Lutheran Mission: Book: cracking your churches culture code

Saturday, June 01, 2013

Book: cracking your churches culture code

"Culture—not vision or strategy—is the most powerful factor in any organization. It determines the receptivity of staff and volunteers to new ideas, unleashes or dampens creativity, builds or erodes enthusiasm, and creates a sense of pride or deep discouragement about working or being involved there. Ultimately, the culture of a church shapes individual morale, teamwork, effectiveness, and outcomes."
Often church leaders confuse culture with vision and strategy, but they are very different. Vision and strategy usually focus on products, services, and outcomes, but culture is about the people—a church's most valuable asset. Cracking Your Church's Culture Code offers a practical resource for discovering the deficits in an existing church's culture and includes the steps needed to assess, correct, and change culture from lackluster to vibrant and inspirational so that it that truly meets the needs of the congregation.
Prominent church and leadership consultant Sam Chand describes the five easily identifiable categories of church culture (Inspiring-Accepting-Stagnant-Discouraging-Toxic) and includes diagnostic methods that church leaders can use to identify the particular strengths and needs of their church's culture. To help in this process there is also a separate online assessment tool (www.freeculturesurvey.com).
Once a church's culture is clearly identified, leaders can put in place a strategy for applying the seven keys of CULTURE (Control, Understanding, Leadership, Trust, Unafraid, Responsive, and Execution) that will make their church's culture one that stimulates people to be and do their very best and ultimately reach their highest goals.