Why culture, and its place in the church

For many years, churches have been losing congregants for multiple reasons that we will outline.  Simultaneously, our church growth strategy has been to build more buildings and grow the congregation. Pastor Andrew Hebert indicates that Christian leaders must start focusing on church health & culture. 

Culture is about one’s beliefs, values, systems, and processes used to identify the way a church function(s) in totality. Northouse (2012) defines Culture as “the commonly shared beliefs, values, and norms of a group of people” (p. 420). 

As a result of many distractions in our ministries over the years, church culture (shared beliefs, values, and norms) has deteriorated, preventing congregants from developing intimacy with God.  A lack of intimacy with God means the decisions, actions, and beliefs of congregants are worldly.  This is dangerous and we see it playing out today. 

The type of Culture a church reflects is essential because it reveals how well any church will function. Today, we submit to you that a good culture in most religious institutions is lacking, non-existent, or has deteriorated significantly, because of ministry distractions.  These distractions have eroded the Culture in our churches.

As a church pastor or leader, can you identify with any of the statements below?

(if so, reach out to CCS to see how we can help)

My Church is…

• experiencing declining membership and/or attendance
• struggling financially
• suffering through division in the Church Body
• adrift with no true direction
• doing a poor job communicating with our stakeholders

Our Church Leadership is…

• encountering frustration or experiencing burnout
• not being properly prepared for leadership roles
• working hard with less than desired results
• not engaged with trusted mentors
• lacking a succession plan for our key leaders

Our Church Membership is…

• not enthusiastically participating in the Church and our ministries
• having the same small group of people leading and participating in multiple ministries
• lost in “the wilderness” but is ready to move into the “Promised Land”

Quotes

“After personally attending one of CCS’ FACT Sessions, I feel honored to proclaim that CCS is the right organization to lead the way. The CCS team is capable and stands ready to assist and enable our Spiritual Leaders to refocus, to stand boldly and to seek the knowledge and skill sets necessary to instill a sense of urgency and spiritual vitality to their congregations!” – Church Pastor

“As Christians, we know we should work to build God’s Kingdom. Unfortunately, most of us have never been given clear instructions in how to do that without eventually feeling frustration, burnout and even resentment. CCS has developed a plan that can help Pastors, Church Leaders and their congregations unite with renewed determination and clear directions that will help alleviate and or eliminate frustration, aggravation and burnout in our churches.” – Church Lay Leader

If You can identify with some of these questions, consider our course offerings below that will help transform your culture

church culture assessment

This Lean Assessment Tool has two purposes. First it enables the user to take an inventory of the Church Culture, best practices and how prevalently those practices are found throughout the Church. Second it provides the user with an awareness of those best practices that are not prevalently applied and hence, should be considered for implementation.

 –Base line data and information for the entire church

–Virtual or In Person

What you will learn:

• Is there a healthy culture at your church
• Useful Information to Determine Priorities & Strategies for Direction
• A True Baseline/Picture of How the Church is Performing
• What Attributes & Values are Important. Does Your Church Have those Attributes & Values

Leadership Training

How do you train the leadership within your church? What resources are helpful, and how long should training last? This module introduces a model training for church leadership that will be helpful for both church officers and lay leaders.  A leader’s growth is essential for other staff and congregants to continue following your vision.  Leadership, coupled with an increased desire to be fiercely biblical, is incredibly attractive and will play a crucial part in your church’s development.

This module focuses on a topic that is woefully ignored by most seminaries. Being a better leader is essential for any organization to reach its full potential. It is the forerunner before you can start to transform the culture in the church.

What you will learn:

• Christian Leadership Strategies
• Develop your Leadership Characteristics
• The Importance of Collaboration & Developing Followers
• How to Be a Better Leader (Boss vs Leader)
• New Leadership Styles for the new generations
• How to Develop a Personal Plan to be a Better Leader

tactic leadership training (4 day train-the-trainer)

At CCS we are committed to building stronger churches by teaching and mentoring Church Leaders through a Church Transformation Journey.  The basic philosophy around our support is that most people want to do great things within their churches and ministries but need guidance and direction.  As a church leader, you can never teach what you do not know, nor can you become what you have never been taught. CCS with our Church Transformation model will teach pastors and church leaders to become visionary leaders within their churches and equip them with proven strategies and methodologies for long term success.

Completing the TACTIC Leadership Training will give you all the tools required to Transform the Culture in your church.

What you will learn:

• 5 Steps to Church Transformation
• Change Leadership Training
• Team Training
• Continuous Improvement Tools
• Culture and values training & development
• Facilitator Training
• Spiritual Etiquette training
• Building support for the plan
• Develop Leadership & Operations Teams
• Develop Communication plans
• Strategic & Tactical Plans
• Develop SOPs for all Ministries
• Succession Plans