In the last two blog posts, we covered cultivation and planting. Next comes reaping. Simply put, reaping takes place when you challenge friends to respond to the truth of God's Word. It is the natural result of cultivating and planting. If we cultivate in love and plant in God's truth, the result will be the challenge and joy of the harvest. (​Ecclesiastes 3:1–2, 2 Corinthians 9:6, Galatians 6:9)

Reaping a response to God’s truth involves an understanding of the difference between our job and God’s job in the reaping process.
Our job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Clearly and concisely present the Good News message about Christ.  
2. Call people to respond to that message.

God’s job in the reaping process of evangelism is to:

1. Convict the spiritually lost of sin and convince them of their need for right (righteous) living. (“He will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment.” John 16:8)
2. Draw the spiritually lost to Himself. (“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” John 6:44)

This partnership with God calls for bold proclamation with prayerful dependence.

Skills That Need to Be Developed to Do Our Job
To fulfill our part of the reaping process there are two skills that can be developed to enhance our effectiveness.

1. Presenting the Good News.
2. Calling for a response.

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Presenting the Gospel
One of the hindrances to reaping is best expressed by this statement: “I would love to tell my peers about Christ but I don’t know how to share the essential elements of a Gospel presentation.”

I suggest starting by memorizing Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Do you believe it? Then, live it!

Enhancing Our Reaping Skills—Calling for a Response
Jesus was a master communicator when it came to getting individuals to respond to spiritual truths. He would often paint a word picture and then ask people questions that caused them to evaluate their spiritual condition. He always made space for their response.

Calling for a Response in Practice
You can use the same two steps to call for a response. First, paint a word picture, like this:​

Within our Kairos Church Planting network we say, "Vision brings hope and a Plan brings confidence." This is a memorable way to recognize that we need to know where we headed and how we're going to get there.
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We also say, "If it's in your head it's a dream; if it's on paper it's a plan." The power of putting something down on paper (yeah, that's figurative, as I'm writing this on my iPad) is amazing. More things will actually get done when we see it written then when they just rattle around in our minds.

If making a plan and writing it down are so powerful why is it that so many of us don't do it? My answer is we often overthink planning. We think planning means spending days agonizing over the issues, researching all possible answers, and preparing that way too long, no one will ever read it, doorstop of a plan. If that's what it takes--count me out! I can't do that kind of planning. Let's leave that to the Pentagon.
Instead I use this very simple 5 question planning process:

1. What needs to happen to move the ball down the field? There are always many things that beg to be done. This question helps us clarify what will actually help us do what needs to be done.
2. Why do I think this goal will move the ball? Answering the why question raises our confidence that we're putting our energies into something that will actually help us make progress.
3. What is the measurable outcome I'm trying to achieve? If your outcome isn't measurable how in the world will you know when you've accomplished it and how well it was done? By having a measurable outcome you'll know it when it happens. (Oh, and this makes celebrating the victory so much more satisfying).
4. What actions will get me there? By creating an action list you take the big, overwhelming thing and break it down into pieces you can handle. It's the answer to the old African question. "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!"
5. What's the logical sequence for those actions? Now you sequence those actions into the logical order that you can put into your work calendar. Now you know not only what you need to do but when you have to have it done by. For about half of us (yeah, us iNtuitives and Perceivers in the Myers-Briggs or Influencers in the DiSC) it gives us that deadline we often need to get us going.

Most of the time, even for long term, complex processes, you should be able to put all this on one sheet of paper. Do that and you've got a pretty simple but darn good plan.

Remember even an idiot with a plan is more likely to succeed than a genius without one.
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Good luck. Why don't you sit down and make a plan right now. if it fits on one page (one side only) send it to me. I'll love seeing what you're working on.

It’s the time of year when resolutions and plans, hopes and dreams, are pasted on our mirrors, stuck on our walls, or presented in PPT strategy sessions. As an organizational leader and an individual the problem I have with resolutions is not the planning—it’s the execution!
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Recently I was at an event where the speaker had written “flawless execution” alongside the diagram of his talk. Wow, that got my attention. Can you believe the first thing he said was he wasn’t going to do the talk he had planned. He spent the next twenty minutes of his sixty-minute time slot talking about himself! His info, when he got to it, was good. But we lost one-third of his time! His problem wasn’t his planning—it was his execution!

Ram Charan and Larry Bossidy in their book Execution say, “Execution . . . is a discipline of its own.” Here are four ideas that can help you and your team practice the discipline of execution in a way that makes sense, gets the job done, and doesn’t make us feel like failures.

Fluid planning
I have a friend who was a naval navigator. He once told me, “Navigating is easy. As long as you know where you are leaving from and where you are going to everything in between is fluid.” Fluid planning has the why, the reason for our plan, as its starting point. Its ending point is what we want to accomplish. If our why is strong and our what is appropriate everything that lies between is the fluid plan.

Inconsistent Action
One of the major breakthrough events in my life was when I accepted the idea that consistency is not king. And that’s not an easy idea to accept. We’ve all been told the fable of the tortoise and the hare—right? But life doesn’t come at us consistently. Life comes in waves, in fits and starts. Inconsistent action gives us permission to let our energies and focus meet the demands of life while returning us again and again to the action necessary to achieve results. Inconsistent action reduces the guilt that paralyzes us and which can eventually so demotivate us that we quit.
Hurtful reality
Reality is hurtful because it’s the force we’re always having to adjust to. Reality refuses to leave us alone. It interferes with our plans (which are obviously great because we made them). The hurt of reality, however, is primarily felt in relation to our unwillingness to accept its presence. The more we resist reality the more pain it applies. Instead of viewing reality as the enemy accept reality as a constructive guide. Reality rewards us when we work with it and redirects us when we get out of sync.
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Fearful Courage
A plan is an act of courage in and of itself. But, as soon as we make a plan public, from the moment we take the first step, fear climbs onto the seat beside us. Fearful courage accepts the fact that fear and courage are companions. So when you feel the fear creeping up on you look around to see where courage is. Courage is not the absence of fear, it is acting in spite of it.
Flawless execution is probably the mythic unicorn of strategic planning. I pray these four ideas encourage you to keep on executing your plans for the good results you want to accomplish.
Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. —Peter Drucker

Being a spiritual mentor does not equal being a religious leader. Mentors are not necessarily managing the direction of the church itself. The reality is they are leaders, but maybe look different from what you expect. It’s important to know the traits of spiritual mentors, these individuals are valuable in the development of the disciples within your congregation.

Here's a more accurate picture of what a spiritual mentor looks like:

Step 1: Consider Your Core Values
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Your core values are the foundation that gives your church its sense of individual identity, provides direction, and are foundation upon which decisions are made. Run the decision through your core values. Your goal is to determine the consistency of the decision with your core values. The values decision answers the question can we say yes to this decision? Ask these two questions:

1. Is this decision consistent with and connected to our core values?

• If yes, write a statement that describes how it is consistent and connected to your core values, then move ahead.
• If no, stop. Write a clear statement of why the decision does not meet your core values test and clearly communicate the reason to the person who brought the decision in question.

2. Do our core values warrant spending dollars on this decision?

• If yes, are those dollars available in the regular budget or would it require extra-budget funding?
• If no, what is it about the decision that makes it not reach the level of importance for funding? Write your statement and present it to the person bringing the decision

Step 2: Consider Your Mission

Now you are looking at how this decision connects with your church's mission, that statement that describes why your church exists. Your mission statement answers the question should we say yes to this decision?

• If yes, write a clear statement of how this decision moves you ahead in your mission.
• If no, stop. Write your statement describing why it does not connect with your mission and communicate the reason.

Step 3: Does the Decision Dovetail With Your Vision?
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Your vision is what you wish to see come to being in the next few years. Ask the question: does this decision contribute to accomplishing our vision? At this step you are answering the final question of will we say yes to this decision?

• If yes, write your statement that describes how a positive decision substantially contributes to accomplishing your vision. Clearly describe what you will gain by a positive decision.
• If no, write your statement describing why it does not and clearly describe what you will lose by making a negative decision.

This decision-making process runs your decisions through your core values, mission, and vision and by writing your reasoning at each step it will help you be more clear and more certain about your decision as well as having clear communication to give to your church.

How many ministry job descriptions does your church have written?
Whoa! That’s a boring topic. My experience is that few churches have job descriptions written for more than their hired staff. But spending the time to write job descriptions for all your ministry leaders may be one of the best investments your church can make for your sanity, health and the well-being of your church.
Because churches are volunteer organizations we suggest using the name role descriptions over job descriptions. This name change helps people understand the volunteer idea a little more clearly.

​The role description is your basic blueprint for success for every important, ongoing job that you want to get done. Here’s five ways that Ministry Role Descriptions will help your church:

1. So you know what the job is you’re asking people to commit to. You’re asking people to voluntarily give up vacation time, to take time away from family, and to do extra hours all for the “general good” of everybody else. The role description helps you make a clear, understandable ask.
2. So you can get the right people in the right seats doing the right things. This is a Jim Collins, Good to Great, phrase, but it’s also a phrase about giftedness. A good role description will help people sort through their gift sets to see if they fit or if this job will help them add to their giftedness.
3. To set expectations for performance. This is a hard one for volunteer organizations. In the church world it seems any kind of job performance is OK because, after all, “we’re Christians and our real goal is to love one another, right? A role description should raise the bar for people by describing how well things need to be done and what kinds of outcomes we expect them to achieve.
4. To describe both whom people work with and for whom. It really helps people to know who is my leader, who are my co-workers, and who works for me. A role description should clearly describe where the position sits in relationship to other people and ministries.
5. To set the context of the job into the mission, vision, and values of the church. Every ministry role is about the mission of the church and should display the values of the church. A good role description will describe how that job adds to or displays the mission, vision, and values of the church.

Click here to download a Writing Role Descriptions activity from the Kairos website. Throw a “writing party” for your ministry leaders to involve them in writing their own role descriptions. Add some food and fun to get the work done!

This post is by Stan Granberg, the Kairos Executive Director.
"At what point did pastoral ministry become so draining, so challenging, that a gifted veteran would question his ability to go the distance or cause a bright and talented newcomer to consider dropping out of professional ministry?" Lilly Foundation, Sustaining Pastoral Excellence, p. 3

Today’s pastors often feel…
scared they aren't relevant…
scared they can’t keep up the pace…
like they’re leading alone.
As a result, the best people often shy away from professional ministry or they burnout and leave ministry as a vocation, sometimes even leaving God in the process.
If you’re a minister, a church leader, a friend of a minister, or a church member, you owe it to your minister, yourself, and your church to help your minister engage in healthy soul care.
Recently I was blessed to be at a meeting of church planter executives where Alan Ahlgrim presented five levels of pastoral soul care. Every pastor should have plans for the first four levels and options for level five.

​1. Friend to FriendClose friends provide regular, personal interaction where they can speak into the pastor’s soul with love and support.
2. MentoringEveryone runs into situations that challenge them beyond their current level of ability or maturity. Mentors provide pastors the investment of experience and expertise to help them meet the challenges of pastoral work.
3. Sharpening ExperiencesThese are retreats, seminars, and training events where pastors can learn from experts and each other to sharpen the myriad of skills pastors may be called to perform.
4. Covenant GroupsThese are small groups of fellow leaders who commit from one to three years together to hold each other close, allowing them to reveal their fears, their doubts, and their missteps without fear of repercussions.
Covenant groups are not about fixing. They are about listening carefully, asking clear questions, and keeping each other out of the ditch.
5. Psychological InterventionSometimes despite the best precautions, but most often because levels one through four were not exercised, pastors reach crisis where professional help and intervention is needed.
God has provided exceptional people who can help pastors in deep distress regain balance and wholeness to their life and ministry.

Share these five levels with your church leaders and pastor. You may save a life gifted for God’s glory.

Great team builders are great volunteer recruiters. Churches are volunteer based organizations. No matter how great the staff or well staffed a church is its ability to sustain itself and accomplish its mission is dependent upon a large base of engaged volunteers. And perhaps even more challenging, the larger the church the larger the percentage of volunteers it needs. This makes developing a strong volunteer culture a critical factor for growth and health.
Here are five practices of a great volunteer recruiter:

1. Be a positive watcher. Look for people who are doing things well. When you're the person who notices when others do good you'll create an environment of positive expectation.​

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1. Give truthful, specific praise. Saying "thank you" is always a good practice but supercharge that practice with specifics. A children's Bible class coordinator might say, "I want to tell you thank you. I have noticed how you are always in class, on time, and with a smile on your face to greet your students when they arrive."
2. Develop a praiseworthy reputation.  Great volunteer team builders make people feel better about themselves. Be a positive encourager who builds the esteem of others.
3. Be a fan of others. Have you ever had a supervisor whom you dreaded to see enter the room because you knew what you would hear is what you are doing wrong? When you're a fan of others they'll respond to your presence by doing better.
4. Be a talent scout. Look for opportunities to call people into new roles of ministry and service. For me this often means looking at the person first then finding a role for them rather than needing to fill a role then looking for a person.

If you're looking to break growth barriers, to become a healthier church, or to simply increase your personal effectiveness as a leader develop your team building skills as a volunteer recruiter.

What do you look for to identify potential leaders? What are the "tells" that indicate this person is ready to make a move to lead others in the name of Jesus?
The Kairos SoCal Multiplying Church cohort spent a meeting looking at how to raise up leaders in our churches. We invited Eric Metcalf, campus pastor for the Lincoln Park campus of Community Christian Church in Chicago, IL to walk us through their training process. Eric gave us a focused, usable process for training leaders through an apprenticeship model.

​Community Christian identifies apprentices by looking for 3 characteristics:

1. Spiritual Velocity: what do we see in those around us that indicate they are taking steps towards Jesus? Are they moving or are they standing still?
2. Teachability: are they willing to learn from you in a mentoring relationship? People who are teachable are often looking for someone to help them grow.
3. Relational Intelligence: do you (and others) like to be around them? These people can draw others into a team, a small group, or a discipling relationship.

You can view Eric's presentation on video Apprentice Model - Eric Metcalf #2

obert J. Clinton, one of my teachers and thought mentors at Fuller Theological Seminary drilled into my thinking the idea that developing leaders is both a central purpose and a critical skill of leaders. Yet it's disturbing how few churches and church leaders I observe practicing either.
This month five churches met in our SoCal Multiplying Church cohort to work on Developing A Leadership Pipeline. One question we addressed was how do we identify emerging leaders?

Drawing upon some of Bobby Clinton's material here is a quick tool set of ideas you can use to identify emerging leaders in your church:
 
1. Acts. Look for men and women, particularly those in their late teens and early twenties, who do leader acts. These may be simple things such as calling a group's attention to the activity at hand, organizing people, or giving a nudge to someone that engages them more deeply in the life of the church. Leadership acts are identifying markers of leadership potential. When you see someone doing leadership acts regularly you probably have an emerging leader at hand.
​2. Tasks. Once you spot a potential leader the next step is to give that leader a leadership task to accomplish. A leadership task is a short activity that has a defined beginning, end, and a specific purpose to accomplish. A leadership task is not just doing something. It must be about leading others to do something. This is critical. Remember, leaders don't just do things; leaders lead people. The leadership task is not nearly as critical as how the potential leader addresses the task, engages others in doing the task, and how they process what they learn about leading others from the task. As a leader developer you should be able to observe the leader as they engage this task and once it's completed talk with them about it. How did they think it went? What did they observe, learn, gain from a leadership perspective? It's this debriefing conversation that turns the leadership task into a learning experience that helps potential leaders grow into actual leaders.
3. Stretch Assignments. Finally, if your emerging leader is making progress give him or her a stretch assignment. A stretch assignment is a longer, more complex expectation than a leadership task. A stretch assignment will often give the emerging leader responsibility for solving some sort of problem, like "would you organize a service project for our local school" or "would you lead a team to do follow up on guests from our Easter activities?" The emerging leader will have to evaluate the problem, come up with a solution, organize people to carry out the plan, and report on the outcomes. Stretch assignments tests an emerging leader's capabilities, skills at leading a team, and their willingness to take responsibility for something important.
With these 3 leadership items you can identify, test, and train emerging leaders who have the potential to be vital, life-giving leaders in your church.