Double Your Class in 2 Years or Less
Josh Hunt
Sherwood Baptist (Think: Fireproof)
01 day
1. Overview. In a nutshell, tell us about your church. What was it like when you came? What is happening now?
Sherwood was a traditional, legalistic, Southern Baptist church that ministered primarily in the neighborhood and surrounding neighborhoods in Northwest Albany. We owned 6 acres of land on the main campus and another 8 at our Christian school. Today, we draw people from 30 surrounding communities and 13 nations, and we own 120 acres on three campuses.
2. Victories. What were 2 or 3 real moments of victory for you?
When we broke out of legalism. In fact, as I tell in my book Prepare for Rain we had a backdoor revival. Over the course of a few years, we had three major “exoduses” from Sherwood. We never had a church fight or a business meeting–folks just decided they didn’t like the changes. It wasn’t easy. The reality was, if we were going to stay a legalistic, lily white church in a community with the majority of residents African American, we were going to die.
Another breakthrough was when we started our annual ReFRESH Conference (www.refreshconference.org) and God began to bring winds of revival in our midst.
Obviously the movie ministry at Sherwood opened doors we would have never imagined.
3. Failures. We learn from these. Tell us what didn’t work.
One failure was taking too long to deal with staff that weren’t carrying their weight or living up to expectations. I let a couple of staff members stay around when their ministries were dying, they weren’t motivated, and they were pulling the rest of the team down. I learned it’s easier to cut the dog’s tail off one time than to keep trying to cut it an inch at a time. Not everyone is going to take the trip with you. Some staff left shooting over their shoulder, which always creates confusion. We survived it but it took a while.
4. Learnings. What have been some of your big ones. What you have learned along the way?
- Learning you can’t orchestrate the Holy Spirit. He will not be manipulated. Walking by faith means it’s not going to happen the way you want it to happen, but the way God wants it to happen.
- Trusting God with the invitation. It’s not my responsibility to get people to make decisions. It’s my responsibility to clearly teach the Word of God and call people to the altar. After that, if they refuse to repent or respond, it’s their responsibility.
- Calling staff and making sure their wives are on board. A staff wife can kill a man’s ministry and kill a church. They need to be fully engaged in prayerfully supporting their husband. It’s sad but true, 95% of my problems have been staff related, not laity or deacons. The great news is that we’ve had a stable, solid staff for ten years. Longevity is a key component to growing a church.
5. What most pastors need to know? What are the take aways? What can we learn from your story?
Preach the Word. We are trying to be too cute. The Bible is the most cutting edge book ever written. We are caught up, too often, in our technology – and trust me we use technology here – but it’s the Word, the Truth, that turns people’s hearts. What you reach them with, you keep them with.
Bathe the ministry in prayer. If a church doesn’t have a prayer ministry (I mean more than praying over those in the hospital on Wednesday nights), it’s not going to be pleasing to God or powerful. The ingredient I see lacking in the overwhelming majority of churches is a vibrant intercessory prayer ministry.
Promote your Sunday School. That’s where folks connect. I’ve served with pastors who only talked about worship. The church will have a lid on it if you don’t talk about the importance of getting connected in a small group or Sunday School class. That’s where they stick and find relationships that last. That’s where accountability comes in.
Don’t give up on Sunday nights. Make them powerful, not a rehash of Sunday morning. I’d rather preach Sunday night than Sunday morning. It’s where I can speak to the heart of the church. Our greatest services have been Sunday nights. We will have 60% of our Sunday morning crowd back at night. Why? We tell folks it’s important. Remember this, never move a fence until you find out why it’s there. Once you move it, it’s hard to put it back up. Once you cancel something, it will be almost impossible to start it up again.
Don’t be afraid to talk about money. Promote the offering. Take love offerings. Expect people to give. Show them you are giving by putting something in the plate every Sunday, even if it’s a couple of dollars.
Don’t be caught in the snare of the “fear of man.” Too many preachers and ministers are disobeying God because they are more worried about job security than pleasing God. The fear of man will take the joy out of your ministry and ultimately cause you to have no ministry. You’ll just be a hireling.
http://www.sherwoodbaptist.net/
Ebenezer Baptist
03 days
1. Overview According to ACP data, in 2003 Ebenezer averaged 350 in worship and 327 in Sunday School. I came as pastor in November 2003. YTD 2011 we average 635 in worship and in Sunday Small Groups.
2. Victories The transition to dual worships and small group hours in February of 2008 was a major victory that positioned us for continued growth. ”Making Room for More” was embraced by people of all ages and of different time-invested. This was a more than a schedule change – it truly represented renewed vision and a refreshed attitude.
Another major step for us was moving away from the concept of an annual vote on Sunday School teachers. We view teaching and leadership as callings and giftings and therefore encourage tenure of time to build relationships and effectiveness. Our teachers/leaders are assumed in place until they or us determine the Lord to be leading otherwise.
3. Failures For us, grouping and grading by age did not result in an effective small group environment. We simply encourage people to find their place by finding the people they best connect with. Some classes are larger (30 or so people each week in attendance) and some are smaller (8 or even less in attendance). Some groups have a very wide age range while others tend to stay closer in age. We empower each leader/teacher and group to discover their unique DNA and then embrace and exploit it.
We also allow, expect, freedom of material in our adult small groups. That is, we were limited when we tried to get everyone in the same curriculum since teachers and participants have different styles/personalities.
4. Learnings There is not a one size fits all approach to effective life-changing small groups. The key is not the schedule or the material or even the philosophy but rather the key is having the right leaders who have vision, passion, responsibility, and freedom.
5. Takeaways Regardless of demographic trends, the church can grow when the Gospel is the goal. People want authentic, engaging relationships that can best be discovered through small groups.
Andy Childs
http://www.ebenezerbaptist.com/
Last week of early bird discount
04 days
by jh
in Discipleship
I am so excited about speaking with Steve Parr and Allan Taylor at the first All Star Sunday School Training. The event will be at First Baptist Indian Trail (Charlotte area) NC Feb. 16 – 17. The cost $25 per person with an early bird discount of $5 before Feb. 1.
To attend an event, or host an event. see http://allstarsundayschool.com/
First Baptist Church Locust Grove
05 days
Overview. In a nutshell, tell us about your church. What was it like when you came? What is happening now?
The Lord called me to FBCLG in January 2002. The church had approximately 250 in Sunday School and almost 300 in worship. Our annual budget was $537,328. Today we average 510 in Sunday School and almost 600 in worship. Our annual budget is $1,216,173. In 2002, we had two worship services with one Sunday School hour sandwiched between them. Today we have two worship services and two full Sunday Schools and one partial.
During the first year, I made no changes at all to anything in order to fulfill a commitment to the church when I became pastor. After the first year, we commissioned a Long Range Planning Team. It was obvious that we were out of parking, worship and Sunday School space. During that time we cleaned out several Sunday School classroom which were serving as storage rooms and started new classes in them. Within a year we grew to over 300 in Sunday School. The church voted in relocate in 2004. By 2005 we moved our eleven o’clock worship to our gymnasium in order to accommodate the growth. We continued to start Sunday School classes in every place we could find. We started one off-campus class during the regular Sunday School hour but that did not work very well. Before we physically relocated in 2008, we hit a high of 417 in Sunday School and we were averaging about 360.
All of our preschool classes as well as children’s classes were in rooms around the gymnasium. There was little control or security due to accessibility directly from the gymnasium. Today, we have a preschool department that has a secure, check-in desk with a dedicated hall for our preschoolers. The most explosive area of growth once we relocated was our preschool department. The preschoolers brought their young parents with them.
We went from few, if any, Sunday School high attendance campaigns to at least one per year. Before relocating this really stretched our capacity. It created a lot of excitement and accentuated the need for additional space.
Today we have two morning worship services and three Sunday School hours, two complete Sunday Schools and one partial. Our church continues to be blessed.
Victories. What were 2 or 3 real moments of victory for you?
I can point out three decisive, clear victories for the church. The first one came during my first year. One evening during a revival service twelve young men accepted Christ. When I presented them and announced their decisions to the church, the church politely applauded. In her DNA, the church was rather reserved. After the presentations, I sat down beside our evangelist. He asked me if he could challenge our church to really celebrate the salvation decisions. I was thrilled that he would do so. He stood before our people and in a very loving, gentle manner chastised our people for not rejoicing in the most important decision in the lives of these young people. I could sense our church family was cut to the core. After just a few minutes of sharing, he asked our church to really rejoice over the salvation decisions. Our people were not only ready to rejoice, they began rejoicing. As they did, they stood and the applause began to intensify. Then someone shouted. The vocal praise became contagious. People began to whistle while others vocally praised the Lord Jesus. Most of us began to weep. It was a breakthrough from which we never recovered and I pray we never do! We learned that evening that God inhabits the praise of His people. Today when someone makes a public profession of faith, our church family really rejoices!
The Second key victory for the church was the vote to relocate & the actual relocation. First Baptist was constituted in 1825. She relocated to her third home in 1916. That had been her home for over 88 years. We held a number of town-hall meetings prior to the vote. We also decided that the vote would need to be at least 85% affirmative. The church voted by ballot with 86% affirmative. It was a victory for the Kingdom of God. Coupled with that was the actual relocation which took place four years after the vote. Only God could do this.
The third key victory came in the decision to begin a second Sunday School hour upon relocating. We had the Educational space to remain in one Sunday School upon relocation. But I could see that we were going to saturate our educational space within a year. I did not want our people to relocate and then experience another major change in less than a year. So, prior to relocating we planned for a second full Sunday School. It was a tremendous success. We would have easily outgrown our Educational space with only one hour. Having two full Sunday Schools allowed us to grow uninhibited for several years.
Failures. We learn from these. Tell us what didn’t work.
After being in our ‘new’ facilities for two years, we had saturated our primary Sunday School hour. I challenged our Minister of Education to begin Sunday School classes at the 11:00 hour. That just didn’t work well.
We had two years of stellar participation in our FAITH Evangelism program. The third year, I made an assumption that we would not need to personally enlist people to participate. Wrong! We went from over forty participants each Semester for the previous two years to under ten participants. General announcements and a “Ya’ll come” approach does not work. Individual, personal enlistment has proven to be the most effective means of ensuring excellent participation in anything we want our people to be involved in.
Learnings. What have been some of your big ones. What you have learned along the way?
Three huge lessons. First, years ago I read in Effective Evangelistic Churches by Thom Rainer that the best way to grow a church is to grow the pastor. God really spoke to my heart. Instead of my primary focus being on growing the church, I focused on deepening my walk with God. As I grew in the Lord, my priorities about ‘church growth’ began to change. I realized that success is not based on the size of the church but on our personal obedience. As I grow in Christ, my sensitivity to His leading heightens, my love for people deepens and my contentment in His service widens.
Second, I learned that it is best to let the church defend her decisions. It is unwise for a pastor to use the pulpit to defend a decision the church body has made. The people of God can defend what they have decided themselves. Otherwise, the pastor becomes the lightening rod. Fortunately a good friend shared this with me before I made this blunder.
Third, I learned, and I’m still learning, that it takes a long time to make changes. It is best to sow seeds in the hearts of people and allow the Holy Spirit to germinate them in His people. The germination process may take months or it may take years. Two years before we called a full-time Minister of Children/Preschool, I planted the seed in the hearts of our Personnel Committee members. I planted the seed the year before we called him. On the third year, the Committee was past ready to add this position. As you do this, God will honor you as long as you don’t care who gets the credit for the idea.
What most pastors need to know? What are the take aways? What can we learn from your story?
First, go where God leads! First Baptist had a reputation of being somewhat “reserved” and “traditional.” But, my wife and I were convinced it was the will of God to go to First Baptist of Locust Grove. He changed the climate of the church in His timing and in His way. The take away is this – don’t become pastor of a church because you think it will be great – become pastor of a church because you and your wife are convinced it is the will of God, regardless of the obstacles.
Second, I was really scared when we voted to relocate. It was a do or die vote. I felt it would change the future of the church. As I began to worry, I began to pray. The more I prayed the stronger and clearer the voice of God was to me. God spoke to my heart and basically said, ‘This is my business. You are my servant. I’ll take care of the vote, you just make sure you remain humble before me.’ Once I learned that, God gave me complete peace. The take away for pastors is don’t be anxious about major decisions the church makes. God sits on the throne and He will have His way. Even if the vote goes against what we believe is God’s will, He can and will use it.
Third and most importantly, never replace a personal walk with Jesus with ministry. We can get so caught up in ministry and growing a ‘work’ that we miss the very purpose we exist – to have an intimate, loving relationship with our Lord. Men can lose their marriages and their health while seeking to gain a ‘successful’ ministry. Prioritize your time with Christ. Real success isn’t based on the size of the church you pastor but the depth of your walk with Christ.
http://www.fbclocustgrove.com/
Rethinking evangelism
09 days
by jh
in Discipleship
Every day, at exactly the same time, Margaret would go to the bathroom cabinet, open it, and take out a huge bottle of castor oil. Then she would head to the kitchen to get a tablespoon. At the sound of the drawer opening and the silverware rattling, Patches, her Yorkshire terrier, would run and hide—sometimes under the bed, at other times in the bathtub or behind Margaret’s recliner.
Someone had convinced Margaret that Patches would have strong teeth, a beautiful coat, and a long life if she gave him a spoonful of castor oil every day. So, as an act of love every twenty-four hours, she cornered Patches, pinned him down, pried open his mouth, and poured a tablespoon of castor oil down his little doggie throat. Neither Patches nor Margaret enjoyed their daily wrestling match.
Then one day, in the middle of their battle royal, with one sideways kick, Patches sent the dreaded bottle of castor oil flying across the kitchen floor. It was a momentary victory for the canine, as Margaret let him go so she could run to the pantry and grab a towel to clean up the mess.
When Margaret got back, she was utterly shocked. There was Patches licking up the spilled castor oil with a look of satisfaction only a dog can make. Margaret began to laugh uncontrollably. In one moment, it all made sense. Patches liked castor oil. He just hated being pinned down and having it poured down his throat.
Welcome to the world of evangelism!
—Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts (Zondervan, 2005)
Larson, C. B., & Ten Elshof, P. (2008). 1001 illustrations that connect (59–60). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.
Dr. Stanley, I can’t rent you a car
09 days
by jh
in Uncategorized
Dr. Stanley, I can’t rent you a car.”
I understood the words the woman across the counter was saying to me, but I could hardly take in the full meaning of her statement.
“You can’t?” I asked. “Why not?”
“I don’t have a car to rent to you.”
A sad fact emerged over the next few minutes. There was no car that any automobile rental agency could rent to me at that airport. I had planned this trip for weeks, getting everything in place-or so I thought. I had eagerly anticipated this time alone with God in the Great Northwest, photographing places of wonderful natural beauty. I had everything in order-except a car.
I took a cab to the hotel where thankfully, I had a reservation, and went directly to the hotel’s restaurant to eat a bite and collect my thoughts. Staring at the pouring rain outside the restaurant’s windows, I silently prayed God,You’re in charge. He knew I didn’t want to turn around and fly home. I felt very strongly that the Lord had given His full blessing to my taking this trip-I had been very much at peace as I had mapped out various routes and
locations. Once again I reflected, God, You’re in charge. I had no idea what to do, but I knew that God knew. I felt totally dependent on Him.
While I was sitting there, a couple of men came by, and one recognized me. They stopped to introduce themselves and talk for a while. One of them asked me what I was doing in Oregon, and I told them the story of what had happened. He quickly responded, “Don’t worry about that! We have three cars, and I’d be happy for you to use one of them. It’s in good shape. I’ll have a car over here for you in forty-five minutes.”
As promised, in less than an hour, the car was at the hotel-and it was a very nice car. I was blessed by this man’s spontaneous generosity, I knew that God had sent him directly to me. I was thankful to him and even more grateful to God.
I had a fantastic time photographing there for a couple of days. At the end of the second day, I had the idea to set up my camera in plenty of time to get a good sunset shot from one particular spot along the Oregon coast. When I arrived at that location, which was fairly remote, I unloaded my photographic equipment. While I was standing by my car, I was approached by an elderly woman who recognized me, and we talked for a few moments. Then I transported my gear on foot to the particular vantage point I had selected. I took several photographs as the sun was setting, and then packed everything and started back to the car.
As I reached into my pocket for the car keys, I made a startling discovery … no keys. I looked through my bags of camera equipment … no keys. I thought, Did I lean over and drop those keys from my pocket while I was talking to that lady? I looked carefully around the outside of the car … no keys. By this time, the sun
was setting and it was starting to get dark.No one else was around. But for the first time, I noticed a fairly large sign at the edge of the parking lot that read, “Warning! Unsafe area. Do not remain here after dark.”
Great! I thought. I’m alone. It’s getting dark. And now I learn I’m in an unsafe area. It was at that moment I saw my keys dangling from the ignition inside the locked car. My heart momentarily sank and I thought, What a mistake to leave the keys in the car!
I prayed, “God, You know my location. You know the situation. You know what that sign says. You see my keys. You see me. I knowYou are 100 percent in charge of my life. I don’t know what You are going to do, but I’m trustingYou to help me.”
I felt impressed to walk around the car and try all the door handles, which I had already done. This time, as I pulled on the back passenger-side door latch, to my great amazement it opened. All the other doors were locked tighter than a drum. But that one door opened. I retrieved the car keys, threw my equipment into the car, and drove back to my hotel, praising God all the way!
Two more great days of scenic beauty and photography passed and I found myself following a road next to a river that had a number of waterfalls. It was just about dawn as I entered this beautiful area, but the light wasn’t exactly what I had envisioned. I checked my map and saw that Mount Hood was in that immediate area. It couldn’t be seen from where I was along the river, but I had a hunch that if I would just follow a back road in a particular direction, I’d come to an area that would give me an open line of sight to the mountain.
Finally I rounded a bend and there it was, Mount Hood, with a field and trees in the foreground. Absolutely beautiful! I continued
along the road, hoping for a small body of water that reflected the mountain. To my delight, a small lake soon appeared. I took several photographs, and then I got back in the car, intending to retrace my route, when I happened to notice the gas gauge. This was the first time that day I had looked at it. Unfortunately it was on empty.
I thought back over the route that I had taken to get to that point and realized that I hadn’t seen a gas station all morning. For that matter, I had no idea even where I was! I had just been following the roads as I came to them, looking upward and ahead to try to spot the mountain and find a lake.
Again I prayed, “Dear Lord, You are in control.” I was keenly aware that for the third time that week, I was in a desperate situation and only God could help me out of it!
About that time a big power-company truck drove up near where I was parked. The man got out, climbed up a pole, adjusted something there, and then came back down. I was waiting for him at the bottom of the pole. I said, “Sir, could you tell me where I might find a gas station?”
He said, “Go up this road about a quarter of a mile, turn left, and it’s right there.”
I had just enough gasoline to get there.
Had that power-company employee not stopped next to my car, my natural instinct would have been to go back down the roads I had been on, not to go farther down a road that seemed to lead to even greater isolation. I knew that once again God had provided for me in a unique way. Indeed, He was in control!
It seemed every time I turned around that week, I found
myself in a position of begging God for mercy: “Here I am again, Lord. I need You. I belong to You. You are in control of my life. I’m trustingYou.”
That afternoon I returned to the river, and this time the light was perfect. I got some wonderful shots of those waterfalls. I realized that if I hadn’t taken a slight “detour” that morning, I not only would have missed out on seeing the beauty of Mount Hood from a remote location, but I would have missed out on a major miracle of God’s protection and provision. Those shots of the waterfalls were a reassurance from God-”See, I’m in control of all your steps, both the ones that seem to be filled with stress and the ones that are filled with pure peace and joy.”
As I reflected on that experience, I realized that during that week I was never once afraid, anxious, or worried. I was a little upset with myself for not arranging for a rental car, for locking my keys in the car, and for not paying attention to the gas gauge. Given those mistakes, I was concerned about what I should do or not do, but each time I got into difficulty, I really wasn’t afraid, anxious, or worried. Rather, I was aware that I had a big need that I couldn’t solve on my own. I had to rely on the One who could solve the problems for me.
Finding Peace: God’s Promise of a Life Free from Regret, Anxiety, and Fear (Charles F. Stanley)
The power of encouragement.
011 days
by jh
in Discipleship
Dale Galloway tells the story of a young boy named Teddy Stollard. He was not the kind of kid who got invited to parties. He slouched in his chair and looked bored most of the time; he only spoke when called upon, and then in monosyllables. He never dressed right; he had smelly clothes; he was a rather unattractive boy.
Whenever his teacher would mark Teddy’s papers, she. got a certain perverse pleasure out of marking all the wrong answers. She would put the “F” on top with a little flair. She might have known better, because his history was on record:
First grade: Teddy is a good boy and shows promise, but has a poor home situation.
Second grade: Teddy is quiet and withdrawn. His mother is terminally ill.
Third grade: Teddy is falling behind. His mother died this year; his father is uninvolved.
Fourth grade: Teddy is hopelessly backward. His father has moved away; Teddy’s living with an aunt. He is deeply troubled.
Christmas came, and all the children brought presents to school. They were carefully wrapped, except for Teddy’s, which was packaged in brown paper and held together with tape and marked, “For Miss Thompson. From Teddy.”
The teacher would open the gifts one by one for the class to admire. When she opened Teddy’s, it was a rhinestone bracelet with most of the stones missing, and a bottle of perfume that was mostly gone. The other children started to laugh, but Miss Thompson caught herself. Snapping on the bracelet, she said: “Isn’t it lovely, class? And doesn’t the perfume smell good?”
At the end of the class, Teddy approached her shyly. “I’m glad you liked my gifts, Miss Thompson,” he whispered. “All day long you smelled like my mother. And her bracelet looked nice on you, too.”
After he left, Miss Thompson put her head down on the desk and cried. She asked God to forgive her. She prayed that God would help her to see what he sees when she looks at a motherless boy.
When the children came back to school the next day, Miss Thompson was a new teacher. She tutored the children who needed extra help, Teddy most of all. By the end of the year he had caught up with most of his classmates and was ahead of some. After that, she didn’t hear from him for quite a while. Then one day she received a note:
Dear Miss Thompson,
I wanted you to be the first to know I am graduating from high school, and I am second in my class.
Love, Teddy Stollard
Four years later came another note:
Dear Miss Thompson,
I wanted you to be the first to know I am graduating first in my class. The university has not been easy, but I liked it.
Love, Teddy Stollard
Four years later, another note:
Dear Miss Thompson,
I wanted to you be the first to know that as of today I am Theodore J. Stollard, M.D. How about that? I want you to come sit where my mother would have sat, because you’re the nearest thing to family that I’ve had.
Love, Teddy Stollard
The ability to assign value is one of the rarest and greatest gifts in the world. So value what God values. There is an ancient story about a poor traveler who is amazed by the welcome he receives at a monastery. He is served a lavish meal, escorted to their finest room, and given a new set of clothes to replace the rags he arrived in. Before leaving, he commented to the abbot on how well he was treated. Yes, the abbot said, we always treat our guests as if they are angels-just to be on the safe side.
Ortberg, John. Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2003, p. 216-217.
