Growth! Archives - Rebekah Simon-Peter Coaching and Consulting Inc.

The Power of Spoken Word in Shaping Congregational Culture

by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Jul 10, 2023

Words hold immense power to shape your reality and influence those around you. When it comes to your congregation, the way you communicate can make or break the culture you create. You can unleash the power of words to create a remarkable and thriving environment.

The Divine, Church, and Discipleship

Whenever you communicate the faith, you say something about God, the church, and discipleship. Whether you think you are or not. Remember the last sermon or devotional you preached or heard to understand better how your words can have transformational power. Your words have an impact on how the congregation sees themselves and God. You should strive to use language that speaks to your congregants, affirms them, and challenges them towards growth in their faith.

The Role of Spoken Words in Congregational Culture

Communication is the most fundamental tool through which leaders and congregants establish relationships, build trust, and foster connection within the congregation. The way language is used can be powerful in uplifting and motivating the congregation or can bring it down and create division. Many may not imagine the weight of their spoken words and how they influence their congregational culture. Spoken words can shape collective thought, inspire change, and motivate the group to act decisively toward certain values, beliefs, and practices.

How to Use Words to Foster a Positive Culture

Using words that foster positive culture requires knowing your audience. Leaders must know the language used and how it affects their congregation. Here are some tips for communicating with your congregation:

Connect powerfully by listening first – understand your congregation before responding and build meaningful connections between leaders and followers. To establish powerful connections, it is essential to prioritize listening. Before responding, take the time to understand your congregation truly. Doing so can bridge any existing divides and foster open dialogue through attentive listening and interconnected communications. Embrace the foundation of relationship building by showing genuine curiosity about who they are and how their daily environment operates. This approach enables effective communication and strengthens the bonds between leaders and followers.

Master the art of pace – strike the perfect balance between words and silence, giving people time to process your message. Taking a momentary pause can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your message. Mastering the art of pacing and striking the right balance between speaking and silence allows your words to sink in. The speed at which you convey your thoughts can significantly influence how they resonate with others, potentially leading to lasting impressions and driving change. Finding that perfect middle ground bridges communication gaps and allows listeners to absorb and process what you’re saying. So, remember to choose your words carefully and deliver them at the ideal pace.

Speak with clarity and brevity – use words that resonate with everyone in your congregation, regardless of age or background. Brevity and clarity can help maintain fluency and focus. Choose your words with care. Make sure they all matter, each having purpose and power to ensure everybody feels something when you communicate. Crafting your language this way enables a connection across the entire room and sends messages into the hearts of those who need it most.

A positive environment is key to a healthy and productive congregation. Leaders must intentionally create welcoming, respectful spaces and foster positive communication.

I have seen countless leaders who have a heart for mission and who think strategically but have not yet had the opportunity to learn how to use their words in a way that shapes and strengthens their congregational culture. As leaders, it is our responsibility to be intentional with words chosen, and to strive for clarity of intention in everything that is communicated. In Creating a Culture of Renewal®, you are committed to helping church leaders find their voice and the power of your words. You equip leaders with communication skills that uplift and inspire. God’s message can be effectively conveyed in any congregation with the right words.

If you have a passion like me for effective communication, then let me invite you to my upcoming seminar, How Christian Ministries are Achieving Success: An Introduction to Creating a Culture of Renewal®. It will help you as a leader to use language to shape your congregational culture intentionally. I look forward to meeting you there!

Why Churches Must Focus on Creating a Culture of Renewal

by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Jan 31, 2023

The church is a living, breathing institution. To remain relevant, it must focus on creating a culture of renewal; embracing renewal is integral to spiritual and missional growth. By focusing on creating a culture of renewal, churches can better serve their communities and make an impact that lasts.

What Does It Mean to Create a Culture of Renewal?

We are not talking about creating new one-time events, or even a new mission focus. These kinds of projects are good in and of themselves, but they do not necessarily impact the culture of the congregation. Think of the culture of a congregation as “the way we do things.” While the individuals in the congregation may be caring, Christ-loving, and compassionate, the culture of the congregation has an even greater influence than the individuals in it.

Through my years of experience in teaching people how to create a culture of renewal, I have found that most congregations have cultures that are stability-seeking, harmony-oriented, and cautious about risk. This impacts the way they preach, pray, do mission, celebrate, organize themselves, envision the Kingdom, and relate to their neighbors. This church culture is prevalent in all kinds of congregations: rural and urban, small and large, old and new, traditional and non-traditional.

To actively create a culture of renewal means to expand the way your church does things so that it allows for more spontaneity, more bold action, and more courage. It also means being willing to speed up the pace of decision-making and try things that aren’t necessarily guaranteed to work.

When a church can develop this kind of culture, it is more likely to embrace new people and to look outward, and not just inward. These changes allow a congregation to fulfill its mission.

Churches should also strive to create an atmosphere where people feel safe enough to open up about their struggles without fear or judgment. One that encourages deep conversations that lead to genuine transformation in people’s lives.

The Impact of Leadership on Renewing the Culture

Creating a culture of renewal in the church begins when its leadership, both clergy and laity, become willing to take risks and create space for others to grow. This means creating opportunities for people to ask questions, share thoughts, and explore new ideas. Your people won’t go farther than you can lead them. If the church’s leadership is unwilling to model the future, it will stay right where it is – in the past.

Recognizing failure as a necessary part of learning is also important when it comes to renewing the church culture. Create a safe space to talk through what worked and what didn’t, while being open to honest feedback. Otherwise, failures will be remembered as “We tried that, and it didn’t work,” reinforcing the reluctance to try anything new.

The Benefits of Focusing on Renewal

Focusing on renewal offers numerous benefits for the church. It helps create more meaningful relationships by providing space for vulnerable conversations about faith and life. People going through difficult times will feel supported by the church if they know their struggles are being heard and addressed with compassion.

Additionally, when churches focus on creating a culture of renewal, they become more equipped to handle real-world issues in their communities because they have created an environment where different perspectives can be shared openly.

But most importantly, when you focus on renewal, you are able to be an agent of change for the whole community, and bring hope that is desperately needed.

How to Bring Renewal to Your Setting

Shifting a culture is much tougher than launching a new event or starting a new initiative. It requires a different skill set, and a different sense of focus. For that reason, I recommend three things when you are ready to bring renewal to your setting: support, accountability, and mentoring.

Support means you are not in it by yourself. Accountability helps you keep your eye on the culture, and to evaluate what is needed next. Mentoring means you can learn from someone who has already been there. That person can help you navigate the stages of culture shifting.

If you’d like to know more about how we approach Creating a Culture of Renewal, come to a live seminar. We teach you how to move from ideas to implementation. Register here or reach out to me if you want more information.

Flying the Coop

by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Apr 4, 2017

As we approach Easter Sunday, I have some rather personal good news to share with you. Rebekah Simon-Peter Coaching and Consulting Inc. is flying the coop! Let me explain.

Ten years ago, after having served 3 United Methodist congregations, I completed my call to local church ministry. With God’s help and my husband’s affirmation, I launched BridgeWorks on January 1, 2007. As the name suggests, this extension ministry was designed to be a national teaching ministry that built bridges of understanding and shaped larger conversations in the church.

I started by offering creation care workshops, and helped people make the connection between science and scripture. My books, Green Church: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rejoice! and 7 Simple Steps to Green Your Church, came out in 2010. At the same time, I developed workshops along the theme of Reading the Bible with Jewish Eyes. In 2013, my book The Jew Named Jesus: Discover the Man and His Message came out. I traveled all over the Rocky Mountain west and points beyond, leading workshops and retreats, giving keynotes, and sitting on panels. People were hungry to learn more.
I sensed another hunger too. The desire for the church to thrive once again, to find its way.

Since 2011 I have been intensively developing a program called Creating a Culture of Renewal. It’s a 3-year process that’s designed to interrupt church decline and increase church vitality. Based in emotional intelligence, it’s coupled with the power of vision. And it works! I have since written 3 workbooks that support the process. More travel, more workshops and retreats, my blog carried on Ministry Matters, and now weekly webinars and coaching.
In January 2016, I changed the name of my enterprise to Rebekah Simon-Peter Coaching and Consulting Inc. My work now focuses on transforming church leaders and the congregations they serve.

At a time when church life is somewhat tenuous, it’s an honor to be thriving. It says to me that these conversations matter. People care about connecting larger ideas with daily faith. People care about getting along. Mostly people care about the Kingdom, about Jesus and his love. They don’t want to see his message die out.

For most of the last 10 years, my office has been a spare bedroom in our home. Soon after the talented and hard-working Ann Miller came on board, we expanded to two spare bedrooms. When my husband Jerry got laid off one year ago, he got creative. He started his own ministry venture, Hope Investments, and the dining room table became his office. Overflow got stored in the garage and a spare bathroom. There’s not much of the house left! We are bulging at the seams.

Later this month, we’ll be moving to a suite of new offices in downtown Casper. Details forthcoming. I couldn’t be more excited. At the same time, we continue to train new faculty to co-lead Culture of Renewal groups. We’re spreading from 12-person cohorts in Wyoming to New Mexico to North Carolina to New England to Iowa! I’m also working on some new leadership books. It’s really fun to be part of something that is growing and gaining steam.
I am filled with thanks to God, for sure. Nothing happens without Divine Guidance. But I’m equally thankful for you. I know that without you I wouldn’t be able to live out my calling. So, thanks for reading my books, hosting and attending workshops, joining groups, launching cohorts, trying something new! Most of all, thanks for engaging in new conversations with us. It has been a grand adventure so far.

We’ve come this far together. Would you go the next step with us? We’d love your feedback on the Infographic we are developing. We want it to tell the story of Creating a Culture of Renewal at a glance. We’re in the first stages of design. Tell us what you like about it and what you don’t.
Happy Easter! Happy Spring! And here’s to renewal–at every level.

You Know You’re Ready for Young People If…

by Rebekah Simon-Peter | Nov 23, 2015

The number one thing I hear church leaders around the country say is: We’d like to have more young people in worship. That’s a terrific aspiration. But don’t say it if you don’t mean it. Digitals (born around 1999 and onward) and Millennials (born around 1982-1998) will bring their own set of experiences, expectations, hopes, and dreams to church. Which may or may not match yours. How willing you are to accept them on their own terms is a sign of your true readiness.

Here’s a 10-point check list, with a bonus 11^th point, to help you know if you are truly ready for young people. Or just wish you were.
You Know You’re Ready for Young People if…

You have an online presence. In 1999, when I arrived at the Wyoming church I served, it was my job to pull them into the late 20^th century just as we crossed over into the 21^st century. That meant getting an answering machine, updating the copy machine, getting a working computer and setting up an email address. Eventually it included launching a website and installing screens and projectors. Today, getting the church up to speed means all of that plus a Facebook page, a Twitter account, perhaps other social media, and keeping it all updated. An online presence is another way of saying we care about you, and we want you to know about us. It also says we have some stuff going on that is worth talking about.

You spend as much time being the church as going to church. Churches on the downward slope of decline focus a great deal of their time on maintaining the structures of the congregation. They spend a lot less time focused on enacting the Gospel through new ministries and new relationships. In other words, the primary activities of churches in decline are more about going to church than being the church. Younger people are more likely to be interested in churches that show they can make a real difference in the world rather than in churches that are just in survival mode.

You’re willing to engage real issues in the world. Jesus restored people to independent living, fed hungry people, gave hope to persecuted people, healed those who were ill, helped the clueless see the error of their ways, and reached across divides to connect with people of different ethnic and religious backgrounds. What is your church doing along these lines? While the political process can positively or negatively impact people dealing with these issues, don’t tell young people how to vote. Rather, show them that people who face these issues are being helped by the church.

You’re willing to deviate from 3 hymns and a sermon. Surprisingly enough, most young people don’t necessarily need a praise bands and an “easy” or non-existent liturgy. What they do need is worship that’s meaningful and that helps them experience God. Make use of ritual, nuanced liturgy, testimony, lectio divina, lighting of candles, communion, visuals, special offerings, high quality music, and a variety of prayer styles to fully communicate the power of the Gospel. This will not only touch the under 33 crowd, but older folks as well.

Smart phones are welcome in church. People use their phones for all kinds of things: consulting an uploaded Bible or commentary, searching out a resource mentioned in worship, snapping a picture of something post-worthy, texting in a prayer request, or sending a friend a hopeful nugget they just heard. Smart phones are here to stay. Used rightly, they can definitely enhance worship by keeping people engaged. It’s also perfectly okay to ask people to mute them or put them on vibrate before worship begins.

You focus on the “brilliant future God has for us.” This, in the words of Jeremy Steele, is a lot more attractive than harping on the sinfulness of humanity. Frankly, it may be more biblical too. If Jesus did inaugurate the Kingdom of Heaven, if his life, death and resurrection did change the world forever, if our prayers do matter, if worship does change us, then doesn’t it make sense that we are living into God’s brilliant future even now? Why not celebrate that? Worship shouldn’t be a recounting of the nightly news, but a re-telling of the Good News for our day and time.

You’re willing to have beliefs questioned. Young people are willing to engage, question, consider, reject and even re-consider beliefs. That sort of intellectual honesty should not be a turn off for the church, but rather a chance to re-imagine or re-claim your own faith, and traditions. Engage young people in honest conversations and open discussions. Be prepared for your faith, and theirs, to grow as a result. Not to mention some discomfort.

Your leadership reflects generational and racial diversity. Ethnic and racial groups are reaching a plurality in the US. That means there are as many black, brown, beige, and tan complected people in the US as there are pink ones. At the same time, there are more millennials than boomers. Bottom line: the face of America, and the world, is changing. How about in your church? Wherever possible, let your leadership reflect this diversity. If not in full time or paid staff, then in volunteer staff or in lay leadership.

Love is a reality not a slogan. You may say you have open hearts, open minds, and open doors. But it needs to be a reality in your church, not just words. You can start by praying on a regular basis for people who are very different from you. Let these prayers open your hearts. You’ll know you’re there when a transgendered, gay, ethnic, disabled, street person, refugee, or person from another country or with a different accent is welcomed as warmly as someone who looks or seems just like you. Young people are watching.

10. You’re willing for things to get a little messy. If you’re willing to do some or all of the above then you’ve noticed that things are probably a little messy. Life is unpredictable when we open up to accommodate people who are different than we are. The unexpected can and does happen. Consider this the beginning of unpredictability, and not the end of it.
I am throwing in a bonus to the checklist. Here it is, #11. It may be the most important one of all.

11. You have a vision bigger than “attract young people to church.” One lay led church I am working with is in the process of shifting their vision from growing a strong youth group to engaging young people in serving their neighbors. In their first vision, the young people are the objects of mission. In the second vision, the young people are seen as capable change agents who can impact their own world for the better. That’s a very different focus. One that’s a lot more energizing for both the adults and the young people.

So, how’d you do? If you answered 8-10 with a yes then feel very confident that you have a place that young people will feel welcome. Ask, invite and engage the 33 and under crowd eagerly and joyfully. Be ready to continue to grow and change.

If you answered 5-7 with a yes, you are probably headed in the right direction. But you still have some significant work to do. The good news is that doing this work will make your church stronger in many ways. Not just for extending an authentic welcome to younger people, but to truly be the church. Have an open discussion with the leaders in the congregation. Ask yourselves, what additional steps can we take to move toward a 10? Then do them.

If you answer 1-4 with a yes, ask yourself why you want to have young people in the church. If it’s just to keep the church from shutting down, it’s time to get more imaginative. Spend time in prayer, asking God to show you the Divine will for your building, your resources, and your legacy. Ask God if there’s anything you need to let go in order for these things to come to pass. Then be willing to do those things.

Here’s the bottom line: young people want more from the church, not less. This is an opportunity to flex our own faith muscles, showing the world all the church can be. Not merely a silent witness but an active participant. Not simply a throwback to an earlier time but a sacred gathering of people who live as if their faith truly matters—to the world.