I’ve heard pastors and ministry leaders say some form of this statement for years:

• “Our people just don’t give.”
• “Our people don’t sign-up to volunteer.”
• “Our people don’t like serving in Kids Ministry.”
• “Our people aren’t interested in missions.”

Whatever the issue may be, it always begins with “our people” and follows with something they’re not doing or won’t do.

Today’s newsletter is about fixing that problem. Enjoy!

Flip the Script

I have no doubt that there are things your church doesn’t do or needs to grow in.

But I’ve never seen a problem resolved when responsibility for the problem is passed to someone else. Changing how you make the statements above changes everything:

• “We haven’t led our people to give.”
• “We haven’t led our people to volunteer.”
• “We haven’t led our people to serve in Kids Ministry.”
• “We haven’t led our people to interest in missions.”

Do you see how this changes everything?

In the one approach you are blaming the congregation for what they’re not doing. This creates a passive leadership posture. “Other churches may be generous, but ours isn’t.” This stifles action on our part.

Changing your statement to make it a leadership problem on our part creates a problem-solving mentality. If our lack of leadership is the problem, what must we do to fix it?

Make a Plan

Once you ask the question and change your level of responsibility, it automatically puts you in solution-mode.

Let the question lead you to make a plan for remedying the issue you are facing. If you haven’t led the congregation to give, then create a strategy for fixing it.

This is how we lead effective change in the church.

As long as we keep blaming the church for what it isn’t, nothing will ever change and we’ll always exonerate ourselves from the equation.

1 Actionable Tip

Identify a problem you want to see fixed and state it in a way that puts responsibility on your leadership.

This will lead to a plan to bring change.

Become a Stronger Leader

Whenever you want to take a next step of growing in your leadership, there are lots of ways you can do that.

1. Cohorts. We have cohorts for Lead Pastors and Student Ministry Leaders. Cohorts begin in February, sign-up ASAP.

2. Individual Coaching. For those who want to get a more tailored coaching experience, this option helps you grow in church leadership skills and solving your church-specific challenges. Sign-up soon, limited spots.

3. Church Consulting. If your church needs revitalization and desires assistance in developing a vision and strategy for going forward, this option can be great for you. We not only help diagnosis issues but work with you to create a plan and coach you on execution.