What Makes A Church Successful?

Compass personality theory suggests that achievement and failure are best seen in a dynamic rhythm, a rhythm worth assessing by every pastoral staff and church.

Churches are tempted to measure achievement solely by attendance: if lots of people show up for services, then the church has achieved success.

But has it? What is success for a church? What is achievement? And what is failure? 

How does Christ view achievement and failure? Churches may need periodic prayer and soul-searching for pastoral staff and congregations to discern the Lord’s intentions for their church.

Here are some observations from the perspective of compass theory.

In his earthly life, Jesus reveals two overriding concerns: 

1. His own faithful witness to the Father and attunement to the Spirit.
2. The maturing of his disciples in terms of personality and relationships.

Given this emphasis, it is likely that Christ, as head of the church, sees church achievement in terms of how well people are learning to love God and others as they love themselves, and how they are progressing in transformation of personality and relationships in Christlike ways.  

Failure would manifest itself as a loss of fidelity to the Trinity, and an apathetic attitude toward conversion and transformation.

One sees these rhythms of achievement and failure reflected in the ups and downs of Peter, James, and John:

The joy they felt on the Mount of Transfiguration.

Mount of Transfiguration

The shame when they fell asleep in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Garden of Gethsemane

Church members, too, who seek to follow Jesus in their humanness, can expect times of fatigue and discouragement in rhythm with times of rejuvenation and celebration. 

Those of us in pastoral service do well to recall Paul's words:

“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up” (Gal 6:9).

For more, read:

CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY THEORY:

A Self Compass for Humanity 

Christian Personality Theory

Pastoral Counseling and Coaching In Ministry Today

Whether you are a pastor, seminary student, or church affiliated therapist, I view you as a companion in the field of pastoral counseling. I will present theoretical and practical principles with this in mind. Together we share a joint commission from Christ to love and to heal. We seek to help people develop greater wholeness, liberating them from constraints that block fulfillment, strengthening their participation in knowing themselves and doing God’s will.

 My own calling as a psychologist and pastoral counselor has extended over forty years. During that time I have persistently encouraged pastors, chaplains, and Christian therapists to take back the high ground of counseling, an opportunity for ministry that in the twentieth century was too often relinquished to mental health professionals.

In defining the scope of this post, I have deliberately paired pastoral counseling with coaching to underscore what many pastors have told me they need: a practical method for interacting with parishioners that promotes people’s understanding of self and God, reconciliation with others, ability to cope with the crises faced throughout the lifespan, and motivation to integrate their Christian faith with the challenges of daily life.

The counseling aspect of this book presents a Christian personality theory and method for pastoral counseling intervention that sizes up factors disrupting a person’s life and offers growth strategies that move a person forward toward resolution.

 The coaching aspect responds to a counselee’s need to feel emotionally significant and understood by a caregiver, especially during times of vulnerability. When you exercise the coaching function of pastoral counseling, you build people up by providing an occasional pep talk, praying with them for God to show his loving guidance, or offering an encouraging word when they feel dispirited.

In counseling you listen with the third ear (a form of hearing that requires discernment in psychological and spiritual causes and effects), whereas in coaching you impart enthusiasm and faith that strengthens motivation. Both counseling and coaching are needed in pastoral ministry, since a pastoral counselor functions more as a consecrated shepherd of Christ than as a state licensed therapist.

As we make progress in this blog, you will put together pastoral counseling and coaching in creative ways that bring you fulfillment and serve your constituency well.

For more information about Christian counseling, read:

CHRISTIAN COUNSELING THAT REALLY WORKS

The Fascinating World of Pastoral Counseling & Coaching

Welcome. I'm Dan Montgomery. I've been doing pastoral and clinical counseling for over 35 years. I've counseled several thousand people in universities, private practice, and both Protestant and Catholic churches. My abiding concern is to serve the Body of Christ through the Compass Therapy approach to pastoral counseling. More about this later.

I've always believed that the Church is a natural place for healing personality conflicts, fixing broken relationships, and finding one's purpose in Christ. Christian ministers and small groups leaders deal with people all the time who faced significant problems and need not just a friendly ear, but action steps for making their lives and relationships better. This is how the love of God gets translated into daily human affairs.

I am committed to increasing the counseling expertise and communication skill sets of professional caregivers, as well as individuals within congregation whom the Holy Spirit endows with gifts for healing and helping others. Perhaps blogging is a good way to pass on what practical knowledge about the fascinating world of pastoral counseling and coaching.

As I write this, I'm visualizing you. Are you a person others naturally turn to when they need somebody to trust? A person others confide in when their hearts are broken or their dreams shattered? Are you a healer of the soul who wants to enrich your theory and method, so that Jesus Christ can use you all the more? If you answer "yes" then we're on the same wavelength, and I know Jesus will bless our journey into pastoral counseling and coaching.

My calling from God to a lifetime of practicing and teaching counseling began in seminary, without me fully recognizing it. I not only wanted to learn every aspect of Christian faith and doctrine, but I felt a burning desire to understand the psychology of human behavior, so that I could help people grow more whole.

I felt surprised when the Holy Spirit guided me to earn a PhD in counseling and clinical psychology. Yet it began to make sense at my graduation, when a week later I was also ordained as a non-denominational minister. My full-time service from that day until now has included both therapeutic counseling, and consulting with pastors and parishioners wherever I've lived.

At the age of sixty-six has come the greatest surprise of all, that my book Pastoral Counseling and Coaching, among other books in the Compass Series, has been brought into worldwide usage, and commended by counseling peers at Yale, Princeton, Fuller, Notre Dame, and Stanford, as well as from ministerial professors in most major Protestant and Catholic seminaries.

I am humbled and amazed. But primarily I feel excited that the Church in the 21st century is showing great interest in ministering to the whole person: psychologically as well as spiritually. What you're going to see as this blog unfolds is a thoroughgoing integration of psychology and theology, because in my experience at least, when either one of these is overly emphasized at the expense of the other, the people in a congregation—each dear soul whom Christ loves—are deprived.

I know that you have your own way of intermingling  theological perspectives and psychological dynamics may differ from mine. That's what makes our conversation interesting.

That said, I consider us launched. Come join me in future posts, where I'll slow down the pace so we can savor our explorations into the fascinating world of pastoral counseling and coaching!

You can click on the title if you're interested to read the first chapter of my book on Amazon.com:

Pastoral Counseling & Coaching: Compass Therapy in Churches