When The Unstuck Group works with a church on strategic planning, the church ultimately discovers several “core issues” they believe are the most important things holding them back from being the church God has called them to be. After identifying those areas, they can make plans that will actually move them forward.
We’ve worked with a lot of churches in the last couple of years, and we started seeing some trends in the core issues that kept coming up. So, we conducted a small research project to identify the top five most common core issues of the churches we’ve worked with in the last year.
Here they are:
1) Spiritual Formation – We are noticing churches are having difficulty creating a solid and simple discipleship strategy to help regular attenders, as well as newcomers, take next steps in their walk with Christ. This issue was identified by more churches than any other issue. Based on Jesus’ commission to His followers when He left earth, we think this is a big problem.
2) Communications – As we work with churches, we’ve noticed it is rare to see a professional, relevant communications strategy. This brings clarity internally as to what people should do and what a church is all about. To a new person, clear communications define a church’s mission and vision. Excellent internal communications is also lacking: We’ve seen churches with vision, passion and solid leaders crippled by poor communication.
3) Mission/Vision – Churches are really struggling to reach a decision on the roadmap for where they are going and how they will accomplish their vision. A lot are simply leaning on the vision of a larger, “successful” church they follow.
4) Small Groups – Our metrics indicate that churches are having a difficult time engaging people beyond weekend services. Finding qualified small group leaders can be challenging; seeing people get connected seems to be even a greater hurdle.
5) Leadership Development – In many churches, there has never been a priority placed on leadership development. For churches to continue growing, this area cannot be overlooked. Senior Leadership teams rarely have a person with the specific role of championing leadership development. Breakdowns happen when this is treated like a program instead of a foundational aspect to the growth and health of a church.
Want to learn more about leading through these common issues? My team has recently been working to create something that helps church leaders and prepares them to address challenges when leading a ministry.
Stemming from 12 core issues The Unstuck Group has found most churches are facing today, Leading an Unstuck Church Online Course challenges you with lessons, exercises and discussion that will grow your ability to lead an unstuck church. Learn more details:
Photo Credit: Leo Reynolds via Compfight cc
