Greg Atkinson

On April 1st of this year, I celebrated one year of service and ministry at the Forest Park Carthage Campus as Campus Pastor. I can’t even begin to share with you all I’ve learned and all God has done this past year. When I arrived a year ago, the church was unhealthy, struggling, morale was low and attendance was around 200. God has moved, I’ve made some key changes (including hiring new staff) and we are seeing a lot of momentum. Morale is high.

On Easter of this year, I challenged our people to invite people in their circles of influence to come to church. I wanted us to break the 400 barrier because we had been averaging around 350 people. I told them if we broke 400 on Easter, I would let them shave my head and give me a Carthage blue mo-hawk (our high school’s color). Our new worship pastor said that if we broke 500, that he would get all his hair shaved off. Guess what? We shattered my goal and had over 500 people on Easter – so both myself and my worship pastor got our heads shaved live in front of the congregation the following week after Easter.

I could share stories of life change and the baptisms that I’ve been able to do that are very special and meaningful to me. I could share of how God did a miracle to allow us to purchase a new building for our campus (right in the heart of town – there is no better location in the city) and how we’re renovating it and plan on being in for the Christmas season this year.

I could share of going on a mission trip to Kenya last summer and Haiti this Spring and preaching at our sister church there. My life has been forever changed by seeing third world countries first hand.

I could talk about after having been a student of multi-site churches for years, I now have a year’s worth of experience of seeing under the hood of a multi-site church. I could share of the lessons I’ve learned of being a Campus Pastor – how that transition from 17 years of worship ministry experience has gone. I could talk about the inner workings of a multi-site church and how God used multi-site to allow our 160 year old Baptist church to get younger and reach a different demographic and region by adding modern worship satellite campuses.

I could share about leading my staff, serving on our overall church’s Lead Team or Executive Team and creating a Leadership Team at my campus (including learning the lesson of asking someone to serve on it too soon after arriving and then later having them step down after their true colors showed – then adding new trusted and proven people to our Leadership Team).

So many lessons, so many memories. I will share more soon. I promise. I just wanted you to know what God has been up to over the last year. It has flown by and for those of you that have followed my blog for several years and seen my frequency of posting dwindle down – I think you know how swamped I have been with diving into a new position. My writing for here and other websites and magazines has taken a back seat to my role as a pastor, but it was necessary and needed. I love my church and I’m looking forward to seeing what God has in store for us over the next year of ministry.

I close every service with the following prayer from Ephesians 3:20-21…

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

My friend, Jim Tomberlin, just released a FREE ebook entitled “125 Tips for MultiSite Churches”. This is a collection of all his experience, consulting, research, study and insights on the multi-site movement. This is a must-read for all church leaders. You can get it HERE. Big thanks to Jim for offering this resource for free!

***Here is a message from Jim to my readers about his new book:

Hey Everybody,

Check out my new eBook “125 Tips for MultiSite Churches & Those Who Want To Be.” This a compilation of my 15 years of multisite church experience.

This eBook is about helping guide leaders through the decision-making and implementation process of going MultiSite. My intent is that these tips will become guideposts to help you navigate these new waters. And for those of you who have been doing MultiSite for some time now, it will serve as a refresher about the most important details as you continue to multiply the number of additional campuses your church starts, supports, and sustains.

While going MultiSite can certainly be a practical, pragmatic decision, it is also one that allows us to expand our reach and multiply our ministry impact in one of the most reasonable and cost-effective ways available to church leaders today. There is nothing more exciting than to be a part of a growing, healthy church. There will be surprises along the way, but the good news is that many have already been there and are finding their MultiSite strategy to be a critical element to their kingdom expansion strategy.

May God extend your borders, multiply your impact, and enlarge your harvest. If we can help, let us know.

Be fruitful and multiply,
Jim Tomberlin
MultiSite Solutions

One of the books that shaped me and my philosophy of ministry is The Purpose Driven Church. Another way of identifying or describing a purpose-driven leader is as an intentional or strategic leader. It’s no accident that Jesus instructed us to be “shrewd as serpents” (Matthew 10:16). Purposeful, intentional and strategic should be words in the vocabulary and arsenal of every church leader.

I don’t think what I’m about to say is black and white or cut and dry, but in my experience and travels, the biggest difference I see between small church leaders and mega-church leaders is grasping this concept of equipping others.

I know I’ll take some heat for this, but most small church leaders are doers and that’s why most churches in America never grow beyond 200 people. I mean really – how many people do you think one person can handle? 200 is it. Mega-church leaders know that they have to multiply themselves, understand Ephesians 4 and the equipping style of leadership and lead accordingly.

The reason I say this isn’t cut and dry is because as I’ve blogged about before, another huge difference between small churches and fast-growing churches is fast-growing churches are externally focused – that’s another issue all together, but for the purpose of this blog series, I want to focus on the leadership style of a doer vs an equipper and how that affects one’s capacity for leadership.

Moses is a revered leader in our Bible and seen as one who accomplished much in his time, but even he had to learn this lesson from his father-in-law Jethro.

Moses’ father-in-law said, “This is no way to go about it. You’ll burn out, and the people right along with you. This is way too much for you—you can’t do this alone. Now listen to me. Let me tell you how to do this so that God will be in this with you. Be there for the people before God, but let the matters of concern be presented to God. Your job is to teach them the rules and instructions, to show them how to live, what to do. And then you need to keep a sharp eye out for competent men—men who fear God, men of integrity, men who are incorruptible—and appoint them as leaders over groups organized by the thousand, by the hundred, by fifty, and by ten. They’ll be responsible for the everyday work of judging among the people. They’ll bring the hard cases to you, but in the routine cases they’ll be the judges. They will share your load and that will make it easier for you. If you handle the work this way, you’ll have the strength to carry out whatever God commands you, and the people in their settings will flourish also.” Moses listened to the counsel of his father-in-law and did everything he said. – Exodus 18:17-24 (MSG)

Thanks to Moses’ father-in-law speaking the truth in love to him and opening his eyes to effective leadership, Moses learned a valuable lesson and because it was recorded in Scripture, it’s there for us to learn as well. Moses became an intentional and strategic leader.

I use these words in the context of our discussion on Equipper vs Doer in order to bring clarity to our calling as pastors and in light of the Ephesians 4 passage we looked at earlier. If we are intentional about what we do and don’t do and strategic about who we delegate to, empower and free up to lead and take risks, we can experience unbelievable fruit in our ministries and the joy that only comes from doing what you were created and called to do. Not only that, we get to watch others get to use their gifts and talents for God’s glory, too.

My prayer for and encouragement to  you is to be intentional and strategic in your leadership. Ask yourself daily, “Is this something I alone can do? OR “Is there someone who is more passionate and gifted to do this that I can hand this off to?” So, with our 3 day look at being an equipper vs a doer, where do you see yourself now? I’ll ask the original question: Are you an equipper or doer? And today’s question: Are you intentional and strategic as a leader?

I introduced this discussion of Equipper vs Doer yesterday. If you haven’t read that yet, please go back and read that first, as it sets up what we’ll be looking at today.

First let’s talk about what leadership is: “Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task”. (Wikipedia)

I see leadership as both influence and a process, meaning you have to be intentional and strategic – two words I use often in my consulting and work with churches, organizations and businesses.

“Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen.” - Alan Keith of Genentech

Now on to the title of this blog post: “Why a hard worker is not always a good leader.” Am I against a strong and hard work ethic? Absolutely not. I have a very strong work ethic myself, but I’d rather work smart than hard. I’ve seen way too many leaders that are burned out and frustrated in their life and job and often times they are reaping what they have sewn. Andy Stanley’s book The Principle of the Path is a great read for more on this.

There are many hard workers across the country in churches, organizations and businesses that are working their tail off, but not experiencing health, growth, joy and the unmistakable test of being effective at what they do. If you’re flying solo in your area of ministry and playing the lone ranger, I can guarantee you that you’re not being as effective as you could be. You’re not reaching your full potential and worst yet, your organization will never be all it can be until you make some intentional and strategic changes in how you work and lead. Let’s look at this in more depth: In Ken Blanchard and Phil Hodges book Servant Leadership they say:

“One of the quickest ways you can tell the difference between a servant leader and a self-serving leader is how they handle feedback, because one of the biggest fears that self-serving leaders have is to lose their position.”

Insecurity is at the root of many doers. Pride is at the root of other doers. Let’s look at both: First, insecurity is the downfall of many leaders from senior pastors to executive pastors to mid-level leaders and beyond. I’ve told several leaders over the years: In a small church, job security is “I’m the only one that can do this.” Think of that one sound man that runs sound every week, makes no effort to duplicate himself and thinks “They couldn’t make it without me.” Leaders in many small churches, do everything themselves because they think that secures their job. Leaders in large churches lead others to do the work of the ministry and empower those under their authority- that’s their job security.

*Please understand when I say “small churches”, I’m talking about small-minded churches and churches that have stopped growing. I work with many church planters and love churches of all sizes. Church plants won’t be small forever – they’re hungry and highly evangelistic and seek to grow. I’m referring to churches that have been small for decades.*

The other reason for a doer is pride. They think that they can do it better than anyone else and relish in the fantasy that they are the only one qualified to do a particular task or function. In truth, we all have a handful (maybe 3) of things that we alone can do. The majority of what you are in charge of can be given over to a team of volunteers to serve the church in that area of ministry. If you’re a senior pastor, obviously you don’t delegate the weekly preaching and sermon prep; however, you could put together a teaching team and start to share the pulpit with others, as many growing churches are doing.

The key is to not lead from a place of insecurity or pride – both are wrong. If you are to grow as a leader and be effective in your place of service, you must deal with these two issues head on. Emotional Intelligence is another great read that someone asked me to read in my 20′s. There’s no room for insecurity or pride in the church. This is a matter of character and knowing your identity in Christ as a Christ-follower first and leader second. In the beginning of Ken Blanchard’s Lead Like Jesus book he says,

“Every leader must answer two critical questions:

1. Whose am I?
2. Who am I?

The first question answers “Who am I trying to please?” The second question deals with your purpose in life. My encouragement to you is to wrestle with these two questions and two sins of insecurity and pride and leave them at the foot of the cross. You’ll be a better leader for it and those you lead will be glad you did. We’ll continue down this path tomorrow. For today, how do you handle areas of insecurity and pride as a leader? Do you ever sense them creeping into your life and ministry? Have you answered Blanchard’s two key questions? Where do you find your identity?

My philosophy of ministry can be summed up in one word: EQUIP. I’ve based my entire ministry career on this key principle: We, as shepherds and pastors, are not here to do the work of the ministry. As pastors and leaders, we are called to equip others to do the work of the ministry – thus allowing them to use their God-given spiritual gifts and find pure joy, satisfaction and peace in serving. All to often leaders rob their people of blessing by doing something solo and not allowing the people they lead to use their gifts.

As EACH ONE has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. – 1 Peter 4:10 (NKJV)

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. – 1 Peter 4:10 (NLT)

The above passage was given to the Church (people), not just pastors. This theme of using our gifts and as leaders, encouraging others to use their gifts has been a recurring theme on my blog for years. I was changed forever 11 years ago, when I heard Ray Johnston (Senior Pastor of Bayside Church in Sacrament0) speak at a conference on the Body of Christ. He burned a crystal clear image into my brain and heart of what a healthy church looks like – each person using their individual gifts to benefit and complete the whole organization.

When I’m in the interview process with a potential church that I’m considering, this is something I say up front: “I’m an equipper, not a doer.” When I’m hiring a potential staff or team member, this is something I look for and anyone that’s worked for me can vouch for that. I know that when churches get to a super size, there can be the occasional “specialist” – someone hired to DO something because of their unique skill and giftedness (like a designer or a video editor) – but even then, I expect them to duplicate themselves and grow their ministry area.

When I was a tech pastor, I didn’t just hire a Front of House Sound Engineer, I purposely hired an Audio Coordinator. I made it clear to him that though he was gifted at sound and would be running FOH on most weekends, I expected him to grow the audio team by recruiting, training and empowering other sound engineers to be used at FOH, monitor world and in other venues throughout the campus (children, youth and special events such as weddings, funerals, concerts, etc.).

In the world of video, I always utilized volunteer video editors for various ministry projects, even when I had a paid video editor. I expect all my staff to grow their given areas of responsibility. I’m passionate about this ministry concept and principle based out of Ephesians 4.

And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherdst and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… – Ephesians 4:11-12 (ESV)

At the last church I served (Bent Tree in Dallas), I developed a Technical Arts Ministry Leadership Team (which I blogged about in the past) that was made up of a mix of volunteers and paid staff. This leadership team ran the Technical Arts Ministry. I gave away the ministry to them and worked myself out of  a job. They still run the ministry to this day.

At each meeting, I would preach to them that the Technical Arts Ministry could not and would not be “Greg-centric.” I expressed my vision for each of them taking ownership of the ministry (which I’ve blogged about before) and told them that they were the reason that the ministry was being blessed, growing and healthy.

To me, this is Church Leadership 101 and something that growing, gifted and effective leaders grasp. Tomorrow, I’ll talk about why not all leaders grasp this and why a “doer” is  a “doer.” So, I’ll ask you – Are you an equipper or a doer?

As you know, I (Greg) consult with and secret shop for churches across the country. My friend, Will Mancini does the same thing with his company. Recently he wrote a great blog post on why he thinks this service for churches is vital and I loved it. I thought I’d share it with you here today:

Every month for the last decade, the Auxano team has conducted ministry observations during weekend services. They call it the Guest Perspective Evaluation. Here is why they keep this strategic component in Auxano’s toolbox. Okay, each reality by itself may not be mind blowing, but when you put them all together, the case is staggering and couldn’t be more compelling.

#1  You will have more guests in one year than you think. Our “information gathering” in churches doesn’t even capture the majority of guests. Auxano research shows that five to eight percent of your worshipping community will self-identify as guests. Therefore the number of guests in one year is:

[(Ave. weekly worship attendance) x (.05) x (52)]

#2 Many of your guests are going through situations that make them more responsive to God. These are the folks that are most likely to be moving, changing jobs, getting divorced, having kids, etc.

#3  Your guests are assessing very quickly whether or not they are coming back. This happens much faster than we think. For example, read The 11-Minute Difference.

#4  Your guests represent step one of accomplishing the Great Commission- these are the people coming to you! How much does your church spend on foreign missions? Compare that to how much we invest into the fish that swim to the boat before we cast a net.

#5  A guest who is attending may represent years of prayer, service, and invitation by a church member. My mom and I attended church without my father for 12 years. The first time my Dad came to church with us, imagine how I felt about the church and the hospitality of the people. All I could think was “Don’t screw up!”

#6  Studies show that guests will talk about their initial experiences 8-15 times with other people. Serve guests well and multiply your message.

#7  A welcoming ministry is a great “shallow end of the pool” to get people involved in service for the first time.Yes, you have plenty of intimidating places to serve like worship, small groups, and children’s ministry. So why not leverage an easy place to start?

#8  Building a great ministry to guests nourishes a culture of hospitality because of the concrete reminders to the entire congregation that guests matter.

#9 Investment in a welcoming ministry is an investment into every other ministry your church offers. I ask churches to dream about what ministry they might start. I then tell them to get it done by first having great guest services. Do you want an amazing prison ministry? Maybe the next Chuck Colson is visiting next week.

#10 We are commanded in Scripture to be hospitable. The Greek word philoxenia literally means to “love strangers” and is used in Romans 12:13 and Hebrews 13:2.

***The following was a guest post from Will Mancini. You can visit Will at www.willmancini.com/

The last decade of the 20th century saw the rise of the multisite innovator-pioneers. The first decade of the 21st century saw the wave of the multisite early adopters with over 3,000 multisite venues and campuses launched across North America. Now as we enter the second decade of the 21st century, the middle adopters will mainstream the movement as it speads around the world.

Here is my annual forecast concerning multisite trends as we enter 2011 and the next decade:

1. The multisite movement began as a band-aid formegachurches that were out of room or limited by zoning restrictions. It quickly evolved into a growth strategy for healthy churches of all sizes and will become a revitalization strategy for stuck or struggling churches. Many of these aging churches are solid, but stuck in non-growing situations because of the inevitable social-demographic changes occurring around them and/or their inability to embrace contemporary worship styles and culturally-relevant ministry practices. Multisiting allows stuck churches to reinvent themselves by extending in new ways and to new locations without abandoning their base.  Revitalization mergers also allow smaller struggling churches to have a new beginning by being adopted by a stronger vibrant church. This revitalization will be the impetus in the surge of church mergers that is growing across the church landscape.
2. Church leaders will focus less on growing their church and more on reaching an area for Christ through externally-focused multisite campuses and “missional communities” (small groups).
3. The new big is small. Though the majority of megachurches have multiple campuses, smaller multisite churches already outnumber them and will lead the way in launching new campuses with a   smaller core in smaller communities.
4. The rise of the collegiate model of church reproduction. This is the hybrid of mullti-siting and church-planting. Church-planting churches will incorporate multisite campuses and multisite churches will launch church plants. These reproducing churches will be the newtribes or mini-denominations of the future.
5. Denominations will integrate multisite into their strategic plans and offer multisite and merger coaching to their churches.
6. The buzz word in church circles in the 1980′s wasgrowth. In the 1990′s it was health. At the beginning of the 21st century the word is connected. Effective churches of the future will fully utilize all the social networking tools available to build community and foster relationships.
7. Businesses and organizations that serve churches will fully incorporate a multisite orientation in the development and marketing of their products and services.
8. Technology will continue to produce more and innovative tools for communicating the Gospel and biblical truth. Multisite churches will lead the way in utilizing these tools. Video-streaming over the internet will be easier, cheaper, and the primary way video sermons will be delivered to multisite churches.
9. Multisite churches will explode across Europe, Africa, and Asia in the next decade.
10. More mergers, internet campuses, and international campuses.

What do you see on the horizon?

The following was a guest post from Jim Tomberlin. Follow him on Twitter HERE and read his blog HERE.

A few weeks ago we talked about the beauty of multi-site churches and the unique role of campus pastor. I’m still wanting to keep this discussion alive on this blog and will eventually build up to a new series of posts on this theme.

The Gospel Coalition recently released this fascinating conversation with Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, and James MacDonald regarding multi-site church. Both Driscoll and MacDonald are proponents of multi-site churches utilizing video preaching. Dever is not.

Check out the video and share your thoughts.

Multiple Sites: Yea or Nay? Dever, Driscoll, and MacDonald Vote from Ben Peays on Vimeo.

The following is a guest post from Jim Tomberlin, which appeared in REV! Magazine, July/August 2009. I thought this would go well with what we’ve been discussing as far as the role of campus pastor. Read the article and comment any thoughts or questions you have.

Almost every week I receive a call from a multi-site church desperately searching for a campus pastor. We have come along way from the early days of the multi-site movement when no one knew what a campus pastor was, or if they did, weren’t interested in being one.

Once seen as just an emcee for a video event, the campus pastor role is becoming one of the most strategic and sought-after church staff positions in many churches. The campus pastor is the most important element in the success or failure of a multi-site congregation. It all rises or falls on leadership.

Traits of a Gifted Campus Pastor

Having assisted many multi-campus churches across the nation, I have boiled down my answer to the following observations. Assuming that this individual is a spiritually mature person of character with a proven track record, an ideal campus pastor is someone who is a:

• Catalytic leader: a high capacity, high energy, self-starter who not only gets things done, but makes things happen.
• Team player: someone who people will follow, but who is willing to play second fiddle. Not a lone ranger maverick, but around them. They have a high “fun factor.”
• Mobilizer: not only attracts followers but can turn them into teams of volunteers. The key to success in any staff position.
• Multi-tasker: shows high capacity to juggle a lot of balls simultaneously and loves the juggling act.
• Communicator: doesn’t have to be the world’s best Bible teacher, but is capable and articulate speaking to a room full of people.
• DNA carrier: bleeds and defaults to the mission, vision, values, and senior leadership of the church.

Traits Not Conducive for a Campus Pastor

• An overwhelming desire to preach: Someone who has to preach (unless you put them on the preaching or teaching team). If a person believes he or she has been called primarily to preach, he or she will not succeed as a campus pastor.
• A passion for solo performance: An independent entrepreneur with the emphasis on independent.
• A capacity for mixed agendas: Someone with an agenda other than reaching people far from God and growing a congregation. You don’t want someone whose agenda is not completely in tandem with the church’s.

Where Do You Find Camp us Pastors?

The first place to look is internally. Who is on your staff right now who embodies your church’s DNA? Who has proven that he or she is ready for a new challenge? Who is the best person on your team? Lead out with that person.

If not on the staff, who is in your congregation that could transition into this role? There are high-capacity marketplace leaders sitting in your church who have the leadership gifts and your church DNA to be wildly successful as campus pastors.

The next best place to look is within the network of your own staff team.Whom do they know around the country who could be good campus pastor candidate for your church? Bring them on the team and incubate them. Take a year to train and acclimate them at home base before launching them into their own campus.

Finally, you can place ads in venues such as Willow Creek’s Exchange, Church Staff.com, Tony Morgan’s jobamatic blog, MinisterSearch.com, and denominational networks.

Are You Campus Pastor Material?

Contact Jim@Multi-SiteSolutions.com. If you have the right gifting, I may have a church for you!

Jim Tomberlin is chief strategist of Multi-Site Solutions, and has served as a senior pastor and various other ministries.