Can Your Church Survive the Stress Test?
Yesterday morning, I got up early, went down to the hospital to have a stress and echo tests done on my heart.
The stress test can be done several ways, but in my case what they did was hook you up to this giant machine, took about 15 minutes of pictures of my heart, another 15 minutes in what they call a resting state, then gave me some nuclear medicine that "atenuates" (or stresses) your heart.
The stress part of it was pretty interesting to say the least.
I had friends tell me that the test alone almost killed them and others who broke out in sweat as if they had just run a marathon.
For me, I did feel the sensation of when they supplied my body with the nuclear medicine (half life of about 5 minutes they had told me), but never got to the point of where I was panting, or sweating.
After that was an echo test where they basically have you lie on your left side and they take a bunch of ultrasound like pictures.
Which really wasn't helped when power at the hospital went out during the last 2 minutes of that test.
Talk about a stress inducer! I won't have the results back for a few days, but got up and this morning and wondered about many of the churches that I either attend when I am on the road, or just people that have let me know that there seems to be a lot of unrest at a lot of churches lately.
So, I wondered, how are those church's responding to their individual stress tests? The economy has certainly stressed many churches.
And it is also taking a toll on church leadership as well.
I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with folks that are unhappy with their leadership or more aptly the lack of leadership over the past year.
What can be done to avoid church stress?
They stick their head in the ground and wait for it to get better.
Either that or many churches can spin better than most politicians.
At some point, you have to be honest with yourself! I really can't stress that enough.
We all know there has only been one before us without flaws.
There is a tremendous difference in my opinion of being positive and putting a positive spin on a critical situation.
Because when funds are so low that you are either cutting services, staff or salary, I don't think you can put that into a positive perspective.
So either we need to acknowledge our challenges or have a town meeting to have them brought out for us.
I am in favor of regular town meetings myself.
This way, the leadership is clear about the wants and needs of the congregation.
They should be inclusionary in that you want as many folks to speak their minds as possible.
The only rule that I have for these type of meetings is that if you are to ring up issues, you must have 3 resolutions and 1 must include the person bringing up the challenge.
Setting the right expectation.
As I went into my test, my wife asked me if I was nervous.
No, I told her that I expected that everything was going to be fine.
And I truly believe when the test results come back, that it will have just been a preventative test.
Setting the correct expectation for the church is important as well.
Allow miracles to happen naturally.
Don't set the expectation that you are going to double income when you are in a declinining congregation.
I am no saying to put a limit on what can be done.
Just don't try to force the miracle.
Celebrate all miracles.
If you have done the above, I would expect that you will begin to see miracles.
And when you see them occur, don't discount them.
And always celebrate them no matter the size.
The stress test can be done several ways, but in my case what they did was hook you up to this giant machine, took about 15 minutes of pictures of my heart, another 15 minutes in what they call a resting state, then gave me some nuclear medicine that "atenuates" (or stresses) your heart.
The stress part of it was pretty interesting to say the least.
I had friends tell me that the test alone almost killed them and others who broke out in sweat as if they had just run a marathon.
For me, I did feel the sensation of when they supplied my body with the nuclear medicine (half life of about 5 minutes they had told me), but never got to the point of where I was panting, or sweating.
After that was an echo test where they basically have you lie on your left side and they take a bunch of ultrasound like pictures.
Which really wasn't helped when power at the hospital went out during the last 2 minutes of that test.
Talk about a stress inducer! I won't have the results back for a few days, but got up and this morning and wondered about many of the churches that I either attend when I am on the road, or just people that have let me know that there seems to be a lot of unrest at a lot of churches lately.
So, I wondered, how are those church's responding to their individual stress tests? The economy has certainly stressed many churches.
And it is also taking a toll on church leadership as well.
I can't tell you how many conversations I have had with folks that are unhappy with their leadership or more aptly the lack of leadership over the past year.
What can be done to avoid church stress?
- Communicating where you are at is a great start.
If your church is experiencing financial difficulty, let the congregation know.
Don't wait until the situation becomes dire. - Be a Pro-Active Leader! If your church is having the same challenges financially as the congregants, perhaps it is time to provide a class about abundance/prosperity.
- Offer Hope! Whatever class you have done before, forget about it.
This is the time to try something different.
Let's face it, if the class had worked that well, you probably wouldn't be facing that challenge.
Conversely, let's say it did have a great effect on most of the congregation.
Are you going to forget about them? Offer something to bring them into the same like-mindedness.
Just go about it in a different way. - Be Positive! People react much differently when they are told, "Hey, if we don't bring in more money, the lights are going to be turned off", than saying "This is your church.
It is here for you.
We are always going to be here for you, but need your support.
"
They stick their head in the ground and wait for it to get better.
Either that or many churches can spin better than most politicians.
At some point, you have to be honest with yourself! I really can't stress that enough.
We all know there has only been one before us without flaws.
There is a tremendous difference in my opinion of being positive and putting a positive spin on a critical situation.
Because when funds are so low that you are either cutting services, staff or salary, I don't think you can put that into a positive perspective.
So either we need to acknowledge our challenges or have a town meeting to have them brought out for us.
I am in favor of regular town meetings myself.
This way, the leadership is clear about the wants and needs of the congregation.
They should be inclusionary in that you want as many folks to speak their minds as possible.
The only rule that I have for these type of meetings is that if you are to ring up issues, you must have 3 resolutions and 1 must include the person bringing up the challenge.
Setting the right expectation.
As I went into my test, my wife asked me if I was nervous.
No, I told her that I expected that everything was going to be fine.
And I truly believe when the test results come back, that it will have just been a preventative test.
Setting the correct expectation for the church is important as well.
Allow miracles to happen naturally.
Don't set the expectation that you are going to double income when you are in a declinining congregation.
I am no saying to put a limit on what can be done.
Just don't try to force the miracle.
Celebrate all miracles.
If you have done the above, I would expect that you will begin to see miracles.
And when you see them occur, don't discount them.
And always celebrate them no matter the size.
