Church Mergers, Administrative Responsibilities, and Other Listener Questions – Rainer on Leadership #431

Comments

1. Mickey Smith says

   May 11, 2018 at 9:13 am

   Thom–
   We are a baptist church of about 250 members. We have many visitors each Sunday but have a low return rate on our visitor cards. The card is brief–name, phone, E-mail and space for comments. What is the most effective way to get them to fill the cards out and put in the plate?

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2. D a vi d T rou bl efi eld , D Mi n says

   May 11, 2018 at 9:18 am

   1. Mergers/Acquisitions: can happen successfully when cultures are most similar and change management is practiced effectively. (A x B x C) > D = Change.

   2. Business/Not Business: it really isn’t “business” or “not business”–instead, it’s “social systems,” which are God’s doing (cf. Genesis 2 – Revelation 22). In the beginning, God created the solar system; when He began to populate it with beings other than only Himself, He created social systems–or, purposeful people-groups (of two or more; e.g., families, nations–and today also including churches, businesses, nonprofits, etc.) which must deal well with four main problems (integration, motivation, adaptation, goal achievement) in order to experience brighter tomorrows. Much of what is termed “business” only is taking the steps necessary to address those four problems and for the social system (church, nation, club, family, etc.) to sustain itself until tomorrow when it must do the same again. Because it is so neglected now, the SBC is in serious decline, but God grew the SBC to its greatest days in terms of baptisms and membership and etc. starting in 1920 as its congregations used “Flake’s Formula”–a “business” model brought to the everyday ministry work of SBC churches and taught by its BSSB (i.e., LifeWay, which Thom leads now as president) to Southern Baptists across the country (especially the South).

   3. Evaluations of employees: yes, but only if done in such a way that the morale of the workforce (ministry or not) always is elevated; otherwise, do NOT do evaluations. Organizations–including churches–move forward on their high positive morale; crush that morale, then watch the progress slow to a crawl and stop entirely. Plan the work necessary for all staff to do, hire in keeping with those expectations, provide to workers all the authority and other tools they need to get the job done, celebrate successes and address areas of improvement immediately/positively, capture the future by reaching the community for Christ, then repeat! (HR Offices everywhere seek “purple squirrels” for the job openings of their organizations; i.e., candidates who are passionate intrinsically for the work [that is, red–which no one can give you] and skills needed to do it [that is, blue–which leaders can give you all day long; red + blue = purple; HR will hire all the purple squirrels it can find and afford, and then aim to make purple squirrels of all the rest of us via talent management activities. This is just “HR 101” stuff; when needed, hire for willingness [red] and train for skills [blue].)

   4. Ministries doing their own thing: task #6 typically assigned to ministries and small groups in SBC churches = “Support and undergird the work of the church and the denomination.” I.e., do not become a cancer within the larger body, sucking the life out of that body. Life in the body (organization) is about the body, not about the cells (small groups, ministries) composing it. If the ministries are more mature and able to function at a higher/better rate than the body overall, then they have a point AND the body needs to catch up intellectually, emotionally, and/or spiritually (i.e., a person can outgrow his mentor, and he should seek new mentors when he does; small groups can outgrow their larger congregation–watch out when they do).

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3. Mark says

   May 11, 2018 at 11:16 am

   The biggest problem with church M&A is deciding who will run the show. Rarely is a merger simply a merger of equals. Then there is the unofficial power structures which frequently hold an inordinate amount of power. Most church splits occur when one group who has no power wishes for some but is not given any.

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4. G. Wiest says

   May 11, 2018 at 11:43 am

   IN Churches we pay really low compared to other businesses. How many waitress, busboys and cashiers at Grocery Stores get annual reviews? We do hold accountable. But the question is: Are you mom and Pop or are you IBM.

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