Essentials Part 4: Prayed Up

This is a series about Essentials for ministry growth (in quantity and quality).

Essential #1: Healthy at the Core
Essential #2: Reduce complexity to the point of quality

Essential #3: Prayed Up

I fly into town for a week-long mission at Campus X.

It's pretty clear when the host ministry is all prayed up:

Ordinary secular reality is broken apart. 

Holes have been blown in the well-established walls of spiritual resistance that I've come to expect on college campuses, due to targeted prayer.

Surprising openings appear before us. Christian students display boldness and compassion. Other students come to faith in Jesus.

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One of my favorite churches, Bethel Christian Fellowship (BCF), is situated strategically near Macalester College in St. Paul, where I work.

BCF is pretty much always prayed up.

I guess that's why this non-trendy work of God is so healthy and fruitful. Of note:

• Over 25 nations represented in the congregation. A flag flies in the foyer for each country.
• Multiple other ministries come under its gracious oversight.
• They say: Prayer is not peripheral to our programs, it is the atmosphere in which our programs will be fruitful.

BCF always feels to me like a non-anxious place.

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In closing: I think of how often prayer is talked about in various ministries but how often it ends just there.

I hope you'll pause to consider whether the ministry in which you serve is all prayed up.

(As for myself, the practice doesn't come easily.)

Essentials Part 3: Reduce Complexity (cont.)

This week I continue with the second Essential for ministry growth: Reduce complexity to the point of quality.

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Sprawling 
I'm acquainted with a ministry that serves as the patron host to a series of focus ministries to children, ethnic groups, musicians, older adults, foreign missions (and others).

There is, however, little sense of alignment or cohesion among the groups. Everyone does their own thing under a common roof.

It's messy, politicized and stagnant.

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Simple
I know another ministry that takes the opposite approach, saying in effect, Everything we sponsor must align with our vision and values. This host is extremely picky about what it takes on. Thus:

• Alignment is tight. 
• Structure is simple and manageable.
• Quality is high.

This ministry exudes a vibe of energy that is highly contagious. It is growing both spiritually and numerically.

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These two examples need further nuance. Yet, each represents a general pattern that I observe in my travels that I hope can be helpful to you.

Over the last two years I've been privileged to visit more than 50 campus ministries around the country -- most (but not all) of them related to InterVarsity, at least 25 churches, and a smattering of other ministries.

So I'm blogging for a few weeks about the patterns I observe regarding organizational health and growth.

Growth Essential #1 from last week's post: Become healthy at the core.

Growth Essential #2: Reduce complexity to the point of quality.

Streamlined organizations with simple structures and a clear purpose are exciting to be around. Morale is high, teamwork is strong. They don't try to "do everything," just a few high-quality items.

Such quality tends to attract talented people (visionaries, gatherers, teachers, artists, administrators) who add their own contributions to the mix. This creates even more momentum.

On the other hand, struggling ministries often think of themselves as patron sponsors of a sprawling web of semi-related entities run by independent entrepreneurs.

I'm choosing my words carefully.

The mentality seems to be, If someone has a calling from God and a passion to start something, we empower them with resources and release them to their work.

There's something appealing about that. So, you want to start a mens' ministry? You have our blessing. A gospel choir? Go for it. Who are we to stand in the way of God's calling on your life?

And while the web of sprawling entities does seem to produce healthy growth at times, in my experience it's rarely sustainable and often devolves into a frustrating mess.

Next week I'll offer a further comparison of the two patterns: Simple vs Sprawling.

If you have insights on the topic, please use the comment section below or email me. Thanks!


(For a resource that in general terms argues against the position I'm taking, see Ori Brafman's The Starfish and the Spider. I liked this book but when not applied properly it leads, I think, to disunity and failure.)

Essentials

A favorite date destination for my wife Sharon and me is a restaurant. Any restaurant. Nice places or fast food -- we enjoy them all.

But there's one catch. One thing we simply don't understand: At decent places, why is the food often just "so-so"? Mediocre?

I swear if I owned a restaurant the first thing I'd be certain of is the food. It's a restaurant essential.

What about places that serve spiritual food? Ministries? How are they doing on the essentials?

I get around to almost as many different ministries as I do restaurants. I see patterns, good and bad.

And over the next few weeks I'd like to share some ministry essentials that I believe determine the difference between the thriving and the dying.

Essential #1: Healthy at the core.

It doesn't matter if it's a 25-member campus fellowship or a church of 2,000, "healthy at the core" is an indispensable building block of a thriving ministry, in my view.

At an ethnic church in St. Paul where I serve as a mentor/coach, we've reconstructed the Leadership Team (LT) from the ground up. Healthy at the core for us includes these elements:

• Clear roles.
• Clear decision-making process.
• Meetings start and end on time.
• No free passes. That is, no one can no-show without letting someone know in advance.
• All calls/emails/texts are responded to within 24 hours.
• We mix interpersonal care and fun with business.
• We pray and study scripture together regularly. 
• We're not in a hurry.

Some LTs use formal covenants. Ours is not formalized. But wow, is it ever rewarding to serve with folks who are all making the same (high) level of commitment.

I hope you'll consider whether your own ministry context is healthy at the core.

Make Us One, Father God

When the stars converged to bring Sharon's three sisters to our living room one evening in August, I cheered their decision to don the headphones and preserve their remarkable harmonies forever (or as long as MP3s exist) as a blessing to others.

Brenda, Sharon, Linda (not pictured: Charlotte)

The best of the seven songs recorded, in my opinion, is

"Make Us One, Father God" (click to listen. 2:07 in length)
(arranged by the sisters' brother, Brad Doeden). 

Make us one Father God, Make us one
That the world may know you gave your only son
Fill us with the love you've given us to share
And protect us from the evil everywhere

For you have chosen that together we should be 
A reflection of your love and unity
Cleanse us from our old nature of sin 
That your image may be seen in man again
Send us in the world to be a channel of
All the glorious riches of your love
And we'll tell the world the truth of how you feel
That the world may know that Jesus' love is real


One of my most responded-to blog posts ever was a video of the sisters singing last June at historic Emmanuel United Methodist Church. That post is here.

If you wish to hear the other songs from the living room session, just email me at rick.mattson@studentjourney.org, and I'll send you the links.