Field Notes

When Good Gets Stale (response 2)

Last year I knew we had a rare opportunity.   We were moving out of a facility we had inhabited for forty years.  On one day, and one day only, everyone was going to be a first-timer. 

Why was this a rare opportunity?  We had no muscle memory in this place.  We would not, out of mere reflex, do what we did last week.  It was a rare opportunity to shake up some of the ruts we were in without announcing the change.  The space would do some of the changing for us...and it did.

I knew something else as well.  It would take less than a month to start to form new habits...some good, and some not so good.  The predictability was stunning.  Within a month we had been melted from old habits, remolded and were already starting to set in to new ways.

I stated above that some habits were good, and some not so good.  Bad habits have one common element...they are habits that cause us to do what is personally comfortable, but not necessarily what is best for the newcomer, the outsiders or the organization as a whole. 

Whoever first described humans as creatures of habit was a genius.  We are so habitual it is mind-blowingly predictable.  One thing can be predicted every time...we will do what feels most comfortable to us, despite whether it is what is best for anyone else.  Why?  The motive is not necessarily evil...it's just natural.  Creatures of habit love ruts.  Ruts are comfortable and predicable.  Ruts feel good.

Years ago I heard Bill Hybels make a statement that has haunted me ever since--

Leadership is relentless

Only a person who has held the reigns of leadership for an extended period of time can fully appreciate those words.  Leaders are rut busters.  They are in a relentless state of breaking up ruts.  While ruts feel comfortable, they are the subtly dangerous habits that create a climate of insiders and outsiders. 

I love breaking up ruts because I know how bad they are for everyone---the person in the rut as well as the people being excluded by the rut.  The more ruts...the deeper the ruts...the more we forget why we are doing what we are doing in the first place.  We get off group mission and on to the individual agenda of creating personal comfort zones.

I hate breaking up ruts because it is inevitable...people get offended.

More on that tomorrow.

Wednesday...

When Good Gets Stale (response 1)

This is a follow up to a really good post by Craig Groeshel on Breaking Up the Systems.

He uses the term muscle memory.  I snipped this from the site wise geek:

Muscle memory can best be described as a type of movement with which the muscles become familiar over time. For instance, newborns don’t have muscle memory for activities like crawling, scooting or walking. The only way for the muscles to become accustomed to these activities is for the baby to learn how to do these things and then practice them with a great deal of trial and error. Gradually, as the baby becomes a skilled walker, he falls less, is able to balance, and finally is able to incorporate other activities into his life such as running.

Although the precise mechanism of muscle memory is unknown, what is theorized is that anyone learning a new activity, or practicing an old one has significant brain activity during this time. The walking child is gradually building neural pathways that will give the muscles a sense of muscle memory. In other words, even without thinking, the child is soon able to walk, and the muscles are completely accustomed to this process. The child doesn’t have to tell the body to walk; the body just knows how to do it, largely because neurons communicate with the muscles and say, “walk now.”

Muscle memory thus becomes an unconscious process.

Doing ministry out of muscle memory is, as Adrian Monk would say, "A blessing and a curse."

Muscle memory in ministry happens when we do a task often enough and well enough that we can perform it without thought.  

The great part is that we just do our job without thinking about it.  The bad part is we just do our job without thinking about it.  Do you see the problem? 

Autopilot feels great!  We're finally comfortable, operating at a high level of proficiency with little thought.  On the other hand, it was the discomfort we felt when we were learning that stretched us and challenged us to try harder and give our best.

It is not too long before autopilot looks strangely similar to a rut.  You've heard the definition of a rut?  A rut is a grave with the ends kicked out.

Autopilot is dangerous for a number of reasons:

• We don't remember why we are doing what we are doing
• We stop noticing little things
• We get focused on the task and not on people
• We just do the job and lose site of the bigger picture
• We start to cut corners to make the task even more "efficient"
• We get impatient with those we are training; after all, to us it is easy

So to avoid this tendency, leaders need to shake things up. 

We need to change the routine and break up the rut.

That leads to all kinds of fun.  More tomorrow.

When Good Gets Stale

I said last week that I would be posting followups based on this post, then I got sick. 

I'm starting tomorrow.

From Craig Groeshel's blog today.  It has prompted many thoughts.  I'll post more later.

Even a good ministry system will eventually limit what God wants to do if the system doesn’t evolve or totally change.

(By system, I mean any program, structure, philosophy, or culture that shapes and helps produce a desired outcome.)

Once people operate within a system long enough, they often start to do ministry out of “muscle memory.” They tend to do the same things and work with the same people, but the results often start to slowly (or quickly) diminish.

Because this is what “we’ve always done,” people might think we just need to do what we did—better. In reality, God might want you to de-construct some ministry philosophy or system so you can hear His new direction.

For example, years ago we were doing everything you could think of at LifeChurch.tv. God directed us into a season of focusing on only five things. This philosophy served us well for about four years. It allowed us to focus on our core ministries without being distracted by lots of less-than-our-best efforts.

After a few years, it became obvious this season was coming to a close. What used to seem freeing started to become limiting. After prayer, we intentionally broke the established system to learn something new.

Great John Ortberg Quote

"We must aim at the transformation of people's actual lives,

not merely their devotional practices."

When Good Gets Stale

From Craig Groeshel's blog today.  It has prompted many thoughts.  I'll post more later.

Even a good ministry system will eventually limit what God wants to do if the system doesn’t evolve or totally change.

(By system, I mean any program, structure, philosophy, or culture that shapes and helps produce a desired outcome.)

Once people operate within a system long enough, they often start to do ministry out of “muscle memory.” They tend to do the same things and work with the same people, but the results often start to slowly (or quickly) diminish.

Because this is what “we’ve always done,” people might think we just need to do what we did—better. In reality, God might want you to de-construct some ministry philosophy or system so you can hear His new direction.

For example, years ago we were doing everything you could think of at LifeChurch.tv. God directed us into a season of focusing on only five things. This philosophy served us well for about four years. It allowed us to focus on our core ministries without being distracted by lots of less-than-our-best efforts.

After a few years, it became obvious this season was coming to a close. What used to seem freeing started to become limiting. After prayer, we intentionally broke the established system to learn something new.

Obstacle or Opportunity?

This ran in the Washington Times today. 

Curtain falls on cinema's church service

By Seth Woods THE WASHINGTON TIMES

By his own estimation, the Rev. Mark Batterson has preached about 1,000 sermons in his makeshift sanctuary at Union Station's Phoenix Theatres, where his congregation has met for the past 13 years.

Last week's was one of the most difficult: In his remarks he told his congregation it would be the final service at their unconventional church.

The train station's movie theater closed abruptly last week. Mr. Batterson said that for the past two years he had been hearing rumors the theater would close, but he had been assured they were not true.

So it came as a shock when his nondenominational National Community Church (NCC) got six days' notice that it would no longer have the space for services.

"There is certainly a degree of sadness amongst our staff. And we're going through a grieving process," Mr. Batterson said. "I think that is normal and natural because Union Station has been a special place for us as a church."

Amanda Giobbi of Anacostia has been attending NCC for 2 1/2 years.

"It will be extremely sad to leave the theaters at Union Station," Ms. Giobbi said. "Union Station is where I first started attending NCC, and I have many fantastic memories there."

Widely known as the "theater church," NCC built a niche focusing on meeting the needs of young professionals in the city. From a congregation that numbered 19 in the 1996 when services started at Union Station, the church grew to serve more than 600 people and expanded to four other locations in the District. NCC owns and operates Ebenezers Coffeehouse on F Street in Northeast Washington.

NCC also has sites in movie theaters in Georgetown and in Virginia, in Kingstowne and Arlington. Those theaters are affiliated with National CineMedia LLC (NCM), a Colorado-based in-theater advertising firm that in 2002 created a division to recruit churches and businesses to hold services, meetings and special events in its theaters. The company works with 190 churches in 35 states.

Barry Brown of NCM said the Union Station incident seemed to be isolated. He said other theater churches have been thriving in movie theaters.

"We work closely with our circuit partners to ensure that churches have adequate time to find new space if a theater decides to close," Mr. Brown said. "We have only had something like that happen once or twice in our history, and the church was given at least three months' notice."

Many churches across the country are finding that renting a movie theater once a week is cheaper than owning and maintaining a church building. It costs about $2,000 per month to hold services in local theaters, church officials said.

Movie theaters are perfect church venues because the facilities successfully combine location, convenience and comfort, said area pastors hosting services in movie theaters. The churches utilize most of the space and the audiovisual capabilities that theaters have to offer - employing multiple auditoriums for adult and children's services, creating videos to go along with sermons, and projecting hymn lyrics onto the big screen.

Mr. Batterson, who has likened movie screens to "postmodern stained glass," said he still thinks movie theaters are appropriate for church services. He said he continues to see theaters as a great opportunity to cut costs, giving the church the ability to fund other world relief and religious groups around the globe.

"The theater is a safe place to seek God in the shadows," he said.

Mr. Batterson and NCM are actively looking for a replacement site. Mr. Brown hopes to have a list of alternate meeting spots for NCC soon, and said he will be looking to other theater churches in the area that will be willing to share their space.

Leaders of NCC hope to have another theater or coffeehouse ready by January.

"Remember, the church is not a building," Mr. Batterson said. "We are the church. And God is going to lead us through this."

We Assume Too Much

I read this earlier today on Tim Steven's blog.  It's been stuck in my head all day long:

In their book Made to Stick, brothers Chip Heath and Dan Heath expand on this term, “Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it. Our knowledge has ‘cursed’ us. And it becomes difficult for us to share our knowledge with others, because we can't readily re-create our listeners' state of mind." 

Look at that line again:

Once we know something, we find it hard to imagine what it was like not to know it.

I have found in my teaching throughout the years that I need to assume less and less. 

I started by assuming everyone had a fairly common base of knowledge and we could build from there. 

Wow, was I off base.  

I try to assume nothing these days.  For those who know, that can be a little frustrating sometimes, but so many do not know. 

I hope we can imagine once again what it is like to not know.

It will make us much more effective in sharing what (and Who) we know.

Team is More Than Task!

I read this on Mark Waltz's blog today.  He hits this one dead on!

Unfortunately, a team of people committed to a common task or cause can be so focused on that task that they forget they're doing it together. Mark Beeson has reminded us often at Granger that we want to keep some kind of "balance" between task and relationship. It probably looks something like 49% relationship, 51% task, and maintaining that balancing act requires diligent intentionality.

Any task worth accomplishing requires focus. Greeting guests, serving beverages in a cafe, feeding the poor, teaching children, performing the arts - these and more require attention. It's easy when the pace is fast and the need is intense to put your nose to the grindstone, relentless on just "gitten' 'er dun." The risk is that we miss the people with whom we're serving and miss half the benefit of serving in team.

Here are some quick thoughts about maximizing relationships in the process of accomplishing the tasks of ministry:

• build "connect" time into the serve time
• expect volunteers to arrive early enough to eat together, pray together and prepare for the serve
• if you're the leader of the team, make sure you're "free" during the serving time to talk, invest, and celebrate "wins"
• if you allow yourself to get "stuck" in a task role, you'll not be available to do so...
• extend the conversation beyond the serving component
• using email, phone, Twitter, Facebook and personal visits, encourage the team to share life by supporting each other outside the weekend or other serving times
• initiate a mass-email follow-up to the serving time
• send emails, listing prayer concerns, praises, news about team members and the next gathering
• remember birthdays, anniversaries, and other important high points in the lives of your team members
• bring in a cake, send a card, allow time for people to talk to each other about their other interests
• celebrate the "wins" of the task
• acknowledge that the team accomplished "x", celebrate stories you've heard from guests and members to mark the effectiveness of the team

Every Church Needs A Little Conflict (part 1)

I enjoy the teaching of George Bullard.  He is doing a series this week on church conflict, focusing on how to avoid unhealthy conflict.  It's worth a read.  I'll be posting the rest of the series as well.

Your Congregation May Never Experience Unhealthy Conflict If It Has a Clear Core Ideology

Congregations who develop a clear core ideology involving mission, purpose, and theological and cultural values, a magnetic God-given vision, and an appealing future story for the life and ministry of the congregation into which they are seeking to live may never experience unhealthy conflict. Doing this leaves little room for unhealthy conflict situations and will empower congregations forward into an exciting future.

Congregations who know who they are under God [mission/purpose], are clear about what they value and believe [values], know where they are headed [vision], and are intentionally seeking to go there [future story fulfillment], will be so intentionally on mission that unhealthy conflict has great difficulty finding a place to plant itself and grow.

Conversely, congregations who do not know who they are under God, are unclear what they value and believe, do not know where they are headed, and whose programs, ministries, and activities are unintentional or accidental are the breeding ground for unhealthy conflict. Without a clear core ideology, a magnetic God-given vision, and an appealing future story of life and ministry, congregations are open to any whim and the latest fad. They have no moorings except the most general and abstract. They have no centering on the essentials of congregational life. They have no reason for declaring the vision cast by anyone who wants to in the congregation as being good or bad for the congregation except to oppose it and say you do not like it.

Confusion concerning the core ideology, vision, and future of the congregation creates debates that are often unhealthy as to what the congregation ought to be doing, and who—laity or clergy—ought to be doing what. Without a deeply felt discernment of God’s leading laity and clergy will bring into the debate their own culturally motivated perceptions of the future of the congregation rather than a searching for the leadership of God. This approach leads to escalation of the typical, normal conflict that exists in congregations. It often leads to unhealthy conflict.

I have never had the opportunity to work with a congregation in conflict mediation who had a clear core ideology, vision, and future story of ministry. The reason is simple. These congregations find ways to work through their conflict because they have such a deep passion for their spiritual strategic journey. The opposite is also true. No congregation with whom I have worked in conflict mediation has had a clear core ideology, vision, and future story of ministry. If they did they would not need my ministry among them.

The solution is simple only when a congregation is ready to work on it. Development of a core ideology, vision, and future story of ministry will inoculate a congregation against the disease of unhealthy conflict and will allow it to soar in response to God’s leadership. Congregations who make this a higher priority and principle will overcome their positional debates. They will have the opportunity to be the best possible Christ-centered, faith-based communities on mission towards a future only God can clearly see.

Copyright 2009, Rev. George Bullard, D.Min.