Mark Brasler says he thought long and hard before he decided he wanted to be a church consultant. The question in his mind wasn't whether he wanted to help churches grow and become healthier. The question he mulled was much more fundamental.
"Several years ago a prominent politician's race for the White House ended when he couldn't answer the question, ‘Why do you want to be president?'" Brasler said. "So I think it was appropriate for me to answer a similar question, ‘Why do I want to be a church consultant?'"
After reflecting upon his 30-year church career, Brasler, minister of spiritual development at Westwood Baptist Church in Springfield, Va., said several reasons came to mind.
Experience
First of all, Brasler has served as a minister of education, associate pastor and minister for spiritual development in churches in the Southeast and on the East Coast. During his career he has served at large, medium and small churches. He has been part of congregations that were growing, were at a plateau and that were in decline -- sometimes at the same church over a period of time.
Despite all that, Brasler said he has much to learn. He recently added to his experience by attending a two-day church consultant seminar taught by church health expert Dr. Thom Rainer, dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.
The seminar, conducted at the picturesque seminary campus in Louisville, Ky., offers church leaders like Brasler more of an "outside looking in" perspective about church health and growth.
"But the truth is I have survived in church ministry, a field in which we are told a smaller percentage of seminary graduates plan to enter each year -- which says something about how difficult a job it is. I have had many good experiences, and many bad ones," he said. "All of these experiences will come in handy as I work with churches to move them toward congregational health."
People Skills
As a church consultant, Brasler knows that much of his time will be spent interviewing members of churches and people in the community around them. During these interviews, he said, he will need to dig deep enough into a church to make an accurate assessment of its health.
"My knowledge of churches won't matter much unless I am able to earn the trust of those who can give me specific knowledge about the congregation I am working with,"
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Mark Brasler Minister for Spiritual Development: Westwood Baptist Church, Springfield, Va. |
He said he has worked with enough people during his years in ministry that he thinks people skills will be a strong asset to him as a consultant.
Observation Skills
Still, Brasler does not consider himself to be particularly extroverted. Because of that, he said he would rely heavily on observation skills he has honed over the years.
"My wife and I are both slightly more introverted than extroverted. Our introvert sides means that we are usually among the first to leave a gathering. But on the way home we will inevitably begin to compare notes about what we have seen, heard and felt at the gathering," he said.
"I know that one of the vital skills a church consultant must have is that he must be a good listener. But even more importantly he must be a sensory observer," he said. "He must not only listen to those people he is interviewing, but he must also sense the emotions behind answers. He must be able to sense tension when it is present -- and sense those wonderful circumstances that are tension free."
Analytical Skills
Brasler also said his analytical skills should serve him well as a church consultant.
"I was one of those children who drove his parents crazy when I was growing up because I always wanted to know ‘why,' he said.
He said he was a much better student in college and in seminary than he was in high school because the two focused more on the analytical nature of learning that appealed to him.
Church consulting in general and the training he attended in particular also appeal to his analytical nature.
"Part of the attraction of consulting for me will be helping churches analyze data and perceptions, then to be able to further use these analytical schools to suggest approaches that will lead to success," he said.
Called to Encourage, Build
Of all the skills and experience Brasler brings to the table as a church consultant, he says his biggest attribute is his genuine sense of calling to be an encourager and builder of God's kingdom.
"I know that consultants have to be objective and have to be willing to make difficult recommendations," he said. "Yet, one of my gifts is encouragement. I want to see churches succeed, and I look forward to those times during and after the period of consultation when I can encourage congregations to implement changes that we feel are necessary."
Brasler describes himself as a highly competitive person who will sometimes avoid watching his favorite team play simply because he gets so caught up in the action he finds it difficult to sleep at night. It is that same competitive spirit he plans to employ as a church consultant.
"I want to be the best possible Christian educator and consultant, and want the church I serve to be the best in its area," he said. "But the kingdom of God as I understand it is more ‘big picture'. Working with churches other than my own will continually remind me that my task as a Christian is not to advance myself or the church I minister to on an on-going regular basis, but to advance the kingdom of God."
