In essence, there are three driving factors that create culture.
1. What you do.
No one church can do everything. Therefore, what you do is an important expression of who you are. The prayerful selection of what ministries you do and don’t do is a major factor in setting the culture of your church. What you do (and don’t do) from global missions to local compassion and justice endeavors, to how you embrace first-time guests to developing leaders, all plays a significant role in shaping your culture. It’s true that culture is greatly impacted by things of style and preference, like if your church is more casual or formal, and your style of worship, but what you actually do has a far greater impact.
2. How you do it.
Churches do ministry differently. That’s a given. We learn from each other, and some things are replicated, but there is an element of interpretation and factors such as leadership style, theology, priorities, finances, church history, size of church, etc. that naturally cause the leaders to practice ministry a little differently from church to church. This has a huge impact on your culture.
3. What you care about.
Let me be candid; as a leader, you can’t care about everything! None of us like to admit that, but it’s true. We don’t like the way that sounds because it suggests that there are some things we actually don’t care about. That’s not the heart of what I’m saying. The point is to be honest about the practical realities of leadership—and that connects back to point number one.
Here are a few questions that will help you land this point.
a. What has God put on your heart?
b. What are the burdens for people you carry?
c. What keeps you awake at night because you feel something must be done?
d. What ministries are thriving and you are passionate about their future success?
e. What ministries are struggling that for you are non-negotiable and must improve?
If you follow this “5 Step” process, your culture is likely to flourish.
1. Know your culture.
2. Model your culture.
3. Communicate your culture.
4. Correct drift in your culture.
5. Celebrate your culture.
At 12Stone, our culture is felt, seen and quickly experienced. It is made up of three DNA strands and they are Spiritual Intensity, Creative Ideation and Leadership Development. That’s not our purpose or mission, it’s our culture. That truly is who we are, and we invest much to keep that culture healthy and flourishing so that we can lift up the name of Jesus and see lives changed!
