Tag Archives: Dr. Franklin Dumond

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 9, 2014

Posted under

Children's Ministry, Congregrational Ministries

Comments

1 Comment

We Only Have Two Kids!

By Franklin Dumond

“We only have two kids,” the pastor reported. He then asked, “How do we connect with younger families?”

girls-462072_1920This scenario plays out in all too many single cell, well-established churches. The single cell church only has one group of folks. Typically there will be only one worship service and perhaps only one adult class. Generally, attendance will average 30-50 weekly. The single cell church embodies the organizing principle that we are always more comfortable around people who are similar to us.

In the single cell church the group tends to age together and over time can become a senior citizen’s church with few, if any, children present.

The obvious answer to connect with young families would be to invest in children’s ministries that would include both Sunday morning and weekday options for children. Sometimes the missing ingredient is the lack of ministries targeted for children and their families.

Often this obvious answer requires too many people to implement and to many dollars to provide it. When the obvious answer is not appropriate, then some short-term entry events and adapted on-going programming is necessary.

  • Organize a one-day Vacation Bible School and recruit children. If you can get them to the church once then you have an opportunity to work with their families in follow-up activities to enlist them in the local church.
  • Consider week-day ministries. Many churches provide after school programs for latch key children. Others invest in some of the club type ministries like Pioneer Clubs or Awana.
  • You can consider a video curriculum that will include recorded music so the children you have can sing along with the other children on the DVD.
  • Include a children’s message as part of your morning worship. The children’s message should be presented by the pastor in a story telling, object lesson format. When the pastor announces, “Children, meet me down front” both the children and the adults will share in this special message. One way to start this practice is to use Advent, the four Sundays prior to Christmas, to light candles on an Advent Wreath and tell portions of the Christmas story using figurines to build a Christmas display. Children love to help and young boys especially like playing with fire, which is essential if you are to light a candle!
  • Use a children’s bulletin. These are available from several sources and can generally be photocopied on site so the proper number can be prepared. These may provide age appropriate learning activities that could even be the focus of the children’s message.
  • Develop an organized prayer ministry. It is amazing what the Lord does when we ask him to do things! Pray for children to attend. Pray by name for the children you know who should attend.

Continue teaching and training even if you only have a few children. If you only have a few, then be sure to find a way to provide individualized instruction. Make it part of your church’s discipleship plan.

“I was that kid.” This was the report from a pastor reflecting on growing up in smaller churches where he was often the only child in a class. As he reflected on that heritage, he realized that the faithfulness of a few teachers and leaders had positioned him to hear the Lord’s call and to enter vocational ministry. That faithfulness continued week after week when someone studied and prepared a lesson even when there was only one student enrolled in the class. That type of faithfulness will someday warrant a “well done” from the Lord Jesus himself!

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

December 2, 2014

Posted under

Christian Life, Congregrational Ministries, Leadership, Pastoring

6 Reasons Churches Never Address Decline

By Franklin Dumond

Churches, like other organizations and the people who participate, move through predictable cycles.  In the institutional memory of every church there is the awareness that average attendance varies from year to year.  Anyone who has been part of a congregation for any length of time will have experienced those occasions when more people attend now than used to attend.  Seasoned members will also have experienced those occasions where fewer people attend now than in the past.

Some years ago, one church consultant described churches and their attendance patterns as either being on the incline (growing and increasing), on the recline (stable, on a plateau), or on the decline (fewer attending now than used to attend).  Most observers of the American church landscape suggest that at least 80% of churches are reclining or declining.

The net result of long term decline is always death.   So why don’t more churches address the serious issue of decline?

  1. Poor record keeping disguises decline.  I once helped stage a picture for some church publicity.  We wanted to show the auditorium as full of people, but it was a weekday and only a handful of people were in the building when the photographer arrived.  No problem.  He simply staged them along the center aisle and framed the shot looking down the aisle.  By cropping out the rest of the picture we had a full house with only a couple of dozen folks present!

inside-of-a-church-pews-hanging-cross-shiny-aisleMy wife observed recently that the church looked “pretty full this morning” but in actuality the seating capacity was seriously          underutilized at only about 50% occupied.  I counted.  She observed.  My count did not match her observation although she admitted the seating patterns made it look like a larger crowd was present.

Unless church leaders count and compare the counts from week to week, from month to month, or from year to year decline may easily be disguised.

  1. Righteous Remnant Theology often predicts a falling away from the church because people in general just cannot accept the hard truth of the Gospel.  Decline in this scenario has to do more with decline in standards and errors in theology rather than loss of numbers.
  2. Decline is the new normal.  Congregations that experience long term decline can reach the point that decline is expected.  Many worshippers have little if any experience in another church and are simply unaware of any other scenario.
  3. We’ve built it so they should come.  This philosophy of ministry worked very well in the 1950’s when it was expected that folks should attend church.  That social or cultural expectation no longer exists, so new folks now attend church only if they are invited by someone they know and trust.
  4. A lack of introspection, and thus lack of personal responsibility, can speed decline.  As a young pastor I found a box of old church newsletters.  While reading through them I noticed a particularly personal confession from a former pastor.  He was a seasoned veteran.  He also took a hard look around and noticed that there were no conversions for three months.  At that point, he began looking inside himself since he felt a keen responsibility to model personal evangelism.  If he had not taken the time for this personal introspection the decline would probably have continued.
  5. Churches prefer to reach one person rather than one neighborhood full of people.  Remember a broken clock is still correct twice each day.  It is very easy to excuse what we are currently doing because once in a while we connect with one person.  Isn’t it worth it to reach even one?  Maybe not, when similar resources of time, talent and treasure could reach a neighborhood full of people by intentional outreach.

Periods of decline are inevitable.  Persistent decline, however, was never the intention of the Lord Jesus who announced that the gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church.

Standard

Posted by

Posted on

November 11, 2014

Posted under

Congregrational Ministries, General Baptists, Pastoring

Comments

1 Comment

Making it on a Pastor’s Pay: 4 Reasons Salaries are Low

By Franklin Dumond

Honest discussion of the salary and benefit needs of a pastor should not be uncomfortable. The Scripture is very direct: pastors are expected to work hard; churches are expected to offer fair compensation.

congregation in pewsThe pastor’s salary should be reviewed on an annual basis. The finance committee should review the entire salary package as each annual budget is prepared. Years of experience, educational level, and cost of living adjustments should all be part of the discussion. Support staff such as secretaries and custodians should also have salary packages reviewed annually, but they should be evaluated and paid in comparison to their skills and positions, not in comparison to the pastor or staff ministers.

Church paid salaries have historically been lower than the average salary amount in most communities. Too often the old adage “Lord you keep him humble; we’ll keep him poor!” has been an actual fact. The scandal generated by a few notorious preachers has sometimes reinforced the tendency toward lower salaries.

A few reasons for lower church salaries are:

  1. Unbiblical priorities. The New Testament is very clear that pastors are to be respected, treated with dignity, and paid fairly. The Apostle Paul instructs, “Let him that is taught in the Word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” Galatians 6:6-7
  1. Unrealistic expectations. While all believers are expected to trust God, and not man, members may expect their pastor to live on less as an example to the flock, while the flock continues to live on more despite the noble example of the underpaid pastor.
  1. Untrained lay leaders. Many lay leaders who serve on finance and budget committees simply have never been trained to develop a pastoral compensation plan. For example, the specialized tax status of pastors is often a mystery to lay leaders. Even self-employed businessmen do not always understand the special dual status of the pastor, who is considered an employee for income tax purposes but self-employed for Social Security purposes.
  1. Unfair models. The salary model churches often use is based on the net, or take-home, pay of the average church member. While this can be a fair approach to compensation, it generally does not take into consideration that the gross salary of the average worker is substantially greater than the net pay. Most workers benefit from having an employer who provides health insurance, job training, and retirement benefits, in addition to the matching share of Social Security paid by the employer. Yet all too often the total package for a pastor is based on the take-home (net) pay of an average worker, not on the total package paid directly and indirectly to that worker by their employer.

Personnel committees, finance committees, and pastor-search committees do well to avoid two perilous pitfalls in planning for pastoral compensation. First, it is never appropriate to use an average of church member’s income to determine the pastor’s salary unless an honest study is done of the actual income of the members. Best guesses about average income will always understate the income levels. Census data on average household income in any census tract will provide surprising insights into actual household income within the congregation.

Second, it is important to consider the long term implications of a parsonage to the pastor who is more than 30 years of age. Home ownership in our society is a keystone to retirement. The general practice of a 30 year mortgage means that if a pastor does not purchase his own home by his early 30’s he will not have it paid for by the usual retirement age. While the parsonage is convenient for the church and may be necessary for the pastor due to lack of housing, it should be used sparingly in the long term pastorate. Churches sometimes rent their parsonage to provide housing allowance for the pastor. To encourage a long term pastorate some churches provide a down payment in the form of a loan or grant to the pastor which is forgiven over a period of a few years. Other churches use the parsonage for second or third staff members as the church grows and develops.

Every salary package should address three broad areas: base salary, fringe benefits, and professional expenses.

This article is the final installment of a six part series by Dr. Franklin Dumond, Director of Congregational Ministries, on understanding and planning for a pastor’s salary.  To learn more about the process and intricacies of paying your pastor, catch up on part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.