I’m in the hospital recovering from knee surgery. As always, you can learn new things!

As consultants, we find some common challenges, even though we would never treat churches with a “one size fits all” approach. I had a nice discussion with a nurse today who said they find certain pathologies or recovery elements that are recurring at large rates and common.  They have a name for that: “clinical pathway.” As church doctors, we see this as well. Just one example: few churches have written a “Philosophy of Ministry Statement.” This is twelve to fifteen paragraphs identifying values, priorities, and the uniqueness of the church. The absence of a well-known, written philosophy of ministry leads to lack of focus, division, poor ministry alignment (which deters missional velocity), people on the wrong bus, or the wrong seat on the bus, and all sorts of human resource challenges among full-time, paid staff.

Years ago, my mentor, Lyle Schaller, and friend, Rick Warren, encouraged me to write on the subject resulting in the book, Your Church Has Personality. We find our consultants frequently recommending the development of a philosophy of ministry. I often have had second thoughts. Are we in a rut? Can’t we think of something new? I hate people thinking we are just trying to sell books (especially those I have written). However, at the end of the day, it is a key element of church life often lacking. It happens also in medicine as well as in churches. It is a “clinical pathway.” What clinical pathways do you see in your church?

7 of 7 in the series Crumple Zones

Today I finished the series Crumple Zones hosted on my personal blog: Church Doc Talk. In the series we took a detailed look at a common tension point in many American churches.

Crumple Zones: The Coexistence of What and Why: This post looked at the peaceful coexistence of differing ideals. It also uncovered the hidden danger of the perception of unity within the body.

Crumple Zones: What and Why Collide: If left untreated, this is the eventual outcome of the coexistence of what and why.

Crumple Zones: State of Collision: This is the state most churches in America find themselves. It is a result of leadership reacting to the pressure to keep “the what” at the expense of accomplishing “the why”. It is also a direct result of the collision of what and why; with the original collision taking place generations earlier.

Crumple Zones: Exit Ramp: Not every church stays in a state of collision. In some cases the leadership does not buckle to the pressure of “what” and people leave the church as a result.

Crumple Zones: Collision Avoidance: This post was all about exposing the reality of Worldview. Understanding worldview and treating worldview conflict within a local church is the only way to avoid the collision.

Hopefully you have find this series helpful. I welcome any of your comments.

Also, if there is a church related topic you would like to see covered at Church Doc Talk, I welcome that information, too.

–end–

4 of 7 in the series Crumple Zones:

…There is no way to politely skirt this issue, so I’ll just be bold and bring it!

Most churches in America today are operating in a state of collision and don’t know it. They feel the tension, but can’t finger the source. They argue, debate, and discuss; but nothing ever seems to get accomplished. They work hard to keep doing what worked in the past; yet 80% are plateaued, declining, or dying… Click here to read the rest of this post at www.churchdoctalk.com.

2 of 7 of the series Crumple Zones. To follow the entire series visit my blog at www.churchdoctalk.com.

It’s a basic question: what are you doing and why are you doing it? Understanding the coexistence of what and why is vital to the health of your church.

Why: The primary purpose of the church. According to Scripture it’s to make disciples.

What: The things you do to accomplish the primary purpose - worship style, people, programs, etc.

The Coexistence of What and Why: When the primary purpose and the things you are doing to accomplish the primary purpose travel a parallel path.

This church is characterized with an overall sense of satisfaction. There is a tangible buzz created by the activities. However, while there is the perception of unity, everyone is not on the same page.

Some people attend because they like the “why”: Reaching people, and making disciples.

Others attend because they like the “what”: Worship style, programs, etc.

Building the Crumple Zone:

1) Understand the dynamics of what and why.
2) Never underestimate the reality of perceived unity when two different mindsets travel parallel paths

3) Continually teach the Biblical primary purpose - to make disciples.

4) Teach that making disciples requires Christians to subordinate their comfort for the sake of the gospel

5) Most importantly: teach that while the Gospel never changes - methods must in order to reach different cultures and generations.

Why is this important? Because eventually what and why will collide.

–end–

“…All this time and money wasted on fashion - do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it?”

“The 10 best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers - most of which are never even seen - don’t you think he will attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you?” (Matthew 6:28-30 The Message)

This is perhaps the most paradoxical passages of Scripture. On the one hand it is a great promise. On the other hand it is extremely difficult in its daily application. This is especially true in this current season of financial panic.

Ironically, the times we need to lean on this promise the most, are often the times we tend to trust God the least. It is true in our personal lives and it is true in our churches.

–end–

Palliative (Pal-lee-ah-tive) - Alleviating pain and symptoms without eliminating the cause.

Palliative care is what you get when you check into a hospice in the end stages of life. It is the care you get when treating the illness is no longer an option and the only thing left to do is provide as much comfort as possible. Sadly, it is also the care that many churches unknowingly receive from their leadership.

I realize that palliative care has a level of intent about it. It is a cognitive decision to stop medical treatment and begin medical comfort. But what if it wasn’t? What if with full intention of treating the cause all that was being accomplished was treating the symptoms? Would the net result be any less palliative?

This is precisely what many churches are struggling with and why they grow weary and frustrated. Think back to your last board or committee discussion. You may have spent hours trying to come up with a treatment plan to solve a “problem” in your church.

Actually you didn’t: More than likely, without recognizing it, you spent hours discussing symptoms rather than the underlying cause. In other words, you were practicing unintentional palliative care! We see this all the time in our consulting practice. Seriously, we see it in every church we work with!

Providing “medical comfort” to a church that can still respond to “medical treatment” is a significant contributor to the plateau and decline of the majority of American Churches. Granted: Palliative care is not their intent - it’s just their unintended reality.

Communication: It’s been part of the cutting edge of every significant Christian movement known throughout history.

Be it word of mouth, stick drawings in the sand, or the printed page; Christian movements have used the communication tools of the day to effectively impact their culture.

Today communication is called social networking, and its gone global! I can tweet on my twitter and my friend in Australia can “hear me” in a matter of seconds.

I found an interesting article in Time on how some churches are using twitter to boost their own members and reach people far from God. See Twittering in Church, With the Pastor’s Okay

This got me thinking: What would a special twitter Sunday look like in YOUR church? Seriously, I want to know!

If you want your church to reach more people then terms like tweet, twitter, and facebook need to be part of your vocabulary. It’s missionary 101: If you plan to reach the culture you must first speak their language.

Social networking has rapidly integrated into the culture. To ignore this is to add another layer to the increasing perception of irrelevance held by those outside the church.

Can of worms you say? Go ahead - Bring it!

I’ll never forget the experience. I was conducting a worship consultation for a client church. I came 15 minutes early - no one was at the door to greet me. I walked inside the building with the intent of looking lost - no one approached me to help. I navigated my way to an information table where I was told I had to put on a peel and stick visitor name tag that was a different color than the the regular name tags. When I asked if I could have one of the regular name tags instead I was told, “No.” The lady working the table smiled and said, “We want our visitors to know they are special!”

You need to understand, this “special visitor name tag” was brightly colored. It screamed, “Hey! I’m the new guy!” Apparently no one heard its cries.

The church had a gathering space outside the sanctuary with tables for seating. I sat down at one of the tables and proceeded to make eye contact with every person brave enough to look my way. I even overemphasized the presentation of the side of my chest with the name tag. No one stopped to talk with me.

Finally some greeters arrived at their post at the Sanctuary doors. I thought certainly the greeters would respond to my neon name tag. Nope! I know they saw me, because I made eye contact with both of them. I guess neither one of them wanted to stop their conversation long enough to greet the new guy.

Honestly, I felt like I had some kind of disease. Instead of my name tag inviting the members of the church to great me, I felt like it sent a message for them to stay away. Ironically, during my follow-up with the church leadership, they took pride in telling me they were a friendly church! My response: “Really… let me tell you about my experience…”

By now you have figured out I am not a fan of specialized visitors name tags. However, if you insist on doing it - go all the way. Make sure everyone in the congregation knows their responsibility to approach, welcome, and befriend everyone with a visitor name tag. If they have children, offer to help them find the nursery and children’s Sunday School. If you provide coffee and donuts, invite them to come with you and introduce them to your friends. Help them find where the need to be and yes, even offer them a seat next to you in church.

Best solution: Coach your members (not just the greeters) to look for people who look lost when they walk in. Create an environment that encourages your members to approach these people and offer to help them. Most of all - destroy the name tags! They are counter-productive to your efforts.