I believe that every leader wants to create a healthy culture in their environment, whether they are in the ministry or church world, or they come from a business background. You are no different. You want a healthy church culture. I don’t know any ministry leaders who say, “Yeah, I’m fine with an unhealthy culture in my church.” The reality is that we want a healthy culture, but sometimes we may not know exactly how to get there. Well here are five simple ways I believe you can do to begin creating a healthy church culture.
Get Yourself Healthy
Every leader needs a coach/mentor and a counselor. First, your coach/mentor. If you aren’t being coached by someone who is further down the ministry road than you are, I want to encourage you to stop what you are doing and go and find that person. Identify a person in ministry that is a few steps ahead of you and that you would like to learn from. Offer to buy them lunch or coffee. Pick their brain for an hour. Ask them to coach you on an ongoing basis. Do whatever you have to do to build a relationship with someone who can help you get healthy as a leader and person.
And second, find a counselor. Every single one of us is carrying baggage of some kind. That baggage is influencing decisions you make that you might not even be aware of. A counselor or psychologist can help you to work through your past, where you’d like to go in the future and a pathway to get there. Before you can lead a church or team to a healthy place, you have to be in a healthy place.
Identify and Eliminate Culture Cancers
Look around at your current culture and identify the parts that you simply can’t stand. The stuff that is going to destroy your church or ministry if left untreated. That may be a specific person who is unhealthy on the team and they must be addressed. Or it could simply be a mindset or mentality, such as people showing up late all the time.
Once you have identified the culture cancer, it’s time to eliminate it. Former Navy Seal, Leif Babin, said, “It’s not what you preach, it’s what you tolerate.” Your organization or ministry can be sunk or deeply damaged if you tolerate and allow unhealthy things to continue. Culture trumps vision.
Model the Right Behavior
All leaders know leadership 101 is to identify the path, align your team on the path, and then model the right behavior. You can begin moving down this path of a healthy church or ministry culture, but if you aren’t modeling what it looks like, it won’t stick. If you want an organization that values honoring people’s time, then you need to be on time for things. You also need to end on time. If you aren’t modeling how to honor people well, it won’t stick and won’t become a part of your culture.
Celebrate What You Want to Be Repeated
Look around your organization or ministry and find people who embody your church’s culture. Find the people who are doing things well, the people who are doing the things you want everyone on your team to look like. Then highlight them publicly. Share their story with your team. Create a video that tells their story and share it publicly on a Sunday morning. You need to celebrate the attitudes, behaviors, and mentalities that you want everyone living out.
Use Fresh, Memorable Language
Your team needs to be able to quickly identify and share simple principles that help create your culture. One that I use is “1% improvements.” How are our teams getting 1% better every single week? What went wrong last week that we need to correct? What went well that we need to build on and make even better? Our team finds momentum when everyone is speaking the same language and focusing on 1% improvements. No matter what language you are using, make sure it’s simple, clear and memorable. Then repeat it often until it comes a part of the DNA of your culture.
Stan Rodda is a 4th generation pastor who has been in ministry for 15 years. He has a passion for teaching and equipping within the church. Currently, he is serving as a campus pastor at New Life Christian Church, where the mission is to create environments where people can discover God. Stan also hosts a podcast, “The Stan Rodda Podcast”, with the purpose of developing Christian influencers.
