Spiritual Leaders – Fire Up Your Members to Fulfill Your Center’s Vision

Let me ask you a question – “When your vision meets with reality, who wins?”

You have a big vision for your church and a strong desire to be of service not only to your congregants but to your larger community.

You Know You Can’t Do it All by Yourself

It’s not unusual for people in leadership positions to try to take on all the work by themselves. Perhaps you can relate to this? If you’re nodding your head, you’ve probably tried to do just that! There’s a project you and your church members agree is vitally important to your spiritual center and somehow, at the end of the day, it’s you and maybe a staff person making the phone calls, leading the meetings, writing proposals and so on.

You learn very quickly that not only is it burdensome to take on so much work, it isn’t in the best interest of anyone when no one else is participating or contributing.

Everyone misses the wonderful feeling of shared purpose and ownership that comes when a group works together to accomplish a common goal.

So You Try to Get Your Members to Step Up

Part of your dream is to lead a vibrant, engaged congregation where anyone who desires has the opportunity to contribute to the church in a way that is fulfilling to the spiritual community as well as to the individual who serves — so those big, cool projects get done!

Then reality hits.

Yes, some of your congregants are fantastic at stepping forward into leadership roles. Perhaps you have a member who is doing an amazing job with your Sunday school or you have a small, but dedicated group of musicians who make your weekly services a pleasure. And if you are fortunate, you have a good administrator on staff or at least a dependable volunteer who donates a few hours each week to paperwork and bookkeeping.

But, face it, it’s just not enough for you to achieve some of the bigger, more complicated projects you, your church leaders, and members have talked about.

Plus, it’s typically a very small percent of a congregation that steps up regularly. For example, of the 50 or so people that regularly attend services, about 10 people always seem to be volunteering. You wonder about the other 40 people. They keep attending so clearly they’re getting something important out of being part of the community. Surely they have gifts and talents that they would love to use for their own pleasure as well to contribute to the larger spiritual community?

It’s Not Like You Haven’t Tried to Engage More People

It’s not that you and your staff haven’t tried to find ways to make progress towards the bigger picture. Perhaps you’ve tried:

• Attending leadership and time management classes or seminars
• Sharing your vision with church members and hoping they’ll be excited enough to step up and take on a project
• Bugging people until they either say ‘yes’ or disappear
• Begging and pleading

And it kind of works…. at least for a while. But after an initial enthusiastic beginning, energy starts to lag. You notice people stop showing up or they seem to have other obligations that take precedence. Sometimes there’s a lot of excitement around the idea of a particular project but the person or persons in charge get bogged down and seem unable to make progress.

An unfortunate side effect is that people feel bad about their lack of progress. It’s frustrating for everyone when a project or program that is clearly desired by the leadership and church members just doesn’t get off the ground.

So the dreams you hold for your church and the people you want to serve remain just that — dreams.

You may ask, “What’s the secret? Is it even possible?”

Elements Needed for an Engaged, Active Congregation

The answer is yes, if:

• You and your spiritual community members share a clear vision for your church
• Your congregants have a strong, inspired vision for their own life purpose
• Your members can express their life purpose through projects that are both fulfilling to them personally and tangibly contribute to your church goals
• There is structure and support to help congregants plan and implement their projects

There are two keys here:

1. Members understand their life purpose and how expressing their life purpose can contribute to their spiritual community

2. Members get the structure and support needed to actually design projects in which they can express their life purpose and to take action so those projects move forward.

Introducing the On Purpose Program

Hi, I’m Brad Swift, (I’m the one on the right) founder of the Life on Purpose
Institute and author of Life On Purpose: Six Passages to an Inspired Life. I’ve helped hundreds of individual, groups and organizations achieve purpose and start producing results beyond their wildest dreams, and there’s no reason why your organization can’t be one of them.

Since co-founding Life on Purpose Institute in 1996 with my wife, Ann, we’ve helped thousands of people to clarify their life purpose and provided them with the tools to design their lives to be an authentic reflection of their purpose. Many of these people have then stepped forward into leadership roles in their spiritual communities, which is why we consider the On Purpose Program as a spiritually based leadership training program.

Since Ann and I have been active in our church for over 20-years as well as offering our Life On Purpose programs to many churches, spiritual communities have a special place in our heart. Having seen the transformations that people experience from bringing clarity of purpose to their lives, and how often they then express their purpose in their church or spiritual community as well as in the local community at large, I’m thrilled to be able to offer this program to you.

I know it works and that it will work for you, which is why I offer my personal guarantee.

A Success Story

We’re having much success with changing lives and transforming congregations from the On Purpose Program. One example is what’s taking place in Greensboro. Listen in on this interview with Rev. Catherine Klein:

Want to Know What Others are Saying about the Life On Purpose Process?

More About the On Purpose Program: What it is and How it works

The On Purpose Program is an eight week program in which small groups of congregants (usually 6-12) meet on a weekly basis led by an On Purpose Guide. While the On Purpose guide may be the minister or someone in a formal leadership role, it’s often a congregation member who feels called to lead a group through the program. Of course, we’re available to assist you in the selection of the perfect On Purpose Guide for your congregation.

Life On Purpose Institute provides training in the form of a detailed program outline, online video training, and a weekly On Purpose Guide teleconference.

During the eight weeks, participants:

• Assess where they are currently in relation to understanding their life purpose
• Learn how culture tends to define life purpose and how it often gets in the way of defining one’s true purpose
• Identify beliefs–often learned early in life–that are limiting their lives, what we refer to as the “Inherited Purpose”
• Discover what is truly calling and inspiring them in life
• Learn about the Sixteen Power Tools for Living on Purpose. Practices that enable them to start practicing their life purpose in their everyday life
• Create a Purpose Project together in which they identify a project that allows them to express their life purpose while contributing significantly to the growth of your spiritual community.

The program is designed to be an economical investment for the participants while also being a worthwhile fundraiser for the spiritual community.

The On Purpose Program is becoming known as the program of choice for creating Congregations On Purpose.

Interested in Learning More About How the On Purpose Program Can Transform Your Congregants from Passive Observers to Active, Purposeful Participants?

If the On Purpose Program resonates with you, I recommend the following 3 steps:

Step 1: Take a gentle breath and give thanks for where you and your church community are today

Step 2: Complete the inquiry form below.

Step 3: Let’s have a conversation about where you are and how the On Purpose Program can help you and your spiritual community. Once I receive your information I’ll be in touch to schedule some time for us to talk.

Care to see the page that your congregants will read to learn about the program? It’s Right Here.

The Next Step – Tell Us How This Program Could Serve You

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Name (required): 

Your Center (required): 

Email (required): 

Phone (required): 

City (required): 

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Where you heard about us: 

Please answer the following six questions in as much detail as you like. The more I know, the better I can understand what you need. These answers will be held in confidence by myself.

1. What is your role in your church’s leadership? For how long have you been in this position?

2. How many members are in your congregation?

3. What do you think is working well for your congregation and community?

4. What are the three top challenges facing your church and spiritual community?

5. What would you like to achieve in your spiritual community by the end of the program?

6. Please provide 3 date/times that would work so we can schedule some time to talk:

Date:
Time: 

Date: Time: 

Date: Time:

Thank you for completing this questionnaire!

Rest assured we will keep your information confidential. If we have any questions, we will contact you by phone or email. If you have any questions, you may contact us at 828-697-9239 or by emailing href="mailto:ann@lifeonpurpose.com">admin@lifeonpurpose.com.