Churches seem to attract junkies.

No, not that kind.

I’m talking about power junkies. In churches, they are just as likely to be found on the platform as in the pew.

They are competitive, love an argument, and always seem to be in a tug of war for influence or control. They were certainly out of the room when emotional intelligence was being handed out.

How to deal with them? Here’s the advice of Fast Company blogger Donna Karlin:

Don’t pick up the rope. Do whatever it is you have to do to NOT engage.  The only way someone can start a tug of war is by your picking up the rope.  If you feel your hand wrapping around the other end, drop it like a hot potato.  There’s nowhere to go if you don’t engage.  There are always solutions to issues if you stop and take a moment to reflect on your options and collaborate with someone else who can help you deal with this kind of attack-like behavior.

Speak to the topic not the person.  Answer with questions that show you are looking at the desired results; not the person’s skill set, behavior or power trip.

Ask for clarification to see if the individual really meant what he or she said.   Sometimes repeating inappropriate communication shocks the other person into reality.  If nothing else, it will help you clear your head and understand that you weren’t hallucinating when you heard what you heard.

Keep it short, sweet and to the point. The shorter your communication is, the less likely you’re going to fall into their trap.

Read the entire article “Dealing with Power and Control Junkies?”

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online course “Resolving Conflict: Dealing with Difficult People” might also be helped by reading Wade Burleson’s “Lessons in Dealing with a Disgruntled Member” on his blog Grace and Truth To You.

In his post, Groeschel and his blog readers listed these benefits of hiring church staff from within:

1. You develop a culture of leadership development.
2. People already understand your culture.
3. People are generally more loyal to the vision.
4. They can bring huge life experience.
5. Better opportunity to really know the character of the person you are hiring.
6. They also have a support network of friends and family already around them.
7. They would not necessarily have to relocate, unless it’s a multi-campus church. Reduced stress on the family.
8. There is a much smoother transition process in developing relationships with the existing staff.
9. People who have transitioned into ministry have more realistic empathy and street cred with the remaining volunteer ministry team in the church.
10. Their ability to influence and lead a team of people–how they interact, communicate, teach, correct, receive guidance and input–has already been observed and demonstrated.
11. Their teachability and correct-ability.

Go to Craig Groeschel’s post “The Benefits of Hiring from Within”

Steve Marr, owner of Business Proverbs, a management consulting firm for Christian businesses, advises that churches hiring from within use a well-defined and orderly hiring process, such as the one below.

Start with a clear job description. Hire only members who are well qualified.

Tap the entire market. Be careful not to reduce your standards in order to hire a church member.

Do not hire someone who cannot be fired. If the person is too entrenched that they couldn’t be terminated, keep looking.

Conduct a professional interview.

Add another step for church applicants: (a) Don’t allow personal feelings to influence your decision. (b) Don’t allow the opinions of other members to dictate your choice. (c) Make your decision based on applicant’s qualifications rather than need. (d) Decide whether the person is capable of handling confidential information and can withstand the pressure of staff responsibilities.

Read Steve Marr’s entire article “Should You Hire a Church Member” at ChristianityToday.com

Rockbridge Seminary students who completed the fully online course “Building an Effective Ministry Team” might be able to identify more benefits to hiring staff from within a church.

LEADERSHIP

Leaders don’t get a map or a set of rules. Living life without a map requires a different attitude. It requires you to be a linchpin.

There’s no script for leadership. There can’t be.

“I don’t know what to do”—this one is certainly true. The question is, why does that bother you? No one actually knows what to do. Sometimes we have a hunch, or a good idea, but we’re never sure. The art of challenging the resistance is doing something when you’re not certain it’s going to work.

What does it take to lead? The key distinction is the ability to forge your own path, to discover a route from one place to another that hasn’t been paved, measured, and quantified. So many times we want someone to tell us exactly what to do, and so many times that’s exactly the wrong approach.

CHANGE

Real change rarely comes from the front of the line. It happens from the middle or even the back. Real change happens when someone who cares steps up and takes what feels like a risk. People follow because they want to, not because you can order them to.

Wikipedia and the shared knowledge of the Internet make domain knowledge on its own worth significantly less than it used to be. Today, if all you have to offer is that you know a lot of reference book information, you lose, because the Internet knows more than you do.

The executives in the record business, for example, loved their perfect business model. They were attached to their lifestyles and to the way their artist and fan relationships made them feel. When even a turnip could see that their business model was doomed, they soldiered on, apparently oblivious to the crumbling going on around them. Were they stupid? No. They were blinded by their attachment to the present and their fear of the future.

The newspaper industry can’t untangle news from paper, can’t see the difference between delivering the news around the world for free and putting it on a truck for shipment down the block. As long as each of these elements is seen as inseparable from the others, it’s impossible to untangle the future. That’s why outsiders and insurgents so often invent the next big thing—they don’t start with the tangled past.

THE FUTURE

The diamond cutter doesn’t imagine the diamond he wants. Instead, he sees the diamond that is possible.

The linchpin is able to invent a future, fall in love with it, live in it—and then abandon it on a moment’s notice.

Rockbridge Seminary students that have completed the fully online course “Leading Change,” may be helped by watching two brief videos in which Seth Godin explains WHY he wrote Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Part 1:

Part 2:

Read Seth Godin’s blog

One of the persons in the picture above is a hologram. Can you guess which one?

Tony Morgan blogged recently (TonyMorganLive) about the coming use of holographic technology by multi-site churches. And … oh yea, Tony is on the right. The … uh … hologram is on the left.

Church Relevance blog has also explored holograms and churches.

Below is a demonstration of holography by Cisco‘s CEO during a presentation in India:

Is holography any less holy than video?

What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.

A counterfeit god [idol] is anything so central and essential to your life that, should you lose it, your life would feel hardly worth living.

An idol has such a controlling position in your heart that you can spend most of your passion and energy, your emotional and financial resources, on it without a second thought.

The true god of your heart is what your thoughts effortlessly go to when there is nothing else demanding your attention. What do you enjoy daydreaming about? What occupies your mind when you have nothing else to think about?

Idolatry is not just a failure to obey God, it is a setting of the whole heart on something besides God.

When an idol gets a grip on your heart, it spins out a whole set of false definitions of success and failure and happiness and sadness. It redefines reality in terms of itself.

Idols cannot simply be removed. They must be replaced. If you only try to uproot them, they grow back; but they can be supplanted. By what? By God himself, of course. But by God we do not mean a general belief in his existence. Most people have that, yet their souls are riddled with idols. What we need is a living encounter with God.

Idolatry functions widely inside religious communities when doctrinal truth is elevated to the position of a false god. This occurs when people rely on the rightness of their doctrine for their standing with God rather than on God himself and his grace. It is a subtle but deadly mistake. The sign that you have slipped into this form of self-justification is that you become what the book of Proverbs calls a “scoffer.” Scoffers always show contempt and disdain for opponents rather than graciousness. This is a sign that they do not see themselves as sinners saved by grace. Instead, their trust in the rightness of their views makes them feel superior.

Rockbridge Seminary students who completed the fully online course “Christian Worldview and Theology” may also benefit by listening to Tim Keller describe his book in the video below and by reading the reviews that follow:

Relevant Magazine review

Discerning Reader review

Reggie McNeal on the MISSIONAL CHURCH:

Ed Stetzer on the MISSIONAL CHURCH:

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online course “The Theology and Practice of Evangelism” may benefit from following Ed Stetzer’s blog and viewing additional presentations by Reggie McNeal.

“As a fellow introvert, I well know the tension, irony and even contradiction of being in vocational ministry where public speaking and being with people are major and vital parts of our roles. This book puts together extremely helpful thinking to better understand who we are and how to navigate and celebrate being introverted and in leadership in an extroverted world.” –Dan Kimball, author of They Like Jesus but Not the Church

“As an introvert who has experienced both the strengths and weaknesses of my temperament, I appreciate the way McHugh goes well beyond the facile stereotypes and conclusions of armchair psychologists. If you’ve ever felt vaguely sinful for not being a gregarious Christian I suggest you spend some quality time alone with a copy of Introverts in the Church.” –Don Everts, minister of outreach, Bonhomme Presbyterian Church, Chesterfield, Missouri, and author of I Once Was Lost

“Introverts, take heart! As an introvert myself–an off-the-chart ‘I’ on the Myers-Briggs–I find certain aspects of church life, like speaking to other human beings every Sunday, really taxing. McHugh thoughtfully explores the gifts introverts bring to the church, and he considers both how introverts can live well in the church and how churches can be more hospitable to us.” –Lauren F. Winner, Duke Divinity School, author of Girl Meets God

Marriage and Family Therapist Rhett Smith interviewed author Adam McHugh about his book. Here are excerpts:

R: From your research, what did you find to be the most difficult aspect of church culture for introverts? Why do you think that is?
A: There are a few difficult elements in church culture for introverts – like mingling fellowship and greeting times, certain methods of evangelism, or required small groups – but I think I would answer that question more abstractly. I think many churches implicitly, or sometimes explicitly, promote certain “ideals” of faithfulness that actually have as much to do with cultural norms as they have to do with biblical values. The “ideal” believer is one who is social and gregarious, assumes leadership positions quickly, participates eagerly in a wide variety of events, groups, and teams, opens their home up often to church groups, is well acquainted with many people in the community, witnesses to strangers often, and the list goes on. The problem is that that “ideal” person is an extrovert, and introverts often end up feeling spiritually inadequate and marginalized, or else masquerade as extroverts but still end up feeling exhausted and discouraged. In my book I talk about how introverts can both live the Christian life as themselves, and I also give suggestions for how churches can encourage introverts to live and love authentically.

R: What are the 2-3 most important things that can introverts teach us?
A: I’m glad you asked this question, because too often it seems that introversion is viewed as a liability, rather than a gift. I know I’ve been guilty of defining introversion in terms of what I’m not rather than what I am. Here are the two most important things I think introverts bring to the church: 1. The value of listening and 2. The need to slow down.

People in our culture so rarely have the experience of being truly listened to, of being given the space to express what’s on their hearts. Too often we speak over one another, interrupt one another, compete for space to speak. Because introverts process internally, and consider what they say before they speak, they can be incredible listeners. We offer a non-judgmental presence that helps others open up to us. Now, there’s more to listening than just not speaking, and it’s a discipline to be cultivated (my next book is about listening!), but introverts have a good start in becoming excellent listeners, communicating deep love for others through listening. I think listening is a tremendous asset in evangelism, which I talk about in chapter 8. Second, introverts often lead a slower, quieter, more contemplative lifestyle and we help people in our fast-paced culture slow down. We bring a calming presence to people and to our churches. Modern-day evangelicalism tends to be so full, so busy, so hurried and weighed down by agendas, and I say in the book that introverts are part of the antidote to what ails evangelical culture.

R: Let me throw out a couple of technologies that are being used in the Church and let me just get your response in regard to introverts. What would introverts think of twittering in the church? How about online church?
A: I knew you were going to ask me this! I’ll say first that, as an introvert, I am grateful for social media like Facebook and Twitter. It has helped me make connections, and deepen relationships, with people that I just don’t have the energy for in face-to-face situations. I’m often much better in writing than I am in person. But I do think there are inherent dangers in online communication, especially when it becomes a substitute for in-person relationships, and I worry when introverts spend far more time online than they do with people. Again, I address these issues in the book.

Twitter in church seems to be becoming the 21st century version of note-taking, but I actually think it’s an extroverted form of processing. Since it’s not acceptable to talk during a sermon, tweeting is a way that extroverts can think “aloud.” As a preacher, I can’t say I’m wild about the idea of people tweeting while I’m preaching. It seems like people in our technologically driven culture are in so many places at once, and perhaps worship should be one time a week that we seek to bring all of ourselves into unity– heart, mind, soul, body, and typing fingers.

As far as online church, I’m ambivalent. For people in countries where Christianity is banned, and for those people who simply will not cross the threshold of a church, then it’s a great thing. But, no matter how introverted you are, we all need embodied relationships and if we can’t find them in the body of Christ, then I’m not sure where we can find them. Second, people who are uncomfortable being in church are usually not resisting church attendance because of introversion but because of shyness, experiences of rejection, and other wounds. If we have been wounded by people and churches, then it seems to me that full healing will actually come when we find those people and churches, who communicate, in full, embodied form, the gentleness, compassion, and love of Jesus. I’m really grateful that the Son of God didn’t just get on a web-cam in heaven but actually incarnated into full human form and walked and lived among us. Online church may be an excellent step for many of those people, but my hope is that it is only a step.

R: What do you think is the most important takeaway for ministry for pastors who read this book? What will pastors learn from this book that will equip them better as a leader?
A: I devote two chapters in the book trying to demonstrate how pastors and other Christian leaders don’t have to keep masquerading as extroverts and can actually lead as introverts. That’s the main takeaway: lead as yourselves!! In chapter 6 I draw from biblical models of leadership, which center around character not personality, as well as models of leadership from the corporate and non-profit worlds which emphasize servant leadership, humility, reflection, and introspection. In chapter 7, the longest chapter, I go into ministry practicals for introverted leaders and discuss partnering with extroverts, following the model of Jesus in investing in “the few,” preaching as an introvert, and tailoring our jobs and schedules to suit our introverted rhythms and strengths.

R: I think you do a great job of dispelling the myth that those who retreated to the desert or to solitude were doing so to escape. Instead you seem to say that when we seek solitude we are better able to move forward into action because of the contemplation/solitude. Is that an accurate statement?
A: Henri Nouwen said that compassion is the fruit of solitude. When we go deep into ourselves and invite God to show us as we truly are, we find true identity. We find the good things about ourselves, our gifts, and also the ugly things – the jealousy, the fear, the anger, the desire to objectify and control others – but if we open ourselves to God’s grace in those ugly places, we can find deep compassion both for ourselves and for others. That compassion propels us to action and to works of mercy and justice. Before Jesus began his public ministry, he spent 40 days in the wilderness with only the word of God to sustain him. Throughout the history of the church, great leaders and highly influential people like St. Anthony, St. Patrick, Martin Luther, and countless others have found the impetus to love and to lead in solitude.

Rockbridge Seminary students who completed the online course “Lead Like Jesus” may be helped by reading the full interviews: Part 1 / Part 2.

Also, an interesting companion blog is Tony Morgan’s interview with Jennifer Kahnweiler, author of The Introverted Leader: Building on Your Quiet Strength.

Could 2010 become the “Year of the Introvert”?

Mistake #1: Rushing ahead

Most of us quick-start church-planter types are driven by the urgency of the calendar. We tend to focus on a launch date, and regardless if we are ready or not, we launch. Instead of being driven by the calendar, it would serve us well to be driven by milestones. Milestones focus on the accomplishment of strategic actions.

Here are some to consider:

1. Vision is clear and communicated.
2. The staff team has been recruited.
3. The core group is in place.
4. Worship leader and team have been recruited.
5. The meeting place has been secured.
6. A marketing plan has been implemented.
7. Pre-school and children’s ministry plans have been made.
8. A small group and volunteer system is in place.
9. An assimilation strategy is in place.

This list is not intended to be comprehensive, but to get you thinking. Failure to reach critical milestones prior launch is a key reason churches plateau or decline early in their life cycle.

Mistake #2: Underestimating the cost

If you haven’t planted a church, you can count on three things: It’s going to take longer, require more money, and be harder than you imagined! As church planters, we are often guilty of getting “drunk on vision.” We’re so “intoxicated” with the desire to plant that it clouds our good judgment. When we’re intoxicated, we fail to listen to others, think clearly, and make wise decisions. Jesus tells us to count the cost. It always pays to listen to him.

Mistake #3: Violating the Sabbath

Planting a church comes with a high price. First of all, let’s dispel the myth that you can plant a church without paying the price. Because of this you have to make taking care of yourself a high priority. A church planter must nurture his vitality. This requires taking regular time to refuel your emotional, relational, physical, and relational vitality. Paying close attention to these gauges can add longevity and impact to your life and ministry.

For the last 10 years, we have been part of a church plant that has grown from a vision to over 2000 in regular attendance. Unfortunately we are just learning to pay attention to our own gauges. Fortunately our wives have been incredibly patient and honest with us. We are yet to find a church planter worth their salt who doesn’t have to work hard at this. As church planters, we’ve got to embrace what the Scriptures teach us about our time. There’s a time to work. Work hard! However, there’s also a set aside time to rest. Rest hard! As a leader, if you don’t nurture your own vitality and monitor your own pace, no one else will.

Mistake #4: Hanging on too long

When you give birth to a new church, it’s your baby. The church you planted begins with the vision God put in your heart. When you first plant, everything begins with you. You have to do everything. However, as the church begins to grow, the longer you hold on to everything, the more you become the bottleneck. There simply comes a time when we must let go and empower others.

Church planters who don’t develop the skill of empowering others seldom grow beyond 75 to 125 people. You may launch your church. You may reach people; but you usually end up stuck. The most effective church planters understand the importance of raising up leaders and building teams.

Mistake #5: Not having a coach

Church planting is the R&D department of ministry. Planters understand that we learn our way into the future. As we move forward, we assess our failures and successes and we build off of them. Like Churchill, we understand that “success is moving from failure to failure without losing momentum.” Church planters surround themselves with other leaders and learners. I was reminded of this when Will Henderson, our Australian church planter, returned from an ACTS 29 learning experience where they advocated that every church planter needs a minimum of five coaches in their lives. Those who grow in their leadership surround themselves with coaches.

As church planters we’re going to make mistakes. No one gets it right all the time. We can avoid many of these if we’re willing to be teachable and surround ourselves with people who have been where we are going.

Read the article on Pastors.com

Hat tip: Greg Atkinson

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the online course “Introduction to Church Planting” or “Next Steps in Church Planting” may want to check out churchplanters.com for additional resources.

Key findings from the report, “Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009“:

Online Students Increase by 17%

For the sixth consecutive year the number of students taking at least one online course continued to expand at a rate far in excess of the growth of overall higher education enrollments.

The most recent estimate for fall 2008 shows an increase of 17 percent over fall 2007 to a total of 4.6 million online students. The growth from 1.6 million students taking at least one online course in fall 2002 to the 4.6 million for fall 2008 represents a compound annual growth rate of 19 percent. The overall higher education student body has only grown at an annual rate of around 1.5 percent during this same period (from 16.6 million in fall 2002 to 18.2 million for fall 2008 – Projections of Education Statistics to 2018, National Center for Education Statistics).

Over one-quarter of all higher education students are now taking at least one online course. A question posed each year is “when will the growth in online reach its limit?” The current data show that this limit has not yet been reached, as double-digit growth rates continue for yet another year.

Schools with Online Offerings: 86% Say Online Comparable or Superior

Since first measured in 2003, the proportion of chief academic officers reporting that the learning outcomes for online compared to face-to-face as the ‘Same’, ‘Somewhat Superior’, and ‘Superior’ has increased from 57 percent to 68 percent.

A majority of institutions with no online offerings (58 percent) believe online to be ‘Somewhat inferior to face-to-face’ or ‘Inferior to face-to-face.’ This contrasts with only 14 percent of the institutions offering fully online programs that classified online learning outcomes as ‘Inferior.’

Download the full report

Hat Tip to Tony Bates blog, “E-Learning & Distance Education Resources“

In Connecting: The Mentoring Relationships You Need to Succeed in Life, Paul D. Stanley and J. Robert Clinton place mentors into three categories: intensive (the disciple, the spiritual guide, the coach), occasional (the counselor, the teacher, the sponsor), and passive (the contemporary model, the historical model).

I want to add one more kind of mentor to the “passive” category: church model.

Churches can provide you with passive mentoring through (1) studying their websites, (2) reading books written by their ministry leaders, (3) watching YouTube clips of sermons, worship clips, teaching materials, and ministry promotions, and (4) analyzing ministry approaches and teaching materials.

Here are top U.S. churches that might can mentor you:

CHURCH MODELS – CHURCH GROWTH

Crossroads Community Church (Cincinnati, OH), Brian Tome
Lancaster County Bible Church (Manheim, PA), David Ashcraft
LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK), Craig Groeschel
Church of the Highlands (Birmingham, AL) , Chris Hodges
Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA), Rick Warren
Woodlands Church (Woodlands, TX), Kerry Shook
Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC), Greg Surratt
Community Bible Church (San Antonio, TX), Robert Emmitt
Bay Area Fellowship (Corpus Christi, TX), Bil Cornelius
Cedar Creek Church (Perrysburg, OH), Lee Powell

CHURCH MODELS – CHURCH INNOVATION

LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK), Craig Groeschel
Granger Community Church (Granger, IN), Mark Beeson
Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA), Mark Driscoll
Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC), Greg Surratt
Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX), Ed Young, Jr.
Mosaic Church (Los Angeles, CA), Erwin McManus
North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA), Andy Stanley
National Community Church (Washington, DC), Mark Batterson
Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL), Dave Ferguson
Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA), Rick Warren

CHURCH MODELS - CHURCH PLANTING

Redeemer Presbyterian Church (New York, NY), Tim Keller
Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA), Mark Driscoll
Northwood Church (Keller, TX), Bob Roberts
Perimeter Church (Duluth, GA), Randy Pope
Spanish River Church (Boca Raton, FL), David Nicholas
East 91st Street Christian Center (Indianapolis, IN), Derek Duncan
Community Christian Church (Naperville, IL), Dave Ferguson
Fellowship Bible Church (Little Rock, AR), Bill Wellons
Kensington Community Church (Troy, MI), Steve Andrews
Church at the Springs (Ocala, FL), Ron Sylvia

CHURCH MODELS – INFLUENCING OTHER CHURCHES

Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL), Bill Hybels
Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA), Rick Warren
North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA), Andy Stanley
Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX), Ed Young, Jr.
Lakewood Church (Houston, TX), Joel Osteen
The Potter’s House (Dallas, TX), T.D. Jakes
LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK), Craig Groeschel
The Brooklyn Tabernacle (Brooklyn, NY), Jim Cymbala
The Church of the Resurrection UMC (Leawood, KS), Adam Hamilton
North Coast Church (Vista, CA), Larry Osborne

See the complete list on Kent Shaffer’s blog Church Relevance

Rockbridge Seminary students who have completed the fully online Touchstone Course may want to review the work you did in the Mentoring Self-Discovery Workbook and assess how mentoring church models might benefit your ministry competency development.