“I never dreamed leading a church would be this hard, “ lamented my pastor friend over lunch yesterday. Even though his church had grown from 1300 to 2500 the past four years he was struggling, frustrated, and a bit scared. “I don’t know what to do,” was another painful response as he pondered if he should build again, go multi site, or…or what?
Interesting thoughts for a successful pastor who started the church 30 years ago in his apartment. As we talked he slowly became more transparent. With a sense of sadness and yet deep resolve he shared, “If I can’t passionately and confidently preach the Holy Spirit (signs and wonders) I don’t have the heart to do this anymore. But people just aren’t willing to buy into it like they used to.”
It is a different day, a much more complex culture to speak into and build an organization in. I wouldn’t have written about this conversation, but it was the fifth one this past week alone with large church pastors struggling to get their arms around this emerging and far more complex environment. And it’s remarkably similar to the frustrations we heard last year when we pulled together a “pastors round table” of six mega church pastors. One thing they were clear about was this need for “Simplicity and Sustainability”. Not only for them but for their congregation’s personal lives as well. The margin space is gone! But why…and how do we get it back?
Thom Rainer, CEO of Lifeway publishers, recently published the book “Simple Church” which has become a best seller. No real surprise. In it Thom shares four key steps to simplifying and empowering a church, or our personal lives.
There are answers and Thom provides some valuable insight here. All five pastors were eager to explore these “Simple Church” concepts and other vital insights. We’re working together to develop a path to “Simplicity and Sustainability” for each. It is possible…and inspiring when that path becomes clear. “Let’s get moving, I’m encouraged, this was a valuable two hours,” were my friends closing comments.
We’ll drill down on this “Simple Church” opportunity later this week.
Phil 4:6 Don’t be anxious about anything
So easy to move from simple to complex.
So hard to move from complex to simple.
I’ll be back later to talk about this…loving the topic!