George Bullard's Journey

Do You Know About . . . Partners for Sacred Places?

Download: Partners for Sacred Places

On the tenth floor of a small office building, right across the street from First Baptist Church of Philadelphia, PA, are the offices of Partners for Sacred Places. I first encountered Partners while in a learning experience with its executive director, Robert Jaeger, at Hartford Seminary in 1996.

It was an encounter I tucked in the back of my mind for future reference. What brought it to light was a request for a meeting from their director of training, Sarah Preveler, this past fall. Sarah and I visited for a couple of hours in my office. One result was a recent trip I made to Philadelphia to sit down with four key staff persons with Partners.

There I learned things you need to know about Partners.

“Promoting the stewardship and active community use of America’s older and historic religious properties,” is the mission of Partners. It is “the only national, non-sectarian, non-profit organization dedicated to the sound stewardship and active community use of America’s older religious properties. Partners provides assistance to the people who care for sacred places while promoting a new understanding of how these places sustain communities.” [web site]

Coaching Insights for Partners for Sacred Places

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O.K. I admit it. Preserving old buildings does not seem like the best way to redevelop, revitalize, or transform aging congregations. It definitely does not seem like the best approach to helping congregations reach their full kingdom potential.

I know. It is out of character with the approach I have taken for 30 years to help congregations engage in vital ministry. But I am still interested in it for at least the following three reasons.

First, you have to start with actions congregations are willing to embrace. Some congregations will only be embraced by the threat of survival. Others must find or create a demon to fight to motivate them.

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

Download: Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars is the newest book from management guru Patrick Lencioni. You know Patrick. He is the author who brought us such titles as The Five Temptations of a CEO, The Four Obsessions of an Extraordinary Executive, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, and my favorite title, Death by Meeting.

Much of this book is a leadership fable about destroying the barriers that turn colleagues into competitors. It is about how unhealthy habits within organizations champion mediocrity rather than excellence. It suggests the turf wars enabled by silos devastate organizations.

I loved the leadership fable. I loved the story of a new consultant seeking to develop his practice, since I am seeking to do that for the second time in my life beginning next fall. I loved the engagement in various types of businesses. I loved the integration of family and work, and the taste of reality regarding the difficulty of self-employment as a consultant.

I loved the genuine interest in people expressed by the lead character in all of his consulting. I loved the emphasis on silos. I loved the focus on developing short-term strategies to move beyond the silo mentality so that longer term strategies can be addressed. But, I didn't love the book. Here's why.

Coaching Insights for Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

Download: Coaching Insights for Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars

“The Table Group was founded in 1997 on the belief that organizations succeed for two reasons-they are smart, and they are healthy. Smart organizations have superior strategies, marketing plans, financial models and technology. Healthy organizations have less politics and confusion and higher levels of productivity, commitment and morale.” [www.TableGroup.com]

Silos, Politics, and Turf Wars suggests one point of intervention in organisms and organizations is to focus on decreasing the politics and confusion, and thus clearing the way to envision superior strategies.

To get your own copy of this book go to www.Amazon.com where you can find Patrick’s book for $15.61. Or, go to www.TableGroup.com, and view this book and other resources available through The Table Group. Where are the silos in your congregation?

Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict

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Download: Intensity_of_Conflict_Chart

Every congregation needs a little conflict. It does not need a lot of conflict. It does not need conflict situations coming at it rapidly. It does not need unhealthy, destructive conflict. But, it does need a little conflict.

A congregation without any conflict is dead. It has no passion. It has no conviction. It has no motivation. It has no sense of urgency. It cannot effectively be on mission. Reaching its full kingdom potential is impossible. 

A congregation with too much conflict is dysfunctional. It has too much anger. It is unhealthy. It takes destructive actions. It cannot effectively be on mission. Reaching its full kingdom potential is impossible.

So how much conflict is the right amount of conflict?

Coaching Insights for Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict

Download: Coaching Insights for Every Congregation Needs a Little Conflict

What intensity of conflict best describes where your congregation is today? What is the evidence of this intensity? How would you engage this intensity of conflict? Would you run towards this intensity of conflict to engage it, or away from it to avoid it?

It is helpful to know the intensity of conflict currently being experienced by your congregation. This helps you to work on handles and entry points for addressing various conflict situations. At healthy intensities of conflict—one, two, and three—great opportunities exist to learn how to dialogue in helpful ways around generally clear issues and symptoms of conflict.

The last time you had a significant—perhaps unhealthy—conflict in your congregation, how did you engage it? What was the outcome? Were you pleased with the outcome? If not, do you understand what you could have done different that might have produced a better outcome?

Whose Fault Are All These Changes?

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Every Thanksgiving weekend my wife and I travel to the home of her widowed mother. One Thanksgiving tradition is to decorate her house for Christmas, and to otherwise make adjustments to her furniture placement, and fix things that have broken.

Last year in moving an old piece of furniture that contained a stereo, we came across a few relics from the past. There were three long playing phonograph records--such as a Tennessee Ernie Ford record, one 45 record, and three eight-track tapes.

No working music device in the house could play any of these recordings, and we could not easily find such music devices at our favorite stores. Having all grown up during the era of phonographs, stereos, and eight track players, we all remembered with fondness these music devices of the past.

Whose fault is it you cannot run out to a store and find several different varieties of eight track players, 45 record phonographs, or stereos with turntables for long playing records?

Coaching Insights for Whose Fault Are All These Changes?

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How well does your congregation handle the inevitable changes that a transforming culture keeps tossing its way? Does it have appropriate vehicles for transition in response to these changes? Does it have the emotional and spiritual maturity to handle these changes?

Or perhaps the question is, does any congregation, anywhere have both the emotional and spiritual maturity to handle change after change after change?

Probably not.

That is why we may often find ourselves seeking to discover who or what is to blame for all the changes congregations continually experience.