Eight Ways to Fill Your Pews

Eight Ways to Fill Your Pews

How to fill your pews has been a question since before the pandemic. It is especially compelling now.  As you think about this important question, keep in mind the following eight facts, and eight ways you can act. I encourage you to share this article with your key leaders and decision-makers so that you can discover the unique ways you will choose to fill your pews this year.

People are built for relationship with God.

FACT: No matter what else may be true these days we are wired for God—from our brains to our nervous systems. We need opportunities to grow spiritually.

ACT: Gather people for study, prayer, encouragement, worship, and mission.

EXAMPLE: With fall coming, this is a perfect time to start a new Bible study, prayer initiative, or relationship class.

People are social.

FACT: We survived shutdowns in very creative ways. But people suffer when they are isolated for too long. We need community.

ACT: Gather folks together around common interests and needs. Be creative by weaving the spiritual into the social.

EXAMPLE: Cooking, crafts, construction, or gardening classes can not only focus on biblical themes like hunger, creativity, building, and growth—they can lend themselves to needed community-oriented projects.

Youth and young adults need friends.

FACT: Young people generally want to spend more time with friends than family. This fact reveals their deep needs to belong. But alphas and digitals don’t belong like boomers belong. Developmentally, younger folks are in the stage of exploration, questioning, pushing the edges and finding acceptance on their own terms.

ACT: Churches can fill this need by encouraging questions, cultivating discussion, and accepting differences.

EXAMPLE: Open Space is a unique format developed by my friend and colleague Rev. Mary Beth Taylor. It’s a way of forming Jesus-based community which fosters open-ended questions and discussion about matters of faith.

The pandemic has changed our habits, patterns, and  expectations.

FACT: Don’t expect people to automatically resume their 2019 habits. We have come to expect flexibility, shorter events, and online options.

ACT: Reduce the length of worship, Bible study, and class time. Focus on making things interactive, and more interesting.

EXAMPLE: My friend, Market Square Publisher Kevin Slimp, runs a Sunday school class that has grown by 33% during the pandemic. It offers both in person and hybrid attendance options and runs a mere 35 minutes.  No matter how good the conversation gets.

The digital space is busy.

FACT: You’ll need to stand out to get and keep people’s attention.

ACT: Communicate, communicate, communicate. Don’t assume everyone gets your message in the same way. Use all channels to get your message across:  email, print, text, phone, Facebook, website, phone calls, and flyers. Regularly announce and invite people to join you.

EXAMPLE: Resurrect your snail-mail monthly newsletter. Let people know the “what, when, where, and how” of your worship, studies, and other gatherings.

The pandemic is not over.

FACT: With infections on the rise among unvaccinated populations, people need a sense of safety. You will want to ensure continuity of meeting.

ACT: Normalize mask-wearing and social distancing, as well as non-mask options. Keep your online presence alive and active. Encourage what Thom S. Rainer, author of “The Post-Quarantine Church”, calls “dual citizens” or people who comfortably inhabit both physical and virtual spaces.

EXAMPLE: Re-locate study and social groups from small classrooms to the sanctuary so people can be together and socially distance. Keep the camera rolling so others can attend online.

We don’t need buildings to be/do church.

FACT: We’ve discovered we can do without buildings.

ACT: Leverage your buildings as community assets so they don’t become the focus of inward-based congregational life once again.

EXAMPLE: Form partnerships with your community. Thom S. Rainier writes about a church that painted one of its rooms in bright colors, dubbed it The Birthday Room and offered the free space to the community. See your building as a community asset, not a church asset.

The future is surprising.

FACT: We can’t predict the future, but we can prepare ourselves.

ACT: Own your resilience. Claim God’s presence. Do away with scarcity language, and focus on abundance and enoughness. Stop saying you can’t, and practice saying, “We can.”

EXAMPLE: Now is the time to develop a bold vision, and embrace a bigger sense of God.

 

The world has changed. But your pews don’t need to empty out. Choose a few of these eight ways to adjust to the world, re-set your expectations, and prepare to serve God’s people. You can fill your pews!

Need some more help thinking it through? Join us for Creating a Culture of Renewal®.

Copyright © 2021 rebekahsimonpeter.com, All Rights Reserved.

The Gift of Unhurried Time

The Gift of Unhurried Time

The Gift of Unhurried Time

The gift of unhurried time is a prize we long for these days. Pulling together online worship and doing remote ministry takes more time than anyone could have imagined. Many leaders have shared with me that they are weary to the bone.

I can relate.

Most of my days are structured and filled to the brim with things to do.  While I enjoy them, and get a lot done, one key element is missing: free-flowing creative time with God.

As of this writing, I am once again in Florida spending time with my aging parents. Though busy here, I have stepped away from the intensive work of teaching, leading, and meetings, and am receiving a gift that I had forgotten I needed: unhurried time.

Jesus spent unhurried time away from healing, teaching and mentoring. He was the better for it. His life reminds me that spiritual leaders need unhurried time with the Spirit. Are you taking time away to hear from your soul?

A cross in someone's hands.

As more of us get vaccinated and move around more freely, our calendars will quickly start to fill. As our days become packed with activity, anxiety may follow. Will you be open to hearing the message your soul is yearning to give you?

The truth is, your people can’t go farther than you can lead them. Click To Tweet

If you’d like a more responsive, faith-filled congregation, it is time to do the inner work yourself.  As you grow in both faith and skill, the world around you shifts. You will see it in your personal relationships and in the culture of the congregation you lead. That’s because an internal shift in consciousness, faith, and expectation precedes a shift in the people and culture around you.

Both John, the cousin of Jesus, and Jesus himself demonstrate this truth. They each grew in the knowledge and grace of God before they began their public, prophetic work. Their inner work was a prerequisite to co-creating miracles with God. In the same way, both the Twelve and the Seventy grew in their understanding of Jesus and his teachings before they could cast out demons, heal the sick or preach the Kin(g)dom.

Give yourself the gift of unhurried time to grow in the knowledge and grace of God. Join me on my free webinar, How to Create a Culture of Renewal, in which you’ll learn the barriers to achieving renewal, the miracles renewal can bring, and how to take your next step – all part of the process of opening your heart to your soul and seeing the miraculous come to life!

Then watch out world, because you will be unstoppable!

(Adapted from the 3rd edition of Culture Shift, the Track 3 Workbook of Creating a Culture of Renewal®.)

Has COVID Undone Church Decline?

Has COVID Undone Church Decline?

As churches prepare to re-open, it’s fair to ask if COVID has undone church decline. Over the last two months, your congregation has gone through a transformation. You have created new forms of worship, established new means for people to give, and launched new communication forms. Most importantly, you have found a new purpose in your communities. Bottom line: your congregation has gotten unstuck.

When your church opens up again, will you still be dealing with the dynamics of decline? Or has the coronavirus turned all that around? The news is promising, but not without risk. In this article, you will discover three ways to solidify the gains your congregation has made so that you don’t allow this crisis to go to waste.

Before COVID: Indicators of Church Decline

In my culture-shifting work with congregational leaders across the country, I have identified a handful of reliable indicators of decline, which I write about in Dream Like Jesus. These indicators are concentrated in the areas of worship, ministry, and congregational culture. When a church is in decline, worship tends to be uninspired. For example, prayer feels perfunctory, and faith-sharing lacks authenticity. This lack of spark translates into declining numbers. As the active presence of the Spirit diminishes in the gathered life of the church, worship attendance lags.

Overall, giving stagnates—the number of giving units declines. The number of people involved in active ministry slides until fewer people are doing more and more work to stay afloat. Underneath all of these indicators is a congregational culture that is more focused on survival than outreach. As the church tries to save itself, relationships become problematic. The need for harmony supersedes risk. Disagreements simmer just under the surface, and when expressed, take on a hidden or surprising form. Decision-making is cautious, slow-paced, and unlikely to support visionary action.

Church in the Time of COVID: Signs of Promise

With COVID, the church has found itself in the surprising position of being in high demand. The church has responded by reaching way out beyond its walls and its usual forms. You now have a more substantial presence—appearing online, in parking lots, drive-in theaters, and captured forever on FB live and YouTube. Not only that, with the shared danger of the pandemic, people have revealed a new level of transparency and honesty.

Congregations have tried new things—willing to risk everything to retain some semblance of normalcy. In this environment, worship has taken on an immediacy. Even though mediated by screens, once boring services have come alive again. Prayers are passionate—laced with compassion, sweetened with urgency, and more relevant than ever.

The church has experienced something of a resurrection. But this miracle is not guaranteed to last.

When your church opens up again, will you still be dealing with the dynamics of decline? Or has the coronavirus turned all that around? Read more here: Click To Tweet

Three Ways to Outwit Decline.

Stay big. Once your building re-opens, you may think you no longer need online worship or online giving. Not true. You have expanded your footprint, attracting new followers, views, likes, and virtual visits. Don’t expect these folks to follow you back to the building. They may or may not. Continue to make online options a viable means of participation.

Stay visible. Don’t retreat into your office once the doors are propped open. Your current partnership in the community is more necessary than ever. Look for new opportunities to serve and new ways to be engaged. Likely you won’t have to look far. Listen to what people say to discern the next need. While you’re at it, ask how you can serve their spiritual needs as well.

Stay vigilant. Crises generate both chaos and miracles. Be sharp in navigating the clutter so that you can tap into the blessings the pandemic has opened up. To help you stay vigilant, give yourself the gift of claiming all that you have learned during the pandemic, and celebrate your newfound capacities.

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing

Crises generate both chaos and miracles. While the COVID-19 pandemic has caused breakdowns of every sort, it has also created breakthroughs. The pandemic has revealed to us what’s most important, most essential, to us, especially in the areas of worship, spirituality, and faith community.

As churches begin to re-open their buildings, and the church’s life takes on a more familiar feel, you or your people might be tempted to crank up all the old activities of the church. Let me sound a word of caution here. Before you do so, it’s essential to ask yourself how you will keep the main thing, the main thing.

In this article, I want to help you clarify which activities and offerings are central to the church and peripheral. Which activities should you hang on to, and which ones will you want to keep on pause? Just as importantly, I want to share a new short course with you that will help you make the most of the crisis we are in.

While COVID has caused breakdowns, it also created breakthroughs. It has revealed what's important, especially in spirituality and community. Click To Tweet

What Matters Most in Church Life

What constituted success in the church’s life before the coronavirus hit may be very different from how you think of success now. I invite you to reflect on the church’s life before the pandemic to compare it with the church’s life now, during the pandemic, to answer the following questions.

Ministry and Mission 

Begin with the ministries of the church. Before the coronavirus hit, what ministries did the congregation consider essential? What ministries does the community feel crucial now?

The answer to the second set of questions likely points to the spiritual heartbeat of your church. It probably has something to do with worship that matters. Prayers that touch the heart and encompass the common good. Peaching that connects with people’s lives. Opportunities for the community.

This set of answers also points to the real Mission of the church, while the first set of solutions may include the shadow mission of the church.

Who Is Involved 

Next, reflect on who was involved in the church’s life before the coronavirus hit? Who is involved now? Provided that your congregation did not suffer many losses from COVID-19, you may find that you have more people involved than you did before the pandemic. Including new assistance from community members. If so, celebrate. A partnership between congregation and community points to the church’s life and deep Mission: demonstrating the love of God and neighbor as dearly as the love of oneself.

How to Keep the Main Thing the Main Thing 

Put together these newly identified essential ministries of the church with the people engaged in the delivery ministry. You have the makings of the main thing of ministry. Now, how do you keep this all alive?