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| Deacon Newsletters |
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Saturday, 12 September 2009
As of September, 2009 I decided to stop my monthly online deacon newsletter and shift to writing a monthly newsletter for all church leaders. These newsletters will be posted on www.transformingsolutions.org website and www.thecolumbiapartnership.org .
I will continue to do deacon and congregational consultation through The Columbia Partnership, writing for the Deacon Magazine. Contact me at EHammett@thecolumbiapartnership.org or by calling 828 458-8954
Wednesday, 01 July 2009
Instructions: Understanding that churches have different models, cultures and polity there are some fairly universal standards used to determine the effectiveness of deacon ministry in a local congregation. This tool is designed to be given to the deacon body, deacon families/groupings and the congregation. I would suggest that each evaluating group be calculated separately and compared. Often there is a major discrepancy between the groups and that gives clarity about challenges, conflicts and possible next steps.
Person completing this survey: (mark only one)
- Deacon
- Family/Group Deacon is assigned to serve
- Congregation Member without an assigned deacon or knowledge of such an assignment
- Congregation Guest/Attendee
Effectiveness Indicators: (mark all that apply)
Awareness:
- I have a clear understanding of the model/plan of deacon ministry our church follows now . Model Description: _______________________________________
- I have some meaningful contact with a deacon (or my assigned families) at least 3 times a year (my deacon would be appropriate if your church assigns groups of persons to a deacon)
- Our deacon ministry effectiveness is: (use this scale and place an X to represent your evaluation)
Ineffective_______________Average ___________Effective___________GREAT
Servanthood:
- Our deacons are consistent in modeling servanthood among our congregation
- Our deacons spearhead ministry/mission projects as a role model for our congregation
- Our deacons give evidence of a consistent and effective prayerlife
- Our deacons are seen as spiritual leaders in our church and community
Function of Service:
- Deacon meetings are excited about their function of service in the church
- Deacon meetings are fruitful in moving the church forward in ministry and mission
- Deacon ministry has scriptural mandates for deacon ministry as it's model
- Deacon ministry is designed and loyal to traditional role of deacons more than biblical guidelines
- Deacons are the clearinghouse for most church decisions
- Deacons are informed about decisions made by other committees/teams that are empowered by the church to carry out administrative/maintenance related issues
- Deacons are effective in care-giving and service to membership
- Deacons are effective in ministry in the community
My Suggestion(s) to Improve Deacon Ministry includes: (mark all that apply)
- Improve number of meaningful contacts between deacon(s) and congregation
- Give deacons higher visibility in worship and communication
- Included unordained members of the congregation in service ministries
- Empower church committees/teams to deal with administrative issues (i.e. budget, staffing, maintenance of facilities etc.)
- Share stories in worship about the influence and impact of deacon ministry on our church and community
- Inform the congregation prior to nomination/election time about:
- Biblical Foundation of Deacon Ministry
- Ministry Model Being Used at the Time
- Biographical information about deacon and their family members
- Other________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________
copyright held by Eddie Hammett www.transformingsolutions.org
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
In 2009 many families, careers, churches and communities are facing uncommon economic hardships due to a downturn in the international economy. Unemployment is high, family tensions are mounting over day to day living, delayed college for children and delayed retirement for many are everywhere. How are churches facing these current realities?
What are the issues many churches are facing today? How are churches growing through these times? What are the opportunities these challenging times are creating for churches?
Overview of Some Issues
- Family stress fueled by economic challenges
- Finding God in the tough times
- Downturn in church funds when benevolent needs are increasing
- Need to streamline programming because travel expense prohibits multiple trips to the church
- Challenge to be relevant in preaching, worship and programming
Growth Opportunities in Challenging Times
Tough times never last but tough people and churches do. Here are some ways churches are exemplifying growth in spirit and number during these tough economic times.
- Tough times call deacons back to the biblical foundation of spiritual formation and direction rather than management http://www.baptistdistinctives.org/textonly18.html
- Creating helping hands ministries that assist with home, health care, economic needs of the unemployed
- Creating structures and ministries utilizing the skills of the unemployed to give them meaning and purpose during these days and to help others in crisis
- Finding and implementing creative ways of funding ministry. (i.e. utilizing www.goodsearch.com as a way of funding ministries)
- Creating partnerships with businesses, other churches, other denominations to address the needs at hand http://www.cbcquincy.org/2008/10/02/soup-kitchen-new-diaconate-ministry/
- Bible study and worship themes find relevancy and deeper meaning as members, community leaders are invited to share where and how they are experiencing and finding God during these difficult days
- Media libraries and church websites and newsletters take on a relevancy as a means of sharing updates on job markets, resource websites, books, networks etc
- Churches are creating job banks in their churches for the community's unemployed to network, pray, find support and assistance for retooling and re-careering while reworking resume's etc.
- Celebrate the support of biological and surrogate families
- Create forums for those who survived and thrived during the depression of the ?30's to share their learnings with those of this generation
- Encourage and create forums for children and youth to talk with their peers and for the adults to talk with their peers
- Celebrate learnings, support networks, prayers answered and new careers discovered! Commission those who venture out into new waters of daily work to go there as a missionary
Resources to Consider:
Loving Our Neighbor: A Thoughtful Approach to Helping People In Poverty by Beth L. Templeton - Seasoned Guidance On How to Practice Wise Compassion Order at www.amazon.com
İEddie Hammett www.transformingsolutions.org
Monday, 30 March 2009
What About Stewardship in These Times?
In days of increasing unemployment, downsizing of family/individual budgets and increasing demands for church budgets how do we deal with these realities and continue to move forward? This question, along with many others are at the forefront of the minds of many leaders and churches.
Stewardship is about giving – How can a church give back to members these days? How can members give to churches? How can churches give to communities – churched and unchurched? Maybe we need to rethink what we mean by giving. Consider….
How can a church give back to members these days? Consider…
- Offering financial counsel and coaching to members to help them rethink their budget, reduce their credit etc. The Financial Peace University is a helpful tool www.daveramsey.com
- Creating a safe place for all family members to dialogue and pray about financial adjustments they face as well as career challenges
- Invite members to give time/skills/energy to the church instead of giving money. That is what skills can they offer that might compensate for their tithes/offerings while income is low. Maybe custodial services, equipment repair, lawn care etc.?
- Offer genuine encouragement, affirmations and celebrate the things in life and faith that can be celebrated….birthdays, anniversaries, health and faith recoveries, children’s first steps, new friends, new jobs, new skills etc…..
How can a church give to their communities – churched and unchurched people? Consider….
- Offer training/budget counseling, in partnership with members of the community or church, who have financial counseling or money management skills.
- Offer safe places for prayer and discernment for all members of the family or even age group dialogues to help them reframe current realities and find the security of God’s presence in tough times.
- Plan, in cooperation with the community, a job fair or a job bank designed to help network, create new resume’s or create mentoring relationships.
- Waterfront Church in Chicago found a great way of giving back to their members – they design their ministries in such a way to minimize their weekly financial needs so they can give their tithes away to people who need it. Visit http://www.waterfrontcc.com/loving-god-and-people-well/ and their video at http://www.waterfrontcc.com/blog/
- Neel Road Baptist Church www.neelroad.org offers prayer and support groups for the unemployed and their families in Salisbury, NC. Periodically they invite in community leaders to help with resume’ updating, interviewing skills etc.
- First Baptist Church Huntersville, NC responds in practical and powerful ways through their community based ministries that feed, cloth, offer financial counseling and spiritual counseling to persons in their church and their community www.fbc-h.org.
- Research indicates most pastors do not know of church members debt http://www.lifeway.com/lwc/article_main_page/0%2C1703%2CA%3D168714%26M%3D201340%2C00.html
“Church members tend to look within their own congregation for guidance on promoting and teaching stewardship, according to the survey. A full 74 percent of pastors said the congregation looks to them for guidance and 31 percent said their church turns to members of their church. Only 2 percent said church members look to an independent stewardship consultant and 9 percent look to a preferred author, while less than 1 in 4 look to their associational or state convention leadership.”
Coaching Questions:
- What do you resonate with most in this newsletter?
- How can your church minister more effectively during these tough economic times?
- Who can help you?
- What resources can you make available now?
Suggested resources:
Copyright by Eddie Hammett , Senior Consultant North Carolina Baptist Convention, www.ncbaptist.org
Monday, 02 March 2009
As a church consultant that is privileged to engage with many pastors, staff and lay leaders from all across the country I’m hearing several common themes emerge during these months of economic challenge. Some of the issues include:
- How can the church effectively disciple through tough times?
- What are the appropriate stewardship opportunities & challenges during these tough times?
- What are the most effective ways to minister to the unemployed or those encountering economic challenges?
- What is the role of deacons and pastoral care during these tough times?
- What are the appropriate adjustments for churches to make in light of economic challenges?
- What are the resources a church can offer to help during these challenging times?
These and many other questions emerge rather frequently these days. I’m going to take one question in each of the next 6 church leadership newsletters and give some of my thoughts. I invite you to share your thoughts and responses to each question also and I’ll share them with our readers. Email me at EdwardHHammett@mchsi.com.
How Can the Church Effectively Disciple in these Tough Economic Times?
The essence of New Testament discipleship is following Jesus and being obedient to His leadership. Facing the tough times of life, learning to live through the grey times of life – where things are not as predictable or stable as we might have been accustomed is part of that followership. Christ promises that ‘trials come to make us strong’ and that if ‘we come through the fire we shall come forth as pure gold.’
Tough economic times are purifiers and clarifiers of what is most important and what is truly of value to us – as individuals, parents, churches, business persons etc. Give prayers consideration to….
- What are you learning about yourself during these times?
- What are the values clearly emerging?
- What are the shifts these circumstances are calling you to make now?
- What might God be teaching you in this?
Another dimension of discipleship in these tough days has to do with aligning ourselves to new realities and inviting accountability into our families, lives, churches, staffs in order to grow into who we are being called to become. Such alignment and accountability is often ignored in the prosperous times, but when economy tightens many shifts are called for and often required. Consider prayerfully….
- What are the shifts God is calling you to now?
- What are the lessons being learned now?
- What will help you make the shifts needed now?
- Who are the persons that can help you grow forward in faith now?
As the Body of Christ seeking to disciple followers during changing times we need to create a safe and sacred place for persons, families, business persons and fellow believers to explore the issues of faith, obedience, prayer and hope. Creating and being this safe, non-judgmental people is crucial for persons to be honest with their struggles, questions and hopes. Creating opportunities for learning, discovery and authentic relationships and prayerful support are critical and crucial for persons to heal and grow through tough times. Prayerfully consider…
- What makes a safe and non-judgmental place/people?
- What forums might be created to fuel hope and healing?
- Who are the persons who might share their powerful learnings with others as part of our ministry?
- How do we become church rather than just attend church?
A final dimension of discipleship we can consider now is the value and function of the Body of Christ during tough times. As believers, we are part of the Body of Christ, the local church of believers. More often than not most churches, families, and individuals are being faced at one or more levels with the realities of economic challenges. We will deal in more detail later with this corporate response and role in today’s world. But in the meantime, prayerfully consider….
- How does the Body of Christ respond to the hurting?
- How are you gifted to serve during this time?
- What are the opportunities being created here now?
- What alignments does the church need to make to model excellent discipleship and stewardship now?
- What partnerships might emerge to create win/wins for the church and the community?
©Eddie Hammett, Author of Spiritual Leadership in a Secular Age and Reaching People Under 40 While Keeping People Over 60 www.transformingsolutions.org ; http://deaconministry.ncbaptist.org
Wednesday, 04 February 2009
I’ve spent the last two decades of my life working in and with churches, church and denominational leaders. Regardless of the arena I’m working in the issues of declining membership, and the apparent increase in the irrelevance of church in our increasingly secular culture presses into meeting agendas. Then, on the heels of this, comes the challenges of introducing and managing change surface. As we enter the next decade of the 21st century these dialogues and challenges seem to be increasing with frequency and intensity among church leaders. It is as if many denominations, churches and pastors have lost our way as we face the realities of not only declining membership and interest, but now due to economic and cultural shifts, the funding of church and denominational entities seems to be decreasing or at least shifting to a diversity of venues. I have noticed several things regarding what creates these pressures and it seems to revolve around how we are evaluating ministry in the midst of a changing culture. I’m going to explore some of my observations here in hopes of creating a dialogue in your leadership meetings and with you as my readers. I’d love to hear your feedback – email me at EdwardHHammett@mchsi.com .
What might be the measuring stick for today’s and tomorrow’s ministries….. Consider….
- Measuring impact, influence and presence rather than just membership, offerings buildings and staff size
- Measuring attractional venues and participation of membership in centralized services. Attractional meaning what are the entry points or experiences that genuinely attract the interest of the believers as well as non-believers
- Measuring the creation of functional and attractional entry points rather than simply preserving what organizations or rituals that only work for the present active ‘membership’ now.
- Measuring the transforming value of sharing biblical and transformational stories with each other rather than simply hearing the stories from one (usually the pastor) as a valued part of spiritual formation
- Measuring how many are invited to transformation of life, career, families rather than just inviting people to church gatherings
- Measuring how much believers give – of time, energy, expertise etc. to deepen the impact and influence of the faith in their families, careers, communities rather than just measuring how much money or time they give ‘to the church’.
- Measuring and valuing the breaking of the strongholds that hinder many – maybe their addictions, obsessions, compulsions or inward focused lives.
- Measuring how often individuals, couples, families adopt and nurture others through fellowship, mentoring, nurture, coaching etc. as part of the ministry and outreach of believers in the world AS the church
- Measure all variations of the biblical view of church – IN, THROUGH and AS the church. (My Spiritual Leadership in a Secular Age book expounds upon this in detail)
Now these are some of my observations and ways of rethinking measuring what matters. …What would you add/delete from this list? What drives that decision?
Now the more important concern is if you buy into any of my new measuring sticks – how do you contextualize these concerns to your ministry? Let me pose a few coaching questions for you to use to jumpstart a dialogue around this vital issue.
Coaching Questions:
1. Which of the concerns listed above are issues for you? Your church?
2. What personal examples bring you to this conclusion?
3. How can this concern(s) specifically be measured effectively in our setting?
4. What are the benefits/consequences of the way you measure ‘church’ impact now?
So many argue that you can not measure spirituality or spiritual formation. While I agree it can be challenging and subjective in many instances I do believe Jesus wanted us to ‘bear much fruit’ and fruit is tangible and can be weighed, observed and benefited from. Jesus also calls us to ‘BE about our Father’s business’ – BEING is evidenced and observable and the power of one’s presence is more crucial than ever in our increasingly secular culture. Another biblical teaching that supports measuring the often intangible results of our presence and influence comes when God’s people are challenged by Christ to ‘BE salt, light and leaven in the world’ (John). In the coaching section of my personal website www.transformingsolutions.org you can find Tools for Helping Persons Grow in their Faith. These are tools many are using to do self-assessment of their spiritual growth and designing a ministry that moves believers and non-believers forward in their faith journey rather than simply repeating studies or projects of the past.
Visit www.transformingsolutions.org for FREE downloads of training podcasts, articles and links to other churches and resources for deacon election
©Eddie Hammett, http:// deaconministry.ncbaptist.org and www.transformingsolutions.org
Sunday, 04 January 2009
Our world is certainly in a state of radical change as we enter 2009. There is a new presidential administration, new economic challenges, growing grayness and growing number of people of color making up the diversity of our population. There continues to be a growing number of unchurched and non-believers in our workplaces, schools, community clubs etc. How will your church respond to these shifts? Will you react or respond? Will you simply try to ignore them? How can we be faithful believers, Christian leaders as we seek Christ in our changing culture? I will be wrestling with these questions in the monthly newsletters. I would invite you into the dialogue by emailing me and occasionally joining me in FREE online webinars or teleclasses?
Reacting or Responding?
Far too often our spiritual leadership and churches react rather than respond to changes. Even Jesus took time to reflect, think and/or pray while he busied himself writing in the sand when he caught the woman living in adultery. Reactive response is typically an emotional knee-jerk reactions/comments or judgments. “They shouldn’t do that!”; “Who do they think they are?”; or “Don’t they know that is wrong!” This reaction might move from words to demonstrations, sermons, news articles or simply lashing out at those we disagree with. I would invite us all to consider here a few questions:
1) How do others in our community see our reactions?
2) What does our reaction communicate to the non-believers in our local community?
3) What other options do we have to impact that with which we disagree?
Responding is a more thoughtful reaction to something or someone. We think, pray, dialogue before we react simply out of our emotion. Responding is about building bridges – reacting is more often than not about creating barriers. Responding is more about listening and understanding; Reacting is more about telling and casting judgment. Again, I would challenge us to consider the same questions listed above using a response posture rather than a reactive posture.
As our world continues to emerge and face changes how will you or your church deal with these new realities? Will you react or respond? What is needed now to prepare you for the next set of challenges?
Possible Avenues of Responding in 2009
As deacons and church leaders permit me to simply suggest some possible responses (rather than reactions) to some of the shifts and challenges we encounter in our community. How do we find Christ in our culture? Consider these possible responses to:
Unwed Mothers/Parents is a growing reality in many communities. What if..
- We planned a baby shower for the new born?
- We invited the unwed/parents a mentoring relationship with another Christian parent?
- We created emotionally safe forums for these parents to tell the story?
- What if we focused more on moving them forward that condemning their present situation? (not to condone but to offer grace and hope amidst their pain)
Multi-Cultural/Bi-Racial Relationships – is in many existing families and communities. What if…..
- We created a safe place for them to share how we might be more supportive of them?
- Hear and understand what issues they are facing in their relationship?
- We offered to help them celebrate their different customs, traditions etc and incorporate some of them in to our traditions and services when appropriate?
Unemployed – are all around us these days. Young, old, experienced, blue-collar and white collar professionals. What if….
- We create a means of them sharing with the church out of their wealth of experience and skill as their tithes and offerings?
- We created a job bank among those employers in our region or church that might tap some of the unemployed when they are able to hire?
- We created a mentoring and coaching relationship for the unemployed and their families to offer retooling of resume’s, family budget and expectations during this time?
Visit www.transformingsolutions.org for FREE downloads of training podcasts, articles and links to other churches and resources for deacon election
©Eddie Hammett, www.transformingsolutions.org
Sunday, 28 December 2008
Our world is certainly in a state of radical change as we enter 2009. There is a new presidential administration, new economic challenges, growing grayness and growing number of people of color making up the diversity of our population. There continues to be a growing number of unchurched and non-believers in our workplaces, schools, community clubs etc. How will your church respond to these shifts? Will you react or respond? Will you simply try to ignore them? How can we be faithful believers, Christian leaders as we seek Christ in our changing culture? I will be wrestling with these questions in the monthly newsletters. I would invite you into the dialogue by emailing me and occasionally joining me in FREE online webinars or teleclasses?
Reacting or Responding?
Far too often our spiritual leadership and churches react rather than respond to changes. Even Jesus took time to reflect, think and/or pray while he busied himself writing in the sand when he caught the woman living in adultery. Reactive response is typically an emotional knee-jerk reactions/comments or judgments. “They shouldn’t do that!”; “Who do they think they are?”; or “Don’t they know that is wrong!” This reaction might move from words to demonstrations, sermons, news articles or simply lashing out at those we disagree with. I would invite us all to consider here a few questions:
- How do others in our community see our reactions?
- What does our reaction communicate to the non-believers in our local community?
- What other options do we have to impact that with which we disagree?
Responding is a more thoughtful reaction to something or someone. We think, pray, dialogue before we react simply out of our emotion. Responding is about building bridges – reacting is more often than not about creating barriers. Responding is more about listening and understanding; Reacting is more about telling and casting judgment. Again, I would challenge us to consider the same questions listed above using a response posture rather than a reactive posture.
As our world continues to emerge and face changes how will you or your church deal with these new realities? Will you react or respond? What is needed now to prepare you for the next set of challenges?
Possible Avenues of Responding in 2009
As deacons and church leaders permit me to simply suggest some possible responses (rather than reactions) to some of the shifts and challenges we encounter in our community. How do we find Christ in our culture? Consider these possible responses to:
Unwed Mothers/Parents is a growing reality in many communities. What if..
- We planned a baby shower for the new born?
- We invited the unwed/parents a mentoring relationship with another Christian parent?
- We created emotionally safe forums for these parents to tell the story?
- What if we focused more on moving them forward that condemning their present situation? (not to condone but to offer grace and hope amidst their pain)
Multi-Cultural/Bi-Racial Relationships – is in many existing families and communities. What if…..
- We created a safe place for them to share how we might be more supportive of them?
- Hear and understand what issues they are facing in their relationship?
- We offered to help them celebrate their different customs, traditions etc and incorporate some of them in to our traditions and services when appropriate?
Unemployed – are all around us these days. Young, old, experienced, blue-collar and white collar professionals. What if….
- We create a means of them sharing with the church out of their wealth of experience and skill as their tithes and offerings?
- We created a job bank among those employers in our region or church that might tap some of the unemployed when they are able to hire?
- We created a mentoring and coaching relationship for the unemployed and their families to offer retooling of resume’s, family budget and expectations during this time?
©Eddie Hammett, www.transformingsolutions.org
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