Bill Easums Observations

Our Fall Interview line up for Coaching for Busy People is now set.  It is an excellent group of world class leaders.

We have already begun the line up with  Larry Osborne, pastor of Northcost Church in Vista, CA who talks about his book Sticky Teams, which is one of the best books I’ve read in 30 years.

In October I  will release my interview with Bob Logan, Founder of Coachnet Global.  Bob has been on the fore front of coaching and church planting. In fact he wrote the book on church planting.

In November, Mark DeYmas pastor of Mosaic of Central Arkansas, will talk about his multi ethnic work in Little Rock and his book Ethnic Blend.  It is Mark’s contention that by 2020 20% of all thriving churches will  be multi ethnic.

December brings Dave Ferguson to the plate. Dave has been a good friend for a long time and if you have followed his work at Community Christian and Exponential you know he is doing his best to fuel a movement. We will discuss his book Exponential, which is another one of the best books I’ve read in 30 years.

These coaching sessions are free. All you have to do is go to our website and click on Coaching for BZ People and register. A wealth of learning is at your finger tips.

Coaching is on the rise. I’m currently coaching 23 pastor in how to take their church to the next level.  A couple are trying to break the 200 barrier; two or three are trying to break the 1,000 barrier; and a bunch are trying to break the 500 Barrier.  In the last three years I’ve experienced a huge increase in the number of pastors asking for coaching to where my coaching and consulting are about even. Five years ago consulting took up the vast majority of my time.  “Times, they are a changin.”

This shift is happening for a variety of reasons but here are the top three;

• Times are changing faster than most pastors can keep up with and continue to pastor.
• There are more church plants underway among mainliners than at any time in the last 40 years and mainliners are beginning to see the value of a coach.
• The younger generations are more prone to a coaching relationship than are the boomers

Several learnings pop out from my coaching.

Many pastors…..

• are notoriously bad about not setting out clear expectations of their staff. So I have to found it helpful if the pastor and I agree on a Personal Mission Mandate for the pastor and hold them accountable to it.
• allow themselves to get pulled in so many directions it’s hard for them to focus on what really matters and need regular reminders to focus on the main thing. Often my role is to simply remind the person of the handful of leverage actions that are going to take the church to the next level. One of my favorite questions is “If your church were twice its size, what would you have to start and stop doing.” We actually make a list.
• have a hard time fully appreciating the fact that once they get beyond 150 in worship the burden for growth begins to shift from them to their staff (which many don’t have). Any pastor can grow a church to 200 without much help; but no pastor can effectively take a group of people past the 500 barrier all alone.
• find it difficult to set aside time for family and personal growth.  I have to remind them that it’s not how long they work, but what they do while working.
• need remedial work on know how to hire or fire staff.  It’s not uncommon for a pastor to have so high a mercy gift they simply find it devastating to fire someone and they are so rushed for time that they hire the first person who comes along.  One of the things I constantly remind my folks is that they need to constantly looking for staff that they don’t yet need.

There’s a huge difference between coaching and consulting, so I’ve been on a fast learning curve. But I’ve learned there’s also a lot of cross over. I’ve found that coaching without the consulting ability often leaves the one being coached dangling in the wind not knowing what to do or not to do next.  Failure to wear the consultant hat often results in fatale mistakes.

Because of this growth in coaching, my partner and I have set up The Next Level Coaching Network to assist pastors in growing their churches. If you’re interested in a coaching relationship, my partner and I still have a few openings.  If you want more information go to www.nextlevelcoachingnetwork.net .

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
www.nextlevelcoachingnetwork.com

For a long time I’ve taught there are only two critical questions facing humankind:

1. What is it about my relationship to Christ that my neighbor needs to experience;
2. How can I rabidly share that relationship without coming off like a bigot?

Len Sweet and Frank Viola have made a major contribution to these two questions in their book, Jesus Manifesto. It’s a brilliant work of art.

The best way to know to showcase this art is by sharing a few of the quotes that captured my heart.

“The best way to combat conflict is to preach the unspeakable riches of Christ.”
“Jesus is seldom the main course (Speaking of most Christians).”
“Our goal is not to imitate Christ but to acknowledge that he dwells in us.”
“It’s not what Jesus would do but what is Christ doing through me.”
“Christlikeness is too small and cheap a dream.”
“The gospel is not the imitation of Christ; it is the impartation and implantation of Christ.”
“”Follow me’ is what separated Jesus from the other world religions.”
“Jesus did not come to make bad people good. He came to make dead people live.”
“Jesus Christ has never been a social activist or a moral philosopher. To pitch Him that way is to drain His glory and dilute His excellence.”
“We must never avoid social issues. But the distinctive mark of a Christian is that you don’t begin with a social or moral issue.”
“Jesus is never a cause.”
“But the social and political reform of the world through the powers that be has never been the agenda of the body of Christ.”
“We have too many people loving justice when they should be loving mercy – and doing justice.”
“Jesus was not known for His love of justice but for His love of mercy.”
“We would be wise to remember that the best we can do is change the world; only Jesus can save the world.”
“Our ‘hunger for justice’ is best turned into a hunger for the Just One, and going deeper in Him and in relationship with others.”

I could go on but you get the picture- the gospel is not about causes or imitating Christ or even being like Christ.  The gospel is about falling in love with the crucified beauty and glory of Christ in such a way that he lives in us. It’s not a matter of imitation- Christ actually lives in us- that is the hope of glory. It’s one thing to be on a crusade or to beat the drum of a cause or even to be in ministry because of some ill-founded belief that a cause is worth giving one’s life for; it’s a far different thing to give ones life to a love that is profound that it consumes the self with the presence of Christ.

This is a excellent book that could change the hearts of even the most calcified church member.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com

By Bill Easum

The average church in the U.S. is under a hundred in worship. Churches with less than 50 people in worship make up 40% of all churches in the U.S. The average age in these churches with less than 50 people in worship is over 65. Add to that less than 2% of these churches are growing and you have a formula for major disaster over the next fifteen years for 40% of all the churches in the U.S.

If there is to be any hope for the vast majority of these churches radical action must be undertaken within the next few years or most of them will go out of existence. So, I am suggesting a “Hail Mary Strategy” for these churches.  You get the image. It’s the last five seconds of the football game; your team is down by six points; and you are on your own 45 yard line.  Only a touchdown will allow you to win the game. So you call the play and launch the ball as high and as far as you can hoping beyond hope the ball will come to rest in the arms of your receiver somewhere over the goal line.

So the question is this – “Will the leaders of your church wake up to the fact that the church is in serious trouble and the only way to move it from survival to thriving is by starting over?”

Starting over means the following based on the “Hail Mary Strategy.”

• Find a way to have a full time pastor/planter who will commit for three years . I know you can’t afford this at the moment but you must find a way or you will continue to decline. A part time pastor does not have the time to do all that is necessary to restart a church.

• Suspend all of the present ways/policies/hidden agendas/system stories regarding decision making and day to day running the church and allow the pastor and a launch team to give direction to the church during the three years. This also means disbanding all of the existing committees and the Administrative Council.

• Do away with the present mission statement and come up with one that a six year old can remember as well as short enough to be written on a t-shirt.

• Allow the pastor to bring together and disciple/equip a re-launch team of a seven people and give them full authority to make all of the decisions for the next three years.  These people need to have four faith characteristics: one, a renewed belief in Jesus Christ and the mission of the church; two, a servant’s heart; three a deep compassion for the lost; and four, a more focused prayer effort.

• The pastor should be personally responsible for spending 80% of his or her time in the community, dreaming up ways to reach the unchurched, and responding to the visitors to worship. I’ve never seen a church this size grow without the pastor being the direct cause of the growth. Just think how it would change the church if the pastor personally brought in fifty new members over the next eighteen months?

• Begin an indigenous worship service designed specifically for people 25-50 which means rock music and tons of visuals.

• The pastor must find a musician who believes in the mission and is willing to give his or her time to developing the music and musicians for this service. I know you don’t have a clue how to do this but you get what you look for and if part of the 80% of the time the pastor is spending on the unchurched is devoted to finding this person the pastor will find them.  These people are out there waiting to be asked to play in worship rather in the bar scene.

• Send out six off-the-wall direct mail pieces to all the households with five miles of the church announcing the start of the new worship service.  These mail out pieces will focus on two things- a new service and a new sermon series designed to catch the imagination of the people under 50 years of age. It must not look churchy.

• Develop one or two signature ministries.  Churches with less than 300 in worship can only do one or two key ministries. I suggest one of these be a children’s ministry fashioned after Promise Land from Willow Creek. You will not be able to afford  to purchase it, but you can easily put your own program together once you understand the basics.

• Keep the present worship service intack for the present members. These folks have kept the church open all these years and need to be honored for their commitment. What I am suggesting in no way diminishes their past or future contributions to the God’s Kingdom.

• Have a capital fund drive to raise enough money to accomplish the above. One of the roles of the present members will be to “pray and pay” for what needs to be done to reach young adults for Christ and cause your church to thrive once again. With a solid plan in place you can probably borrow more from your bank.  This should be more than enough money to do what is necessary.  Now you see why I call this a “Hail Mary” strategy. But it works if you have the right planter/restart/pastor.

The one thing you know for sure; if you keep doing what you’ve been doing you’ll keep getting what you’ve been getting. Surely you’re not satisfied with that.  So roll the dice; spend everything you have; and see what happens. If it doesn’t work, it just means you’ll close the doors a few years sooner and with a lot less grief.

www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com
www.BillEasum.com

We live in a world in which one of the only things we can say about it for sure at the moment is that it is set on speed.  Things get faster and faster every year.

That’s one of the reasons I don’t understand people who will allow emails to sit for days on end instead of answering them in real time. I know; there are those who say that things are moving too fast and that people need to guard their own time.

But consider this- what would you think of a person in a metro area who intentionally rides a horse instead of driving a car.  We would think they are a bit odd.

In the near future people who refuse to have the technology to respond to texting and email and horrors of horros, tweets within the hour are going to be considered dinosaurs.

We run our ministry on real time. We try to respond to people the same hour or day they contact us.  If you call us, it may take a day to get us because we are on a plane; but if you email us we respond to it when we land.

Its impossible to be effective in a world set on speed if you move with the speed of a turtle.

As one of my network and regular readers, I wanted to remind you about the National Outreach Convention in November in San Diego. It is one of the largest gatherings each year, with a single focus– how do we reach more with the message of the Gospel? Now, more than ever outreach is critical area on which every smart church leader is focused. The opportunity to connect with un-churched is unprecedented as people search for truth – desperate for good news and hope.

The “NOC” is known for providing practical, powerful and innovative teaching. You can learn from leading churches in numerous outreach areas: assimilation, community transformation, church planting, multi-ethnic outreach, ideation, digital strategies, social media and many more…Take a few minutes to read about all the sessions available. www.outreachconvention.com/sessions

Presented by Outreach Magazine – this is one gathering you should strongly consider adding to your calendar for 2010. You will leave with new ideas, inspiration and focus for effective outreach in your own community. Bring your team and use it as a strategic planning and vision casting opportunity. Make use of the networking, the online community with conversations between leaders just like you, the discussion groups, book signings and a huge exhibit hall with all the latest resources and tools in various areas of ministry. It’s a 3-day experience that will powerfully impact your ministry – I know, because I’ve been there!

This year, I am presenting a session about…Leadership in a Wild Card World.
Topics Include:

The Cultural and Economic Wildcards Affecting Ministry
How to be Proactive in a World Gone Mad
Achieving More Ministry With Less Money
Sharing Faith with Ozzy in the Jungle
Outreach that Works

See you in November.

Bill Easum
www.churchconsultations.com
easum@aol.com

I’m doing a seminar in a large church in the south. I’ve nearing the end of two of five days and speaking to the congregations when someone raises their hand and says “What you’re saying suggests you’re a young man in an old man’s body.”  He was referring to my understanding of the new world and how I had shared it with them in an effort to help them understand why they needed to make some changes to reach the new world with Jesus.  It was the best thing that anyone ever said about me.

So, why is it that some people never age in their mind and heart and some do? I could give you several reasons.

• I read 2oo to 3oo hundred books a year
• I still ask Why?
• I am driven by a passion to reach new generations no matte what
• I know that methodology or tradition makes diddly when it comes to someone finding Jesus and having their life rearranged.
• Helping people to find Jesus is more important than anything else in life.
• the list could go on

I just thought I would share this comment and what it means.  What would it mean to most established churches if most of the leaders were able to respond to the new world this way and not get mad? Give that some thought. bill

It’s not to late to invite a friend to worship this Easter Sunday.  In fact, if you have a staff why not ask each of them to invite at least one friend today or Saturday and offer to go by and pick them up.

“82 percent of the unchurched are at least “some what likely” to attend church if they are invited. Perhaps we need to pause on this response. Perhaps we need to restate it: More than eight out of ten of the unchurched said they would come to church if they were invited. If you take anything from this book, please remember this point.” Rainer, Unchurched Next Door

The problem is just a handful of Christians take the time to invite a friend much less develop the relationship with them that needs to preceed the invite.

So what are you waiting for? The phone is just a step away- the next door neighbor just a few steps away. the person you work side by side with just a few miles away?

If you’ve lived through 9/11 and 2008 you know what I mean about strange times. And if you don’t, no need to read any further. You’ve got too much sand in your ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to us.

We’re living in a time of exaggerated contradictions.

At the very time many of today’s leading pundits are proclaiming the death of the institutional church we learn that more new churches are being planted each year (4,000) than are being closed (3500) and that 68% of them are still functioning four years later.

At the every time more and more publishers are showcasing books on non-institutional forms of church life, a book comes along like Viral Churches by Stetzer and Warren (to be released) showing us how to become part of a reproductive church planting movement.

At the very time more and more books and blogs are being published about burned out pastors and declining churches my house is running over with books about thriving new ministries and excited pastors, and my time on the internet is filled with blogs from pastors transforming their cities, and in some cases the world, with the Good News.

At the very time when most denominations are streamlining to save costs and slashing budgets to survive, new parachurch groups focused on planting churches that plant churches are emerging every year with seemingly unlimited funds.

Something’s afoot, wouldn’t you say?

I still travel around a lot and when I’m not traveling I’m interviewing new leaders and reading dozens of books a month. I’m online literally every moment of the day even when writing. I shift through tons of information.

What has surprised me the most the last five years is the amount of positive chatter I run across by younger pastors, most of whom are planting new churches. I’ve never experienced such passion in my 50+ years of ministry. Their excitement is intense. Their calling is laser sharp. And none of them have given up on the institutional church.  Maybe we shouldn’t either.

Many of you know my wife has been in the hospital for over 30 of the last 55 days. Three times she has had to spend a week or more in the hospital and they still haven’t found the reason she bleeds when they put her on plavics. 

She is home now and although her struggle is not over , we appreciate all the prayers from our friends around the world.  They mean so much and we just wanted to say “Thank you.”

Bill and Jan