Pursue the 25%

by Rev. Mark Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

So just how do we start becoming the church we are called to be? How do we get traction moving toward the vision we’ve discerned? What’s the next tangible actionable step?

Pursue the 25%.

I don’t recall where I first learned this leadership move. It may have been while reading John Kotter, or Kouzes and Posner, or… well it doesn’t matter now, since this strategy has proven worthy through time and experience.

Here’s what pursuing the 25% means. First, as clearly as possible discern and describe your aspiration as a church. When we identify a compelling future vision, there is always a sizeable gap between where we are and the vision. Often, this gap is intimidating, sometimes scaring us into anxious paralysis. Other times we aren’t afraid, just unsure. How in the world do we even start moving toward that vision?

This is the second step. Clearly identify how your church will function when it is about 25% closer to the vision. Identify what your pastor will be doing differently, along with your entire church staff. Identify what your lay leaders will do then, along with how your structure will change. Identify all the changes required to move 25% closer to your goal (aspirational and compelling vision).

Then go ahead and make those changes. Go ahead and live, serve, work, and be as if you were already 25% further along than you are now. When you do this, your church begins functioning differently than it currently does. The change is not overwhelming, since you didn’t begin with 50% or 75% or 90%. Instead you are changing one-quarter of how you are church together.

When churches and their leaders use this strategy, committing to the 25%, then the church system shifts to accommodate and then integrate these changes. Here’s a real life example. I’m coaching several pastors now who are leading their churches through size transitions, moving from Pastoral to Program Size. In so doing, they are looking at their job descriptions and evaluation process for the role of pastor. Pastoral Size churches evaluate their pastors on their “direct service,” so to speak… like how many Bible studies the pastor provided during the year. Program Size churches evaluate differently, considering how many Bible study leaders the pastor mentored, resulting in these leaders leading Bible studies during the year.

Program Size churches evaluate their pastor’s competency in equipping and empowering leaders, rather than in direct service. Pursuing the 25% means these churches making the shift to Program Size will adjust their job description for their pastors 25%, expecting the pastor to do 25% fewer Bible studies while increasing the number of disciples who are leading new or continuing Bible studies. Similarly, everyone in a church who is pursuing the 25% adjusts their roles toward that aim.

The outstanding benefit of pursuing the 25% for the church is that it behaves like a church who is 25% more like its compelling vision. This strategic action works to accelerate growth, shifting the system to accommodate these changes, moving toward vision implementation.

So give it a go. Pursue the 25%. Our experience in coaching pastors and leading church transformation initiatives tells us the 25% approach yields real results. Yes, this will stretch your church, but in a healthy and life-giving way.

May God bless our every effort toward living into God’s hopes and dreams for the body of Christ.