One of the challenges ministries are facing today is the rapid pace in which the culture of ministry is changing. We’ve noticed that lots of things are changing – some driven by the economy and some driven by a greater desire for stewardship. One area that I see the ministry equation changing is in the area of staffing. In the past, we worked with this equation:

Current Expectations + Added Staff = Greater Output

Churches often believed that new staff had to be added to achieve greater output. But today, churches are facing budget crunches that are forcing new thoughts that affect staffing. The equation today looks more like this:

Increased Expectations = Greater Volunteer Involvement + Possible Staff Hires

In our ministry context, we committed not to hire any new staff members in 2011, but to develop the staff that we have into greater leaders. As we look at hiring in the future, we will likely evaluate the level of volunteer involvement and how an added staff position will increase ministry expectations – instead of just adding staff believing that expectations and output will increase.

What are other equations in ministry that you see changing in the 21st Century?

• Most things take longer and cost more than expected. Dr. Chris Stephens
• Get help from others. We used consultant Jim Tomberlin of Multisite Solutions. Jim was highly recommended and he helped us formulate a plan that worked. Since we had no experience, that was significant in the success of the launch.
• Ask lots of questions. Jenni Catron at Cross Point in Nashville answered tons of questions and made us realize that we were not going insane during the process (or maybe she confirmed it).
• The transition will be more difficult than you expect. Tons of things are impacted by multisite – especially communication. As long as we planned and as strategic as we were, there were still areas that I did not expect to be impacted by multisite. If you do not have a culture of change and adaptation, be weary of multisite.
• Prepare your entire church for multisite, not just those in the launch. We were intentional about creating buy-in from the entire church. I think that made our launch more successful.
• Hire the right Campus Pastor. Nothing can be more important, particularly in the first location. We hired a person who had the DNA of FPC and had been at the church for 10 years. It was significant in the success.
• Don’t plan on replicating everything, just the essential things. A church of 600 does not need what a church of 3400 needs. Try to evaluate the needs of each location and launch with those things. (This is challenging because it is hard to remember what is essential at different levels).

I could go  on and on, but remember that multisite needs to be right for your ministry and a leading of God. We literally talked and prepared for multisite for 5 years (a little to long). Today, our Blount Campus averages over 600 in attendance, after beginning with only 225 people.

What multisite experience would you share to help others?

In 2010:

• We missed giving on 3 weekends – 2x due to weather and 1x by choice on July 4th. Our budget was based on 52 weeks, but we only met for 49 weekends!
• We took a $1.15 million dollar offering (CASH) in one weekend. This was the largest single offering ever given in church history.
• Our giving units increased by 110 families. Those families are now giving consistently to the work at FPC.

Sometimes, if you just look at the numbers, a missed goal looks like a loss. In your ministry, look past the visible numbers to see what is really happening organizationally. We could be discouraged by missing a goal instead of praising God for what He has done!

Look for future posts on how we continually have been able to increase giving by an average of 18% per year.

Yesterday, our Pastor Chris challenged every person who calls FPC their church to create plan to grow in Christ in 2011. Here are some of the highlights:

1. Do I have faith as I begin the new year? Trust the plan and provision of God for your life.
2. Have you committed to continue with Christ – no matter what? Most of us want it ALL, NOW. Will you follow no matter what?
3. Are you excited about the future? Ps. 37:4 – “Delight yourself in the Lord…” What are your desires? Where does God want to take you in 2011?
4. Do you have the courage to do what God has called you to this year? Joshua 1:7 – “Be strong & very courageous.”

The fourth one struck me – do you have the courage to do what God has called you to this year? God’s going to walk with you, but you must have the courage.

Is there anything holding you back from accomplishing what He has in store for your life this year?

Early July 2010

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Early August through September Pre-launch

Our team, led by Campus Pastor Wayne Burress, has done a great job! October 3 is going to be an awesome day!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s been a while since I gave you a Blount Campus update. As most of you know, we are opening our second location in Blount County, an area about 25 minutes from the Faith Promise Pellissippi location. Over 300 people have said they will make that location their home when it launches this fall.

So, what’s been happening:

• The Lease Agreement for ~25,000 sq. ft. has been finalized and executed
• The construction documents are nearing completion to create a worship center that seats around 300 people
• The tenant separation wall that divides our space from the Fowler’s Furniture space is nearing completion
• The store front is being transformed to create a new entry into the Faith Promise side of the building

Wayne Burress, Campus Pastor for Blount has been busy and we expect the location will open some time this Fall, immediately requiring 2 worship services. Would you pray for:

• God to use Faith Promise Blount to transform the community
• People to experience a “Come As You Are” church that will change their lives
• A smooth construction process that will begin in the next 2 weeks
• Wisdom in creating a budget and staffing plan the first location

• Make sure you want someone else making decisions. If you are going to hire an XP and continue to make all of the decisions or override all of the decisions they make, then you do not need an XP. You need an administrative assistant to support you so that you can preach and oversee all of the admin functions of your ministry.

• Hire someone you TRUST. DON’T hire someone you just KNOW. I worked at Faith Promise for 2 years before I became the XP and had opportunities to earn my pastor’s trust. We had a developing, thriving relationship before we ever started. If you have any doubts that you can trust the person you are looking at, pass on them.

• Don’t expect them to do everything the way you would do it. The gift mixes between senior pastor’s and executive pastor’s are different. Let the XP lead the way that they are gifted, not they way that you are gifted. Let your differences give you balance and the “best of both worlds.”

• Look for someone who has high capacity. If you want someone to lead your church to new places, you need someone who has a high capacity for leadership and the leadership of just getting things done. XP’s must be able to do a wide variety of jobs…well (or at least pretty good).

• Know that changes will not happen overnight. If you have spent 5 years driving the church into the ground with no structure, an XP will not fix it in 6 months. Expect changes to really begin to happen in years 2-5. After my first year as an XP, Faith Promise’s average attendance declined. However, in year 2, we began to see amazing synergy around the structure and strategy.

If you’re thinking about hiring an XP, first talk to a Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor team that you respect. You will save yourself and that person a lot of headaches and heartaches.

So, here are some thoughts on how you can know if you have a great team.

• No one calls or emails you while you are away. Everyone is clear of their role on the team, and they do not need your input on every decision they are making. Are your team roles clear or is the team dependent on you?

• Greater things happen when are gone. Last weekend (Mother’s Day), we baptized 110 adults, more than any other weekend in Faith Promise’s history. Do greater things happen when you are away, or does everything hinge on you being there?

• Your office keeps running. My assistant, Marti, never misses a beat when I am out. She follows up with anything that comes in and makes the needed decisions or passes things on to others for decisions to be made. Does your assistant work while you are away, or wait for you to return for instruction?

• Big decisions are made or furthered. While I was away, major progress was made on our Blount County Campus. Our Campus Pastor, Wayne Burress was moving it forward each day. He gave me an update today. Can your staff make decisions or further them while you are out of the office?

• You’re not worried & rest while you are away. Honestly, I never worry while I am away. We have the best people in the right places able to make great decisions.

Seriously consider this: Are you building a great team, or are you building a team dependent upon you? That will make you feel very important and needed, but it will hinder all that God can do through you for His Kingdom in the future.

Do you have a great team?

Our road, Faith Promise Lane, joins Horseshoe Bend Lane, which only had one lane to turn in and one lane to turn out (on to a major highway with speeds of 70mph + in a posted 55mph). It created a mess each week.

We hired a firm to study our traffic problems (~$2,000) and make recommendations. They found a couple of major problems:

• We had to be able to “queue” more cars at one time
• We had to have multiple lanes from the entrance all the way to our property
• We had to change our level of service from poor to good

Two weeks ago, the proposed construction was completed. The result: unload time was 10 minutes at the largest service time. That’s a major improvement!

Don’t let anything hold you back from accomplishing all that God wants to do in your church! Study every problem and follow His leading to the solution.

What’s holding your church back?