North Point pastor Andy Stanley, along with sidekicks Reggie Joiner, and Lane Jones, talk about their seven best practices for ministry at PracticallySpeaking.org.
This free podcast (get iTunes here) is loaded with tons of great practical advice loaded into concise 30-minute episodes. Get them while they’re up and free.
Here are the seven practices with the podcast descriptions provided by them in quotes:
Practice No. 1: Clarify the win – “Even the best team can’t score if they can’t find home plate. In this conversation we’ll discuss the importance of clearly defining a win at every level of your organization.”
My two cents: A focused and clear goal gets everyone pointing in the same direction, working toward the same end. This is about clarity of purpose.
Practice No. 2: Think steps, not programs – “Before you start anything, make sure it takes you where you want to go. In this conversation we’ll discuss the importance of a clear ministry strategy.”
My two cents: This made me really rethink the “process.”
Practice No. 3: Narrow the focus – “The longer a ministry operates the more complex it can become. In order to maintain a winning organization we must continually face the challenge of narrowing its focus.”
My two cents: Too often we get wrapped up in doing things that are “We’ve-Always-Done-It” events and programs. It’s easy to get sidetracked on those things on the fringe.
Practice No. 4: Teach less for more – “People are bombarded by thousands of messages every week. If the local church is going to be effective it must cut through the noise. It must learn to say only what needs to be said to the people who need to hear it.”
My two cents: It’s hard to swallow advice, but good. Stanley is undoubtedly one of the best young communicators in the church today. As for the communications ministry in specific, I am seeking to direct my church to focus on the “big five” things that need to be communicated each week. Fellowship Church has their “Fellowship Five.” In communicating, we must prioritize and focus on those essentials.
Practice No. 5: Listen to outsiders – “Why don’t the unchurched people in your area go to church? Could it be because you’re focusing on who you’re trying to keep instead of who you’re trying to reach?”
My two cents: How true is this! Use surveys whenever you get a chance. Send out surveys to new residents in your community. Include one in your welcome letter to new members. Use informal surveys when going to the convenience store … ask them if they attend a church, why not … ask what they have heard about your church.
Practice No. 6: Replace yourself – “We all get replaced eventually. The wisest leader will extend his or her influence by finding and mentoring their replacement.”
My two cents: Ouch! How often I have neglected this. Prepare the person to take your place. Mentor, disciple, coach.
Practice No. 7: Work on it – “All of us work in ministry every day, but is that enough? Working on your ministry requires time to evaluate your work and to celebrate your wins.”
My two cents: Constantly be reviewing, improving, getting better. I think he mentions getting away on the beach for a staff retreat. Excellent idea.
What makes a news item newsworthy to a newspaper editor?
Here are several questions to ask when preparing a news release for a newspaper:
Who is your target audience? — If your audience is merely your own congregation, don’t bother the editor with it. If your target audience is, however, motorcycle enthusiasts for an aerial motorcycle jumping evangelistic outreach, then it may be newsworthy.
Does it have community-wide interest? — In other words, would people in the community (the paper’s readership) care about the event? Free flu shots for children are newsworthy and have mass appeal; a new John Deere tractor for mowing the church lawn does not.
Does it happen every week, or is it a once-in-a-long-time event? — Wednesday night fellowship meals, weekly Sunday services, and sometimes even Easter events do not count as newsworthy events in the eyes of editors. They happen so frequently that their luster has diminished.
Is it unusual? — A popular maxim in the world of journalism is that a headline that reads “Dog Bites Man” is not a story. Everyone knows someone that has been bitten by a dog. But a headline that reads “Man Bites Dog” is a story! The key word is: Uniqueness. Ask yourself: Is this story idea out of the ordinary?
(This excerpt taken from my free report titled “Getting Your Church Name and Event in the Local Newspaper” — click here to down it.)
Guy Kawasaki, famed for his “evangelistic” work for Apple’s Macintosh computer, writes in his book “Art of the Start
” (actually I read this in a PDF condensed version at ChangeThis!) that instead of writing complex mission statements that are usually dusty, forgotten and full of complicated jargon, companies (and I would submit, churches as well) should “make mantra” instead.
He includes a chart of several well-known companies, listing both their official mission statements and his “hypothetical mantra” version. Here are a couple I thought were especially poignant:
Red Cross – “Stop suffering.”
Southwest Airlines – “Better than driving.”
Coca-Cola – “Refresh the world.”
How many times have you seen a church mission statement that was the equivalent of a high school English essay exam answer, when it could have easily been stated in a simpler, easy-to-remember format that gets to the gist of it all?
Kawasaki advises making them “short and sweet.” The idea is to give your congregation a takeaway vision of what you are leading your church to embody in your community.
Send your statements — ah, rather “mantras” — to me, I’d love to check them out!
Google has the 21st century version of the old press clipping service, called Google Alerts.
Put in your church name, maybe even your pastor’s name, and set it to search the "New & Web" "as-it-happens." This is an excellent service I’ve used for a while now to track mentions on the web about my place of service. It sure beats search the printed ink!
With AudioBlogger.com, mission trip leaders and participants can phone in reports from the field that will be posted in the popular MP3 audio format to your church Web site or special site you designate.
Your congregation can keep up with live reports from the field. All your mission team needs is to have is an account set up with AudioBlogger in advance and then access to a phone to record the report (AudioBlogger gives you a number to call).
This free service will record up to 5 minutes and automatically post to the blog or Web site you’ve set up for them.
* Check out their FAQ pages here
