performance would happen , and it surely would not happen as well as it does .
As a pastor , you wear the conductor ’ s hat working with people of numerous talents , abilities , and skills . Directing people so that they work together in unity brings out the best in your church . Orchestrating the body so that action flows out of harmony is necessary to achieve the church ’ s disciple-making mission . As conductor , you promote an environment that inspires people to serve and motivates people to participate . The essence of the conductor ’ s hat is the ability to recognize ability in people and get them working in harmony with others . This hat is worn the most by pastors of plateaued churches ( 1.5 hours more than those in growing churches and 3.5 hours more than those in declining ones ).
Keys to Conducting
There are several keys to effective conducting .
First , know your mission . We are all aware that businesses have a financial bottom line . At first , we might think that churches don ’ t have a bottom line , but that ’ s incorrect . Churches do have a bottom line ; it ’ s just different . The bottom line of a church is changed people . While businesses seek to satisfy the customer , churches seek to change the person . When you think of it , that ’ s what all nonprofit organizations seek — to change the person . A hospital seeks to change sick people into healthy ones . Schools seek to change students into educated adults . Churches seek to change people into followers of Christ — disciples who change their values into God ’ s values and change their lives into godly ones .
Second , stay on mission . As a conductor , you have to learn to say no . There is always too much good to do and not enough resources to do it all . Any organization can only do a certain number of tasks . A major danger in smaller churches is to attempt more ministry than what resources can support . A major danger for larger churches is to take on things that don ’ t fit its mission . Remember , God ’ s kingdom encompasses both heaven and earth . Most nonprofit organizations focus all of their efforts on the earthly side of the kingdom . The church is the only organization that focuses on the other side of the kingdom — heaven . For that reason , many good causes and needs should not be your primary focus . The church has to keep touch with God ’ s whole kingdom , but the church is not a food bank , or counseling center , or housing shelter , or any other strictly social service entity . Yes , you must keep touch with humanity and provide assistance where needed , but as a church , your focus is on changing lives , particularly bringing people into right relationship with Jesus Christ . If you allow yourself to get involved in too many good things , you ’ ll lose focus .
Third , get others on mission with you . Pastors typically use five primary appeals to recruit and motivate volunteers : duty , logic , accomplishment , belonging , and caring . Last on the list today are duty and logic . Pastors using duty as a motivator usually talk about the importance of loyalty , commitment , and the obligation to use one ’ s gifts . Using logic , pastors present statistics and analyze data , hoping it inspires others to serve where there is verifiable need . Next is motivational attempts based on challenges to accomplish something good for Christ and his church . Unfortunately ,
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