipped classroom.
· Flipped classroom – self-paced tech-driven plus interaction with prof. Reduce time in traditional classroom initially
· Not a sage on the stage but a guide on the side
· Focused on improving the top 25-30 intro pathway courses.
· That includes time, formats.
· Create redundancy to make sure we don’t miss people.
Learnings: This is the biggest untapped opportunity for churches. These ideas have proliferated not only in universities but in independent courses with consultants, businesses, and the like. Think video content PLUS interaction with mentor/professor/guide.
Materials are recorded once OR done “live” at set hours. But the recordings allow students to repeat, refresh and relearn. With set office hours digitally OR digital video question submission, teachers can record helpful answers and post for others. Alternatively, group sessions for discussion can be moderated by teachers or assistants to do small groups.
Many churches are locked into the “we offer that experience at this time.” The unsaid part of that phrase is “take it or leave it.”
Personally, the experience of gathered worship, praise, and prayer will remain a pinnacle experience for many believers from my perspective. But there are multiple other experiences that could use guides and pathways not dependent on in-person gatherings.
This has been one of the learnings of the pandemic season.
I fear that churches will throw all their time, focus, and attention back to their former processes and miss the opportunities we have been shown in this season.
The author of the book, who freely admits he is no expert on churches, after reading my notes described a few other ways he saw Georgia State respond to the pandemic and what applications for others could be.
To hear those, you will need to join the call on June 2.
And those that attend will also get a free PDF summary of all the learnings and some discussion guide questions to use with staff. We look forward to seeing you there.
New on the Podcast:
This week’s episode with Clay Smith, Alice Drive Baptist Church of Sumter, SC.
Highlights their work with blended families and moving towards the mess!
To learn more about Clay Smith and to find the books mentioned in this episode be sure to visit his website wclaysmith.com
And don’t forget the new podcast companion – 7 Questions in 7 minutes – the lighter side.
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