Change. Every leader wants it. And some are more effective at making it happen. In addition to God's grace, the following process has proven invaluable to me, as I have consciously used it for over a decade. I offer it in hopes of serving those who serve others.

Vision

At this phase, an idea emerges that seems worthwhile but the following questions need to be answered in order to determine its viability. In answering these questions, the input of the staff and deacons, as well as other selected people, will be very helpful to you.

1. What are the measurable outcome goals and do they correlate with the mission objective you are seeking to accomplish?
2. Is this idea best suited for your area of responsibility or should someone else be appointed to lead it since it best fits his or her ministry area?

Plan

At this phase, the idea and its goals are clarified in a detailed written proposal. The proposal could be presented to the staff and elders for approval. Answers to the following questions can provide details for the proposal, specifically details about what implementing the idea would require.

1. What is your biblical/theological justification for this ministry?
2. How long will this take to implement and what is the timeline for the phases necessary to implement it?
3. Who will be responsible for it and how many hours will it require of them to launch and also oversee the ministry?
4. How much will it cost, both to launch and maintain?
5. How many volunteers will be needed and whom do you have in mind?
6. What facilities will it require?
7. What promotions will it require?
8. What type of people are you anticipating will attend and/or participate?
9. How will this require time and energy of the elders and deacons?
10. How might this compete with and/or negatively impact other ministries?
11. How can people pray for this ministry?

Implement

The idea has been justified, planned, and approved; it now needs to be launched as a reality. The plan needs to be executed and at this phase, the hard work begins in an effort to build momentum and make the idea a reality.

Manage

At this phase, the idea has become a new reality but shortly thereafter the ministry will likely lose momentum as the work becomes routine, the systems that were planned need to be upgraded for efficiency, and faithful people need to ensure the ministry continues forward and that the devoted people serving do not grow weary or lose heart.

Review

At the six-month and one-year marks of each ministry (as well as other designated times), the leader of that ministry must ensure that accurate and meaningful reviews are conducted to answer the following questions and determine if the ministry should continue, be changed, or cease.

1. Have you met your objectives?
2. Why or why not?
3. Should this ministry continue?
4. How can you improve?
5. What changes must be made?

Resurgence Literature

Re:Lit is a ministry of Resurgence. There you will find a growing line of books to help guide the resurgence of the new reformed. Find out more.

Church leadership is complicated. It must start with deference to Jesus as the Chief Shepherd and ultimate head of the body (Eph 5:23). He’s in charge, and we need to submit our plans and leadership to him.

Human Leadership: Elders

In addition, the Holy Spirit appoints human overseers who must follow Jesus’ leading (Acts 20:28). The highest office of leadership in a church is that of elder (1 Tim 3:1–7).

The elders must fulfill a wide range of responsibilities and address a variety of issues which grow in complexity as a church grows in size. The law of the land, for example, is extraordinarily complicated for large churches, and the elders must ensure that operations remain in compliance (2 Cor 8:20–21).

A Trinity of Complexity

The complexity must be dealt with in order to ensure a healthy and fruitful church. Therefore, the elders must organize in order to properly govern, manage, and shepherd the church as an organization and as a people. Every church needs these three functions to develop in concert:

• Govern: An overseeing body must ensure that proper systems and controls are in place to promote wise stewardship of all the resources entrusted to the organization’s care. Resources include the mission, leaders, finances, and people.
• Manage: Delegated leadership is responsible for day-to-day decision-making and operations oversight.
• Shepherd: Pastoral care includes preaching, teaching, counseling, and discipling the people of the church.

Case in Point

Here is how this plays out at Mars Hill: our Board of Directors is responsible for the governance of the church; our executive elders, department heads, and campus pastors are responsible for the management of different components of the church; and our shepherding is led by the campus pastors and their elder teams.

Specialized

As a church organization grows, leaders become more and more specialized. Each elder at Mars Hill has a general obligation to govern, manage, and shepherd, but typically specializes in one of these three areas (Rom 12:4).

Our aim as church leaders is to build an organization under the authority of Jesus and his Word, governed diligently, managed faithfully, and shepherded with great care for its people.

Jamie Munson is Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church. Find him on Twitter and Facebook:

• twitter.com/jamiemunson
• facebook.com/jamiemunson

Re:Train

We are launching The Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train) to prepare leaders for ministry locally and around the world. Additional details and downloadable application form here.

Leadership Is Lonely series: Click | View Series

What should leaders do when they find themselves out ahead of their team, in over their head, and lonely, tired, frustrated, and bewildered?

I am coming out of a season covered by this exact cloud and, as a result of time in Scripture, prayer, and coaching from an older Christian business leader whom God has used on more than one occasion to speak wisdom into my life, I am finding the following steps to be invaluable to lonely leaders.

1. Accept that leadership is lonely.

There will never be a time when there is not distance between you and those you lead. We find that many of God’s leaders, including Jesus himself, spent much time in lonely places and living lonely lives. Even leaders surrounded by crowds need to accept that leadership is lonely because those crowds usually include fans and foes but few friends. Because leaders build community, oftentimes they find themselves on the outside looking in when it comes to having true peers and true community.

2. Use silence and solitude to write down what you need.

Rather than being frustrated because no one understands you, knows your needs, looks out for you, or helps you, use your energy to write down exactly what you need. You are truly the only person who really knows what you need. Personally, I carry a Moleskine with me at all times and make note of things I need in order to be healthier and more productive. This can include anything from a good place to Sabbath, a decent vacation, and the right technology, to staff help, exercise, dietary changes, and so on. Too often leaders do not practice sufficient times of silence and solitude when such times can be invaluable to working on their life rather than staying at the office and continue working in it until they become angry, unhealthy, depressed, and burned out.

3. Pray for God to go before you act.

Most leaders are doers and pushers. This means our first instinct when an opportunity or an obstacle arises is to do more and push our team to do more. Instead, the first thing we should do is pray. The past few days I have decided to write down the list of things I need to do, people I need to meet with, and situations I need to involve myself in. Rather than picking up the phone, sending an email, or taking action, I have decided to wait twenty-four hours on any non-emergency issue and sincerely and specifically pray for God to go before me to move other people to meet the need or for God to take care of it himself. I have been able to check more than half of the items off my to do list by doing nothing but praying, as God has faithfully revealed himself to care more about my ministry than I do.

4. Emotionally wait for your team to catch up.

Don’t default to other-centered contempt and assume everyone else is stupid, lazy, unspiritual, unloving, selfish, and incompetent (though admittedly some may be). Don’t default to self-centered contempt and assume that you have failed as a leader because you are lonely and wallow in the bottomless pit of introspection and self-condemnation. Instead, prayerfully and patiently wait for your team to catch up. Give them time to see what you see, feel what you feel, and know what you know.

5. Teach your team.

Don’t verbally process your feelings out loud with your team, lash out in anger, or cry out in despair. Instead, use your times of silence and solitude to jot down your thoughts and needs as an act of journaling to God, get your heart lined up with God in prayer, and then lovingly pastor your team by teaching them to see what you see, feel what you feel, and know what you know so that together you can do what you need to do by being who you need to be.

6. As a last resort, use a sanctified shove.

Sometimes, when the previous five steps have been followed, there simply needs to be a sanctified shove to get people focused on their task and faithful to it.

I can assure you from much personal experience that doing this process in reverse does not work in any way or for anyone.

Rain City Hymnal

The first offering from Re:Sound is the Rain City Hymnal. Listen online and get the record from the Re:Sound website. Find out more.

Healthy Pastors Series [Part 2 of 3]: Click | View Series

Pastor, how can I help? Charles Haddon Spurgeon, the greatest revivalist preacher of the 19th century, was asked this by many parishioners. His response to this question was to establish a serving and prayerful church. His ministry became the largest prayer-based evangelical work in the Christian church since the days of the apostolic era.

How to Help Your Pastor

• Understand. The first way to help your pastor is to develop understanding and sensitivity to the stress and demands of a pastor's work.
• Pray. Secondly, pray for your pastor. A very active prayer ministry to support the pastors in their evangelical work is fundamental to the health of pastors and the church at large.
• Grow. Thirdly, mature in the faith. Grow and work to preserve the work of God in your sphere. Do not contribute to confusion, gossip and bitter attitudes. Get involved in action, service, and financial contribution, which are all vital to the health of the Christian mission of proclaiming Christ in your community and the world.
• Lead. Finally, faith in action is serving others above what you want in support of the ministry of the church. Don't just get involved in ministry; actively work with the leadership to provide healthy momentum in ministry and to become a personal preacher of the ways of Christ!

Preachers Are Human

Your pastors can become physically, emotionally, and spiritually exhausted. Again, C.H. Spurgeon shares his afflictions and trials throughout his ministry to demonstrate that it was in his weakness that Christ's strength within him was magnified.

Spurgeon was afflicted with spiritual agonies, slander and scorn, the weight of preaching, emotional trials of depression, ministry burden, and physical illnesses of gout, high blood pressure, and kidney disease.

Saved From Much, Called To Much

His journey began with the foundation of suffering and by his own words he gives a clear picture of his agony before his conversion. "The justice of God, like a ploughshare, tore my spirit," he recalled. "I was condemned, undone, destroyed--lost, helpless, hopeless--I thought hell was before me... I prayed, but found no answer of peace. It was long with me thus." Thus, he clarifies through his life that the present suffering he encountered in ministry was no match for the devastating bitterness of soul he experienced before living for Jesus. This taught him to pursue the holiness of God and to loathe sinful living.

Slander and Scorn Go With the Territory

During the early years of his ministry he encountered intense slander and scorn, and his response to this was, "If I am able to say in very truth, 'I was buried with Christ thirty years ago,' I must surely be dead. Certainly the world thought so, for not long after my burial with Jesus I began to preach his name, and by that time the world thought me very far gone, and said, 'He stinketh.' They began to say all manner of evil against the preacher; but the more I stank in their nostrils the better I liked it, for the surer I was that I was really dead to the world."

The Crushing Blow of Scorn

Spurgeon's again on his deepest emotions regarding the scorn and slander he faced: "Down on my knees have I often fallen, with the hot sweat rising from my brow under some fresh slander poured upon me; in an agony of grief my heart has been well-nigh broken; ...This thing I hope I can say from my heart: If to be made as the mire of the streets again, if to be the laughing stock of fools and the song of the drunkard once more will make me more serviceable to my Master, and more useful to his cause, I will prefer it to all this multitude, or to all the applause that man could give."

Don't contribute to the sufferings of your pastors by gossiping, backbiting, or scorning. Instead, get in the trenches with them!

To be continued.

Re:Train

We are launching The Resurgence Training Center (Re:Train) to prepare leaders for ministry locally and around the world. Additional details and downloadable application form here.

If you’re a church planter, chances are you’re wasting money.

The Sales Pitch

Let’s be honest: this is America, home of free-market capitalism. There is money to be made from church planters. And so a whole church-planting industry is ready to tell you that if you’re going to do it right, you probably need:

• a club-ready sound-and-light system
• a few Macs with top-of-the-line video editing software (might as well throw in an iPhone so you can Twitter your sermon prep)
• a top-end website with content management
• a children’s ministry setup that rivals a corporate daycare
• a trade-show-style display booth for all your visitors’ information
• industrial signage for both the inside and the outside of your venue
• a custom trailer to haul it all in

Most new church planters fall for this sales pitch like Tony Romo in the playoffs.

Don’t Believe the Hype

But in case you haven’t yet spent $100k on your “startup costs,” let me suggest that you hit the brakes and consider a crucial point: That’s GOD’S money that you’re spending. You’re going to stand before Jesus and answer for every dime. When many church planters in Africa don’t even own a Bible dictionary, do you really want to argue that the lighting rack was a “must-have?”

Don’t believe the hype. You can plant a missional church with next to nothing. We forked out only $19,000 in startup costs and got everything we needed. Sound system? We bought the most basic thing that would get the job done. Children’s ministry? We asked for donations from Christians and other churches in our city and got almost everything for free. Website? We bought a template for $50, tweaked it a little to make it our own, and hosted it with a local provider for a fraction of the cost of the turn-key church-planting web solutions. Computer and projector? We worked through the IT director at a local university who included our order in his volume purchase and passed the discount along to us.

Don’t Be a Statistic

You know the stats: 80% of church plants fail. Of course I hope your church isn’t one of them. But in your budgeting decisions, you should act as though it could be. If you had to shut things down, would you feel okay about how you’d spent the Lord’s money? Would any of your donors have reason to question your expenses as frivolous? Can you stand eye-to-eye with the family in your church who’s struggling financially and tell them with integrity that you’re spending only what’s necessary?

Don’t Take the Bait

A few months ago a church planter I know had to close up shop. As I scrolled through his fire-sale ad on Craigslist, I couldn’t help but wonder: did he really need all this stuff? If he had allocated funds differently, could he have stayed in the game a little longer and reached a place of viability? It’s not my place to question his decisions; “before his own master he stands or falls” (Romans 14:4). But I’m concerned that lots of young, starry-eyed church planters are easy prey for the salesmen of church-plant capitalism.

You don’t have to be. Stand firm, church planter, and don’t take the bait. We’re 4 years in, and I just now ordered business cards. Letterhead? Maybe next year.

Pastor Dad

Every dad is a pastor. The important thing is that he cares for his flock well. Pastor Mark Driscoll's new eBook offers spiritual insights on fatherhood. Get it here.

Spiritual Gifts Series: Click | View Series

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. And in the church God has appointed first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then workers of miracles, also those having gifts of healing, those able to help others, those with gifts of administration... (1 Corinthians 12:27-28 NIV)

Spiritual Gift of Administration Defined

The gift of administration is the God-given ability to give direction and make decisions on behalf of others that result in efficient operation and accomplishment of goals. Administration includes the ability to organize people, things, information, finances, etc. Often the mark of an administrator is the ability to accomplish things in a "fitting and orderly way" (1 Corinthians14:40).

People with the Gift of Administration

Administrators often have a keen eye for detail. They may also possess the natural talents of organization, observing and using details, problem solving, and reasoning.

Administration in Scripture

Jesus organized His ministry by choosing his inner circle of three disciples (Mark 9:2), appointing the twelve (Mark 3:13-14), and sending out the seventy two by two (Luke 10:1). Joseph (Genesis 41:41-57; 47:13-26), Jethro (Exodus 18), and Titus (Titus 1:5) all demonstrate the gift of administration.

Do You Have This Gift?

• When things are poorly organized do you get frustrated and want to help fix things?
• Can you bring order out of chaos?
• Do you naturally organize your life, schedule, finances, priorities, etc.?
• Do you become energized working on tasks and projects?
• Do things like efficiency and promptness matter more to you than most people?
• Do things like spreadsheets, budgets, organizational charts and software, files, highlighters, and label makers make you happy?

Advance Conference:

Advance is coming June 2009. The Resurgence is hosting this conference in Raleigh, NC, to provision the local church for the advance of the gospel. Find out more.

In the twelfth and final chapter of Vintage Church we answer the question, "How Could the Church Help Transform the World?" In this chapter we focus on the importance of Christians and churches getting upstream to major cities where culture is made for the purpose of effective culture change. Much of this chapter will echo themes Dr. Tim Keller and others have stressed in their ministries. I also quote at length some very important thinking on this issue from sociologist Dr. James Davison Hunter. An excerpt on the role of church in culture from Vintage Church pages 303-304 says:

Sadly, most cities do not have enough churches that are cities within the city. As a result, masses of people do not hear about Jesus, and makers of culture do not hear about Jesus. Therefore, missional churches everywhere need to make a focused effort to concentrate on planting missional churches in cities. In our history as an urban church, this has always been our heart and by God's grace we have seen many other churches planted that are likewise strategically focused on major cities. (Go to www.acts29network.org for more information about our church planting network.) I want to be clear and stress that God loves all people and we need missional churches everywhere. Still, because of the city's strategic importance, resources such as money and leaders should be sent to the city to plant missional churches as cities within cities on mission for the gospel.

These upstream churches are the best opportunity we have to reach new generations, new residents, new cultures, new subcultures, and new culture creators and transformers.... Remember, suburban and rural areas along with other cities in the nation and other nations of the earth can be reached from the city because the city is so far upstream.

Vintage Church:

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

In Vintage Church chapter eleven we answer the question, "How Can a Church Utilize Technology?" This chapter includes a succinct summary of technological innovations in the history of the church such as pews and seats, electricity, organs, and the Internet. We also discuss the things churches need to consider regarding their use of technology. An example of this is the following excerpt from Vintage Church pages 274-275:

In addition to using technology in the corporate worship service, the church also benefits from taking full advantage of the opportunity for its preaching and other resources to become "sticky" to a larger audience for a longer period of time, thereby multiplying its influence. This includes use of the Internet, which has become the new front door for churches and the place people visit before showing up at any physical location....

Admittedly, not a lot of pastors are interested in the specific details about new technology. However, consider why it matters to churches. First, nearly everyone is on the Internet. Second, while on the Internet people are primarily looking for content and connection—two specialties of the church. In short, technology gives the church an opportunity to provide gospel content and relational connection to more people than ever before....

I offer this chapter as something of a field guide for those churches that want to wisely determine how to utilize various technologies for the benefit of the gospel. In offering specific counsel I am well aware that much of it will quickly become dated as innovation continues, but I offer it nonetheless in hopes of being helpful. My point is not that our church is cool and yours can be too, but that there are some great new ways to reach more people for Jesus that are worth considering for every church.

Vintage Church:

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

In Vintage Church chapter ten we answer the question, "What Is a Multi-campus Church?" With the fast growth of multi-campus churches and the multiple ways they are organized and led, we felt there was a timely necessity to discuss and define multi-site churches. Since Mars Hill, where I preach, is a multi-campus church with video broadcast sermons, we addressed this controversial issue as well. The following excerpt on multi-campus churches is taken from Vintage Church pages 247, 254:

With increasing advances in technology, we are now seeing the principles of one church meeting in multiple locations exponentially applied. The result has come to be called the "multi-site church revolution," which includes the controversial advent of "video venues." In many ways this is the circuit-riding preacher model renewed by technology. This chapter is devoted to exploring these two phenomena in both theological and practical detail....

Admittedly, by the time this book is published we will be doing things differently and likely will have added even more campuses. In sum, since our experiment with video two years ago, we have grown to a church with a peak attendance of eight thousand people spread across sixteen services on seven campuses with the capacity to double our attendance in the coming few years. Half of our attendance already participates via video, and in the coming years video will be the primary way in which people hear me preach the gospel. I now preach live four times on Sunday at our main campus. Some weeks I pre-record the sermon if I am traveling, in which case all services are video, and if I am sick or need a break I can just preach the morning services, which is a great relief.

Based on the five ways of doing multi-campus church, we are doing the partnership model at one of our seven campuses, the teaching-team model roughly 20 percent of the time across all campuses, and the regional-campus model. We also have some smaller informal gatherings both in the U.S. and around the world experimenting with the low-risk model to see if there is potential to make Mars Hill a national and international church.

We are by no means experts at all of this, but we have learned some things that I believe are helpful. (Seeing how friends such as pastors Ed Young Jr., Craig Groeschel, and Larry Osborne do their campuses has been very helpful.) Therefore, the following suggestions are offered as observations-not obligations-for those considering doing multi-campus church.

Vintage Church:

In this book, Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breshears discuss the essentials of what it means to be a biblical church. Find out more.

If you’ve watched the news, read a paper, or tried to watch network television last night, you have been exposed to the “pig flu” scare. When the President interrupts The New Adventures of Old Christine, there’s a major issue. Turns out the pigs have begun trying to take over the world. There is a story in Matthew 8 where Jesus casts demons into a herd of swine (Matt. 8:31), and those pigs jumped off a cliff and drowned in the sea. Apparently, Jesus knew these pigs were up to no good and did away with them quickly, despite their very tasty bacon backsides. Maybe we should have asked, What would Jesus do? concerning pigs sooner. As always, Jesus has the answer. Our only option is to drown all the pigs on the planet and move on with our lives. It will be tough, but turkey bacon will have to do.

Now on a serious note, this is no laughing matter, and while I joke about the name, we are seriously praying for every family affected by this tragedy. This article is to help answer the question, What can church leaders and pastors do to protect their flocks from the pig flu?

What Is Swine Flu?

The CDC reports the “swine flu” is a new strain of influenza virus of swine origin. Because it is a new strain most people do not have immunity to the “pig flu,” and it is spreading quickly. Even though the name suggests pigs just got really dangerous, the danger of infection doesn’t come from petting pigs, eating pork, or playing football. Like other influenza strains, it is spread through person-to-person contact. The virus spreads through tiny particles released in a cough or a sneeze.

This has caused the World Health Organization to say that “a swine flu pandemic is imminent.” As of Wednesday night, the threat level for pandemic health crisis was at a 5 on a scale of 1 to 6 (6 being a pandemic). In response, the Ft. Worth Independent School District (one of the largest school districts in Texas) has closed all its 144 schools (over 80,000 students) at least through May 8, 2009. The CDC is encouraging other public organizations to close for a season, so how should we respond as church leaders?

Protect Your People

My suggestion is that you take this unique opportunity to serve your people well and protect them. As pastors we fight to protect our people spiritually, emotionally, and socially, and now you have the opportunity and responsibility to protect them physically. If you have no reported issues in your city or your church body, then you should meet, but take quality precautions.

Here are the precautionary measures our church is taking:

• editors note:The most effective thing to do is tell sick people to stay at home.
• All volunteers and children will wear facemasks in the classrooms to minimize the spread of germs and infectious bacteria. They will be specially decorated and their use will be incorporated into the lesson content so as not to scare children. Please talk to your child beforehand about the masks to minimize any fear and communicate their importance.
• Toys have been removed from most classrooms and remaining equipment and materials thoroughly sanitized according to guidelines set forth by the CDC and WHO, in addition to our regular practice of sanitizing all toys and equipment between services.
• Check-in and checkout procedures will change to limit the number of people in the small hallways of the children’s area. Parents will now drop off and pick up at the entrance to the children’s area instead of at their child’s specific classroom. Staff and deacons will walk the children to and from their classrooms.
• We will cut out our weekly greeting during our services to cut down on person-to-person contact.
• We are asking that everyone in attendance take every precaution possible to cut down on the spread of germs, including regularly washing your hands and covering your mouth when coughing or sneezing.
• We will be offering individually wrapped options for breakfast as a substitute for donuts.

Our hope is that your people will continue to faithfully worship together, no matter the circumstance, and that they would feel their pastors and leaders are doing everything they can to love them and serve them well.