Communicate On Purpose

This is it friends! The end of an era. Thank you so much for joining me along the way. If you'd like to join me as I continue to podcast about Leading Healthy Creative Teams, I'd LOVE to have you.http://lunchtimeheroes.co/podcastAll previous podcast content will be removed at the end of September, so if there are episodes you want to keep, download them before them. I also have an archive, so feel free to contact me through the Lunchtime Heroes website.

Creative solutions are often most powerful because of the tension they create. But rarely does a speaker want to leave their audience in a prolonged state of tension. So how can we resolve this?

Matt and Aaron discuss the different things you get when you hire a Graphic Designer or a Communications Director for your ministry. Which should you hire first? Well, it depends.What do you think? Which hire fits best for your ministry?

Is graphic design really a preference driven industry? Is there such a thing as objectively "good" graphic design? In this episode of the Creative Bites podcast, I talk through that topic. I also provide tips for both pastors and designer to have meaningful conversations about the work that is being produced. 

I wanted to update you on the new schedule for the Creative Bites Podcast. I'm moving it to every other week instead of weekly.I also wanted to share two new resources I've created for anyone spending time doing graphic design as part of their job.The first is a free bundle called: 3 Design Secrets that Will Save Ministry Leaders Hours of Time. In order to get done the workload assigned to me early in my career, I had to develop some strategies to make myself dramatically more efficient. It worked, and I'm sharing them with you to help you save time.The second is an online class that goes even deeper: Help! I'm Doing Graphic Design for my Church! This course will teach you the foundational principles of graphic design so you can make faster design decisions. This will help you spend less time doing graphic design so you can spend more time investing in your ministry.For listeners of the podcast, I'm offering a 25% off coupon - CREATIVEBITES. The coupon is good through April 21.

As the potential of online ministry becomes more and more clear, should social media move outside of the Communications team and under pastoral leadership instead? Matt and Aaron discuss the pros and cons of each approach.

The promise innovation never seems to stop. Worse, if you aren't running on the treadmill of what's next, you are declared (by some) to be missing the opportunity of a lifetime. But God is working at His pace and in His way. So how can we balance taking advantage of opportunity while also avoiding becoming overwhelmed?

This is the last episode of the Communicate on Purpose Podcast. What a ride it has been!But the podcasting is going to continue. Here is a bit of the backstory - I've started  my own business named Lunchtime Heroes. My goal with it is to help the church communicate clearly effectively, and with integrity.There are two belief that have really stood out to me in my time in ministry.Pastors need to spend their time pastoring people, not managing details.Pastors and comm people need to be in the same conversation.The focus of Communicate on Purpose was to help church staff bring their industry to the church. That will still be happening, just a bit more focused on the creative side.The focus of what's coming will be on helping ministry leaders have more time to fulfill their calling.A bit about the new format:I'll unpack an issue or topic, then talk to both sides about it. A message to those serving in comm, and a message to those serving in pastoral leadership. Hearing different sides of the conversation is important.I'll also be introducing a new format for some episodes that are Church Communication Hot Takes. A friend and I will navigate some of the common challenges in the church comm space an work through the perspectives. The goal with these episodes is that you are able to listen and decide where you stand.

One of the most effective ways to implement change in your organization is by building the next solution before you remove the previous one. People rely on the tools you create and the way you communicate. If you transition between tools too suddenly, you stoke fear.But beyond that transition, fear expresses itself in many ways. The communications role has a unique seat to see much of it, and to help others have more peace than they would have otherwise.

In the church and non profit space, we are told to be on board with the mission or get off the bus. This is a dangerous message. It adds stress to our lives, and it ultimately leads to division - more division than we realize.In order for you to be effective in your role, you need to keep balance between all the different responsibilities in your life.

Jobs in the creative industry tend to be pretty high stress. They involve complicated work, tight deadlines, and high pressure clients looking for results. As you spend time in the industry, you develop skills to handle the stress, learn tactics to help get work done, and gain perspective that every emergency isn't yours. As you excel in the execution, there is a good chance you'll be given the opportunity to lead people.People stress is different. All the tricks you learned to navigate projects and deadlines simply don't apply. I've spent plenty of time stewing over behavioral decisions made by those that report to me. If they miss the mark, I stress about it. How can I help them improve? How do I challenge them well? Did this have a negative impact on the organization? Will I be on the hook for this?Acknowledging that the stress is different is key to you being able to respond well to it. You can start identifying this even if you aren't leading people.

This may seem like a silly realization, but for many years I thought of myself as the communication expert for the organization. I was hired into the communications role, therefore I was supposed to be the final authority on all things communication.The problem, however, is that nearly everyone on a church staff is a communicator. Every department is broadcasting a message. It varies wildly, but emails are sent, volunteers are called, messages are preached, announcements are shared. There is an unfathomable amount of communication that happens. And it doesn't all belong to you. In fact, I would argue that there is more communication happening outside of the Communications role than inside.Once I realized this, my countenance changed dramatically. Rather than having to be the answer man that needed to do everything myself, I could shift my focus toward empowering and equipping others to grow in their ability to communicate. Now they could leverage something I didn't haver in their communication - passion. I went from the sole communications person to one of many! What a refreshing change! You are surrounded by people that are much more similar than you think.

The communications role is uniquely positioned to see the little areas where those in your ministry lose sight of what they believe. They announce confidently that God is in charge, but they get frustrated when your promotional strategy isn't yielding the results they want.Obviously we need to be doing our due diligence in our trade, but we also need to be modeling faith even in these little things.

Beware of how much you are willing to do to get people's attention. While major campaigns aren't always a bad thing, they can create an unsustainable pace. When you stop, people leave - often citing completely different reasons. 

There are times in ministry where you are the target audience for a product. While its great that companies are building products for ministry, the sales pitch rarely includes all the factors you need to consider when making a decision. Don't let the bells and whistles keep from looking at the bigger picture!

It doesn't really matter how you feel about technology and innovation. It's coming regardless of our opinion. But that doesn't mean we should adopt every change that happens into our ministries. In fact, those that find themselves on the bleeding edge of adoption tend to spend a lot of money and time on things that ultimately don't stick long term.I've been through my fair share of battles around adopting specific innovation tools and I've learned that none of them are critical right out of the gate. The example of the race of our faith being a marathon versus a sprint is very important here.Now, there isn't anything wrong with integrating innovation quickly into your ministry, but there is something wrong with the communications leader (or any leader for that matter) sewing division over it. Regardless of where you stand on whatever the latest innovation is, it's adoption needs to be filtered through the mission of the church. This is one of the areas where I see a lot of leadership opportunities for church communications leaders. Many innovations have the potential to be good or bad depending on how we understand them. I wrote Hashtag Wisdom in 2013 for this reason. I wanted to address the behavior that one could choose to exhibit on social media. You can represent Christ in that space if you choose to. You can also choose to sew division and hatred. The choice is yours. This is true with every innovation.As the communications leader in your church, you have the opportunity to help your pastoral leadership see where culture is driving in these areas. Ultimately it's up to your leadership to decide how to lead the congregation through whatever comes, but you have an opportunity to help shed light on how innovation can be used for kingdom work. The way you do that is by connecting the dots between innovation and purpose.Subscribe to the podcast: https://www.mcurtis.co/podcastWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL53TW6HOlOFAxqem-bc8fETwjWcEjcMZ5

​​For years I fought last minute projects. I asked for projects to be submitted two weeks early. Then three weeks. At one point I think I tried one month. Nothing was working and I was frustrated. Inadvertently, the only thing I was doing by asking for more time was making each request seem even later than it already was. I had created a doom loop of sorts. The only way the ministry teams could win with me is if they planned further out. But you know what my rules weren't doing? Actually changing anything.One day I walked into the office and I thought, “what if I designed a system that took reality into consideration”. That's when everything changed.Let's just say you work in an environment where things don't get to your desk until the last minute. Theoretically, of course. Rather than implementing rules that are trying to change the behavior of the entire staff in order to work with how you'd like to work, what if you accept that the team around you will be last minute? Would you build your system differently?When I began considering other people's timelines as a constant rather than a variable, so much of the emotion and tension in my job shifted. I was no longer defensive when people came to me last minute. Instead, because my new process accounted for this sort of thing happening, I could lean in and problem solve. The relationships of me and my team improved dramatically, and we were more helpful to the ministry teams we were hired to serve.Subscribe to the podcast: https://www.mcurtis.co/podcastWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL53TW6HOlOFAxqem-bc8fETwjWcEjcMZ5

Effective communication moves people in a good direction for them, and it does so with integrity.When you evaluate the effectiveness of your work, look closely at if people are moving. If they aren't, why not? Remember that you are not responsible for changing people's hearts and that you can't force movement.Subscribe to the podcast: https://www.mcurtis.co/podcastWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL53TW6HOlOFAxqem-bc8fETwjWcEjcMZ5

Join me this season on the Communicate on Purpose Podcast as I share lessons I've learned over the years serving in the communications role in the Church. Now that I've stepped out of a communications role in my career, I feel like I need to close the book on that chapter somehow. I began writing what may eventually turn into a book, but it doesn't feel like the right time to build that yet. First I want to work through the ideas with you. Welcome to season 3!In this episode:Curse of Knowledge article: https://hbr.org/2006/12/the-curse-of-knowledgeSubscribe to the podcast: https://www.mcurtis.co/podcastWatch on YouTube: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL53TW6HOlOFAxqem-bc8fETwjWcEjcMZ5

This week I want to talk about how to handle other people’s problems.As our world has been turned upside-down nearly over night, a lot of people are struggling. In a lot of ways we are experiencing an exaggerated response to change that has happened too quickly.As we walk through this pandemic, we can learn a lot about how people respond to change. We can’t know all the different ways people respond to change. There are simply too many variables. But we can hone our ability to be compassionate. If you are going to lead effectively at any point, you’ll need to develop the ability to listen before you feel. A lot of people are being thrown in to tech.for a season, ministry is happening through techfacetime calls, zoom meetings, services streaming on weekendshigh discomfort for somelearning new things is scarysometimes we can’t grasp itnow the tool is the prohibitive element in our ability to minister meaningfullyFor some, they feel that their ability to grasp tech will impact their ability to be safe.online shoppingfood delivery via appsThis is my native space. I see a million opportunities in this season. But that means I need to be extra sensitive to those who are scared.This is like a water polo player jumping into a pool and feeling prepared to tread water for hours, while someone else in the pool doesn’t know how to swim.Spend some time in your conversations focusing specifically on helping those who are afraid. Listen instead of judge. Be kind. If you can learn to listen to the people you serve with before you make a judgement as to why they are having a hard time, you will be the kind of leader people want to follow.

The COVID-19 pandemic is a great time for us as people to negotiate stress in a way that we likely haven’t had to before. I want to talk through a technique I put into practice recently that has helped me apply God’s Word in a way I haven’t before. If you’ve been listening for a while, you know that I believe all need in life, business, and organizational leadership is found in God’s Word. And that the principles of wisdom we find in business books are actually references to truths found in God’s word. So, let me share with you the approach I take when navigating stress.1. Write your fears2. Declare the truth3. Revise your fears4. Meditate on the truth of God’s Word.5. Make the switch.As you pray through the things you are worried about, replace the fear with the truth. I go line by line.Here is what you are doing. You are now going past Philippians 4:6-7, and you are stepping into verse 8. Instead of dwelling on your fears, dwell on whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, anything that is excellent or praiseworthy.

During a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic, we begin to see what is most important. In this episode of reflection, I want to encourage you to think about what you are missing. What matters to you? How can you build that into the next season of life you live when things return to normal?

What is it?Focus on creating a environment that stimulates growth.Why is it important?Wanting to grow isn’t the same as actually growing. There are a lot of conditions that need to exist for healthy growth to happen, and those conditions don’t happen randomlyHow do you do it?Let people jump inLearning is messy. If you don’t let people jump in until they are ready, then you’ll never let people jump in. If they never jump in, they’ll never learn. If they never learn, they’ll never be ready.There is something to the “prove yourself” part of leadership that can’t be assessed until someone is in the position. In high school I struggled to hit curve balls as a batter. We were playing a team and we were tied going into extra innings. We had a runner on third with two outs. The pitcher on the mound was better than me, and had a great curveball. I couldn’t just put the ball in play to score the run, because I wasn’t fast enough to beat out a bunt or an infield hit. I needed a base hit.If I weren’t actually in that situation, I wouldn’t be able to tell you how I handle pressure when the game is on the line. We could practice against good pitchers. We could practice against curveballs. But we couldn’t simulate the pressure of that situation in practice. I had to actually be in that moment.The same is true for the people on your team.Challenge people to be betterSet clear expectations for where you want people to beAsk them where they want to go - help prepare them for what they aspire to beLet learning be messyMistakes will happenProjects will failImperfect work will be producedThings could have been betterMake the mistakes productiveModel what it looks like to own mistakes of your own.Center your conversations around the project and the mistake, not the person. Mistakes shouldn’t be personal.Talk about why mistakes happened.Ask questions that help them see the problem.When you help facilitate problem solving, you increase ownership of the solution itself, and you help others put some skin in the game. That is critical to actual, lasting change.Questions I ask: What happened?Do you know why this happened?Can you think of any ways to prevent this from happening in the future?How can I help you accomplish that?

What is it?What is it that you are uniquely best at?Are you a high caliber executor? Are you a developer of people? Are you a teacher and communicator of God’s word?What is the most impactful thing you bring to a team? What are you uniquely gifted or skilled at?Why is it important?As you look toward stepping up into a leadership role, you are choosing to say yes to some responsibilities, and no to others. You want to start understanding better what things you should do, and what things you shouldn’t do.How do you do it?Ask coworkers what you are good at.Ask people close to you what you are good at.At the end of a day when you are drained in a bad way, take note of what you spent your day doing. Why are you spent?At the end of a day when you are drained in a good way, take note of what you did that day. Why are you drained in a good way?Try things you don’t normally do. Serve on a different committee, volunteer in a different ministry, step out of your comfort zone a bit. You might find that something completely unknown to you actually resonates deeply with you.Once you being to get a glimpse of your unique role, begin pressing into that. As you look to grow in leadership, empowering others is a major part of that. If there is any way you can start practicing that now, do it!

What is it? Understanding that you don’t work for A church, you work for THE Church. Why is it important?If you lose this perspective:You will be mad when people leave your teamYou won’t trust new people for a whileYou’ll view other churches in your area as competition.You won’t be willing to invest in others How do you do it?Ultimately you have to accept that ministry success is completely up to God, not you. Spend time learning more about who God is. Spend time reading about God’s sovereigntySpend time reading about Discipleship

What is it? How you discuss problems in your organization matters.Why is it important? Calling out the wrong things in the wrong ways can cause frustration. The four things I see elevated often are:Starting with complaints: "I didn’t like this."Starting with symptoms: "It seems like we keep getting behind on projects from a specific leader."Starting with problems: "This is broken." Starting with solutions: "I think we could solve this by doing something differently."How to do it?The best teams have the ability to translate from each of these tiers to the next.

This week we are going to talk through a couple ways your mindset needs to shift as you take on more leadership responsibility.These may look different depending on the role you are aspiring toward, but these are new challenges you should be anticipating:Helping others grow safely Growing others while growing yourself Leading out of turmoil yourselfSetting others up for success Taking their criticism on your chin Three important mindset shifts:God isn’t just providing to you, he’s providing through you. Psalm 23The Lord is my shepherd,I shall not want.2 He makes me lie down in green pastures;He leads me beside quiet waters.3 He restores my soul;He guides me in the paths of righteousnessFor His name’s sake.4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I fear no evil, for You are with me;Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;You have anointed my head with oil;My cup overflows.6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.Understand that you are not sole destination for God’s provision. 2. God isn’t just providing for YOU, He’s providing for others too.3. Start being the type of person you want to followUltimately what you value is what others will value. If you are leading people, who you are is what others will be become over time.You are going to find that a lot of this season will point us to scripture. That’s because, in my opinion, Godly living is BY FAR the most effective way to develop as a leader.

In this week's episode, I wanted to share a conversation I had with my wife, Amy Curtis. Circumstances are often things used by God to "order our steps". Amy provides insight and encouragement for those times in life where our plans and the steps God is ordering don't seem to line up the way we think they should.

Proverbs 16:9 The mind of man plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps.The call to Christian living is the foundation of effective ministry–regardless of vocation.If you want to learn more about your calling as a Christ follower, spend more time in God’s word. If you are stuck on a starting point, read the Sermon on the Mount in Mathew 5-7. There you will find a great overview of what Christ has called every single Christ follower to.If you have ambitions to be in vocational ministry, you should read the qualifications of Deacons in 1 Timothy 3:8-12. Or, if you have ambitions to become an Elders, read in Titus 1:5-9, 1 Tim. 3:1-7, and 1 Peter 5:1-4. Clarity around the requirements of these roles exist. If you do not meet the qualifications, then you should not be called to either of these roles by the church. I think the bulk of the angst that exists around vocational decision making is that we don’t separate the two. We think we are making a highly spiritual decision when we choose a career path. One of the most beautiful things about our God is that He allows us to participate in ministry. And by our diligent pursuit of living a Christ centered life, we find ourselves in a very exciting position. Largely, we can do whatever we are skilled to do vocationally and have the opportunity to minister to a lost world. Simply because we are striving to be obedient to the call God has placed on our lives as Christ followers. As you seek to assess where to go, here is what I would encourage you to ask yourself.1. How should I respond to what is happening right now?2. What do I care about? (What don’t I care about?)3. What am I good at? (What am I bad at?)4. What types of problems keep finding me?5. What frustrates me?6. What hardships has God allowed me to endure?7. What situations can I endure?8. What does scripture say?Some cautions.you typically don’t find success when you try to help people solve problems you haven’t solved. Be patient. It will feel like everyone else has it figured out before you do. That’s ok.Don’t assume your hardships are things you need to get away from. Sometimes the challenging things in life actually need to be leaned into, not run from.Don’t assume that things that are easy for you are easy for everyone.A career change isn’t bad. And chances are, your previous season will make you better at what you are moving into next.

5 things that can help you know when change is needed and actually change. Information Helps You ChangeTrust Your GutWhen Passion is Dying, Pause and ListenSeek Trusted Counsel Let Your Creation Live It’s LifeThe Courage to ChangeSeason 2 starts next week!

The assuming heart is particularly dangerous because of its tendency to scale in damage.We are too impatient to learn the truthWe are scared to address a disagreementWe are angry about something else (related or unrelated)We are lazy Where The Assuming Heart typically gets us into trouble is when we make assumptions about the motivations of others.Here are three phases of The Assuming Heart that I have seen. Each of them scale in damage, so our goal is to shut down our assumptions as soon as we can.Phase 1:The first phase of damage is to you. It erodes your ability to be unified with those around you. When someone makes a decision, you immediately assume that the decision was made with you in mind. The most noticeable trait of phase one is that we begin to pull away from others.Phase 2:Now the assumptions that are expressed internally begin to show up externally.Phase 2 is where we begin sowing division between others on the team and become an agent actively working against unity.Phase 3:At this point our assumptions have become facts to us. We make decisions to combat what we *think* is happening, and we start damaging relationships.Phase 3 is where some relationships are significantly enough that they are altered moving forward. Often this is where trust is lost, and the relationship requires healing before it can continue to move forward.What you are upset about isn’t as important as unity.When someone else makes a decision, assume unity, not division.When you assume the worst about people’s motivations, you choosing to make their decisions more important than the unity of the body of Christ.2. Never trust what anyone says.I don’t care who it is, if someone shares the opinion of someone else with me, I don’t trust it. I always go to the source. Always.3. Be patient.Ultimately, if you aren’t willing to go to someone you are frustrated with, you are actively choosing division over unity.Proverbs 25:15Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.Working relationships can be very hard, but unity of the body of Christ is more important.

You have things that you have made a commitment to. And many of those are very important.Don’t let them become too important.This week, I want to look at the life of Moses in hopes of helping us recalibrate how committed we are to things in our life.Exodus 18:13-23You can’t always see that you are overcommitted on your own.Don’t be frustrated when everyone can’t help at the same level.Moses wasn’t the only one capable, and neither are you. When you hear advice, pray about it. First: giving or receiving counsel should always be with the understanding that prayer will supersede it. Second: the advice in this situation was focused on helping Moses see that he wasn’t the condition upon which Israel succeeded or failed. Whatever it is that you are investing in has the potential to do the same thing if you overcommit to it. Sometimes it’s because the need keeps presenting itself like it did with Moses.Sometimes we overcommit because we think we are the key to success. It won’t happen without us.

Have you ever had a day at work that left you dejected? Maybe you were turned down for a promotion, or maybe your idea didn’t get approved. Or maybe there was tension on the team that you were a part of. Maybe you made a mistake that cost the organization money. Whatever the situation, it left you down. For me personally, these things come in waves. I have seasons where it seems like I just keep getting lower and lower. As those seasons come, and they will, we can find ourself with A Dejected Heart.Sometimes we struggle in these seasons because:We think we are pioneers but our wagon wheels roll in the ruts of those who have gone before us.Ecclesiasties 1:9-10That means that somewhere, someone has walked the path you are walking.Look for people who have gone before you in real life2 Corinthians 1:3-72. Look for people who have gone before you in scripture Ezra We need to be reconciled to Christ ourselves (Ezra 9:3-5)In order to do that, we need to know God’s word. (Ezra 9:10-12)We must be willing to Obey what it says. (Ezra 7:10)We must be willing to direct others back into right living. (Ezra 10:10-11)Show grace in the process (Ezra 9:13)Ezra and NehemiahYou will find things in your life that need to be rebuiltWhen you find something that needs to be rebuilt, pray firstWhen you start rebuilding, expect oppositionYou can’t always rebuild on your own.God will not abandon youYour enemies will eventually lose confidenceThe Job isn’t going to be easy3. Make sure you are disconnecting when you canPut your phone away Focus on one thing at a time, and full invest in it. Look at people in the eyeWaste time Efficiency can add to dejection by making you think time spent resting and relaxing is a waste of time. God is faithful to complete his work. Philippians 1:6We aren’t finished yet, thus God has not yet completed what he is working on. This is a part of that process, and likely the hardship will move you closer to completion.

There are 3 things I think we forget when we doubt. In order to look at these doubt, I’m want to to start with what is true, and unpack some of the ways these our doubt expresses itself.1. We forget who is building the churchMatthew 16:182. We want our our wayIsaiah 55:8Job 38:4-73. We want the entire planGenesis 22:1-18God’s plan doesn’t always make sense to us. So often we have these plans in our mind that are so nice and tidy. What a wonderful roadmap! That isn’t usually what God’s plans look like. God asked Abraham to travel three days with his son processing the fact that he was instructed to sacrifice him. Can you imagine that walk?When your heart doubts the plan because it doesn’t make sense, remember that The Lord Will Provide. The most effective way to combat The Doubting Heart is to remember the truth found in Scripture. Don’t ever be tempted to think that a podcast, a blogpost, or a book can help you in the role you are in more than Scripture. I’m reminded of Psalm 105 “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.”

Distraction is nearly unidentifiable in the moment, but it has incredibly far reaching consequences. It looks different for different people, but it has the same result - it pulls you away from what is important.While distraction shows itself in a lot of different way, I want to focus on four signs of a Distracted Heart, and then look at what we can do about it. We are usually battling against distractions in our personal lives because it can help us avoid folding our laundry or fixing that leaky faucet that needs to get addressed. These all apply in that space, but I want to look at these from the perspective of our jobs. How does distraction express itself at work, and how should we respond?1. The distraction of interruption2. The distraction of talk.Proverbs 14:23In all labor there is profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.3. The distraction of things.Proverbs 12:11He who tills his land will have plenty of bread, but he who pursues worthless things lacks sense.4. The distraction of pursuits.Proverbs 28:19He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.Does any of this sound familiar? Can you see any of this fruit in your life? In a way, I want to encourage you that it probably will at some point. And really, the good news is that these things can change.If this is where you find yourself, it doesn’t mean you are stuck here forever. Here are some things that can help you check your heart.1. Focus on GodIdentify God in the little things in life. If the weather is nice, thank Him for it. If you are enjoying your cup of coffee or tea, thank Him for it. If you see something beautiful, thank Him for it. When we see God evident in the things we see every day in life, we train ourselves to bring Him into every decision. 2. Focus on peoplePut your phone away. Leave it on your desk. Set it on the counter when you get home. Choose to leave it in your purse or pocket. Don’t allow something to step in between you and the other human beings around you. 3. Remember that you can’t change hearts.Often distraction stems from a misunderstanding that we can actually change the human heart. When you understand that God is who can harden or soften the heart, you begin to see early “solutions” as potential distractions.Call it out. “While this may be good, it is not required for God to move”.4. Be successful with what you already have.Do you really need anything different to be successful? What if you budget was cut 10% next year. Would you have to shut your doors? Probably not. In fact, I believe that your ministry might actually get better. You have less money to spend on things that distract you from actually engaging in ministry.5. UnplugFight against distractions. Leave your phone on the counter when you get home. Put it in your bag at work. Mute notifications. Don’t wear a smartwatch. Do whatever you need to to keep focusing on the things that are important.Protect time on your calendar.Work in a different location sometimes. Ask others to cover you while you hide.6. Pray before you act7. Remember the missionAt the end of the day, you can’t forget the mission of the organization that you were hired to serve. Your job is to help accomplish that mission. Remember it. Read it again. Go ask your boss why you are there. Talk to the one in charge of it all. Talk to people whose lives have changed in part because of your organization’s work. Remember why you are there and focus on it.

Scripture is clear about the importance of unity in the body of Christ, but our sinful nature drives us toward disunity. Like all of these heart issues, they aren’t always clear to us, so let’s look through some of the indicators that can help us see The Divisive Heart expressed through our work.You care more about your roadmap than the missionYou major on the minorsYou forget what is at stakeYou become frustrated that people are getting in the way of your systems.Have you ever been frustrated at a person because they are preventing your ideal system from working? Be careful. It might be leading you toward a divisive heart.Does any of this sound familiar? Can you see any of this fruit in your life? In a way, I want to encourage you that it probably will at some point. And really, the good news is that these things can change.If this is where you find yourself, it doesn’t mean you are stuck here forever. Here are some things that can help you check your heart.1. Pray that God will soften your heart2. Start praying for other people3. Think before you speakProverbs 15:28The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things.Proverbs 15:18A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, but the slow to anger calms a dispute.4. Remember your role 5. Work hard in the right placesProverbs 18:19A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city, and contentions are like the bars of a citadel.Fight hard to maintain unity. Fight hard against a Divisive Heart. If division exists between you and others on the team, understand that it is hard to restore unity. But also understand that the work of that restoration is the most worthwhile work you can be doing. A clever new system won’t have more impact. An amazing new program won’t have more impact.Fight hard to win your brother or sister back.

Signs of a critical heart:You aren’t happy for someone elseYou assume any decision leadership makes is a bad oneYou are quick to become angry about everythingYou spend your time tearing others downDoes any of this sound familiar? Can you see any of this fruit in your life? In a way, I want to encourage you that it probably will at some point. And really, the good news is that these things can change.If this is where you find yourself, it doesn’t mean you are stuck here forever. Here are some things that can help you check your heart.1. Pray that God will soften your heartYou will not be able to change your heart without prayer. Ask God to reveal your critical heart to you.2. Start praying for other peopleThere were seasons where my heart was so critical that I couldn’t pray for someone else to be successful. So, I had to start praying that God would help me want to pray for someone to be successful. God is so gracious to lead us along in this way. Don’t take that for granted.3. Don’t trust one side of the story. Proverbs 18:17 The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes and examines him. Essentially what this does is it forces you not to make a quick judgement. The critical heart lives in the moment. It doesn’t do very well over time.Don’t trust what anyone says about anyone else. It doesn’t matter who it is. If the senior pastor of the organization comes to me and say something about someone else on the team, I don’t take it at face value. Go to the person in question and confirm it. What this has done for me is almost completely remove the ability for me to have a critical heart. Why? Because I have ALL the information. Now I can make a fair judgment based on all the information, not a rash judgement based on my critical heart.4. Slow downYou don’t need to react immediately.Proverbs 19:11 A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, And it is his glory to overlook a transgression.5. Heal the people around youProverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.What if the people around you are broken. Do you think that they are? Are they going through something? Is there something difficult happening in their job or family? Maybe a financial hardship? When we make rash judgements about people born out of our critical heart, we lose the opportunity to understand what the people around us actually need. Perhaps the most impactful recommendation I can give you is this: take all of the energy you spend making quick judgements about people, and use that energy on crafting pleasant words. Something that I’ve started doing is targeting people that are in the midst of making big, scary, or risky changes. I’ll talk to them about what they are working on, and I will invest my energy into encouraging them. Into affirming how God has made them. On telling them that God is working in their lives. That they are valuable and appreciated. And you can watch the sweetness of those words change their countenance, and give them a different perspective of the things they are doing.Imagine if your whole office was that way. Or your whole church! How about you start it.

If you left your job today, what would situation are you leaving behind? Have you made it better? Have you been a positive contributor, or an expectant consumer?2 Corinthians 5:17-2117 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, [a]he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18 Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and [b]He has [c]committed to us the word of reconciliation.20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.What are you doing to proactively cultivate reconciliation? Is that happening in your private conversations? What I want:my needs to be considered important Leadership to care more about my frustrations than the missionThe team to focus on what is hard for meThe energy of the organization to be spent making me feel comfortable and happy. What scripture calls me to:reconcile a lost world to Christ Is it possible to reconcile a lost world if you aren’t living in the midst of brokenness? Is it possible to heal something if it isn’t broken?We are called to a mission that is far greater than our comfort. I want to encourage you acknowledge that brokenness does in fact exist around you in your work. I also want to challenge you to leave a wake of redemption in your path. Care for the people around you. Look to serve rather than expecting to be served. Makes things beautiful.

Some of the tools in this series might be difficult to visualize in your mind, so I’ve put together examples of each tool that you can use in your context on my website. Head to mcurtis.co/clarity to find worksheets and examples.What is a Responsibility Matrix?It defines who is responsible for various parts of a project.You may have heard of a RACI. That is perhaps the most well known of the responsibility matrixes. In my opinion, there is one that is better suited to the church space called PACSI.PASCI is helpful in organizations where one person’s work can be reviewed or vetoed by others who are outside the process. This is typically necessary in organizations that empathize collaboration. That is squarely where we sit, which is why I prefer PACSI.Perform: who is expected to carry the execution workload?Accountable: who is “on the hook” for the final product? Who do we talk to if things didn’t go the way we expected, or exceeded our expectations?Control: Who has the ability to speak in heavily and even veto the project? This person may not be directly involved in any of the development.Suggest: Whose opinion should be considered as counsel?Informed: Who should be informed of the result of the project?What does a Responsibility Matrix do?The only thing a Responsibility Matrix does is clearly define who is responsible for each area of a project’s completion.I’ve found two things happen when project roles aren’t clearly defined. They are wildly inefficient. They create mistakes. What does a Responsibility Matrix not do?A responsibility Matrix doesn’t mean these out of bounds conversations stop happening. How did we begin to implement this?Anytime we had a major project to work on, a lot of things went wrong. Things would be pulled out at the last minute, but their impact wasn’t what it could have been.We were getting changes from dozens of people, and some of it was undoing what someone else had just asked us to change.We needed to simplify the process, so we started asking “who is the project point person”. In other words, we were saying “who is Accountable”. Once we defined that, we spoke to no one else. From there, the other letters of the acronym became more clear.This can be applied to large projects like our example, small projects, job descriptions, and even major functions across the organization like “volunteers”, “giving”, or “the assimilation process”. There are two reason I think you should begin implementing a Responsibility Matrix:You will be helping the organization get better. Every project you apply this to will experience less friction, and will encounter less inaccuracies. That could mean a lot of different things in your context, but less friction and more accuracy is a win no matter what you are doing.You will be gaining experience at managing projects well when you do move up. The other great thing about a Responsibility Matrix is that you can implement it simply by behaving differently.When I began doing this, I was worried that people would be frustrated. Quite the opposite. Everyone was thrilled at how much easier project went along.

Some of the tools in this series might be difficult to visualize in your mind, so I’ve put together examples of each tool that you can use in your context on my website. Head to mcurtis.co/clarity to find worksheets for each tool as each episode is released.What is the Eisenhower Box?A simple structure that helps you understand the urgency and importance of each task on your listThe basic analysis is broken into four categories Urgent and Important: Stuff you should get done right awayNot urgent and Important: Great stuff to get done, but you have some time to accomplish it.Urgent and Not Important: This stuff is stressful–there is a lot of pressure with these projects, but they aren’t as important as others may make them out to be.Not Urgent and Not Important: These are just plain old time wasters. What does the Eisenhower Box do?The Eisenhower Box helps you understand reality. When we have a lot on our plate, we begin to feel like everything is a crisis. The reality is that it isn’t. And that’s what this tool helps us see. It helps us course correct our emotional response to our workload.What does the Eisenhower Box not do?The Eisenhower Box doesn’t actually do any of the work for us, sadly. It just helps us know what is important. Let’s walk through the sample Eisenhower Box togetherContextHigh production life as a graphic designer in a churchProjects coming in all the time - some last minute, some not. No constant turnaround timesThe world begins to blur at this point, and the weight of the design load can lead to burnout.This tool works at every level of the organization. When I say to myself “I feel so busy right now”, that’s the trigger for me to pull this out. The same goes when someone says they are feeling overwhelmed. Great. Let’s assess reality together.

This week, we continue our Tools for Clarity series by looking at the PEST analysis. Some of the tools in this series might be difficult to visualize in your mind, so I’ve put together examples of each tool that you can use in your context on my website. Head to mcurtis.co/clarity to find worksheets for each tool as each episode is released.What is a PEST Analysisa formalized way of thinking through different parts of your organizationThe basic analysis is broken into four categories Political: what are the political things happening in your city, region, state, or country that have the potential to impact how your organization functions or is viewed? Evangelicals and Trump Local politics Labor laws changing? Economical: what is happening economically that could impact the way your organization functions? Broaden this to include the impact economics have on your congregationThink back to the housing crisis: people losing their homes. That has a big impact on your people, and thus your organization.Social: what realities exist in the social space? What is the expectation of staff entering the work force? What are growing trend-sensitivities of the people in your region?Technological: what is happening in the space of technology that your organization should be attentive to? Are you speaking the native language of people, or are you speaking old language? Is technology changing the way people interact with organizations? Are you adapting? What does the PEST do?The PEST Analysis helps you assess what things going on outside your organization have the potential to impact your organization. Often the PEST analysis will help feed the “opportunities” and “threats” portion of your SWOT Analysis.What doe a PEST not to?A PEST Analysis doesn’t solve you problems, is simply identifies what is going on outside the organization so you can begin assessing how those things will impact the organization.Let’s walk through the sample PESTContextWorking through the consideration of an online expression of churchWe didn’t want to do this “just because”The PEST Analysis helped identify some of the reasons we should have the conversation, but also helped us identify some of the pitfalls we wanted to avoid.Keep in mind, this tool was being used deep within the organization to identify something that we should propose to leadership. While leadership is served well by using a tool like this, it can be incredibly helpful by you in your department today.

This week, we begin our Tools for Clarity series. We are going to start our series off with the SWOT analysis. Some of the tools in this series might be difficult to visualize in your mind, so I’ve put together examples of each tool that you can use in your context on my website. Head to mcurtis.co/clarity to find worksheets for each tool as each episode is released.What is a SWOT Analysisa formalized way of thinking through different parts of your organizationThe analysis is broken into four categories Strengths: what are you good at?Weaknesses: what are you not so good at?Opportunities: what are areas we can invest in that drive the missionThreats: what things can sabotage your accomplishment of the mission What does the SWOT do?It clarifies and pinpoints specific issues that your team or organization need to be aware of. What doe a SWOT not to?A SWOT doesn’t give you a plan of attack. It simply identifies what you should attack.Let’s walk through the sample SWOTContextJust taken over a team with a really bad reputationPeople didn’t want to work with usThe team was frustrated and bitter, and we needed to change our behavior.This example is based on that season.Keep in mind, while I was over a team, I was nestled deep into the organization at this point. I wasn’t in charge. No one told me to do this. This is a tool you can use at any level of the organization to help add clarity.

This week, I to talk about the importance of clarity in you day to day. I believe that a lack of clarity is the most reliable way to fail. Most of the time we are quick to blame leadership for a lack of clarity, but there are things we can do to cultivate clarity regardless of our place in the organization. Over the next few episodes, I’ll be going through different tools that I have found to be incredibly helpful for adding clarity within my area of influence, and they’ve even helped add clarity outside my ministry. In this episode however, I want to unpack some of the specific reasons clarity is even important in the first place.Why is clarity so important?1. It tells you where to goProgress doesn’t happen on accident2. It tells you where not to goEvery destination isn’t the right one.Often our temptation is to do good things. In reality, though, we can’t do all the good things well. Focus on the few good things – usually connected to the mission of the organization – and say no to everything else. 3. It helps you identify winsWhat should we repeat?If we haven’t identified what a win is, we won’t know.4. It helps you identify who needs to growIf clarity doesn’t exist in your organization, it won’t be clear how people on your team need to grow.Ok, great. So clarity is important. But how do we get there when you don’t run the show? I’m glad you asked.Focus on adding clarity in your area first.Are you giving leadership status updates on your projects?If someone wants to work with your team, is it clear how they can do that?Are there areas within your team that aren’t clear? Make them clear!2. Invite others into clarityWhen people participate in work with you, model what clarity looks like for them. Don’t expect them to be clear, or even to acknowledge the clarity that you are bringing. Instead, let your projects be more successful.3. Protect the clarity you do have.Remember that this is a long term approach. You will not change the organization over night. That’s ok. You aren’t trying to change everything–you are trying to make your specific area better through clarity.Now, I want to make it clear that while you can help improve the clarity that happens in your area, if clarity isn’t a cultural value, you might not be able to make significant change that sticks outside of your area. Usually when a culture doesn’t value clarity, it is because it values something else more.Sometimes it’s the “family nature” of the staffSometimes personal preference is more important than claritySometimes there is an unwillingness to enforce a uniform approach to planningRarely, however, is it an active rejection of clarity. I like to think of it this way. Let’s say someone painted a wall blue. But you think the wall should be yellow. If you say to the painter “we need more yellow”, they’ll be a bit confused. Sure, yellow is nice, but we painted the wall blue. It was a matter of saying yes to blue more than it was a matter of saying no to yellow.Clarity is often a casualty of another value.But now what? How do I get there from here? That’s what the next several episodes are going to be about. Over the next few weeks, I’m going to feature a tool that you can implement in your job - regardless of your role. We’ll look at the purpose of each tool, how to apply it in your context, and what next steps it will help you take. Even if you are the only one in your organization to use these tools, they will help you bring clarity to your organization.

What an Organizational Hero is not.You stay late to complete a project every so often.You work a lot of hours over a short period of time because of an high-impact season Let’s say summer camp, Christmas, a major outreach promotion. You work really hardYou feel like you can do a better job at something than someone elseYou take pride in your workWhat an Organizational Hero is.Essentially, the Organizational Hero is the extreme case of these tendencies.You stay late to complete a project regularly. You always feel like you have more work than you can get done.You always have a reason to work a lot of hours–regardless of the ministry season.You work really hard without taking breaks to restYou feel like you can do things better than others, but you take on more yourself rather than helping them do better workYou find your identity in your workHow do people become Organizational Heroes?1. You love the organization.2. Leadership affirms that you should invest more.3. You are proud.How Organizational Heroes hurt the organization.1. They hide issues2. The drive a toxic staff culture3. They burn out and increase turnover4. They prevent others from developing5. They make it impossible for leadership to planWhat do I do about it?1. Check your heartAddress the root of pride in your life that is causing you to elevate yourself above your peers and look down on them. Instead, identify someone you work with that you can help make better. 2. Start measuring thingsIt’s hard to tell if you are losing weight without weighing yourselfIt’s hard to tell if you are running faster if you aren’t timing yourselfIt’s hard to tell if you are lifting more if you aren’t keeping a logIt’s hard to tell if you are under budget if you aren’t tracking your expensesHow can you tell if you are taking on too much if you aren’t keeping track of what you are doing? Track your time over the course of a week. Look at where you time is going. Start learning how much time each of your tasks takes. For example, how long does your small group take? Most people will say “a couple of hours”. Is that true? Is it more like 2.5? Sometimes is it 3? The difference between an even taking 2 hours and 3 hours becomes really important when leadership asks you to add another responsibility to your plate.3. Talk about itHave conversations with leadership unpacking what your workload looks like. If you just say you “feel busy”, you haven’t helped anyone. Explain what things take the most time, and see if there is something that can come off your plate.Leadership won’t react immediately because the conversations you have are the beginning of them studying the situation and seeing how they can best solve the problem, while also accomplishing goals for the organization.These are ongoing conversations that help you and leadership. Having them might feel embarrassing at first, or even like you are failing. But you aren’t failing. You are hanging up your cape so the organization can be made better.

Types of imbalanceChurch of Chaos (not efficient) Things take longer, and its quite possible that staff is struggling to keep up with all of the things that need to get done. Not because there are too many things, but because each thing is taking too long. Everything is running inefficiently. Church of ImprovementScale demands efficiency. And so, the process to make things efficient begins.Things like facilities, communications, productions, and even some high level ministry programs like small groups or weekends start finding a groove.Obviously with all these improvements, we want more efficiency.The Church of EfficiencyThen one day, you find yourself here. Efficient. Streamlined. High performance, but soulless.The joy just isn't there any more. What happened?Efficiency happened. The Balanced ChurchThe role of efficiency in the church is to allow inefficiency to be used well. When inefficiency is removed all together, all the aspects of ministry that can't be streamlined suffer.The quest for efficiency is centered around the mission of the church. I believe that if you are regularly rushing through a counseling appointment or a shepherding opportunity for the sake of maximizing time, you are minimizing your impact. How to identify a culture that has overvalued efficiency:Conversations are rushed. Relationships don't have the time to breath that they need to. We don't feel comfortable being still and listening to the spirit. Relationships are inefficient. Hospital visits take time. Ministry doesn't always go according to the script, and rarely can it be broken into the 30 minute calendar slots we allocate for it. Two values I hold in high regard for our team.Take as much work off our ministry teams as we can so they can focus on the ministry they have been called to.Serve our ministry teams with joy.What does that mean for our team?It means that we are willing to go out of our way if a helps free up our ministry teams, or if it supports them above and beyond their expectations.If it doesn’t move forward either of those values, we get it done efficiently. We need balanceRelationships are the context in which significant moments happen. Feedback, personal and professional improvement, encouragement, development, growth, change, and even Biblical correction. They all happen in relationship.If you or your team are looking for ways to become more efficient as an organization, answer these two questions:What is our primary ministry focus?Where does my time get spent each week?When you see where your time goes, you will know what thinks you need to look at. Identify the areas where a lot of time is being spent, but wouldn't be identified as your primary ministry focus. The size of your team doesn’t matter. There is still value in becoming more efficient at non-missional tasks.Bottom line:Relationships are more valuable than completed work. Don’t just keep adding more work at the cost of relationship.

Seven Simple ways you can get better at your job.Show up on time When you show up on time, you begin to cultivate a reputation of being dependableIf you are regularly late, people will filter what you say through their perception of you. This usually frustrates people. The good news, however, is that you can easily avoid this problem all together by showing up on time.Choose to grow in your discipline. Set alerts on your computer, phone, watch, shoes, whatever has notifications on it. Don’t book back to back meetings if you struggle with being on time. Leave padding between meetings.Communicate if you are going to be late.A proactive “sorry, I’m running late” lessens the frustration.2. Be preparedCome to meetings having done workStay focused on the agendaUnderstand the counter arguments and be prepared to address themDon’t make up answers. If you don’t know, say that you will find the answer and do it ASAP.Think about what those listening care about. What information do they need to know in order to make a good decision? Some care about budget. Some theology. Some data. Don’t judge what they want to know, provide answers. 3. Be a multilayered thinkerSweat the details when you are presentingAnticipate the next question, and have an answer for itTie what is happening to the objective What are you trying to accomplish, and how does it help move the mission forward? 4. Put in more effort Try three things before asking for helpTry to find the answer on your ownPay attention to what you tried before Projects seem to take way more or way less time than we think they should. Don’t lose your due diligence just because this project is taking longer. 5. Ask clarifying questionsIf you don’t understand something, ask for clarificationThere is nothing shameful about needing more clarification Projects I’ve been on that lack clarity usually lack success as well 6. Stop giving upDon’t stop with your assessment of a “no”Share what brought you to that conclusion, and let others speak into itThe hurdles you see might not be as big as you thinkThe project might be more important than you realize7. Respect the time of others.Before you walk into a meeting or a conversation, have a clear plan of attack. Seek the information you need, and be ready to move on. Consider the time you are taking from others. Don’t demand more time than you need. Free them up to continue to pursue the ministry they have been called to. Bottom line:More often than not, the difference between success and failure is found in our willingness to work hard at the little things.

Six ways personal preference destroys your organization. Preference fuels divisionSomeone wins, someone losesPeople become jealous when an idea you pitch gets approvedPeople get disappointed when their ideas aren’t approvedIt becomes my idea vs. your idea - you vs. mewe throw out ideas because of who they come from, not based on the caliber of the idea itself. People get labeled as “bad sources” and are functionally silenced Tribes begin to develop within the staff (and often beyond it). You need one of two things in order to make decisions: power or expertise. Leaders point to the org chart when advocating for their preference Experts design systems that only other experts can maintain in order to protect their preference 2. Preference feeds prideWhen someone’s preferences are allowed to move forward, it feeds a “build my empire” attitude.This doesn’t typically start as the main objective. We unintentionally create our own vision. I want our design to be off the charts creative That doesn’t actually work in our context I get frustrated that I can’t accomplish my vision. 3. Preferences alienates peoplePreference prevents us from considering anyone else’s opinion or perspective when “choosing a side” Approach to music Teaching style Approach to Discipleship Digital vs. print Approach to Evangelism Approach to community engagement What color our logo is What our welcome gift is How the website looks Without running these through the filter of your church’s mission, you will be less effective at reaching people in your congregation. I often see people want to get rid of printed programs without considering if printed programs are effective. Sometimes you do need to blaze a trail, but you need evidence to back it up. Don’t get caught up by the advice of other experts without assessing your context. Eventually, preference even pulls us away from God’s word. We no longer make our decisions surrounding what the church is called to in Scripture…we just keep chasing our preference. Our people are alienated as a result.4. Preference wastes resourcesPreference is the fuel for mission driftConversations are around “who is asking for this”, not “how does this help us move the mission forward”. Often a piece of someone’s preference is approved, but another part isn’t. This leads so incomplete or bad solutions. Over time, preference trains us to think wrongly. The organization loses the ability to think on mission, so the ideas become less and less effective at moving the right things forward. This is, in part, why organizations wake up one day and are in need of repair in dozens of areas. 5. Preference ignores factsSometimes the truth is difficult. But that doesn’t mean we can just ignore it. If your congregation gives at a certain rate, you can’t just wish for it to be different. If kids aren’t coming to your VBS, you can’t assume the program can’t change. If people are leaving your church, you can’t assume it’s a “them problems”. The problem with presence, however, is that we often don’t want to make the changes that the data leads us to. Not every decision should be data driven in the church. But your defense against data should be scripture, not preference. 6. Preference usurps&

The approach to multi-site ministry has evolved over the years. In a lot of ways, there aren’t any clear methodologies that we can identify because each church tends to Frankenstein together their own approach based on their ministry goals. Often the primary direction of multisite isn’t clear to the staff because leadership allows the model to unfold. I’ve heard numerous stories of a particular model of multisite being pursued for years only to have everything changed–or in some cases, entirely undone. Ultimately, time spent in the model reveals the implications the multisite model.Three primary approaches to multisiteFranchiseLeast impact on central support staffingLeast autonomy for ministry teamsFew differences between campusesEvaluation stems from how well you implemented what you were told to implementEverything is led by the central teamChurch Plant (or localized)Each campus can make their own decisionsIn some cases, leadership teams are developed on each campus (even independent boards)Each campus builds it’s own infrastructure and support teamsIn some cases, campuses eventually become independentHybridHere is where things get crazyWe want uniqueness, but we don’t want to hire more teamsWe want campuses to drive all decisionsCentral teams shift from contributors to respondersWorkloads increase, but depth of work decreasesThere is never a “final state”, as pressure tends to inform decisions more than strategyThis is a very common model because it allows for some things to be franchise, but others to be unique and localized.What changes with multisite?Multisite requires more systemsNo single person owns anything anymore.No single students person, there are now multiple. This means a culture of partnership and collaboration are not optional.Multisite requires more conversationI’ve heard it said that when your church grows significantly, the complexity grows exponentially.It becomes much more complex to minister to many more peopleIn that line of thinking, I would say multisite makes reaching the same amount of people exponentially more complex.In the beginning, almost every decision requires a lot of people’s inputMultisite requires more humilityMoving something forward in the organization is rarely driven by a single person anymoreNow, nearly every decision that is made impacts someone. Remember, you now have more than one of almost everyone. If you design a great baptism shirt for one campus, another campus might want to use it. Or, they might want their own shirt.This conversation happens regardless of your model. Just because you are franchise doesn’t mean people have stopped caring about being unique. Just because you aren’t franchise doesn’t mean people have stopped caring about being efficient.Now every decision requires a conversation. It could be “we need to be unified under our franchise approach”, or “is it ok to share this”, or “you need to be caring about making your campus unique”. Partnering to figure stuff out takes humilityMultisite requires more patienceWhen everyone comes around the table to try to make a decision, it reveals who is on mission, and who isn’t.It also reveals that the mission might not be as clear as we thought it wasYou can’t assume others are against the mission if they are advocating for something agains the mission. It probably just means the mission wasn’t as clear as you thought.This process make it feel like the organization has completely stalled. It hasn’t, you are just doing the hard work of bu

This week we are going to finish our conversation on branding. If you haven’t listened to part 1 of this conversation, hit pause and go listen to part one. This week we will reference a case study on mcurtis.co that works through the transition from a house of brands to a branded house.What does a strong church brand do?It delivers on the promise of growing people in their walk with Christ If you have an event, it moves people toward growth It helps clarify pathways for spiritual growth. It directs those with needs to biblical solutions It is an identifier of a specific gathering of the body of Christ It reveals the transformative power of a legitimate relationship with Christ to a doubting and lost world It is a testimony of the truth of God’s word, and of God’s promises through the body of Christ It values the right things It can be a tool to articulate what is importantSometimes we lose sight of the larger mission because of our love for our own area of focus.Multisite usually focuses the conversation of house of brands vs branded house, but I think our values should.Case StudyEvery ministry had a logo, and every ministry leader wanted their logo to be amazing. We were constantly rebranding ministriesThat isn’t a good branding practice, and it is an expensive use of timeMultisite amplified the complexity. We were now tasked with overseeing, designing, revising, and maintaining hundreds of logos. We weren’t helping people find what they needed. Catchy names, witty abbreviations, and a completely internal language that visitors couldn’t engage. This is a house of brands - unique everything for everyone We moved to a branded house - one brand with minor, plain name customizations for each ministry. Recommendations for a branding solutionYou brand should establish a visual hierarchy based on importance1. Church first2. Campus second3. Ministry thirdEverything your church does should function within this system. Affirms that a win for any team is a win every team.Affirms that a win for any campus is a win for every campus.Your brand should have goals that move forward the mission:Clarity: People who have never been to our church need to understand what we are saying without us explaining it. Consistency: Consistent branding helps people understand what we are saying, and reinforces that we are one church with multiple ministry sites. Scalability: This new branding philosophy can be implemented quickly which will allow us to move at the speed of ministry. Flexibility: As each campus begins developing and investing in a local focus, this approach positions us to help support better. Unity: As an organization, every ministry win is a win for our church.Bottom line:The strongest brand isn’t one that wins awards for looks, it’s one that points your congregation and your staff toward the mission.

Schedule a meeting with someone just to see how they are doing. Take them to coffee, go to lunch, or just chat with them at work.Focus the conversation on them, not on you.Listen more than you talk.By getting to know how others are doing, you force yourself to recognize that other people are going through things as well. Burnout is telling you that your life is worse than everyone else’s. It’s a lie. As you hear from others, you are warring against the lies burnout is telling you.

Church branding has become a more popular than ever. But what exactly is it?What is a brand? Start by what it isn’t:- it isn’t a logo- It isn’t a product- It isn’t your most successful ministry- It isn’t the quality of your outreachA brand is made up of those things, but at the end of the day, a brand is the entirety of someone’s perception of you from their perspective. This perception is what drives how someone decides to behave.Sometimes this gets abstract, so let me share some stories.We have a van that always breaks down. My perception of the brand is far more than the logo or the iconic look of the car. The brand has a negative connotation because of how it delivered on it’s promises.We have a car that seems to keep going despite our lack of care for it. I have a positive view of the brand because I can’t seem to break it. This vehicle overdelivered on its promises.I have used a certain brand of computer for a long time with great success. Lately though, it seems like the promises aren’t being delivered on as consistently. So my perception of the brand is changing.- Not a bad single experience, and eroding wholistic experience. When you stop delivering on what you promise, people will leave over time.Who contributes to a church brand?Congregation - the way that those in your church family live their lives outside the wall of the church has heavy influence on the perception of the church. Interestingly, it also informs the perception of the capital C church. And even Christ.This is is why pursuing Biblical instruction when it comes to the function of the ministry of the church is so importantChurch Staff - You are being looked at more closely on all these thingsEvery decision you make says something about what you value. Church Leadership - Your decisions are modeling the behavior that the Christian in your church thinks they should model. You need to be making decisions that are biblical, and that move your congregation to recognize that scripture is what defines their direction, not just to you. But they will look heavily to you and the decisions you make!How do you define the brand?- Defining what your church is known for isn’t really up to your preference–it’s up to scripture- While we aren’t in complete control of the brand, we can encourage people toward something.- Scripture tells us where to point them!Throughout scripture we see things that point to behaviors the church should be known for. Some keys:The church is about Christ, not the senior pastor, worship team, local outreach, social impact, look and feel, design, student programs, kids programs or facilities. It is about Christ. - 3 JohnMaking disciples, baptizing them - Matthew 28:16-20Unity - Romans 14:19Humility, peace filled - Romans 12:16Restoration, Peace - 2 Corinthians 13:11What you may notice in this is that any church’s brand will be defined by the believers that are a part of your body, not by things you control. And it should be. Your church should be pointing people to Christ. Whenever I have conversations about branding, I can’t help but think of James 1:22 "Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says."So then, what is the value of as strong church brand? That’s what we will focus on next week. We are going to look at the role of brand in the church, and an example of how our branding (logo and brand strategy) can help contribute to what we learned about today.Bottom line:No logo, mission statement, tagline or ad campaign can overcome the impact of a congregation that is not living in line with the biblical mandates that have been placed on their lives. We have to acknowledge this or we will become embittered