~1000 words, but skimmable.
One of the regulars on our weekly Senior Pastor happy hour calls had been on sabbatical. * (find out more below)
It was a slow week and he asked on his return: “Dave, you travel around the country and see a lot – what have you been sensing and seeing? What is changing? I have missed that while on sabbatical.”
Admittedly – my sample size is small and targeted. Most of my conversations are with larger protestant churches. I tried not to answer but gave it a shot. The others said: “Write that up for us.”
Here were the thoughts:
1. The retribalization of the various streams of churches and leaders.
I sat at the crossroads of various streams at Leadership Network. From its earliest beginnings, we worked hard to invite and include leaders, churches, traditions, and tribes across the landscape in the U.S. and Canada.
Those streams came from various heritages, histories, and theological backgrounds.
But the leaders always found ways to talk, learn from one another, and even lean on each other.
I currently observe that large church leaders are moving closer to retribalization, mainly around theological perspectives.
I am not labeling that as good or bad, but it hinders some innovations.
I have been fortunate to understand and work across the streams, and my clients appreciate learning what is going on in the other streams. But some leaders have tried to discount and demean those in different streams.
That saddens me.
Some cross-sector learning still happens locally, but I see less national openness to that type of networking.
2. The resorting of congregants into political red and blue-leaning churches.
This trend is long across two decades, not just a recent development.
The media, web, and social media companies are optimized to profit from extreme views.
While good polling shows that few people are extremely liberal or highly conservative in their politics, the loudest voices have emerged during COVID-19. I estimate 10-25% of congregants that changed churches did so to find one more akin to their political views.
It saddens me that most news, current events, and even scriptures are interpreted through a red or blue lens. Add to that the constant portrayal of winners and losers in political terms, and we have trust conflicts that play out interpersonally in families, small groups, workplaces, and houses of worship.
Add to the percentage above those who left churches and landed nowhere, and it is easy for wise pastors to feel defeated.
The tough cases are when Boards polarize around these issues. (see item 4 as well)
Story continues after the ad….
Dave was a podcast guest and Senior Pastor Happy Hour
Dave was asked to be a guest and actually took the time. It was a good conversation and you can find it here.
It was great fun and I think they have a worthwhile initiative.
And there is video if you can stand it here.
And as mentioned in the opening line, if you are a Senior Pastor of a large church and want an invite to the weekly Senior Pastor call, email me, and we can see if you can join us.
Story continues…
3. Rethinking multisite.
It was 1998 when I first began talking to leaders about this emerging phenomenon. In 2001, we held the first gathering across tribes for these leaders. The rest is history.
Between COVID and leaders stepping down, some boards and leadership teams are asking hard questions about the future of some of their sites, their site model, and what is sustainable for the future. This is especially relevant for those with smaller sites.
Guy Conn pointed me to a podcast by Craig Groeschel about three generational mindsets.
Generation 1: The owners.
Generation 2: The protectors.
Generation 3: The inheritors.
Those aren’t age mindsets but leader mindsets.
In the multisite case, the first generation launched and protected the sites. But now, the inheritors of those sites are beginning to ask questions about their future viability. It is a significant strategic question, and churches will arrive at different conclusions.
I am FOR the idea of multisite, but a local situation needs a fresh look every seven to ten years.
Some of these issues are relevant and must be resolved in a succession plan so a church can be clear about its immediate next chapter.
Don’t make that the first issue a new leader must wrestle through and address.
4. The Voice of Moral Concern card.
In my Senior Pastor Smart Succession Process, we take leaders through an exercise that helps them identify the top four roles the next leader MUST play for the church to find its missional success in the immediate next chapter.
The deck has 21 roles Senior Pastors play in large churches, forcing participants to get it down to four primary roles. That becomes one of the bases we use to identify the next leader and clarify what the church needs from them for the next season.
One of the cards is “Voice of Moral Concern.” It reads, “acts as a prophet for God and for the positions of the church to declare their views as to right behavior, actions, and responses to issues of concern across the culture and the community. Tries to become the place that secular media and outsiders look to as the standard-bearer for addressing issues from a Christian mindset.”
I have done this exercise with over 4000 individuals in groups of pastors, staff, boards, and lay volunteers.
Pre-Covid, no one ever selected this card as a top-four role out of 20 other choices.
Since Covid, it has come up regularly.
I am always curious about the responses when I press on the issue and ask – “which issues of concern are most relevant to this congregation?”
Those tend to change regionally and tribally. My generalized observation is that those who are further away from an issue feel that is the issue of most pressing concern.
In other words, the desire is for the leader to address issues they hear about on their favored media channel but not address something local and near.
Wise boards and decision groups shape that card and role to fit their church’s culture and approach to issues.
After much discussion, it often falls out of the top 4 roles, but it is healthy conversation when I ask: “How much of that do you want in the next leader? Weekly, Monthly, or just occasionally?”
This is not a value judgment, just an observation.
In a future issue, I will try to address more fully the need we see for leaders to address numbers 1,2, and 4 for successor pastors. But that can wait.
Extra note:
The last window on starting a new client in 2023 has closed, so I am now booking for 2024 and 2025.
If you want the 2023 pricing, even if you want to start in the first parts of 2024, get with me now, and let’s discuss. Just send me an email.