As a consultant, the biggest part of my job is to simply tell people the truth. However, it’s not as simple as it sounds – you have to want to hear it…
A big part of what I do is “secret shopper” visits to churches, for example. I attend services, and make a detailed list of what could be better and why (I also do a page by page check up on the church website). Then I get together with the Senior/Lead Pastor, Leadership Team, or whoever the church desires and walk them through it.
In that meeting I tell the truth. Straight up. No filter, no guessing at the reasons behind the issues. The excuses don’t matter. I simply lay out what is happening. THEN we discuss and work together to see what can be done about it.
You may think: “Well, I’m sure they know about all of those problems, and are doing what they can to correct them.” You’d be surprised… As humans, we have VERY strong self-protection instincts. It’s extremely easy to pretend that things are better than they are. To believe that no one notices Mary Lou singing seriously out of tune. That no one notices the sermon notes are in Papyrus font. That popped tires due to deep potholes in the parking lot happen to every church…
No church is perfect, and you can’t do everything – you’ll wear out your congregation, your team, and yourself if you try. But you CAN take small steps to make things better. Bit by bit, one step at a time. And the first step is to identify and accept the truth. Time to get started…
P.S. When I “secret shop,” I also make a list of what is going well. Be encouraged – virtually no church is bad at everything… ; ) #creativeworshipideas
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