Toolbox For Faith

1. Be enthusiastic! Paul talks of being “cheerful.” Enthusiasm comes from a word that means “God within.” Being enthusiastic means letting God, who is within you, shine through.

2. Be optimistic! You are optimistic because you know that God is acting in our world, our church and our lives.

3. Be hopeful! Hope is one of the most powerful forces. Hope can lead us into the future because we know that as Psalm 23 reminds us, the shepherd walks by our side.

Many church leaders approach finances as if all months are created equal. One finance committee at a church with a budget of $600,000 decided to divide by 12 and told the board and the congregation that they needed $50,000 a month to meet their budget. They ignored the fact that in December, they always received at least $95,000 to $105,000. As a result, starting in January, they immediately started falling behind and by November, they were at least $45,000 behind. Because they were behind, they would cut back expenditures starting in the summer when their offerings dropped significantly. All the talk was about how bad the church was doing. To quote scrooge who could have been a member of the finance committee, “Bah! Humbug!” By the end of the year, they always made their spending plan but by the time everyone realized it, a new year was starting and they were already behind because they assumed all months were created equal.

Offerings do not come in the same each month so the board needs to index the congregational income by determining the percentage of income they can expect each month. Start by looking back over the past three to five years and look at the percentage of the year’s income comes in each month. You will discover that most congregations have a specific pattern of giving. Realize that a fifth Sunday will change the shape of offerings and that either March or April will be boosted by Easter attendance. You will see a trend over the years as most months will be consistent in what percentage of the annual spending plan that is given. Instead of dividing by 12, take the annual budget and use the percentage for each month to see how much should be received. By doing this, you have a much better projection of what should be received each month.

The board can do the same thing with expenditures. Items like insurance come at the same time each year. Like offerings, expenditures can be projected based on the patterns from past years.

A church can’t do everything

The funeral director and the cemetery personnel were opening the niche in the columbarium to place the cremains of one of my members. They removed the metal covering and noticed something interesting–two urns were already stuffed in the opening. That taught me the importance of finding the correct niche.

None of the churches, even the large ones which I have served, have been able to do everything. What is important is discovering the niche or niches that the Lord calls you to serve in mission and ministry. Remember, God does not call us to do anything that God does not give us the power to do.

Here’s a wonderful example of discovering a niche. I would like to take credit for finding this fantastic niche but it just happened. God worked in a way we did not expect.

Our church ended up adopting the men’s soccer team at the University of South Carolina at Aiken because one of the young men on the team was a Lutheran from Texas and attended our church. We never started out to adopt the team, but through a series of circumstances, it happened. The women’s soccer team heard about what was happening with the men and their coach shared with us that they really wanted to be adopted, also. Before I left, the women’s basketball team thought that it was a good idea and we adopted them. Once a year, they all attended church. The last time they attended when I was pastor, all but one player (who had to work - attended. Several times a year, we had a supper just for them and invited people from the church. Our congregation attended some of their games together and we even had an ad in the programs. I still have my women’s basketball t-shirt that I purchased to wear to the games.

Ok - perhaps the title is a bit of an overstatement. Most of what I learned about preaching came from listing to my father preach for years and from classes with Dr. Tom Ridenhour at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary, but as I read a story in the October 2011 issue of Inc Magazine, I was reminded of the influence that Robin Williams and other comedians have had on my preaching.

The article entitled, “Badabing, badaboom - Can doing standup help close the deal?” focused on a company that brings in a standup comedian named Clayton Fletcher to teach employees comedic technique as a way of making them better public speakers. “Fletcher runs through a list of rhetorical devices commonly used in standup routines. He explains how to establish a roll structure, or a succession of punch lines, and how to set up a reference to a previous joke, known as a callback.” The owner of the business says, “Many of the skills used in crafting a standup routine . . . are essential for winning over prospective clients. ‘If you’re a good comedian, you’re probably a good presenter.’”

Now I don’t tell jokes when I preach, but like standup comedians, I tell stories, talk about life and make observations on society as a way of connecting my story, the congregation’s story, and God’s story revealed in scripture. When I started preaching, I remember watching Robin Williams doing standup and noticing how he would always reference something from the beginning of his act as he was finishing up. At the time, I didn’t know he was doing a “callback”, but I recognized that it was a helpful way to highlight a point and I incorporated it into my preaching. As I listened to observational comics, I got a sense for how to look at the ordinary events of life from a different perspective. As I listened to storytelling comics, I got ideas for how to share an illustration in a way that draws the congregation into the story and while the content of my preaching has more to do with Tom Ridenour than with Robin Williams, the rhetorical devices used by standup comedians have definitely had a helpful influence on my sermon structure and delivery style.