Churches grow as they keep hope alive .
Attitude is everything . Just as individuals ’ attitudes affect their personal outlook and behavior , churches ’ attitudes affect their corporate outlook and behavior . A church ’ s attitude affects its congregational self-esteem . It affects the likelihood that members will invite friends and relatives to attend . Attitude affects the church ’ s willingness to risk . And attitude affects the church ’ s level of hope about the future . One of the crucial challenges facing a declining church is the loss of hope , which then becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy . Consequently , one of the major responsibilities of church leaders in such situations is to fan the flame of optimism , even in the face of major obstacles and challenges .
Healthy churches believe that their best days are still ahead . Unhealthy churches recall their best days in the past . Healthy churches are optimistic about the future . Dying churches fear the future .
Steve Clapp asked more than 250,000 active members of churches in North America about their morale and enthusiasm for their church ’ s future . He found , not surprisingly , that there were significant differences between churches with declining memberships and churches with growing memberships . 4
One of the first things we do in consulting with a church is to get a reading of the congregation ’ s self-esteem and sense of hope . Does the church feel it brings something of value to its community ? Do people have a sense of anticipation that the future will be better ? It is possible to measure hope . Try the following :
• Engage in active listening . Active listening with key people and groups is one way to evaluate the morale of a church . Since pastors spend much of their time talking , attentive listening may be a difficult practice . Begin taking time to ask questions that will give insight into leaders ’ and members ’ overall morale or sense of hope : What are leaders saying about their church ? Do they feel good about the church ’ s future ? Do they feel good about themselves ? Listen carefully to their answers .
• Engage in passive listening . What do you hear others saying about the church ? Is there a hopeful buzz of excitement about the future or a quiet silence of resignation ? Do leaders complain that the majority of members are apathetic and do not care about the church ? When new ideas are introduced in leadership meetings , do you hear comments like : “ That won ’ t work here ” or “ People won ’ t support that ”?
• Listen to complaints . Since all complaints are not related to morale , listen particularly for ones that focus on deeper issues . Are problems with finances a frequent topic of discussion ? Usually concerns that reveal a general sense of frustration , or even anger , point to low morale and a lack of hope . The old adage that hurting people hurt people is true . Those who are most critical may harbor feelings of despair .
• Pay attention to nonverbal language . Do people exhibit a lack of pride in the facilities ? Are people on time for events or habitually late ? Is relatively little done to celebrate the positive achievements of the church ? Is it difficult to recruit workers ? Do many people feel there are cliques that exclude others ? Is financial giving down ? All of these may be nonverbal clues that morale is low .
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