ISSUE ARCHIVE

New Tool to Help Clergy Get Feedback

The Lewis Center has worked with hundreds of clergy, and we know that clergy want to improve. But often they do not feel they have the necessary information or tools. Many understand that the challenges of the church and the world have changed since they finished seminary, but they do not always get the most helpful feedback in order to improve. You may have heard the wise slogan adapted from a cereal commercial, "Feedback is the breakfast of leaders."

The Lewis Center for Church Leadership is announcing the release of a tool to help clergy get just the feedback they need for such growth. The Lewis Pastoral Leadership Inventory^TM (LPLI) is designed especially for clergy. There are many very good leadership inventories, but most are based on business executive leadership practices. Many clergy have said that while they can learn from them, in the end, the surveys are based on something other than their tasks as pastors.

So the Lewis Center set out to develop an instrument that would use the same rigor in development that the secular inventories use, but would base it on the life and practice of pastors in congregations. The Lewis Center has spent over two years developing and refining two pilot versions that have been field tested with almost 1,500 clergy.

The LPLI is an online assessment instrument that integrates a pastor's self-appraisal with the feedback of a series of "observers" to provide comprehensive input for improvement and growth in ministry. Participants receive a personalized leadership profile identifying strengths and weaknesses as seen by them and others. The results can be used for self-discovery, leadership feedback, facilitating conversations, and planning continuing education.

The LPLI covers seventy-five criteria of effectiveness in ministry. These measures were developed based on a three-fold definition of effectiveness in ministry that focuses on: 1) character, 2) competence, and 3) contribution. These categories and the specific criteria were compiled from definitions and standards of effectiveness developed across many denominations and judicatories, with input from church leaders and theological educators.

The LPLI can be used by individual clergy. Also, judicatories can use the LPLI in a number of ways—from publicizing its availability and, where possible, providing financial assistance for clergy desiring to utilize the LPLI, to making it possible for all the clergy in their region to take the inventory. There are significant discounts available for multiple purchases. For more information about this new clergy leader development resource, go to www.lpli.org.

Lovett H. Weems, Jr.

Rudy Rasmus to Keynote October Urban Ministry Event

Rudy Rasmus, pastor of St. John's Downtown United Methodist Church in Houston, Texas, and a recent contributor to Leading Ideas, will deliver the keynote address at Called to the City: A Symposium on Urban Ministry in the Joshua Generation, on Tuesday, October 27. Sponsored by Wesley Theological Seminary, the program includes workshops on homelessness, poverty, community organizing, community development, and other subjects. The event will be held at Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, 900 Massachusetts Ave., NW. There is no registration fee, but a $10 charge for lunch. Advance registration is required. To learn more about the schedule and other speakers, click here.

Your Questions:
Should we start new churches where there are existing churches?

A reader's question:  In our state there are almost no areas where there are not already a number of existing churches of our denomination. Does your research with new and existing churches indicate that population growth requires new churches to be started even if there are churches already in the area?

Response: You are correct that in most places where there is population growth, it is rare for there not to already be one or more churches of various denominations within five miles. We do know that existing churches do not do as good a job of reaching increasing population as new churches do. And if the existing church is very small, then they may not be able to reach any of the new people.

The key driver in the decision needs to be the size of the population growth. The next factor is whether there are existing churches that have already demonstrated an ability to reach new people. It helps if the existing church has some critical mass in terms of current attendance and program. In the case of the existing church, the question may be whether it is viable for that existing church to do what is needed to reach the growing population almost as well as a new church would. Additional space, additional services, relocation, a second campus are all things that some existing churches have done to generate some of the qualities of growth usually associated with new churches. But the important thing is that the existing church needs already to have a track record of passion and effectiveness in reaching more people. Plans and intentions alone rarely work out. If the existing churches are very small (50 or fewer in worship), it is rare that they will be able to develop into growing congregations that can adapt to reach the new people. It does happen in some cases, but usually there is some major change that takes place such as a relocation.

Do You Have Questions of the Lewis Center?

If you have a question about church leadership, you may send it to asklewiscenter@wesleyseminary.edu. The Center will seek to respond to as many as possible. Some will be answered in future Updates without attribution of the questioner.

Update is a monthly report to subscribers of Leading Ideas
on the work of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership.