Barnabas File

Ask any denomination today to name its priorities and “starting new churches” is very likely to be near the top of the list. Doing this is another matter. When I was part of the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Movement Leadership Team, we often talked about starting new churches and classified church starts in three ways—new starts, restarts, and upstarts. New starts are what we often call “church plants.” These are churches or faith communities that are started intentionally, usually after much prayer, preparation, and planning. A restart is church that, very often, rises from the ashes of a prior congregation. This can happen in a number of ways but it usually comes when an existing congregation realizes that it can no longer minister effectively in its setting, literally “goes out of business,” and gives its resources (usually a physical plant) to a new or forming congregation. “Upstarts” is a polite way to refer to “church splits.” In this situation, a dissatisfied group decides t...

Last Spring one of our seminary students asked me about what area of theological studies I enjoyed the most. He thought that I had a particular interest in biblical studies. In an offhanded way, I responded, “I am not that much into biblical studies.” He gave me a funny look and said, “Since you are minister, isn’t that a little odd?” I suppose that I should have unpacked my response a little more at that point. I did not, but the exchange got me to thinking. (Much of this posting is transparently personal, so you may want to tune out at this point.) After some consideration, I realized that I have always been something of a generalist rather than a specialist. There is a need for specialists—I want a well-trained surgeon to work on my body or an extremely competent engineer to design the airplane on which I am a passenger—but many of us in ministry must be generalists to respond to the demands made upon us. You can reflect on your own experience, but let me recount mine briefly. My co...

You’ve heard the joke about changing a light bulb: “How many Baptists does it take to change a light bulb?” “None. Baptists don’t change anything.” Several years ago I was working with a ministry that invested a great deal of money in an annual fall event. The event was fun, reached a lot of people for a weekend, and it had become a tradition. I was the bad guy who suggested that the money spent on this three day event could probably be used more effectively in ongoing ministry throughout the year. We “killed” the event but not without some tears being shed (but not by me). I think I am still friends with those who wanted to keep it going, but saying “so long” to an established ministry is never easy. In his book Axiom: Powerful Leadership Parables , Bill Hybels addresses the challenge a leader faces when the time comes to evaluate the sustainability of an established ministry. He suggests that a leader can do one of three things: give it a facelift, overhaul it, or have a f...

Who would have thought that health care would have been the topic that replaced Michael Jackson on 24/7 news? Here we are at the end of the summer, and the cable news shows are chock full of clips of explosive “town hall” meetings, the President campaigning like it was October 2008, and all kinds of experts or advocates being interviewed. One aspect of the debate garnering much attention in recent days is the “death panels” that critics charge would be included in government-backed health care plans. The fear is that some impersonal set of bureaucrats will “pull the plug on Grandma.” If nothing else, the fuss highlights our general misconceptions about life and death. I am not an expert on health care, but I do know something about death. When I was doing a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education at a Veterans Administration hospital over a decade ago, one of the assignments we were given as chaplains was to discuss end of life issues with patients (as if we could avoid it) and ask the...

Imagine that your church received an unexpected gift of three thousand dollars this month. The donor does not have a specific purpose for the gift but does not want it to go into the general budget. Church staff and lay leadership carefully debate the best use of this gift. They finally come down to two possibilities. One would be to use the money for a special back-to-school activity in the church parking lot with rented inflatables, games, and refreshments for children and their families to “kick off” the fall programs of the church. The other suggestion is to use the money to help the church complete a Habitat home that church members are helping to build for a single mother with five children. What will the leadership decide? The choice may well indicate the philosophy of ministry that drives the church; is it “missional” or “attractional”? An attractional philosophy seeks to engage people from the community in the worship, programs, and activities of the church. Every effor...

When I attend a meeting like the Willow Creek Leadership Summit, I am reminded that I know a lot more about leadership than I am practicing. Over the last four decades, I have been responsible for everything from a supply platoon in the U. S. Army in Vietnam to a state-wide ministry with some twenty-five employees and a budget of over a million dollars. As I think back, there were some things that I got right and many that I got wrong. What did I get right? A couple of things come to mind. Even when I was a youngster, my Dad (who was an enlisted man in World War II) told me that I should remember two sets of initials—RHIP and RHIR. RHIP means “rank has its privileges.” RHIR stands for “rank has its responsibilities.” In Reserve Officers Training Corps in college, I was taught that an officer always takes care of his men first. For example, an officer makes sure that his troops are fed and housed before he takes care of his own needs. This approach stayed with me in ministry positions a...

The annual Leadership Summit of the Willow Creek Association always showcases some of the best speakers and consultants on the circuit today. The conference originates on the Willow Creek Church campus in South Barrington, Illinois, and is sent by satellite to 140 sites across North America. I have especially appreciated the opportunity to be introduced to management gurus like Jim Collins and Patrick Lencioni through these meetings. The conference this year once again has an outstanding lineup of presenters. One of things I admire about the Willow Creek folks is their transparency. When they make a mistake, they admit it. More than one time Bill Hybels, senior pastor of Willow Creek Church and board chair of WCA, has “fallen on his sword” when an error in statement or judgment was made. When they are going through a struggle, they own up to it, try to learn from it, and share their learning with others. Hybels was his usually candid self in speaking on the subject “Leading in a New ...