In the first article we examined how that church and the travel industry served a utilitarian function. Utilitarian function gave way to jet airlines and churches became destinations than vehicles. This has led to methodologies of attraction of irreligious consumers that require bigger and bigger everything. The mega-church began and is here to stay. Consider this statistic, in 1970 only 500,000 people took a cruise and there were only ten mega-churches. In 2010 there were 14 million passengers on cruise ships and there were 1500 meg-church options.

If statistical comparisons helps to see the trajectory of the cruise industry and the church, then what are some of the inherent flaws that get overlooked?. Cruise ships today are designed with unbelievable amenities, such as roller0coasters, water theme parks, golf courses, tree-lined boulevards within the ship, and so forth. There are so many amenities within the ship you literally can stay inside for days and never see the main attraction on being on the ship in the first place – THE SEA!

The church can learn something from this delusion: Relevance backfires when it overlooks your uniqueness. Not every church has succumbed to this temptation. Some churches feel the accolades of relevance too affirming and the pressure to fill thousands of seats every weekend too demanding. The allure to relevance is that many of the sacred icons of the faith are replaced. Crosses, pews, hymns, and even liturgies give way to auditoriums, bands, and coffee houses. Is it possible that an attender can become so enthralled by the experience that we forget scriptural purposes? Barna research has pointed out that the primary reason that millennial’s (30 years of age and under) want to come to church is so they can get closer to God and learn more about Him. Imagine that! Perhaps all of the digital glitz and bling may be a hinderance to those we are attempting to influence.

Let us accept an important truth: No matter how much money, effort and innovation that churches possess, they will never be as cool as the culture. Relevance is a race the church cannot win! Our passion to compete with culture is costing us to loose sight of the only thing of value the church can offer the world – JESSU CHRIST! Take up your cross and follow Christ is still an appropriate challenge to all who come to faith in Christ.

Prior to the 1960’s most American churches were small and provided a very utilitarian function. The church would transport people into communion with God by providing basic necessities for living a Christian life. However, by the late 60’s and 70’s, the Baby Boomer culture had grown up and many had stopped going to church all together. The culture of our country had changed. Secular values, youth culture, and entertainment had taken root in the fabric of our nation and the church could no longer compete. Churches that were built for utility struggled. However, there were some pastors that began to ‘tinker” with the way we have done church up to that point, attempting a “new purpose” for the church.

Allow me to digress and take a snapshot of another industry in this same time period. At one point in American history New York harbor was bustling with activity as ocean-going vessels brought immigrants to America. These ships that transported people served a utilitarian purpose that simply moved people from point A to B – that is why they were called “liners.”

The glory days of ocean liners began to fade in the late 1950’s when the first jetliner traveled in six hours what took ocean vessels six days to travel. Many of the great vessels of the day were being harbored and sold for scrap. People begin to declare this industry to be over. They were severely wrong! Many of the ship owners began to “tinker” with the way this industry had conducted itself up to this point in history.

New ships emerged and now transported people on a “wondering journey” to exotic ports-of-call. A new mindset was established that we are moving from point A to B, rather we are now on an exotic journey wondering the oceans of the world – vacation travel was being born. New innovative ships were being built. The Titanic was the “Oasis of The Seas” in its day.

Like cruise ship owners looking for new markets to explore, “pastorpreneurs” found that people would attend church in a post-Christian culture if it appealed to their “felt-needs.” Instead of seeing the church as a means to an end – the church was now the end itself. If the culture was no longer interested in connecting with God, then perhaps we can get them to connect with their inner-self and desires. Churches began to connect along the lines of building community, kids, marriage retreats/programs, or even Christian entertainment. Perhaps this approach would draw people back to the pew? The result seems to be high-energy music venues, drama, and therapeutic sermons in a hope that people will find God. Here is the million dollar question; “If the church begins with the attendee’s desires in mind, is the church acting just like the early American cruise ship owners who want to take people on an adventure?” If this is true then are we connecting people to God or connecting them to “our ministry”

This realigning of the church has triggered massive growth in the size of congregations. Logic seems to dictate that larger churches, like larger cruise ships, can offer more choices to address needs and desires. Church growth went from a by-word to the missional purpose of the church. What we are watching in the church world was unimaginable only a few years ago. Think about it – gymnasiums, health clubs, production studios, coffee shops, bookstores and more have all radically reshaped our understanding of ministry. Mega churches have flourished in this new religious environment.

Today, it is reported that half of all churchgoers attend the largest 10% of churches. What we seem to overlook is on average 50 churches per week are closing their doors. The church as a destination model has not advanced the church in America, it has consolidated it.

In the next installment of this series, I will examine how relevance can backfire when it overshadows the church uniqueness. LEAVE a comment and begin a dialogue. I will respond to every comment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson stated once the only things that can grow are the things we give attention to. Real life is lived in the present moment. While it is necessary to plan ahead with visionary thoughts and dreams, truly the only thing that can be impacted is the present moment of life. We can either create and live life by design or accept life by default! God’s gift to us is more talent than you can use in a lifetime. your gift to God is to use as much of that talent in your lifetime.

4 Steps To Make Time Where There Is No Time 

1. Take Inventory of Your Time.  Create a tracking worksheet to capture everything you are doing. You will discover more time to work with by knowing how to make adjustments.
2. Get Creative. Where in your schedule are the auto-pilot activities? These are the activities that do not require serious conscious awareness in order to perform them (shopping, standing in lines, travel time, etc). You will discover there is at least 45-60 minutes of everyday that you are doing auto-pilot activities. Start listening to good podcasts, training materials, audio books and perhaps turn your car into a mobile university of learning.
3. Exercise The Law of Priority. This is one of the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell that states, activity is not progress or accomplishment. Recognize that faith, family and career come before hobbies, Facebook, and television. Do what is required and not so much of what is desired! GET CLARITY! What gives the greatest return and brings the greatest reward?
4. Exercise The Law of Sacrifice. This also is another John Maxwell law that recognizes leaders must give to go up! Sacrifice is a constant in leadership. It is an ongoing process and not a one time payment. There is no success without sacrifice. Many people think that leadership brings freedom and that the perks, power, and prestige are the trophies at the top. The reality is that leadership requires sacrifice – no matter the profession!

I would love to hear your suggestions on how to make time when there is not enough of it . Leave a comment below and I will respond to you.

Do not laugh OK – I am serious! It does not matter what we have accomplished in life or what our IQ is, we all were born with our own unique genius. No, I am not talking about genius with a small “g” as opposed to Albert Einstein which is  BIG “G” genius. We tend to confer the title “genius” on those who are very rare individuals which seem to be born with extra quantities of great brilliance, original vision, and incredible determination.

When these three criteria are used then we can see the genius of a Picasso whom it was reported that he was drawing angels in the crib (Louise Nevelson) or a Mozart who was born with overwhelming abounds of musical talent. These were the true genius’ of the world or so the standard reasoning goes!

Yet when we filter these three criteria through the lens of early child development we did exercise a level of genius. We had a keen sense of our world that needed to be explored. We saw things for the very first time and were fascinated at sights sounds, and smells. Most of all we were determined to explore everything.

Great brilliance is a little hard to define. We can test IQ fairly accurately. What we must realize that we are only testing a very narrow range of possibilities of knowing and doing. We then realize there are special forms of knowing such as artistic, musical, emotional, humanitarian or any other form of knowing that we could mention that is presently difficult to measure. Make no mistake however, we possessed a genius in knowing how to get what we wanted by using the social skills available to manipulate the outcome we desired.

We all possessed original vision, seeing our world for the first time in all of its beauty, color, and sounds. Have you ever noticed a baby that starts “jabbering” before they start speaking. it would be great to know what it is they are attempting to say as they interact with that world for the first time. Everything is new! Yet we could not give them the words or emotions to express. Our senses are attempting to find expression of this “first-time vision” of the world. We were not only reinventing the English language for our purposes, but we were doing original research into our world.

You know you had incredible determination! You knew perfectly well what you loved and wanted. You were not going to let anything get in your way of that one object of affection – COOKIE! You used the full arsenal of social skills to manipulate, con, or convince your way to that COOKIE! Self-confidence was not an issue – you did not understand it. The idea of self-confidence had no meaning to you – you were focused on the goal.

These qualities that we think distinguish geniuses from the rest of us – you and I had them at two years of age. The question is “Where did they go?” As long as we were too young to listen to reason or to be trained to do anything useful you and I had a marvelous freedom to just be ourselves. In my next blog post I will offer some insights is this topic. Where did these qualities go?  COMMENT BELOW!

[The genesis of this article was awakened by author Barbara Sher]

So why would I need 12 principles on leadership communication?[1] Consider the new realities of communication:

• The speed of modern communication is on a global scale today;
• The increased channels of communication, there are more options than we have ability to engage them;
• There is a rise of consumer/citizen power of influencing dialogue without complete factual understanding of the issues;
• There is a rise of expectations for all stakeholders that need a “speedy” response;
• New formations of communities of interest that is being enabled by digital technology and a new sense of empowerment;
• Increasing regulations and the resulting need for new communication requirements;
• The aggressive pursuit of informational journalism and the “tabloidization” of business reporting;
• Declining levels of trust in business that is being accelerated by financial difficulties in today’s marketplace.

Armed with this new reality, a leader is faced with a daunting task on how to stay ahead of the communication curve to LEAD in the context of these new realities as opposed to REACTING. Add to this reality this probing question; “When was the last time that you invested in yourself to enhance your communication skills?” Beyond Toastmaster’s or a Dale Carnage course, where would you go to learn more on effective speaking? Intentionality is the one key word that we postpone. The danger is that postponing anything in our life assumes that we are in control of our tomorrows. Reality states that we have only this moment and that the journey of 1,000 miles begins with the first step – TODAY!

For the most part all leaders are clear that leadership communication is about inspiring others to achieve great things. Author Murray sets forth 12 principles of communication:

1. Learn how to be yourself, if you aspire to being a better leader and communicator.
2. Give voice to a compelling mission and powerful set of values.
3. Combine this with a vivid picture of the future, which you communicate relentlessly to drive behaviors in the present.
4. Keep your people focused on the key relationships that your organization depends on for success and make building trust in those relationships a priority.
5. Make engagement a strategic goal, and use conversations to engage.
6. Become a fanatic about understanding audiences before trying to communicate with them.
7. Listen in new and powerful ways, and learn to ask the right questions.
8. Prepare a potent point of view to communicate your messages.
9. Use more stories and anecdotes to inspire the right behaviors.
10. Be aware of the signals you send beyond your words.
11. Prepare properly for public platforms – your reputation is at stake.
12. Learn, rehearse, review, improve – always strive to be a better communicator.

Would you take a minute and leave a response below to the question; “What is the most important communication lesson you have learned?” I am eager to learn myself and you can help teach me!

[1] Kevin Murray, The Language of Leaders. Kogan Page: Great Britain, 2012

Ghostwriter and contributing editor for Inc. Magazine, Jeff Haden has written a number of articles on how CEO’s and other department Supervisors are to relate to employees and vice-versa. This has provoked thought on faith-based initiatives and how Pastors should relate to those they are attempting to lead. While there are similarities there are many subtleties in applications. The relationship within for-profits corporations is based upon performance – paycheck rewards. In non-profits the relationship is far more communal/relational and not paycheck rewards driven. There are ten things that faith-based leaders should provide for those serving them.

1. Ownership

Churches are not manufacturing facilities in that we are producing shapes, colors, and designs. We are shaping people for Eternal Kingdom purposes. Therefore, engagement and satisfaction is based upon ownership. Do your leaders own the vision? Have they bought into you as a leader first? When that happens, leaders will obtain a sense of satisfaction that will be based upon their freedom to be responsible for the outcomes. Autonomy and independence plus freedom breeds’ innovation and dreams.

2. Clear Expectations

The old adage is true: If you do not know where you are going, then any road will take you there! The one true litmus test of casting clear vision and expectations is the ability to write it down on paper. If it cannot clearly be communicated in writing, then we are daydreaming. In the book, The Advantage, the author obsesses over the fact that communication must be ridiculously redundant.   When in doubt communicate!

3. Purposeful Goals

While the corporate world is controlled by the bottom-line, non-profits should be controlled by a higher purpose. The leaders we train need to know their effort serves greater purposes than “branding/marketing” agendas. To leave a footprint in life is a great accomplishment. Legacy building starts today!

4. A True Sense of Purpose

The Latin meaning for our word “religion” is ligare’. This implies my effort to link back to a creator or that, which is bigger than myself. Vision needs to be tied to a greater community good. We are not just in the Brand Building business – we are in the Influence Building business. The highways and hedges mentality is worthy of time and resources to implement community-influencing strategies.

5. Provide Significant Input

The pathway to exchange ideas should be wide-open, accessible and honored. Pastor honor those who offer suggestions about the work they are involved in. Understand they are thinking about the what and where we are doing and headed. Those ideas that seem to be in left field are great teaching moments to assist those people through a “critical thinking” process, helping hem to evaluate their ideas differently. This is serving them and adding value to them. The absolute last thing you would do is to criticize their idea. They will shut down immediately.

6. Connect

Pastor you need to understand that people volunteer for more reasons than being rewarded. They want to follow someone they admire and can trust and in turn know they are admired and trust is reciprocated. Connections are made on a personal basis not just a professional basis. Ask them about their family, children, or hobbies, this will build rapport. Relate to them as human beings and not just workers.

7. Consistency

As Pastor, people are looking for consistency in conduct, policy, and behavior. They will take tough-mindedness if it is consistent. The more that workers understand why decisions are made the less likely they will consider they are being treated unfairly or assume favoritism.

8. Private Criticism

No one is perfect – no even pastors! We all need constructive criticism, not public rebuke. Good feedback is always done privately and with dignity. Always have in mind the other person’s growth and influence capability; this will keep personal attacks to a minimum.

9. Public Praise

Everyone does something that is praise-worthy from time to time. Show appreciation and recognition. Catch people in the act of kindness. The “Five-Minute Manager” book that came out years ago suggested that five minutes be taken to start each day to either call, email, or send a personal note of thanks and appreciation for a job well done. Small acts of appreciation pay large dividends.

10.  Preferred Future

Every area of work within life should have an opportunity of advancement. Pastor, develop the people around you. You cannot influence a community if you cannot influence your closest workers and allies. Invest in other people’s success. Resource them and give opportunities for learning. Don’t go to seminars by yourself; take others with you on the learning journey.

Share ONE COMMENT when a leader impacted your life in a positive way. Also sign up and receive a copy of the 20 Great Questions That Demand An Answer.

Jena, Germany is a great University city as well as the home of Zeiss Optical Systems. This community was home to the first planetarium  in 1926 created by Zeiss whose slogan was; “We make it visible!” Being able to see clearly and far is a trade-mark of the city. However, October 14, 1806 was a day when visibility was the key issue.

Napolean Bonaparte defeated the much larger force of King William III of Prussia. The battle of Jena-Auerstedt is studied still to this day. The Prussians learned a new leadership model from this stinging defeat called Auftragstaktik – establish INTENT, DELEGATE to others, and SUPERVISE appropriately – COMMUNICATE often!

What modern day lessons can be learned from Auftragstaktik in 1810. There are at least five lessons that can be applied to today’s leaders. Author Kevin Murray’s insights from The Language of Leaders is quite helpful here. Auftragstaktik teaches:

1. You have to be crystal clear about your missional purposes. These purposes must be communicated to everyone up, down, and laterally within the organization often.
2. Everyone within the organization must have a shared vision for leadership. The more leaders that you create the greater chances you have for success.
3. These leaders must not only be clear about the goals but they must be clear about their own goals and how achieving them fits into the overall organizational goal strategy. Individual goals must align with the greater good of the corporate strategy. These leaders should be encouraged to write out their plan and live that plan daily.
4. These leaders must have a situational awareness of what people are going to do above, below, and laterally. As a plan unfolds they must have a good understanding of how things are developing and what is needed to improve performance.
5. Leaders have to show great courage and character to earn the right to lead and they must stand up for what they truly believe.

The agility of Napoleon’s forces made all the difference in winning a great victory. Flexibility, agility, and clear communication is rewarded with victory. Remember the speed of the leader equals the speed of the team.

Share your comments – let’s begin  dialogue of leadership communication and its importance.

Shepherds Advantage Inc. Announces…. Teambuilding with The Birkman Method®   Team Building has many meanings. At its simplest level it is the process of enabling two or more people to achieve a common goal productively and effectively. Supporting the concept of team building are important components such as trust, healthy conflict, commitment, accountability and results. Teams that excel at these traits will accomplish on a consistent, ongoing basis the results that they set out to achieve. Such results from teams that work well, go straight to the bottom line in dollars — on time or early project delivery, lower turnover, increased synergy and more. The Birkman Method® is designed to help teams discover, clarify and align strengths; build self-awareness of individual strengths, motivators, underlying needs and stress points; develop strategies for improvement; and encourage individual and team accountability. The Birkman Method® is a unique, multi-dimensional assessment integrating behavioral, motivational and career information in one tool using one questionnaire. It has been developed and enhanced through more than 50 years of use by consulting and organizational   Some Selected Results

• Understand and leverage team strengths and diversity and develop strategies for managing blind spots.
• Understand individual team member strengths, styles, and motivators to drive productive intra-team working relationships.
• Compare and contrast team members to identify potential areas of conflict. Drive “healthy conflict” using the information for individual and group awareness building.
• Compare and contrast the team leader to the team members for potential areas of conflict. Use the information to help the team leader more effectively manage and motivate the team as a group and as individuals.
• Develop strategies for working better together and strengthening significant relationships.
• Empower individual self-management within the team through better understanding of other team members’ styles and motivations. Drive more personal accountability for behavior and conflict resolution.

Contact Shepherds Advantage to see how this powerful tool can assist your leadership team’s performance.

“From all of our beginnings, we keep reliving the Garden Story!” Ann Voskamp

Regardless of your interpretation how the “begin” got into the beginning, there is one thing we all agree. Life is a journey that we all are experiencing. The Judeo-Christian ethic states that God began the beginning. Others may declare a collision of cosmic forces, or the mere power of the human intellect began the beginning. Currently, we all are striving to  influence our world as part of what was begun.

Shepherds Advantage is an outgrowth of what started as an invitation to become part of a “Blue Ribbon Committee” for the purpose of  realigning ecclesiastical systems that were not functioning as intended that ultimately led to new patterns of thought and experiences to be achieved. From that beginning a dissertation would emerge that has brought me to this moment of life. My driving passion is to make a difference, with those who make a difference, while doing something that makes a difference! Therefore the resources provided via Shepherds Advantage are designed to realign, refocus, re-energize, and recommit ourselves to the purpose of adding value to others. The purpose of “goal setting” is not to get something, but to BECOME! The end result is that we become stronger leaders that are guided by spiritual purposes and not the lower passions of materialism.

Thank-you for these 180 seconds of your time to begin this journey with me. In honor of your time I have a copy of “20 Great Questions That Demand An Answer” for you as a token of this beginning moment. Sign-up and I will send you this gift.