Gear Up!: Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church - Softcover

Kotan, Kay

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1501835513 ISBN 13: 9781501835513

Publisher: Abingdon Press, 2017

Synopsis

In Gear Up!, Kay Kotan outlines nine areas of ministry where
congregations must intentionally design a process. It is not enough to
decide, “We are going to refocus in this direction.” Leaders must decide
how and what steps they will take. Who will do what, and when? This
concise and exceedingly practical new book can help.

“Kay Kotan
has long enjoyed a well-deserved reputation among both laity and clergy
as a passionate, positive change agent. In her new book, readers will
find a rich synthesis of her time-tested insights and hands-on work with
local churches of all sizes and circumstances. If your church has
slipped into reverse or is stuck in neutral, Gear Up! can help get it
driving forward!” —Jim Ozier, Director of New Church Development, North
Texas Conference, UMC; author of Clip In and The Changeover Zone from
Abingdon Press

“Gear Up! is packed with practical information and
checklists designed to empower leaders and teams. This book should be
handed to every church leader and board member so that they will
understand the essential hows and whys of effective ministry in today’s
complex world.” —Blake Bradford, Assistant Director for Clergy
Development, Center for Vitality, Arkansas Conference, UMC

“This
is a tactical, practical, nitty-gritty, boots-on-the-ground,
systems-oriented book. It gives you a series of diagnostics to run on
your church so that you can get on the road to faithful discipling.”
—Cynthia Fierro Harvey, Bishop, Louisiana Conference, UMC

“Healthy
systems lead to healthy churches. Gear Up! is a systems manual to help
our churches be healthy so that we can fulfill our mission of making
disciples who transform their community and the world.” —Kelly P. Brown,
Director for Congregational Vitality, East Ohio Conference, UMC

“Kay
Kotan understands that sustained growth depends on healthy systems.
Gear Up! provides helpful insights and checklists to diagnose the state
of your systems so that your church can ‘gear up’ for the long run.”
—Phil Schroeder, Director of Congregational Development, North Georgia
Conference, UMC

About this title

About the Authors

Kay Kotan is a credentialed coach, church consultant, speaker and author. She serves as the Director of the Center for Equipping Vital Congregations for the Susquehanna Conference of The United Methodist Church.

Bob Farr is director of congregational excellence in the Missouri Conference of The United Methodist Church. Frequent speaker and seminar leader, he is also the author of Get Their Name and Renovate or Die: 10 Ways to Focus Your Church on Mission, both co-authored with Kay Kotan, published by Abingdon Press.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Gear Up!

Nine Essential Processes for the Optimized Church

By KAY KOTAN

Abingdon Press

Copyright © 2017 Abingdon Press
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-5018-3551-3

Contents

Foreword (by Bishop Robert Farr), 
Introduction, 
Gear One Relationship-Building Process, 
Gear Two Hospitality Process, 
Gear Three Connection Process, 
Gear Four Intentional Faith-Development Process, 
Gear Five Worship Design Process, 
Gear Six People Development Process, 
Gear Seven Simplification with Accountability Process, 
Gear Eight Strategic Planning and Evaluation Process, 
Gear Nine Congregational Care Process, 
Epilogue, 
Notes, 

CHAPTER 1

Gear One

Relationship-Building Process

This process is one of my favorite processes in which to train people. And here is why ... I believe this is the very foundation of what church is all about. We, disciples and churches, are to provide the bridge between those of us who know Christ and those who don't yet know Christ. Christians are to offer relationship to others with the love and grace of Christ, so that through the movement of the Holy Spirit, they will come to have a relationship with Christ too. When I am working with people on this concept, they eagerly agree this is what we are to do as churches and disciples. Yet, most churches do not have an intentional process to do this. Yes, it has to be intentional while also being authentic. This isn't about doing a "sales job" on people. This is about us as Christians having an ache in our hearts for those who don't yet know Jesus Christ. And it is the ache that compels us to go out into the world to build relationships with people we don't know. This really is the evangelism part of our church. However, we know that most people (including some pastors) are uncomfortable with not only the word evangelism but also the practice of it. So this process helps us think about and practice evangelism in a new way that is more comfortable for people, more natural, and likely to be much more effective in our non-church centric world of today.

Let's take a moment to think about our lives as Christians. I find that most often, the social lives of Christians encompass mostly other Christians. And there is nothing wrong with that. However, if all of our time is consumed with other Christians, we can't possibly be faithful in making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. Our focus, energy, and resources are many times consumed in our Christian bubble. If we Christians are going to have an effect on this unchurched world, we must break out of our Christian bubble and go into the world just as Jesus did. We can no longer wait for people to show up at church. The past several decades of church decline have proven that theory does not work. We must no longer sit in our pews and expect people to show up. The people in our mostly unchurched culture today have no intention of showing up in church just because they have been told they "should." Maybe "shoulds" as a motivation worked in decades past, but no longer. In fact, it is my belief that those who were forced or told they "should" go to church may very well be some of those in our de-churched culture today. My point is this — we have to become a people who go into our community and meet people where they are at. Experience life as they experience life. Build relationships over time. An authentic invitation comes from someone you know and have a relationship with that has been built on trust over an expanded period of time. An invitation without a relationship is empty and meaningless. Many would say it is also not authentic. Building new relationships with people in our mission fields must become the focus.

In our book Get Their Name, Bob Farr and I describe the following steps in relationship building.

• Get the person's name.

• Start a conversation.

• Build a relationship over time.

• Listen for their story.

• Build trust.

• Watch for an opportunity to share your faith story.

• Bring them back to the gathered community of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit.

For us to work this relationship-building process, we must have opportunities to put it into action. This action is the relationship-building gear. The cut teeth in a gear are called cogs. Different gears have a different number of cogs depending on their function and alignment with other gears. The relationship-building gear has three cogs for every Christian to practice as a part of practicing their discipleship and their responsibility as part of the church. When all three cogs are working well, it is a viable, effective gear. If one or more of the cogs are not in place, this gear will not function. We are more faithful and effective when we engage all three cogs in the relationship-building process to reach new people.

Cog One: One on One

The first cog is living a Christian lifestyle every day, looking for opportunities as we go about everyday life. We refer to this as having your radar engaged — really "seeing" people you encounter in everyday life rather than rushing from one place to the next. It is also engaging the people you "see" in your everyday pathway and taking the time for building relationships. This I know for sure — you will never have the opportunity to share your faith story and lead them back to the gathered community of faith if you don't first know their name, start a conversation, and build a relationship over time. When you intentionally and authentically interact in the world with the eyes to see people and engage in conversation, you will be amazed at all the opportunities you might have to get people's names and start conversations. Try it!

If you and/or your church need some help with Cog One, please pick up Get Their Name and its companion workbook. The book provides the information, stories, and lessons, while the workbook allows for reflection, conversation, and application. There is also a Get Their Name for Congregations available. This set includes a four-part sermon series with an accompanying small group study along with videos for worship and promotion. We have found these to be practical tools to help congregations understand a new approach to evangelism for the twenty-first century.

Cog Two: In a Group

The second cog is an approach to relationship building in a small group. In our church world, small groups might have a distinctive meaning. Many refer to a "small group" experience as a group gathered for a specific time period (weeks or months) around a specific study or activity. But in Cog Two of the relationship-building gear, "small group" is about gathering churched and unchurched people together socially for no other reason than hanging out and getting to know one another. Sometimes this is a great starting point for people to begin building relationships in the community. This prong is fun and quite easy to do, taking little to no planning. You are working in your comfort zone, doing things you already love to do. This approach is based on a few churched folks inviting a few unchurched folks to engage in some sort of activity.

The purpose of this approach is for unchurched folks to hang out with churched folks not doing "churchy" things. This removes as many church barriers as possible for a relationship to spark and build over time. Unchurched folks will have the opportunity to see churched folks in a secular setting doing regular things that unchurched folks do too. The other cool things about this second prong is that it is intended to be spontaneous and not require any resources or coordination from the church. This is about disciples living out their faith outside the church and being faithful in their call and responsibility to reach new people. While this is not a coordinated effort from the church, there is the need for churches to disciple people so that they clearly understand their responsibility in reaching new people. See Gear Four for more information and understanding.

Here are some idea starters for Cog Two activities:

• Three churched friends who like to scrapbook invite three unchurched friends who also like to scrapbook to join them for a scrapbooking party.

• Two churched couples who like to attend local sporting events invite two unchurched couples to attend a game with them.

• Two churched families from the neighborhood host a neighborhood barbeque and invite unchurched neighborhood families to join them.

• A few churched single people invite some single unchurched people for a game night at someone's home.

The possibilities for activities are endless. Simply engage in activities you love to do and invite unchurched folks to join you. Repeat the process. It is only natural that at some point, the conversation will turn to how the churched people know one another. This isn't a time to force church on anyone. As a matter of fact, I would encourage you not to do so. When the subject comes up, talk about the benefits of a Christian lifestyle and the church from your personal perspective. Continue to build and invest in these relationships. At some point, the other person will begin to ask questions and an invitation will feel natural and authentic. I would encourage you to invite them to a bridge event (you'll learn more about this in Cog Three) as a first step. It is a much smaller and easier step for most to take. If a bridge event is not coming up soon at the church, another first small step might be a service project or a short-term small group experience. Bottom line is to take the cue from your new friend on what is the best first step for them.

Please note that Cogs One and Two might be a real shift for your congregation. This may be new news and/or a new approach to "inviting people to church." This is not a one-and-done teaching or sermon series but a cultural shift that will take time and must be constantly talked about, modeled, and taught. We must set this up as an expectation of discipleship rather than a "nice thing to do" once in a while. Without intentionality, Cogs One and Two will probably go by the wayside. A process is not only about the how, but it is also about accountability for the process being implemented. So part of the equipping of the congregation is not only teaching but also modeling and accountability.

Cog Three: Bridge Building by the Church

The third cog is a larger approach to reach new people with more congregational involvement. The first two cogs are driven by disciples in a one-on-one approach and in a small gathering of people. This third cog is when the church as a whole conducts an event for the community to reach new people. This is called a bridge event. I refer to these activities as bridge events because it allows the building of a bridge from the community to the church and the church to the community. A bridge event is held outside of the church building and preferably off church grounds for the sole purpose of building relationships with the unchurched/dechurched in your mission field. That's it. Don't combine it with another purpose. It must NOT be a fundraiser.

This is a no-strings-attached opportunity to get to know people from your community in a safe environment. Therefore, it has to be what I refer to as a "P-Free Zone." This means the event does not include preaching, pressure, prayers, or pocketbooks. The P-Free Zone allows people to engage with the congregation without some of the obstacles the unchurched have about church (i.e., "All they want is my money," "They are going to preach at me," "They will pressure me to come to church").

Take a look at the steps to a successful bridge event below. If you are only able to put together a team to pull off the event, but unable to put together a prayer team or follow-up team, your church is not yet ready to conduct a bridge event. If the purpose is to build relationships with the unchurched, but we don't have people willing to pray for the event and follow up with people afterward to build relationships, the whole purpose for the event is unable to be carried out. How many times do churches do such an event, even collect names, and then do no follow-up with the people or send merely a form letter from the pastor? A form letter is not a relationship builder. That letter is most likely just an expectation for a guest to receive such a thing — nothing more. Yet, a bridge event is for the sole purpose of relationship building. If we aren't willing or able to implement the relationship-building components, then don't do the event! We are only wasting precious resources (time, energy, dollars) for little to no return. We are also quite possibly sending a message to the community that we don't want anything beyond a casual encounter at an event.

A bridge event is an all-hands-on-deck event. While a small team might do the planning, it normally takes a great portion of the church participating to pull off such an event. You will need the planning team, hospitality team, prayer team, follow-up team, and the event workers. This event should have a line item in the annual budget. Depending on the size of the church, you may plan one to four events of this nature each year. Remember, this is your evangelism muscle being used. If done well, this is an extremely effective process of reaching new people.

Let me offer a word of caution. Plan an event for the number of people you can follow up with after the event. There is no reason to have five hundred people attend an event if you only have the capacity to follow up with fifty. Plan the size of the event that your church can handle well. You are much better off to hold fewer and/or smaller events that you can execute with excellence and have great follow-up with afterward. There is always time to build on your successes as you become more proficient and have more and more people participate in the implementation of the events. Don't go too big too fast. Keep it manageable.

Steps to a Successful Bridge Event

Go to www.KayKotan.com/GearUp for a full description of each step, plus a list of ideas for bridge events that might work in your community.

1. Create a prayer team to pray for the event, the people who will attend, and the community.

2. Based on who your community is, begin to plan an event that will meet a need or be an enjoyable activity for your niche demographic. Think quality over quantity.

3. Create a multifaceted communication and marketing plan based on the niche demographic.

4. Put together a hospitality team for the sole purpose of being the first impression for attenders helping them to feel comfortable and begin conversations and relationship building.

5. Recruit the necessary people to "work" the event, making sure they understand the purpose of the event.

6. Create a means to collect names of the attendees (i.e., drawing).

7. Recruit and equip a team to follow up with attendees. Order postcards. Create the follow-up process and helpful scripts.

8. Plan a hand-off activity (next small step in deepening relationships — not worship).

9. Plan a sermon series following the event that is seeker friendly for those who might show up.

10. Ask the prayer team to pray the space prior to the event kickoff.

11. Conduct the event with excellence and radical hospitality.

12. Ask the prayer team to pray for the attendees, community, and event during the event.

13. Have the follow-up team go into action within a week.

14. Make sure the follow-up team continues its work for three to six months, depending on the follow-up process and input from the attendee.

15. Hold the follow-up team accountable for all that is asked of them.

As you can see, the relationship-building process should be at the heart of what we do as individual Christians and as a church. This primary gear is at the center of all gears. It is what creates the initial momentum and creates healthy churches. All healthy things grow. If we are not reaching new people for Christ, we have some degree (large or small) of unhealthiness. If we are not reaching new people consistently, the new relationships gear is most likely rusted or nonexistent. If your church were to install or grease your relationship-building gear by implementing this three-cog approach to your relationship-building process, you would likely have a healthier church with new growth over time. In the next chapter, we will talk about the first impression gear for people — the hospitality gear. Hospitality and new relationships go hand in hand.

Gear One Checklist

* Practice servant evangelism (good deeds AND good news).

* Practice sharing your faith stories, first in small groups and then in worship.

* Conduct bridge events to connect with the unchurched in your community using all steps recommended.

* Create and implement a process to get names and follow up with new people.

* Conduct a church culture where elbow events are commonplace.

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Gear Up! by KAY KOTAN. Copyright © 2017 Abingdon Press. Excerpted by permission of Abingdon Press.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

Edition details

• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1501835513
• ISBN 13: 9781501835513
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 144