~874 words - 3 1/2 minutes.
The call came from a trusted colleague. "I have a client with a generosity initiative in trouble. There has been some leadership turmoil recently, which I suspect will lead to a premature resignation. Some of it is pandemic related, but some of it is personality and style. What insights could you share that could explain the situation ?"
The detail here is not enough, but one can see some generalities.
In my 30 year experience, I have found that there is a Congregational Confidence Score.™ It is a function of two measures.
The first measure is confidence in the leader, or in most cases, the leadership of the congregation.
The second measure is the confidence in the total church direction. This confidence factor is similar to a political right track or wrong track question.
Here is the simple diagram:
A few observations:
First, to answer my research friends, this is not a scientific and validated type of scoring. This scoring is an indication of my experience with many churches.
Second, I keep it simple. Instead of delving into the dozens of factors that could be beneath the axes, my experience is that these two give us 80% of the results we seek.
Third, there are degrees along each axis as to where a church attendee might score the situation. The aggregate of the fellowship's attendees would show where the church stands. But I rarely recommend a whole church survey, instead, measure the leadership layers and their spouses. Include the persons of influence that may not carry formal leadership roles, but are influential.
In that case, a sample of 30% will tell the story.
What determines?
Trust in a leader and leadership is inferred. It is a product of a staff member, attendee, or outsider watching and hearing from the leader.
It is futile to tell people to trust you. Trust builds over time, in layers. It doesn't have to be a long time either. Often a crisis handled well can do it. In regular times, it takes longer, but it follows the rule of compound interest. The more you invest and build, the greater the returns.
Directional confidence also takes time, but we can clearly explain our direction. We can make it clear.
The direction must be meaningful, plausible, and relevant to the hearers and the context.
It can quickly move up the scale when it connects to the deep longings and desires of those you lead.
In line with our previously articulated direction, confidence is also derived from positive momentum, the slow accumulation of repeated results over time.
This explains why a new vision does not always bring instant results. In a leader's mind, it might. "As soon as I cast that new vision, the people rallied in that direction."
What actually happened was a strong core of 10-15% of the people rallied to it, and as momentum built, others followed.
Briefly, on each quadrant below the ad:
In partnership with Generis
A Five-Session Mini-Series To Grow Your Ministry in ‘22
5 Sessions | 22 Minutes | Thursdays | 10am ET | October 21 - November 18
Join the Effective Ministry Team for 5x22: A mini-series to help grow your ministry and build engagement in '22.
At just 22 minutes long, these bite-sized sessions are packed with critical ideas for '22 and are brief enough to attend while enjoying your morning coffee. At the end of this series, you will have gained practical tools and strategies to help move your ministry forward in 2022.
So grab a cup and join us!
Oct 21 - Dave Travis - Legacy Planning: 4 Things to do in 2022
Oct 28 - Dave Ronne - Four Ways to Maximize your Weekend Experience in 2022
Nov 4 - Jon Wright - Five Tools to Lead Your Best Team in 2022
Nov 11 - Greg Ligon - Three Keys to Durable Digital Ministry in 2022
Nov 18 - Jessica Bealer - Three Social Media Strategies to Attract Your Local Community in 2022
The story continues with descriptions of each quadrant…
Leader High – Direction High
This is the place we always want to aspire to. One function of leader direction confidence is time, but also performance over time. We gain a holy boldness in layers.
But the congregational train is constantly moving, hopefully, in the right direction.
We must continually remind people what we are accomplishing. We can point out the efforts and momentum.
Leader High – Direction Low
A place where the leader is trusted, but the direction has been stalled or negative lately.
Some of this is a natural Covid response. (see the last issue for the 3 Ps of the Pandemic.)
Perhaps leadership has not articulated the next season's meaningful and plausible story in light of the pandemic.
We have too many directions so that none get the proper focus. We are chasing the silver bullets, jumping from one idea to the next.
This situation is where my Storycrafting for Church Strategy comes into play. For more information, go here.
Leader Low – Direction High
Leaders, Leadership Teams, and Boards can mess up.
Sometimes this is a relational issue between a few leaders or a few leaders and a congregational segment.
We often see this when people don't know the leaders beyond the point leader and worship leader. This case is typical when the only time the elders or board are on the platform or featured is when something has gone wrong.
But the direction can be held high with a clarity of direction, a growing community, and vital programs like excellent relational small groups.
One of my mentors, Lyle Schaller, said: Those churches where people come to Bible Class but leave for worship have a situation where they love their church and group but don't have confidence in the leader.
It can also happen during a time of leadership transition or change.
Leader Low – Direction Low
Some of these churches are indeed broken, but most require repair.
At a minimum, they are stuck.
In a few cases, these may be new leaders just coming on the scene attempting to articulate a new direction in this context.
In some cases, the leader has articulated a clear vision, but it does not match the people or the community, leader to continued drops in congregational confidence.
In a select few instances, I observe confidence in Senior Pastor is high, but staff low, and board leadership lower. This situation leads to depressed confidence in the track for the congregation as well.
Are these confidence factors related to each other?
Of course. But as mentioned above, leader trust takes time, repeated behavior, observations over time by others, and affirmation by others. There are no natural quick fixes.
If there is trust in the leader and confidence in the direction of the church, people will elect to stay engaged, involved, invested, and to grow with the fellowship.
Need to work on these issues? Feel free to reach out to me to schedule a quick call where we can discuss your situation and help get you the help you need.
CATCHING UP THE PODCAST:
Don’t miss the latest two episodes on Great Things God Has Done: The Carter Boys
Matt Carter - Sagemont Church in Houston
Church Carter - Family Church in Orlando region
Thanks for reading and listening and thanks for sharing with others!