The Power of Spoken Word in Shaping Congregational Culture

The Power of Spoken Word in Shaping Congregational Culture

by | 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:

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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.

 

  1. 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!

 

 

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3 Deadly Sins of Leadership

by | Sep 1, 2019

In many churches, this is the time of year when pastors are settling into their new appointments, and congregations are learning to work with their new pastors. In other churches, people are starting to come back to worship.  Across the board, committees are beginning to reconstitute, fall plans are being made, and activities are gearing up.

 

As you connect or reconnect with your people, and prepare for a season of ministry, you may stumble unwittingly into the three deadly sins of leadership.  Although well-intentioned, these sins are deadly because they snuff out aliveness. Not only that, they generate unnecessary conflict.

 

Read on to discover the three deadly sins of leadership, their deadening effect, and how to keep calm in the midst of conflict.

 

Here are the three deadly sins of leadership.

 

Sin #1.  Trying to be all things to all people.  Wholesale people-pleasing never works.  First, because it’s impossible to know what everyone needs.  Second, because people won’t know the real you.  Third, because it demands too much of you, and not enough of them. 

 

Community is based on give and take.  People-pleasing takes away the need for people to show up as they are, and to work through the challenges of being community. Anything less is deadening.

 

People-pleasing leads to internal conflict.  Let’s say you give up your day off to attend to someone’s need. But the needs are never-ending.  So, what’s next—your vacation time?  If so, it won’t be long until you’re giving up your convictions. 

 

The one who suffers the most will be you:  you’ll be resentful, feeling taken advantage of.  And it won’t be anyone’s fault but your own.  People-pleasing is always a choice. Yet, it takes great strength of character, great emotional intelligence, to be true to ourselves. 

 

Sin #2. Make no changes.  Or change everything.  Life is full of change; now more than ever.  We are living in a time when the rate of change continues to accelerate. Pretending like you’ll never change anything is unwise and dishonest.  Equally unwise and dishonest is acting as if everything in place needs to be scrapped. 

 

When I began local church ministry, I abided by the rule to make no changes in the first year.  What I didn’t know was that people were eager for me to make changes.  They were tired of being stuck.  When I was slow on the uptake, they grew more resigned, and more contentious. Following the rules was safe for me, but deadening for them. 

 

Pacing change appropriately reduces resistance, eases conflict, and builds buy-in.

 

Sin #3.  Assume your emotional or spiritual space is universal. For instance, just because you are arriving fresh and sassy, full of ideas and open to the Spirit, doesn’t mean that they are.  Or just because you are tired and burned out, doesn’t mean they are.  One of the challenges of pastoring a congregation of differing ages, personalities, and life experiences is that not everyone is in the same spot, ever. 

 

Conflict comes when leaders don’t recognize the deep work that the Spirit has been doing in that place for generations. Or when they don’t pay attention to the promptings of the Holy Spirit they are receiving.  Either approach stymies the work of God.

 

Congregational Intelligence If sin is missing the mark, then salvation is collaborating with the Spirit.  This collaboration takes courage, and resilience.  It also requires trust in yourself, an ability to sense the Spirit, and an understanding of how to read and lead the people around you. Together, these qualities comprise what I call congregational intelligence. Finally, knowing how to self-regulate during conflict is essential.

 

Not sure how?  Register for a free 45-minute webinar on “Keeping Calm in Conflict,” Noon Mountain Time on August 30.

 

In the meantime, notice what is happening in your spirit.  Are you feeling less than alive?  Deadened?  Perhaps you have stumbled into practicing these leadership sins. 

Resolve to Evolve: Be Bold!

by | Jan 27, 2014

This week, I’m continuing to share tips for people of faith who are resolved to evolve in 2014.
 
In case you missed them, Tip #1 was  Get Authentic.   Tip #2 is Get to know Jesus, again.
Here’s Tip#3: Be bold!  
Is there something you’ve been wanting to say?  Or do?  I met with a church leader who told me she has waited 2 years to tell a board that their work was ineffective.  No one was taking action.
The truth is, it was ineffective, partly, because for 2 years, she hadn’t spoken up about what she felt or thought.
I can relate.  I have a persistent fear that if I say what I really see or believe or think then people won’t like me.  Too often I censor what I say.
A friend helped me trace that fear back to it’s roots.  Here’s how it goes:  If people don’t like me, they’ll talk bad about me.  If they talk bad about me, other people won’t like me.  If no one likes me, then there will be no place I fit in.  If there’s no place I fit in, I’ll have no choice but to die.
A-ha!  It’s not an inconsequential fear.  But it’s also not rational.  I thought back to quite a few times when saying something that needed to be said required particular courage. Never once did I die.  Neither did anyone else!  (That’s not true for all people all of the time of course.  Think MLK.  Think Jesus.)
Hmm….maybe the consequences for speaking my mind aren’t as dire as I supposed.  In fact, others expressed relief and gratitude that SOMEBODY finally said SOMETHING.
Leaders lead.  Even when it’s unpopular.
What are others waiting for YOU to say or do?
On this MLK day, as you resolve to evolve, be bold!  When it comes to speaking out for those on the margin, there are no end of things that NEED to be said.   Resolve to say what God has placed on your heart.  Live out your true calling as a leader. Somebody, somewhere, will be grateful you did.
I would love to hear how you are being bold this year!  Or, if you’re having trouble finding the courage to do so.  Let’s talk.