May 5, 2007

I Want To Start A Church: How Do I Attract People To My Ministry?

The following is a somewhat modified version of a letter I received from a church leader who wants to start a ministry and humbly asked for some advice. I have modified it a bit (though the gist of the letter remains intact) and changed the name for privacy purposes. My response reflects what I have seen in working with many churches and ministers through the years.

Dear Mr. Hernandez

Joyful Greetings to you! My challenge has been attracting people to visit the ministry God has Called me to start… perhaps because I have worship in my home only every other Saturday… and also because my time is so limited. I only have a handful of people who are not necessarily members but enjoy the worship experience. Would you share with me some tips as to what would attract more people.

Pastor Smith

Dear Pastor Smith,

Thank you for your humble email. It takes courage and humility to ask for advice when you have been called to serve the Lord in the pastoral ministry. In response to your question about what may attract more people to the ministry you have started, here is my humble opinion:

People like to be inspired and follow a leader they feel they can trust and look up to. Someone who can lead them to the "Promised Land," so to speak. And of course, most people go by first impressions and are naturally very instinctive and intuitive with their assessment of a man. What all this means is that it's not what you say or do that will attract people to your ministry, it's who you are.

With that in mind, I would definitely come to your ministry and follow you (as you follow Christ) if you exhibited the following characteristics. (And remember that the basis of characteristics is Character.):

1. If you are a fully committed follower of Christ yourself. I know you are. But by having services only every other Saturday, that may not be enough for a thirsty soul. As people, we have a hard time making a commitment to someone or something we feel hasn't made a full commitment to us. I suggest you have worship services every single weekend, whether Saturday or Sunday, or both. Create a true fellowship of worship, love, compassion and good deeds. Treat everyone as though they are your dearly loved child (or parent). Make them feel that you will love, support and encourage them unconditionally while never judging them. Let God take care of the judging.

2. If you had the ability to make me feel like family. Make your ministry a family and call yourselves a family. Call others your brother and sister. Identify men whom you want to see raised up in the pastoral ministry. Tell them you want to be their father in the Lord and that you are committed to seeing them flourish in the ministry. Have your wife do the same with the women. You'll be surprised how many men and women out there are looking for someone to inspire them and take a spiritual "Walk" with them.

3. If you could help me focus where I need to focus. Teach everyone to focus first on the Lord, second on others, never on themselves. Focus on the Lord may mean also meeting less formally and perhaps just for a meal or a time of fellowship on either Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday. After all, a family that loves each other doesn't just see their loved ones once a weekend. Make it a time of joy, singing, children all around, hugs and prayer. Focus on others means doing good things for others. It may involve prayers for victims of disasters or tragedies. Collecting used blankets or stuffed animals for young victims, and food cans and other useful nonperishables for all victims. It doesn't matter how much you collect or how much of a difference you think you're making. If you walked along the beach and saw that the tide had washed a thousand fish ashore, destined to die unless thrown back into the water. If you picked one up and threw it back into the water, you've saved a life and made a difference to that one. Every bit that your brothers and sisters do for others is a HUGE victory in their soul. And the people of God should always be at the Vanguard of responding to the needs of a lost and hurting world… particularly in the time of the greatest need.

4. If I saw the faith to "Go For It" and not delay. It takes much faith to start a church or ministry. It takes incredible faith to truly believe that God will bless and sustain you. But faith is inspiring and contagious, when you have it. As a visitor to your fellowship, I could tell in an instant if there was faith or fear in the fellowship. I say, walk out into deep waters. Start the church now. Take care of all the necessary legal, business and ecclesiastical (religious) issues that you must. Don't engage in paralysis by analysis. It's only when we step out in faith that we truly see and appreciate the blessings from God. He wants us to take that chance so we can see when He is truly working. Otherwise, we may be inclined to think our church's success was the result of our own ability and smart planning, and fail to give Him the glory.

By the way, have you seen my offer to give you a free copy of Building On Faith for a mere $29.95 contribution. Go to the following link and scroll almost all the way to the bottom. You will have to complete a sign up form. This offer will end in a day or two because an overwhelming number of church leaders, like yourself, have already requested and downloaded Building On Faith. I initially thought it would take much longer, but it only took less than two weeks for so many leaders to say they wanted my help to start a church.

www.start-your-own-church.com

This is my humble opinion, based on having worked very intimately with many ministry personnel and many churches. These are the differences I discerned between those that flourished and those that faded away. I pray this will help guide you in some measure. I will keep you and your ministry in my prayers. God bless all your efforts done in FAITH, and to Him be the glory!

Yours in Christ,
Abe Hernandez

Filed under Leadership by AHernandez

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July 12, 2007

Church Risk Management: Luxury Or Necessity?

Sometimes I wonder why church leaders would have to be reminded to protect what they've worked so hard to build and poured their heart and soul into. What is it that tells them they can ignore the risks and wait until tomorrow? Is there one thing, however small, that blinds them to the magnitude of problems posed by unnecessary risk in their ministries? Does that impediment then wrestle their spirit to the ground, binding their hands, all but forbidding them from taking important action?

From years of working with churches and their leaders, I have come to believe that money is the culprit. You read that right. In my experience, church leaders tend to put a price on if, when, how and how much they will do to establish an adequate risk management plan in their churches. They worry about the money it takes and often consider it too high a cost to pay.

Despite the clear biblical teachings on good stewardship, many focus almost entirely on the outreach side of ministry while ignoring the inherent perils of leading a church in a modern, litigious society. But, I believe that when God Calls men and women of faith into the ministry, He Calls them to to everything EXCELLENTLY! That means not ignoring the need to protect His church and His people from what can easily be avoided.

The truth is that an appropriate risk management strategy is not necessarily expensive or time consuming. At least not when done right. That is not to say that no costs are involved or that it will be extremely inexpensive. It does mean that when compared to the level of damage awards that juries are lowering on churches, the cost is relatively insignificant. To say nothing of all the time, effort, worry, stress, heartache, distraction, division and possible ultimate destruction that a lawsuit can cause your church. And that's before the dame award is handed down.

With all this in mind, here's how to implement an appropriate risk management strategy that will guide and protect your church for years to come:

First, keep in mind is that ministers, church staff and volunteers are not normally the best people to handle this task. This is a job for a qualified professional with years of experience and expertise in advising and protecting Christian churches and understanding their unique needs. When you're finally convinced that it's best to leave risk management to a professional, you can began to appreciate the need to set aside funds for this important need.

Second, a major aspect of good risk management is to have everyone focus on what they do well, and have them do it often. This generates expertise in all the different aspects of your ministry. This means that a minister ought to focus on ministry, outreach and shepherding. A board member ought to focus on board activities and an officer on his or her particular role. It's very tempting to identify one individual from your staff or volunteer corps and ask them to become the resident risk manager. That would not be appropriate. Of course, in the long run, everyone has a role to play in maintaining risk management and protecting the church. But, initially… you must put it in the hands of a competent person who can then train others on the specific role they must play.

Third, engage a professional and commission a legal and corporate audit of the church. This should entail literally hundreds of areas in which risk has been known to exist in the context of churches and ministries. The importance of a legal audit cannot be overstated. It's the equivalent of going to a doctor and saying, "I'm not feeling well although I can't tell you what, if anything, is wrong with me." The doctor would perhaps run tests and take a close look at many different areas of your body and its systems. This would lead to a specific and detailed diagnoses of what problems may exist and how they should be treated. And a side benefit of extensive testing is always knowing what is doing find and doesn't need to be messed with.

Fourth, a completed legal audit should lead into structuring appropriate Policies and Procedures to meet the specific needs of nonprofits, and of churches in particular. Thus, depending on the size of the church, you can end up with from 50 to 500 policies and detailed explanations of how the policies should be implemented… called "Procedures." A Policy is generally a simple and direct statement of the church's stance or belief in a particular area. The Procedure details how to carry it out. For example, a policy in the children's ministry may be like the following: "First church is committed to protecting all of its minor children involved in every aspect of First Church's Youth and Children's Ministry from the occurrence or possibility of inappropriate conduct, abuse, neglect or molestation being directed at, or perpetrated against them by any one else." The Procedures could say for example, "Step One: No one may serve in the youth or children's ministry of First Church unless and until they have been an official member in good standing of First Church for at least 6 months; Step Two: All paid staff and volunteers who may serve in the youth and children's ministry of First Church, or otherwise have direct contact with youth or children in the course of their work or volunteer activities with First Church, must undergo a background check, to include the following…; Step Three: No one working for pay or in a volunteer capacity in the youth and children's ministry of First Church is allowed to be alone with a minor at any time and for any reason. Everyone this policy relates to must follow the 2-Person rule where a child must always be in the presence of at least two qualified adult persons." Do you get the point?

Fifth, once a completed set of Policies and Procedures that meet your specific needs are in place, train everyone in your church to follow them "religiously" and consistently. The only thing worse than not having appropriate policies and procedures, is having them but failing to follow them. While this may suggest to some that perhaps it's best never to have them at all, nothing could be further from the truth.

Imagine yourself testifying in a court of law as a church leader who could have prevented a horrendous event that led to a lawsuit. Which answer do you think will resonate better with a judge or jury?

Answer #1: "I tried everything within my power to prevent this occurrence, including commissioning appropriate policies and procedures and training all staff and volunteers to enforce them as intended on a consistent basis. Unfortunately, in this isolated case, this particular individual failed to do so."

Answer #2: "No, we have no specific written policy on that matter. No, our staff and volunteers don't have any specific training in that area. In general, we are all good people and we really trust that people will do the right thing. It didn't happen in this case, but that should be on the individual who abused the child. Why should the church be liable?"

Let me just put it this way, even if both result in liability, the difference will be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not the millions, that are tacked on to the damages award when a jury hears the second answer. Which would you as a church leader like to leave as a legacy?

Now is the time for churches and their leaders to take risk management seriously. If it's not a matter of life and death, it's at least a matter of potential serious injury and life-long scarring of our youngest, most innocent and most vulnerable loved ones. Can you really put a price on that? For more information on risk management for churches, check out the Jesus Justice And Me, Legal Steward Seminar. And to God be the glory!

Filed under Legal & Business by AHernandez

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February 25, 2007

Christian Discrimination: Public School Officials Single Out Christian, Not Merely Religious, Expression

This is a problem that will not go away. Not only because of the mental shift toward secular humanism that is apparent in our society, but also because of the pervasive ignorance among so-called "educators," and the powerful resolve of atheist activists. I'm talking not merely about religious discrimination, but about the cynicism, skepticism, and increasingly apparent hatred directed at Christianity in particular.

It goes like this: Public School officials in America today, allow and promote all sorts of vile, vulgar and destructive expressions of self throughout the educational setting, dismissing them as nothing more than where our society has progressed to and the innocent truths of today's youth. You know what I'm talking about: sexual promiscuity, championing gay lifestyles, drug-addicts turned heroes simply because they go clean, pagan-satanic rituals, and of course, evolution and humanism that deny the truth and existence of God.

At the same time, they prohibit a 10 year old boy from wearing a Jesus costume as his way of saying "NO" to the pagan message he believed was inherent in the school's holloween activities. Not only was he told he could not wear a plastic crown of thorns, he was not allowed to mention the name of Jesus. (See, Boy Who Wanted To Wear Jesus Costume Sues at www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17266174/)

The legal problems with the school's actions are many and obvious. It's fairly well settled that an individual student's expression of religion may not be suppressed simply because it is religious. That holds true whether the religious "speech" (and it's obvious that wearing a Jesus costume to protest holloween school activities is most definitely religious speech) is expressed outside of organized school activities, or in the context of non-curricular expressive activities in which students are given freedom to choose their own speech, and then are censored when they choose something with religious content.

This happens often. The instant case is a good example of allowing school children the freedom to choose their own speech… so long as it is not Christian in nature. But most champions of religious rights and protectors of the Christian faith can point to many other examples, often perpetrated by public school officials against children with a strong Christian faith. I can recall off the top of my head the case where an elementary public school teacher assigned a report to her students on "Who Is My Hero." When a Christian boy in her class turned in a report on Jesus, not only did she give it back and give him a failing grade, but the school district backed her up with a "scorch the earth" mentality and resolve. In a more recent case, an elementary school student chose a Christian song for a school talent show that was held in the evening. She was censored because of the Christian message it sent.

These are blatant violations of our children's First Amendment rights, on many levels. Not only is it apparent from legal precedent, but it's also apparent from a simple, logical review of the facts. I doubt that, in organizing holloween activities, school officials first asked whether the organizing administrator had a leaning toward the occult or satanism. There is no indication that they censored any other costumes, including those of witches and devils, as expressive of a religion. (Of course, that would defeat the purpose of the activities at hand.) And I strongly doubt that had someone shown up in a costume of Buddha or Hare Krishna anyone would have batted an eye.

But, should anyone even suggest the name or idea of Jesus, public school officials come out fighting with all guns blazing. It signifies a pervasive and disturbing ignorance about what separation of church and state in America means. School administrators seem to think it means "do not allow expressions of Christianity in any form and in connection with any school setting or activity whatsoever." Nothing could be further from the truth.

Let us not forget where much of this comes from. There are many negative, destructive and evil forces at work in this world. It is, after all, the work of the darkest of enemies. But he works through ignorance and hatred. I believe that when public school officials so blatantly and mercilessly discriminate, not against religion, per se, but against Christianity in particular, it had to start in another place and another time. Too many people today have turned their backs on Jesus because they're more attracted by the lies of the world. They believe the answers to life lie in their own discoveries and inventions. Many think psychology and philosophy are the supreme theories that will solve humanity's problems.

When people's lives go awry, they blame God. When the world beats them up, they blame the Lord. When they can't escape their own slavery to sin, whatever form it takes, they blame it on Christ. When they don't want to face the fact that their lives may at times seem meaningless and purposeless, they try to deny the meaning and purpose of the cross. It's the loss of faith and the lure of the world. More than ever, people worship the idols of money, beauty, success, pleasure, and possessions. It isn't convenient to believe in a Christ who teaches us to deny ourselves.

And then there's the atheist movement. What else can we say about atheism, except that it's everywhere, even in public school administration. But here's a telltale sign that even atheists, despite their activism, fear Jesus Christ. They fight with all their might to keep His name out of every place imaginable. I suppose the good news, aside from the fact that Jesus cannot be denied, is that He cannot be stopped. Have you heard the one about the convention of atheists who were in the middle of singing their denial song when a mighty earthquake struck and the walls began to tumble? Well, they all knelt down to pray that their lives be spared.

And that is where much of the problem lies. Somewhere deep inside, people know the truth and power of God, but cannot stand the fact that it convicts their soul. So they do their best to prop up a secular system, purporting to lean on the power of law and the authority of policy to deny what is really going on in themselves and in society. They deny that God is watching. That he cannot be mocked. That He cannot be denied. That Christ is what's missing.

Does anyone really believe that public school officials really thought that by allowing a 10 year old boy to wear a Jesus costume at a holloween activity, that the school district would get in trouble for promoting religion? Would allowing a child to write a report about Jesus as their hero, that only one teacher gets to see, promote Christianity? Would allowing an elementary school girl to sing a Christian song at an evening talent show amount to the school itself promoting the Christian faith? Obviously, the answer is No, No and No. Even if they suggested that was their fear, where did they get their facts or legal research from? It's obvious that they either do not have legal counsel, or they have one that knows very little about this area of law.

School districts always point to a "policy" that does not allow the targeted speech, as though the word "policy" carried inherent authority or meaning. The truth is that policies can be based on anything, including ignorance, lack of research, and a strong anti-Christian influence in the political and administrative ranks of a school district. The time has come for public school officials to wake up and understand that the law is settled. And that their harassment of small children and discrimination against all things Christian in a public school setting are ill-advised and an exercise in futility.

Their tact, in discouraging expressions of faith, is to overwhelm the faithful Christian with seemingly insurmountable odds. In other words, they force small children to sue them just so they can sing their song, write their story, or say no to paganism. I suggest that Christians turn it upside down on school district officials. If more Christian families encouraged their children to engage in expressions of their Christian faith in the school setting (understanding them to be not only right and appropriate, but also legally and morally sound), and if more Christian defenders resolved to step in and help faithful children fight the good fight, school districts would think twice about violating our children's First Amendment rights and inviting such ridiculous litigation.

Let's make them weigh the prospect of too much litigation against the prospect of letting small innocent children engage in simple expressions of their Christian faith. Not that we need to see what some school officials are already made of–I think we already know that–but I do think we need to see where their priorities lie: the promotion of education and enlightenment, or the perpetuation of ignorance?

As for me and my house, we stand with Christ.

(I am not suggesting in this posting that a majority, or most, public school officials are anti-Christian. But it's apparent that this is a problem in public education. As in all things, if the shoe fits, wear it.)

For more on your legal right to religious expression in the public school setting, go to: www.firstfreedom.gov.