thinslice book notes

Part Four - Three Simple Stories

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“thinSlice” is a blog that I share my notes and highlights of chapters from books I have read.

Some slices are thinner than others.

 

Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates

of Hades will not overpower it.

~ Jesus, Matthew 16:18 nasb 

 

Clarity > Movement > Alignment > Focus

 

“thinnestSlice” - The Theology of Gates - Upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates

of Hades will not overpower it.

When it is all said and done we win!!!!

The question is, how much will we win by? How big of a dent in the gates of hell will we make? Will we run up the score? Will we push the movement of the gospel forcefully through the gates of hell?

 

Story 1: Immanuel

Immanuel Baptist Church (IBC) is vibrant, alive, and growing. Tony Cecil is the pastor of IBC.

Clarity at Immanuel

Tony gathered a group of godly leaders in his church.

Tony and the group chose to describe their discipleship focus as a process. They call it Connecting, Growing, Serving. First, Immanuel seeks to connect people to God and others. They desire to see people become “connecting believers.” Next they challenge “connecting believers” to become “growing believers” by engaging in opportunities for deeper spiritual growth. Finally, the process ends with “growing believers” committing to become “serving believers.”

thinnerSlice - See the book for the detail story of Immanuel.

Movement at Immanuel

They use their Sunday morning worship services to make “connecting believers.” The worship service is designed to bring people into a relationship with God and other Christians.

People are intentionally moved from the “connecting believer” level to the “growing believer” level. There is a clear overlap between the worship service and the next step. The overlap promotes movement. Without an overlap people fall through the cracks.

Alignment at Immanuel

Since Immanuel is not a large church, there is not a myriad of ministries to align. The primary ministries at Immanuel are the age-specific ministries to children and teenagers. Both the children’s and the youth ministry use the same simple process: connect, grow, and serve.

Focus at Immanuel

They have chosen to focus all energies and resources into a simple process that is clearly defined and moves people.

Fringe Benefits at Immanuel

· Increase morale.

· Urgency. There is an ever-increasing sense of urgency in moving people into spiritual maturity.

· Conversions. We’ve seen a significant increase in adult conversions and baptisms.

· Stewardship improved.

· Unity – overall unity was strengthened.

 

Story 2: Christ Fellowship

Christ Fellowship is a multicultural church consisting of more than seventy nationalities. Rick Blackwood is the senior pastor, and Eric serves as his executive pastor.

There are lots of programs and events, and many people are happy or should I say, comfortable.

However, at Christ Fellowship, God assembled a team of pastors and leaders who were not satisfied. They sought to define the kind of disciple their church was seeking to make.

God impressed on their hearts to focus people on four things: an intimate relationship with God, community with others, serving, and influencing nonbelievers.

 

Clarity at Christ Fellowship

They committed to one statement that features their simple process: Connect to God, others, ministry, and the lost. Christ Fellowship's purpose is their process.

During staff and leadership meetings, the process takes center stage.

 

Movement at Christ Fellowship

The first step in the process is to connect to God. During the weekend worship services people are able to begin or deepen their relationship with Christ.

The second step in the process is to connect to others and that is done through small groups.

The third step in the process is to connect to ministry and minister to others in tangible ways. People are challenged to join a team that is engaged in ministry they are passionate about.

The final step in the process is to connect to the lost. At Christ Fellowship, this step is not a program but a relational lifestyle. People are challenged to invite friends and families to church. is

To facilitate movement to ministry, people are challenged to test-drive a ministry. A test-drive is serving once.

 

Alignment at Christ Fellowship

Alignment is evident at Christ Fellowship. The children’s, middle school, high school, and young adult departments have the same process.

Children, middle school, and high school ministries provide their own Connect to God worship experience. They are offered every time an adult worship service occurs. Each age-specific department also offers small groups on Wednesday nights to connect their group to others. Each department also provides ministry opportunities for their specific age groups.

 

Focus at Christ Fellowship

Eliminating programs that did not fit became necessary to maximize the impact of the process.

Over a two-year period, the church-wide Sunday night worship service was eliminated. And home groups, discipleship groups were combined into one small-group strategy. All groups were placed under the same leadership and philosophy.

Christ Fellowship made many changes to foster their process.

“thinnerSlice” - See the book for details of North Point's simple process.

"7 Practices of effective ministry" is a great place to discover how to assemble a simple but effective ministry.

 

Now What

You have been introduced to the simple revolution. It is now time to become a simple church.

 

—Group Discussion Questions—

1. Why is it much easier to begin as a simple church than it is to become one?
2. What is the relationship between focus and excellence in ministry?
3. Of the four simple church elements—clarity, movement, alignment, and focus—which will be the most difficult to implement? Why?
4. What does the movement of the gospel look like in our community?

Three - Simple Church: An Extreme Makeover

(excerpts and notes from "Simple Church by Thom Rainer)

The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak.  ~ Hans Hofmann

For people to best experience and grow in God’s grace, many churches need a redesign.

Some churches need some tweaking, while others need to redesign completely. Research shows that extreme makeover: church edition is necessary for many churches.

Church leaders must craft opportunities where people will encounter the grace of God.

Leaders are designers, not programmers.

Spiritual growth is a process. It always has been. Thus, it would make sense for church leaders to design their churches around the process of spiritual growth. In 1 Corinthians 3, believers are called God’s children (v. 1), God’s field (v. 9), and God’s building.

That process is critical. Just as babies need the right environment to grow physically, people need the right environment to grow spiritually.

Our wives and the Holy Spirit have a lot in common. It is not enough for our wives to move into a home. That is only the beginning. Redecorating is a must. And this is not a one-time redecorating. It keeps going and going.

They design a simple process and abandon everything else. They rely on their simple process to create the environments conducive to spiritual growth.

Defining a Simple Church

A simple church is a congregation designed around a straightforward and strategic process that moves people through the stages of spiritual growth.

The church is designed. It is not carelessly thrown together.

The simple and strategic process promotes movement. The process flows logically. People are attracted to Christ and the church and then are moved to points of attachment. The programs are used as tools to promote this movement.

The process moves people through the stages of spiritual growth. The goal is to partner with God to move people.

The church is designed to partner with God to move people through stages of spiritual growth.

Research indicates that the simple church strategy is effective. A simple process makes a major difference. The research is convincing.

These four elements enable leaders to have a simple church. Clarity, movement, alignment, and focus will be discussed in detail later in the book.

Clarity

Clarity is the ability of the process to be communicated and understood by the people.

For a church to be simple, the process must have a high degree of clarity.

Leadership and the people know exactly how the church is structured to move people toward spiritual growth. The how is clear. The process (the how) is discussed, taught, and illustrated.

I am not sure it is true that understanding always precedes commitment as stated here.

Before the process can be clear to the people in the church, it must first be clear to the leaders.

If leaders have a difficult time discussing and teaching the ministry process, it lacks clarity.

Ask your leaders what the process is for moving people to maturity in your church.

When there is no direction, people assume a direction or invent one.

Movement

Movement is the sequential steps in the process that cause people to move to greater areas of commitment. Movement is about flow. It is about assimilation. Movement is what causes a person to go to the next step.

Movement is the most difficult simple church element to understand; therefore, an illustration is in order. In a relay race the most important part of the race are the handoffs. Four runners are on the same team, and each runner’s speed is crucial but not nearly as crucial as the handoffs. Relay races are won or lost at the handoffs. Movement is how someone is handed off from one level of commitment to a greater level of commitment. The programs in these churches are tools used to promote movement. The leaders focus on what happens in between the programs, the handoff. Pay attention to the handoff

To implement the movement element, church leaders must take a fresh look at the weekly church calendar and the regularly scheduled programs. All programs must be placed in sequential order along the ministry process. This is what creates movement in a ministry process.

Alignment

Alignment is the arrangement of all ministries and staff around the same simple process.

When a church is fully aligned, all ministries are operating from the same ministry blueprint.

In a church that lacks alignment, everyone is competing for the same space, resources, volunteers, and time on the calendar. Without alignment, complexity is certain. They intentionally fight the drift into misalignment. They insist that each staff member and each ministry embrace and execute their simple ministry process.

Focus

Focus is the commitment to abandon everything that falls outside of the simple ministry process. Focus most often means saying “no.” Focus requires saying “yes” to the best and “no” to everything else. Focus is the element that gives power and energy to clarity, movement, and alignment. They view everything through the lens of the “simple.” They seek to funnel new ideas into their ministry process instead of beginning new paradigms.

Yes, it was the special and sacred snake. The snake that was crafted and held by Moses. The snake that God had instructed Moses to make. The snake that was the source of salvation for the people from their snakebites (Num. 21:6 –8). He got rid of it because it was clutter. It was clutter because the people worshipped it. It took attention away from the real Savior. Bronze was worshipped. A fake snake was adored. What was once a good thing became an idol? It got in the way of their worship of God. The tool for worship became the object of worship. The church needs some modern-day Hezekiahs.

Hofmann once indicated that if you want the necessary to stand out, you have to get rid of the unnecessary. And churches need the necessary to stand out. To be simple you have to eliminate the unnecessary. Most of the things you eliminate will be good things. They were started with a passionate leader and a perceived or real need. The key is to choose the best. Eliminate the unnecessary and keep the best.

—Group Discussion Questions—

1. What is our church’s ministry process?

2. Is our process clear? Does it have clarity?

3. Does our process effectively move people toward greater levels of commitment?

4. Is our process implemented in all areas of our church? Are we aligned around our process?

5. How focused is our church?

6. What would Hezekiah think of our church?

Technorati Tags: Church Organization,Leadership,Pastors

Simple Church - Part 2: The Simple [and Not-So-Simple] Church in Action

To be great is to be simple - Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

Have you ever heard the saying, "you just had to be there?" This happens when you are unable to do it justice by explaining it.

This is true with the simple church. You have to be there and see it in action.

Seeing Simple

The author wants you to see it.  The data presented in this book will resonate more with you if you go there with the author.

So you are invited to go along on a church consultation trip. You will see a simple church in action and a not so-simple one. This consultation goes beyond the typical planning of parking, staffing, programing, and community analysis, which can often be done  by phone. This will be an extensive on-site visit with two real churches who names have been changed. (Please click on blog comments below as you go through this tour to give feedback)

 

First Church

First Church has existed over forty years and is recognized throughout the denomination as a solid church. They have staff members who speak at events and write articles. The church has not grown in the last five years. Very few people come to Christ there. No major turmoil.

Cross Church

Cross Church is not well known and neither were their staff. CC is less than twenty years in age. The church has been growing a lot over the last several years. People have not only been coming to know Christ, they are staying. People seem to get plugged in and contribute.

First Church Statements

The documents most churches have are church bulletins, newsletters, staff manuals, annual budgets, brochures and ministry booklets. The author/consultant, Thom read them all to discover what was most important to First Church and how it is accomplished.

First Church has lots of statements: mission, purpose, vision and strategy statements. Each statement is different and each ministry department has a different statement to describe the focus of the church. What does it all mean?

Different statements appear to come from different church models (Willow Creek and Saddleback).

It would be easier to remember some books of the Bible and much more beneficial.

Questions: Do the statements have anything to do with each other and are they reflective in how the church does ministry?

Based on this information ,Thom is unsure of the real focus of the church.

Interviewing the First Church Pastor

A brief meeting with the pastor of First Church.

He seemed to be back and forth between giving the perception that everything is OK and admitting that he is frustrated.

The question was asked of him what his desire for the church is. What does he believe God is calling First Church to do? He see a church where lives are changed.

He was asked how his church is set up to make this happen. He struggled to answer. He said, "this is why I ask you to come."

Interviewing First Church Leaders

During the author's interviews with key lay leaders, he asked what the focus of their church is.  He got a myriad of responses.

They asked the staff to state their vision or purpose. Few were able to do so.

If the "what" of First Church is not clear, the "how" can't be clear.

The question of "How is your church structured to make disciples" led to confused looks and blank stares. How do you set up your ministry programs to move people toward spiritual transformation? More blank stares.

Cross Church Statement

One major difference from First Church is that Cross Church only has one statement. It is a short statement, adapted by each age group, but the crux of it is the same.

Their focus is to lead people to love God, love others, and serve the world. It is clear, concise and reiterated on all communication pieces.

Interviewing the Cross Church Pastor

There is a lot of consistency with the "love God, love others, serve the world" theme.

"Talk to us about your process. How do you make your purpose happen? "Love God, love others, serve the world is our process." "It is both, our purpose and our process." He knew both biblically and experientially that spiritual transformation is a process. He committed to developing a process for making disciples, a process that pulled everything together and executed the purpose of the church.

See Matt.28:19 (make disciples) and Eph. 4:13. (mature disciples).

He was able to explain the simple process clearly. It was easy to grasp.

Interviewing Cross Church Leaders

The leaders all seemed to speak the same language and it was discussed in staff meetings.

The question was asked, "how does this translate into regular church life?" One church leader responded, "we ask people to do three things a week here; come to a worship service to fall more in love with God and His Word. Go to a small group to love others in community. Serve in a ministry to impact others - Love God, love others, serve the world.

People move through the process simply by going from one program to the next.

 

An easy to view comparison

	First Church - FC	Cross Church - CC
Programming Programs should be tools for movement	Eight major programs in seven days. Not clear what program people are taught to invite guest to. How can they build relationship with their neighbors, the unchurched.	Clear about first step, love God. Worship service is where guest enter the church. The second step, love others. This takes place in small groups where people connect in relationships. The third step is serve the world. People are engaged in ministry. Movement is encouraged at each program.
Staff Meetings	Much of the time was spent managing the calendar because it was pretty full. The staff seemed to be jockeying for position on it.	They spend less than five minutes looking at the calendar. The reason is the calendar is pretty empty. Cross Church devotes most of the time discussing weekly program evaluations as a working part of the discipleship process.
Numbers - Do you see the difference?	FC monitors the number of people involved in each program and each program is viewed separately.	CC evaluates how many people are at each stage of the process and the movement that has or has not  occurred.
	FC views numbers vertically, the increase in amount of people in the program.	CC views the numbers horizontally, the increase in the movement of people.
New Ideas - New ideas and opportunities often surface in staff meetings	FC is hosting two special events this month that are competing for the time of many people. The sentiment is that the families should be willing to give two entire weekends to church programs in the same month and all the regular weekly programs as well. Result, registration was very low.	CC also has a deep burden for families that are struggling, but instead choose to meet the need through their ministry process. They started several small groups that will deal with these issues and they are making relational connection (love others). They got a great response.
Staffing Decisions	FC's goal is to assemble an all-star type staff, the best available. The stated philosophy is "hire thoroughbreds and let them run." They seem to end often with competing philosophies. Sometimes they need a referee.	CC looks for character, competency, and chemistry. They can't just be good they must be onboard with the ministry process. Unity is a major concern for CC.
The Announcements - Announcements during a worship service can tell a lot about the life of a church	FC gives eight passionate announcements encouraging everyone to attend each one. People are going to have to pick and choose. FC has a lot of activity, busyness and a lot of complexity. They need a process to guide them.	CC's announcements are about movement to the next step. People seem to know exactly what they are invited to next. There were three announcements. Simple. Everything fits into the big picture.

The Simple Church Experience

Two real churches with two very different experiences.

Is your church more like First Church or Cross Church?

Would you like your church to be more like Cross Church?

Is it possible for your church to make such a radical change?

In what ways does your church resemble First Church and Cross Church?

 

Stay connected to "thinSlice" for Part Three - Simple Church: An Extreme Makeover

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Simple Church - Part 1: The simple revolution has begun (Thom S. Rainer & Eric Geiger)

Technorati Tags: Church organization,Leadership,Pastors

This book is designed to help your church simplify the process of discipleship making based on the model you have chosen.

As you read my "thinSlices" of this book focus on these four words Clarity, Movement, Alignment, and Focus. These words will come alive as you progress chapter to chapter.

The Not So Simple Life

Pastor Rush, a name representative of his life, probably never envisioned his plate being so full. He most likely did not expect his role to consume his life and drift from his calling. To busy to share his faith even when God presents him with opportunities - meetings, speaking engagements, visitation, message prep, family, etc...  He attends conferences that motivate him to make changes, but with each passing day the thought drifts further and further away.

At this point simple sure sounds good to Pastor Rush.

 

The Revolution

Simple is in!!!

We are hungry for simplicity because the world is becoming so complex. Technology is growing at a rapid pace with a slowdown nowhere in sight. More information is available to us than ever and it tends to complicate our decisions. If you add to that our complex and busy live, there is longing for "simple".

The simple revolution has begun.

Apple knows this...

In my mind Apple is probably the best example of simple.

Here's a list of just a few:

• The computer mouse and Icons in the 70's made the computer user friendly -simple
• ipod - has one big button to navigate everything
• Itunes with automatic download music and podcast
• "Plug and play" - plug hardware into a Mac computer and it's ready to go
• How about this -one (same price everywhere) price for Apple products. No need to shop around.

Many examples are give in the book, but you get the point. This just a "thinSlice"

 

What Are We Not Saying

1. The simple way of ministry is not a change in doctrine. We are not compromising on this issue.
2. The church should not become simple because it is some kind of fad. The world is becoming more complex and people are longing for simplicity. Simple processes are designed to reach and  mature people.
3. The author is not saying the church should have a simple process just for pragmatic reasons (though it is working). There are theological and philosophical reasons on which the simple process stands (covered later in the chapter). Simply churches have chosen to align themselves with the way God works. They have chosen to partner with the discipleship process revealed in scripture.
4. The author is not claim that the simple church design easy. There is a big difference between simple and easy. Simple is basic, uncomplicated, and fundamental. Easy is effortless. The simple process is not is easy to implement and maintain.

The Revolutionary

Jesus is the original simple revolutionary.

He stepped into a complicated and corrupt religious scene and didn't play by their rules.

There are other example of Jesus taking the complex and making it simple, but I chose one that stands out most.

Matthew 22:37-40, the Pharisee gather to planning a way to humiliate Jesus. They chose the smartest guy to take on Jesus. He asked Jesus which is the greatest commandment in the law? Of 613 commandments (see the book for an explanation), he  asked Jesus for the greatest. Jesus replied: "Love the Lord you God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.' This is the greatest and most important commandment. The second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments." He took the complex and made it simple.

His Yoke

I am going to "thinnerSlice" this section

In Matthew 11:28-30 - He was not offering complicated rules, rituals, and regulations, he offered grace and a simple relationship with God.

Jesus and Clutter

"thinnerSlice" - Jesus made clear what the church was to be in simple terms (Mark 11), 'My house will be called a house of prayer for all nation, but you have made it a den of robbers.' Some of our churches are so cluttered that many people are doing church instead of being the church.  Hmmmm?

Fancy Coffins

thinnestSlice - See the book for this reference.

The Not-So-Simple Life II

Pastor Rush who was referred to earlier, has a small window of time to reflect on what he took away from a conference. He is attempting to take bitts and piece of ideas from different church models and implement an array of programs. His church could be diagnosed with ministry schizophrenia (MS).

It is not a clinical disease, but in my own words, it is in epidemic proportion in the local church. It occurs often when the church and church leaders don't know who they are. It occurs as churches attempt to blend models into one.

Pastor Rush understands fundamentally the what but he is struggling with the how.

Seeing the Whole Picture

"thinnerSlice" - Church leaders must see the whole picture so that more and more things are not added without understanding of how it all affect the whole.

Great story about a wrongly accused man named Luiz Diaz in this section of the book.

Designer

Simple church leaders are designers, designing opportunities for spiritual growth. Church leaders who are programmers focus on a program at a time. Designers are focused on end results, the whole picture.

God is the producer of spiritual growth, but church leaders are expert builders (1 Cor. 3:10).

To have a simple church you must design a simple discipleship process that is clear and moves people towards maturity.

Group Discussion Questions

"thinnestSlice" -- see the book.

 

The more slices you have the better it gets- stick around for part 2,

"The Simple [and Not-So-Simple] Church in Action

Remember, these are my notes and at time my comments are interjected.