Building the Engaged Church

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Building the Engaged Church

• Larry Hammond

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Building An Engaged Church

• What is a Strength?
• How Can You Identify Strengths
• How to Manage Non-Strengths

• What is Engagement?
• Why Does It Matter?
• What Drives Engagement?
• How to Develop Engagement

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Why Am I Here?

• Background
• Passion
• Values
• Legacy Want to Impact Lives

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Humor
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What is a Strength?
A strength is the ability to provide consistent,
near-perfect performance in a given activity.
This ability is a powerful, productive
combination of talent, skill and knowledge.
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What are Talents?
Talents are naturally reoccurring patterns of
thought, feeling or behavior that can be
productively applied. Unlike skills and
knowledge, talents naturally exist within you and
cannot be acquired.
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What is a Spiritual Gift?

• Spiritual gifts are gifts that are bestowed on
  Christians, each having his or her proper gift to
  strengthen the church.
• Spiritual gifts are God-given graces meant for
  works of service, to benefit and build up the
  body of Christ as a whole.

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Focus on Strengths
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Focus on Strengths
The gift you have received, give as a
gift. - Matthew 108
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Focus on Strengths
Skill (Ability to perform)
Knowledge (What you know)
Talent (God-given gifts)



Strength
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What are Skills?
Skills are basic abilities to move through the
fundamental steps of a given task. They can be
acquired and developed through formal or informal
training.
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What is Knowledge?
Knowledge is, simply, what you know. You can
acquire knowledge through education or training.
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Creating a Strength
When you enhance a talent by adding the right
skills and useful knowledge, you have created a
strength.
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Five Clues to Talent

• Yearning
• Rapid Learning
• Flow

• What kinds of activities are you naturally drawn
  to?
• What kinds of activities do you seem to pick up
  on quickly?
• In what activities did the steps just come to
  you automatically?

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Five Clues to Talent

• Glimpses of Excellence
• Satisfaction

• During what activities have you had moments of
  subconscious excellence, How did I do that?
• What activities give you a kick, either while
  doing them or immediately after finishing them,
  When can I do that again?

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Putting It Simply
People dont change that much. Dont waste time
trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw
out what was left in. That is hard enough.
First, Break All The Rules
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Leadership
Leadership is a process whereby an individual
influences a group of individuals to achieve a
common goal. A leader is someone who can get
things done through other people. Warren Buffett
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Leaders
Leaders stay true to who they are and then make
sure they have the right people around them.
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Non-Talents

• Always seem to be a struggle.
• Practice does not make it perfect.
• Harmless if does not play a role in your life.
• Becomes a weakness when you try to use it.

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Non-TalentsWhat do you do?

• Manage, dont FIX
• If you can avoid using them, then do so!
• Use support systems
• Complementary partnering
• Leverage your talents

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The Weakness-Prevention Assumptions

• You can learn or do anything if you just try
  hard enough
• You have the greatest room for growth in your
  areas of greatest weakness

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Weakness
A lesser talent becomes a weakness only when you
try to use it. Whenever possible, avoid using
your areas of lesser talent.
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Strengths-BuildingThe Right Assumptions

• Some behaviors can be learned. Many are nearly
  impossible to learn. There are differences
  between talent, skills, and knowledge.
• The best in a role delivers the same outcomes,
  but can use different behaviors.
• Weakness-fixing prevents failure.
  Strengths-building leads to success.

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Spiritual Gifts
Your spiritual gifts help you find what the
ministry is that God wants to see you accomplish.
Your talents are Gods way of showing you how
you will accomplish it.
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Discovering Spiritual Gifts
Help your congregation discover their individual
Spiritual Gifts and their talents. Doing so will
create a powerful combination as discovering
Spiritual Gifts defines the outcome and
discovering talents defines the steps.
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Invest in Your Strengths
If you spend your life trying to be good at
everything, you will never be great at anything.
While our society encourages us to be
well-rounded, this approach inadvertently breeds
mediocrity.
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Find Your Leadership Strengths
Ive never met an effective leader who wasnt
aware of his talents and working to sharpen
them. Wesley Clark NATO Supreme Allied
Commander (former)
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Focus
When we focus on our talents, we are more
effective at our tasks and roles. We are also
more successful, happy and fulfilled.
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StrengthsFinder Themes
Harmony Ideation Includer Individualization Input
Intellection Learner Maximizer
Positivity Relator Responsibility Restorative Self
-Assurance Significance Strategic Woo
Achiever Activator Adaptability Analytical Arrange
r Belief Command Communication Competition
Connectedness Consistency Context Deliberative Dev
eloper Discipline Empathy Focus Futuristic
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Individualization I am intrigued by the
differences between people
Harmony I hope no one has a disagreement
Relator I hope I get to spend time with a
person I know well
Communication What stories do I have?
Harmony
Individualization
Empathy How is each personfeeling?
Communication
Relator
Responsibility I will complete this by Friday
Includer I wonder if anyone is feeling left out?
Empathy
Includer
Responsibility
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• Positivity
• Maximizer
• Woo

• Competition
• Command
• Developer

• Maximizer
• Polish the pearl
• The very best it can be

• Developer
• Help others grow
• Their growth is your fuel

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• Achiever
• Inside out push
• Everyday starts at zero
• Keeps you moving

• Achiever
• Activator
• Belief
• Significance
• Discipline

• Self-Assurance
• Adaptability
• Focus
• Restorative

• Self-Assurance
• Inner certainty
• Robust

• Belief
• Be of service
• Altruistic
• Work must matter

• Significance
• Outside in pull
• Craving for significance
• Keeps you reaching

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• Analytical
• Prove it
• Show me the numbers

• Context
• How did we get here?
• Back to the blueprints

• Analytical
• Arranger
• Deliberative
• Connectedness
• Consistency
• Futuristic

• Learner
• Ideation
• Input
• Intellection
• Context
• Strategic Thinking

• Futuristic
• Theres got to be a better world
• Always projecting

• Input
• Wow thats interesting!
• Inquisitive
• Like to collect things/ideas

• Ideation
• In love with ideas
• A new perspective
• A new connection
• A new concept

• Arranger
• The present is precious
• Theres got to be a better way

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Humor
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The Power of Being Called
When you discover your talents and link those
talents with your passion, there is no telling
what God can accomplish through you.
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Leadership that Lasts
Perhaps the ultimate test of a leader is not what
you are able to do in the here and now but
instead what continues to grow long after youre
gone.
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Why Do We Need a Formal System to Identify and
Communicate about Strengths?

• Helps identify and quantify attributes that can
  be considered subjective.
• Provides a language / tool to discuss strengths
  and weaknesses.
• Creates a science to support or deny
  self-perception.

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Present or Engaged?
Present
or
Engaged
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From Doing to Being
To become healthy again, the Church needs to stop
doing and start being. We need to stop focusing
on institutional preservation and instead focus
on the basics and what it means to be the church.
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Involvement and Engagement
Involvement is not engagement. Involvement is
what you do, in and for your church. Engagement
is how you feel about your church. Engagement is
all about emotions.
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What is Engagement?
Engagement is the emotional bond or
attachment that members develop with the church
during repeated, ongoing positive interactions.
This bond goes beyond a single moment in time and
is instead, defined by the enduring behaviors,
attitudes, actions and heart of the church and
its members. Or, simply put, when members are
engaged, they are emotionally connected to the
church, passionate about its mission and service,
as well as seamlessly aligned with the churchs
purpose and direction.
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What is Engagement?
Engagement describes a sense of belonging to a
family that stems from ones experience of
making a meaningful contribution to an
organization and realizing the value in
it. Church engagement is typically expressed in
four themes 1. life satisfaction 2.
willingness to invite a friend to church 3.
community service 4. financial giving
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Three Member Types
What a great experience, how do I get more
involved
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ENGAGED
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Engaged Members
These members are loyal and have a strong
psychological connection to their church. They
are more spiritually committed, more likely to
invite friends, family members, and coworkers to
church events and give more both financially and
in commitment of time.
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Not Engaged Members
These members may attend regularly, but they are
not psychologically connected to their
church. Their connection to the church is more
social than spiritual. They give moderately but
not sacrificially and they may do a minimal
amount of volunteering in the community. They are
less likely to invite others and more likely to
leave.
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Actively Disengaged Members
These members usually show up only once or twice
a year, if at all. They are on the membership
rolls, and can tell you what church they belong
to -- but may not be able to name the pastor. In
general, they are unhappy with their church and
insist on sharing that unhappiness with just
about everyone.
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Why does Engagement matter?
Spiritual Health
Spiritual Commitment
Member Engagement


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Indicators of Spiritual Health
Life Satisfaction I am completely satisfied with
my life. Inviting In the last month, I have
invited someone to participate in my
congregation/parish. Serving How many volunteer
hours a week do you give to help and serve others
in your community? Giving How much have you
given to further the churchs mission?
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Why does Engagement matter?

• Engaged members
• are nearly three times as likely to be extremely
  satisfied with their lives.
• are more than ten times as likely to invite
  friends to their faith community events.
• volunteer more than two hours per week in their
  communities.
• give up to three times more money to their faith
  communities.
• dont burn out they only become stronger, more
  energized and more engaged.

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Why does Engagement matter?

• Engaged churches
• Engaged churches reach out to people and make
  them feel valued. Provide clear expectations for
  members and clear expectations on what they can
  expect from their church.
• They let members know their opinions count and
  that their participation is important.

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What Engagement Creates

• Engaged churches create
• a strong feeling of belonging
• a sense that individual member contributions are
  extremely important
• a sense that the overall mission is truly
  important and worthwhile

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Focus on Outcomes
Outcomes are the result of causes. In order to
affect the outcomes that are the indicators of
spiritual health, leaders must focus on improving
the causes of spiritual health. It does not work
the other way around.
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How Do You Develop Engagement?
5. Communicate 6. Chart the Path 7. Focus on
Strengths 8. Live it
1. Inform 2. Form 3. Take Stock 4. Measure
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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 1 Inform
• Become familiar with the concepts of church
  engagement
• Explore the theological, systematic foundations
  in embracing engagement as a vision
• Study the available research on engagement

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 2 Form
• Plant the seeds of engagement with the church
  leadership groups
• Organize and participate in foundational
  conversations with church members
• Connect an engagement framework with living a
  spiritually committed life

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 3 Take Stock
• Take a hard look at the current state of the
  church
• Actively listen to parishioners to gain insight
  on their experiences
• Develop a list of positive building blocks and a
  list of areas which may require more focus
• Celebrate and cherish the relationship that
  exists among parishioners

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 4 Measure
• Develop a way to measure success
• Explore the benefits of objective measurement
• Develop goals and a timeline in order to evaluate
  the progression
• Adapt, redefine and refocus when you hit bumps in
  the road (you will as no road is perfectly smooth)

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 5 Communicate
• Nurture the desire and importance of belonging
• Share the story of engagement and its importance
• Offer parishioners the chance to share their own
  experiences
• Continually invite parishioners to become part of
  the process of building an engaged church

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 6 Chart the Path
• Develop the course of the church over a series of
  years
• Consider the interrelated nature of the various
  aspects the church plays in the parishioners
  lives
• Ensure the pastoral plan focuses clearly on
  engagement
• Develop a timeline that aligns the strategic
  vision with tangible steps

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 7 Focus on Strengths
• Educate on the impact of talent focus on
  parishioners
• Offer parishioners the ability to explore their
  own talents
• Explore the possibilities of the talents which
  exist within the congregation
• Align the people with the purpose and then get
  out of their way

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Step 8 Live it
• Your actions speak louder than any words you say
• Lead the way, as you embrace engagement through
  your own actions, others will follow
• Leadership and fostering engagement is not only
  contagious, its exponential

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How Do You Develop Engagement?

• Discover what each members strengths are
• Match each member with a role that enables them
  to leverage their strengths
• Explain the overall strategy goals
• Explain how their role fits into the overall
  strategy
• Explain the roles of the other members
• Point them in the right direction
• Get out of their way

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How Do You Measure Engagement?

• Survey instruments are available that word
  questions in a manner to attain specific
  response.
• Gallup ME25
• Surveys must be anonymous and participants must
  be free from expected response or peer
  pressure.

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Member Engagement
1. As a member of my congregation, I know what is
expected of me. 2. In my congregation, my
spiritual needs are met. 3. In my congregation, I
regularly have the opportunity to do what I do
best. 4. In the last month, I have received
recognition or praise from someone in my
congregation 5. The spiritual leaders in my
congregation seem to care about me as a person
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Member Engagement
6. There is someone in my congregation who
encourages spiritual development. 7. As a member
of my congregation, my opinions seem to count. 8.
The mission or purpose of my congregation makes
me feel that my participation is important. 9.
The other members of my congregation are
committed to spiritual growth. 10. Aside from
family members, I have a best friend in my
congregation.
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Member Engagement
11. In the last six months, someone in my
congregation has talked to me about the progress
of my spiritual growth. 12. In my congregation, I
have opportunities to learn and grow.
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Dimensions of Engagement

• Opportunities to learn and grow
• Spiritual progress

How do we Grow?

• Members committed to spiritual growth
• The mission or purpose of my church
• Best friend
• My opinions count

Do I Belong?

• Encourages spiritual development
• Recognition
• Opportunity to do best
• Leaders care about me

What do I Give?
What do I Get?

• My spiritual needs are met
• I know what is expected of me

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Spiritual Commitments Foundation
The foundation of spiritual commitment is
congregational engagement. Congregational
engagement describes the emotional degree of
belonging an individual has in his or her
congregation. The more engaged members there are
in your church, the healthier it is. Focus on
engagement and spiritual commitment will follow.
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Engagement and Outcomes
Life Satisfaction
Serving
Engagement
Spiritual Commitment
Inviting
Giving
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Connect People to Ministries
1. What are your talents and strengths? 2. What
do you love to do? 3. If time and money were no
object, what would you do for God?
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Humor
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Questions?
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References

• Growing An Engaged Church. Winseman
• Living Your Strengths. Winseman, Clifton,
  Liesveld.
• Now, Discover Your Strengths. Buckingham
  Clifton.
• Strength Based Leadership.Rath Conchie