7 Reasons to Celebrate Church’s Breakthrough Story and a Free Template
When working with a network of churches, it is easy to get bogged down in the details of the next thing on the list: the next pastor in crisis, the next church in transition, the next conflict mediation, the next hill to climb, or the next event to manage. It’s easy to focus on the next task and forget to recognize what has already been achieved. As a leader, you often acknowledge the wins of a church in connection with the network, but there isn’t always enough time to celebrate those wins beyond a 240-character tweet or a Facebook status.
But suppose we limit ourselves to a celebratory social media horn honk. In that case, we miss an opportunity to encourage the church that made the win happen and inspire our more extensive network to even more significant successes. For this reason, we’ve provided seven reasons not to miss an opportunity to celebrate a church in your network.
Celebrating a church’s win demonstrates the value of the network.
When our churches are celebrated for making meaningful progress in their contexts, it connects every church to the narrative that we’re in this kingdom-work together. The association is the churches, and without the churches, there is no network. Therefore, when a church takes significant steps forward to advance the gospel of Jesus Christ, we should all celebrate the collective accomplishment of community saturation.
Like the church in Thessalonica, we recognize that the message of hope comes from God, not human beings. Therefore, like Paul, we can be encouraged when we hear that progress is made in spreading that message because we, like all who came before us, are stewards of the gift of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and we’re in this together. While each of our churches may have a different role in the mission, our overarching objective is still the same: Glorify God by Making Disciples of Christ.
Celebrating a church’s win conveys that you value churches individually, not just progress collectively.
Some churches easily perceive that the network leader isn’t able to be concerned about individual churches because they’re too busy thinking about the churches collectively. The exciting place of a network leader is that they are in an excellent position to know each of the individual needs within their network, more so than any other ecclesiastical entity. While State and national leaders often have a formal, friendly relationship with churches, a network leader has a more familial relationship with those same churches. This relationship means that the network leader has a greater capacity to celebrate the individual wins of the churches in their network. When done correctly, this celebration conveys a deeper understanding of the intimate relationship between the network leader and the individual church.
Celebrating a church’s win motivates leaders to imagine beyond the boundaries
For most pastors and churches, the weekly cycle of religious activities can imprison them in a monotonous system of sustaining the status quo. However, when a church is celebrated for pushing beyond the boundaries of its weekly activities to impact its context more broadly, it produces tremors throughout the network. People move towards what is celebrated, so celebrating wins inspires other churches. It helps them to think beyond their week-to-week activities and consider the possibility of meaningful progress.
Celebrating a church’s win provides regular opportunities to highlight the network’s ideological value.
Every family of churches has a core set of values they hold near and dear to their ideological framework. However, if a network isn’t careful, it can relegate its values to the trunk of its denominational vehicle and function on the fuel of trying to do what feels right. However, when the “win” of a church is appropriately celebrated, the truth of who the network is at a fundamental level can shine forth, and those core ideological values are emphasized more strategically.
Celebrating a church’s win encourages collaborative partnerships.
It’s amazing how hearing the story of someone else’s success can inspire and spawn additional achievements and partnerships. When one pastor or church hears how God used a particular body of believers in a specific way, it can inspire a movement toward future collaborations. As a network of churches, you have the opportunity to learn from one another and work in partnership toward common goals. One church that starts a relationship with a school may inspire another church to join in on a different aspect of the partnership and strengthen their collective gospel impact over the long term. Simply by telling a story, the network leader can fuel the flame of the gospel in a given region.
Celebrating a church’s win distributes innovation and insights for others to benefit from
We all know what it is like to feel stuck in the monotony of the mundane. Celebration breaks up our stories into chapters and seasons. It makes time in the soul's language and helps people embrace the possibility of a new adventure instead of sliding into a new pit.
Celebrating a church’s win Illuminates the work of God in our midst.
Now that you’re convinced that taking time to celebrate is essential to your role as a network leader, how do you craft a message of celebration that highlights the importance of a church’s win and invites other churches into a similar process of creating a pathway to their win? Below, we’ve provided a simple story-telling blueprint we picked up from our friends at Pixar. It’s called the Pixar Story and is based on Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey.
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What Pastors Are Saying:
“Through this process, I’ve learned that I’m no longer alone. I can now leave behind the isolation and competition I once felt in ministry.” - Alabama Pastor
“Through this journey, I’ve gained language to leave behind the programs that are no longer working in my context.” - Birmingham Pastor
“I feel like I now have an understanding and permission to help lead others with questions instead of with solutions.” - Seattle Pastor
What Associational Leaders are Saying:
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