Aim Small, Miss Small

There are some movies you can watch over and over again and still be entertained. Movies like Forrest Gump, Rocky, or The Blind Side never get old. Yet one of my favorites is "The Patriot" with Mel Gibson. I love that movie! It was that movie that spawned something in my spirit about our giving strategies for our church. Do you remember the part where Colonel Benjamin Martin was rushing through the woods with his two young sons, in an attempt to ambush the British and rescue his oldest son? He handed his young boys a rifle and said, "Boys, Aim small, miss small." What did he mean? He meant if they aimed at the man and missed, they missed the man; but if they aimed at a button on their jackets, they could miss the button but still hit the man. I think we need to adopt this same principle to our churches in terms of giving. Let me share just a couple of things the Lord slammed me with a few weeks ago.

• Our congregations are made up of different entities (young singles, young parents, older people, college students, educators, etc.)

• Each entity is passionate about specific things. For example, young parents are passionate about their children; educators are passionate about their careers, young singles are passionate about finding their soul mate, and so on.

There is huge importance in knowing the different entities that make up your congregation; and even more important is to know their passions...because their passion equals what they consider to be relevant. How does all of this tie into giving?

People give to what is relevant; they give to the things they are passionate about. Threatening the church to give or suffer dire financial consequences or teaching them to treat God like a lottery ticket (give and He'll give you more than you can stand) is tiring and distasteful. While giving should be an act of worship, we still must be strategic in funding the work of the Kingdom. Rewind with me to "The Patriot" again. The brave Colonel said, "Aim Small, Miss Small." I think this needs to happen in our churches. Here's how.

• Discover the Different Buttons: Define the different entities in your church and learn their passions (remember, whatever they are passionate about is what they consider relevant).

• Aim Small to Miss Small: Build a quarterly giving schedule "aiming" at one (not all) entity and tie it to giving.

Let me give you a quick example of our giving schedule for this upcoming Sunday. Our target is "Parents." We understand parents are passionate about their children, so my Children's Pastor will lead giving. She will probably have three or four cute kids on the platform. They will either recite a Bible verse, sing a song, or do something cute. Afterwards, my children's pastor will remind the church their generosity does much more than pay the light bill; their giving enables us to train up their children in the Word of God. Now the singles will think that's cute, but every parent in the building will see it as AWESOME and RELEVANT because they are PASSIONATE about their children. People give to passion.

When we aim towards those who are community minded, we'll have one of our servolution leaders to lead giving. Same thing. Tell the story, tie it to giving, and every community-minded person hears something that is relevant and they give out of their passion. Creating this kind of schedule enables you to build your giving around, not only entities, but even life issues that may occur in your community. The options are endless!

Don't get me wrong, teaching on tithing and offerings are needed. We need to shotgun the Biblical commandments about giving; but we should be wise to aim small to miss small. We should speak relevant language to our people, so they understand that giving accomplishes the eternal things that they themselves are passionate about.

Hit me on twitter for coaching in this area. @chadhunt

www.cavelandchurch.com

An Accidental Church Plant

I want to share my story with you about my accidental church plant. Several years ago I developed and published a recovery program called "Addiction Deliverance Outreach." My book and workbook was very successful on the local level, and eventually crept into different cities and states over the years. One place it landed was Dallas Texas. In Dallas, there was a recovery ministry called "Free-Man Recovery." This ministry had three recovery homes for men, and they were pretty successful.

After using my material, they contacted me and asked me if I could send them some of my preaching DVD's...and I did. A few weeks later, they called and informed me that over thirty people were showing up every Friday evening to watch the preaching videos. So I said, "Heck, let's plant a church!" And we did...sort of. We rented a building, came up with a name, and set a launch date with a launch team of about thirty people. I spent the next five months or so flying to Dallas Texas every other Thursday, preaching Friday night, and flying back to Kentucky on Saturday to preach at my church on Sunday. On the off weekends, they would watch me via video. Our attendance got up to around 115 on the weekends I would be there and around 70-80 when they used my video. In 2009, we installed a flesh and blood pastor. Today they remain a recovery church, sharing Jesus with men and women who struggle with substance abuse.

In the beginning, my vision was, to begin as a total recovery church, but to morph into a church with a recovery ministry. However, it never worked out. That's not totally a bad thing (people still found Jesus) but I missed the blessing of seeing something much bigger because of my inexperienced, stupid decisions.

Now that I look back, here's the things I really screwed up on.

• I didn't take the time to read the right books or talk to the right people.
• I thought that preaching alone was enough to create a successful church.
• I allowed the "rock star" mentality to seep in, which created foolish pride.
• I put the wrong campus pastors in place and I was never clear enough on the vision.
• I didn't cast vision well to my church in KY, which caused jealousy and people worried that I was going to move to Dallas.
• Dallas was just too far to be a successful video venue (at least for us).

If you're a new planter, be sure you don't do any of these things. Since then, I have hooked up with successful planters like Charles Hill, David Putman, Michael Robinson, Artie Davis, and Dave Anderson, among others. These guys have help me get my arms around what church planting should look like. Looking back, I am awestruck by the mercy of God; despite my foolish mistakes, people still found Jesus and was baptized. But I still wonder, "What could've been?" had I taken the time to plan well.

Today our church is in partnership with www.plantingthegospel.com and I serve as a coach with The Sticks Network. And one thing I always tell my guys is, "Church planting should never be accidental...but always intentional and directed by the Holy Spirit."

Three Targets of Division

Over the years I have learned that one of the most vulnerable places for the enemy to hit the church is the staff. Satan knows that if dissension exists among the very group that leads, plans, and ministers to people, the vision becomes blurred and the mission begins to drift far from what God called the church to do.

As I was reading the Bible, the Holy Spirit spoke something to me from the words of Jesus. In Matthew's gospel, chapter eleven, the Pharisees were doing what they do best, trying to catch Jesus in some sort of doctrinal error. In this particular instance, they accuse Jesus of casting out demons by the power of Satan (what idiots!) Here, Jesus says something that I believe speaks, not only to the Pharisees, but also to each of us and especially those of us who serve on church staff.

Jesus says, "Knowing their thoughts, He said to them, 'Every kingdom divided against itself is laid to waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand." Mt. 12:25

Now I have read this a thousand times, but something stood out to me that I had never seen before. Jesus specifically mentions three places that division can destroy; the kingdom, the city, and the home. WOW.

How does this apply to church staff? Well, I'm glad you asked. I believe when Satan attempts to infiltrate a church staff with division, he targets the three places of church ministry. They are, THE KINGDOM, THE CITY, & THE HOME.

• THE KINGDOM: The Kingdom is WHY WE DO CHURCH. It's not uncommon for Satan to sow seeds of division as to "why" we do church. Usually this will surface by someone on staff arguing about (but not limited to) the music being the wrong style, the preaching is too edgy, or the ministry programs are attracting "messy people." You must always protect the work of the Kingdom by asking the simple question, "Is what we're doing bringing people to Jesus and making disciples?" If the answer is YES, then keep doing what you're doing! Usually Satan uses staff who push back when asked to increase their commitment level, or they're overcome with jealousy due to being overlooked; or can't stand the constant push to step outside of their comfort zone. If you have staff like this, reach out to them, love them, and help them catch the vision of God's kingdom. If they don't or won't...replace them.

• THE CITY: The city is WHERE WE DO CHURCH. If a church loses sight of WHERE she is supposed to be Jesus, people suffer. I believe every God-planted church was intentionally placed there for the community or city which surrounds her. Often Satan will plant divisive thoughts in the minds of influential staff members, in an attempt to get the church to lose focus of her community. These thoughts will become verbalized with lines like, "We can't make a difference" or "Our community can never change" or "Let the larger churches take care of those needs." God established the church to be Jesus to cities and communities; your church is where it's at because there are people there whom God has called your church to reach. People counting on your church...and they don't even know it...but Satan does. Don't allow division to trick you into abandoning your first mission field...your city or community.

• THE HOME: The home is THE PULSE OF THE CHURCH. I don't care how great your lead pastor is, how innovative your teams are, or how effective your brainstorming sessions can be...if it's not right at home, it always bleeds over. Every home has its struggles, but when division takes over, we tend to become desensitized to the heartbeat of the church; the pain and resentment eventually causes staff members to go through the motions just to keep getting a paycheck; they can no longer hear the heartbeat of Jesus and His ministry. Protecting the unity of your marriage and family plays a HUGE part in the unity of your church. When unity exists among your spouse and family, it creates a synergy that can become contagious among those whom you work with. Unity is fluid; it flows; and the beginning of the stream begins at the dinner table.

So, if you are on staff at a church and feel like there's division creeping in...ask yourself which of these areas are missing unity and prayerfully fix it before things start falling apart.

The Most Overlooked People in Church

Lately I have been spending a lot of time looking at retention stats. Our church sees a lot of first time guests and returning guests, but I haven't been pleased with our retention when comparing apples to apples. While I know you can't retain every person who walks in the door (and some you wouldn't if you could), I want to make sure we are doing our part in reaching out to people who are searching for a place to worship. So, after hammering out a few thoughts with my coach, I began to put something together that I believe is pivotal in reaching and retaining, what may be, the most overlooked people in church on Sunday...returning guests.

Like most churches, we do a splendid job at touching first time guests; the free coffee mug, the warm greeting at guest services, the email and letter from me on the next day. First time guests know they are appreciated. Then it occurred to me, we put a lot of energy into first time guests, but returning guests (2nd time, 3rd time, or 15th time guests) never get a whole lot of attention. As I pondered this, here's some of the thoughts that drove me to add this very important piece to our assimilation process.

• First time guest are important; we have one shot at making that first impression. However, we must remember that first time guests come (for the most part) because they are curious ABOUT your church. Returning guests come back because they are interested IN your church. HUGE difference.

• On any given Sunday, a first time guest receives clear instructions and directions as to what their next steps are (take your connection card to guests services, get your gift, yada, yada, yada). Returning guests have no clear next steps, other than, "Ya'll come back next weekend!"

• First time guests are asked to take baby steps as their next steps (fill out your connection card, take it to guest services, etc). In most churches, the next step for returning guests is to either go through a six week orientation or sign up to join the church, which means we want your time, talent, and treasure...neither of these are baby steps.

If this looks anything like your church, you're in desperate need of creating those next baby steps for returning guests. And much like first time guests steps, they need to be easy to understand and simple to do. Here's what we do at Caveland Church:

• Returning guests are asked to pick up a second gift that includes a DVD about "who we are" and a short letter inviting them to join me and my staff after services on the couch in the Atrium. There, we'll hang out, drink coffee, talk about the kids, and I'll answer any questions they may have about the church. (We call this "CONNECT"). The DVD piece is important because it gives them enough information to create good questions.

• During CONNECT, we ask our returning guests to fill out a brief survey, which gives us information about them, including some background info. This time is mainly used to disarm any "preacher-laity" awkwardness and I'll briefly share their next steps as returning guests.

• After CONNECT, we take the survey cards and invite each family to join a small group or our Life Group model at the church (which has been HUGE for new people). While CONNECT allows my staff and I to meet returning guests, small groups are really the first relational piece. This is the place where returning guests makes friends and becomes a real part of the community of the church.

• Next, we try to move returning guests to serving. We have "test drive" ministries in our church where new people can serve with no strings attached. We ask them to serve so they can get a good feel for the DNA of our church. They may spend a couple of weeks as an usher, help in the media dept. or serving on the parking team. So, they move from a group of 10-12 people (small groups), to a group of 2-3 people while serving. When people serve together, they share life together. This is the second relational piece; and note, the second piece is more intimate because the group becomes smaller, therefore, relationships become stronger.

• Lastly, we invite returning guests who's been in small groups or Life Groups and have spent a little time serving, to join us for the "Becoming a Cavelander" orientation dinner. This is where we'll sit, eat, and chat. I will talk about vision, mission, grandkids, and you got it, the commitment of their time, talents, and treasure.

Yet here's the thing...by the time a returning guest has been through each of these little steps, there are two things that have occurred. 1) They have already built relationships in the church, which greatly increases the retention rate; and 2) they are normally already attending regularly, serving, and giving which increases their commitment to Christ and His church.

Returning guests need clear, simple steps to know what's next...and if it's going through a membership class, you'll probably end up with lots of names on the books, but few butts in the seats.

If you want to talk further about this, hit me up on twitter @chadhunt

Bible Belt Small Groups

There is a place in every church where numerical and spiritual growth level off and/or decline. This barrier can exists for many reasons, but one of the biggest reasons is when churches reach a certain point in their numerical growth without a strong small group model. When our church started with thirty-three people, we were a small group. Everyone knew one another well; everyone knew each other's needs; and we were easily able to hold one another accountable. Once a church passes the 120ish mark (everyone has a number, this one is mine) something changes. The personal relationship and accountability only exist within certain circles (usually those who have been there for years); and seldom are others invited in. The presence and needs of those outside these established circles become invisible. In essence, your church loses the “community” foundation.

When a church loses it’s “community,” you will see these problems surface. If your church is attractional, you will continue to see new faces, but you will not retain new faces. This is the tricky part; you will think you’re growing because of the new people you see each weekend, but in reality, you are simply feeding other churches who have a community base. Why? Because people, for the most part, only stick where there is strong community. Personal relationship, loving one another (meeting needs), and accountability are the factors that cause people to become rooted in the church body (wished I could tell you they stay for your preaching...they may come for that in the beginning, but they will stick only when there’s community). It blows a lot of pastor’s minds when they learn a family left their cool, post-modern church and became established in the little 80 member church down the road. Why? Because “cool” churches do not keep people; community keeps people.

There are several small group models out there, and to be honest, I have tried them all and failed at each of them. I was frustrated because I knew in order to press towards 500-700, we had to have a strong, healthy small group model. After whining and complaining to God for a while, the Lord begin to open my eyes to something; something that would change our small groups forever.

My community is different than a lot of my pastor friend's communities who live in urban or heavily populated areas. I live right in the middle of the Bible Belt in Kentucky; my town has a population of 1,800 and I'm surrounded by churches who still sentence every preacher to hell who doesn't preach from the glorified 1611 KJV.

When I tried small groups, they would typically start well, but never finish well, although I did all the things that books told me to do. Also, those who started well were usually the people who had been there for a while, and even then, they would usually drop off before the first semester would end. Here's what I learned from this.

1. In my culture, when people think "church" they still think of a church building.
2. Most people in rural Kentucky don't get excited about showing up at someone's home who they don't even know (we Kentuckians are relational, but in a funny kind of way).
3. To the younger generation, the thought of a home Bible study didn't seem to generate too much excitement.

So, here's the model I came up with and it is working GREAT! If you're a church in a rural area, who struggles with small groups, this may be your answer.

We call our small groups, "Life Groups." This is not a new term, but we use the term in a very intentional way. Here's what we do.

• We hold life groups at the church building. When people walk in, they see twelve round tables in a very "non-church" environment. Normally, we use lower light and have some kind of easy listening secular music playing in the background. By holding this at the church building, we launched with over 200 people! And here's the best part; instead of decreasing as the semesters went on, we increased! At the end of our 2011 small group semester, we averaged a total of 210 people consistently. Why? Because people are more comfortable coming to a church building than a home of someone they barely know.

• Each table has a different topic on it. For example, we had topics like Hot Smoking Marriage, Empty Nest, Addiction in Family, Deer Hunting, etc. When people came in, they simple found a topic that was of interest to them. There are no sign up's...instead they just show up and sign in on the roster that's on the table that they choose.

• The first thirty minutes we use a Rick Warren discipleship study or sermon-based small groups. The last thirty to forty minutes, we talk about the life topic that's on the table. So, those at the deer hunting table talks about Jesus for half an hour, and then talks about the big buck they killed last year for the last half.

• We serve refreshments during life groups, as well and make it a ton of fun. During promotion, you push the life topic more than the Bible study, because it generates more interest and is more appealing to someone who feels biblically inadequate. And I can tell you, the last half of the hour is just as important as the first half; because talking about life together is discipleship at its best. Relationships are made and community happens.

After the first two semesters, we ask life group leaders to move their group into their homes and allow others to have their table at the church. So then, we don't have either/or, but and/both. The church building becomes an entry point to get people plugged in to small groups, and then eventually move them into home groups.

If this sounds like it would work in your church, hit me on twitter @chadhunt and I'll give you some coaching on promotion, life group leader training, and vision casting.

Surviving Church Growth Obstacles

If there's one thing I have learned from both attending and speaking at conferences, it's this; when it comes to conversations about our churches with other pastors, the first thing that's brought to the table is, "How many attend?" And we pastors, in our holy humility, usually utter a number, and then wait to see if the other person is impressed or not. This number is usually the attendance from the Easter or Christmas service; or it's the "pastor math" number.

Why are we like this? Well, the answer is simple; and really it is two-fold. First, we live in a society where success is always measured by "more." And secondly, our egos (especially us guys) are normally at stake because we define ourselves by what we are instead of who we are. And for pastors, the success of "what we are" is measured by how many people are in the seats each weekend.

While it's a fact that counting heads is a measurement for church growth, it's not the only measurement. I think we have to be careful, especially as pastors, that "numbers" do not become our god and push us into making fatal mistakes that can hurt our ministry. As pastors, we have to exercise the discipline to keep the main thing the main thing and lead our people well. Here are some thoughts that may help overcome church growth obstacles.

1. The Most Important Number: Remember, the number of people who found Jesus this past Sunday is much more important than the number of people who showed up for services. If people aren't being reached with the gospel, we are failing in our mission as the church.

2. When the Crowd is Low: When you have a low attended weekend and you instantly feel pressured to immediately create some kind of event or campaign to attract people to your church...DON"T! You'll plan poorly; you'll kill your staff; and God will not bless it because it's more about your ego than the Kingdom. Remember, God doesn't push; He leads. If you feel "pushed" it's usually the enemy. Responding to pressure causes us to make quick decisions, which usually leads to wrong decisions. If your overall attendance begins to fall consistently, seek God and seek wise counsel and then you'll plan well.

3. Healthy Growth: Normally (there are exceptions) slow consistent growth is healthy growth. In most cases, when a church grows extremely fast in numbers, her infrastructure and leadership capabilities are still immature, which can cause a ton of issues. Again, there are some exceptions. Be faithful where God has you; remember, God usually grows the shepherd before he grows the fold.

4. The Main Thing: And lastly, don't forget who's in charge of this thing. Here's the growth formula for every church: We plant the seed of the gospel by preaching; we water the seed with teaching and small groups to make disciples; and then, God alone makes it grow. (1 Corinthians 3:6-9).

Events, strategies, and assimilation are all important factors of growth...but allow God to lead these...and then growth will be much deeper than numerical.

Is Ministry a Gravy Job?

A lot of people think full-time ministry is the gravy job of a lifetime. Many seminary students think they have chosen a vocation where all they'll have to do is show up on Sunday and preach a sermon, then go back home and wait for the next Sunday to roll around. If that's you...I'm about to burst your bubble.

Full-time ministry is the most difficult job on the planet; if it's a gravy job, then the gravy is filled with gravel and broken glass, because sometimes it's very hard to swallow. As a lead pastor myself, I can tell you countless times that I have wanted to throw in the towel; those are the times when your mind starts reeling, "What else can I do to make a living?" If you are thinking about entering full-time ministry, especially as a pastor, here's some things you need to know.

1) Occupation v/s Call: Most jobs require you to show up, clock in, accomplish a task, and then go home. Even demanding careers that require high commitment can somewhat be turned off; ministry is not like that. Why? Because pastoring is not an occupation; it's a call from God. Pastoring is not a "job" it's a lifestyle; it is the highest calling on the planet, but comes with the highest responsibilities as well.

The pastor's job is constant; constantly listening, constantly repenting, constantly praying, constantly thinking about what God wants for His church. At best we can shut it down verbally; we can turn the volume down...but inside, it goes on. I am sitting on the gulf shores as I write this; my family and I are on vacation. And though our conversations have intentionally been about everything except church, every now and then my mind reels back to the ministry. That is normal. Why? Because being called is different than being hired.

2) The Pain of People: Ministry, like many jobs deal with people; and dealing with people is sometimes the biggest challenge because we are all...people. In the ministry however, you have to do more than deal with them, you have to lead them, love them and serve them. It is the responsibility of the pastor or minister to care for God's people spiritually; to grow them in the word of God; and to be the example. Is this easy? Heck no!

There are some people who will get on your last nerve; others will intentionally lash out at you as you try to serve; and yet others will promise to be with you until the end, only to walk away when things become difficult. Yet, we are called to lead, love, and serve these very people. We are not to be a doormat or a punching bag...but regardless of how you attempt to avoid contact with such people, you won't. You are commanded to lead, love, and serve people because Christ led, loved, and served people. If you're going to be in the ministry, make sure you have the fruits of patience and longsuffering bearing in your life; without them, you won't last long.

3) Mo Money: If you are entering the ministry hoping to become a mega church rockstar pastor, where you can afford mansions, fancy cars, and big homes...don't. I know pastors whom God has blessed financially and I am happy for their success; yet pastors never measure their success by the standards of the world, but rather the Kingdom of God. Your goal must always be "how many people can we get into heaven" and not "how much money can I make" or "how many people can we get into the building. This means you must check your ego at the door. You must tell God, "Hey, I am content with where you place me..." and mean it. A content heart that is focused on the Kingdom will accomplish amazing things, but a heart that is focused on self and things will nothing for the Kingdom.

What does it costs to serve in full-time ministry? Your life. You have to give up your dreams and ambitions and seek the ones that God has placed in your heart. Those are the ones that count.