Ten Mistakes Churches Make

I finished reading a really good and practical book called Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing by Geoff Surratt.

Church Planters and Pastors should read it. I am pretty sure we have or will make most of these mistakes but it is a great challenge to examine where you are as a church and what changes you need to make.

Here are the 10 mistakes:

1) Trying to Do It All
- Primary role of the senior pastor should be to cast vision, connect with leaders, and teach the congregation.
- Must realize what is a burden to you may be a joy for someone else.

2) Establishing the Wrong Role for the Pastor's Family
- It's surprising how often listening to the call of God seems to lead to ignoring the cries of the pastor's own family.

3) Providing a Second-Rate Worship Experience
- See your service through the eyes of the first-time attender.
- Challenge your people to be "guerrilla greeters" and spend the first five minutes and the last five minutes of every weekend talking to people they hadn't met before.
- Bad worship music can be lethal to a church that wants to grow.
- People volunteer when someone personally invites them, not when they hear a plea from the pulpit.
- The human mind can only absorb what the human behind can endure.
- Make the Sunday service the most important thing you do.
- Create an experience that people are compelled to invite their friends and that when they miss church they actually miss it!

4) Settling for Low Quality in Children's Ministry
- Two questions parents will ask their kids: "Did you have fun?" and "What did you do?"
- It matters who is on your team. Don't beg people or promote warm bodies over someone's need and passion to volunteer in the children's ministry.
- Wasted time equaled wasted chance and ushered in our worst enemies: boredom and its ugly stepsister, discipline problems.
- Kids aren't idiots who don't know the difference between an engaging game with purpose and a coloring sheet.
- The key elements of an excellent children's ministry are a solid safety procedures, an environment that is comfortable and aesthetically pleasing to a child, great curriculum that teaches biblical truth and how to apply it, and most importantly, an amazing team of volunteer leaders who understand the vision of the ministry.

5) Promoting Talent over Integrity
When you are considering deploying new leaders, spend time getting to know them before putting them in a position of influence.
- Talent is a good thing and a gift from God; the problem is when we let talent trump integrity.

6) Clinging to a Bad Location
- You don't want to be the Waffle House of your neighborhood. It's okay of the gospel is offensive, but your neighbors shouldn't have to wear a disguise to come to your church.

7) Copying Another Successful Church
- You must discover God's unique vision for your community using your unique gifts and talents.
- Stop worrying about who is going to church and start focusing on who does not attend church. How can your church uniquely reach out to people no one else is reaching?
- God must transform the leader before He can transform the church.

8) Favoring Discipline over Reconciliation

9) Mixing Ministry and Business

10) Letting Committees Steer the Ship
- A team without a clear leader is like a boat without a rudder.
- The key to effective team-based ministry is to remember that leaders lead and teams follow.