Many churches are doing community ministry. However, few churches know how to effectively translate “no strings attached ministry” into actual church growth.
On December 6th, Courage To Lead CEO Shawn Lovejoy was joined by Dino Rizzo to discuss how churches could marry these two concepts. I have included a video of their coaching just in case you missed it. Below are 44 leadership quotes from their time together.
On a personal note, Shawn begins his coaching at the 39:26 mark. What follows is 20 minutes of some of the finest pastoral coaching on community ministry I have ever heard. Do not miss this.
Also, if you want personal coaching from Shawn and Dino, they are hosting a January 8th and 9th Total Access event in Birmingham. This is limited to only 15 senior pastors. Click HERE or on the image below to learn more. I’m telling you – learning from Shawn is gift!!!
The following are 5 Steps To Turning Community Ministry Into Actual Church Growth from Shawn Lovejoy and Dino Rizzo plus much, much more:
- “Make no mistake, we have an agenda today. It is to get you to serve your city.” – SL
- “Have you ever in your life seen so much broken humanity… Addiction and pain and hurt and sin and tragedy and failure are everywhere.” – DR
- “The first step is awareness. You’ve got to figure out what’s going on in this plot of land God has put you in… Someone else’s outreach may not work in your city.” – DR
- “You’ve got ask the right people good questions.” – DR
- “You can’t solve every problem but you can do something. We can’t change the whole world but we can change one life.” – DR
- “You have to appreciate it (gift of compassion). What get rewarded gets repeated.” – DR
- “Out of something comes something. If I (as the pastor) was being it (compassionate towards our community), it could be reproduced. Leaders lead.” – DR
- “You’ve got to teach people (to be compassionate).” – DR
- “Being a smaller church is an advantage because you can be more laser-focused. Size does not matter when you are doing compassion.” – DR
- “Our most consistent outreaches were only 10-15 people with very little budget.” – DR
- “5% of your campus participating is a win.” – DR
- “We have a credibility issue now everywhere… They don’t need to think you’re coming their to plant a church. They need to know you’re coming there to love a city and to love a people.”
- “I think people want to make a difference and I trust people.” – DR
- “The tool that unlocks the next growth potential is totally linked to being the hands and feet of Jesus.” – SL
- “As you get to 500 in attendance, conferences are effective in that they inspire, they just don’t transform.” – SL
- “You never stop going through the cycle of learning.” – DR
- “1. If we want to grow we need to make a big splash.” – SL
- “Pastor and churches are reinventing themselves. They’re living the Gospel and positioning themselves to outsiders and their churches are taking off. ‘Good enough’ is not good enough anymore.” – SL
- “I largely believe churches don’t grow through incrementalism. They grow through big days.” – SL
- “I would kick off a new series two-to-three weeks after my Serve Day.” – SL
- “We say we serve with no agenda or no strings attached. I get troubled with that language between we do have an agenda. We have an agenda that they come to know Christ.” – SL
- “They won’t come to know Christ unless they’re assimilated into the Body of Christ.” – SL
- “When most people in your church are saying they’re not being fed, what they are really saying is they are bored. Numbness by frequency.” – SL
- “Jesus told us to be fishers of men. Let me tell you a little secret. There are times the fish are schooling and there are times the fish aren’t schooling.” – SL
- “2. If we’re going to grow we need to build anticipation in the body. I walk through a lot of churches on Sundays and I see dead people. I see dead pastors and staff members.” – SL
- “We need to show up with passion and anticipation.” – SL
- “If you want to build a contagious culture where people are excited about serving Jesus you’ve got to be excited about it. You’ve got to be passionate about it. You’ve got to be urgent about it.” – SL
- “We don’t guilt anybody into doing anything at our church. Jesus didn’t either. He just made the Gospel attractive and magnetic.” – SL
- “If you corrected one thing this Sunday, it would be to show up with passion and authority with unction, with urgency.” – SL
- “It’s not that our people won’t. It’s that we have not led them to.” – Craig Groeschel
- “3. If we’re going to grow we’ve got to get prepared for growth. The truth is our church is perfectly structured for the results we’re getting now.” – SL
- “I don’t believe most of us are waiting on God to grow our churches. I believe God is waiting on us to get prepared for the people He is going to send us. God’s not going to send us more people than we can handle.” – SL
- “There is a difference between presuming on God to grow our ministries and preparing for God.” – SL
- “4. We need to think long-term.” – SL
- “Don’t expect to have one serve-day and it change the entire mission culture in your church.” – SL
- “Consistency builds credibility.” – SL
- “If you’re going to have a big splash, follow up. Be consistent. Get your groups involved in serving. Have a strategy for that.” – SL
- “A lot of churches are hoping to grow. Hope is not a strategy. A strategy is a strategy. You’ve got to have a strategy to reach your city.” – SL
- “Put your best leaders in charge of serving your community.” – SL
- “5. If we want to grow we need to model the way.” – SL
- “Pastors, are living as salt and light or are we sucking the life out of everybody on our staff?” – SL
- “Are you enjoying ministry? Is there a smile on your face most of the day?” – SL
- “Managers focus on the what. Leaders focus on the why.” – SL
- “Outreach is messy.” – DR
What is one thing you learned from this coaching session which will make your community events more effective and cause your church to grow? And don’t forget to click the image below to learn how to get personal coaching from Shawn Lovejoy and Dino Rizzo.
