THE CHANGING FACE OF CHURCH CONSULTATION

Twenty-five years ago this spring, Ken Callahan came to my church for a local church consultation.  I was blown away by his hyper-focus and sense of clarity which came from working with lots of churches.  Because he was not so deeply enmeshed in our particular situation with its challenges, he could see things that we could not.  It was one of the most remarkable experiences of my life - the sense of Ah Ha that enabled our church to quickly make some strategic decisions that would result in us reaching hundreds of new people.  i don’t recall what we paid him per day - but it was worth it!

Since that time, I have been doing church consultation.  I was trained first by Bill Easum, with whom I worked for nearly a decade.  I was mentored live by Callahan (in three events) and Tom Bandy.  I was a student of everything Lyle Schaller and Herb Miller ever wrote.  From all that, a certain design emerged in terms of how I would consult with a church.  For my first guinea pig in 1996, I worked with an Episcopal congregation and charged them only $500 for the whole process.  A productive set of meetings resulted in their consensus to buy land and move their campus to a great location where they thrived for many years after.

Over the years, as I left local church responsibilities, I began to to travel to the churches on weekends.  Very helpful.  I learned various processes for running focus groups, appreciative inquiry, staff meetings and 1:1s.  Its so much fun to see people in their world and to enter with them into the process of imagining what could be.  And it is just incredible when we catch the Spirit wave together.

When this Pandemic hit in force, I was sitting in a fellowship hall in Montana, finishing a great day of local meetings.  A doctor from the church walked in to announce, “People, we have a problem - I don’t think we can hold worship tomorrow.”  Someone said, “That's crazy.  We are Montana people.  Our church meets in blizzards.  We have never taken off a Sunday in 100 years!”  We just had finished a meeting on worship, and the team kicked into gear, working late into Saturday night.  The next day (March 15, 2020) the service went online.  I flew home, and began canceling event after event after event in various local churches.

When it was safe enough to travel, I worked with a church in Michigan in the chilly fall of 2020.  We opened the windows and let really cold air blow through.  We wore masks and set up cameras and monitors so that people who felt uncomfortable attending meetings in person could participate.  And… it was a really effective weekend - weird, but great meetings!  Every time I drive onto a property and really see context, I am always surprised in some way.  Never do I imagine a place as it really is.  Without onsite visits, I am flying blind.

As our Zoom skills advanced, I began to hold some of the consultation meetings in advance and/or after the onsite weekend - so we didn’t run ourselves ragged trying to squeeze it all into three days (or what have you).

This past weekend I was to have flown to Georgia to work with a church. But Omicron hit hard.  So I stayed home, and they took me on a tour of their second campus by iPhone.  Worked great.  I met with five focus groups on Zoom, with outstanding participation - better than we would have had in person.  Granted, we didn’t get the coffee pot banter, nor were we able to read body language.  But the greater accessibility more than compensated for this.  I still plan to travel to this church in a couple months.  But when I get there, we will be well down the road in terms of the work we need to do.

The world has gone hybrid - almost every growing church in the western world is now hybrid in the way they do group work, worship, meetings, etc.  By introducing hybrid approaches to consulting, we reduce the costs, we spread out the work, we stay rested for each meeting, and I suspect we will have better outcomes.

I had a series of really excellent meetings on a winter weekend, within sight of my kitchen, barefoot and in sweatpants. What is not to love!?