When we use the term “customer-driven,” as opposed to “provider-driven,” to describe best practices in church management and program, we aren’t redefining church members as paying customers in a profit-making enterprise.
If the First Beatitude is true about the blessedness of knowing our need of God, the current financial crisis opens the door to important progress in Spiritual Development.
When a congregation launches a Church Wellness Project, voices telling the old stories come first. Some are negative, some are fond reminiscences, some are reminders of “how we used to do things,” and some are one more try at getting an idea or need on the table.
In a congregation getting started on a Church Wellness Project, teams are preparing to gather information from their fellow members. They will interview young adults, newcomers who joined, visitors who didn’t stay, former members, current and former leaders, and people engaged in various ministries, as well as staff.
As financial distress spreads from Wall Street to Main Street, ushering in a recession likely to be long, churches have two fundamental responsibilities.
In a recent budget discussion, I noted that the future of our church didn’t depend on spending. We can’t buy health or growth or a mission worth pursuing. Instead, we must encourage people to give away their lives on behalf of others. That will include money, but the heart of it won’t be expense items. The heart will be community, acceptance, sharing, listening, engaging, loving.
Measuring results might seem dull ministry compared to membership development, leadership development, spiritual development, and other hands-on ministries of the healthy church.
To be healthy, not every church needs a demographically correct suburban location, a 30-something pastor with 20 years of flawless experience, a denomination free of bickering and embarrassment, a pot of gold, and a doctrinal package so compelling that God himself applauds.
Church musicians walk a delicate line. Many are classically trained. Their tastes might be broad, but at some level, many believe that “serious music” is better than “popular music,” and it is their job to defend musical excellence.
As mainline congregations grapple with the “graying” of their ranks — average age pushing into the mid-60s — many recognize they need to serve “young adults” more effectively.
