Missions Rising Feb-Mar 2017

Feb/Mar 2017 Volume 2 Issue 3

!

Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church!

By Tom Cheyney

Executive Director of Missions Receiving and Casting A Vision for Church Planting

By Mark Weible & Tom Cheyney Church Planting Director Executive Director of Missions

www.MissionsRising.com www.GOBA.org

As an association of autonomous Southern Baptist churches, exists to more effectively fulfill the Great Commission as described in Matthew 28:18-20.

MISSION: GOBA is Southern Baptist member churches working together to impact Central Florida and the world with the Good News of Jesus Christ.

VISION: GOBA is a family of healthy growing churches loving, serving and reaching Central Florida and the world by developing and multiplying disciples, leaders, and churches.

The Renovate Conference is developing a group of leaders committed to the work of church growth by revitalizing and renewing churches and church leaders. Key conversations regarding the need for church revitalization and how to incorporate church revitalization into the local church takes place during these crucial days of collaboration.

RENOVATE seeks to influence, train, and equip, a group of church revitalizers that multiplies rapidly across the west with effective principles, ideas and solutions for the enhanced reproduction of church renewal in America.

RENOVATE provides a national platform and delivery network for advocating the need of church revitalization. We seek to spotlight significant practioners and leaders in church renewal. This multi-denominational conference is designed to connect, inspire, equip and challenge church revitalizers.

ReproducingChurches.com exists - to be a catalyst for collaboration among local churches that share a passion for togetherness and sentness for the sake of the Gospel of Jesus and the reproduction of leaders who live sent daily in hopes that new expressions of the church will blossom.

The purpose of G.O.A.L. is to develop leaders who reproduce leaders by encouraging development in the following areas: The leader’s personal life; The leader’s relational style; The leader’s ability to build an effective team, and the leader’s ability to lead organizationally.

This is done through Greater Orlando Adventures in Leadership (GOAL), and through other appropriate seminar and conference venues. Our participants are asked to invest a minimum of two years of personal ministry development and growth in leadership development through the Greater Orlando Baptist Association.

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FEATURES

Feb/Mar 2017 | Vol 2, Issue 3.

Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church

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Receiving and Casting A Vision for Church Planting

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By Tom Cheyney

By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney

MAGAZINE RESOURCES BOOKS, STUDY COURSES, RESOURCES, & E-BOOKS!

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GOBA CONTENT CHANNELS for Pastors, Church Revitalizers, Church Planters, and Ministry Leaders

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6 REMARKABLE TOOLS TO FORTIFY

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Renovate One-Day Training

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Mission New York

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Renovate 2017 Conference

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THE PASTOR WITHIN YOU

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Welcome to the Missions Rising Magazine:

The Bi-monthly Resource Magazine from Central Florida for Pastors, Staff, and Church Leaders!

Volume 2, Issue 3

Missions Rising is published bi-monthly by the Greater Orlando Baptist Association 1906 Lee Road Orlando, FL 32810 Email: goba@goba.org

PUBLISHER Dr. Tom Cheyney Associate Publisher Mark Weible Associate Publisher Circulation & Marketing Staff Executive Editor & Brand Manager Tom Cheyney Magazine Designer & Format Editor Gerald Brown Director of Advertising Ashleigh Cheyney Stock images from ISTOCK Photo or where otherwise noted. © Copyright 2017 Greater Orlando Baptist Association

Last year was a tremendous year for the Greater Orlando Baptist Association! Here are some of the highlights: • The Annual Celebration in October had more than 900 guests and volunteers! It was our largest ever.

• Once again the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference was a tremendous success. Please pray for us as we continue to tweak the conference to make it even better. One new tweak is that we are moving the conference to FBC Winter Park which is just a few miles away from where we previously were meeting. The primary reason is that we needed larger breakout rooms for the conference.

We are going to have less breakouts but need bigger rooms than we were able to have previously.

• Throughout our ministry area we planted fifteen new churches and trained church planters in ten church planting center events.

• More than 1,000 pastors and church members were equipped in our monthly Renovate One-Day Trainings and Conference.

• Our GOAL Leadership training coached and mentored planters, pastors, and church leaders in seven significant leadership one-day trainings. We assisted 22 churches in individual equipping events.

As your mission partner and GOBA family it is a great blessing to be able to provide you such a cutting edge resource on a regular basis.

Stay connected, more is coming... This issue is focused around: How to deal with morale issues in the church.

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Executive Director of Missions for the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and serves as the Executive Editor for the Missions Rising Magazine.

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BOOKS, RESOURCES,

, E-BOOKS!

STUDY COURSES

&

Did you know that GOBA and Missions Rising offers pastors and church leaders an array of resources through our GOBA Bookstore?

You can order books online, download free eBooks, find helpful tools for leading the local church, and discover just-in-time resources to help you as a pastor or lay leader.

Church Revitalization 101: Seven Pillars of Church Revitalization and Renewal: $49.95 Value (FREE)

GOBA offers you study courses that can help you learn how to strengthen and grow your church!

The Church Revitalizer As Change Agent

Preaching Towards Church Revitalization

The Nuts & Bolts of Church Revitalization

Tom Cheyney

Tom Cheyney Larry Wynn

Tom Cheyney Terry Rials

Visit: GOBA.org/resources for the most up to date set of resources designed to help the local church.

38 Church Revitalization Models For The 21st Century Tom Cheyney

The Healthy Church: Practical Ways to Strengthen a Church’s Heart Bob Whitesel

Building A Healthy Multi-ethnic Church Mark DeYmaz

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GOBA RESOURCES & CONTENT CHANNELS

for Pastors, Church Revitalizers, Church Planters, and Ministry Leaders

Delivering Quality Thinking, Strategic Thinking, Leadership Practices and News

Go to Missions Rising.com for the latest news, podcasts, blogs, articles, just-in-time resources, and suggested books from the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and our content channel architects.

CHURCH PLANTING OrlandoChurchPlanting.com 6

GOAL OrlandoLeaders.com

RENOVATE CONFERENCE RenovateConference.org

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REPRODUCING CHURCHES ReproducingChurches.com

RENOVATE ONE DAY RenovateConference.org/One-Day

RESOURCES RenovateConference.org/ bookstore 7

Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church Congregations vary in how well they complement their staff. The pastor sets the pace and example for this to happen. When a staff worker works tirelessly serving the congregation but seldom gets affirmed publicly or privately, and is constantly criticized, morale drops. I want to talk with you about raising the morale in the local church! We will look at the causes of low morale within the local body of believers and then we will give some practical guidance about lifting up the low morale in many of our churches and then maintaining the morale. I must say that this is the job of the lead pastor and the governance body. Lifting morale is not done from the lower organizational seat but the higher ones.

In the film Mary Poppins, there is a scene (the one where she sings A Spoon Full of Sugar) in which Mary is trying to get the children do some work they don’t want to do. She gets them to do it by convincing them that whether it’s work or fun depends on your point of view. She says, “In every job that must be done, there’s an element of fun. Find the element of fun and it becomes a game.” Bringing your sense of humor and a lighter attitude toward your work (while continuing to take your work seriously) assures that you’ll always find that element of fun on your job.

No matter where I go, someone is always coming up to me and asking the question: How do you get the morale up in down times? One of the best ways I know to get the morale up in a plateaued organization is by first raising our very own as leader’s, staff, and support help.

Is Your Church Suffering from Low Morale-itis?

Do you have individuals in your church that drag into church each week spreading negativity and a general lack of enthusiasm? Has laughter become something that has long passed in your

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church? Can you remember the last time your church laughed during one of your messages?

If this is a vague memory or a fleeting wish your church membership may have a morale problem and it is up to you to boost it up. Remember low morale creeps in to most churches while the pastor leader is too busy holding the hands of the difficult people in church. When that happens, low morale can lead to poor cooperation, lack of collaboration, declining productivity, and increased membership turnover resulting in the flight of the formerly faithful. Wise pastors realize that descending morale can break a church’s chances to grow and prosper. They keep an eye on this barometer and enlist the help from other staff members as well as the governance body to develop creative approaches to strengthen the churches morale. Keep the spiritual atmosphere in church positive.

Those in leadership greatly influence the attitudes of the people in general. When they become discouraged concerning the ministry of the church, so will the people. When the leadership manifests a lack of enthusiasm and excitement for the ministry the downward cycle begins.

When speaking with colleagues, they talk only about what the problems are rather than what God is accomplishing.

Here is something I want every pastor here today to understand. You set the emotional “tone” of the congregation’s environment. Your positive approach to things should eventually improve

One of the best books for all staff to consider reading this coming year would be ZAPP! THE LIGHTNING OF EMPOWERMENT by William Byham and Jeff Cox. Let me read a quote from it for you: Zapp = GIVING power to others (ENERGY GIVERS) My acrostic is: Zealous Affirmative Positive People Sapp = TAKING power from others (ENERGY DRAINERS) My acrostic is: Sucking Attitudes Problematic People I can tell you today as pastors we are either giving power to others or taking power from others. There are people who constantly drain you. Haven’t you been around individuals that drain you so? Then you have also been around others who excite you and fill you and help you feel like you just had a breath of fresh air? Here is what the authors say: “the problem is as I see it is my boss wants more, because management needs more, because the customers demand more, became competitors are delivering more, but I can’t get my people to do more than the bear minimum.”

Then he began to write down what he felt was wrong with the organization. Here is what he said: “Hardly anybody gets excited about anything that has to do with work. The things they do get excited about are outside of work.

My people care more about their pay checks, vacations, and their pensions and anything beyond that forget it. The general attitude is, don’t do anything that you don’t have to do, and then do just as little as possible. Everyday people walk around as if they are in slow motion, until it is time to go home and then it is like watching a video tape in fast forward. I talk about doing a better job and what happens is that I get a lot of blank looks. Nobody takes any more responsibility than they have too. If their jobs don’t get done it is my problem not theirs. Everybody does just enough to get by so they won’t get yelled at or fired. Nobody cares about improvements. And they are all afraid of change. And perhaps I am too, if I will be honest about it. I say if you don’t shape up you will lose your jobs, but all this does is demoralize them. Which makes things even worse. Whenever I try to motivate people, the results if any are short lived.”

On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney

the mood—and therefore the productivity—of everyone in your church. Emotions, like the common cold, are very “catching.” For many ministering in the church, the struggle to maintain the morale of the people is continuous. In a survey of church leaders, the number one problem they confronted was low morale within their churches. This could not only be said of the churches, but of the leaders and pastors as well. Instead of the church triumphantly singing “Throw Out the Life Lines,” the hymn becomes “Throw Out the Life Boats” because the ship is sinking.

…THIS LEADER HAS JUST DESCRIBED AN ORGANIZATION THAT HAS LOW MORALE. The Number One Problem in the Local Church is Low Morale Lyle Schaller: “The Number one problem in the local church is low morale.” There are a number of causes for low morale in a local church. Let me give you ten of these and then we will look at ten characteristics of low morale churches:

Ten Causes of Low Morale within a Church 1. Being small in a large society.

The American culture measures everything by size; the bigger the better. This is true from houses to muscles, from candy bars to corpo-

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Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church -Continued rations. This is even true of perception of churches. The larger the church the more recognition it receives and the more it is upheld as the model of a successful church. Smaller churches can develop a sense of inferiority that results in low morale, especially if the church has had little or no growth.

2. Past problems within the church.

If the church has had significant problems within the congregation which has resulted in a sense of loss, the excitement of ministry can be diminished.

Issues such as church discipline, conflicts, financial difficulties, a significant drop in membership, or the discontinuation of a significant ministry can sap the spiritual and emotional vitality of the congregation.

6. Lack of clear definition of success.

For many today the definition of success for church ministry is the ability to generate numerical growth. Since many small churches are not in a position to grow, the lack of growth results in low morale. Because the small church often does not define what marks the success of a particular ministry, they are never able to determine when they have in fact accomplished their purpose.

7. Lack of communication.

Morale is directly related to the sense of significance and purpose in the activities and ministries the church performs. Morale for an army is at its lowest when there are no battles being fought. If there is no direction or purpose, activity can be reduced to an attitude of “being busy doing nothing.�

When communication is absent, people become frustrated by a sense of powerlessness. They are not only unsure of what is going on, but they feel that they no longer have any input in the direction and decisions of the church. When people no longer feel important to the church, their morale and excitement about the ministry will be undermined. Furthermore, a lack of communication results in misunderstandings which bring further personality tensions within the congregation.

4. Succession of small disappointments.

8. Burn-out.

5. Conflicts and personality tensions.

This also happens when people are given tasks that they have not been trained to perform. When people feel inadequate for the responsibility, they become discouraged. The Jews rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem became discouraged when they perceived the rubble to be beyond their

3. Lack of clear direction for the church.

While minor disappointments will normally not affect the morale of a congregation, when there is a succession of small disappointments the cumulative effect undermines morale. Continually having new ideas and ministries fail or not meet the expectations will develop a sense of defeatism and frustration. The people who return from the exile become discouraged because the new temple did not meet their expectations and their definition of a successful building project (Ezra 3:12,13). Every church needs some success to develop a sense of accomplishment for their efforts.

While all churches will have occasional conflicts and personality clashes, in the small church it is especially potent since the tensions will be felt by the whole congregation. Furthermore, since the small church places a premium upon relationships, the

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disagreements threaten the perceived strength of the church.

Two major cause of burn-out are over-involvement and a sense of inadequacy. When people become over-committed in the ministry of the church, the emotional reserves necessary to adequately perform the tasks become depleted. Since only a handful of people are willing to do the work of the ministry, the tendency is for the church to give them too many responsibilities. The result is that they no longer sense that they are doing an adequate job so they become frustrated.

9. External opposition.

Battle fatigue is not only a danger for the army, it is a danger for the church as well. Elijah became discouraged when he realized that he was not having any victory over the external opposition that he faced (1 Kings 18-19). A church that ministers in an area that is unreceptive to the gospel can easily become disheartened.

focused in ministry. Rather than seeing themselves as the means by which God communicates his grace to the community at large, the church focuses all its ministries upon meeting internal needs. The church becomes more focused upon running programs that maintain the church rather than ministering to those outside the church.

2. Loss of vision for ministry.

A church attempting to build a new building can become discouraged when they continually come up against zoning and building regulations. Churches can become depressed when they are confronted with outside resistance over which they have no control.

Low morale brings about a loss of vision and passion for ministry. When people become discouraged, they lose sight of what they can and are called to accomplish for Christ. Instead of a sense of purpose and direction in ministry they question the legitimacy of the ministry. Organizational paralysis results when the church no longer has the emotional and spiritual energies to make necessary changes for effective ministry.

10. Succession of pastors.

3. Sense of futility.

The small church is often plagued with a succession of short-term pastors. While some pastors understand, cherish, and enjoy the unique cultural and ministry challenges in the small church, many others find themselves unable to cope with the isolation of rural ministry and the financial pressures resulting from the low salary package which the small church offers.

The result is that they become discouraged and quit the ministry or move on to greener pastures. The church then begins to develop an attitude that “nobody wants us.� They become discouraged thinking that they are inferior and unimportant to the kingdom of God.

Ten Characteristics of Low Morale Churches Now let us look at the ten characteristics of churches which produce low morale:

1. Inward focus of ministry.

Churches that are suffering from low morale become inward

On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney

ability to move (Nehemiah 4:10). Training for ministry enables people to develop confidence that they are competent for the tasks.

The mood of the church becomes bleak when people have a sense of futility in their efforts.

They wonder if the ministry is significantly accomplishing God’s purpose or merely maintaining an organization. No longer is there any expectations for effectiveness in the programs.

Results are not achieved, nor look for.

4. Preoccupation with what is wrong.

Instead of celebrating successes and accomplishments, the focus shifts to what is being done wrong and the faults in the programs.

Discussion at meetings tend to be upon what is wrong rather than what needs to be done and the results achieved.

5. Increase in conflicts and personality tensions.

While conflicts and personality tensions may result in low morale, in many cases low moral may be the cause of conflict rather than the result of the conflict. Tensions arise when people begin to address and identify what they perceive to be the factors undermining the enthusiasm of the church.

Continued on Page 14

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Developing A

Multi-Cultural Church Workshop with Dr. Mark DeYmaz

RENOVATE One-Day Training

DATE: Thursday March 16, 2017 PLACE: Waterstone Church Altamonte Springs, FL Ron Smith, Host Pastor SCHEDULE: 9am - 3pm COST: $49 per person

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OrlandoLeaders.com A thought-leading author, pastor, and recognized champion of the Multiethnic Church Movement, Mark planted the Mosaic Church of Central Arkansas in 2001 where he continues to serve as Directional Leader. In 2004, he co-founded the Mosaix Global Network with Dr. George Yancey and today serves as its president, and convener of the triennial National Multi-ethnic Church Conference. In 2008, he launched Vine and Village and remains active on the board of this 501(c)(3) non-profit focused on the spiritual, social, and financial transformation of Little Rock’s University District and the 72204 ZIP Code.

Mark has written six books including his latest, Disruption: Repurposing the Church to Redeem the Community (Thomas Nelson, March 2017); and Multiethnic Conversations: an Eight Week Guide to Unity in Your Church (Wesleyan Publishing House, October 2016), the first daily devotional, small group curriculum on the subject for people in the pews. His book, Building a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (Jossey-Bass, 2007), was a finalist for a Christianity Today Book of the Year Award (2008) and for a Resource of the Year Award (2008) sponsored by Outreach magazine. His other books include, re:MIX: Transitioning Your Church to Living Color (Abingdon, June 2016); Leading a Healthy Multi-Ethnic Church (formerly Ethnic Blends; Zondervan, 2010, 2013). In addition to books, he is a contributing editor for Outreach magazine where his column, “Mosaic” appears in each issue.

He and his wife, Linda, have been married for thirty years and reside in Little Rock, AR. Linda is the author of the certified best-seller, Mommy, Please Don’t Cry: There Are No Tears in Heaven (Multnomah, 1996), an anointed resource providing hope and comfort for those who grieve the loss of a child. Mark and Linda have four adult children and two grandchildren. Mark is an Adjunct Professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and teaches D.Min. courses at seminaries across the country including TEDS, Western, and Phoenix, where he earned his own D.Min. in 2006.

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Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church -Continued 6. Loss of enthusiasm in the leadership.

Those in leadership greatly influence the attitudes of the people in general. When they become discouraged concerning the ministry of the church, so will the people. When the leadership manifests a lack of enthusiasm and excitement for the ministry the downward cycle begins. When speaking with colleagues, they talk only about what the problems are rather than what God is accomplishing.

7. Loss of membership.

If the morale continues to decline so will the membership. New people arriving will not stay, and those who have the least amount of interest will quickly leave. This begins a downward cycle in which the membership decreases because of the low morale which in turn further discourages those who remain, causing more to leave. On the other hand, churches with high morale attract new people, which in turn raises morale, which attracts even more people.

8. Ministry becomes a duty rather than a joy.

Instead of love for others and for God being the motivational factor in ministry, people perform tasks and responsibilities only out of a sense of obligation and duty. No longer do people feel a sense of excitement, joy, and purpose in service.

9. Fixation with the past.

Whether it be a fixation upon the glory years or the problems of the past, the discussion always reverts to the former state of the church. No longer is there a sense of optimism about the future.

Instead of thinking about where the church is going, the church becomes bogged down in the quagmire of where the church has been.

10. Loss of spiritual perspective.

Instead of being confident in God’s ability to work through the church, the church becomes overwhelmed by its own inabilities. Problems become

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insurmountable barriers as people focus on their lack of resources, lack of proficiency, and lack of training. No longer does the church see what God can accomplish through the church. Instead, they develop a short- sighted vision for ministry.

Some Warning Signs of Low Morale in Your Church Staff and Leaders Check where you are with these warning signs of low morale in your church staff and key lay leaders. If you have three or more of the following statements that describe your church, even if under “mild” circumstances, you need to work on improving the morale of your staff team. If either of the last two statements describe your church, you must take action right away. Here are the warning signs: 1. The staff develops a critical spirit. Faultfinding, complaining and negativism in general find their way into day-to-day work life.

2. The staff exhibits an uncooperative attitude.

There is a lack of a servant’s heart. Some are territorial and protect their own turf, and even have a political edge.

3. The staff loses sight of the vision. The big picture has been lost to individual agendas.

4. The staff displays a lack of enthusiasm. There is little passion and low energy. The teams are comfortable. For a few, it’s “just a job.”

5. The staff reveals a lack of commitment. Initiative is not strong. There is little risk in play.

Meeting only the minimums and cutting corners is noticeable.

6. The staff lacks spiritual fervor. It seems more about work and less about prayer and God’s favor. Momentum is probably lacking.

7. The staff begins to cause more problems than they solve. Most

8. The staff shows a disregard and lack of respect for top leadership. This is one of the most dangerous signs. Trust is in jeopardy and trouble is brewing. Ignore this, and potentially lose your church.

9. The staff uses low morale as a rally point.

This is a lethal warning sign. When the team uses low morale as a point to discuss, rather than a specific issue to solve, it’s past time to take action. Jump on it. Confront the issue.

Call a consultant. Do something!

The question for all of us is how do I get the morale up in a down or plateauing church?

Note: It’s EASY to sapp, It’s HARD to zapp!

YOU HAVE GUESSED THAT I BELIEVE THE BEST WAY TO GET THE MORALE OF THE PLATEAUED CHURCH UP, IS BY GETTING THE MORALE OF THE PASTOR UP. One in three church leaders have low morale - what would cheer them up? Question: Who determines how zapped or sapped a staff member is?

1. THE MINISTERS DIRECT REPORT

They will determine if they person is zapped or sapped. The individual who is the one you answer to the majority of the time is critical to weather you feel sapped all the time or are encouragingly zapped. You staff where you are the only minister on staff often have it the hardest because there will be someone who believe through self-appointment that they are called to be your sapper.

2. THE PEOPLE YOU HANG WITH (environmental attitude) If you choose to hang out with people that are constantly negative, always tearing you down, and cannot find the good in anything than

you have asked for the sapping you are getting.

Are those who you hang with giving you energy or draining you of energy?

3. THE MINISTER WHO IS THE LEAD PASTOR (Is he an energy supplier? A Zapper

or Sapper?)

There are many churches where the pastor/ leader is so pessimistic that the only ones who can stand to hang around them are fellow naysayers. If you are a sapper it will be hard for you to keep staff. You will become the weakest link.

Far too often staff who can do end up working for those who cannot.

On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney

churches explode from the inside, and this is how it happens.

4. THE GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE AND SYSTEMS

A churches governance structure and systems can often be a sapper. When you have allowed old and outdated system to control your church not only will the staff morale begin to suffer but those younger generations will be prone to take flight and leave because they have simply had enough of worn out systems and structures. Perpetuating the status quo only hurts the churches chances of reaching a new generation which desires to return to church. Cumbersome structures, bureaucratic strongholds, and systems that are difficult to navigate can either drain energy or give energy.

Rick Warren: “If you want to find out the temperature of an organization, what you need to do is put a thermometer in the leader’s mouth.”

Remember if the leader is down the organization will be down, too. We follow the leader.

Usually an organizations morale is a shadow of the leader’s morale.

My “Pick Me Up” Plan

(John C. MAXwell Taught me this over thirty years ago and I thank him everyday!)

Continued on Page 18

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Low Morale the Single Greatest Challenge Which Can Hobble Any Church -Continued My Spiritual Steps: 1. WORSHIP BY MYSELF, JUST GOD AND ME (I love to listen to worship and praise music)

2. MY WAKE-UP TIME WITH THE LORD (IN THOSE QUIET HOURS)

It is the life changing time for me! I am an early riser and my time from 4:30 until 6:30 AM is precious.

3. WITHDRAWAL TIME (THINK, WRITE, PLAN, & PRAY) 4. PRAYER TIMES 5. I REMEMBER THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL “The steps of good men are directed by the Lord. He delights in each step they take.”

Psalm 37:23 Whatever occurs, God has sovereignly surveyed and approved. We may not know why (we may never know why), but we do know our pain is no accident to Him who guides our lives. He is, in no way, surprised by it all. Before it ever touches us, it passes through Him.

6. GO TO GOD, THEN GET TO WORK (JCMAX taught me this!)

Ruth Graham: “She waited for the call that never came, searched every mail for a letter, note or card that bore his name. And on her knees at night and on her feet all day, she stormed heaven’s gate in his behalf. She plead for him in heavens high court, be still and wait the word he gave, and so she knew he would do in and for and with him, that which she never could. Doubts ignored she went about her chores with joy, knowing though spurned his word was true. The prodigal had not returned, but God was God and there was work to do!”

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There comes a time when we give it to him and get back to work because there is work to do. Here is what I do often with staff:

1. Have a Daily Huddle.

When people are down, keeping it quiet only makes it worse. Have daily mini-meetings where you share the actions and progress you’re taking to make things better. Do this through a daily standing huddle. It creates a natural shot of energy—and is better for you than dough nuts and coffee. Remember this: people’s emotions are a result of the stories they are telling themselves in their heads. When your people are down, keeping it quiet will only make it worse. Have daily huddles (standing mini-meetings that last no more than 10 minutes) where you share the actions and progress you are taking to make things better. Let people share specific challenges they are facing, and the actions they are taking it to fix it. The daily huddle creates a regular shot of energy (better for you than dough nuts and coffee). There is nothing worse than starting the huddle process and dropping the ball on it… that will further crush morale.

2. Switch Up the Schedule.

When people are in a rut, you need to break the routine. Let them start late on Monday so they can clear up any personal stuff from the weekend and come in focused and ready to turn things around.

When people are in an emotional rut they are typically in a action rut too. Let them change the schedule of their activities, and you will instantly change their emotional rut. For example, let them start late on Monday so that they can clear up any personal stuff from the weekend and come in focused and ready to turn things around.

3. Remember the “Why.”

The tax collector’s office is about as excited about collecting taxes as you are about paying them.

But if these workers are reminded that the funds they collect are to protect citizens, beautify parks, improve education and more, that can really help improve morale. Use this concept in your business:

4. Say “Thank You.”

This one’s easy. It takes two simple words. Say it, say it about something specific, and say it with meaning. Appreciation always increases morale. Acknowledging the difficult times, helps a lot too.

5. Change the Scenery.

Even in a great workspace emotions can fall when the physical environment stays the same.

Get your team out of the office occasionally for a totally unique and different activity, like volunteering for a day at Habitat for Humanity.

While everyone is out, have the office freshly painted with bright colors. The return to a clean space may just be the spark you need to instantly improve morale. Morale is the result of the stories going on in your employees’ heads.

The more they repeat negative stories, the more morale suffers. The cure is sparking a new, authentic story and sticking with it. The spark is easy and brings instant results.

6. Take the Bullet.

When your people are facing difficult challenges and morale is sinking, be the ultimate leader and take the bullet for your team. Take on the dirty work, handle the nasty confrontation.

Show your team you are there to serve them, and morale will go up.

7. Remove the Road Block.

Figure out what the one biggest stress point is that your employees are facing. Is it the detailed monotony of filling out time sheets? Is it a particularly nasty client no one likes to deal with? Find the problem and then step up and take it on yourself.

Steps Toward Raising the Morale of the Local Church Raising and maintaining the morale of the church is not a luxury for the church leader. It is

vital to its health and existence. When morale becomes low, not only do the people become discouraged, but the church no longer attracts new visitors from the community. To raise and maintain the morale of the church, the leader needs to be intentional in his activities and creative in his leadership.

We will talk more next time about these ever important steps to lifting the morale, how to further maintain the morale in a local church, the action steps for lifting a churches morale, and close by providing you with fifty-two (one for every week of the year) stress relievers that can lift the morale in your church.

On Point with Dr. Tom Cheyney

Remember to talk about the purpose behind what your employees do. Talk about the why.

Remember low morale creeps in to most churches while the pastor leader is too busy holding the hands of the difficult people in church. When that happens, low morale can lead to poor cooperation, lack of collaboration, declining productivity, and increased membership turnover resulting in the flight of the formerly faithful. Wise pastors realize that descending morale can break a church’s chances to grow and prosper. They keep an eye on this barometer and enlist the help from other staff members as well as the governance body to develop creative approaches to strengthen the churches morale. .

Dr. Tom Cheyney is the Exec-

utive Director of Missions for the Greater Orlando Baptist Association and serves as the Executive Editor for the Missions Rising Magazine. He is the Founder & Directional Leader of the Renovate National Church Revitalization Conference and provides various training events designed for the local church.

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MISSIONS RISING 6 REMARKABLE TOOLS TO FORTIFY THE PASTOR WITHIN YOU.

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may inquire to the costs involved and the commitments, which need to made as to the duration of the coaching cohort. There is an 18-month initial commitment required to join the network and an additional 18 months might be granted for further coaching towards church revitalization and renewal.

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These one-day training events are offered locally each month on the third Thursday and as arranged annually across North America. These events train pastors, staff, and laity in the necessary skill sets for the revitalization and renewal of the local church. Anyone is welcome at these monthly events and we promote them a month in advance allowing those who want to fly in to do so.

RENOVATEconference.org/OneDayTraining

GOAL LEADERSHIP TRAINING The Greater Orlando Adventures in Leadership is a 10-month per-year leadership training designed for

both laity and ministers alike. These monthly events are one day events laser focused towards a specific leadership issue.

OrlandoLeaders.com

REPRODUCING CHURCHES CHURCH PLANTING CENTERS These one-day training events are offered locally on the first Thursday of each month and as arranged

annually across North America. These events train church planters, church planting teams, and laity of the church plant in the necessary skill sets for the planting, reproducing, and multiplying of the local church.

The local Central Florida events are offered for free while some of the national one-day events have a cost associated with the event.

ReproducingChurches.com/OneDay

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Receiving and Casting A Vision for Church Planting

By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney “When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them” (Acts 16: 7-10).

Jesus helps us understand what it means to receive a vision from God in His prayer, “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt.

6:9-10). Therefore, an appropriate exercise for church planting might include answering the question: “If God had His will and His kingdom was to come as a result of His church being planted among a specific unreached people, what would it look like?”

In Acts 16, we see a clear example of how God imparts vision to his people. The biblical pattern is that the vision originates with God; it is given to His chosen leader; then shared with the team and given to His followers. Godly vision is not initiated by the leader it is not the leader’s vision. He doesn’t own the vision; the vision owns him.

Developing a Shared Vision

Vision Flow GOD > Leader > Team > Followers The Biblical Foundation

The result of the vision received by Paul was that new churches were planted in places like Phillipi – the leading city of Macedonia, and people’s lives were dramatically changed by the gospel. A vision for church planting begins with God and his purposes and results in people being reached with the gospel, the making of disciples and the multiplication of churches. Throughout scripture we see that whenever God wants His people to do something: He chooses a leader and a team to work with the leader. Then the vision for what God wants accomplished is given to the leaders, shared with the team and cast to the people.

A biblical understanding of vision is an appropriate step for bringing clarity to church planting. It becomes is the responsibility of the church planter to receive a revelation from God1 , which is the foundation for discovering a shared vision. This will result in a clear understanding of what God desires to accomplish through him in the planting of His church.

1 Blackaby, Henry and Richard, Spiritual Leadership: Moving People on to God’s Agenda (Broadman & Holman Publishers: Nashville, 2001), pp. 57-72.

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A simple definition of shared vision in a church planting context is: God’s revelation of what He wants to accomplish in the reaching of a certain people group at a particular point in the future as a result of His church being faithfully planted. It is important to understand that this kind of vision is not created, for it already exists within the heart of God. Therefore, it is discovered as God reveals it to the listening church planter. This revealed vision must be shared by the church planter, the church planting team, and the body of Christ.

If this is the case, how does one go about discovering a shared vision? A shared vision is discovered over time and results from a number of different processes. The following are some common processes that can assist church planters in discovering God’s vision.

1. Shared vision often begins with an intense burden owned by the church planter and affirmed by key individuals. It reflects real needs among an unreached people. It is important that although the vision may be cast by the church planter it is ultimately owned by a growing core of disciples. Any process utilized for discovering a shared vision must include those who join the planter in the mission of planting the church.

2. Shared vision is cultivated through a season of intense prayer and fasting. Since a fresh vision is the result of hearing from God, it is important that the planter spend time alone with God in order to hear Him clearly. For those who are initiators by nature, it is important for the visioning process to

3. Shared vision grows out of biblical convictions and is affirmed and cultivated through Scripture. Often that which moves an individual in a new direction is a fresh revelation from God’s Word. A fresh understanding of a biblical passage or theme can result in a new burden or commitment to the urgency in which the Great Commission is carried out.

4. Shared vision clearly reflects what God is doing in a given context or among an unreached people. At the very center of any vision is the biblical truth that people matter to God. Any vision that has a motive other than glorifying God and reaching lost people should be called into question. We can rest assured that God is already at work in the lives of unreached people, and He invites us to join Him there. When the invitation gets specific and the evidence that God is at work becomes clear, it is time to respond. In the meantime, as we wait for a clearly shared vision, it is our responsibility to prepare to respond.

Building from the Foundation of Shared Vision Strategic Preparedness

Once a shared vision has been received, one has a foundation from which to proceed. All planning should follow a preparedness paradigm. That is, instead of making plans and asking God to bless them, our plans should direct us toward activity that prepares us to respond to what God is doing.

Strategic preparedness focuses on aligning our lives in such a way that we can best respond to what God is doing around us. Strategic preparedness is not contrary to planning, but focuses on the type of planning we do. It forces us to direct our planning toward assuming a posture that can quickly respond to what God is doing around us and His invitation to join Him in the planting of His church. In Genesis 12:1-4 God gave Abram a revelation of what He wanted to accomplish in and through him.

“The Lord had said to Abram, ‘Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.’ So Abram left, as the Lord had told him; and Lot went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old when he set out from Haran.”

Notice Abram’s response to God’s revelation.

Abram simply left and did what the Lord revealed to him. A good question to consider is, “If God revealed a new thing to us in relationship to what He wants to accomplish in and through us, how long would it take us to get in a position to respond?” Spiritual preparedness is about positioning ourselves or assuming a posture that frees us to respond to God’s activity around us.

Multiplying Churches with Mark Weible

include time for prayer and fasting. A vision from God will become clearer and more intense over time.

When following a preparedness paradigm there are a number of components that make up a shared vision. They include: • Vision Statement—A vision statement flows out of your overall vision and serves as a means to communicate “what” God has called you to become as a church.

• Mission Statement—A mission statement describes, “How you are to accomplish the vision that is the “what.”

• Core Values—Core values are deep-seated convictions that drive behavior. While vision serves to ignite us, core values tend to unite us. They become the shared beliefs that are acted out in our daily behavior as a community committed to a common vision and mission.

• System Design—Describes the strategic process by which we accomplish our vision and mission. It also defines the relationships of the individual components to the whole.

Continued on Page 28

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Receiving and Casting A Vision for Church Planting By Mark Weible and Tom Cheyney

• Milepost—A milepost is a significant point of development. It is made up of a series of events or activities that result in the accomplishment of a major development in the life of a church plant.

First, the planter receives a vision from God that clearly reveals what He wants to accomplish in and through the church plant. The planter then must determine the major mileposts needed in order to position himself to respond to God’s continual activity in planting His church. Each of the steps in the EVOLVE process can represent a major milepost that leads to a state of preparedness in church planting.

• Getting Ready to Plant— Without question, before beginning the planting process you must be spiritually prepared. Being spiritually prepared postures you to join God in His church planting activity.

• Receive a Vision from God—Receiving a vision from God is a significant mile- post in the life of a church plant. Until you clearly receive a vision from God, you are unable to proceed. Once the vision is received, the church planter has been given God’s marching orders.

• Define Church Planting Focus Group—In Matthew 28:19-20, God lays out His evangelistic strategy, “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” In this text, the word “nations” is not referring to geo-political boundaries. It carries with it an understanding of people groups. It is here that God clearly calls us to take the gospel to all people groups. This milepost involves an understanding of the people group among whom God directs the church to be planted.

After you understand who, you can begin to understand what it means to develop a contextual church planting approach among that unreached people group.

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• Develop a Church Planting Team—God has chosen to work through teams in the planting of His church. It is God who puts a team together.

A team is the result of calling, chemistry, competency, and character coming together. In a church plant, there are a variety of teams that come together to accomplish this major milepost.

• Identify Resources—The type of church planted determines the resources needed. Some nontraditional forms of church require very little financial resourcing; others may need significant resources. All churches need people resources.

When resources are identified and mobilized, another significant milepost has been achieved.

• Evangelize Unreached People—God births His church through the discipling of new believers. When the gospel penetrates an unreached people and begins to manifest the fruit of new believers, the new church is ready to be established. Church planting, above all else, is a means to evangelize unreached people and see God’s kingdom brought into a reality. Effective evangelistic penetration signals that another milepost has been achieved.

• Launch Public Ministry—Most church plants have a pre-public phase of ministry and a public phase of ministry. Traditional forms of church planting typically have a public launch that signifies another major milepost has been accomplished and that the church has begun its ministry. Nontraditional forms of church planting typically do not have a public launch. However, both forms of church planting launch their strategy as well as have a time when work is going on behind the scenes. Regardless of the form of church planting, the launching aspect of the ministry is another significant milepost.

• Mobilize and Multiply Ministry—Every disciple should have a ministry to the body and a mission to the world. When this is happening a new milepost is being accomplished. The ultimate goal of any church plant should be the multiplication of

While mileposts may vary from church plant to church plant, each milepost serves as a key organizing principle for accomplishing the church planting vision received from God. Mileposting allows us to ensure that healthy systems are in place prior to planting. When there is a conflict between calendar and the completion of a milepost, calendar should be adjusted.

Communicating Vision

Any visioning process should include the means for communicating the vision. Because church planting involves communicating with a host of other people, a church planting proposal can be a useful tool in introducing the vision to potential partners or core members. Most church planting proposals include the following components.

1. Shared Vision—A description of the vision organized around a vision statement, core values and definitions, and mission statements. It is helpful to present a list of mileposts critical to the planting of the church.

2. People Profile—A description of the people and context within which the new church will be planted. This section should clearly describe the church planting focus group in a way that communicates the importance of planting a church among them.

3. Church Planter Bio—As a brief introduction of the planter, the planter’s family, and launch team, this section might include pictures, biographical and anecdotal information.

4. The Financial Plan—If the church plant requires funding, information related to financial needs should be included. Funding needs can be organized around salary, start-up, and operational budget. Additionally, a list of major partners is helpful if a church planting proposal is being

used to raise additional resources. Also, include several options for participation. Include everything from praying, giving, to going. Issue clear calls to action and identify enlistment options.

5. Prayer needs—A list of prayer needs relating to the planting of the church. This list might include critical spiritual needs related to the ministry focus group, needs related to family, resource needs, and so forth.

It is important to realize that the task of casting vision is never completed. Therefore, an intentional plan for casting and recasting vision must be in place. There are many creative ways for keeping vision before partners, core members, attendees, and others. A holistic approach might include:

Multiplying Churches with Mark Weible

new churches. This signifies that the church has reached a new level of healthy maturity and a final milepost has been realized.

• Orientation class • Annual vision casting services • Printed communication • Small groups • Individual relationships • Sermon series • Testimonies

There are countless ways to communicate vision, but the communication of the vision must be intentional. Therefore, the role of vision-caster is a primary one for the church planter. He will need to constantly cast the vision throughout a process of church planting he has developed.

Rev. Mark Weible serves

the Greater Orlando Baptist Association as the Church Planting Director. He joined the GOBA team in 2002. Mark co-leads the GOAL Leadership training besides serving as our Web architect. Mark serves as the Directional Leader of ReproducingChurches.com.

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