I like colored pencils! I just think they’re cool. You get fun colors, and when you mess up, you can erase it and start over! What is not to like?

In ministry, I tend to use a pencil when it comes to planning. Here is why…

When I traveled and worked in the entertainment lighting industry, I learned to use a pencil when drawing and marking up the design plans. When in the shop and talking with the designer, making notes, planning my strategy for all the work and organizing the equipment, I used a pencil on those plans. This is because, inevitably, when I got to the show site, something unforeseen had changed. Lighting positions needed to be slightly altered, the cable lengths needed were different, the stage was bigger or smaller than expected, a new celebrity was booked late and cues or colors needed to be added.

If I had used a pen on the drawings, I would have to scratch them out and write over the top, confusing everyone who constantly reviewed and referenced the drawings for guidance. It got messy fast. It looked ugly. It became harder to read and understand. And the lighting designer (technically my boss), would look at his beautiful drawing and wonder what I had done to it.

Drawing by Bill Williams

So I used colored pencils…and lots of erasers.

The same is true for ministry. You must have a plan. But adjustments are inevitable. Unforeseen changes will occur. And during these alterations, the vision plans can get messy fast.

So use a pencil. The idea here is that, generally, the overall vision doesn’t change, but sometimes the tactics to reach that vision might. Perhaps the financial resources needed for a project might be different than you expected, or the time and location of a ministry might need to be altered. A change in staffing might need to occur to account for the changes in work. In church work, a change in time-frames is often needed. Maybe a communications challenge arose and you have to rethink how best to convey the vision.

The key here is to remember that the guiding vision should rarely, if ever, change. On that part of your drawing, use a highlighter! Mark it up with a bright yellow or orange highlighter that flashes in your face. It should be the brightest color on your plans. It is the sole purpose and reason you are there. Everything else, can be in pencil. All the pencil markings should reference the highlighted vision.

I used to do a lot of lighting work for NIKE. The designer always wrote a note on the drawings that said, “LIGHT THE SHOES!” He would put it in big bold letters then use a highlighter on top. That was the goal…the vision…the purpose we were there. NOTHING was more important that lighting the shoes. But as to HOW we lit the shoes, where we placed the lights, what adjustments were needed to light the shoes…that was all up for pencil markings.

Whatever your overall vision and goal is, use a highlighter.

When it comes to planning the implementation of that vision, use a pencil.

Or colored pencils.

And have plenty of erasers!

Something inevitably changes…bring erasers.

“Why me?”

That was my first thought…and the first words out of my mouth.

“No, really…why me? I have no experience in this.”

It was a day that changed my life. I will never forget it.

I had known this man for several years. Successful, smart, funny, deeply committed to his faith in Christ, a teacher in an adult Sunday School class, a leader on the church elder board. He owned a well-known accounting firm and was on the leading edge of integrating technology into his business model.

His name is Steve Ocheltree and he had just asked me to be on the finance committee for our church. If you know me now, that may not seem odd, but you have to understand the context at the time.

I was young, had long hair (enough to put into a pony tail), wore torn shorts 364 days of the year, worked in the entertainment industry, was prideful, opinionated, was sometimes a punk, and knew little about finances. It was somewhere around 2002 and I had just started my own business. It was paying the bills…but just barely. I had been at this particular church for a long time, but I knew little of church leadership and even less of church finances.

But Steve was convinced I needed to serve on the church finance committee.

He and his wife took Brandy and I out for dinner. We just assumed it was a “thank you” since we babysat their kids the week earlier. But Steve had other intentions.

Over dinner he dropped the question…”Will you join me on the finance committee?”

I honestly thought he was crazy…nuts…misunderstood me for who I truly was. The ensuing conversation went something like this…

Steve – “I am just one man on the elder board {there were 12 at the time}. I express my opinions, voice my concerns, and vote my conscience. I am a part of something larger, but I really have no control of the ultimate direction of the church. But as the Treasurer of the elder board, I get to choose who is on the finance committee. I get to choose the direction. There are others there, but I choose you also.”

Me – “Why me? I have no experience in finance. I have no idea how the church should spend money.”

Steve – “I know. I don’t need somebody who knows those things. I need somebody who has vision for what the church should look like. Somebody who knows how to ask all the difficult questions. Somebody who isn’t going to ask questions that are always correlated to money.”

Me – “I just started my own company. I barely know how to run a small business. I’m still figuring everything out. I’m not sure I’m the right guy for this.”

I was genuinely concerned. I appreciated his offer, but I really didn’t think this was the position for me to serve the church.

Steve – “I need a leader.”

Me – “I’m not a leader, Steve.”

Steve – “You will be. Moses picked Joshua to lead the Israelites after he was gone. I’m picking you…not to lead the finance committee or be on the board. I can’t choose those people. But I can work with you, teach you, and let you be a part of the leadership process. You’ll be great!”

Me – “I think you’re an idiot.”

Steve – “Maybe.”

I reluctantly agreed…and so started my leadership development.

This is how I would have compared my leadership ability at the time of this conversation with Steve.

I was convinced that Steve had no idea what he was getting into by choosing me. I was loud, forward, asked lots of questions, gave my opinions, listened little, made assumptions, gave questionable presentations, and ticked off several of the other members numerous times.

And Steve just let me go for it.

He took me to lunch once a month and we talked about church, finances, leadership, vision, direction and church polity. He asked me how I was doing in my personal walk with Jesus. He asked me what I was learning from the committee meetings.

He challenged me.

Steve didn’t just fill the open position on the committee, he found somebody who didn’t initially fit…but might with some coaching. He saw a young kid that had potential, was forward thinking and wanted to make a difference but didn’t know how.

You can talk a lot about leadership development, but when was the last time you chose a young cocky kid to make a presentation for the department you are responsible for to the senior-most level leaders of your organization?

Steve did. He asked me to make a presentation to the elder board on behalf of our committee. It was for a project that ran about $60,000 dollars and under normal circumstances, Steve should have been presenting the proposal since he was the Treasurer and leader of our team. But he asked me to do it. This was a lot of money for the situation and there was much to lose…not to mention my pride and Steve’s reputation.

Young eagles are born to fly. How will you keep them in your organization?

Leadership development is more than having a Bible study on leadership. It is more than watching an Andy Stanley Leadership Video. It is more than taking some young people to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit. It is more than studying a leadership book with your staff. Leadership development IS leadership opportunity.

To steal the term from a great pastor/leader, leadership development is about finding the young eagles in your organization and actually letting them fly! Let them make mistakes, be opinionated, ask lots of questions, make assumptions, and tick off a few people along the way. Let them learn by DOING the leadership, DOING the work, DOING the ministry, DOING the business.

Larry Osborne, in his book Sticky Teams, writes “Young eagles are born to fly. It’s their nature. It’s how God made them. If they can’t fly high in our church, they’ll bolt and fly elsewhere.”

But guide them. Ask them the hard questions, ask them what they are learning, ask them what is stirring in their faith walk. But don’t just ask for their opinion. Give them the opportunity to actually lead!

Looking back, I’m not convinced Steve was ever really able to wrangle me in. But I’m also not convinced he ever tried. He knew I could be a leader…I just needed a push and needed the opportunity. I don’t think he ever imagined just how far it would take me!

I served on that committee for two years. Later I was asked to join the elder board and because of my experience with the finance committee, was appointed Treasurer. A year later I was hired by the same church to a full time paid position that involved far more than just overseeing finances.

Steve saw something in me I had never seen in myself…my own wings, my own potential. He pushed me out of the nest and hoped/knew/prayed/guided me to fly on my own.

This is what Steve saw in me.

The importance of leadership development was never explained to me. It was demonstrated to me, handed to me, experienced by me, and asked of me.

So who are you developing? Who have you chosen to join your team? Who are you investing in? Who are you giving the chance to actually lead?

Steve gave that chance to me and it changed the trajectory of my whole life.

Thanks Steve.

I work with churches.

A lot.

I work with small ones, large ones, ones that change sizes every other month. I work with some that over utilize technology and some that don’t even know how to spell “technology.” I work with some that are startups that don’t technically exist yet, but well on their way to being fruitful in the Kingdom of God. And I work with some that seem to be on the verge of closing down.

I work with a lot of pastors, volunteers, lay leaders, elder board members, and many other people that are responsible for various aspects of the church’s ministry. Every church is unique…as are the individuals that makeup each church. As with any industry, some are more effective than others. Some are excellent at defining their vision and have few but highly detailed targets, while others are excellent at perpetuating the idea that people like me shouldn’t make statements about whether one church is more effective than another. It’s just par for the course. None of it really bothers me and, quite frankly, differences within the church is part of what makes us all unique and helps us strive to reach more people for Christ.

What DOES bother me???

Churches that do not answer the phone.

Answer the phone! Please???

I cannot tell you how often this happens, but it…is…a…lot!

Answer the stinkin’ phone!

I don’t want to leave a message. I don’t want to push number 3 if I want a directory. I’m not calling a billion dollar corporation that has spent millions of dollars to outsource their customer service help lines.

I’m calling a church. So please answer the phone.

Why is this important? PEOPLE.

You are in the business of people. Nothing…nothing is more important in your industry.

In our 21^st century, digital, totally connected, we-have-an-awesome-website-so-go-there-for-information, and send a tweet world, people still need to connect on a deeper level. People still need to hear a voice. People still have questions that are not answered on your Facebook page or Instagram account.

I just need to talk to Bob or Francine, but now I have to leave a message because “nobody is available to answer your call at the moment.” That makes me feel like I wonder if/when/will Bob ever actually get my message.

At first I thought it was just the smaller churches that had a limited number of people on staff and they couldn’t afford to employ somebody to answer a phone all day. But then I realized it was larger churches also.

I have done a lot of consulting work for a church that has a very large staff of several dozen. The automated system immediately activates when you call and gives you several options including pressing “zero” for the operator in case the “directory” option isn’t sufficient (which isn’t because none of the staff I work with ever answer their phones either). Over the course of years…yes, years…not once have I ever talked to the operator.

Because she doesn’t answer the phone. Ever.

Cue endless cycle of “for such and such, press 7.”

Now in most cases, I’m doing business with these churches. I’m either consulting for technology, or vision and direction, or staff consulting. If I feel frustrated that I cannot get a hold of the right people (or any people), how must new people who are genuinely interested in attending your church feel?

You are in the business of people.

You are in the business of building relationships.

Answer the phone, please do not make me keep dialing numbers and make me S-P-E-A-K  V-E-R-Y  S-L-O-W-L-Y for the speech recognition software.

I had to personally address this problem in the last church I was actually employed by. We were in a time of needing to cut back on spending and reducing our expenditures. After working on several layers of non-personnel cuts, it was suggested maybe we could eliminate the front desk secretary who spent most of her day answering the phone. We had a fairly sophisticated telephone system that would allow for “automating” the incoming calls and direct people accordingly.

I disagreed. Heavily. We are in the business of people. When a person comes to us, we cannot turn them away to a machine. We must engage them. We must hear the tone of their voice. We must greet them with a smile. We must ask them their name.

Fortunately for that church, my argument won out and that church still answers the phone with a real voice. When I call, it’s nice to hear a live person.

How many people do you think might call your church and ask for some level of information? It might be information about attending. Maybe a member who wants to volunteer. Maybe a member who needs some counseling. The reality is, you have no idea. And that means you have no idea how much of an impact you might be able to make in more people’s lives since many people won’t leave a message or get lost in the automated system.

Now, I recognize technology has a place. The church website is still the most valuable communication tool the church has and a vast majority of people will go their first. But when they do call…and they still do…people need to know they’re not going to end up with “John” in India.

I understand we cannot expect a live person 24 hours a day and we cannot expect every employee to be present and answer the phone every time a person calls. I get that. Messages still need to be left. Voice mail is still a valuable tool. But during generally accepted business hours, somebody needs to answer the phone.

This can be done in various ways. For large churches who have a large staff, simply apply this to somebody’s daily responsibilities and make sure they follow through. Or find a group of volunteers to rotate…each serving half a day once per week. Small churches can utilize volunteers in this manor also. Other options include the use of technology. If you have volunteers that are willing to help, but cannot be present at your facilities, then set up a plan with your phone system or phone service provider and have the number forwarded to your volunteer. Or have it forwarded to a cheap cell phone that is passed around.

Remember, you are in the business of people.

So answer the phone.

You are in the business of “people.”