Transforming Church

MEMBER INVOLVEMENT - We start at the beginning. At New Member Orientation, we communicate our Vision that church members are disciples of Jesus Christ who are working toward putting Christ first in their lives. We also define seven Marks of Discipleship (Worship, Prayer, Study, Relationships, Giving, Ministry and Mission). We work to clearly communicate an expectation that all members are ministers. Success begins by adequately casting a vision that will call forth the best in people. People want to be involved and want to make a difference.

TAKE THE INVENTORY - All prospective members complete a Spiritual Gift Inventory as a part of the New Member Orientation. It takes about 15 minutes to administer the actual Inventory. Our Director of Lay Ministry or someone on her team follows up. In the week or two after they join, our Director calls the new member to arrange an interview with them. The best placements are made in face-to-face interviews. Some interviews are done by phone.

CREATE A PLACEMENT SYSTEM - When we first designed our Spiritual Gift Inventory, we took the time to go through every ministry position in the church and determine what gift mix contributed to success for that position. We then categorized all of the ministry positions using each Spiritual Gift as a heading. For example, a member may find they have the gift of administration. The Handbook identifies at least 30 ways for them to use that gift based on their interest and time availability.

PLACEMENT INTERVIEW - The Director of Lay Ministry contacts the New Member to discuss the Spiritual Gift Inventory and how the 20 Spiritual Gifts open the door to over 200 ministry opportunities listed in the Discovering Church Membership Handbook. The Director of Lay Ministry discusses options, answers questions, makes an initial connection between the new member and the ministry team leader; and follows through to be sure it is a good match. The Director of Lay Ministry will ask questions about four areas:
- Gifts: How do you understand the Spiritual Gifts identified in the Gift Inventory?
- Passions: What touches your heart and makes your pulse race?
- Education: Talk about your formal and less formal education
- Experiences: How have you been involved in other churches and in other organizations?

LISTENING IS CRUCIAL - Listening to people (both what they say and between-the-lines) can help the New Member arrive at a ministry placement that may work. Suggestions by the Director of Lay Ministry are often very helpful. This interview is a critical step in our placement process. The New Member often has many questions about the potential ministry placement. We can supply the written job description if needed. We have compiled binders with written job descriptions for all ministries to help people get involved. If the first connection doesn't work, we find another. The goal is that every member is a minister and that they have at least one place they know they can use their gifts. The Director of Lay Ministry fills out a Time and Abilities Sheet during the follow-up interview with new members.

INITIAL INTRODUCTION OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFTS INVENTORY - As mentioned earlier, we help new members determine their spiritual gifts by completing a Spiritual Gifts Inventory at the New Member Orientation. Several years ago, when we first introduced the Spiritual Gifts based placement process, there were a number of steps we took to help veteran members go through the process.

VISION CASTING - We spent five weeks working through a sermon series on Spiritual Gifts. We felt that laying a proper foundation and casting the vision was critical. We started by talking about burnout and why people so often seem to burnout doing something. We then talked about people who have been doing something for a long time - and do not burn out. What’s the difference? One teacher will work with third graders in a public school for 35 years and still have passion; someone else does it for 6 years and is hungry for a career change. It has to do with gifts and passions. In a nutshell, the sermons were:
WEEK 1 - EVERYONE HAS A GIFT - 1 Peter 4:10
WEEK 2 - PEOPLE HAVE DIFFERENT GIFTS - Romans 12:2,6
WEEK 3 - ALL OF THE GIFTS ARE IMPORTANT - 1 Cor. 12
WEEK 4 - CHURCH IS A BODY WHERE ALL PARTS WORK - 1 Cor. 14
WEEK 5 - PASTORS EQUIP FOR MINISTRY - Ephesians 4:12
We clearly communicated that it was our intention to have every member complete an inventory and at least review where they were serving sometime in the coming year. It took closer to two years.

GIFT NIGHT - For the first two years, veteran members were invited to attend one of a series of scheduled monthly GIFT Workshops to walk them through the process of Spiritual Gift discovery and member ministry placement. GIFT was an acronym for Getting Involved Feels Terrific. The second year we repackaged the Gift Workshops and called them Discovery Workshops. By using the short Gift Inventory, we were able to help members define and understand their own spiritual gifts and how they can use their gifts in ministry. They were steered toward at least one ministry for which they are gifted.

STEALTH VISITS - We also conducted surprise or "stealth" visits to existing groups. Either the pastor or the Director of Lay Ministry would arrange with the leader of an existing group to attend a meeting of the group. These meetings were not announced to the group in advance. We were dealing with resistance to change and we felt it was worth the risk. We would attend a choir practice, women's group, teacher's meeting, Bible Study or small group. We informed the group that the leader had allowed us 45 minutes of the agenda so we could work through the Spiritual Gift Inventory.

SUNDAY WORSHIP - During that first year's Fall Stewardship Emphasis, we decided a higher risk maneuver. We decided to have one worship service focus on Time and Abilities and we conducted a 30 minute worship service and then announced that we wanted anyone who had not completed a Spiritual Gift Inventory to remain in their seats. Ushers began to pass them out. Some folks grumbled. We were successful in getting a large, relatively uncommitted group of the congregation through the process. It was costly. In retrospect, I think I would do the service in 45 minutes and invite them to remain after for coffee and doughnuts and complete the Gift Inventory at tables in the lobby.

SELF GUIDED INVENTORIES - We have some folks who kept saying, I know what my gifts are and I don't need any test to tell me. For them we developed a self-guided inventory that we could provide for people to take home and self-administer. We found we had some folks that didn't read well, but with the help of a spouse in the privacy of their home, they could complete the inventory. About 40 people did this when they were made available monthly for about four months.

SELF DECLARED - We had some folks who resisted even the Self-Guided Inventory. We have allowed some folks to "self declare" their own gifts. This was a late and begrudging step in the journey.

HELPING PEOPLE STAY CONNECTED - We felt it was important to allow multiple paths toward the goal of getting people involved in ministry. Some people self-declared their gifts, some came through a Discovery Workshop, some did it though a Small Group. To us, it didn't matter how they got into the placement system. We just wanted to be sure they completed a Spiritual Gifts inventory and the Director of Lay Ministry worked with them to help them get the right match between their Spiritual Gifts and the avenues for ministry in the congregation currently available. Our goal was to mentor them in a process toward becoming ministers to others as they use their gifts to serve their Lord. We kept in touch with them. If it was a bad match - we encouraged them to step back from ministry A and find ministry B. More people burn out in the church serving in areas where they are not gifted for than from any other reason. Good people who love Jesus do serve others, but we need to serve in areas where we are passionate and gifted. Like St. Paul wrote in Corinthians, the eye is not a hand. It doesn't work.

WRITTEN JOB DESCRIPTIONS - We found that many people being interviewed wanted written descriptions about the ministry positions they were considering. Nearly 200 Job Descriptions for Volunteers were written or rewritten. The person who was currently doing the job wrote most of them. They all included reference to the spiritual gifts helpful to serve in those positions. When a new ministry is developed, we make it a practice to give thought to what Spiritual Gifts are needed. We also specify time involved and length of involvement needed for a particular ministry. When we have a ministry opening, we think in terms of what gifts are needed and try to place people accordingly. We now have a Position Description for most ministry positions. Many are detailed and revised regularly. It took a handful of people almost three months to initially do this. It was worth the investment, as it really informs people regarding what is being asked of them.

PLACEMENT DOCUMENTATION - We had to change the overall direction of placement in the church from that of plugging holes and filling slots to helping people discover and use their gifts. Our goal is to see people worship regularly, grow in faith through personal study, connect to others in Small Groups or Ministry Teams, and use their gifts to serve others.

When the Director of Lay Ministry completes the placement interview - and the member has a sense of a good placement - the Director completes a Ministry Placement Card. It details the name of the person, their gifts and other information and is forwarded to the leader of the individual Ministry Team. The Ministry Team Leader has ten days to make contact with the New Member, determine if the placement will work, and return the card. All questions are answered and if a placement is made, the card is filled out and returned to the Director, who then "closes" the placement and confirms it with the New Member. If for some reason, they decide its not a match - the card goes back to the Director of Lay Ministry with information, and the Director then contacts the New Member to find another appropriate ministry placement.

RE-COMMITMENT SEASON OF GIFTS - We have a financial stewardship campaign every fall, but we have moved our educational emphasis on Time and Abilities to the Lenten season. We try to dovetail this into a preaching series. Every Lent, we send people a letter with a personalized message. According to our records, here is how you are currently serving. What do you want to keep doing? What do you want to know more about? What do you want to stop doing? What questions do you have? We then remind them what their gifts are and provide a comprehensive Time and Abilities checklist, categorized according to spiritual gifts, so people can look at their gifts and decide where they might prefer to serve or start serving.

OTHER LEARNINGS - There are some other things we have learned along the way:

MAKE IT EASIER FOR PEOPLE TO GET INVOLVED - George Barna is one of the foremost experts on church life in America. According to his surveys, 40% of the people in the pew who are not involved want to get involved. Their reasons are simple - they don't know how or they don’t know where. Most church leaders think like "insiders". What I mean by that is that we don't understand the barriers that we have put up that make it harder for our members to get involved in ministry. We may think everyone knows what we mean when we talk. My experience is that they don't. By assuming that people know where a given room is, who to call for something, where to sign up, etc. we set barriers up between people and helping them get meaningfully involved in ministry. We need to rethink from the ground up, how we can make it easier for people to get involved.

KEEP ASKING FOR HELP AND MAKE IT EASY TO RESPOND - We discovered a very effective method for getting new people involved. When we need help doing something, we write announcements in the bulletin like most churches. We then number the announcements and key the announcements to something we call the "Blue Response Form". The announcement may say something like:
1.) WE NEED USHERS at the 8:45 Sunday worship service. Those who volunteer will be called to set up a time for an evening training meeting. You will be scheduled to work with an experienced usher until you feel comfortable. If you'd like to usher once a month, please check box #1.
Then the blue form has a line: G 1.) I'd like to serve as an usher at 8:45. People can check Box #1 and drop the Blue Response Form in the offering plate. We now use the form to get volunteers, sign up for church events, indicate interest in something, and a host of other things. In a given week, there are 15 to 25 announcements in the bulletin and corresponding response opportunities on the blue form. Someone comes in early in the week to tally the blue forms and get names of new volunteers to ministry leaders - we make it easy to get connected and ask for the response right when we offer the opportunity. It makes it easy for people to connect.

MONTHLY TOP TEN LIST - We publish a monthly list of ten biggest volunteer needs on a bulletin insert. We usually mention the gifts that are needed and the time frame involved if you respond. We verbally announce the Top Ten List and encourage people to respond by checking a box and returning the insert in the offering plate. Sometimes we tell people checking the box means you want to know more and then someone will call you to talk about it.

CONNECTION STATION - Quarterly we place a table in the lobby, along with the Top Ten list. We use ten sign-up sheets on the table, along with what I call a "heckler". That is someone who stands in front of the table, asking people if they have seen the Top Ten List and whether they want to sign up.

INVEST MORE TIME TRAINING AND EQUIPPING - Don’t assume people know how to do things. We invest more time and training, equipping, and mentoring to help new people learn the ropes.