Show Me the Right People!
Continuing in the need for people topic… Another mistake that churches often make is to get a group of willing people together to attack a project or program. Willingness and ability are two completely separate issues. People are willing for many reasons, and some of them very bad reasons. I had a friend who once served a church where the key volunteer in his area was somewhat of an icon. She had been in that ministry area for 12 years when he arrived. Church members talked about all the sacrifices that she had made over the years, and how vital she was to the ministry. Initially, this seemed to great to my friend, but as time moved on, he came to realize that it was a serious problem. Like many things in life, what was going on behind the scenes created a different picture. She was the wife of an alcoholic, and received little to no affirmation at home. Like many spouses of alcoholics, she was an enabler. In the church, she had found a place where she was able to play the part of the martyr, and gets lots of attention and affirmation for it. She was willing, but not really able. Her dysfunctional patterns had set the tone for a dysfunctional ministry. My friend saw this and soon realized that she perceived him as a threat to her. She worked to undermine him, and eventually was successful. She needed all the glory for herself.
On one hand, it was great that this woman was able to find a place to fit in and be loved. On the other hand, it should not have been in a key leadership position. The need for a willing person to do the work often clouds judgment in getting the right people into the right positions.
So how so we deal with this in an arena that is always in need of more and more people? It begins by making sure that the key leaders are generally emotionally healthy people. Moving unhealthy people out and replacing them with healthy ones can be a long and difficult process. You may not always be in position to explain publicly why you are making these changes, which can bring up other issues.
Once your key leaders are in place, you begin by helping them to work out a plan for their ministry areas so that they can recruit effectively. (see Show Me the People). There is one other key step. Before you sit down and ask anyone to serve, find the Connectors in your church. A Connector is someone who seems to know everyone, and often also knows their gifts and abilities. Connectors are vital at putting all the pieces into place to form a great ministry team.
A word of caution: Do not turn them into recruiters! That is not the best use of their time. Get them to generate the list and have someone else call and say, “Jim recommended that I contact you regarding this position”. The effect is powerful, and you are likely to get a positive response. Getting your teams on track will go a long way to creating dynamic, thriving ministries. Remember, people like to be on a winning team!
Show Me the People!
My guess is that you are in the same situation as many churches and non-profits. It seems that everywhere I go I hear the same two issues: lack of people and lack of money. I have discussed money a couple of times lately, so let’s look at the “people” issue.
The first question I have is related to your mission/vision. Is it easy to say and grab on to? If not, begin there. People get involved with things that they can understand. A fuzzy mission will detract, not attract volunteers. So lets assume (is that safe?) that you have a crystal clear mission/vision. On to the next question. Are you making a specific request? Can the average person understand exactly what they are being asked to do? For example, if you have a large community event on the schedule and you need 30 people to make it happen - do you make a generic request for 30 people to sign up and volunteer? Or better, do you ask for 5 people to handle registration, 7 people to handle food, 2 people to handle logistics, etc. The more specific you are in the request the better your chances of success. If you ask me to give you 2 hours next week to make phone calls inviting people from a defined list - I will do it. If you ask me to handle publicity for the event, the answer is “no”. Those two jobs may be the same in your mind, but that’s not how I hear it.
So, you’ve got it down to specifics, Great! Now we come to the part where most of the best plans fall apart - when you make the general announcement. It may be from the pulpit on Sunday morning or in a newsletter or on the website. Either way, it is now doomed fail. Go ahead and brace yourself. The staff will complain about the lack of commitment that people have and how “they” just need to get their priorities right. But the failure is yours and yours alone. Why?
Because you made the worst possible choice at the most critical time.
Years ago, there was a young lady who was attacked in the streets of New York City. Her name was Kitty Genovese. Reports surfaced that at least 38 people witnessed her attack, but did nothing to respond to her. For years the press and others talked about how horrible these people were. This story became the poster child for all that was wrong with NYC. It was truly a troubling incident. In a series of experiments conducted as a result of the controversy surrounding her death, psychologists Bibb Latané and John Darley discovered what they called the “Bystander Effect“. What they learned was that the more people that witness an emergency, the less likely any of them are to help. Everyone assumes that someone else will do what needs to be done. Some years later, experiments proved that the opposite is true as well. If one one or two people hear a plea, they feel very responsible for responding.
So, when we take the “cattle call” approach to getting people involved, we are actually doing the exact opposite of what needs to be done. If you announce to 300 people that you need 30 volunteers, all 300 can say, “whew- I am glad there are so many people here to do that, I sure don’t have time”. But if you sit down with 5 people in room and say ” I need 5 people to handle registration” it is obvious who needs to step up.
People are willing to get involved and give their time, but you have to put the time in first.
1. Make your mission/vision clear.
2. Be specific in what you need.
3. Ask personally, not through cattle calls.
If you do these things, people will be able to get involved and make your organization successful!
Who is the competition for non-profits?
Reading through an interesting post over on Green Apron Stories, about a very funny way that they kept an eye on the competition. The story reminds me of one that often presents itself when I am working with a non-profit that is trying to find new ways to increase funds. After a while, someone in the room will offer the comment “we just can’t compete with (insert name of another non profit) for the money that we need”. This reveals a significant lack of understanding about what motivates people to support a non-profit. In the case of Starbucks, the competition was clear. For the non-profit, it is a different game.
For a NP, the competition is not other non-profits. In theory, all NP offer services to make the human condition a bit better. Would you want to take your money from the March of Dimes to fund ALS research? Well, yes. Let me explain.
If someone you care about has an illness or challenge, then you are emotionally tied to the group that is taking on that fight. You will reallocate your funds to join in the fight and make a difference. The interesting thing is that you will reallocate funds from many areas of your life, not just what you have set aside to fund good causes. And if your life is touched by many causes, you will find ways to give to all of them.
The paradigm shift here is from the mindset that people will only give a certain amount to charity and causes, and that we are all competing for that certain amount. The competition is for all of the other disposable income that is available, but not given.
What’s they key to getting it? You must offer a solution to a problem, and make sure the problem has a face to go with it. If you introduce Mark to someone, and he has ALS, and then you show that a $20,000 donation will make it possible for him to communicate with this children through eye movement controlled computers - guess what you will walk away with. A check.
Too many non-profits are focused on making people aware of problems, competing with one another, and complaining about the lack of compassion that society offers. They don’t get it - which is exactly what happens.
Padding to get Published?
In the book the Master Motivator, there are several leadership concepts worth exploring. The book is in the format of a leadership fable, and follows the life of Doug, a struggling manager. As with almost all books of this genre, Doug has a mentor who shares the secrets to success. While I am a fan of this genre (and have written in this style myself), Master Motivator is a bit long on lists and short on substance. It reads a bit more like a PowerPoint presentation than a story. If you have read a few hundred leadership books, this will be a good refresher. BTW, it was originally released in 1995, and re released by Barnes and Nobel in the past year or so.
One of the most interesting parts of the book is that the story ends on page 88 of 146! The last 58 pages are lists of the author’s favorite movies, books, achievements, and resources. It is an interesting way of packaging “additional” information. Many authors have done a similar thing by connect a website to the book (How Full is Your Bucket - www.bucketbook.com), but I am not sure I like the “packaging” of this information in the book itself. Maybe it was too thin to be published without it!
What is the Emergent Church?
In a recent conversation with my friend Marcus Neto, we got into the particulars of the Emerging/Emergent church conversation. I even became confused! I am going to try to shed some light on this topic.
In some ways, the entire thing reminds me of the early Protestant movement. The Church was the Catholic Church up until that time, and the practices were pretty much set. There was a huge history and organization built around the beliefs and actions of the Catholic Church. Not everyone liked that, but most went along because that was the way that things had always been. Before there was an official “Protestant” movement, there were many conversations about how things could or should be (depending on your viewpoint). These conversations became actions over a significant period of time. Contrary to legend, the Protestant Church did not ‘pop” into existence when Martin Luther nailed his letter to the doors at the Wittenberg Cathedral.
Each significant change is preceded by a great deal of conversation, attempts at change, and failures to change. The Protestant Church was created in the same manner. As we look at the conversations surrounding Emergent and Emerging churches, we see the same thing happening.
The beginnings of this new movement came from a desire to see the Church become more responsive to the people that it was trying to reach. Like most things involving the church, there were differing opinions about what exactly that meant.
Some views have taken a theologically liberal approach, encouraging acceptance of everyone, and not confronting the lifestyles or choices.
Others have taken a theologically conservative approach, encouraging reaching out to everyone, but not accepting choices that they define as “incompatible with scripture”.
Another difference is in the view of God’s sovereignty. The more liberal camp will hold to the idea that God is living out this life with us, can be surprised by our actions, and the future is being written as we live with God. This view is sometimes called “Open Theism”. The more conservative camp holds that God is all knowing, and not surprised by our choices. There is a differing opinion as to where he simply knows he future, or causes the future. That debate is not unique to this movement.
Much like the early days of the Protestant Church, the terminology and theology of this movement is just now being defined. I am sure that Martin Luther had no idea that there would end up being thousands of denominations that consider themselves Protestant. And, like in the Protestant Movement, there will be a wide spectrum of theological beliefs when the dust settles.
What is important is to recognize this movement for what it is. A call for modern reformation. It is calling the Establishment to recognize that it is time to change - it is time to emerge from behind the walls and go into the communities - it is time to accept everyone who doesn’t believe, instead of condemning them - it is time to stop acting like we have it all together, and to live a life that reflects the grace we all need.
The Emergent/Emerging church will continue to grow this movement as people hear and respond to this message of change. The “wording” will change and adapt over time, but the core message will remain the same.
