I love my church . . . I’m honored to pastor. I am sure most of you feel the same . . . some days.
But then there are the bad days . . . days when we don’t like our church very much.
You know…
- Days when the lay leaders don’t see things our way.
- Days when there’s a funeral at the wrong time (is there ever a right time?).
- Days when we feel stressed out and over worked.
Let me ask you this . . .
Do you ever wish you could wave a Magic Wand and change your church?
Not change God or your calling or your theology but change your church.
What would you wish for?
- More baptisms?
- More new families?
- More money (just being honest here!)?
- More volunteers?
- Or how about more staff?
- Or better (dare I say more Godly) leaders?
- Or more free time?
- Or at least more productive ‘I felt good about what I accomplished’ time?
Or maybe less….
- Less evening meetings
- Less items on your never-finished-always-expanding-to-do list?
Or perhaps, since we are being honest, more ‘control’ (in the most godly sense) of what happens at your church?
Since we are being real honest, do you ever feel like you just can’t change a thing at your church?
Bad news: there are no magic wands. No easy fixes. But . . .
But (as Jesus said) by faith, all things are possible to him that believes.
- Do you believe that God can change your church (with God all things are possible, right)?
- Could you muster enough faith to believe that God could change your church from a struggling church of 60 to a more stable church of 125?
- Or from a church stuck at 100 for many years to a church that starts growing and eventually reaches over 200?
- Or maybe you pastor a church of ‘some size’ . . . maybe 500+ or 1000+ or even 2500+ but you know that the best days are still ahead of you.
Do you have faith to believe?
The first church I pastored (almost 20 years ago now) left me feeling stuck. They had 13 people on the night they called me as pastor and they were either going to call me as pastor or vote to merge with a church down the street (I’m not sure they made the right call but I accepted anyway!).
I soon realized as a young pastor that I couldn’t control much in my church . . . I couldn’t control, attendance, deacons, budgets, the various (and numerous . . . and ineffective, sorry!) church boards, etc.
Even when we started to see some positive movement and the church grew a bit, I still felt stuck.
After about 18 months of this, I heard Pastor Rick Warren speak at a conference (a pastor who I eventually became my boss for many years) – he said:
GROWING CHURCHES ARE LED BY GROWING LEADERS!
It hit me like a stack of seminary books from on high . . . I can’t change my church but I can change myself!
You know this is true – God has you where you are for a reason (the grass isn’t greener at another church).
And HERE’S MY POINT:
If you want to change your church, without leaving it, it all starts with CHANGING YOURSELF!
I told you about the first church I pastored over twenty years ago but let me tell you about today. Today, I pastor The Journey Church – which I started on the Upper West Side of New York City in 2002 but has now grown to locations across NYC and the nation.
In 2004, after being coached by some of the top pastors in the US, I started coaching pastors just like you. Fast forward to 2010 and just this summer, I celebrated the unprecedented achievement of coaching my 1,000th pastor (1,007 and to be exact).
Here’s what I learned from coaching 1,007 pastors from denominations as diverse as AG to Brethren to COGIC to NonDenom to SBC to UMC to Vineyard and with average attendance from 60 to 7500 (most fall in the 125 – 500 range):
When you can’t change everything, you can change one thing . . . yourself!
1,007 pastors can’t be wrong!
If you will put together a plan for personal growth, invest in yourself and your church to better understand church systems, start a reading plan, stretch yourself to do something you’ve never done, have faith to believe its possible . . . everything will start to change.
My prayer, when I started The Journey Church back in 2002 was:
“God, make me into the person I need to be to lead our church at twice its size.”
As large as we are today, that’s still my prayer.
Would you be willing to pray that prayer for your leadership and your church?
HERE’S WHAT ALL OF THIS IS ABOUT:
I want to invite you to prayerfully (and I do mean that – I don’t want you to do one thing that God doesn’t want you to do) consider joining my Senior Pastors Coaching Network that begins in about 90 days. I have space available right now and a special bonus if you apply quickly.
Will you consider it?
Before you start listing off why its not right for you and why it won’t fit your church and why your church is a lost cause or why you don’t have time to do it (believe me, with 1,007 pastors completing my coaching networks, I’ve heard it all!). . . go back:
Do you believe that God can change your church (with God all things are possible, right)?
What if part of his plan for doing that is for you to join my coaching network?
Honestly, every year I complete a network and I say ‘That’s It!’ I’m done…
But each year, God reminds me of the results from current and previous networks – results such as:
- Churches increasing attendance by 30+%
- Churches seeing giving increase by 50% – which frees up money for evangelism, missions, etc.
- Pastors regaining a vision for their church
- Church planters moving from ‘struggling’ to stability
- Pastors experience the joy of ministry that they lost two churches back
- Pastors who were already ‘successful’ in their denomination, seeing even great success for God’s glory.
And on and on I could go. These proven results excite me and passionately drive me to offer you one more opportunity to join a network with me.
So, HERE’S MY INVITATION:
** Apply for my 2011 Senior Pastors TeleCoaching Network by Dec 31 and I’ll give you over $840 in bonuses (see the PS below for more info) PLUS coaching you for a full 12 months starting February 24 **
Learn more and apply online now at:
http://www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/TeleCoaching
Note: Like my last few networks, this is a TeleCoaching Network so no travel costs or headaches are required – you just need a phone and Internet connection – and a committed spirit.
If you have any questions, please call Scott, your Coaching Concierge (I can’t pronounce that word either – just ask for “Scott”), at 1-800-264-5129 – press the Coaching Extension.
I know you may have more questions – you can find more info at:
http://www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/TeleCoaching
The application takes less than 10 minutes to complete and right now the network is only 30% full so there’s a good chance that if you apply early, you’ll be accepted.
If you are the type of pastor who will read a long post like this about church growth and church health, there’s a good chance my coaching is right for you.
I look forward to reviewing your application.
Your fellow pastor (and future coach),
Nelson
P.S. If you apply before December 31 and you are accepted, you will receive an additional $840.00 in Bonuses, including:
- The Breaking Growth Barriers Workshop OR Planning Worship Services for Life Transformation ($499 Value)
- Free Webinar Passes for all CLI webinars between Nov – Feb (up to $147 value)
- Autographed copies of Activate and Maximize ($47.97 Value)
- Free Dinner for you and your spouse with Nelson and CLI team on the night before the Sept 2011 live event ($150 Value)
** If you are ready to apply now, just click the link below to read more and apply online:
http://www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/telecoaching
P.P.S. Still have questions about the TeleCoaching Network? Check out this Q and A page for more information:
http://www.ChurchLeaderInsights.com/telecoaching/faq.php
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