I’m probably the last kid on my block to finish reading “Breakout Churches” by Thom Rainer. It’s an important book. Clearly it is derived in a great degree from Jim Collins’ “Good to Great.” This fact does not detract from the contribution Dr. Rainer is making because of the thorough research that allows him to usefully adapt the best principles of GTG for churches.
In brief, Breakout Churches is a study of 53,000 U.S. churches to find qualities of a church that allows it to beat the odds. To qualify as a breakout church, a congregation must have moved through a time of decline, crisis, and then into dynamic growth without changing pastors.
Many great churches do not qualify because they have not been through this decline or because their dynamic growth followed a pastoral change. Dubious at first, I’ve come to understand that these criteria make the study more useful.
Most churches will never be that great church (as we judge greatness) but by looking at the principles God used to revitalize another ministry we can gain insight about our own churches. To put it another way, most pastors cannot compare their ministry challenges/opportunities to those of a 20,000 member gigachurch without despairing. The breakout churches were where most churches are today and they found new life without firing their pastor.
The research team for Breakout Churches was surprised to find only 13 churches that fit the profile. They projected that if they’d been able to study all the 400,000 American churches, they might have found 100. Two of Breakout Churches’s 13 are Southern Baptist; eight of the 13 are outside the Bible Belt. Read the book, you’ll find something useful.
Three pastoral virtues loomed especially large as I read Breakout Churches. These seem significant because they are so basic and accessible. For the most part, they’re things we already know we should be doing while conducting the ministry God has given us.
Humility—I’m convinced this is the key Christian virtue. The big three, faith, hope and love, must be exercised in an awareness of our place before God and man.
Jim Collins noticed this quality in CEOs of outstanding companies. Thom Rainer noticed it in the 99th percentile pastors of his breakout churches. He noticed it in a way not typical of other churches and pastors they studied. They did not seek reward or recognition; they are more impressed with what God is doing than with themselves. They are less quick to blame others for problems or take credit for success. At the same time it is not a trait that vacates ambition, vision or leadership.
Our clearest example comes in Philippians 2 where we are urged to have the mind of Christ. This passage is far easier to preach and teach than it is to live out. Jesus did not demand respect or perks or any of the trappings of authority, but he still had authority and used it in submission to the Father.
Notice elsewhere in this issue of the Texan a report of the top reasons for pastoral staff terminations in 2005. The top five are always the top five and they have to do with relationship issues, not doctrine, not even competence. Of course a part of these conflicts will be the fault of the involved churches. Pastoral humility will nonetheless recast church fights over control, leadership style and “people skills.” Humility is a mark of great leaders and great Christians of all vocations. It also the often-cited character of Christ, whom we are sworn to follow.
Diligence—The significant role of just plain hard work is both challenging and encouraging. Dr. Rainer’s research noted that the average pastor in his study devoted five hours per week to prayer and study related to his teaching/preaching ministry. The breakout pastors spent an average 24 hours per week preparing for this ministry. The span between average and elite here is simply staggering.
The challenge is obviously finding more time to do this important aspect of ministry. The encouragement is that this is something you can do that does not require a charisma transplant. In fact, while 98 percent of the pastors expressed a clear call to ministry—the most basic level of leadership—moving into the second level and the more elite 22 percent of pastors required only “taking time to do well the basics of Christian ministry such as preaching, teaching, and prayer.” It’s challenging but doable. More importantly, we already know we must be doing that to be good stewards of our ministry.
