So what is a Dynamic Church?

Jeff Hook — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 21:02:00 GMT

Dynamic, simply put, means change. When we say we accelerate the dynamic church we mean we help it accelerate in growth. So how do we do that? We help it accelerate in growth by helping its processes scale so that it takes less people to do more things, such as contact follow-up, activity registration, activity check-in, etc. If a church does not invest in some forms of automation, then as it increases in size, it takes more people to accomplish the same things just from a volume standpoint. Sometimes this is achievable through volunteers, up to a point; most of the time, it simply breaks down in execution.

A thriving, healthy church should be changing all of the time. The Christians who have been attending for a while should be maturing in their faith. That maturing should enable them to accomplish things that they were not able to accomplish before – remember, faith can move mountains! These same mature Christians should be mentoring younger Christians who are maturing as well. In both cases, the maturing is change. Both of these groups should be inviting and bringing in seekers and sinners, thus changing the landscape even further. This changing body, if done at a successful rate, is thus creating a dynamic environment. A church that is not dynamic is dying.

Having everyone who enters the church doors, who is going to stay, conform to the culture of the congregation is no longer valid. Even middle class America is changing and no longer as we once knew it. Whatever made us think that God produced us using some standard assembly line in heaven like some car manufacturer putting black hair on some, blond on others, white skin on some, and then brown skin on others? As our mommas always taught us, we are ALL unique. This uniqueness (we now also refer to it, in some cases, as diversity) adds to the dynamic nature of a healthy church.

Some say that being accepting of others and how they live will be the downfall of Christianity. The fact is we are all sinners and we all sin; it is our nature. Some of us sin very publicly; others sin in private and then others even without our own knowledge. For example, many prideful people do not even recognize their own sin, which at times includes me; sometimes it has to be pointed out by someone else or perhaps the Spirit. The “Church” (that is you and me, we make up the church) needs to get past judging people because they are not like us, their skin color, their political party, or their sin. Jesus’ second great commandment is “love your neighbor as yourself.” He did not add any qualifiers to that statement.

So what does that have to do with a dynamic church? We can all become more dynamic if we embrace change by embracing others who are unlike us. What does that have to do with Fellowship One? This diversity can be better serviced if those differences are tracked and then catered to by addressing the individual needs of each segment of the congregation. Even though some of our needs are universal, we are all different and have some different needs. Not only that, because we are always changing, those differences that are tracked are dynamic as well. Without a strong church management system, the church can lose track of the needs of the different groups within the body of Christ.

Grace to you as you embrace change,

Jhook

Could your church learn something from Google?

Jeff Hook — Fri, 10 Nov 2006 14:28:00 GMT

Google is arguably one of the most successful software companies of the new millennium. No offense meant to Microsoft (I am still a very big proponent of .Net), but since Y2K, Google has evolved from simply a search engine to one of the most powerful and ubiquitous platforms of the Internet; and I get the feeling they are just getting started. Can a church look at what drives Google's success and apply some of the lessons learned to impact their own success? Let's take a closer look at some of Google's characteristics and you decide.

If you look at the information readily available from Google's corporate website (investor.google.com) as well as read the books published about their success such as The Google Story by David Vise and Mark Malseed or The Search: How Google and Its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of Business and Transformed Our Culture by John Battelle, or talk to some of the folks who work at or with their employees, you can see many of the following traits:

Sense of Moral Obligation - "Do no evil" is Google's motto to the point that they live and breathe by it. Each employee has a strong sense of moral awareness and responsibility to their end-users, who have placed their trust in Google to deliver the best user experience possible. Being a part of something that matters and working on products that you believe in is remarkably fulfilling. If working on a search engine coupled with an "advertising revenue model" is fulfilling, how much more fulfilling is helping people deal with the challenges of life and their long-term soul disposition? Isn't it important for the church to help each person have the best "life experience" possible?
Servicing End Users - One of Google's original goals is to develop services that significantly improve the lives of as many people as possible. The goal of the church and how it measures itself needs to include the obligation of providing service to the congregation. When I talk about the business of the church I am not talking about the back office functions of the church - the business of the church are the people and helping them live life to the full. How's your customer service?
Creativity - Innovation is definitely in Google's bloodline. They approach problems differently and thus their solutions are innovative. One of their strengths comes from the fact that they encourage every employee to bring forth creative, unique ideas. Is your church encouraging innovation within its ministries or is it just the same old thing?
People Investment - Google makes their employees feel like they are important and valued simply because they are people - sounds like the Christian thing to do! Not only do they provide great benefits, Google tries to create a workplace environment that is fun and can contribute to inspiration. They try to put in place an environment where people will want to actually enjoy coming to work. How many churches create such a fun, yet spiritually inspiring environment? If the staff and volunteers are happy, perhaps even having fun, aren't they showing the good side of Christianity? Isn't that life to the full?
Attitude - Google sets the bar extremely high and always strives to deliver more than expected. They do not accept the best as an end-point, but instead as a starting point. What a great perspective! How can a church view excellence as a starting point not an end point? You can examine that in your church from how the budget is established through how the strategy is executed. Too many churches settle for mediocrity - in their Sunday service message to their follow-up on inquiries to their children's curriculum to their __( you fill in the blank )__.

The formula for success at Google is not necessarily new. Look at other companies with similar success stories and you will find many of the same characteristics. But in examining Google's success, isn't it reassuring to know the formula still works. Now if we can only remember this as we deal with each other on a day-to-day basis - it is all about execution!

Grace to you,

Jhook

Accelerating the Dynamic Church : Culture

So what is a Dynamic Church?

Could your church learn something from Google?