{"id":2119,"date":"2012-05-08T03:00:50","date_gmt":"2012-05-08T10:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.scottcochrane.com\/?p=2119"},"modified":"2012-05-07T10:02:41","modified_gmt":"2012-05-07T17:02:41","slug":"4-ways-to-get-your-church-unstuck","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottcochrane.com\/index.php\/2012\/05\/08\/4-ways-to-get-your-church-unstuck\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Ways to Get Your Church Unstuck"},"content":{"rendered":"

At our recent series of Innovate<\/a> leadership forums we asked this question; \u201cWhat one word best describes your church today?\u201d<\/p>\n

From Vancouver to Moncton, one of the words we heard over and over was this:<\/p>\n

Stuck!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We then profiled Canadian church leaders whose church had found ways to get things moving again. These were the key discoveries:<\/p>\n

1.\u00a0\u00a0 Leaders must be secure<\/strong>
\nLaurel Buckingham, senior pastor of Moncton Wesleyan Church, the largest church in Atlantic Canada, stressed that in order for a church to find new traction the point leader must be secure in themselves.<\/p>\n

Only out of a secure place can the leader find the courage to ask the tough questions that must be addressed when a church is stalled.<\/p>\n

2.\u00a0\u00a0 Leaders must focus on soul-care<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s not possible to lead your church toward renewed momentum when your soul is dry.<\/p>\n

This was a key observation of Greg Hochhalter, lead pastor of Sherwood Park Alliance Church near Edmonton.<\/p>\n

Greg noted that his marching orders from his board are that he must lead \u201cout of a deep well\u201d, and that his board has provided the means by which he can find the spiritual nourishment he requires.<\/p>\n

3. Leaders must be willing to shake up the team<\/strong>
\nDrawing on more than 30 years of pastoral ministry, our national pastor Tim Schroeder reminded us that the team that \u201cgot you stuck\u201d is unlikely to be the team that gets you \u201cunstuck\u201d.<\/p>\n

Tim wasn\u2019t advocating the arbitrary dismissal of your leadership team, but did challenge leaders to have the courage to shake things up.<\/p>\n

4. Leaders must focus mission and strategy around the church\u2019s core strengths<\/strong>
\nIf a church is to get unstuck it must relentlessly focus on its distinctiveness.<\/p>\n

Tim and Greg each reminded us that many stuck churches simply provide too many ministry offerings, thus dissipating precious resources and leading to a lack of ministry focus. A related trap, we learned, was in following trends of other churches, particularly \u201ccelebrity churches\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead, we were reminded, to get moving again you must recognize your church\u2019s unique strengths and focus there.<\/p>\n

The bottom line in all this?<\/p>\n