When going to a new church...
Kentucky, 1992 - 1996
I’ve never forgotten what my first District Superintendent, Rev. Orrin Simmerman said to me as I interviewed with him about taking on my first ever Pastoral Appointment in the Frankfort District of the Kentucky Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church. He said, "Keep it simple. Love the people, preach the Bible and visit the people in their homes. Trust me, they’ll love you for it and you’ll learn more about ministry than any class’ll ever teach ya." For the most part, I gotta say, I did exactly what he said, and I’m here to tell ya, he was right on!
So... when going to a new church as the "new kid in town..." Keep it Simple!
1) Love the people! 2) Preach the Word! 3) Be Jesus with Skin on!
And, to the best of your ability, Always... Under-Promise and Over-Deliver!
Here are a few more things to think about (that I have always purposed to do as well) as you are getting to know your people, your community and the actual real-time context of your new mission field.
- I always like to know a basic history of the church I'm going to. Ask them to tell you their story.
- I also like getting a feel for where and how they really feel they are doing now as a church/congregation.
- Then it's also good to ask them what their vision or hope is for the future. (In most cases, churches and church people tend to gravitate towards a maintenance mentality over time, and though there have been glory days in the past, they have the capacity to lose touch with what God can do or desires to do through them in the future. One of your roles as the new pastor will be to reacquaint them with the reality of faith potential and possibilities...)
Here are a few Goals that will help you earn relational credit and pastoral credibility
1. Visit ALL of your current attendees and members. For out of state or long distance members reach out by phone. (These are just quick visits to their homes for you to introduce yourself, and if possible your family, to each person you currently "have." This Should be doable in 30-60 days)
2. During this time, and once you have settled in to the parsonage, have and host an "open house" at the parsonage or your home and invite the church to come for a "Watermelon Feed" a "Sundae Bar" or a "Chilli Feed" This is a great interpersonal "PR" event and is an awesome way to develop some key initial relationships.
3. Also, within your first 30-60 days you will want to hit all of the businesses in town including other churches, in order to meet the workers owners and leaders. As you do this you will be finding out "who is who" in your community, what all is going on, and where the people are and when.
4. When you have completed the task of visiting personally all of your church people/families, let your people know in a casual comment from the pulpit, and then let them know that if they know of anyone you have missed that you’d be glad to visit them as well. (They will already know and will have been talking about it!) Then start visiting the people in your community, starting with the neighborhood around your church and with the goal of covering your whole town. Again, these are just quick door to door visits letting people know who you are, inviting them to church and letting them know you would really love the opportunity to be their pastor. You will want to give them a Church magnet, mug or a printed info invitation either to your Church or to some upcoming event you are hosting. How long this takes will be up to you, but there really is something about being able to say to your church that you have knocked on every door in town.
5. While you have been doing all of this, try walking as much as you can as you do it. You may not realize it, but people will notice you out there walking the streets. And, while you are walking you can also be covering your community completely in prayer. Again, there’s just something about being able to say that you have walked every street in town and prayed over every house.
6. Also, while you are doing the visiting of members, church folks, businesses and then the community, or as you are going on prayer walks, begin to invite others to go with you as you do. Invite them to walk with you as you go and introduce them to the idea of community visitation and prayer walking.
7. Send notes to those you visit and thank them for their time.
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Also, as a new Pastor, do your best to preach well! Be Biblical, relevant, engaging and timely!
Preaching and Sermon Resources:
Check out Wingclips.com and Sermonspice.com. There are tons of Sermon resources out there but these are two that I’ve had a lot of success with and use even now. Remember, don’t try to preach somebody else’s sermon, but do try to be a preacher people are going to want to come hear and who people are not going to want to miss!
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Start a small group, a home group, a cell group a life group or whatever you want to call it. Just get people together in your home and begin to develop relationships with them like Jesus did with the Twelve. Here are some resource ideas that will be helpful.
Small Group Resources:
Anything and Everything by Francis Chan (Letters To The Church, Crazy Love, Forgotten God, etc.).
I would also recommend, highly recommend, utilizing right now media (https://www.rightnowmedia.org), it's like Netflix for small group resources and material. Awesome website. It allows you to have or lead a small group from anywhere.
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These are just a few ideas to help you get things started as you seek to fulfill the vision God has given you for this new place He has called you. If you will use these ideas you will begin to build relational credit and you will be making relational deposits into the lives and hearts of the people God has called you to lead, which, is essential if you plan on actually leading them anywhere at all. Remember, a leader who has no followers is just someone on a walk...
If I can help you in any way, don’t hesitate to reach out! One of my very favorite things is coming alongside and helping pastors succeed in reaching people for Jesus!
Keep On Keepin' On In Jesus!
Rob
