7 Traits of Increasingly Generous Churches

One of the key metrics of financial giving in a church is per member giving: What is the average giving per member or per attendee? Per member giving is often masked by fluctuations in attendance and membership. The most effective measure is to calculate the average giving per member.

Churches with increased giving per member have seven dominant characteristics. These seven traits are becoming even more important as Millennials enter in our churches in greater numbers.

  1. Increased emphasis on belonging to a group. Those members in a group, such as a small group or Sunday school class, give as much as six times more than those attending worship services alone. Take time to absorb the previous sentence. It’s a huge issue!
  2. Multiple giving venues. Per member giving increases as churches offer more giving venues. I recommend all churches provide these four venues at a minimum: offertory giving in the worship services; online giving; mailed offering envelopes to all members and givers; and automatic deductions from members’ bank accounts. I also recommend churches strongly consider kiosk giving and offertories in groups. I will elaborate more on these issues in a later post.
  3. Meaningful and motivating goals. Church members give more if they see the church has a goal that will make a meaningful difference. “Increasing total gifts by 10%” is not a meaningful goal. “Giving 10% more to advance the gospel in the 37201 zip code” is more meaningful.
  4. Explaining biblical giving in the new members’ class. New member classes should be an entry point for both information on and expectations of biblical church membership. Biblical giving should be a clear and unapologetic expectation of church membership.
  5. Willingness of leadership to talk about money. In the 1980s and 1990s, some pundits did surveys of unchurched persons that indicated they did not go to church because “all they talk about is money.” As a consequence, many church leaders stopped talking about money altogether. While it is possible to communicate financial stewardship in an overbearing manner, it is inexcusable for leaders to be silent about financial stewardship by Christians.
  6. Meaningful financial reporting. Many churches provide financial reporting that only a CPA or a CFO can understand. Church members need to be able to understand clearly how funds are given or spent.
  7. Transparent financial reporting. If church members sense that pertinent financial information is being withheld, they tend to give less or nothing at all. While that does not mean every financial statement provides endless details, it does indicate that church members will have a clear idea of how funds are given and spent.

There are reasons for optimism in church giving. Many churches are experiencing increases in both total giving as well as per member giving. And most of those churches exhibit the seven characteristics noted above.


Would you like to learn more about generosity for your church? Connect with an Auxano Navigator and start a conversation with our team.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Thom Rainer

Thom Rainer

Thom S. Rainer is the founder and CEO of Church Answers, an online community and resource for church leaders. Prior to founding Church Answers, Rainer served as president and CEO of LifeWay Christian Resources. Before coming to LifeWay, he served at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary for twelve years where he was the founding dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions and Evangelism. He is a 1977 graduate of the University of Alabama and earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. degrees from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.

How to Take the Single Greatest Step Toward Accelerating Your 100 Dreams List

If you are following along with the #LifeDesignWithMe adventure over a 90-day period, this is a BIG POST.

I want to show you the single greatest step toward accelerating your 100 Dreams List.

If you are just jumping in now, be sure to review STEPS ONE and TWO, from my earlier post.

STEP THREE for #LifeDesignWithMe

Step three is all about using a simple tool that I call the Life Dreams List Worksheet (You guessed that didn’t you?) But you need to quickly learn two things about the worksheet. First, you need to know about this thing we call “storylines” at Younique. Second you need to learn the five kinds of aspirations that you can have in life. These are the two elements that create the 20 Boxes of Possibility.

What are Storylines?

Storylines are the way we innovate off the idea of “life domains” that practically all life planning systems or intentional life models use. Life domains represent ways that people divide their life into categories like work, family, hobbies, etc.

Luke 2:52, for example, records that Jesus grew in wisdom and status and in favor with God and men. This introduces a simple biblical model of the areas of life in which Jesus matured. “Wisdom” represents growing emotionally and intellectually. “Stature” conveys his physical growth. “Favor with God” reveals spiritual and relational development and “favor with men” represents the social and leadership dimensions of our Savior’s life.

In Younique we survey other common domains and then we make an important pivot. (Which is why I won’t cover examples of domains in this post.) We pivot away from domains toward storylines. The primary reason is that domain thinking was developed when our lives were defined or limited by the environments we were in. For example, as a teenager, when my Dad was at his office, he was exclusively operating in a work domain. When he was home the same thing; he was at home. But in our current reality of technology and communication, it’s all too easy to lead a Fortune 500 company from your sofa at home or spend hours with your friends via technology even though you’re at the office.

Clearly this new opportunity needs a more savvy way to think about our lives. Using storylines gives you a new freedom and personalization rather than having the same fixed domains for everyone. Think of the storylines as the four primary subplots or themes running through your life. If you binged watched the TV series of your life for the last year, how would you label those four themes? This kind of lens is much more dynamic than the old domains of yesteryear. They are more accessible and powerful when you can creatively develop them. For example my four storylines go by the names: Beloved Son, (my relationship with God) Central Circle, (my relationship with my family), Olympic Contribution (my vocational calling) and Epic Adventure (my recreation and social spheres). Again, the purpose of this post isn’t to explain the meaning behind these.

How do you accelerate work on your 100 Dreams List? I want you to creatively think of your four storylines right now. How would you name the big narratives movements in your life? Why? Because its going to be ten times easier to get to 100 ideas on your life bucket list, when you have 4 different lists of 25! And best of all, it will help you make a much more well-rounded, God-honoring list.

If you are not feeling too creative that’s okay. I would rather have you jumping into your 100 Dreams List than worrying about exactly what to call your storylines. For some people that creative step comes easy. Others prefer to use an idea starter or “scaffolding storylines” that we teach at Younique. Most storylines roughly correlate to “health,” “love,” “work” and “play.” (These four categories are used by Life Design teachers Bill Burnett and Dave Evans.) Note that at Younique we don’t separate out a “faith” storyline because we see that as integrated into every storyline. So you could think of it as “health-faith,” “love-faith,” “work-faith.” and “play-faith.”

At the end of this post I will give you the Life Dreams List Worksheet. Your first step will be to either plug in the starter ideas (health, love, work and play) into your four storyline boxes OR to creatively name your own. You choose. Again, I don’t want you to get hung up, because the point is getting on with you list.

Now on to the next element that creates the 20 Boxes of Possibility– the five kinds of aspirations.

What are the Five Kinds of Aspirations?

Years ago I wrote a blog series on bucket listing. (Surprise, surprise!) I was inspired to encourage others while on a week long dream trip to Santorini Island. Out of that series came one of the most popular posts of the 600 I have written on this blog. If you want you can jump over to it, but I will summarize it below.

Aspiration #1: A THING TO DO – The most basic bucket list item is an event or experience. These one-time deals don’t usually require training or even extraordinary expense. They just require planning and prioritizing. For example Dave Rhodes, my cofounder at Younique, finally went skydiving with some friends this year.

Aspiration #2: A PLACE TO GO – Like my Santorini trip maybe you have always wanted take a special vacation. Perhaps its a crazy destination or some excellent adventure. Or maybe you want to do something simple like visiting every train trestle bridge in your county.

Aspiration #3: A SKILL TO LEARN – I have found that most people want to learn something, but never take the time to learn. This thing could be a hobby or some kind of personal discipline. Years ago I took a 3-day watercoloring class with my wife Romy. I still have a long way to go, but some day I want to be a painter.

Aspiration #4: AN OBJECTIVE TO ACHIEVE – Your goal may come in many forms: athletic, financial, professional, etc. Do you want to save your first $10,000 or make extra payments on your mortgage? Do you want to complete your first 5K or run your first Ironman?

Aspiration #5: A POSSESSION TO OBTAIN – Maybe you have always wanted to have something really specific. It could be something you collect, rent, or own. A met a guy once who collected cigar-box guitars. Last week I was with a good friend who wants to own 10 rental properties by the time he is age 55.

If you want to see a few more illustrations you can visit the original post on 5 Kinds of Aspirations to Design Your Life.

Getting Started with Life Dreams List Worksheet

Now that you are armed with the knowledge of storylines and the five kinds of aspirations, you are ready to jump into the worksheet. You are not going to believe how this will accelerate your life dreaming and list making!

The worksheet is a simple matrix with your four storylines across the top and the five kinds of aspirations down the side. That makes a 20-box grid or matrix to use as a brainstorming tool. I call it the “20 Boxes of Possibility.” The PDF is a form that can be typed into directly if you like digital, or you can print a hard copy and fill in by hand. Here are some simple steps to use the worksheet which you can download below.

STEP A: Revisit your 10-10 List and practice using the worksheet

By now you should have your first 10 ideas written down. Now you can reverse engineer these and place them on the worksheet. NOTE: This step reveals your first inclination with regard to storylines and kinds of life aspirations. Simply note what Boxes of Possibility you gravitated to at first. We will stretch your thinking from there.

STEP B: Develop your next 25 Life Dreams by using the 20 Boxes of Possibility

Take some time to reflect and dream and see what ideas arise when you consider each “box” on the worksheet. Your brainstorming gets easier because you have more specific kinds of ideas to consider. Let the Boxes of Possibility be like vitamins to your brain and jet fuel for your imagination. (Since we’re going for 25 new Life Dreams here on top of the 10 you’ve already come up with, that means you’ll have some boxes with more than one Life Dream written in.)

STEP C: Create and expand on ideas to include intimacy with God, close relationships and other people in general

One big secret to making a gospel-centered Life Dream List is using the 20 Boxes of Possibility to literally explode new ideas for how to walk with Jesus and serve others while you pursue your interests and passions. The storylines help accomplish this step, as it invites you to think holistically about your life.

For example, my current life design experiment is living and working 90 days in Aspen, Colorado. This trip was originally developed to help fulfill my Life Dream to snowboard 50 days in one season. Yet this initial idea (an objective to achieve) based on a sport I enjoy explodes with all kinds of meaning when I slow down and reflect. For example, I have enjoyed the opportunity to invest in my niece’s only opportunity in life to learn to ski. Hmmmm… how many other people might I invest in during my lifetime. And what are the implications for the gospel?

Even taking the time to write this post and carve our scores of hours to host the #LifeDesignWithMe project is an expression of my reflection. I really really want to help you dream. And I am using this special time to encourage and challenge at least 100 new people to dream 100 new dreams. That’s 10,000 new dreams by Easter. What’s even better? I am hoping that this “capture” of writing on my blog will encourage at least 100 new people every year. That’s 10,000 new dreams for the glory of God every year. (By the way if you are following me during this project please let me know!)

STEP D: Keep going until you get 35 Life Dreams recorded on your worksheet

It’s this simple: Pray then reflect. Write then reflect. Talk about it and then reflect some more until you get to 35 ideas written down. Eat and sleep only if you must. The 35 ideas is a one-third-of-the-way milestone. It’s made up of the 10 ideas from your 10-10 List and your new 25 ideas from the Boxes of Possibility.

Are you ready to get started?

Let’s do this!

Download the Life Dreams List Worksheet

Don’t forget to send a picture of your worksheet and use #100Dreams

> Read more from Will.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Will Mancini

Will Mancini

Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.

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COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.

How to Apply the Great Secret of Having FOCUS in Life

My life’s greatest secret: I don’t work hard, I work focused.

(But don’t tell anyone.)

By introducing the simple power of a 90-day goal I am doing double duty with two current series. First, we are continuing to review the7 Essential Life Design Skills that I launched for the New Year. Second, I am encouraging folks to join me in a 90-day adventure of sorts by writing down 100 Life Dreams by this Easter. So I am inviting you to think about it and act on it in the same post!

Let’s cover the 7 Essential Life Skills idea first: The 90-day goal is at the heart of Essential Life Design Skill #6, Achieve Your Next Goal: bring laser focus to the most important next step in your life, over and over again. Today I want to introduce you to this essential skill with the first-ever excerpt from the forthcoming book, Younique.

You may have noticed that I released a new book last month called Clarity Spiral: The 4 Break-Thru Practices to Find the One Thing You’re Called to DoClarity Spiral is about the first essential life design skill for how to Engage Your Vocational Vision. It is a prerelease to the much bigger book Younique which will cover all of the life design skills. If you haven’t checked it out yet, the book is FREE as a downloadable PDF. (It is also now available to buy as paperback version)

Now if you have been following along with the #LifeDesignWithMe project (started 14 days ago) you already know that the 90-day window of life is very important to me. Over five years ago, when I put the toolbox together that is now the Younique Experience, a personal calling and life planning system for followers of Christ, one bedrock tool is the utilization of the 90-day season of success. Everything we do at Younique is built around a lifetime march in 90-day increments.

That’s why I am in Aspen for 90-days fulfilling one of my most dramatic bucket list goals–to snowboard 50 days in one season. That’s the fun and playful part of the next 90 days for me, but its not the only part (I’ll post more on that later.) The point is that I want you to not only start thinking about 90-days, but to join me in accomplishing a 90-day goal for yourself: To write down your own Life Dreams List with 100 well-developed, take-it-serious life dreams before this Easter.

Come on and let’s do this together! #100Dreams

Now back to the excerpt from my forthcoming book: Younique, Designing the Life God Dreamed for You.

There is something about a 90-day period—approximately one quarter of a year—that is entwined deeply with the operating system of human beings. Ninety days is roughly the length of a season in temperate climes. It is about the length of a school semester and the span of the business quarter.

Ninety days also has the intriguing characteristic of being just out of reach. It is far enough away from the here-and-now to imply a substantial journey but close enough that we can cross it with a solid burst. It is enough time for an individual to accomplish something truly significant. You would not believe what people can achieve in three months.

Top Nine Big Accomplishments in 90 Days

  1. A Moscow architectural firm will build you an environmentally friendly, 1,300-square-foot home within 90 days of order.

  2. Boot camp makes a recruit into a Marine in just under 90 days.

  3. Thru-hikers walk the Pacific Northwest Trail from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean within 90 days.

  4. A human baby in utero is fully formed and can open and close its hands and mouth by 90 days after its conception.

  5. Blogger Maneesh Sethi developed and lived out a plan to become fluent in a new language (in his case, Italian) in 90 days.

  6. John Steinbeck wrote the first draft of The Grapes of Wrath in 90 days in 1938.

  7. In 2004-05, Frenchman Vincent Riou became the first to sail around the world in a monohull vessel, solo, in under 90 days.

  8. On July 8, 1914, the Boston Braves baseball club had a record of 29-40, dead last in the National League. Over the next 90 days they won a whopping 74% of their games to win the league pennant and eventually a World Series championship.

  9. Mozart composed two piano trios; a violin sonata; two piano sonatas, including his most famous; his last three symphonies, arguably his greatest; and three other pieces of music in 90 days in 1788.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Will Mancini

Will Mancini

Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.

See more articles by >

COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.

How to Create Your Own 30-Minute 10-10 List

Four days ago, I kicked off the #LifeDesignWithMe 90-day adventure.

The goal is to lift your life aspirations to the point that you can name literally 100 Life Dreams. That’s right—I know it sounds crazy.

But I will show you how. And you will thank me later. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

The process of disciplined dreaming is not new to me. But I want to model a simple 10-10 List as if I am doing it for the first time.

So on the airplane today I spent the first 30 minutes and wrote down the first 10 things that I am thankful to God for that He enabled me to accomplish in life. Then I wrote down 10 things that have been in my mind but that I have never written down that I would like to do. (Even though I have lots of stuff on my bucket list already, there are always new Life Dreams emerging. Eventually you will find that 100 Life Dreams is a small list!!!)

10 Things by God’s grace I’m glad I accomplished:

  1. I collected almost every Lincoln penny before 5th grade. I was a nerd and didn’t care. (I still need a 1909 v.d.b. Lincoln cent.)
  2. I got a job at a ski shop (the Ski Bum in Chadds Ford, PA) in high school to live the dream of opening a mountain biking department for the store. I thought It was my only way to afford my own bike, but my parents bought me one for my college graduation!
  3. Harvey Nowland invited me to preach at the Willowdale Chapel as a untrained college student. I was scared to death, but I did it. It was on the topic of eternal perspective.
  4. I completed a 5-year ThM from Dallas Seminary due to the gracious support of 4 individuals; the Tebo’s, the Vansant’s and my Uncle Tom and Aunt Diane.
  5. I followed God’s prompting to start an evangelist bible study in League City, TX and 10 neighborhood couples showed up. It was the most life-changing small group I led as a full-time pastor.
  6. I started my own consulting company at age 35, and it worked (Auxano). Several people inspired me to do this including, Howard Hendricks, Tom Haynes, Aldie Beard, Kevin McCarthy and Aubrey Malphurs.
  7. My mentor Aubrey Malphurs invited me to co-author a book with him (Building Leaders). That would change my life.
  8. I took my first 3 kids (now I have 4) on a week long snowboarding adventure every other year growing up after Jacob turned age nine.
  9. I took my wife Romy on an a “life dream”trip to Santorini. We clapped and cheered every night for 7 perfect sunsets. (Many people considered it a risky time to go to Greece but I’m so glad I went!)
  10. I spent a “dream week on the beach” with my Mom and Dad for their 50th wedding anniversary to celebrate their amazing love for one another and the godly heritage they passed on to our family.

10 Things that are in my head that I have not written down yet:

  1. I want to take an art history course.
  2. I want to partner with a friend to do more real estate investments.
  3. I want to further activate my wife’s amazing capacity to “express compassion” through a third world ministry experience.
  4. I want to create an evangelism tool that uses the meaning of names to start spiritual conversations.
  5. I want to be painter some day.
  6. I want to remove every barrier to being with all of my children, their spouses and their children at the same time, one week per year.
  7. I want to take an interior decorating class. (Don’t judge me.)
  8. I want to regularly get 20 feet of air on kite board.
  9. I want to design my own super sustainable home that can go off-grid after I hit age 60.
  10. I want to start a church training center that trains 18 church leaders every week for 40 weeks a year.

Alright, stop stalling. Quit dabbling. Please don’t settle any longer. Dreaming is free. Get started. Write your 10-10 List now. It took me 30 minutes and it moved me to tears. What are you waiting for?

When you are finished send me a picture!!!

> Read more from Will.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Will Mancini

Will Mancini

Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.

See more articles by >

COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.

How to Get Started on Your 100 Life Dreams List

Recently I launched a 90-day journey to equip and encourage you to develop a 100 Life Dreams List. My inspiration is a special life design experiment that I am conducting by living in Aspen Colorado for 3 months this winter. It just so happens that snowboarding 50 days in one season is one of my life dreams. So while I work and ride and spend some really special time with my family, I am going to be posting all kinds of stuff to help you.

So what’s the first step? I’m glad you asked.

STEP ONE

There are two things I want you to do today to get started. The first step is to calendar block 6 hours between now and Good Friday (April 19, 2019). That is exactly 90-days. You can do that 3 ways or any combination that works best for your rhythm of reflection and planning.

  • 30 minutes a week
  • 2 hours a month
  • one day in the next 90 days

The greatest barrier to doing anything with intentional living is that we don’t calendar block in advance. I use the term “calendar blocking” a lot. It’s just my way to describe scheduling. But I like the emphasis on “blocking out” the most important things in your life. The urgent things in life will always eclipse the important things if we don’t. How can I prove that? How many dreams do you have written down right now?

STEP TWO

Every person has some things already accomplished in their life and some things rumbling around their mind and heart that they want to do. So I want you to get started on your 100 Life Dreams List by creating a much simpler “10-10 List. Your 10-10 List is a list of ten things you have previously accomplished in life (think prior bucket list items) and ten things that you have already thought of that you want to do in your lifetime (think bucket list stuff that’s yet to be done.) Think of it as a way to jump start your journey of bigger dreaming. Take 20-30 minutes to create the list.

Your 10-10 List is important for three reasons:

  1. It primes the pump of gratitude as you look back over your life. To establish future dreaming as an act of worship it helps to look back and celebrate God’s known and experienced goodness. What has God enabled you to do? What are you thankful for the most? Who has he brought in your life to inspire or guide you? How has he provided? For example, I was able to become an author in 2004, because my friend and mentor Aubrey Malphurs invited me to co-author the book Building Leaders. I had no platform at all and Aubrey played a crucial role in helping me transition from pastoring to consulting.
  2. It is practice to start writing things down. It’s amazing how the failure to write things down prevents us from experiencing the best opportunities of life. Practice writing. Do so by using your favorite means to record your ideas. Get a fresh journal. Use your favorite app. But whatever you do, write your ideas down. I just purchased a new 90-day journal because the Younique team is still in the development process of creating our own 90-day planner for Younique’s Life Making Cycle. In that journal I have my one 90-day goal and my 4 NOW rhythms (I will be sprinkling in and introducing you to some of the Younique lingo and tools on this journey.)
  3. Realize that as a human being you are by God’s design a dreamer. You remind yourself of this amazing reality by writing down the things that are already in your mind. Where has God already led you? You were born with creativity an imagination as a birthright. So bask in that truth. For further inspiration you can download the first chapter of my God Dreams book at the “Get Now” tab on this page. What are your current aspirations? What kind of person have you wanted to become? What kinds of things have you already planned to do? For example I want to use this next 90 days to capture the stories of 100 people who actually completed writing down 100 life dreams for the first time. That’s a dream of having 10,000 new dreams in the world by Easter. (Will you be one of those 100?) #100Dreams

So those are your two simple steps to get this party started with me. Schedule 6-hours for thinking, reflecting and writing. And start by making your 10-10 List. I will have some downloadable tools as we walk this journey together. But for your 10-10 List, I want you to practice using your own tool for writing stuff down.

Please stay in touch over the course of this 90-days. If you are around Colorado, come on over to Aspen and let’s talk about your dreams over lunch. Follow all of the content that is coming by connecting to me on you favorite social channels.

Before I sign off today to hit the slopes today, if you think you are going to have a role change or significant transition in your vocational calling this year, you might want to check out the free eBook that I just released entitled Clarity Spiral. It’s all about finding your ONE THING in life.

> Read more from Will.

 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Will Mancini

Will Mancini

Will Mancini wants you and your ministry to experience the benefits of stunning, God-given clarity. As a pastor turned vision coach, Will has worked with an unprecedented variety of churches from growing megachurches and missional communities, to mainline revitalization and church plants. He is the founder of Auxano, creator of VisionRoom.com and the author of God Dreams and Church Unique.

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.

Communicate Your Vision: Use More Than Words

The right vision for the future of an organization moves people to action, and because of their action, the organization evolves and makes process. Like a bicycle, an organization must continually move forward, or fall over. The role of vision in driving the organization forward is indispensable.

The vision’s power lies in its ability to grab the attention of those both inside and outside the organization and to focus that attention on a common dream – a sense of direction that both makes sense and provides direction.

To that end, your church’s vision cannot exist merely as words on a page or website, or in an impressive visual display in your church foyer.

Articulating your vision through consistent and powerful ideas is one of the toughest tasks of leadership.

THE QUICK SUMMARY – The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling by Stephen Denning

This revised and updated edition of the best-selling book A Leader’s Guide to Storytelling shows how storytelling is one of the few ways to handle the most important and difficult challenges of leadership: sparking action, getting people to work together, and leading people into the future.

Using myriad illustrative examples and filled with how-to techniques, this hands-on guide clearly explains how you can learn to tell the right story at the right time.

A SIMPLE SOLUTION – Look forward by thinking backward

Whoever you are in the organization – leadership team, department director, or someone on the front lines – you can lead by using stories to effect change.

However, as leaders well know, most people do not like change. So any story involving an uncertain future that is different that the present faces a difficult road.

Humans naturally remain anchored to the past. We also have an aversion to loss – that is, we are typically more concerned about what we must give up rather than be excited about what we gain. We also have an ownership bias, meaning we want to hang on to what we have.

The truth is that people usually don’t want to believe a future story that involves significant disruption. So what’s a leader to do?

When we dream alone, it’s just a dream. When we dream together, it’s already the beginning of a new reality.

By definition, future stories aren’t true stories. Since the future hasn’t happened yet, it’s impossible to say anything totally reliable about it, particularly where human beings are involved. The first step in augmenting the credibility of a future story is to explore whether the length of the causal chain between the situation today and the imagined future can be reduced. The longer the chain of causation, the greater the chance that one or more of the links will break, as some unexpected development throws all predictions into chaos.

Since the plausibility of the story is related to the length of the causal chain, it’s useful to take this thinking a step further. You can shorten the future causal chain to zero by using a springboard story.

A springboard story is a story about the past – something that has already happened. However, the springboard story elicits a future story in the minds of the listeners – the listeners start to imagine what the future could be like if they implemented the relevant change idea embedded in the story in their own contexts.

The springboard story itself doesn’t need updating because it doesn’t change: it’s already happened. As a result, you avoid the yawning gap between the future as envisaged and the future as it unfolds.

Moreover, because the springboard story’s listeners invent the future for themselves, they are much more likely to find that future alluring than if some stranger had dreamed it up for them.

Stephen Denning, The Leader’s Guide to Storytelling

A NEXT STEP

Build a team vision exercise around the author’s idea of the “springboard” story as described above.

Write down a sequence of activities describing your current vision that you would like to improve or update. Write down each activity on a sticky note.

Place the sticky notes in a row and start building new ideas for each sticky note. Ask: “If this hadn’t happened, what would have instead?”

Every time you add a new idea, reflect on its impact on the rest of the sequence.

Continue with the rest of the sticky notes, adding as many new ideas to each activity as possible.

When you have finished, create a new story using the new ideas you have developed.

Excerpt taken from SUMS Remix #84-3, released January 2018.


 

This is part of a weekly series posting excerpts from one of the most innovative content sources in the church world: SUMS Remix book excerpts for church leaders.

SUMS Remix takes a practical problem in the church and looks at it with three solutions; each solution is taken from a different book. Additionally, a practical action step is included with each solution.

As a church leader you get to scan relevant books based on practical tools and solutions to real ministry problems, not just by the cover of the book. Each post will have the edition number which shows the year and what number it is in the overall sequence. (SUMS Remix provides 26 issues per year, delivered every other week to your inbox). 

> > Subscribe to SUMS Remix <<

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

VRcurator

VRcurator

Bob Adams is Auxano's Vision Room Curator. His background includes over 23 years as an associate/executive pastor as well as 8 years as the Lead Consultant for a church design build company. He joined Auxano in 2012.

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COMMENTS

What say you? Leave a comment!

Recent Comments
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

Clarity Process

Three effective ways to start moving toward clarity right now.