At the beginning of each year, we are presented with an opportunity to start fresh, write some new goals and even make resolutions for the coming months. For a church, January can be a time to share its vision, set its priorities for the coming year and communicate purpose with its people. While we often laugh at how quickly we break our resolutions to exercise, eat healthy, read our bibles or pray, there are a few resolutions church leaders can make that can promote real community impact and church health.
1. Invite More Guests
“In the future, about the only way non-Christians will keep showing up at Christian churches is via personal invitation.” – Carey Nieuwhof
Churches that encourage their people to engage with the community around them by opening their personal lives will more effectively share Jesus. With the presence of a constantly-growing collection of online sermons and Bible studies, the need for fellowship continues to grow.
Do you share from the platform stories of inviting others?
Do you provide easy to use, quality invites to your people that they can share with their friends?
2. Connect More Through Deeper Relationships
Why is the personal invitation becoming so important? The most effective way to retain guests is to connect them through relationships with others in the church community. Guests want to know that they have someone to sit with when they attend. They want real, relevant conversations.
The historical functions of Sunday mornings – the worship music and the sermon – are instantly and abundantly available online. For a church to grow in 2017 and beyond, it must offer something beyond online offerings: personal, relational connection.
Are your attenders regularly learning how to engage in meaningful relationships?
Is your church culture one that continues to invite newer people in vs. pushing them out?
3. Develop More Leaders
One of the key priorities of every church should be raising up leaders. This development consists of two emphases. First, you must train and equip to succeed. Then, you must provide opportunities for leadership.
One major hurdle in many churches is the inability or refusal of a leader to put others into decision-making positions. They are invited as “collaborators,” but decisions continue to be made by only one or two leaders or teams.
“Delegate tasks and you create followers. Delegate decisions and you build leaders.”
The goal is to raise up leaders, but by not empowering them to make decisions, we are really raising up loyal followers. Not everyone is made to be put into this position, but for those who are gifted in leadership, we must position them to lead.
How do we identify potential leaders and encourage development?
Do we provide a clear path for leadership development?
At Excel Leadership Coaching, we can help you develop and implement a custom strategy to effectively invite, connect and develop more leaders in 2017.