Have you ever had what you thought was a great idea for your church, only to see it deflated by a board or committee? I just stumbled across an article by a former senior pastor, Jerry Ousley, giving advice on how to approach these idea presentations.
Ousley’s four suggestions are, in short:
- Bring in research that backs up your idea–stats, charts, etc.
- Bring in a person who can share from experience the value of your idea.
- Show the board how your proposal lines up with their priorities.
- Be open to suggested revisions.
As Ousley observes, the latter two strategies will help your audience develop their own sense of ownership for your proposal. That’s when things will really start moving. But that sense of ownership is also a safeguard for the (unlikely) circumstance in which your idea isn’t actually very good. Then you don’t have to worry about an apathetic approval process letting your not-so-good idea slide through unscathed.
The mindset in the end, then, isn’t so much How can I get this OK’d? as it is How can we get on the same page?
One other observation (and this comes straight from my interview with Bruce Howard in Elder/Deacon) is that the members of a church board can feel overwhelmed by the people vying to be heard. Howard says that, of all the different types of organizations he’s been in, churches have the biggest gap between an average member’s level of responsibility or involvement and his or her “felt need for voice.” So, someone who just shows up on Sunday mornings thinks he should have as much say in church matters as anyone.
And, says Howard, they’re not completely wrong, because of how critical that hour on Sunday morning is to a person’s well-being. But the point here is that, even if you’re a pastor or a deeply involved lay leader, you should remain sensitive to the barrage of voices to which a church board is exposed. Telling them that you understand this might soften some ears.
Any other insights into this process, from either side of the table?
