Not Dead Yet Archives - Page 2 of 2

Building Relational Power

by Ben Sandin

Part of a successful listening campaign is having clarity about relational power. At the outset, I want to affirm the value and importance of pastoral care. It is important for pastors and leaders to listen to their people, learn their story, and provide for their spiritual care. I was trained to do this in any number of ways and taught this aspect of ministry serves its own purpose. I affirm this wholeheartedly. At the same time, pastoral listening also creates pastoral power, which needs some further understanding before delving into the specifics of how to conduct a listening campaign.

Defining Power

Power is simply the ability to move. It is not inherently good or bad, but merely connotates ability. Relational power is the ability to move people. In the church, relational power allows leaders to effectively cast a vision and invite people to participate. Leaders build relational power by building trust. This power can be used for a higher purpose or can be squandered. My fear is that many pastors do not realize how powerful they already are and how effective they could be if they utilized their relational power.

Finding Balance

Another part of me believes many pastors build relational power for themselves. They have a nurturing side that wants to help people and meet their needs. This is a good thing, but it could also devolve into fulfilling the pastor’s own emotional need to be needed. This need to be needed is a major barrier to congregational change. Pastors cannot use their congregations for their own emotional needs. Rather, pastors must put the best needs of the congregation first, which will at times require pastor to make difficult and unpopular decisions.

Listening builds trust, builds knowledge, and builds power. Relational power is absolutely necessary to make effective change in congregations. Making changes will also diminish relational power because there will always be people who resist change. A pastor or leader who seeks to implement change, must have clarity to understand the needed changes will decrease their popularity. At the same time, relational power has no more important role than to enable change. Furthermore, relational power can be replenished with subsequent listening and pastoral ministry.

May God continue to bless the journey,

Pastor Ben Sandin

Listen Up!

by Ben Sandin

Listening is the heart of pastoral leadership. While this insight may seem obvious around practices of pastoral care, it is significantly undervalued as a leadership strategy. Listening deeply to the story of another person’s life builds connection and trust. It is also builds relational power and leverage desperately needed to navigate situations of congregational change. Most pastors take the time to listen for the sake of caring for their members and do not realize the relational power they possess. This power, if built strategically, can be utilized to effect transformational change in congregations.

Congregational listening can be employed by pastors at any time during their call but can be particularly helpful when beginning a new call. At my current call, I conducted 135 one-to-one listening sessions in my first three months. While this may seem like an extreme and unrealistic exercise, it allowed me to build power and trust in three months that would have taken years to build otherwise. It is also key to conduct your listening one-on-one. Focus groups or town hall meetings do not generate the kind of vulnerable or trusting-building conversations needed to build relational power. This listening allowed me to move quickly to institute needed changes that allowed the congregation to gain new focus and energy. Some things to consider:

Approval Rating: Your congregation will never be more excited for your ministry than when you first begin. If this is coupled with a strategic listening campaign, you will be well positioned to have relational power to make changes and deep knowledge and insight to make wise decisions. The old adage of waiting a year to make any changes is not only defunct but also dangerous as many congregations do not have the luxury of waiting.
Own the Story: A listening campaign at the outset of your new call that is strategic will allow you to hear from representatives of each demographic of your congregation. This is a time to ask questions to get to know people but also to probe around any recent conflict or trauma. Done skillfully, this will allow you to “own the story” of your congregation because you have heard in depth from all sides and know fully where things stand and where pain still exists. After concluding your listening campaign, find a time to share your learning and insights. This will position you as the most authoritative voice and leader in your congregation.
Power Analysis: Power is often perceived as a dirty word in the church. In reality, power is simply the ability to move. If leaders want to move their congregations toward transformative change, they must get more comfortable building and utilizing power. One of the best questions to ask in the listening campaign is: “who else should I be talking to?” This question not only gives referrals for future one-on-ones but also allows you to see the relational networks that exist in the congregation. Knowing who is connected to who allows you to navigate power alliances and to distinguish between those who have a following and the lone voices. One key learning has been to understand the loudest voices or resisters are often those with little congregational support.

Merely a Flesh Wound

by Ben Sandin

Much discussion has been made in recent years about how the church is dying. A recent front page article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune highlighted this very subject. You can read it here: As Minnesota Churches Close A Way of Life Fades

And while it is undeniably true that our culture is moving away from active church attendance and membership, it doesn’t mean the church itself is dying. If we primarily think of the church as a building people go to, then the future can seem rather bleak. If however, we understand the church biblically as the Body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12), we can find see all kinds of new life. Plus, I tend to find these types of articles to be heavy on diagnosis and light on prognosis. It is all so dire and no one seems to know what to do. But God’s mission is alive in the world and we can be part of it!

The Body of Christ is wounded in Western culture. People no longer feel compelled to attend or belong to religious institutions. The rise of secular influence, church scandals, hypocrisy, and judgment have all given the church a bad name. But the Holy Spirit constitutes and sustains the church and has done so for 2,000 years. The church has seen persecution, martyrdom, wars, inquisitions and is Not Dead Yet. God is not done with the church and the church is not dead! The church may not always look like the church we used to know and love, but perhaps this is a good thing. I like to think that the church has suffered merely a flesh wound, but it is Not Dead Yet.

With an openness to the Spirit and a heart turned to God and neighbor, struggling churches can find new life. When church institutions struggle with loss of members and financial strain, they tend to turn inward. Their focus on self-survival ironically precipitates their demise. The church is the church when it exists for the world. When God’s people turn their attention outward to the neighborhood they can find new life. There is a reason the Spirit saw fit to plant your congregation where it is, and it still exists because God is not done with you yet! We must fight our need for self-survival and seek the faithful path of serving the neighbor. Not Dead Yet exists to journey with you; to discover the part of God’s mission you are called. The Body of Christ may be wounded, but healing and wholeness is possible. The Spirit is willing and waiting.

Building Relational Power

Defining Power

Finding Balance

Listen Up!

Merely a Flesh Wound

Is it time for Radical Intervention?