Just Say Yes!: Unleashing People for Ministry

Endorsements

With candid points, clear illustrations, insightful commentary, and helpful discussion questions, this book is a powerful resource for congregations who desire new life.

—Tom Berlin, Lead Pastor, Floris United Methodist Church, Herndon, VA

"In today’s ministry context, people must be unleashed for service. Yet, sometimes outdated church systems and ‘we’ve never done it that way’ attitudes stifle bold and innovative ministry. In Just Say Yes! Bishop Schnase insightfully helps leaders break out of old thinking to help set people free for fruitful ministry. Every ministry leader would do well to read, absorb, and apply his or her practical insight."

—Charles Stone, Lead Pastor, West Park Church, London, Ontario, Canada; author of Brain-Savvy Leaders from Abingdon Press

"Just Say Yes! gave me practical tools and encouragement to be a leader who says Yes and empowers others to do the same."

—Jacob Armstrong, Lead Pastor, Providence United Methodist Church, Mt. Juliet, TN; author, The New Adapters from Abingdon Press

"Bishop Schnase’s life, ministry, and mission are rooted in empowering and unleashing pastors, churches, and their leaders so that they grow together to accomplish abundantly far more than anything they could ask or imagine. Schnase’s vision for the church in Just Say Yes! is compelling and necessary for pastors and laity who are looking to be bold and take risks as they continue in the work of building up communities of faith for the sake of transforming the world. This book is a great read!"

—Scott Chrostek, Pastor, The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection Downtown Campus, Kansas City, MO

Halftitlepage

Other Books

Other Books by Robert Schnase

Seven Levers: Missional Strategies for Conferences

The Fruitful Living Series

Remember the Future: Praying for the Church and Change

Practicing Extravagant Generosity: Daily Readings on the Grace of Giving

Forty Days of Fruitful Living: Practicing a Life of Grace

Five Practices of Fruitful Living

The Balancing Act: A Daily Rediscovery of Grace

Cultivating Fruitfulness: Five Weeks of Prayer and Practice for Congregations

Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations

Ambition in Ministry: Our Spiritual Struggle with Success, Achievement, and Competition

Testing and Reclaiming Your Call to Ministry

Abingdon Press is honored to publish these and other Robert Schnase books. Visit your favorite bookseller or Cokesbury.com to place an order.

Titlepage

Copyright

Just say yes!

unleashing people for ministry

Copyright © 2015 by Robert Schnase

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to Permissions, The United Methodist Publishing House, 2222 Rosa L. Parks Blvd., PO Box 280988, Nashville, TN 37228-0988, or e-mailed to [email protected].

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Schnase, Robert C., 1957-

     Just say yes! : unleashing people for ministry / Robert Schnase.—First [edition].

        1 online resource.

     Includes bibliographical references.

     Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

     ISBN 978-1-63088-984-5 (e-book)—ISBN 978-1-4267-7613-7 (binding: pbk.) 1. Church renewal. 2. Change—Religious aspects—Christianity. I. Title.

     BV600.3

     253—dc23

2015004585

Scripture quotations unless noted otherwise are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 by the Common English Bible. All rights reserved. Used by permission. www.CommonEnglishBible.com.

Scripture quotations from THE MESSAGE. Copyright © by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Contents

Introduction

"Chapter One You Can’t Do It That Way: People Who Say No"

"Chapter Two Committees, Rules, and Policies: Systems That Say No"

"Chapter Three Buildings, Bulletins, and Attitudes: Churches That Say No"

"Chapter Four Churches That Say Yes! Changing Fundamental Assumptions"

"Chapter Five Systems That Say Yes! Becoming a Permission-Giving Church"

"Chapter Six Leaders Who Say Yes! Changing Attitudes and Behaviors"

Epilogue The Ministry of Encouragement

Introduction

Warning! This is a dangerous book. Used properly, ideas contained in this book can lead to an explosion of ministry! Proceed with care.

Just Say Yes! Unleashing People for Ministry is written for people whose passion has been simmering for years, who yearn to be told Yes! It’s for those whose energy and ideas have been tamped down by systems and attitudes that restrain ministry, and who have felt frustrated by attempts to start new programs, reach new people, or experiment with alternative worship services, only to be told No. This book sets disciples free, giving them the permission to be bold and fruitful in their following of Christ. Just Say Yes! helps us give one another greater courage for the purposes of Christ. Just Say Yes! helps churches get unstuck.

The church says No in a thousand ways to new ideas, ministry initiatives, and creative people. Pastors say No to the ideas of laity, and lay persons say No to the initiatives of pastors. Committees say No to staff, and staff say No to volunteers. Long-established members say No to new people, and traditional worshippers say No to contemporary worshippers. Existing classes, mission teams, and music ministries greet new initiatives with suspicion and resistance.

When No pervades a congregation, people find a hundred reasons why a new idea won’t work, and so the congregation accepts the default of doing things the way they’ve always done them before. Mission initiatives, service projects, justice ministries, alternative worship expressions, children’s programs, and bold inspirations to start new classes, small groups, or second sites—all fall victim to No. People who sense a calling to serve feel restrained and shut out rather than encouraged and supported. No stifles ministry, kills innovation, and deadens enthusiasm.

Most churches struggle with antiquated systems that are no longer conducive to our mission, which have the effect of saying No. New ideas face systemic resistance because of the labyrinth of committees, steps, and policies that become impossible to navigate and which cause excruciating frustration and delay. Systems that merely irritate long-standing leaders create insurmountable obstacles to younger generations who have little tolerance for our bewildering approach toward ministry. An unrelenting culture of No is a contradiction to our sacrament of baptism, stifling hope, new birth, and a sense of God’s promise for the future.

Successful congregations are willing to take action that declining churches are unwilling to do. Growing churches say Yes to ministries that declining churches say No to. Missional churches shift a No culture to a culture that helps people cultivate their calling and creativity.

People need to be unleashed for ministry—encouraged and emboldened, equipped and sent out. Unleashed means to set free, to unbind from restraint, to set loose. Churches that unleash people for ministry rethink their operations, focus on the way God calls everyone to ministry, and reduce the resistance that holds people back from taking initiative. They create a culture of Yes, of cultivating God’s call to diverse expressions of ministry. They expect people to have good ideas for ministry, and they realize that new ideas can come from anywhere or anyone. They eliminate unnecessary obstacles. They unfetter laity and staff from those systems that restrain them from using their creativity and gifts. They practice the ministry of encouragement.

Unleashed also means to set forcefully in motion, such as when a medical discovery unleashes a host of new cures or a technical breakthrough unleashes a rush of new innovations. When we set people free to do the work of God, the spirit of Christ propels us into places and into ministries we could never have imagined.

How do we set people free for ministry? How do we help people fulfill their callings to teach, lead, and serve? How do we develop a permission-giving church? That’s what this book is about.

Just Say Yes! Unleashing People for Ministry helps pastors and congregational leaders examine the systems, attitudes, and dynamics that restrain, control, and diminish ministry. This book provides suggestions for how to become a permission-giving congregation and describes the changes in values, attitudes, and behaviors that lead a congregation out of stagnation and toward an outward-focused, missional culture that’s willing to try new expressions of ministry in order to fulfill the mission of Christ.

Just Say Yes! is written to offer hope and inspiration for congregations that want to become more fruitful, adept at initiating ministry, and open to innovation for the purposes of Christ.

Use the ideas and examples as a catalyst for conversations among staff, with lay leadership, for planning retreats, and with councils and teams that oversee ministry. The book provides a resource for pastors to reflect upon their congregational systems and their own leadership styles, and to discuss them with other pastors. The book gives leaders of lay training events a way to rethink where ideas for ministry come from and how they are received, supported, and evaluated.

Like Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, Just Say Yes! is written in an accessible, practical style for use with a wide audience, including adult Sunday school classes, small group studies, planning task forces, and those who lead volunteer teams, mission projects, youth work, and outreach ministries.

I do not write this as an expert or consultant. You won’t find formulas to follow, models to replicate, or how-to’s to check off. I draw attention to things that we ordinarily don’t notice in the systems we use and the attitudes we harbor. In my own following of Christ, I desire to become more intentionally an encourager of ministry rather than a person who unknowingly contributes to systems that restrain or discourage initiative for Christ. I hope this book causes churches to remove as many constraints, distractions, and obstacles to ministry as possible so that people can thrive in serving Christ. I pray that congregations can loosen up, come alive to the mission of Christ with greater boldness, and discover the delight that comes when we use our gifts for God’s purposes.

I hope reading this book changes your church, and changes something in you, so that you feel greater freedom to offer yourself wholeheartedly to Christ and to encourage others to do so as well.

Chapter One You Can’t Do It That Way: People Who Say No

People Who Say No

The ministry at Pastor Janelle’s church was thriving. She had arrived three years earlier to serve a congregation that struggled with finances,an aging membership, unaddressed facility repairs, and years of slow decline. Her passion, energy, focus, hard work, and gifted preaching had helped stimulate a resurgence of ministry. Families were joining the church, and an array of successful small group ministries, Bible studies, and mission initiatives reached more and more people. People were growing in discipleship and service with a contagious excitement about serving Christ and the world around them. Trust in Janelle’s leadership was high, finances were positive, and continued growth seemed inevitable.

So it came as a surprise to Janelle when her suggestion to start a new worship service with a different music style was greeted with such immediate objection. Her conversations with younger members convinced her that the church could extend its ministry and reach more people by offering an alternative worship service in addition to the traditional one. She studied how other congregations launched services, and prayed and planned before presenting the idea. People with the musical gifts to lead such a service already participated in the church and were prepared to offer their leadership. Everything seemed right, and the time seemed ripe.

Nearly everyone she presented her idea to said No.

The regular attendees complained that the new service would take people from the old service. Two services would divide the congregation and create the feel of two different churches.

The greeters and ushers said No, expressing concern about the extra volunteer time required to cover another service. The hospitality team said No because they would need to recruit more people to serve at the welcome table.

The part-time music director said No because nobody had asked her opinion earlier, and the music at the new service wasn’t her style. She also objected because the new service might take singers from her choir.

The worship committee worried about how two services with different liturgical and music styles would affect the way the congregation offered their Christmas Eve service.

The secretary resisted because she’d have to create two different bulletins and keep track of two sets of registration pads. She also felt hurt that the pastor had not consulted her before sharing the ideas with others. The nursery coordinator was upset because she’d need to schedule additional volunteers.

The trustees signaled No because of the necessity of moving sound equipment in and out of the worship space each week. The finance committee resisted because of the additional staffing costs for the nursery and musicians.

Sunday school teachers were upset thinking the new service might interrupt attendance patterns, causing some families to take their children out of class. Even the good-hearted volunteers who count the offering complained about needing to be present for an additional service.

The wide-spread resistance caught Janelle off guard. All the literature on growing churches and her own research, prayer, and intuition told her that a well-led additional worship service would help the church grow, and yet everyone seemed resistant or