12 Disciplines to Help You Recognize Leadership Identity Beyond Your Title

Titles are a great way to organize our world and feel good about one’s self.

I am a barista.

At least I like to call myself a barista, since I make coffee every morning. I can even compare the number of mornings I make coffee to the number of mornings a Starbucks employee makes coffee. Or the number of cups made in the last twenty years, as compared to any of those pimply-faced apron-wearers.

By any measure I could make the title fit, yet, just making a bunch of coffee does not make me a barista. There are ongoing practices and skills beyond my kitchen counter or church brew-pots that an actual barista demonstrates. I am free to call myself a barista, but in reality I just drink a lot of coffee.

The Harvard Institute for Religion Research defines a megachurch as a congregation that sustains an average of 2000 persons or more in its worship services. However, the more I work within local church congregations, the more apparent the disciplines of an actual megachurch become. Without ongoing practices or skills beyond Sunday morning service attendance, a leader is free to call their congregation a megachurch, but in reality they may just be a large gathering of people in worship.

And a large gathering of people in worship can be found at most any concert, sporting event or Whole Foods grocery store.

Therefore, it becomes critical to realize identity beyond title, through ongoing practices and skills. Here are 12 disciplines of megachurch leadership:

  1. Positioning discipleship beyond attendance of a class or program.
  2. Creating a culture of leadership development, supported by process.
  3. Consistent building of congregational ownership of the mission.
  4. Articulating unique language that becomes viral in every ministry area.
  5. Sharing leadership toward vision through an empowered team.
  6. Executing intentionally developed processes over time.
  7. Resisting the tendency to chase every new idea and possibility.
  8. Remaining aware of hubris and the false trappings of competency.
  9. Cultivating organizational humility by asking questions of other leaders.
  10. Willing to change models of ministry as effectiveness wanes.
  11. Leading with courage through decisions that are not easy and obvious.
  12. Supporting, not fearing, success in nearby congregations.

No matter your average weekly attendance, growing beyond the Sunday gathering numbers requires active attention and discipline.

Whether your church is a hopeful, emerging or former “mega,” take a few minutes at the next staff meeting to challenge yourself and your team. Add “How are we…” to each of these disciplines to form questions that reveal practice. Then identify the three disciplines that need the most attention and develop two-to-three strengthening actions to take for each in the next six weeks.

Titles are great, but at some point, the practice must become more important than the label. If not, your “megachurch” might really just be a large gathering of people in worship, and I might just be making coffee.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Rose

Bryan Rose

As Lead Navigator for Auxano, Bryan Rose has a strong bias toward merging strategy and creativity within the vision of the local church and has had a diversity of experience in just about every ministry discipline over the last 12 years. With his experience as a multi-site strategist and campus pastor at a 3500 member multi-campus church in the Houston Metro area, Bryan has a passion to see “launch clarity” define the unique Great Commission call of developing church plants and campus, while at the same time serving established churches as they seek to clarify their individual ministry calling. Bryan has demonstrated achievement as a strategic thinker with a unique ability to infuse creativity into the visioning process while bringing a group of people to a deep sense of personal ownership and passion.

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for this information. I'm going to use this article to improve my work with the Lord.
 
— Abel Singbeh
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
— Dave
 
comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
— Argaw Alemu
 

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