Statistical Process Control and the Will of God

If you’re in leadership, you know that it’s tough being a leader. Sometimes there are really hard things that you have to deal with that make you wonder if you are cut out for this and if maybe you should start looking for another job.

People span the spectrum regarding the will of God. Some see everything that happens as part of God’s will. Others believe that God gave us brains for a reason and that he wants us to use them to make decisions that will honor him.

And then there are people like my coworker Glen, who showed me a very fascinating way to think about the will of God. I love having geeky friends (as I am pretty geeky myself…my husband says I have more gadgets than he does and he’s an engineer!) and have pondered this for quite a while.

There is something called a statistical process control chart. (My apologies to engineers, who will probably be rolling on the floor laughing at my amateur explanations.) It is a chart that studies how a process changes over time. It looks something like this:

The circles are data points plotted over time.

There are two lines here: a line on top called the upper control limit, and the bottom one called the lower control limit.

All the green dots in the middle show the variation from the process. These are all “normal,” (or common cause). The orange ones are the ones of concern, as they fall outside “normal,” and are special causes of variation.

• So imagine that you get dozens of angry emails from disgruntled followers. Up goes a dot.
• A project you’re in charge of fails dismally. Up goes another dot.
• You get a promotion in the leadership ranks. This is a happy one (I hope). Up goes another dot.

Over time, you will accumulate a series of dots.

If you get a series of negative, unhappy dots, you might start to get discouraged and think about quitting. If you get a series of happy dots, you feel like staying as the leader forever. But what happens is that you become a victim of your circumstances. Like James 1:6-8 says, you become tossed back and forth by your doubt, becoming double-minded and unstable.

The way the control chart above comes in helpful is that it reminds us that these circumstances are common cause variables. They are normal part of life, ministry and leadership. There will be discouragement that comes (and encouragement as well), and these should not be the basis of decisions whether we keep going or not.

What we need to look for are “special cause” variations. These are situations out of our control where the movement of God is so strong that there is no doubt that God is leading us. They are events where we clearly see the hand of God working because we didn’t go around trying to create them for ourselves. An example to me would be how I decided I was always going to stay at a church I loved but huge events happened where God showed me that He wanted me in another ministry. That would be one large orange dot.

I do believe God does work in quiet ways where we obediently take little steps of faith, and sometimes he uses these little steps to guide us to his next step. But this chart is helpful for me to remember to be aware for the working of God and not to focus on the “small stuff” that can cause discouragement.

So my apologies if this is just ridiculously geeky for those of you out there. But I am curious… what do you look for when you are discerning God’s will?

Church Bulletin Redesign: Before and After

A key communication tool in many churches is the church bulletin. The majority of bulletins follow a standard format and often have the same elements.

Here’s how our bulletin used to look like:

Here’s how the inside looked. Service order on the left. All the ministries listed on the right in itty bitty font.

Every week there were inserts. This is an actual week. Notice the many inserts. This doesn’t even include the additional welcome card that was inserted every week.

Every week there was a newsletter inserted called the Covenant Cafe. It was double sided legal paper.

The communications team sat down and took a look at the bulletin and the entire communication strategy. I can cover strategy in another post, as we’ll just focus on the bulletin for now.

It’s hard to make decisions without data, so we surveyed some people to see how effective the bulletin was. We discovered:

• Most people did not read the bulletin. There was just way too much information and it was overwhelming.
• The people who did read it were mostly the women.
• The people who did read it were mostly the older group from our Classic service.
• People did not like inserts. They fell all over the floor. Fear of showering inserts caused people to not even open the bulletin to read it.
• Information for newcomers was mixed in with info for regular attenders, but primarily the content was directed towards inhouse people.

Time for a redesign. First, the purpose of the bulletin.

The new purpose for the bulletin was to CONNECT people. What good is information if no one does anything about it? We wanted to make the bulletin easy to use, easy to get information, and easy to get connected.

Who would have the harder time getting connected? Newcomers, because they don’t know the system. Therefore we decided that our new bulletin would be very newcomer-friendly but also be helpful for attendees. Plus, we wanted a consistent look and feel with our other communications methods (such as the website).

And definitely, absolutely NO INSERTS!

Well this was quite a challenge, but here’s the solution that fit all the requirements.

First, we changed to an 11×17 paper. Here’s the cover. The swirls match the design on our website. (I would love to print in color but our budget prevents us from doing so.)

When you open it up, immediately newcomers see a welcome note on the left. There is a description of the current series as well as the next few Sunday messages.

On the right are next steps for everyone, as we want everyone in the church to Connect, Grow, and Serve. Each area has concrete steps people can take in their journey to grow closer to Jesus.

On the bottom is the “Connection Section.” It replaces the previous Welcome Card. Basic info such as name, contact, little circles to check for information.

When you open up the program, you see the entire tabloid sheet opened up. We call this the “secret information compartment.”

On the top is the other side of the Connection Section. This is where people can check off circles for information customized according to the content below. There’s also a place to write life changes, prayers and praises, and need/want. Every week these items are put into a weekly newsletter that is emailed out to those who want to be on the list. It’s a great way to celebrate births, special anniversaries, as well as to support one another in prayer.

Here is what is in the four quadrants:

UPPER LEFT. Upcoming Events. We select the top 3 items. (This week we cheated and had 4 items because 3 of the 4 were Christmas-related.) These are usually the same three items that go on the home page of our website.

UPPER RIGHT. Highlights. This replaces the former bulletin inserts. One event/item is selected to go in-depth each week. Sometimes we will mention holidays or if it’s a little slow, highlight a ministry of the church.

BOTTOM LEFT. Upcoming Events (smaller). We can fit up to 8 events here. This means we have to be selective about what we promote. Announcements are only about 40 words long. People can refer to the website for details, where the longer versions are posted.

BOTTOM RIGHT. Get Involved. Here are opportunities to serve, general church announcements, and community announcements (like ministries we partner with.) We also have a “Did You Know” section, which gives an inside look/statistic/story. Feedback we have received says that this is people’s favorite section. We intentionally put it inside so people will open it up and see all the other announcements. We also run finance reports a few times a month.

The new bulletin is very heavily graphically driven. People find it easier to read because it is not so text-heavy.

And on the back are the sermon notes:

The Classic Service, which is traditional and has an order of service, has an insert that only has the service order on it. But our contemporary services do not have the insert.

The redesign is flexible. For example, here we only have Big 2 in the upper left quadrant (I guess it was kind of slow week!).

And here’s an example of how the Highlights section in the upper right can be customized. This week highlighted the college ministry, which had many photos. Notice also how the Big 3 on the upper left typically looks.

Lastly, we renamed it the “program.” Outsiders who don’t attend church have no idea what a “bulletin” is. When they come to the info center, they ask for a program. People are used to calling them programs because that’s what they receive when they go to a concert, event, or show. We are trying to eliminate “churchy” language. Inhouse people still call it the bulletin but up front we call it the program.

Results? Increased readership. More people hear about what is going on. During Sundays when we do announcements, I often see people open up the secret compartment and follow along. We want people to take their next steps and remove any unnecessary barriers.

And another benefit — we saved 75% of our costs with printing and paper going with this new method. What a huge win in today’s economy!

So I am curious… how effective is your church bulletin?

Better Brainstorming for Innovation

Leaders know that brainstorming is a useful and necessary part of a leader’s job to generate ideas and solutions.

I just finished a book called The Medici Effect: What Elephants and Epidemics Can Teach Us About Innovation. Great book… fascinating stuff about innovation. One of the things it talked about was brainstorming.

Innovation can’t happen without ideas, and that’s where the discussion turned to brainstorming. I have been on many teams that have done brainstorming and seen it done many ways, so I found the author’s information quite interesting, because studies showed that results were not what people normally would expect.

The typical brainstorming session is everyone sits around a table or facing the leader, who facilitates the brainstorming session. (Green is for people, blue is the paper listing the ideas.)

Many of us think, “The more the merrier! Surely, with a group of people you will generate a ton more ideas than if I sit by myself!”

However, it turns out that if you have each person go off and generate their own ideas, and then combine them all, you will actually get more ideas than if everyone in the group brainstorms together! In fact, individuals generate about twice as many ideas as the group sitting together. Not only is quantity greater, but it turns out the quality of ideas are better too.

The reason is because in a group situation, only one person can talk at once. If you come up with an idea, you keep it to yourself and it is often lost. Or, you try to remember it and meanwhile opportunity to develop another idea is lost.

So the suggestion is before a meeting ask everyone to put together a list of ideas. I have been at meetings where the leader gave us 5 minutes to write all our ideas down on a paper.

Also, people generate more ideas when you give them a target: “Make a list of 30 ideas.”

Another way to do brainstorming is called brainwriting. Everyone has a sheet of paper and writes one idea and tosses it to the center of the table. Then you pick up a sheet and write another idea that springboards off the one already written on the paper. There is also a suggestion to start with an extra blank sheet of paper in the middle of the table… I guess this is because people brianstorm at different speeds?

The brainstorming material was just a few pages in the book. There is much to ponder in how I as a leader can develop an innovative mindset for ministry. God gave us creativity… it is a gift to be able to use it!

3 Priorities of an Unfocused Leader

In ministry, it is very easy to lose focus because those of us in ministry are pulled in many different directions.

Here are three areas in which leaders can easily get absorbed, leading to a lack of focus and effectiveness.

The first is preferences. There is so much conflict in this area! It seems like in ministry we are often dealing with people’s preferences: more hymns! less hymns! too loud! too soft! more video! less video! like topical preaching! like expository preaching!

It’s pretty easy to let these battles of preferences suck the life out of us.

The next area is programs. Leaders can end up being administrators, coordinating people, scheduling, figuring out content, scheduling, planning, and on and on. Every church has and needs programs, but if we’re not careful, it’s easy to let programming dominate our existence.

The last one is politics. (Although I am sure there are many more! These three “P’s” just popped in my head as I was reflecting.) Leaders can find themselves wading the maze of who to keep happy and who to keep in the loop and what decision can be made or can’t be made because it turn so-and-so to the wrong side. Pretty soon, the leadership journey is tiptoeing around on eggshells trying to keep everyone happy.

I realize these three areas are part of what it means to be a leader. But the problem is when they begin to dominate the landscape and our priorities get out of focus. Instead, we need to be proactive about keeping the right things in focus.

When it comes down to preference, leaders need to keep everyone focused on the purpose. It’s not about what I like or don’t like, it’s about why we exist, who we are trying to reach, and what we are trying to do. If we’re trying to reach a technologically-appreciative crowd, cutting videos out of our services would be somewhat of a disconnect. Likewise, a generation that is not tech-savvy probably wouldn’t be too appreciative if a church were to use Twitter during its services.

Ok, so I know it’s not all easy as that. But knowing your purpose and who your audience is helps narrow down the preference gap significantly.

When we work on programs, the priority is to remember ministry is about people. That’s why we even have programs — to help people grow spiritually and whole. Sometimes we can be so busy doing things for people that we forget to love people.

Instead of politics, focused leaders develop process. Sometimes the two can seem similar, but the motive is different. Ministry politics is often about pleasing or manipulating people. Process is influence.

How they’re similar — political leaders and process leaders both:

• Influence people
• Communicate with people
• Try to get people on board
• Discuss issues
• Try to achieve a goal

How they’re different:

• Politics is about getting people to like you. Process is about developing ownership.
• Politics is focused on telling people what they want to hear. Process is about speaking the truth in love.
• Politics is about pleasing and recruiting those who are in power. Process is about getting the right people on and the wrong people off the bus.

Which set of circles do you spend more of your time in?

Connecting People: The Lego Illustration

As I have been pondering how to help the people in our church be better connected, I have been reflecting on Larry Osborne’s great illustration from his book Sticky Church. (Ooooooohhh, I just discovered he’s coming out with a new book called Sticky Teams!)

Think of each person as a Lego.

Every person has a limited number of connectors. When a person makes a friend, a connector gets filled up.

The longer a person stays at church, the more connectors get filled up. Eventually, we are maxed out on the number of meaningful relationships that we can have.

Along comes a new person to the church, with all empty connectors, looking for some meaningful friendships.

But the long-time attender has no more empty connectors! For a long-timer to build an intentional relationship means that they  need to let go of one of their existing relationships… which is very difficult to do. Newcomers need to find other newcomers with empty connectors.

As I reflect on my church experience and the friendships that I formed with others as a newcomer, it is true that the friends I made were other people who were relatively new to the church too.

It makes me think, what can we do as a church to help newcomers meet other newcomers?

Chasm of Involvement

I really love this phrase that I saw from Sandals Church’s First Steps Coordinator: “My goal is to help people move from first-time guests to fully involved family.”

That’s a great picture of what every church should be doing!

Many times this progression happens in a very organic way — a friend invites a friend, a person happens to browse a website, an announcement piques a person’s interest.

But being a systems person, I began to wonder what kind of formal systems we have in place to help people get more connected right after they walk through the front door?

We have greeters but in general I would say greeters are not intended to be systems connectors. Their goal is to create a warm, welcoming atmosphere.

In looking at the different systems we have in place, I can place them along a grid. On the left is the amount of commitment that is needed from the newcomer. The more commitment, the higher up on the scale. On the bottom is the amount of effort the newcomer must exert to get connected. There is also a front door icon to remind us that regularly, newcomers walk into our churches without a clue in how to get involved.

The first system we have is our Phone Team. This requires absolutely no commitment nor any effort on the part of the newcomer. Ok, there’s a little effort. They need to fill out a connection card to let us know they exist. We make an announcement every  Sunday asking guests to fill these cards out and drop them in the offering plate. After that, their info gets sent to our Phone Team, which calls them and welcomes them to the church.

As you can see, there is so little that a newcomer needs to do, that this team is in the very bottom of the scale for both ends. The Phone Team asks the guest if there are any questions and then passes on the name to any ministry leaders if the newcomer wants more information.

The next no-commitment system is the Sunday Meet and Greet table out in the lobby. Guests are encouraged to come out and meet some of the pastors and people. This is an opportunity for us to get to know them, answer questions, or pass on info to get them connected. Although this requires no commitment on the part of the newcomer, it does require a little effort. They do need to stay a few minutes after service and walk towards the table!

Next is our adult education/Sunday school classes. They are stage of life groups that meet on Sunday mornings. They are mini-communities with teachers that expound on various topics. This takes a little more effort than the previous ones because the guest must stay two services — one to attend the worship gathering and one to attend the Sunday school class. It requires more commitment for them to attend the class and get to know people because it can be kind of awkward going to a group where many people already seem to know each other.

We also have a New Member’s class. I have placed this much further along the effort scale because our most recent class was held Sunday afternoon. This meant a person needed to come to church twice that day. It also requires higher commitment because most of the attendees are considering membership in the church at this point.

Lastly, there are small groups. Small groups require the greatest effort and commitment of all. They meet at other times than Sunday morning. They usually meet in homes or restaurants — the guest needs to drive to a different location. It can be intimidating for those who have never been part of a small group to go to a small group. Small group attendance is a weekly thing, which is difficult for many people.

So here is what I discovered. We have a big chasm in the middle.

I call it the “chasm of involvement.” It is a huge jump for a person to meet other people and develop friendships because there are no “middle opportunities.” Once in a while a group might put together a social event so that people can meet others, but we do not do anything on an all-church basis.

Maybe this is okay, if enough groups are providing low-risk and low-intimidation connection opportunities. But it makes me wonder what we as a church could and should be doing to help people take those steps from “first time visitor to fully involved church family?”

Moving People from Disengagement to Full Involvement

In my previous post, we looked at the different venues. For this post, I am approaching from the viewpoint of the weekend worship service being the primary front door through which people enter. After attending weekend services, people decide to join a small group or ministry or attend an event.

However, there’s another locale that needs to be added. Where do people come from? They come from the local community (or sometimes not-so-local community. If people like a church, they sometimes will drive very far to attend!).

Today’s post is about wondering what kind of communication is needed to move people along these arrows. I know that spiritual growth, the work of the Spirit, relationships and other key elements are important in moving people from unengaged to full involvement. But since we’re thinking about communication, what do we need to communicate to these people?

The main question that the community is asking is, “Why should I go to church?” Many people see no need to go to church. Their view of church is boring, irrelevant, and unnecessary. Oftentimes there is miscommunication as to what church is. The media doesn’t help. When we describe to them not only what church is, but why to come, people see the purpose.

Once people begin attending church and feeling like it a church home where they would like to get connected, the main question for them is, “How?” They want to know how they can get involved, make friends, and grow spiritually.

(I realize that these are broad generalizations, as people in both groups will ask multiple questions. For example, those who attend might not see a value in getting involved, so they would first need to understand why they should get involved.)

From a communications point of view, the next step is to take an inventory of what kind of tools we use to communicate the why and how to these groups. As I inventory our church’s tools, I see we have a long ways to go. (I am not including word of mouth, but tangible communication tools available for these groups.)

Why go to church?

• Website (kind of)
• Newspaper advertisements (kind of)
• Doorhangers (for our VBS)
• Invitation postcards

How to get involved?

• Website
• Bulletin boards
• Info center
• Small group directory
• Ministry brochures
• Sunday bulletin/program
• Verbal announcements/powerpoint slides during Sunday services
• Sign-up tables in the lobby
• All-church weekly email

I think it’s pretty obvious which area we are stronger in when it comes to communication tools…

Some churches I know are very strong in the first area. Others, like us, are better in the second area. Our desire is to be more outwardly focused, so the question is, “What tools can we resource the congregation and community with to help answer the why question?”

Front Door Venues

Every church has what I call “venues.” They could also be called “programs,” “services,” “groups,” “events,” etc. Basically they are locations where people gather for worship, teaching, fellowship, etc.

The primary venue every church has is the weekend worship service. The other venues vary depending on the priorities and values of the church: small groups, ministries, events, etc.

Each of these venues serves as the open front door for your church. Some new people come for the very first time at the weekend services and then decide to go to a small group. Other people are invited to an event for the first time, and then decide to visit a weekend service. In a sense, the venues feed each other, moving people from the front door of the church into a place that people begin to frequent regularly.

One question to ask is, “Where is the primary front door for your church?”

In some churches, the main front door is the weekend services. Many newcomers come to church during these services. Then they begin to attend the other venues.

Other churches see their other venues as the primary place that they invite people: special events, outreach-oriented small groups or Bible studies, outreach programs etc. Then people decide to attend the weekend services.

Questions:

• Does your church know where your primary front door is? Is there quantifiable data available?

• Does your church think that the primary front door is where the primary numerical growth engine will be? If so, what is it doing to make sure that front door experience is one that will attract and keep people?

• Where does your church prioritize? Sometimes venues compete. Is the venue with the larger front door getting the priority? (It doesn’t always have to be. There are times a venue with a smaller front door might get a higher priority, but it is because a different purpose is trying to be accomplished.)

• How many staff hours you have devoted to your different venues? Are they ranked according to your priorities?

5 Reasons People Leave a Church

As I have been musing about the open back door that our church (and others) have, another picture came to mind.

The goal we have as leaders is to close the back door and create a “sticky church” (as Larry Osborne, author of Sticky Church) says. We as a church have a responsibility to make disciples, as Christ commanded in the great commission. As church leaders, we have responsibility to think through what we are doing to see if we are doing our best in reaching out to people and enfolding them in a loving community where they can experience, learn, and grow in Christ.

I have been thinking particularly about people who attend once in a while. Some even consider themselves regular attenders even though they come once every few months. Others leave, never to return.

There are many people go out the back door, but they fall into 5 general categories. There are others but these are the main big ones that I can think of. Interestingly, they all start with the letter P. (My husband says alliterations are cheesy, but honestly, that’s how I think! They just popped in my mind!)

1. Purpose

• People don’t understand the purpose of attending church on Sunday. “I don’t get anything out of it.” “Why should I come every week?” They don’t see how services contribute to their lives or spiritual growth.

• Another reason that falls under the purpose area is church vision. People don’t get the vision or aren’t really excited about it.

2. Program

• They don’t like the music. (“Too loud.” “Too traditional.” “Don’t like that style.” “Have a hard time worshiping.”)

• They don’t like the preaching. (“Doesn’t speak to me.” “Not deep enough.” “Kind of boring.” “Not my style.”)

• They don’t like other elements. (“Don’t like the videos.” “Want more drama.” “Too liturgical.” “Too informal.”)

• They don’t feel like the service really speaks to them or helps them. It does not feel relevant or they don’t like the style.

Program can mean many things to people, so in this case I am referring to what happens during the actual worship services.

3. Philosophy/Doctrine

• They don’t agree with the church doctrine.

• They don’t like how the church is run. They think it should be led or run differently.

• They think the church should focus on different things than the leadership has decided to focus on.

4. Priority

• They are too busy.

• They don’t think church is important.

• They think they ought to go to church but somehow never seem to make the time to go.

Church is a low priority in their lives. Or, at the very least, it is not a high priority for them to attend.

5. People

• They had a conflict with someone.
• They are avoiding someone.
• They have no friends or feel like the relationships are superficial.
• They feel a lack of support in what they are going through.
• They feel like they don’t fit in with the people.
• They had a bad small group experience.
• They are not part of a small group or service team.
• They feel like people don’t really care about them.

So there are the five reasons. There are others too (another “P” — place — too far away, no parking, etc.), but I think the majority of people fall into these areas.

Here are some general solutions for each area. Due to limited space they are kind of simplistic, but hopefully provide food for further thought.

Reason Solution 1. Purpose Clarity. Clearly define why you have services, what you are trying to achieve, and why people should attend. Communicate expectations that attending the worship service is an important part of Christian community, learning, and corporate worship. 2. Program Excellence. I’m not just talking about doing things well, but defining your goal, target audience and style, and level of relevance and depth. If you are trying to nurture highly mature Christians, giving seeker-oriented messages won’t achieve your goal. On the other hand, if you are trying to reach seekers or growing those young in the faith, your service will look totally different. Then it’s a matter of looking at each element and asking, “Are we doing the best with what we’ve got?” 3. Philosophy/ Doctrine Harsh as it may sound, let these people leave. A church cannot be all things to all people. There will always be someone who disagrees with the vision and direction of the church. A church doesn’t change it’s vision to accommodate a few people — not to mention, if you DO change direction, you will get a whole other group in the church upset! Clarify and communicate your philosophy and doctrine and stick with it.(In some cases, disagreement can be an impetus towards growth, such as when the church is dropping the ball on certain things that really need to be addressed. But I am speaking of big picture vision / direction / philosophy of ministry here.) 4. Priority This is a discipleship issue. Teach and help people understand the priority of corporate worship. Too often people think, “What do I get out of the services?” instead of, “What can I contribute?” 5. People Connection culture. Develop a culture of friendship, healthy conflict management, and doing life together. This involves culture (teaching and communication about the importance of community) and systems (easy ways for people to connect with one another.)

Last year we did a survey and heard back from people who were either leaving the church or thinking about leaving the church. The number 1 reason?

Moving. I guess that’s a good reason!

After that were 1. People, 2. Program, and 3. Philosophy/Doctrine. Since a huge part of the people area falls on my plate, I’ve got my work cut out for me!

Grace Culture Spectrum

Since my last blog was about a spectrum, here’s another spectrum I’ve been thinking about.

Every church has a culture. Some churches really emphasize grace. This means showing grace to one another when we fail or disappoint each other. The desire is to reflect the grace of God to us.

So, on one side of the spectrum I have put the concept of Grace. Some churches are really good at this. These churches are characterized by people being very kind and accepting of each other.

Other churches, on the other hand, emphasize the discipline aspect. I am speaking of discipline in the positive sense. The people in these types of churches read their Bible every day and practice spiritual disciplines and look like fortified Christians. They are quite admirable for their spiritual strength.

What is interesting is that when a church is all grace and no discipline, it ends up being permissive. People can do whatever they want and no one says anything because “we are showing grace to them.”

But if a church takes the discipline value to an extreme, it becomes legalistic. Now everything is about doing what you’re supposed to and it becomes out of guilt. Grace is not shown to those who mess up because they are supposed to be disciplined.

Churches seem to lean towards one side or the other. It’s very hard to find a balance of the two. What is even more confusing is that two people might go to the same church and put the church in a different place on the spectrum because of the person’s own belief system, environment, or culture.

Our goal is to have a balance of both grace and discipline. They are both important, both biblical, and both modeled by Christ. At times we might shift one direction or the other, which could be a healthy thing. But we definitely want to stay out of the extremes of “Permissiveness” and “Legalism,” both unhealthy and unbiblical.

Where does your church lie on the spectrum? And how do you balance the two?