Upon my visit toNewSpring Churchfor the Unleash Conference, I kept my eyes open for the things that set them apart from other churches.
There were a lot of elements that contributed to the excitement at Unleash. In fact, the same mistake is usually made by most church leaders – to mimic singular elements, hoping that it produces the desired result. For example, lights, a great sound system, artistic staff, a huge building, and a couple musicians don’t actually create the environment that we saw. As I said, it would be way too easy to rely on these elements, but that’s not what creates passionate churches following a radical God.
As I said, there are a lot of factors that contribute to a healthy, passionate church, but when you boil them all down, there are a couple non-negotiable sources to the passion we witnessed.
1. The vision is clear. A church that keeps the vision out front is a church that stays on the same path. This means that you don’t have people hijacking the vision because they don’t know what it actually is. When the vision is clear, everyone can move in the same direction. When everyone can move in the same direction, progress is inevitable!
2. The leadership is excited. I talked with 5-10 staff members at NewSpring, and they were more excited than most of the church leaders I’ve ever worked with. They were so pumped about being a part of NewSpring, and it was so easy to get on board with their excitement. When the leadership is excited, it transfers to everyone around them.
3. The direction is strategic. You won’t find NewSpring doing anything that doesn’t make sense for the people they want to reach. This is because they pay very close attention to every move they make. Each change in direction is carefully calculated, and they take extreme caution that their direction is strategic. Too many churches follow suit from other churches, because “that’s what churches do.” It’s refreshing to see a church break the mold, and bear fruit because of it. After all, if we follow those who aren’t bearing fruit, what can we expect?
4. The mission is laser-focused. This church isn’t just throwing money at everything under the sun in hopes that it will “work.” They’re laser-focused in the areas of their resources (finances, energy, staff), which means they don’t have paid staff doing things that are off-mission. You won’t see them starting ministries that fill every single need that everyone in the world has. For example, in one of the breakouts they offered at Unleash, one of their staff members got very transparent about their finances and what they invest in. Because that list is very short, they’re able to invest a lot more than most churches do. It’s time to ask a really tough question: “Are we diluting our resources by dividing our assets into too many avenues?
5. The energy is contagious. Like I said earlier, the excitement of the staff members trickles down to the volunteers. I don’t know the last time that I’ve seen several hundred volunteers all be as excited as possible. Here’s something that we have to know about this church – that doesn’t happen on accident! They are led well! What would happen if we realized the potential of our attitude? What could happen if we decided to start being positive on purpose? Here’s the hard question: Do you think that the people who talk about your church always do so with a contagious positive energy? If not, what are people catching from the leadership at your church?