Dick Hardy Cultures Make It Happen 3 Cultures Necessary for a Church to Grow Coaching Guide THE HARDY GROUP
Make It Happen Coaching Guide 3 Cultures Necessary for a Church to Grow By Dick Hardy Printed in the United States of America ISBN 1-880689-25-1 Copyright 2011, Dick Hardy Production by Harp Creative, LLC Graphic Design by Emma Ross Cinematography by Randy Bacon and Jonathan Murphy Text Editing by Ken Horn All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be used without written permission of the author, with the exception of brief excerpts for magazine articles, reviews, etc. Permission to make copies of this coaching guide for group discussions is granted to those who have purchased the Make It Happen DVD pack.
3 Cultures Necessary for a Church to Grow What must become part of the DNA of your church in order for it to grow? Make It Happen Coaching Guide
Thank you for taking time to view the Cultures video. I hope you enjoyed it. More importantly it is my desire that it motivated you to action to Make It Happen. In this Make It Happen Coaching Guide, I encourage you to do the following. Pray before you begin. Ask God to direct your thinking. Be diligent in your careful reading of the narratives. Be reflective. Do not rush through just to get it done. No change will occur if you do. When you come to the Questions and Descriptions you must think. Some questions or descriptions will be simpler than others. Some will cause your brain to stop, pause, engage, and even sometimes lock up. Push through those times and draw the answers and thoughts from within you. You have taken the important step in identifying these three cultures. If they are not there already, make them part of your DNA. Be your best and watch God Make It Happen! Dick Hardy 3
Part One Introduction Every organization has cultures often they are multifaceted. In the church we see layers of cultures and sometimes, conflicting cultures. In far too many cases, those conflicting cultures lead to church splits. I believe there are three cultures that are critical to the success of any church. These three cultures do not develop on short notice and they certainly do not do so by osmosis. It is critical that the lead pastor take the lead in the development of these cultures, teaching and coaching on all aspects of each. If the church is an established church, 25 years or older, the development of these cultures will take time a lot of it. Further, the three cultures are not a magic wand to grow the church you serve numerically or spiritually. They are, however, essential to have in place if you desire to see the church grow. Having these cultures does not guarantee the church will grow. However, not having them does guarantee the church will not grow. 5
Part Two A Culture of Prayer All churches would like to think of themselves as houses of prayer. Oh yes, we are a praying church, would be the mantra of most pastors. But when push comes to shove, what we often find is that churches have Prayer Ministries. Churches have the prayer folks, the evangelism folks, the discipleship folks, etc. But we are all charged with the responsibility to do those things. It is critical that the church develop a culture of prayer. The level to which you can take the church on your own pales in comparison to where the church can go when it is engulfed in a culture of prayer. It is your job to develop that culture. Do not say, Our people won t pray. If your people won t pray it is in large part because you have not taught them to pray. You must lead by example. You must tout the values of prayer and the instructions of our Lord to pray. Start teaching, cultivating, encouraging, and leading the charge to possess a culture of prayer. 6
Questions and Descriptions: a. Picture a person from your church out at Wal-Mart talking to another Christian about the church. When asked what the church is all about, how quickly will they say the church is about prayer? b. Describe what you think is the difference between a church with a culture of prayer and a church with prayer ministry. c. What do you think it will take to raise the level of prayer in importance at the church? Avoid noting that it is already high. It can be higher. 7
d. What is God saying to you relative to the culture of prayer in your own life as the leader? e. Describe ways you can envision the church growing in its understanding of raising this culture. f. While most churches would classify themselves as churches of prayer, what is it you think distinguishes those without a culture of prayer from those with a culture of prayer? g. If you have a regular time of prayer at the church, why is it more people do not attend? 8
h. What could you do to make that time of prayer more meaningful? i. What are three ways you can raise the value of the culture of prayer at the church? j. Identify three churches where you can look for models of successful cultures of prayer. k. Set a specific time to pray and determine the mind of the Lord for how this looks at the church. Who will hold you accountable to do this? 9
Part Three A Culture of Change If there is one thing you can count on it is this. If the church you serve is going to grow it will change. How can you possibly stay the same and grow? Impossible. For many churches this becomes the breaking point. In the church world, we often confuse changes in facility, program, ministries, approach, etc., with changes in our doctrine. Let s be clear on this. Nothing I write here suggests any change in your doctrinal beliefs. You have a set of beliefs grounded in Scripture that do not change. The Bible never changes. The manner in which the Bible s message is communicated changes all the time. Helping the Body understand that is part of your job as the lead pastor. Can you change the Missions Room into the Junior High Game Room? When you can do that you know you have a church culture of change. In most churches that would cause a revolt. Your role as pastor is to help coach and teach the Body and other church leaders about the role of change in the life of the church. You want everyone at your place of worship to be confident in saying that the only thing constant around there is change. 10
Questions and Descriptions: a. Describe how change has looked in the past at the church. b. Describe a time when change went very well. Why was that? c. Describe a time when change went poorly. Why was that? 11
d. What are three reasons some of your folks are resistant to change? e. Describe what you could do to help remove the concern over those reasons. f. What is it about your leadership that will need to change in order for you to effectivly develop the culture of change? g. In a perfect world, what would you like to see change right now? 12
h. Describe what it will look like for people in the church to understand that the culture of change pervades the church. List at least three things. Part Four A Culture of Ministry to Young Families This is the one that, when not understood, can get some of the folks at your church worked up. But hear me all the way through on this. Which demographic of people is most likely to make decisions for Christ? Any idea? Children. The younger the person the more likely it is that they will make a decision of this magnitude. The older the person the less likely it is that they will make this decision. We certainly believe that all persons are of value in God s eyes. As church leaders, however, it is critical that you create in the minds of those both inside and outside the 13
church a culture of strong ministry to young families. Please note, these families are usually not brand loyal. They don t care if you are Independent, Presbyterian, Baptist, or whatever. What they care about is, What do you have for my kids? Our job is to be smart and create a culture for young families where they know the church really cares for them. Questions and Descriptions: a. Describe the demographic of your church. How many children, teens, 20s, 30s, 40s, etc.? b. What is it you need to know to make a decision to reach young families? 14
c. How will the over-50 demographic of your church respond to doing what it takes to reach young families, e.g., louder, more contemporary music, casual attire, etc.? d. Describe how you envision your church after changes are made to reach young families at one year and at three years. e. Describe how you will respond to those older people not willing to make the journey with you. 15
f. What three things need to change in order for the church to be more user-friendly to young families? g. Set dates for when you want each of those things changed. h. Identify four or more steps in the process of changing each one. 16
Part Five Conclusion The development of these three cultures prayer, change, and ministry to young families will do more to grow the church you serve than just about anything else. My encouragement to you is to be diligent in putting each of these cultures in place. Remember, this will not happen overnight. But it can happen. When you do these things, over time you will see God bring the increase He desires for the church you serve. 17
Make It Happen Timeline After responding to the questions and descriptions of this coaching guide, I purpose to do the following. I intend to make sure the three cultures necessary to grow are in place at the great church I serve. Within the next 24 hours I will: Within the next 7 days I will: Within the next 30 days I will: 18
Within the next 90 days I will: Within the next 6 months I will: Within the next year I will: I will contact this person within 48 hours and will share my plan with them. I will ask for them to call me at the end of each commitment to determine my status: 19
6 Brand New Growth Videos for Pastors Complete with Make It Happen Coaching Guides and Make It Happen Timelines to accelerate your leadership growth. 3 Cultures Necessary for a Church to Grow 5 Pastor-Driven Obstacles to Growth 3 Foundational Elements Necessary for a Church to Grow 9 Aspects of Overthe-Top Hospitality 3 Absences in Flat and Declining Churches 12 Steps to the Culture of Improvement in the Church Also available 27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask Leadership Book for Pastors www.thehardygroup.org