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What Does It Cost the Leader?

by Lois Swagerty

Connecting Innovators to Multiplywww.leadnet.org

Article SummaryLeading ones church in a missional direction may beeasier said than done. Along with the rewards comerisks—both personal and corporate. In an informalsurvey, church leaders identified 10 key areas of costin taking their church missional. They answered thequestions: What does missional leadership look like?What does it cost? Is it worth it?

L E A D E R S H I P N E T W O R K

Further ReadingChurches in Missional Renaissance: Facilitating theTransition to a Missional Mindset by Stephen Shields

Creating a Culture of Balance: A Mandate for NextGeneration Pastors by Pat Springle

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Teenage girls stage an Extreme Home Makeover.A prison inmate promises his son he’ll be a betterfather when he gets out. A cocaine addict turnsaround and feeds his neighbors. These are notscenes from reality TV; they are true accounts ofwhat happens when followers of Jesus touchpeople in their communities with his love.

What do these stories have in common? They allhappened because of the missional outreach ofchurches nearby. These stories and thousands likethem are emerging from a missional renaissancewave that is sweeping across the world today.

As we follow the marks of God’s handprint on thiswave, we will consider some specifics of what ittakes for church leaders to heed the missionalcall. What does missional leadership look like?What are the costs? And most important, is itworth the cost?

tÜ~í=fë=jáëëáçå~ä=iÉ~ÇÉêëÜáé\“Missional is about a way of being the church inthe world,” says Reggie McNeal, author ofMissional Renaissance. “It’s not about a what; it’sabout a who. The missional church is the peopleof God partnering in God’s redemptive mission inthe world.”

1

Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Lifeobserves that “The body ofChrist has had its hands andfeet amputated until allthat’s left is a big mouth. Theworld has heard us preachfor so long—it’s been wordwithout deed. The missionalchurch says it’s word and deed.”2

Leading a missional churchrequires a deconversionfrom “churchianity.”3 Reggietells pastors, “If you’re notgripped by the call of God to be engaged in theworld on God’s mission, you won’t go missional.However, if you once answered a call from Godto lead his people to change the world, yournumber just got redialed.”4

Ministry leaders who are externally focused lookfor needs and opportunities in the environmentaround them, says Reggie. “They look for waysto bless and to serve the communities where they are located. Much of their calendar space,financial resources, and organizational energy is spent on people who are not a part of their organization.”5

Churches in the missional renaissance spend much of their calendar space, financial resources and organizational energies onpeople who are not actually a part of their organization.

THE BODY OF

CHRIST HAS HAD

ITS HANDS AND

FEET AMPUTATED

UNTIL ALL THAT‘S

LEFT IS A

BIG MOUTH.

Greg Finke, pastor of Gloria Dei Lutheran Churchin Houston, TX, (www.gdlc.org) describes oneway that his people bless their community. “Wehave a group called the Holy Smokers who pull ahumongous meat smoker on a trailer,” he says.“They’ll go anywhere to host big barbeque partiesand smoke any kind of meat. I asked them tomake smaller smokers so they could have moreteams going out. They help foster environmentswhere fun can happen, conversations can startand people can rediscover neighborhood.”

“The missional renaissance is easier said thandone,” says Greg. “Sometimes we find ourselvesstill tinkering with things as they are. It’s liketinkering with the old Chevy in the garage ratherthan designing a whole new transportationsystem. It’s based on leadership and passion frompeople who have experienced life change throughthe good news of the son of God. And when livesare touched by God and are given goodleadership, more lives are touched.”

INTERNAL TRIGGERS Some leaders arrive at a missional focusgradually.

For Jeff Wells, senior pastor of WoodsEdgeCommunity Church in Spring, TX,(www.woodsedge.org) the journey began byreading the book, The Externally Focused Churchby Rick Rusaw and Eric Swanson. “When I read

the book, I thought, ‘We’ve been doing church allwrong,’” says Jeff. From there he took steps tochange his priorities and focus.

“We’ve had pieces of being missional for years,”says Visionary Leader Dave Bartlett from OrchardHill Church in Cedar Falls, IA(www.orchardhillchurch.org). Orchard Hill hasworked to serve local schools for the past 25years. “When I first came to Orchard Hill I said,‘God has called us to change our community.’We’re a suburban church and we built acommunity center to serve our town. But now wewant to take our coalition 10 miles away into thepoorest community in our state.”

Laura Hoy, who heads up local missions atOrchard Hill Church, voices a similar journey. “Iwas involved in student ministry,” she says, “but Isensed God was shifting me into outreach andmission. I had a strong sense that God wanted todo more than just use me as a facilitator. Now weare forming a relationship centered, missionalcommunity. We partnered with a localorganization called Shout to put on a hip hopconcert in a really rough part of town. We useprinciples of indigenous leadership rather thanjust going in and serving and getting out.”

“I didn’t pick being missional,” says Pastor LoriStrang of Redeemer Lutheran Church in Toledo,OH. “It was something that happened in oursetting. I’ve always been the lone voice in a sea oftraditional thinkers.”

“I’m a missional person, but I never definedit,” says Larry Forsythe, pastor of First Baptist Church in Leamington, Ontario,(www.fbcleamington.com). He started outworking as a prison chaplain and then was askedto provide hospice care for a dying church. “Ithad six people and I was called in to close itdown,” he says. “But I developed a friendshipwith them, left the chaplaincy and moved into thecommunity.” Acting on pure instinct, Larry andhis family reached out to the youth in their area.They started by hosting a barbeque and 12 yearslater grew into a thriving church.

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The Holy Smokers at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in Houstonfoster environments where fun can happen, conversations canstart and people can rediscover community.

EXTERNAL TRIGGERSOther leaders have missional ministry thrust uponthem.

Vince Parks from Gloria Dei in Houston recalls,“Our sense of urgency came in the form ofHurricane Ike, who arrived in our city and filled

most of our houses with afoot of water. When you havefish in your house instead ofpeople, you learn thatneighboring is a verb—whichis what you’re doing whenyou share power, food andwater. Most of our city waswithout power for 10 days.”

Pastor Greg Finke says thehurricane advanced amissional movement that wasalready starting. “We got agood two-year fast forward on

it,” he says. “We stumbled on a daily e-mailcalled “Good Morning Church” which we beganso we could reach out to our scattered peopleafter the hurricane. We made the simple analogythat Gloria Dei was not a battered buildingbehind police barricades, but Gloria Dei wasscattered throughout the region. ‘Let’s go bechurch,’ we said.”

tÜ~í= ~êÉ= íÜÉ= Åçëíë= Ñçê= íÜÉ= ãáëëáçå~ääÉ~ÇÉê\The costs of going missional are not printed on aprice tag or posted on the church bulletin board.Rather, they emerge over time. Some costs areobvious while others are subtle. Some are clearand others are cloudy. Some can be painful. Wewill examine ten areas of cost for the missionalleader of today.

THE COST OF THE CLOCKThe shift from program- to people- developmentis time consuming. “It is the most difficult of thethree shifts necessary for going missional,” saysReggie McNeal. “Helping people grow anddevelop is hard work; it isn’t something you startand finish in a 12-week course.”6

“It’s a long-term process,” says Kyle Pewitt,executive pastor at Council Road Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, OK(www.councilroadchurch.org). “Usually thepastor doesn’t stay around long enough to see ithappen.”

“It takes time to educate people on their faithbeing a lifestyle rather than another thing theydo,” says Lori Strang. And Lee Clamp, studentminister at First Baptist Church of Barnwell, SC,(www.fbcbarnwell.org) agrees. “You have tospend a great deal of time communicating thevision even when you feel like the people oughtto get it. You have to spend time not assumingthey will get it—it’s a time investment.”

Greg Finke emphasizes the time needed todisciple the few. “We underestimate theimportance of time, life-on-life. We want it to bedone quickly in a program. We want to have apoint to ponder—30 minutes lecture, 30 minutesdiscussion, 30 minutes drive time there andback—and we want to make disciples in an hourand a half. It never has happened that way and itwon’t happen that way, because it really is aboutwhat Jesus did in Mark chapter 3. We constantlysee him leaving crowds sohe can spend time with hisdisciples. And yet we try togather up crowds and putthe 12 in a small group for90 minutes, give them abrownie and coffee and abooklet.”

Leaders must shift theirschedules to live out whatthey are teaching. Leerecalls, “When I wentmissional, I was mentoring ayoung man who wanted toquit the football teambecause he didn’t have transportation. I had toask myself, ‘Am I willing to take him home fivemiles every day after practice?’ When he gotkicked out of his home, I ended up having himstay in my home. There are costs that come alongwith being a servant, but you have to out-serveyour people. You can’t lead them if you’re not outin front.”

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WHEN YOU HAVE

FISH IN YOUR

HOUSE INSTEAD

OF PEOPLE, YOU

LEARN THAT

NEIGHBORING IS

A VERB.

YOU HAVE TO

SPEND A GREAT

DEAL OF TIME

COMMUNICATING

THE VISION EVEN

WHEN YOU FEEL

LIKE THE PEOPLE

OUGHT TO GET IT.

Not only does the leader make a shift in time andpriorities, but the church also embraces a wholedifferent style of ministry. “I am hardly ever in theoffice,” says Larry Forsythe. “It’s big for the churchto agree not to have you in the office. Mycongregation had to release my time to go outand help others.”

THE COST OF COMFORTIn his book, The Present Future, Reggie McNealwarns, “It takes enormous courage to givespiritual leadership in the North American churchculture, because the church is increasingly hostile

to anything that disturbs itscomfort and challenges itsclub member paradigm.7

One way the church mayhave its comfort zonestretched is when newelements of the communityare welcomed inside.

“A young lady from theneighborhood came in whenshe was high on drugs,”recalls Cindy Milbry,

director of community outreach for RedeemerLutheran Church in Toledo. “Pastor was doing thesermon and the girl disrupted the whole process.Someone said, ‘Let’s call the police,’ but I toldthem, ‘This is what the church is for.’ Instead Itook her downstairs and fixed her a plate of food.The next time she came in, she wasn’t as high, but

she was still disruptive. One of the girls sat downwith her and she fell asleep, so we got her apillow and covered her up.People didn’t say as much.Next time she came, she wentup front for prayer and gaveher testimony. She said theonly peace she has is whenshe comes to the church. She’slearning that the church is asafe place to come and sit.And the congregation islearning that Jesus came forthe unsaved, not the saved.”

It can also feel uncomfortable for a church toshare its facilities with the community. BruceMiller, senior pastor of McKinney FellowshipBible Church in McKinney, TX, (www.mcfbc.org)notes that when a room or building of the churchis being used by the community with the resultthat a church group cannot use the room for itsmeeting, there can be a clash. Likewise, whenrooms on the church campus are used foroutreach, there is an adjustment to be made interms of ownership and turf.

Jeff Warren, lead pastor of First Baptist Church inMcKinney, TX, (www.fbc-mckinney.org) had tostep out of his own comfort zone with regard tosermon content. “Even your preaching eventstarts to shift in a missional church,” says Jeff.“The price to be paid as a leader is that folks maystart to think that you’re not preaching for them.Formerly, preaching was about exegeting thepassage and teaching the details of the text. Nowit’s more about action.”

Dave Bartlett and his staff challenged themembers of Orchard Hill Church to learn how toidentify with the homeless, the poor, and thosestruggling to survive. They ran a six-week longevent called Challenges for the Heart. The firstweek they asked each family to eat only beansand rice and to give the money to the poor.Subsequent weeks focused on activities such asAIDS relief, sponsoring a child through Food forthe Hungry and meeting their neighbors.

5

THERE ARE COSTS

THAT COME

ALONG WITH

BEING A SERVANT,

BUT YOU HAVE TO

OUT-SERVE YOUR

PEOPLE.

THE

CONGREGATION

IS LEARNING

THAT JESUS

CAME FOR THE

UNSAVED, NOT

THE SAVED.

Leaders must shirt their schedules to live out what they areteaching.

Missional leadership means not only stepping outof your comfort zone, but also, at times, beingwilling to risk one’s own personal safety.

Lori Strang recalls, “The first time I met Ben wasduring our prayer walks. He was higher than akite—on crack cocaine He promised me hewould come to worship if I just left his frontporch, and said that he was fearful for our safetyat his house. Later that evening two young menwere shot (not fatally) in his front yard. Three dayslater he showed up in worship on Sunday. Heheard about the Feed Your Neighbor program, andhe came to get food the following Thursday.Gradually, he transitioned from a taker to a giver,and now he even delivers some of the food on hisbicycle to the older guys.”

THE COST OF CROWDSOften, members will leave a church when itsdirection turns missional. Like the CopernicanRevolution, some people are dismayed to find outthat the universe no longer revolves around them.“Church members who don’t go along with thevision will leave,” says Lori.

“Eight years ago, 130 people left our churchbecause of our external focus,” says Dave Bartlett.“We went through a big turmoil before we evenknew what to call it. The target was the youthministry. When you start to reach messed up kids,it can cause messiness in the church. I was underthe deception that if I worked hard enough and

loved enough and cared enough, everyone wouldcome on board to see the missional vision.”

“People leave the church because they think theybuilt this church for themselves, and now wewant it to be for the community,” explains BruceMiller, senior pastor of McKinney FellowshipBible Church in McKinney, TX.

Rick Thompson, senior pastor of Council RoadBaptist in Oklahoma City, OK, sees the benefitthat can come eventhough people mayleave. “When my wifeand I first came to thechurch, we knew therewere going to be a lotof people whowouldn’t like ourvision. There was anexodus, and that washard, but the wholeprocess was good. Itwas a crisis of identityfor the church. Everyperson who left was astrong temptation totake personally. If you have your identity by theold measures of success, and you’ve got peopleleaving and saying negative things about you, itcauses you to consider where you get youridentity. It’s a good struggle.”

THE COST OF CONFLICTMembers who choose to stay can cause conflict.At times they rally against the leadership and tryto re-establish old patterns.

“Much of the rub comes with the fact that peopledon’t or won’t change until they becomeintolerably uncomfortable,” observes Lori Strang.“The pastor has to have some skill in dealing withconflict and remaining a less-than-anxiouspresence inside an anxious system.”

A shift in focus can upset the balance in a church.“The cost I feel is a deep unrest and a threat to thefabric of the church,” says one pastor. “You find itmainly in some of the members who want church

6

I WAS UNDER THE

DECEPTION THAT IF I

WORKED HARD

ENOUGH AND LOVED

ENOUGH AND CARED

ENOUGH, EVERYONE

WOULD COME ON

BOARD.

Orchard Hill Church called its members to identify with the poorby focusing on AIDS relief, sponsoring a child through Food forthe Hungry and by meeting their neighbhors.

to be a place apart from the world. They want tocome in, sit down, be quiet, and listen. Anythingbeyond that can rock the boat.”

“Our senior pastor came in with a very specificvision of developing people to go and change the

world,” says an associatepastor. “We had to examineall our programs and cleanthe cupboard. When you getrid of people’s pet programs,they don’t like it. None of ushad ever been through aconflict at this level,” headmits. “People were farangrier than thecircumstances warranted.There was even a group thatmet in secret against thepastor.”

“Recently I’ve felt like I’vebeen paying a great price asa leader,” says anotherpastor. “The truth is that the

vast majority of the people don’t get it. These arepeople that I love and I’ve been called toshepherd. They’re not coming along, but they’renot leaving. Nor do I want them to leave. I’vebeen called to lead them to Jesus and hismission.”

Another leader confesses, “I’m getting somepushback from some of the seniors. They say,‘What are you doing for us?’ They want anelevator, a new sidewalk, and more parkingspaces marked for senior adults. Meanwhile, I’mthinking, ‘You are grownups, you can provide foryourselves, but these other people who we’reserving can’t.’ It really is a balance to maintainthe relationships with one group while saying,‘Go out and get ’em!’ to the other group.”

Larry Forsythe divides pushback into twocategories: healthy and unhealthy. He notes ahealthy resistance that comes from trying tochange direction too quickly. “It’s aboutaccountability—a chance to stop and considerthe weaknesses in your plan,” he says. “This typeof pushback helps to develop you by listening to

the voice of the people. Unhealthy pushbackworships the old model, the old system, and triesto thwart the purposes of God and the missionaleffort. It doesn’t have a heart for Jesus.”

“The biggest thing to realize is not to modelyourself on the traditions of the past, but onChrist—what he did, how he would love peopleand talk to people. And that gives validity to themodel,” says Lee Clamp.

THE COST OF CRITICISMPastors who lead their church in a missionaldirection may become the target of criticism. “Itcomes back against the senior pastor as personalattacks,” an associate says. “People question hispersonal integrity, leadership ability and even hissalvation.”

“As a leader, you have people who question whatyou are doing,” says Lee, “especially when thechurch scorecard is based on programs andpeople. When you are concerned with kingdomgrowth and you spend time reading to a childwhose family may or may not come to the church,they question what you are doing. They ask, ‘Whyaren’t you in the office?’ They wonder if it is avaluable thing.”

Lori Strang says, “The pastor often has to take theheat for failures. I think one of the costs iswalking outside the boundary of what people inyour own tribe believe ministry entails. It alsoinvolves crossing boundaries to help those whoare really in need. We had to move one of ourfamilies into a homeless shelter who wereincapable of transporting their animals to thehumane society. They were terrified to do itthemselves. They were very much in need of‘Operation NOAH’—which was what we calledgoing in to rescue the animals and deliver them tothe society.” But such efforts are not alwaysapplauded.

“Tough love in a neighborhood of drug addicts isalso a cost,” she adds. “It’s important to speak upfor grace even in the midst of unseemlysituations, even when you receive flack frompeople for doing that.”

7

THE PASTOR HAS

TO HAVE SOME

SKILL IN DEALING

WITH CONFLICT

AND REMAINING

A LESS-THAN-

ANXIOUS

PRESENCE INSIDE

AN ANXIOUS

SYSTEM.

Programs—or the lack of them—can also comeunder fire. Rick Thompson recalls, “When I firstbegan to articulate the vision, we redefined someof our measures. Some of our programs were nolonger considered to be important, which wasinterpreted by some other churches in the area asa step backwards. We had to endure gossip in theChristian community about where our church was

going. Change always createsanxiety, and there was a lot ofthat going on.”

A pastor’s preaching maycome under attack. JeffWarren says, “When youmove away from a moreexegetical approach topreaching, members who’vebeen believers for a long timefeel as if you’ve become lessbiblical. Now we spend moretime on the application of the

text with interviews, stories and videos. In amissional church it’s critical to see how the text isbeing lived out in the world. It’s a real shift, andI’ve discovered it’s a precarious thing. Clearly thecontent and interpretation of the Word of God iscritical but in a missional church you never stopat knowledge alone. It’s more important to showhow to live it out.”

Well-known personalities are not exempt fromcriticism. Pastor Rick Warren of SaddlebackCommunity Church in Lake Forest, CA,(www.saddleback.com) recruits thousands ofvolunteers around the globe to battle adultilliteracy in North America, AIDS in Africa, and many other causes. He envisions a billionChristians mobilized around the world todispense everything from medical care toagricultural tools. Such an ambitious missional agenda has made Warren famous—andcontroversial.8

“The rage against Warren has come from bothliberals and conservatives,” says StevenWaldman, cofounder of the religious web sitebeliefnet.com. Warren says, “You’re never goingto please everybody. I don’t need to agree withsomebody in order to love them. I don’t need toagree with somebody in order to help them either.”9

THE COST OF CASHFinances are one of the first areas to feel thepinch when a church shifts to a missionaloutlook. Dave Bartlett says, “Eight of our top 10donors walked out, but our budget still went up,so you know that’s God!”

Often the bottom line behindthe pushback from thecongregation can be tracedto two underlying concerns:What kind of finances willthe people we reach bringinto the church? And howwill we meet our budget ifwe reach out to the under-resourced in our community?

Bruce Miller notes that theshift to missional focus cancost the church budget infunds that formerly were given to an “in-church”ministry, but which now are being given directlyto service organizations in the community.

Along with the shift in focus comes a shift infinances. This is where the rubber hits the road inthe missional shift. “Whereas formerly we were

8

WE HAD TO

ENDURE GOSSIP

IN THE CHRISTIAN

COMMUNITY

ABOUT WHERE

OUR CHURCH

WAS GOING.

Pastor Rick Warren recruits thousands of volunteers around theglobe to battle adult illiteracy in North America, AIDS in Africa,and many other causes.

HOW WILL WE

MEET OUR

BUDGET IF WE

REACH OUT TO

THE UNDER-

RESOURCED IN

OUR

COMMUNITY?

sending so much money for missions around theworld, we instead shifted some of those dollars toour own missional initiatives,” says Jeff Warren.“For the past two years we’ve had 30 internationaland domestic mission trips each year. So ourdollars have shifted to help our own people fulfillthe God-given mandate to take the Gospel to theworld. As a result mission dollars towardinstitutional expression may be reduced as manyare leveraging their resources toward their ownpersonal hands-on missional engagement.

“The big challenge is for members to give to thechurch’s budget and to the many mission trips andexperiences,” Jeff continues, “Our total giving tomissional initiatives is way beyond where it’sbeen in the past but some are saying we’re doingtoo much and it’s hurting our more traditionalmission offerings. Some say we’re doing toomany mission trips. I suppose you’ve made asignificant missional shift when some think you’redoing too much missionally! What’s happening isyour dollars are just not coming through the samechannels. For years we’ve been mission-focused,but now that mission is at the center of all we do,we have a new scorecard. Dollars are starting toshift- they land in other places. At the same timeyour unified budget can be impacted becausemany would rather give to externally focusedministry. They’ve decided, “It’s not about usanymore and my giving will reflect that.”

The flip side of the problem can be positive,however. Outreach Pastor Adam Knight ofUniversity United Methodist Church in SanAntonio, TX, (www.uchurch.tv) says that thereduction in giving allowed his church to refocuson vision and clarify its priorities. Theysubsequently raised an additional $300 thousandto fund missional projects; including bringing ona full-time staff person for special needs ministry.

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How can leaders spread the missional virus?

• Be intentional about celebrating stories. Vision leaks. –Kyle Pewitt

• Locate the catalysts in the congregation and put them in charge. –Lee Clamp

• Deploy your youth ministry. Use the social networks of teens. –Stephen Burnette

• Challenge your families with ways to identify with the poor. –Dave Bartlett

• Preach it from the front. –Jeff Wells

• Go and do it yourself, then hand it off to those who get excited. –Larry Forsythe

• Pick the forward-thinking members who have credibility with their peers. If they begin to talkabout it, it will spread.–Adam Knight

• Adopt a new church covenant. –Rick Thompson

• Lead by example. Mentor a high school kid. Become a soccer coach. —Reggie McNeal

• Leverage your recovery ministry to show people reality. –Clint Chamberlain

• Show pictures of hungry children to motivate your congregation. –Dave Masters

• Share “Stories from the Seats” for four weeks after Easter. –Dave Bartlett

• Ask yourselves continually, “How can we love others?” –Greg Finke

For the past two years First Baptist Church of McKinney has

had 30 international and domestic mission trips.

First Baptist Church in Barnwell, SC, takes an all-in approach to money. “The whole purpose ofhaving it is to give it away,” says Pastor StephenBurnette. “At some point you have to ask, ‘Whatare you going to do with all your buildings?’ Youbuild more buildings and you’re stuck having tomaintain them for the next 100 years.”

Finance Chairman Dave Masters describes whathappened when First Baptist Church ofLeamington, Ontario committed $4000 of itsbudget to community outreach. “We went to anearby school and asked the resource coordinatorwhat she needed. At first she had a hard timebelieving we would ask, because she was used topeople coming and telling her what they wantedto do, not asking what was needed.

“They had a Special Ed class that wanted to go tothe bowling Olympics. The school board wouldpay their way, but they couldn’t give them thepractice rounds to qualify. So we got a bus andtook them bowling. There was one autistic boywho said he didn’t want to go, but when he gotthe bowling ball in his hand, he was thrilled. Itturned out that the grandparents of anotherstudent in the class were members of our church.Afterwards they told everyone, “Ourgranddaughter got her first strike!” And it crankedup the other members of the church.”

THE COST OF CAREERRelated to budget concerns is the possibility thatmissional leaders will lose their jobs. “I think theshift from church-based to kingdom-basedministry scares pastors the most,” says Lee Clamp.

“I wonder, ‘How am I going to get paid?’ If thefunds start to come from different sources, I mayneed to become bivocational.”

Stephen Burnette voices a similar thought. “If youtake Reggie McNeal’s concept of decentralizedchurch, there’s no need for a paid clergy. It’s afinancial threat.”

The concern is real and itcan lead to alarm. Reggieexplains, “A lot of timespeople can’t hear themissional message becausethe background noise offear is so loud, they can’thear what the Spirit istrying to say to them. So Italk about alternatives.”

Some will earn incomefrom secular sources.Others may be able togather grants to fund theirwork. Still others will have individuals who willinvest in them and their ministry projects.

In Missional Renaissance he says, “Not everyonewill have to find new jobs to go missional. Manycurrent church leaders will be able to maintaintheir current employment while leading theircongregations to join the missional renaissance.Many who want to earn a full-time living inministry will need to think of themselves asportfolio managers. They will need to havemultiple income streams, as opposed to thecongregational support model.”10

10

Five questions to keep your vision on track

Greg Finke uses a simple tool called The Five Questions to keep your church members accountable to oneanother. The questions focus on what God is doing now in a person’s life:

1. How did you see God at work in your life this week?

2. What is God teaching you in his word this week?

3. What conversations are you having with pre-Christian people?

4. What good can we do around here--and how can we get soem of our neighbors in on it?

5. How can we help each other in prayer?

MANY WHO WANT

TO EARN A FULL-

TIME LIVING IN

MINISTRY WILL

NEED TO THINK OF

THEMSELVES AS

PORTFOLIO

MANAGERS.

McNeal advises leaders to increase theirmarketplace value. “Perhaps you’ll keep yourchurch job and be able to go missional. Maybeyou won’t. Neither choice is automatic. But youshould prepare for either scenario. The key is to be employable. Take on-line classes. Make the necessary sacrifices to put away sometransition cash. Too many clergy feel trapped intheir church jobs because they can’t afford to doanything else.”11

“Many clergy will not be able to make thistransition in their current church roles,” Reggiewarns. “Consequently, they will move into themarketplace for employment in pursuit of theircall to be missional leaders. Some will discoverthat their personal identity is tied up in their clergy role. This will precipitate a crisis that will become life-defining.” But the upside is, “Those who grapple with this issue and come out well will experience great release andfreedom to serve.”12

THE COST OF CALLINGMany leaders will have to redefine their calling.Pastor Lori Strang calls it the “decentralization” ofthe pastoral role. She explains, “For years wehave trained our congregational members tocome to the pastor when the system becomes off-balance—a personal problem, a complaint, aboiler issue, a janitorial issue. Becoming

missional means spinningoff small satellite clustersof folks who offer theirassets to the larger group.It is a cost because peoplehave grown accustomed torunning to the pastor.Redefining the call of thepastor finds new ways ofworking together, withChrist—not the pastor—being the centrifuge thatkeeps the system turning.”

As Reggie McNeal says,“Your sense of call, your

sense of self, and your sense of well-being will allbe tested during transition times.”13 “A wholedifferent kind of leadership is required—one that

is organic, disruptive, personal, prophetic,kingdom-focused and empowering.”14

Rick Thompson describes this change in calling.“Leaders are shifting away from being the doersand concentrating on leadership development.God puts the passion in people—we’re not goingto do it for them. Well-meaning churches havehad the hired gun mentality, but now we areequipping people for works of service. It’s atransition from catching people to releasing them, and getting people to see their ownpersonal mission.”

One of his members, Steve Green, president ofHobby Lobby, has a passion for his employeeswho are unchurched. He knew he couldn’t get them to come to church, so he took church to them. He started a church at the nearby middleschool for his employees and their families. It was all birthed out of the vision of becoming missional.

Another member, Kathy Beokman, has a heart forat-risk teenage girls in crisis pregnancies who arekicked out of their homes. She set up a nonprofitcorporation and acquired a facility. Her dream isto build multiple facilities that will take inteenage girls, give them job training andcounseling for survival on their own. Kathy comesfrom a similar background. She saw that thesystem is broken and wanted to create a faith-based organization to offer emotional, physicaland spiritual healing. “It’s an example of Godstirring her heart; it’s her passion,” says Rick.

11

REDEFINING THE

CALL OF THE

PASTOR FINDS NEW

WAYS OF WORKING

TOGETHER, WITH

CHRIST—NOT THE

PASTOR—BEING THE

CENTRIFUGE.

Gloria Dei in Houston, TX, has neighborhood missionaries who

simply make friends with their neighbors.

THE COST OF CHARACTERMissional leaders must exhibit strength ofcharacter. “I had to step up my prayer life,” admitsLori. “I realized that others’ prayer lives wereahead of mine.”

“You actually have to do what you want to seehappen,” Reggie says. “Leaders have to live thechange they seek. This is not easy; it requiresruthless self-management.”15

“Part of the new reality is that leadership isbecoming more personal and less positional,” hesays. “It doesn’t mean that positions aren’timportant, but who you are as the leader isbecoming increasingly the matrix for people tomake decisions. ‘Imitate me’ (I Corinthians 4:16)

was the apostle’s call toleadership training. Thiswas not hubris in Paul. Itwas the height ofaccountability.”16

How does the leader’scharacter have to change?“We have to lead in livinga new life,” says GregFinke. “I realized I neededto stop talking about thisand live it. So I’m leading

by living and telling the stories and learning howto stay out of the way.”

“Most senior pastors I know who call themselvesmissional are still as busy, programmatic anddisconnected from deep and real relationships asever,” he says. “We’re just using the wordmissional now. Once I realized I was in that samekind of web, I could start to think outside of thebox more quickly.

“I’ve been leading our staff to begin taking uppractices of doing less and being with peoplemore. We have what we call neighborhoodmissionaries. Their job is to make friends withtheir neighbors. It’s based on the simple concept:Love your neighbor. What if Jesus actually meantthat? We ask, ‘Who is my neighbor?’ We make upan impressive program to be a neighbor tosomebody we’ve never met before, when all thetime God has already put us by the people hewants us to be with.”

Such personal authenticity literally requires aheart transplant. “We do not share the heart ofGod with the world because we do not have theheart of God,” says Reggie. “This heart transplantdoes not occur by participating in churchactivities. It comes from being in a vibrant,growing relationship with God.”17

THE COST OF CONTROLGiving up personal control is a crucial ingredientin missional leadership. “Going missional isreally about deployment, not control,” says KylePewitt. “As leaders we need to stop trying tocontrol the passion of the people and releasethem.”

“The cost is surrender,” says Dave Bartlett, “andwalking where you don’t know where you’regoing. We used to do a lot of strategic planning tofigure out what we thought God wanted us to do,and at the end of the year, what he did wasn’t inour plan. So we just quit. We need to learn to seehow he leads and go that way.”

Judy Marshal, pastor of Harvest Vineyard Churchin Waterloo, IA, (http://www.harvestvineyard.net/)tells a similar story. “God put us in a buildingwith a strip club and drug house and tattooparlors, with street walkers. We fixed up thewhole place and started doing ministry. Wethought it was our bright idea. We kept stumblinginto what God was doing, and a church grew outof it.”

12

THE COST IS

SURRENDER, AND

WALKING WHERE

YOU DON’T KNOW

WHERE YOU ARE

GOING.

Harvest Vineyard Church serves Thanksgiving dinner for their

neighbors.

“Sometimes we make plans and shape them intoa movement. But here we felt we were chasingGod, and he was moving faster than we were,”says Jeff Warren.

Author Henry Blackaby says that God invites us tofind out where he is already at work and join himin it. But it can cost us our agenda. “You mustmake major adjustments in your life to join Godin what he is doing,” says Blackaby.18

Giving up control brings with it the risk ofambiguity. Says McNeal, “It moves us to a placewhere our work is never done.”19

But Greg Finke minimizes the price. “The leadersactually have to admit that they don’t know whatthey’re doing. I don’t see that as a cost, but somewould.”

“You have to struggle with your own personalidolatries,” says Rick Thompson. “When everyonearound you is measuring success in a certain wayand you decide your model will be totallydifferent, you have to redefine how you’re goingto talk to yourself about how you’re doing. Itrequires a reorienting of your personal ambitionsand also a strong sense of community.”

Giving away control can also mean giving awayyour church’s moment in the limelight. McKinneyFellowship Bible Church and First Baptist Church

know firsthand what it feels like to give up theglory of having their names attached to serviceprojects in the community. They handed off theirwildly successful Scare Away Hunger event onHalloween night as well as their local GarageGiveaway program to a newly formed nonprofitorganization called 3E.

But it was not a loss. The buzz about 3E spreadlike wildfire around the city and other churchesare joining hands to help carryout its vision. Its goals areanything but modest: to feed allthe hungry, clothe all the needy,shelter all the homeless, free allthe addicted and educate all thechildren of McKinney, TX.

mÉêëçå~ä=ÅçåÅÉêåëGoing missional sometimes takes a toll inpersonal areas of a leader’s life such as emotions,family and spouse.

Feelings of isolation are common. One pastorreports that he feels extremely lonely among hispeers because of the large number of colleaguesthat don’t understand. “I try to talk with themabout the missional movement and how itresonates in my heart, and they just don’t get it,”he says.

Larry Forsythe notes the cost in time spent awayfrom his family. His role in training Barnabas typeleaders in the Baptist Convention of Ontario andQuebec often takes him away from home. Hismission trips to Haiti and Mexico also keep himaway for long periods.

Another pastor shares his concern about theeffects that conflict over the church’s missionalvision has had on his wife. “On the personallevel, it’s been difficult for her to connect tochurch members and love the people who arecoming against the head pastor and myself. Shehas no desire to plug in anywhere in the church.” In his wife’s words, “It is hard to love people. Iwant to be part of the community, but I feelresentment at the same time. I’ve probably missedout on relationships with some really wonderful

13

When McKinney Fellowship and First Baptist gave away

control, buzz about a non profit in the city spread like wildfire

as other churches joined hands to carry out the vision.

YOU HAVE TO

STRUGGLE WITH

YOUR OWN

PERSONAL

IDOLATRIES.

people. Whereas ministry used to feel energizing,now it feels draining. I find myself beingguarded,” she says.

She speaks of the emotional toll that churchconflict takes on her husband day in and day out.“Instead of doing the things he’s gifted at, hespends his energy on the critics. There’s not asmuch of him left for the rest of the family.”

fë=ãáëëáçå~ä=äÉ~ÇÉêëÜáé=ïçêíÜ=íÜÉ=Åçëí\After counting the costs, it may seem that thecompensations are few in comparison. But thesame leaders who spoke of risks also spoke ofgreat rewards.

Lee Clamp says, “I spend 10 hours per weekcoaching middle school football—not because Ilike football, but to engage the culture who is notcoming to our church. We are getting off thecampus and touching kids who would nevercome. It’s more than just sitting around doing aBible study—it’s about putting feet with faith andbeing the church to the community.”

“A group of high school freshmen girls in ourchurch ‘adopted’ a family with four children,”says Lee. When they saw the girls’ bedroom, theydecided it needed an extreme home makeover.Our girls put on a spaghetti dinner and raised

$500. Then they went shopping at the Goodwill,bought furniture and painted it bright colors withpolka dots. While one of the group took the kidsout to play, the others took out the old furniture,repainted the walls and brought in the newfurniture. When she saw her new room, one ofthe children just sat on her bed and cried. Ittransformed them, and it transformed our kids,”says Lee. “Later, at Christmas, they gave the kidsnew outfits and read the Christmas story to them.They served their way into the hearts of theseyoung children.”

“The more we are external, the more the peoplelove it,” says Lee. “We cannot get ahead of themon being missional. Anything we do, theyrespond. Sometime it seems as if the pastors arelagging behind the people in the pews in gettingthat we are all one body, we’re not competing.Christians get it that we’re all one church. AfterHurricane Ike we were taking meals and bags ofice to people. We had great opportunities to giveourselves away. It was galvanizing!”

Pastor Stephen Burnette finds the “early adopters”in his church and puts them in charge of things.He says, “It seems like there are at least 200 folkswho want to make a difference.” Then they takethose stories and tell them within the largergroup. “Eyes light up,” he says. “Suddenly therock hits their heart.”

14

Before and after pictures – A group of high school girls at First Baptist of Barnwell redecorate a room in a needy home.

Bob Hundley, a retired engineer in Barnwell, SCis one of the catalysts in the congregation. Heworks with a second grade boy, the youngest ofseven children in a poor family, who has not beendoing well in his schoolwork. Bob began tomentor him, focused on his reading and spellingand gave him an incentive. “If you get an A onyour spelling test, I’ll take you out for aMcDonald’s Happy Meal,” Bob promised.

The first week the boy made 100 on his spellingtest and his teacher was floored. The next weekBob didn’t give an incentive, but he came backand asked again, “What did you make on yourspelling test?” “I made 100 on it!” said the boy.Bob said, “Really? I’m going to go check withyour teacher on that.” So he went and asked theteacher. She said, “I don’t know, I haven’t gradedit yet, but I’ll grade it right now. She sat down andgraded it and said, “He made 100.” And the littleboy said, “Told ya!”

Stephen notes the potential consequences ofsmall acts of service. “My wife and I have threechildren we’re mentoring right now,” he says. “Iasked a third grade boy, ‘What do you want to dowhen you grow up?’ ‘I guess I’d work atMcDonalds,’ said the boy. He had no vision ofanything beyond that.”

“I said, ‘There’s nothing wrong with that. But howwould you like to own McDonalds?’ To begin tosee his horizons expand is big. If we can take aboy like him and multiply it and break the cycleof poverty and illiteracy, then he will grow up and

become a dad who reads to his kids, and his kidswill have a different life and it will ripple out forgenerations.”

Clint Chamberlain, a pastor from Council RoadBaptist Church in Oklahoma City, tells what canhappen when members are released for mission.

“Joe went into the prison system and installed theQuest for Authentic Manhood program fromRobert Lewis (www.mensfraternity.com), andbrought in mentors to men who’ve never had anymale role model in their lives. He talked one ofthe wardens into letting theinmates worship with theirfamilies once a month. He sawGod stirring the hearts of themen when a huge inmate, likethe gentle giant in The GreenMile, came into worship. Afterthe message, Joe saw the manwith his wife and son andheard the man weeping. Theman cupped his son’s face inhis hands and said, “I’m sorryfor what I’ve done. Son, I willteach you what a biblical manlooks like when I get out.”

Greg Finke insists that missional leadership hasnot been a great cost to him personally. “I’veaggravated many more people just with mypreaching than I have with going missional,” he

15

Highschool girls at First Baptist Church of Barnwell serve their

way into the hearts of a family they adopted. THE MORE WE

ARE EXTERNAL,

THE MORE THE

PEOPLE LOVE IT.

WE CANNOT

GET AHEAD OF

THEM ON BEING

MISSIONAL.

Lee Clamp mentoring a student at the primary school using a

computer program that helps with reading.

says. “It’s like what Jesus did, coming in andproclaiming the kingdom and telling the stories,and you can see the lights go on in people.”

“The cost is very smallbecause it gets us back tobeing family and enjoyingpeople,” he says. “Weactually are happier as afamily because we havesaid no to a few morethings. We have one night aweek that is family night,one night is date night, one

night is neighbor night. There are four other nightsleft if you want to be insanely busy. Our peopleare tired of being busy. So as we have begun tosuggest to our folks to be less busy with churchactivities, it hasn’t been met with greatpushback.”

“We were convinced that the most importantingredient in getting to know your neighbor isfun. So we asked, ‘Why can’t the Christians in theneighborhood be known as the source for fun?’We went into the neighborhood and threw abarbeque. Eighty people showed up. We had acouple more events over a course of nine months.The whole neighborhood was coming alive.”

“Now we’re ready to take the next step ofproviding a redemptive environment where wecan talk more about the important parts of ourlives. We’re going to start a group, Laugh YourWay to a Better Marriage, a DVD series fromMark Gungor (www.laughyourway.com). It willbe fun, but it also provides a safe environment totalk about something that builds value into ourlives.”

“Every week we come together and basically askthe Five Questions (see sidebar), and talk aboutour plan for getting to know our neighbors. Theintroverts do it their own way and the extrovertsthrow parties and we just let the kingdom of Godhave its way.”

“It’s exciting many people. They’re saying, ‘Ithought that’s what being a Christian was allabout!’”

q~âáåÖ=íÜÉ=Ö~ãÄäÉ“Going missional sounds risky, doesn’t it?” ReggieMcNeal. “That’s because it is. You will bet yourlife and ministry on it. But you may also discoverthat committing your life to the missional journeywill help you find it.”20

To pull it off will require a reallocation of everyresource the church and church leaders employ—from prayer to people, from calendar tocalling, from finances to facilities—andeverything in between.

“Does this sound hard? You’re right—it is. …Butthose who participate in the missionalrenaissance do not think it too high a price to payto experience the kingdom wave.”

“We always try to complicate things,” says GregFinke. “But Jesus said, ‘Here’s what it’s really allabout: love God and love your neighbor.’ Is thatreally what it’s all about?”

What if it were?

16

THE COST IS VERY

SMALL BECAUSE IT

GETS US BACK TO

BEING FAMILY AND

ENJOYING PEOPLE.

Gloria Dei in Houston, TX, is seeing their neighborhood comealive as they create a fun environment for community to happen.

Lois Swagerty is a mother of three and livesin Carlsbad CA with her husband Doug.Most recently she is known for her weeklynewspaper column, Too Much Information.She has also written for Costco Connectionand Carlsbad Magazine.

Leadership Network welcomes yourresponse. The primary writer is LoisSwagerty. Editorial advisors were ReggieMcNeal, Director of Missional RenaissanceLeadership Communities for LeadershipNetwork, Eric Swanson, Director ofExternally Focused Churches LeadershipCommunities for Leadership Newtork, andWarren Bird, Director of Research and Intellectual Capital Support forLeadership Network. Contact them viagary.dungan@leadnet.org

© 2009 Leadership Network(www.leadnet.org)

Want to find more resources like this one? For the mostcurrent listing of free and purchasable resources, someof which are distributed solely through LeadershipNetwork, go to www.leadnet.org/papers (alternate:www.leadnet.org, then select “resources” then“downloads”) or call toll-free 800-765-5323 or 214-969-5950 outside the U.S. and Canada.

Leadership Network’s mission is to identify, connectand help high-capacity Christian leaders multiply theirimpact.

* Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is taken fromthe NIV translation.

17

REGGIE MCNEAL

LOIS SWAGERTY

ERIC SWANSON

18

bkaklqbp

1. Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 25.

2. Rick Warren at Catalyst Conference, Atlanta, GA 2008, quoted by Jeff Warren.

3. Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 25.

4. Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 25-26.

5. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 7.

6. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 11.

7. Reggie McNeal, The Present Future, p. 145.

8. Carl M. Cannon, “Man on a Mission,” Reader’s Digest, March 2009, p. 162Reader’s Digest, p. 165.

9.Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 152.

10.Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 26.

11. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p.181.

12. Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 26.

13. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 131.

14. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 158.

15. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 147.

16. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 91.

17. Henry T. Blackaby & Claude V. King, Experiencing God. 1994, Broadman & Holman Publishers, Nashville, TN, p. 60.

18. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 90.

19. Reggie McNeal, “Catching the Missional Wave,” REV! mar/apr 2009, p. 26.

20. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p. 113.

21. Reggie McNeal, Missional Renaissance, 2009, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, p.158.

19

RESOURCES FROM LEADERSHIP NETWORK

MISSIONAL RENAISSANCE CONCEPT PAPERS

CHURCHES IN MISSIONAL RENAISSANCE: FACILITATING THE TRANSITION TO A MISSIONALMINDSET There is a new Spirit-breeze blowing through many churches—a missional renaissance. These churches nolonger exist primarily to expand and improve their own organizations but to transform their communities.By combining practical service and a clear communication of the gospel, these churches seek to expandthe kingdom beyond their four walls. There are many compelling stories of how this new emphasis beganin each of these churches and also what they are doing today to expand their vision.

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THE PRESENT FUTURE: SIX TOUGH QUESTIONS FOR THE CHURCHIn The Present Future, McNeal identifies the six most important realities that church leaders must addressincluding: recapturing the spirit of Christianity and replacing “church growth” with a wider vision ofkingdom growth; developing disciples instead of church members; fostering the rise of a new apostolicleadership; focusing on spiritual formation rather than church programs; and shift, from prediction andplanning to preparation for the challenges in an uncertain world.

McNeal contends that by changing the questions church leaders ask themselves about their congregationsand their plans, they can frame the core issues and approach the future with new eyes, new purpose, andnew ideas.

More than 30 titles from the leading thinkers and practitioners in church ministry are available through theJossey-Bass imprint series, and the Leadership Network Innovation Series with Zondervan. Books in eachof these series illustrate effective leadership in today’s changing cultural landscape, with the intention ofreaching the growing numbers of people who seek God but are yet to know God.

LEADERSHIP NETWORK ADVANCE E-NEWSLETTERLeadership Network Advance is an indispensable, twice-monthly, free email newsletter featuring the best ininnovative church strategies. You’ll gain insights from the ministry pioneers who are setting the standardfor tomorrow’s church. Each issue will also point you to resources, tools and events that will help youbuild a more effective ministry. For sign up information: http://leadnet.org/epubs_signup.asp

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