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Standing on the shoulders of consulting giants
I took a rare opportunity to learn from many of the giants in church growth, health and leadership, by attending the 2008 conference of the American Society for Church Growth (ASCG) this month. Fellowshipping with these leaders showed me their hearts for the vitality of the church and inspired me.
I watched George Hunter, distinguished professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Asbury Seminary, dissect Lifeway researcher Ed Stetzer’s research on young evangelicals. I particularly enjoyed watching Stetzer heckle just about everyone else that spoke. I sat amazed at the level of brain power in the room, and vowed to help ASCG disseminate the valuable wisdom and experience to a larger audience next year.
In fact, the ASCG (which may be changing its name, according to incoming president Bob Whitesel), and the Society for Church Consulting will be collaborating on next year’s fall conference. The Society and ChurchCentral.com will promote and help coordinate the event.
If you’re a Society for Church Consulting member, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to learn from and fellowship with some of the most widely known church consultants, professors and authors in the country. I’ll keep you apprised as details develop.
Now, a sampling of a few notable comments I heard during the conference:
Warner Smith, pastor and church consulting researcher
- "Consulting specialization will continue."
- Coaching will emerge as a sub-specialty of consulting – less managing and more of a relational support or mentor of church leadership.
- Consulting follow-up is a problem. Fees are primarily the issue – consultants don’t have the resources to continue going onsite. However, some consultants, like Kent Hunter, give guarantees that they will work with church clients until results are achieved.
- "Certification will improve consultations’ quality as the field expands." Good news for the Society for Church Consulting!
- "I’d like to see a peer review journal for consultants."
- He recommends the book, Breakthrough Consulting, which discusses how to start a consultancy. Author Dembitz says to start a "self-fueling" consultancy, start small.
Carl George, full-time consultant and church growth "giant"
- "Help is not help unless it’s perceived as help."
- "Irritability is a sign of life." He doesn’t want conflict to die down when he goes into a hurting church – "I want it to cook." He likes passionate people who want to make a difference – but not people who are passionately protecting their turf.
- "You must determine if conflict is a tumor or a pregnancy." Where is the conflict going to go? The consultant is often the catalyst to "get more light than heat" on the situation.
- "My job is to help a church get unstuck in their journey."
- "Someone in a church knows the way out of its problem. I’ve learned if I talk to enough people in the church, I’ll learn the right direction."
Dan Reeves, church consultant, missiologist and coach
- "I bring conflict with me to churches. When you have an agitated room, you have everyone’s attention."
- "I look for the win/win in conflict."
- "I try to ignite sparks in a consultation that might lead to conflict or disagreement. I look for the leaders that have the best ideas."
Gary McIntosh, church health author, speaker, and professor
- "You can only manage conflict, not resolve it."
- The energy of conflict needs to be redirected toward a solution.
Erich Baumgartner, professor of Leadership and Intercultural Communication at Andrews University
- "You want to heat up conflict, but not too hot. That gets the best thinking out."
George Hunter, author, distinguished professor of Evangelism and Church Growth at Asbury Seminary
On church growth and social networks: "Donald McGavran discovered that growing churches and Christian movements are very complex phenomena, and that growth is always the result of multiple causes AND the Holy Spirit moving in the peoples’ hearts. The mission of church growth field research was to identify as many of those causes as possible. Beneath the complexity, however, McGavran discovered that wherever Christianity is expanding, one principle is substantially behind it. Contrary to Protestant folk wisdom, the faith does not spread mainly through mass evangelism or media evangelism; it spreads mainly along the social networks of living Christians and new Christians. The kinship and friendship networks of Christians provide "the bridges of God." Though multiple causes synergize to produce growth, it is people who reach and bring people, much more than preaching, literature, campaigns, or anything else." -- From his upcoming book The Apostolic Congregation: Church Growth Reconceived for a New Generation (Abingdon Press, Sept. 2009 scheduled publication)
David Wheeler, professor of Evangelism and Student Ministries at Liberty Baptist Seminary
- "Servant evangelism is not about giving out water bottles. It’s not projects we do. It’s about inconveniencing ourselves for the sake of others around us."
- Jesus mobilized people as the first step in their discipleship process, then he taught them. Likewise, out of the overflow of the excitement of witnessing for the first time, new believers can afterward be more easily taught how to do it!
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