Leaders Under Your Nose

Leadership 101.1

If you ask any church staff member what their greatest need is, one of the answers you’ll likely get is, “I need more leaders”. Believe it or not, there are all kinds of leaders right under your nose. If you don’t look for them you may never see them. And if you don’t identify them in the next few years, they may be gone. Don't miss this opportunity to find the leaders you desperately need.

A couple years ago our children’s ministry staff shared their concern over lack of leaders. I told them to follow me on a Sunday, and I’d show them where they could find a bunch of leaders. I walked them to the 5th and 6th Grade class and said, “In four years, these kids will be 15 & 16 years old. In 6 years they’ll be adults. Train them to lead now, and you’ll have leaders for the long haul.

To their credit, they latched on to the idea, and LIT was born: Leaders In Training. Teens and pre-teens are trained to lead a small group, lead worship, lead children and teens in prayer, and share the salvation message. They are learning lessons they are applying right now, and leadership and spiritual care for others is part of their character. They receive continued training and leadership from dedicated adults who believe in them.

You may be missing a great opportunity to fill your church with leaders for years to come. So take a look under your nose, and see the leaders of today and tomorrow. Remember how God surprised the adult Bible leaders all the time. As a boy, Samuel heard God’s voice. Jesus taught the temple leaders at the age of 12. Josiah was a king before he was a teenager. David killed a giant. A young Jewish slave led her Assyrian master, Naaman, to the healer.

Recently in Salt Lake City we graduated 21 new Leaders in Training and we have over 80 leaders (grades 6-12) serving all over our church. Watch this video and be inspired. And then on Sunday, stop by your 5th and 6th Grade Sunday school classroom and see them with different eyes.

dave.elshaug@intentionalchurches.com

by church leaders //
for church leaders

Leading When You're Tanked

Leadership 101.1

Are you tanked? Do you ever feel like you’ve lost your strength to do ministry? Are you exhausted by the burden? Tired? Burned out? Even thinking about quitting? You are not alone. Thousands of pastors leave the ministry annually. Thousands of Christians give up on leadership, volunteering, and sometimes give up on the church altogether.

September 2010 was perhaps the most exciting time in our church’s history. We were a 6-year-old church plant hitting 1600+ in attendance in Salt Lake City of all places, and we were on the verge of starting a second campus, fulfilling the first part of our dream to be a multiplying church. At the time I was the Children’s Director.
As a guy who wants to see churches grow, I could not be more thrilled to be a part of this team. But the following 24 months were about as painful as anything I have ever experienced. After one month, the campus pastor went on a leave of absence and never came back. I ended up co-leading the campus with the worship leader. Then three months later my legs went numb. I had Gillian-Barres syndrome, a rare neurological disease that demyelinated my nerves. The pain was excruciating. But I still have to lead. Every week there was a 4 AM Sunday start time. I was barely able to stand, but went in with the team to set up four trailers worth of equipment, then run two services, and tear it all down. By God's grace, people were coming to know Christ! But before our new campus hit our two year mark, some key staff members resigned, and we ended up closing the campus when the 2012 economy tanked.

Tanked. A great word to describe how I felt during that season. During those two years, my physical pain was so intense that I had a hard time concentrating. Not good for a leader. But somehow, by God’s grace, I survived, and our church has survived. I have never more resonated with the words of the Apostle Paul: “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:10

We are now in a season of rebuilding, reorganizing, and are ready to move to a new facility. I am physically regaining my strength, but still have where I fill drained and suffer pain. Our church is beginning to regain it’s strength with renewed vision, but still have many hurdles to overcome. John Maxwell once said, “Failure isn’t final.” James said, “the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3-4)

If you’re going through tough times in your church now, remember, God is on your side. You may be tanked. You may feel drained of strength, lacking focus, or physically diminished. Your church may not have gone as planned. You may even be ready to give up. But remember, when you are working for Christ’s sake: “when you are weak, then you are strong.” I would encourage you to gather around yourselves a couple people who you can share your weakness with. Ask for prayer, admit your human frailty, ask for help. Let God’s grace abound, and even save the very ministry He is calling you to.

dave.elshaug@intentionalchurches.com

by church leaders //
for church leaders

3 Ways to Grow Your Church

I joined the staff of K2 The Church in Salt Lake City 8 years ago, just a few months before their 2nd Anniversary. The church had already grown to 800 people, and would double in size over the next few years. Below are three principles we lived by that brought growth. I’ve also asked some questions you can ask yourself and your staff if you are serious about seeing your church grow.

1. Be different. What makes your church unique? If you were to ask a lost person in your town, “What makes our church different from other churches?” What would they say? When we planted our church, there was nothing else like it in Salt Lake City. We started a hybrid weekend service, which I can best describe as Seeker Church meet Believer’s service all wrapped up with a bow on top. To those believers bogged down bunker mentality churches, this was a breath of fresh air. To the unreligious, it was intriguing enough to give it a shot. To the Mormons it was culture shock.

2. Go after those nobody else is reaching. Have you ever looked at the demographics near your church and asked, “is there people no other church is reaching?” Have you ever made a list of the types of lost people in your community? Nearly every church plant in the history of Salt Lake City came to reach the Mormons, or create an outpost for their denomination. But there was an entire population in the city of people fleeing from religion, not interested in God, or so burned by religion, they’d never darken the door of a church. That was our target, and by God’s grace over 10,000 individuals have attended one of our services in 10 years.

3. Lead with Reckless Faith. Do you believe you are called to reach your city? Or are you just holding Christian services? What’s the most reckless thing you’ve done out of faith in the last year? At our church, we just believe that Jesus will change lives, and that we are called to reach them. We’ll do whatever it takes to reach one more. And we continue to be flooded with people who are far from the God who loves them dearly.

If you want to grow, pose the questions above to your staff or elder board. Ask them to be truthful. See what they think. Then ask them if they are satisfied with the answers, or not.

If I can be of any help, please contact me. Dave.elshaug@intentionalchurches.com

by church leaders //
for church leaders
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