The Should-Be Motto of All Church Personnel Teams

My thesis:  Luke 6:31 should be the motto, slogan, vision statement and/or basic foundational rule for every church personnel-related issue.  If we would follow Luke 6:31 in our church personnel matters, I believe we would have longer tenures in ministry, happier pastoral staff, and better church administrative relationships.

Luke 6:31 in 3 different translation:  And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them (ESV).  And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way (NAS).  Do to others as you would have them do to you (NIV).

Having served in a variety of positions on church staff, some part-time, some full-time, in nearly every position except music, I have been in many personnel committee and leadership meetings (with elders and deacons) where personnel matters arise.  I have seen it all.

If we would mandate Luke 6:31 in our dealing with our church staff members, I believe we would be far better off and far more functional in kingdom business.  Luke 6:31 applies to every aspect of personnel leadership.  Consider a few examples.

Compensate others as you would like to be compensated.  Staff need not be starved nor overly fed.  However, if you believe you and your work deserves a respectable salary, comparable with others in your peer group, based on job performance and expertise, then compensate your church staff likewise.  By low-balling them, you are not teaching them humility and contentment, you are telling them they are not worth that much in the big scheme of things.

Reward others as you would like to be rewarded.   I know, I know, our reward is in Christ and spending eternity with him in heaven.  I could not agree more.  However, if you like being rewarded for a job well done in your field, when you go the extra mile toward a successful project, why not reward your staff with something in kind.  A gift card.  An extra vacation day.  An expanded allowance for clothing, books, or conferences.  A little pat on the back can be a great motivator.

Evaluate others as you would like to be evaluated.  No one likes to be evaluated, but everyone needs it…and should appreciate it if it is done well.  So how do you like to be evaluated in your job?  Consistently.  Fairly.  Accurately.  Sharing both areas of strengths and areas of needed improvement.  Then receiving amply time, resources, and encouragement to enhance those strengths and improve the weaknesses.  Sounds pretty fair right?  Why not extend the same grace to your church staff members.  They will be blessed by your investment in them and will be more effective in their service unto Christ.

Terminate others as you would like to be terminated.  Is there such a thing as a way you want to be terminated?  No job or position is permanently and perpetually safe forever.  The same goes for ministry positions.  Therefore as you would like to be let go, treat your exiting staff in the same fashion.   Whatever you would like to be given, extend those same graces to them such as severance, job placement assistance, moving expenses, or time on the clock to look elsewhere.  Honesty in explaining the situation to the church, not sweeping issues under the rug is also a very important step.  No one wins with deception and lies.

When Jesus gave us the golden rule, I don’t think he anticipated us forgetting it so easily.  Let’s put it back in, especially in our dealings with each other in ministry.

Why Kids Ministry is the New Youth Ministry

Twenty years ago (think vintage 1990′s), churches begged, borrowed, and pleaded with their people to find the funds to hire a youth minister.  They were willing to do whatever it took to get someone, anyone to work with the teenagers.  Whatever it required, a youth minister had to be found.  The mindset was clear: someone has to work with our teens because “they are the church of tomorrow.”

Youth ministry in evangelical churches was thriving.  Youth ministers were seen as fun, trendy, responsive to the culture, able to relate big truths to young minds.  They were creative, loved praise and worship music, and knew how to put together a rockin’ mission trip on a tight budget.  Youth camp attendance was pushing all-time highs.  Youth conferences were abounding.  Youth ministry publications were everywhere.  It was a great time to be a teenager and an even better time to be in youth ministry.

So I ask you, where is all that energy and inertia today?  Well, it is not in youth ministry.  Things have shifted younger in the past 20 years.

Today (think vintage 201o’s), all that energy and inertia has shifted to kids ministry.  A children’s pastor or family minister is the most sought after position, outside of senior pastor, in American evangelical churches.

Churches are desperate to find and hire qualified, trained, responsible people to lead the nursery, pre-school and K-5 areas, otherwise no sensible parent will come.  The consumer parenting culture of Gen X, which is having more babies than their Boomer parents, demand churches to upgrade every corner of the children ministry. 

The facility has to look like a McDonald’s PlayPlace, only better.  Equipped with better security, better lighting, pristine cleanliness, background checks on volunteers, slick lanyards identifying workers in matching t-shirts.  The shiny polish of youth ministry has been expanded and multiplied for young ones.  These kids ministries are well oil machines with programs and contingency plans that surpass all other ministry areas (if they are successful), including the worship ministry which used to command the show.

I was told by a high level denominational leader recently that an experienced, qualified, theologically trained, former professional educator (aka ex-teacher) who felt a call to kids ministry could name their price.  They could pick any church, any city, any denomination and just determine what they wanted to make and someone would offer it to them.  They are the rarest breed of minister in the ministry marketplace.

This trend is not dying away anytime soon.  It will be here for a while.  At least until all these kids become teens.

One Building, Four Churches

A liberal Presbyterian, a Seventh Day Adventist, a Taiwanese immigrant, and a conservative Evangelical all walk into a building for a drink.  Sounds like the beginning of a crude joke, doesn’t it?  But this is no joke.  This is the reality for four congregations in northern Cincinnati.  In a 30-year-old facility located in Sharonville, OH, a suburb just north of downtown Cincinnati, four different congregations share the very same church house.

The building is officially owned by the Church By the Woods, formerly Sharonville Presbyterian Church.  They built the facility back in 1980.  As part of their continued ministry in the area, they formed the Cincinnati Taiwanese Presbyterian ministries to reach a growing segment of their ethnically diverse community. Both churches have about 15 to 20 parishioners with hopes of reaching more.

But these are not the only two churches involved in the partnership.  A Seventh Day Adventist group meets on Saturday mornings and since 2010 Freedom Church, a six-year-old church plant, has moved into the shared space. 

With four congregations sharing one building, flexibility, love and mutual appreciation rule the day.  While the theologies and convictions of each church are rather different in the spectrum of the Christian faith, they have found that they can do more in reaching Sharonville working together than apart.

This situation represents a potential win-win solution for many smaller congregations and church plants.  With the sky-rocketing cost of building commercial real estate, the escalating population of major cities, and the desperate need for more churches to be planted in under-served areas, aspiring church leaders can find hope in working alongside existing churches for the expansion of God’s kingdom.

There is no question about it, at times a partnership like this can be tough.  Who cleans the bathrooms?  Who gets priority spaces in the parking lot?  Who decides the color of the walls and carpet?  The scheduling of worship, Bible studies, prayer services, and fellowships must be carefully navigated, allowing each church to have their fair share of the calendar.  But if these obstacles can be worked out, is not Jesus more honored and exalted?

In a world that believes Christians are constantly fighting and fussing with each other over doctrine, morality and worship styles, is this not a better picture of the unity we can share through our risen Savior?

These four congregations solve their differences is by majoring on the Gospel. They worship together corporately on Christmas Eve and during Holy Week prior to Easter.  But for the remainder of the year, they stay united by continual conversation, adaptability and keeping an eternal perspective in mind.

On one particular Saturday, the Seventh-day Adventists were worshiping in the sanctuary while Freedom Church was ordaining a new pastor to the ministry, all the while the Taiwanese Presbyterians were preparing for an afternoon wedding.  People from various walks of life, who speak different languages, and who come from very different theological worldviews were bustling around facility showing grace and hospitality. 

Now some may call this ecumenicalism. Others may suggest that biblical convictions are being compromised. Still others might accuse these four churches of neglecting their theological roots in exchange for a cheaper mortgage payment.

But I would disagree with these naysayers. I believe these four churches are displaying a willingness to share their lives and lay down their own conveniences for the sake of the Gospel of Christ.

In the end, all of these believers will be sharing space in heaven, why not get used to it now?

Originally written for http://kyforward.com