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February 8, 2010How One Question Can Make the Recession an Ally
A Harvard concept may help churches clarify, prioritize
During this season of economic turmoil and ambiguity, one question may have the power to bring clarity—and better priority-setting—for the churches where executive pastors, business administrators, and pastors serve.
That question: What exactly are we trying to accomplish?
David Fletcher, the executive pastor of The Chapel in Akron, Ohio, and a Your Church contributing editor, shared the question last week at his annual XPastor.org conference in Dallas, where about 125 people gathered.
The concept, dubbed “Question Zero,” comes from the Harvard Business School. Fletcher said the timing couldn’t be better for churches to use it. In good times, church leaders usually ask how to make a program or event bigger and better, or how to create the next big thing. But this often results in a focus on “the number of cups of coffee served, rather than the number of people who come back for a second cup,” he told participants.
“We get confused when we try to cater to people,” he said. “We lose track of our mission … How are lives being changed?”
Now, with the hardest economic environment to hit the United States since the Great Depression, church leaders have an opportunity to establish a better focus. “You want the recession to help your church,” Fletcher said.
By asking, “What exactly are we trying to accomplish?” to staff members in any area of ministry, those staff members are forced to state the purpose of an idea or program (new or existing), and their specifically desired outcomes. If they can’t do this, then it’s a sign the idea or program needs further development—or perhaps shouldn’t be done at all. If they can, then it empowers decision-makers to understand how to prioritize the idea or program.
Either way, asking Question Zero helps ensure that scarce time, energy, and resources get used in the best possible ways, Fletcher said.
Asking the question sounds simple, but Fletcher conceded it isn’t easy. Church leaders should try it out on a small scale before working to implement it across the organization, he said.
After joining The Chapel last year, he used Question Zero with the church’s website, only to learn most of the congregation viewed the site as outdated, unhelpful, and as one respondent put it, “a site Jesus wouldn’t die for. More damaging than porn.” Fletcher worked with a small team to update, renovate, and relaunch the site within 60 days, using Question Zero to guide their work.
“Make sure you have a success. Run off of a success first,” Fletcher said. “Give people something tangible.”
The website success immediately translated into a larger evaluation of the church’s communications department and its $581,000 annual budget. The unfolding result: A unified communications theme delivered through multiple mediums while reducing unnecessary costs.
One of those cost savings emerged with the outside print shop used by The Chapel. It cost $45,000 annually, but by using Question Zero, the church found a higher quality option (two-sided, four-color bulletins, rather than one-sided, two-color bulletins, for instance) from a different shop in town that costs less.
As Question Zero helps The Chapel's leaders evaluate other aspects of ministry, it has brought other cost-saving opportunities to light. For instance, the church is re-evaluating whether its $139,000 food services operation fits into its core ministry.
“The recession is a great opportunity to pause, take a step back, and use this pressure to trim our costs,” Fletcher said.
Matt Branaugh is editor of Your Church and TheYourChurchBlog.com.
