Thom S. Rainer's Blog

In our house right now we have two teenagers and a preteen, which means life is full of school schedules, sports practices, group texts, and lots of conversations about what it means to grow up. On top of that, my job as a teacher to upper school students gives me a front row seat into the daily lives of teenagers. When I see statistics about Gen Z or watch reels and news clips talking about them, it is never just a number or a soundbite. It is faces I know, stories I have heard, and struggles I see up close.

And here is what I keep noticing. These students are carrying an enormous weight. Anxiety and depression are climbing. Schedules are overflowing. There is pressure to make the grade, to earn the scholarship, to perform on the field, and to keep up socially. All of this comes at a stage of life when they are still figuring out who they are and what they are made for.

As parents, mentors, and church leaders, we want to set them up for success. We push them to work hard, to get involved, and to be responsible. None of these are bad things, but sometimes in our good intentions we end up modeling the exact opposite of what we actually desire for them. Instead of helping them run after the Kingdom of God, we accidentally teach them to chase after status, money, and achievement. We pile on more activities or more expectations and send the subtle message that their worth is measured by what they do, but what our kids desperately need is not more pressure, but a steady and faithful voice to realign back to who God made them to be. They need us to remind them that their value is not attached to performance, productivity, or perfection.

So how do we actually lead them toward this truth? I want to share three reminders that have shaped the way I think about raising and leading the next generation.

1. Recognize the Messages They Are Absorbing

Before we rush in with solutions, we need to pause and recognize what students are actually hearing. Many teenagers I talk with say they feel like all adults see is what they are not doing right. They are criticized for being addicted to technology. They are told they are disengaged or distracted. They are warned that they will not make it if they do not achieve more or work harder.

What this does is reinforce a sense that they are always falling short. Instead of hearing that they are seen and valued, they walk away with the belief that they are a disappointment. When our tone consistently focuses on what is wrong, we fail to communicate what is true about them. The truth is they are image bearers of God. They have been entrusted with gifts, talents, and potential that God himself has designed. If all they hear is negative messaging, they will begin to believe their lives are defined by their failures instead of God’s grace.

As leaders and parents we need to be honest about the real challenges of this generation, but we also need to be intentional about calling out their strengths, ingenuity, and that they can tackle hard challenges.

2. Help Them See Who They Are

One of the greatest gifts we can give the next generation is a clear vision of who they are in Christ. Every student, whether they know it or not, is longing for belonging and identity. They want to know they are loved, they aren’t alone, and that their lives matter.

This means we have to help them slow down enough to notice how God has uniquely wired them. Yes, they have strengths and talents, but they also have weaknesses and struggles. And both matter. In fact, it is often in their weakness that they will most clearly see God’s power and grace.

It is wise for us to acknowledge for them that they likely won’t be good at every subject. School is designed to equip you across a field of disciplines, and the student who excels in art may not be great at math, or the history buff may really struggle with science. Pointing out their strengths helps them to acknowledge their God given abilities and gifts to use in a broken and longing world.

When we only highlight performance, grades, or achievements, we send the message that they are loved for what they do. But when we point out character, kindness, or courage, we remind them that their value comes from who they are and whose they are. As mentors, parents, and leaders we must model a different way of living, one that shows that our identity is not rooted in status or salary but in Christ alone.

This also means we need to resist the temptation to live through our children or to burden them with our own dreams of success. Our calling is not to make sure they climb the ladder the world has built, but to show them how to walk faithfully with Jesus in the calling he has given them.

3. Provide Practical Pathways Forward

If we want the next generation to run after the Kingdom of God, we cannot only talk about it in abstract terms. We need to provide practical help and steps. Here are a few that I have found helpful:

Create space for rest. Encourage rhythms of Sabbath and margin. This may mean saying no to another activity or stepping back from an overloaded schedule. Our kids need to know that rest is part of God’s design.Celebrate character, not just achievement. When they show integrity, kindness, or resilience, make sure to name it and affirm it. This helps them see what really matters in God’s economy.Model dependence on God. Let them see you pray, seek wisdom, and admit weakness. Own your mistakes and share when you struggled at their age, but how you have seen God’s faithfulness. When they watch you rely on God, they will understand that their own lives do not have to be lived in self-sufficiency.Invite them into God’s mission. Help them see that they are not just waiting for adulthood to matter. They can serve, love, and join in God’s redemptive work right now.

The next generation does not need a heavier load of expectations. They need parents, mentors, and leaders who remind them of their worth in Christ and point them toward his Kingdom. Our role is not to make them into who we think they should be but to help them discover who God has created them to be.

When we do this, we will raise up a generation that knows their value is not attached to performance, popularity, or perfection. Instead, they will be grounded in the truth that they are beloved children of God, called to live for his glory and his purposes in the world.

The post Raising the Next Generation to Run After the Kingdom appeared first on Church Answers.

What actually prompts people to attend church? We surveyed 604 people in the United States from a variety of backgrounds. We asked the same questions of two groups.

Those who attend church regularly. Those who do not attend church regularly.

After comparing the two groups, we found new, surprising insights of the unchurched. One of the most surprising findings from our recent research was the simplicity behind what moves people to attend church for the first time (if unchurched) or to choose a new congregation (if churched). While many leaders assume that polished programming, charismatic preaching, or cutting-edge worship styles are the strongest magnets, the data reveals otherwise. 

The unchurched are often characterized as indifferent to church life. As we discovered in our research, many do not harbor hostility; they are simply disengaged. That indifference, however,

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The post It’s Not the Music or Preaching: What Truly Draws the Unchurched (New Research!) appeared first on Church Answers.

I grew up in a church tradition that viewed being “called to preach” as the ultimate in spiritual attainment. At one time in the 1980s the church’s hallway featured photos of between ten and fifteen young men and grown men who had “answered the call.” We attended our pastor’s “Young Prophets Class” on Sunday evenings where he preached to us about the calling, and we preached to each other, trying desperately to sound like we knew what we were doing. 

We eventually started a periodic Sunday afternoon service at which one of us would preach to whomever showed up. I remember being instructed that we should increase the attendance because if we couldn’t, we probably wouldn’t be able to grow a church as the pastor. 

In 1989, I was called to my first church, beginning a full-time pastoral ministry lasting just over twenty years. But, since resigning a dearly-loved church in 2009, I haven’t held a full-time pastorate or staff position. Here are a few things I’ve learned since then.

1. Be content —and fruitful—wherever God places me.

As a young pastor, I was taught “the gifts and callings of God are without repentance,” which, of course, meant that anyone who ever announced a call to preach and didn’t preach was actively disobeying the call of God. But, really? 

What happens when you make yourself available to preach or seek opportunities for interim pastorates or pulpit-supply and no one calls? When your gifts are repeatedly reaffirmed by past congregants, but there is no place to exercise them. 

There simply is no call to “full-time paid pastoral service” outlined in the New Testament, and I had to come to grips with that. I can be a witness to Jesus anywhere and everywhere I come into contact with people, whether at a Christian publishing organization (check), a church planting ministry (check), or a retail tool store (check). 

2. People’s involvement is challenged because they are busy…and tired.

And it is not always by choice. 

A favorite pastoral target in recent years is families given over to “travel ball,” in which nearly every weekend is consumed by away baseball or football games, disallowing regular church attendance. Be not deceived: sports is not the only reason people are tired. 

Later middle-age, a time when past generations of Americans could see their wages increase and, with the kids grown and gone, prepare for retirement years, has become a sandwich. One slice of bread is kids staying at home because they can’t earn enough to move out, and the other slice is aging parents who need various degrees of care. 

People of all ages are augmenting their less-than-sufficient salaries (or creating primary income) with side gigs like Uber, Lyft, Door Dash, GrubHub, and Instacart. Others have permanent part-time income from freelance in the digital sphere. Most Americans aren’t working these long hours because they are greedy, but because it is the only way to make it through the month’s bills, prepare for economic uncertainty, or reduce their student debt. Nearly 40% of Gen Z work in a gig job. 

Not everyone chooses to put something over church attendance; they aren’t committing idolatry. Sometimes it’s their effort to simply survive. 

3. I was right to prioritize my own marriage.

That pastors’ marriages often suffer while they minister to other marriages is a truism. It’s one reason I previously wrote about three ways pastoral marriage longevity is obtainable.  

I probably made more mistakes as a pastor than I’ll ever know, but relegating my wife to second, third, or fourth place was not one of them. 

All marriages endure adjustment periods, but we didn’t have to introduce ourselves to each other after the pastorate ended. For that I am grateful.

4. The fruit of the Spirit does not require a pulpit to flourish.

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” (Galatians 6:22, 23) 

Most anyone who has preached these words would have emphasized the fruit of the Spirit is expected of all Christians, not only missionaries, preachers, and seminary professors. No one needs a pulpit to bear 30-, 60-, or 100-times spiritual fruit. Thirty-fold isn’t limited to baby Christians, nor 100-fold exclusive to “professional” Christians. 

Contrariwise, fruit can burst forth outside the pastorate in ways you didn’t expect. 

So, don’t accept the thinking that you can only glorify God in pastoral ministry. Do some run Jonah-like in disobedience? Yes. But that isn’t every story. Sometimes the seasons do change. Don’t be saddened when the leaves turn; love God just as you did when they budded.

The post Things I’ve Learned Since Leaving the Pastorate appeared first on Church Answers.

Conversations about organizational culture were all the buzz just a few years ago. Though the discussion may have quieted down recently, the importance of a healthy church culture remains as vital as ever. At its core, organizational culture is how your church behaves. It is essentially, “how we do things around here.”

Approximately ten years ago, I conducted a research project examining best practices for cultivating healthy church cultures. The research identified four key features of a healthy church culture: (1) it is led by a courageous leader, (2) it values the role of people, (3) it shares a common vision, and (4) it is committed to the biblical mission.

These characteristics define what a healthy culture looks like, but how do churches get there? After an in-depth study of three churches with healthy cultures, I identified eight essential practices that can help a church cultivate a healthy culture:

Establish a gospel identity. A church’s culture must be rooted in its love for and commitment to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Without this gospel foundation, a healthy culture cannot thrive.Let the Bible shape everything. God’s Word provides the blueprint for healthy churches. By aligning with God’s plan, churches can foster a culture that pleases Him.Foster a sense of community. A church is a family of Jesus-followers, and healthy cultures work hard to build genuine relationships and community among their people.Be marked by humility. Arrogance will poison a healthy culture. Church leaders and key influencers must be driven by humility, following the example of Jesus, who was humble and selfless.Leaders must model the desired culture. Leaders set the tone. If they don’t live out the cultural values they preach, it sends a message that they don’t truly believe in them.Train the congregation in cultural values. Church members often desire a healthy culture but may not know how to contribute to it. Wise leaders help their people understand their role in shaping and sustaining a healthy culture.Empower the congregation. Healthy culture isn’t built by leaders alone; it’s a collective effort. Leaders should empower their people to participate in shaping and sustaining the culture through leadership, feedback, service, prayer, and more.Prioritize the biblical model for the church. Above all else, healthy churches consistently return to the biblical model of the church. My research confirmed that Scripture provides the clearest path to a healthy culture.

Whether you realize it or not, your church’s culture is shaping every aspect of its life and ministry. For a church to be healthy, it must have a healthy culture. These eight practices provide a great starting point. Remember, God is good, and He can transform any church—including its culture.

If you want to shape a healthy culture in your church, it helps to know your church. Consider using the Know Your Church report in your church. You can learn more here.

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As I write this post, I’m celebrating today the 51st anniversary of my baptism. I still remember the day well when my pastor baptized me, a new Christ-follower only one week old. The previous Sunday had been my first day in church in my life, and God drew me to Him that day.

Here’s what I’m thinking about today, though, as my heart increasingly breaks for so many churches in North America that are disconnected from and unburdened about non-believers around them: I’m remembering how little I knew about church the first time I made my way to that small church in southwestern Ohio. I think about that truth because I don’t want to assume that my non-believing friends today have any more “church” knowledge than I had back then in 1974. A friend had shared the gospel with me prior to my going to church, but I still knew nothing about the experience of “church.”

I suspect some of these memories may seem hard to believe to folks raised in church, but below are some things I just didn’t know when I went to church for the first time:

I didn’t know what it meant to be in a Baptist church. I went to a Baptist church only because our neighbors who gave me a ride took me there. Imagine my surprise when I later learned that an ancient man named John apparently carried a title of “the Baptist,” too (?).I didn’t know where to sit when I followed the crowd into the room with “benches” (in my mind). I just followed my friends’ lead—and I was glad they sat in the back!I had never seen a hymnbook or sung a hymn. It felt like everyone else around me knew what they were doing, but I didn’t. I doubt it’s much different for folks today even though the music churches sing today is often quite different.I didn’t know who the man was who seemed to be in charge. People called him “brother” (which was itself confusing to me). His apparent title on the piece of paper someone gave me when I walked into the building was “Pastor”—but I’d never heard that word before, either.I wasn’t sure what to do when the man in charge said, “Greet one another with a hand of fellowship.” Seriously, I didn’t have a clue what any of that wording meant—and I surely wasn’t about to wander around like everybody else did saying “hi” to people I didn’t know.I had no idea what prayer was all about. All I could tell was that I suddenly was the only one looking around the room when everyone else knew they were supposed to tilt their heads forward. Then, somebody seemed to be talking to God.I didn’t have a Bible, and I wouldn’t have known how to use one if I did have one. Nothing about “John three sixteen” would have made sense to me. It felt like I was the only one in the room who didn’t have one of those books that everyone else seemed to be reading.I knew I wanted to talk to someone at the end of the service, but fear almost kept me from doing so. It was God’s marvelous grace that led me to talk to the man who was the “pastor.” The most miraculous thing that happened that day was that God grabbed the heart of this confused, out-of-place teenage boy and made me His child. I knew nothing about church, but God reached me in the midst of my church ignorance. One week later, that pastor baptized me.

Here’s my point: as I’ve been burdened about reaching lost people around me and have intentionally sought to build relationships with them, I’m reminded regularly that many of them are just as ignorant about church as I was way back then. They might be just as uncomfortable as I was the first time they come to church—and we need to keep that truth in mind as we seek to show them the way to Jesus and invite them to join us for worship.

The post Things I Didn’t Know the First Time I Ever Attended Church appeared first on Church Answers.

Ryan Burge does it again.

If you’ve followed his work, you know he has a way of blending rigorous research with clear, relatable explanations. This time, he partnered with Tony Jones on a grant-funded project from the John Templeton Foundation’s Spiritual Yearning Research Initiative. The centerpiece? A massive survey titled Making Meaning in a Post-Religious America.

They went big—really big—on sample size. Using Qualtrics, a trusted data platform in both academic and business circles, they surveyed 15,296 Americans. Of those, 12,014 identified as atheist, agnostic, or “nothing in particular”—the group we’ve come to call the Nones. They also surveyed 3,282 Americans from various faith traditions (Protestant, Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, and others) as a reference group for comparison.

The goal? To see the Nones in a new light, using more nuance than traditional surveys allow. They applied a machine learning process called k-means clustering—an algorithm that groups people based on similarities without human bias in the sorting. The result: four distinct categories within the non-religious.

Those four groups are:

NiNos (Nones in Name Only)SBNRs (Spiritual But Not Religious)The DonesZealous Atheists

As you read, remember—Burge’s percentages are within the Nones, not the total U.S. population. In other words, when he says 36% of Nones fall into a category, that’s 36% of people who are religiously unaffiliated, not 36% of all Americans.

You can read Burge’s original article on his Graphs about Religion Substack here: The Four Types of Nones.

NiNos: Nones in Name Only (21% of the Nones)

Let’s start with the most surprising group—at least for those who think all Nones are thoroughly secular. The NiNos are, in many ways, still tethered to religion. They reject a religious label, but their practices and beliefs look, at times, like those inside the pews.

Nearly three-quarters of them choose “nothing in particular” as their affiliation. Yet over half pray daily, and a similar percentage say they believe in God without a doubt. One-third even attend religious services at least once a year. Compared to Protestants and Catholics, their religious engagement is still lower—but compared to other Nones, it’s much higher.

Here’s the kicker: NiNos may reflect a flaw in how surveys classify religious identity. Many don’t fit neatly into the categories survey researchers use. They may dislike institutions, but they retain personal faith and private spiritual habits. In that sense, they could be “low-commitment believers” rather than truly non-religious.

For pastors and church leaders, NiNos could represent the most reachable segment of the Nones—people already halfway to the front door, spiritually speaking.

SBNRs: Spiritual But Not Religious (36% of the Nones)

This is the largest group, and their label is familiar even outside academic circles. SBNRs resist organized religion but pursue spiritual meaning in other ways.

Their stats paint a clear picture: 93% seldom or never attend religious services, nearly 90% rarely pray, and only 5% say they believe in God without a doubt. But they score high on “spiritual importance,” which sets them apart from the Dones and Zealous Atheists.

They’re also deeply distrustful of religion—three-quarters say they have no trust in religious institutions at all. Instead, they turn to what you might call “alternative spiritual practices”—meditation, yoga, nature walks, crystals, energy work, and other non-institutional forms of meaning-making.

One key insight here: SBNRs may not be drawn back to church by traditional approaches. Instead, engagement might require building bridges through shared values like community service and community ministries like those offered by Upward Sports.

The Dones (33% of the Nones)

If the SBNRs keep one foot in the spiritual waters, the Dones have stepped completely out—and dried off. They register the lowest possible scores for both religious and spiritual importance.

They rarely, if ever, participate in religious practices—just 2% attend services at all, and 99% say they don’t pray. Belief in God? Almost nonexistent. The most telling stat: 77% agree with the statement, “When I die, my existence ends.”

For the Dones, religion is not only unnecessary—it’s irrelevant. In Burge’s words, there’s no evidence of a “God-shaped hole” here. That makes them the least likely to reengage with faith through conventional outreach.

Still, they’re worth understanding. Their firm disconnection from religion may say as much about past religious experiences (or lack thereof) as about their current worldview.

Zealous Atheists (11% of the Nones)

This is the smallest group, but it’s the one most people think of when they picture an outspoken non-believer. About three-quarters of them have tried to persuade someone to leave religion in the past year. Burge calls them the “Reddit Atheists” for their quickness to critique faith online.

They’re often active in debates, mocking religious concepts they see as irrational (“Sky Daddy” jokes and references to the “Flying Spaghetti Monster” abound). What’s surprising is that some still have minimal interaction with religion—17% attend a service at least once a year, and some admit to occasional prayer.

Why? Possibly because religion still touches their lives indirectly—through family, holidays, or cultural moments. And that ongoing contact may fuel their critical engagement.

It’s worth noting that despite their online visibility, Zealous Atheists represent just over one in ten Nones—not the face of the entire unaffiliated world.

What Do the Church Leaders Do with This Research?

Burge and Jones’ work gives us a sharper lens for understanding the religiously unaffiliated. Instead of treating all Nones as one undifferentiated group, we can now see four distinct faces:

NiNos who still show religious behaviors.SBNRs who reject religion but seek spiritual fulfillment elsewhere.Dones who have checked out completely.Zealous Atheists who actively oppose religion.

Here’s what’s crucial to remember: these percentages describe the Nones, not all Americans. And within those categories, there’s fluidity—people can shift over time from one group to another.

For faith leaders, this means engagement strategies must be as diverse as the Nones themselves. The NiNos may respond to gentle invitations, SBNRs to shared causes, Dones to authentic relationships, and Zealous Atheists… well, they may just want to argue on X.

But one unspoken truth in Burge’s research is that secular America isn’t monolithic. If we can understand the nuances, we may be better equipped not only to talk about the Nones—but to talk with them.

Read Ryan Burge’s full article here: The Four Types of Nones – Graphs About Religion

The post The Four Faces of the Nones: What Ryan Burge’s New Research Reveals appeared first on Church Answers.

“The most segregated hour is at 11 a.m. on Sunday morning” is a widely recognized statement concerning race and religion in the United States. While often linked to Martin Luther King, Jr., variations of this expression predated his popularization of it. Regardless of its origin, the core message remains constant: religion in the United States distinctly reflects deep-seated racial divisions.

But has anything changed around race and religion since those ideas were injected into mainstream discourse in the 1950s and 1960s? It’s a very hard question to answer. Most surveys don’t ask about the specific church people attend, typically only inquiring about attendance frequency. The recent Pew Religious Landscape Survey is an exception, as it included a question for regular attendees: “When you attend religious services in person, what is the race or ethnicity of most other people attending?”

Within the sample, 52% of respondents reported attending a predominantly

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A growing number of churches are facing a silent but critical problem—one that rarely appears in budget meetings or revitalization plans. It’s not theological drift or volunteer shortages. It’s deferred maintenance.

The sticker shock is real. My church is finishing a $2.2 million air conditioning project. We still have several other projects to complete. While we are making significant progress, almost all our budget surpluses from the previous several years have been earmarked for deferred maintenance.

From older roofs to HVAC failures and faded paint, many congregations are simply unprepared for the cost of keeping their buildings functional and safe. And the implications are far greater than aesthetic appeal. In some cases, deferred maintenance is the warning light that a church may soon be forced to close its doors.

A Hidden Metric That Predicts Church Closures

One of the most underutilized metrics in evaluating church health is the Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio. This ratio may not appear on typical church scorecards, but it could be the clearest indicator of whether a congregation is heading toward a facility crisis.

The premise is simple: Churches should be financially prepared to replace or repair high-cost assets (like HVAC systems and roofs) within their expected lifespans. When they are not, the backlog of repairs grows—sometimes to catastrophic levels.

Why Deferred Maintenance Is Often Ignored

Church leaders rarely talk about this issue for a few reasons:

It’s complicated. Calculating facility needs and reserves involves timelines, depreciation, and financial planning.It’s invisible until it’s urgent. Churches can delay painting or roof repairs for years, until they can’t.It’s uncomfortable. No one wants to admit that they’ve underfunded facilities or neglected planning for future needs.

Yet avoiding the problem doesn’t make it go away. It makes it worse and often more expensive.

What Contributes to Deferred Maintenance?

Several factors influence whether a church finds itself in a maintenance deficit:

Age of the building – Older buildings naturally accumulate more deferred work, especially historic ones that require specialized upkeep.Complexity of facilities – Churches with gyms, schools, and multiple buildings face exponentially higher maintenance costs.Financial health – Congregations with tight budgets are more likely to defer work, creating a costly backlog.Environment and weather – Churches in harsh climates or flood-prone zones may see accelerated deterioration.

Despite these challenges, the Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio gives a clear picture of where a church stands and what needs to happen next.

How to Calculate the Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio

The step-by-step instructions may seem detailed, but they provide an essential snapshot of a church’s readiness to care for its facility:

Identify major future expenses, such as roof, HVAC, painting, and equipment replacement, including elevators.Estimate when that expenditure should occur (in the number of years).Estimate the cost of that expenditure.Determine the amount of reserves the church should have set aside each year to have adequate funds to replace each asset. Those funds are called needed reserves.Determine the amount of reserves the church currently has available. These funds are called available reserves.Divide the available reserves by the needed reserves. This number is the church’s deferred maintenance ratio.

Example:

(Available reserves) ÷ (Needed reserves) = Deferred maintenance ratio.

Roof replacement (in 10 of 20 years): $200,000 × 50% = $100,000HVAC (in 6 of 10 years): $280,000 × 60% = $168,000Painting (in 8 of 10 years): $50,000 × 80% = $40,000Total needed reserves: $308,000Current available reserves: $175,000Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio: $175,000 ÷ $308,000 = 56.8%

Interpreting the Results: The Traffic Light System

Use this simple grading system to evaluate your church’s standing:

Green: Above 80% – Your church is in a solid position. Ideally, you’d have 100% of the reserves needed, but a 20% gap is manageable.

Yellow: 60% to 80% – You’re entering risky territory. Begin planning now to address the funding gap before systems fail.

Red: Below 60% – This is where most churches fall, and the consequences can be severe. Established churches with low or zero reserves often face sudden closures due to unsafe or unusable facilities.

The Call to Action

This metric isn’t just about bricks and mortar; it’s about stewardship. A deferred maintenance crisis can cripple a church’s ministry. It can saddle leaders with insurmountable financial burdens.

Yet churches that build reserves and plan proactively are better positioned to remain open, safe, and welcoming for future generations. The Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio may not be flashy, but it may be the most important number your finance team considers this year.

This metric, along with many others, is found in The Church Health Scorecard. You can understand clearly the health of your church in 12 key areas. Every metric has specific guidance on its calculation and application. You also get two video courses on understanding the scorecard and the key trends in churches today.

The post The Silent Crisis in Church Facilities: Understanding the Deferred Maintenance Reserve Ratio appeared first on Church Answers.

I don’t like conflict. And, I can so fret about conflict that I let it consume me and rob me of sleep. It’s as if I simply can’t let it go, even though I try my best to leave it with the Lord. I know better, but it’s still hard. I know better because I can point back to conflict after conflict and talk about several truths that I’ve learned over the years.

First, the Lord truly is bigger than anything I’ve ever faced. All of us know that truth intellectually, but clinging to that truth in the midst of conflict isn’t always easy. The immediate anguish of the moment overshadows any faith in our heart—until, that is, that we come through the pain and see that God was in control all along.

Second, the conflict often wasn’t nearly as serious as I thought it was. Sometimes, others I worried about weren’t thinking about the situation nearly as much as I was. In some cases, they had never viewed it as negatively as I had. In other cases, they had forgivingly moved on quickly while I dwelt in the quicksand of my own leadership regrets. The problem was that I often didn’t realize these realities until after I had allowed the situation to eat at my soul.

Third, the source of the conflict was seldom more than a handful of people. It might have felt like a “church bus load” of people who were frustrated and increasingly problematic, but that seldom was the case. In almost 45 years of ministry, in fact, I can’t recall any situation where the “opposing” group was numerous. There haven’t ever been many of them; it’s just that they’ve been loud. Really loud at times.

Since then, here’s the lesson I have often run toward in times of disagreement and conflict: “Don’t worry so much about the level of the volume; instead, pay attention to the number of the voices.”

I realize, of course, that even a single voice of opposition can be trouble, especially if that voice is a persuasive one. At the same time, though, it’s been helpful for me to remember that loud voices in the congregation don’t always equal influential voices.

Some church members regularly stir up folks to join their causes, but that support isn’t always lasting. Sometimes, the loud voices sound louder simply because others are so tired of the troublemakers that they just silently ignore them; what the problematic members perceive as quiet support is really just apathy and fatigue toward them. And, frankly, I’m also convinced that sometimes Satan and his forces magnify the volume of the opposition in our own heads to stifle our leadership. We give our critics more power because we pay attention to their volume—and that’s not always the best move.

Some years ago, Thom and I were co-leading a Doctor of Ministry seminar when a pastor/student expressed his heartache about ongoing conflict in his church. He had also told us about good things happening in his church, but he kept returning to the conflict issue. Thom stopped him almost midsentence and asked him, “How many people do you estimate are the troublemakers in your church?” The student’s response was, “Probably about five out of about 200 regular attenders.”

Thom pressed back, and the student finally recognized what he had been doing: he was giving too much clout to his critics not because they were numerous, but because they were always in his ear. He had been listening to the few louder voices more than the voices of the other 195 people who were in his court. He had allowed the few to rob him of his joy.

So, pastor, don’t get too stressed about the volume if the critics are few. Listen instead to those who faithfully stand with you, even if they do so too quietly at times.

And, church member, be sure to tell your pastor today how much you appreciate him. One way to drown out the critics in your pastor’s ears is to let him hear some positives once in a while.

The post One of the Most Important Conflict Management Lessons I’ve Ever Learned appeared first on Church Answers.

Every pastor and ministry leader will tell you that volunteer recruitment is essential. They will also admit, with a degree of perplexity, that there are times when volunteer recruitment does not seem to be happening. Why is this the case?

There may be various factors at play.

One factor could be seasonal causes. For example, it may be more challenging to recruit volunteers in the summertime since people are traveling and out of rhythm. Another factor could be a lack of process. Where clear steps are missing, ministries can devolve into the Wild Wild West of recruitment efforts. However, there is another factor at play, one that is often overlooked: unhealthy underlying mindsets that hinder volunteer recruitment efforts. Here are three mindsets that may be hindering your ability to recruit volunteers.

1. The Maintenance Mindset

“I already have enough volunteers.”

This mindset occurs when someone operates within a volunteer team size they believe is adequate to sustain their ministry. Once they’ve hit their desired volunteer threshold, they close up the recruitment shop. This thinking initially appears practical, but it overlooks two ongoing realities in the life of a local church.

First, volunteer teams tend to experience attrition naturally, not addition. Volunteer teams never remain in stasis. Teams shrink because life happens. He moves. She needs a break. Therefore, if leaders are not continually pushing the rock of recruitment uphill, they will eventually be crushed by the growing needs of the ministry.

Second, a church may grow. If a leader is not recruiting for growth, the volunteer team is already not right-sized for future growth. The baseline shouldn’t be the current ministry but the anticipated growth of the whole church.

2. The Crisis Mindset

“There are more pressing concerns in the current season.”

Due to the pressures of issue X, volunteer recruiting is pushed down the list of priorities. To be fair, real problems arise in the life of a local church that require a shift in priority. However, in most cases, the “current season” talk can become an escape hatch that justifies why ministry recruitment is never a priority. The crisis mindset denies two crucial realities.

First, strong volunteer teams step up in times of crisis. Doesn’t a leader’s capacity to deal with a crisis increase with a stronger volunteer team? Additionally, consider how a crisis may be better handled collectively. Our volunteers are often smarter and more capable than we are, and they have expertise in a broader range of fields, which raises the overall intelligence of the team to better deal with crises.

Second, recruiting is inconvenient in every season! Is there ever truly a great time to recruit volunteers? No! It’s always a busy season! There’s always someone to care for. There’s always something to fix. Ministry recruitment occurs in the valleys of conviction, not on the hills of convenience.

3. Vision-Less Mindset

“I don’t want to burden others.”

This mindset is perhaps the most dangerous because it cloaks itself in a veneer of nobility. “I want to honor people’s time because I know they are busy.” But this sentiment often comes from a lack of conviction about one’s own ministry.

By saying, “I don’t want to burden others,” one may actually be saying: “I don’t really believe what I’m doing is very important.” The vision-less mindset denies two realities.

First, church leaders have a biblical mandate to equip God’s people for ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12 outlines the reason we’re in our roles—it’s to equip God’s people for the work of ministry. Failure to recruit, develop, and deploy is a heart issue of defiance against the gracious command of the Lord.

Second, God is already writing a development story in the life of every Christian. Every pastor or ministry leader can tell you about how they first started serving. They will tell you about how someone gave them a chance and how God used that to propel them forward in their discipleship journey. Why would the very ones who have benefited in this way then rob others of the same developmental opportunity?

Should pastors be mindful of people not burning out? Absolutely. It is essential for ministry leaders not to mistake church activity for spiritual growth. But it’s not our job to be the Holy Spirit for others or assume that’s what’s going to happen. We have the privilege of stepping aside, making the invitation, and letting the Holy Spirit do His job.

One of the best ways to invite your people into serving in your church is by making it part of your discipleship process from the start. That’s exactly what the Rooted experience helps church leaders do by introducing biblical rhythms of following Jesus, including serving, as foundational to the Christian life.

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