Ideas that Work

THE SPIRITUAL INVENTORY

by Donald L. Bubna

In my previous pastorate, Bill, a young believer who recently had joined the finance committee, made an appointment with me.

“Pastor,” he said, “I’m concerned about our church finances. If all our people were on welfare, yet tithed, we would have more than sufficient income to do all we need to do at the church. But here we are, a middle-class church with a modest budget, and we’re behind. There’s something wrong with the spiritual vitality of our people.”

Then he proposed an idea similar to one he’d learned in the insurance industry: “The reason my insurance business is doing three times the new business of the average agency is that every six months I do an insurance inventory with every client. We meet so we can be sure their coverage is up to date and I can tell them about some new forms of protection in the industry. I come prepared, knowing where their insurance has been, and I’m ready to help them.

“It seems to me,” he continued, “it would help to take regularly a spiritual inventory of our members. It will help them go on to maturity, and if they’re growing in faith and obedience, they’ll be generous with their tithes and offerings.”

The idea of a spiritual inventory clicked with me. For years I have been committed to accountability, and here was a tool to help me accomplish that-by lovingly and firmly helping people grow in Christ. So, with others on the staff, I developed what we called a “spiritual inventory call.” We all found it beneficial in monitoring the spiritual growth of the people in our areas of responsibility.

What is it?

The spiritual inventory call differs from a hospital call or friendship visit. It has a clear objective. The goal of such a discussion is to find out about a person’s spiritual life: where he has been, where he is now, and where he wants to go with the help of pastor and church.

Since each person and situation is different, we haven’t established rote questions for the inventory. There is a wide array of questions that will get people thinking about their spiritual lives. Here are some of the ones I use:

What’s one joy and one struggle you’re experiencing in your life or ministry?

How would you describe your walk with God this past year?

Where do you feel you would most like to grow as a Christian?

Could you give me a thumbnail sketch of your spiritual history?

How did you first come to believe?

In your devotional life, what’s one thing you’ve recently discovered?

How would you finish this sentence: I feel good about my walk with God when . . . ?

What have been some of the ups and downs of your spiritual life since you came to faith?

How has our church helped you in your spiritual development?

What do you need from me as a friend and fellow believer to go on to maturity in Christ Jesus?

At my former church, we as leaders made home visits to ask these hard but important questions. Such visits led to fruitful discussions not unlike one I had last month when I ran into a man with whom I had not talked for some time. I had heard, though, that he was struggling spiritually. So after we had talked through some of the safer topics, I asked, “Bob, how would you describe your walk with God this past year?”

He looked at me and sputtered a bit. But then he was honest: “Not very good.” He went on to say that he was struggling with his attitudes toward certain people in the church, and he detailed the complaints. I listened carefully, and finally I asked, “Are you saying, then, that you’re allowing these people to come between you and God?”

He guessed he was, though he didn’t want them to. “I’m asking you this only because I love you and your family,” I said, “and I am concerned about you. How can I help you with this issue in your life?” He asked for prayer, and we concluded on a positive note a conversation that helped invigorate his Christian walk.

How do you conclude?

The conclusion of a spiritual inventory is particularly important. I begin by summarizing what the person has told me. “I hear you saying that you have come this far as a Christian, and now you feel you need to . . .” I want to communicate that I have listened well and I care about what I’ve heard.

What I say next depends on what the people are ready for. If, for example, they feel they need to study the Bible more, I ask, “What are you going to do about this need? How can I help you?” I may be able to introduce them to the leader of a Bible-study group.

Sometimes the person is unsure what he needs. So then I say, “You sound as if you’re not sure where you need to go. How can I help you make that decision?” Some people ask for prayer, some for suggestions about how to grow.

Other people realize they need to discontinue a harmful habit. “This is a decision I can’t make for you; you must make it,” I tell them. “Will you send me a note in the next two weeks telling me what you have decided?”

And a few indicate early on, usually nonverbally, that I’m getting too personal and they’re not ready for such questions. They communicate, I love God, I’m a Christian, and that’s enough. If so, I back off; I go only as far as people will be glad for me to go. With such people, I briefly tell them where I want to grow as a Christian and then ask for their prayers. Often we will pray a short prayer for each other at that time.

Does anyone resent it?

Most people not only welcome the chance to talk about themselves but are thirsty for it. There are, however, some essential conditions for effectively taking a spiritual inventory.

First, in my preaching and leading I must model the kind of openness I’m asking from people. On elders’ retreats and with staff, I periodically share my own spiritual condition or devotional practices, and I encourage them to confront me if they see anything askew in my life. (I seek to conduct a spiritual inventory with each staff member annually.)

The second essential is that I establish a relationship with the person so there is something to build on.

Third, I try to make a soft approach. I don’t announce it as a “spiritual inventory.” Instead, I set up lunch appointments, or drop in at people’s homes, or talk with them in my office, as I have always done. The difference is that I intentionally focus the discussion on the person and his or her spiritual life: “John, I care about you, and as your pastor I’m interested in how you feel you’re growing as a Christian.”

Fourth, I try to come across as an encourager, not a judge. I often say, in effect, “I want to help you. I don’t want to-and can’t-make you do anything. But if you have determined to grow in Christ, I want to help you do that.”

When these servanthood attitudes are in place, what happens is a surprise of joy. One man in my former church, for example, had been a member for years, and over time we built a relationship of trust. During a spiritual inventory he admitted that he struggled with homosexual tendencies.

I first emphasized my acceptance of him as a person. I also, however, suggested a Bible memory program to help refocus some of his thinking about self-worth, temptation, and God’s power. He agreed, and we met regularly, though often informally, for me to check how his memorization was proceeding. “How is this helping? Where is this not helping?” I would ask. The man welcomed this discipline, and we saw significant growth and victory through it.

What’s the result?

Such conversations often take about an hour, but at my former church, the staff was unanimous about their value. We cut back the number of “regular” calls each month and aimed at making more spiritual inventory calls. As a result, we felt closer to people, people developed spiritually, and as Bill had originally predicted, churchwide giving patterns were affected.

I saw the fruit of spiritual inventories in the life of Joe Kong, who came to our former fellowship as a Cambodian refugee. He was bright and well educated but not a believer. In a matter of weeks he made a commitment to Christ, was baptized, and joined a Saturday morning prayer group. Joe was a recognized leader in the Cambodian community throughout Oregon. He immediately began to meet with local groups to communicate the gospel. He eventually planted half a dozen churches in the Pacific Northwest while maintaining his fellowship with our congregation.

During this time, we had several spiritual inventory visits. I began to hold him accountable to spend adequate time with his wife and five children. He did, and he continued to grow spiritually. Later he became an elder in the Salem (Oregon) Alliance Church and is now national director for Cambodian ministries for the denomination. He has planted a dozen more Cambodian congregations and now oversees thirty churches.

Shortly before my leaving Salem, he came to me and said, “Pastor, the way you developed me spiritually is how I’m developing leaders for the Cambodian churches. It is a biblical pattern, and it works.”

* * *

MORE IDEAS

Painless Recruiting of Sunday School Workers

Why are there never enough volunteers to work in the Sunday school? What makes people resist serving in this area?

Nearly every pastor has asked these questions. Ed M. Smith, minister of education at Del Norte Baptist Church in Albuquerque, New Mexico, decided to search for the answers.

Smith began talking with members and discovered three key reasons.

1. People didn’t want to give up the fellowship they had in their adult Sunday school classes.

2. They feared they’d never get out of teaching or assisting.

3. They didn’t have training or experience with children and didn’t want to be thrown into a classroom without knowing what to do.

“We accepted the reasons as valid,” Smith says, “and not merely as lame excuses.” In response, the church developed a simple system of short, overlapping terms of service.

Workers are recruited for three-month terms; this takes away people’s fear they will never get out of the job and it keeps people in adult fellowship nine months of the year. In addition, each person starts his or her term of service during the last month of the predecessor’s term. During the month when both teachers are in the class, the “veteran” worker acquaints the newcomer with the children and class procedures and gradually turns over the teaching responsibilities. This gives each incoming teacher on-the-job training. It also minimizes the children’s discomfort of having a new teacher, since the familiar teacher is still in the classroom. And finally, the period of joint teaching lightens the load for both workers.

To keep the Sunday school running smoothly, some key leaders do serve full-year terms, but in general the system has made more people willing to try teaching, increased motivation, and prevented burn-out.

“The system has made it much easier for me to get volunteers,” Smith reports. “In one congregational appeal I got all the workers I needed for the year, which I’ve never had happen before.”

* * *

Thanksgiving Calendar

Thanksgiving can be a meaningful holiday for Christians, but too often it degenerates into little more than a reason to watch football and eat too much. Ted Schuldt, pastor of Ravenna Boulevard Presbyterian Church in Seattle felt the frustration. We all need help to lift our eyes from the meal to the Giver, he thought, just as we need help at Christmas to focus not on the gifts but on the Reason for the season.

Schuldt realized that Christians have long prepared themselves for a meaningful celebration of Christmas by using an Advent calendar with daily Scripture readings. Why can’t a similar calendar be used to prepare our hearts for Thanksgiving? he wondered.

So now, at the beginning of November, he distributes to each family in the congregation an 8/2 x 11 sheet showing the calendar for the month. Listed in the box for each day is a Scripture passage related to thankfulness. The church families take the calendars home and each day do two simple things: (1) read the Scripture for the day, and (2) write on the calendar one thing for which they thank God.

“My kids, ages 11, 8, and 4, enjoy saying what they’re thankful for and writing it on the calendar,” Schuldt says. “Usually they thank God for the other family members and their friends.”

On the Sunday before Thanksgiving, parishioners bring the calendars to church, where they are received in a special “thank offering.” At Ravenna Boulevard, where attendance runs from 65 to 75, as many as 40 calendars may be turned in.

“People tell me they appreciate having a vehicle to help them be thankful regularly,” Schuldt reports. “They say, ‘Once we got down to doing it, we were glad we did.’ ”

* * *

Reaching New Parents and Newlyweds

When a baby is born within two miles of First United Brethren Church in Peoria, Illinois, the family gets a letter of congratulations and, within a few days, a visit. (Families who would prefer not to have a visit can indicate that by calling a phone number given in the letter.)

During the visit, the church’s lay director of the Cradle Roll describes the congregation’s ministries to families. In addition, she offers to leave a VCR and James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” video series for two weeks-free.

When the parents have finished viewing the series, Pastor Steve Barber stops by to pick up the equipment and to discuss the videos. Dobson’s message provides a sounding board for the parents’ religious beliefs and a natural introduction to the gospel.

“In the first 12 months of the ministry,” reports Barber, “we contacted about 100 families. Of those, 15 enrolled in the church’s Cradle Roll, and 13 others visited the church. Five new parents made a first-time commitment to Christ.” To keep up with requests for the tapes, First United Brethren has purchased a second set of tapes, and even so, they sometimes have people on a waiting list to get them.

-Reported in The United Brethren

A less-expensive variation of the idea was used to reach newlyweds when Richard Addison, Jr., was pastor of Bible Methodist Church in Findlay, Ohio. Each week a volunteer would send congratulatory letters to newly married couples in the surrounding area (names were secured through the newspaper). The letter offered a free book on building a Christian home (Heaven Help the Home, by Howard Hendricks) to anyone who returned the enclosed card. Ten percent of each week’s cards (3 of 30) were returned, and Addison or a lay leader visited each couple to deliver the book.

“One person wrote on the response card, ‘How nice of you to care. Thanks so much! We’re looking forward to the book,’ ” says Addison. “Another couple ran into some marital difficulties three or four months into their marriage, and because I had visited them, they came to me for counsel.” Addison, now pastor of College Grove Community Church in Montgomery, Alabama, is considering expanding the idea to reach not only newlyweds, but also new parents and the recently bereaved.

What’s Worked for You?

Each published account of a local church doing something in a fresh, effective way earns up to $35. Send your description of a helpful ministry, method, or approach to:

Ideas That Work

LEADERSHIP

465 Gundersen Drive

Carol Stream, IL 60188