5 Pastor-Driven

THE HARDY GROUPTHE HARDY GROUP

Coaching Guide

Dick Hardy

Obstacles to Growth

ObstaclesRemove

Make It Happen

Make It Happen Coaching Guide5 Pastor-Driven Obstacles to GrowthBy 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 RossCinematography by Randy Bacon and Jonathan MurphyText 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.

What personal steps can a pastor take

to allow for growth?

Make It HappenCoaching Guide

5 Pastor-Driven Obstacles to Growth

Thank you for taking time to view the Remove Obstacles 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 will be simpler questions or descriptions 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 the things you are doing that are obstacles to the growth of the great church you serve. Be your best and watch God Make It Happen!

Dick Hardy

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Part One

IntroductionScripture is clear; the church is a living organism. As such it is true that living organisms naturally grow unless obstacles are placed in their way. Life comes as growth abounds. Death comes when growth ceases.

Pastoral staff members play a significant role in the growth of the church. The decisions they make are critical to the direction the church takes and its potential for growth. When the lead pastor or any of the staff pastors are not ministering at the level God designed for them, the church is faced with obstacles to growth.

The articulation of these obstacles is difficult but to ignore them is to forfeit any chance one may have to remove them and see the church move forward in reaching spiritually lost people with the gospel.

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Part Two

The Lack of Growth in the Leader

The church will only grow to the level the lead pastor will take it. If you find yourself in a rut and cannot find your way out, you must stop. God did not design your leadership around the “rut.” As a leader you cannot expect the body of believers under your care to move past where you are on the spiritual continuum.

Consider areas where you have experienced growth in the past and ask yourself how and why that happened. Understand yourself in the sense of knowing those obstacles to growth that present themselves to you at the most inopportune times. Build in effective personal accountability with a friend to identify lack of growth sooner rather than later.

Action Steps:

•Behonestwithyourself.Lookinthemirrorand acknowledge if you have lost your edge with God.

•Prayaslongasittakestoreigniteyourflamefor God. Taking other self-help steps are fine, but without prayer, their effect will be minimal and eventually for naught.

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•Talkwithaveryselectfewaboutyourpersonal dryness. I recommend two or three people who are deeply devoted to you and understand the need for absolute confidentiality.

•Exerciseallofthespiritualdisciplineswhetheryou feel like it or not.

Questions and Descriptions:

a. What area of your life could you identify as having not demonstrated growth in the last 12 months?

b. What three things will you do to jumpstart that area of your life.

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c. How are the spiritual disciplines of fasting, prayer, Bible reading, tithing, evangelism, and discipleship being played out in your life? Describe each.

d. To whom are you accountable for personal growth?

e. What actions can you take to intentionally refresh with God?

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Part Three

The Unwillingness to Lose People

If you are going to lead you are going to lose people. There are people in your congregation who will leave when the church grows. Are you willing to lose them? Are you willing to forfeit their tithes in order to reach new levels of growth? The leader must position his thinking to be willing to absorb loss. It is one of the prices of leadership.

It is never your intention to do things to chase people off. However, you must move forward knowing that while you reach to the unbeliever you may offend a long-term member. You will likely encroach on a deeply held tradition or conviction of at least one of the saints. You are not leading your church to maintain tradition. You are there to remove obstacles to growth and let people who are far from God come close to Him.

Action Steps:

•SpendtimeinthepresenceofGodtoknowand understand His purpose for the church you serve.

•Bewillingtogothedistancewithwhatyouhear from God.

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•Preparethechurch’sbudgetforapotentialloss in income. Do not go to the staff or board and saysomethinglike,“We’regoingtomovethis church forward, upset a bunch of people, have them leave and lose a bunch of tithes.” Just be smart and do not put the church at risk while you are making tough decisions.

Questions and Descriptions:

a. Describe a time when people left the church over a decision you or the leadership team as a whole made.

b. If you have been unwilling to lose people in the past what do think has been the reason for that unwillingness?

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c. Name three positives of losing some people.

d. Name three negatives of losing some people.

e. If you could make one big decision right now with a guarantee not to lose people what would it be?

f. Describe the obstacles to making that decision with that guarantee.

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Part Four

The Lead Pastor Always Sees Greener Grass

Let’sbeclearonthis.Nomatterhowcrummyyourgrassis, it will not be any greener at the next place because you are the person tending the grass.

A friend created a vivid picture for me when he termed this issue “short-term fatherhood in the church.” When a mom keeps changing husbands every few years, the kids become stunted in their ability to grow, trust and understand the role of a leader in the home. The dad is here today and gone tomorrow.

The same thing is true in the church. Pastor is here today and gone tomorrow. How can the church grow when a new dad is at the helm every few years? When long-term senior pastors continue to nurture, teach and demonstrate commitment to the Body, the obstacle of insecurity is erased.

Action Steps:

•Stayput.

•Workandprayhard.

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• Ifnecessary,reinventthewayyoulead.

•Quittellingyourselfthegrassisgreenerelsewhere.

Questions and Descriptions:

a. Name the greatest joy you have experienced at your current church. Why do you view it that way?

b. Name the greatest heartache you have experienced at your current church. Why do you view it that way?

c. What is the most significant thing that has happened to you in the last month? Why is it significant?

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d. What is your dream? If you could do anything with your life, what would you do?

e. Where do you sit on the security scale of 1 (insecure) to 10 (secure) in your role as leader of your current church?

f. What things need to change for you to become one point more secure?

g. What are two obstacles to that happening?

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h. When will you start to address them and who will hold you accountable to do so?

Part Five

Quality of HiresI am amazed at how frequently I find very weak staff members in what used to be very strong churches. The lead pastor must always take the issue of staffing seriously. Never allow yourself to get in a position of just plugging holes when a staff member leaves. You should always plan to make a hire that will be with you for a very long time. That does not mean you always find lifers, but you should look for the very best in all your hires.

Along with this come issues of spiritual sensitivity, entrepreneurial giftings, and drive. I recommend you plan to compensate the high-quality staff member at the75percentilelevelofthatposition’svalue,regionallyor nationally. In other words, my guess is you are not looking to find an average staff member so why fall prey to the thinking that you will pay in the middle of that position’srange.Yougetwhatyoupayfor.

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Action Steps: •Hireslowandfirefast.

•Makesurechemistry,competence,andcharacter are all part of the picture.

•Payatthe75percentilelevel.

•Communicatetothegoverningboardthe importance of taking care of people, financially and otherwise. Get good people and keep them.

Questions and Descriptions:

a. What is the best thing about working or volunteering for your church?

b. What is the best hire or volunteer recruitment you ever made? Why was that so?

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c. Tell of a time when you hired or recruited fast and should have taken more time to make the decision.

d. Describe a staff or volunteer member who brings you no stress.

e. What dreams do you have for the future of your church?

f. What does your dream team look like?

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g. Describe how you think it might look to get from where you are with your staff and volunteers to where you want to go.

h. What are the obstacles to that happening and how can you overcome them?

Part Six

Constant Turnover of Staff In far too many churches, a staff revolving door sits at the entrance to the building. All a person has to do is to examine the staff tenure of growing churches and you will see that people stay put at those places. The quality of staff hired and the length of time they stay with the church are critical.

Realistically, some staff members are keepers and some are seasonal role players. Not every staff member who

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takes you to the dance will dance the night away with you. The lead pastor must validate the role of the staff person. That is not to say the lead pastor has to cater to staff but it is to say that staff have value and the lead pastor is the one who must express that value.

Action Steps: •Hireright.

•Givesincere,verbalexpressionsofappreciationat timely intervals to all valued staff members.

•Maintainyourseniorleadershiprole.Youarenot necessarilytobeeverybody’sbestbuddy.

•Liftstaffmembersintheeyesofthecongregation.

Observations and Descriptions: a. What is the greatest asset of your staff or volunteer team?

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b. What are some reasons staff or volunteers give for leaving their role?

c. Of those you consider valid, what could you do to remove those reasons for future staff or volunteers?

d. Describe what you think it might feel like to have a consistent team of volunteers and staff for a minimum of three years straight.

e. What four steps can you take to begin to reduce turnover?

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Part Seven

ConclusionAs the senior leader you must take responsibility for all components of your own leadership development and that of your team. I cannot overemphasize the importanceofprayingforGod’sdirectioninliftingyouand the team He has entrusted to you to the highest possible level.

You have enough things on your plate to overcome without these five pastor-driven obstacles to the growth you are seeking for the church. As the saying goes, “It all startswithol’No.1.”Thatisright.Youlookinthemirrorfirst and remove the obstacles that emanate from that person and the sailing will be smoother when dealing with others.

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Make It Happen TimelineAfter responding to the questions and descriptions of this coaching guide, I purpose to do the following. I intend to make sure no obstacles to growing the church emanate from me.

Within the next 24 hours I will:

Within the next 7 days I will:

Within the next 30 days I will:

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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 with them my plan. I will ask for them to call me at the end of each commitment to determine my status:

__________________________________________

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Complete with Make It Happen Coaching Guides and Make It Happen Timelines to accelerate

your leadership growth.

6 Brand New Growth Videos for Pastors

Also available

27 Tough Questions Pastors Ask Leadership Book for Pastors

3 Absences in Flat and Declining

Churches

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 Over-the-Top Hospitality

12 Steps to the Culture of Improvement in the Church

www.thehardygroup.org