7 Practices of Effective Ministry

The past couple of days I've been reading an excellent book written by the staff of Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, GA (Andy Stanley) entitled, 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.

The book focuses in on the importance of operating your church (or business) on 7 "practices":

1. Clarify the Win - If the goal is unclear, a person is forced to guess, or even worse, decide for themselves what a "win" really is.

2. Think Steps, Not Programs - Does a "program" take people anywhere or are we just trying to keep people busy? We tend to get programmed minded VS. "step" minded.

3. Narrow the Focus - Discover what it is that you can do well and DO IT. Don't try to be everything to everyone. There is a natural tendency to drift toward complexity. Years of adding and never subtracting have created layers of programs that all FEEL necessary.

4. Teach Less for More - Most people don't learn just so they can know more; they learn when they need to know something. Figure out what people need to know and teach them - they will learn!

5. Listen to Outsiders - If you aren't willing to listen to "outsiders", you may miss a great opporunity to gain market share. Our tendency is to listen more to those INSIDE our organization than those OUTSIDE (the ones we are trying to connect with.)

6. Replace Yourself - If you fail to develop a strategy to replace yourself, you will force talened individuals to remain in the wings and perhaps cause potential leaders to exit the organization.

7. Work On It - Take time to constantly evaluate your work AND to celebrate your wins. (We are usually better at critizing than we are at celebrating our wins.)