Look around you for a moment. If the tribe isn’t happy, you’re failing them miserably. But, it doesn’t have to be this way.
First things first – you’ll never be able to make everyone 100% happy. You could be the best church leader of all time, but someone will still complain.
The idea is to create a tribe that’s happy and works together. Your goal as a leader is to create an atmosphere of community that people are generally pleased to be a part of.
Address Conflict And Encourage Resolution
If your tribe isn’t happy, part of the reason could be underlying conflicts. While it’s easier to simply ignore them unless members come to you, those conflicts could be tearing the foundations of your church apart. A conflict between two people could easily start to affect teams and then the entire community. Before you know it, members are leaving and it goes back to never addressing the original conflict.
Take a lesson from Carey Nieuwhof and address conflicts immediately. It’s the only way to start the process towards resolution. Remind members of what’s truly important – their faith and God. Not some petty squabble.
Learn Who’s In Your Tribe
How much do you know about your tribe? If your answer is “not much,” this could be why your tribe isn’t happy. One of the biggest failures as a leader is to never get to know those you lead. While this is more difficult in large churches, you could still create a team to help with this task.
Take the time to learn more about your tribe’s needs, dreams, concerns, skills and backgrounds. Knowing who you’re leading allows you to lead based on what’s best for them.
Let Go Of Your Own Needs
Every single person has their own ideas and opinions and church leaders are no exception. However, you’re failing your tribe if you put your own needs and opinions above all others. If you’re never open to new ideas or refuse to make changes based on what you believe a church should be (even if it could increase growth), you’re pushing members away.
Remember the idea of community. In a community, everyone has a voice. While leaders may make the final decisions, they must consult the community and hear them out.
Build Teams, Not Individuals
A church isn’t meant to be a building filled with individuals. Instead, it’s built up of teams that come together to form a community. In the end, the entire community works as a cohesive team to keep the church growing and thriving. However, the tribe isn’t happy if no one focuses on team building.
Your members may have no idea how to work as a team. It’s up to leaders to teach, train and guide. The best leaders then teach team members how to lead and train others. It’s this approach that allows everyone to learn to work together.
Create A Strategy For Everyone To Follow
Every church needs a strategy. Otherwise, it’s chaos. For instance, improving volunteer numbers involves having a clear volunteer vision to create a culture of service not only to God, but to others. How can everyone be on the same page if no one’s even looking at the same proverbial book?
Keep your tribe happy by having a clear strategy and vision for the church. While some members may not be thrilled at first, your passion helps to drive them. It’s passion plus this strategy that aids in building effective teams and a thriving community.
Give Chances To Work Together
When left to their own devices, most people will simply gather with people they already know. If your church has 100 members, but they only ever go off in the same groups of three or four, your tribe isn’t happy. In fact, they’re just individuals coming to church. There isn’t any sense of community or teamwork.
It’s up to church leaders to pay attention to how members interact. Bring everyone together by giving them all chances to work as a team. Ask for volunteers and split up the usual pairings so they get to know someone new. The only way to grow as a team is to start interacting on a larger scale. Plus, it teaches them how to engage with new visitors. Without this, your church could fall apart.
Focus on your church’s vision and strategy, treat your members as a team and work to bring everyone together with minimal conflict. That’s how to keep a tribe happy and a church growing.
Looking for ways to better connect with your members, even after services are over? Keep the team building going with your own church website.
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