Ep. 018 | Lead Your Church Out of Maintenance Mode | Dan Reiland

Lead Your Church Out Of Maintenance Mode

Signs Your Church May Be in Maintenance Mode with Dan Reiland

Episode Overview

In this episode, Bart interviews Dan Reiland, an experienced executive pastor and church leadership coach, about identifying and addressing church stagnation. Dan shares insights from his article "Seven Signs That Your Church May Be In Maintenance Mode" and provides practical guidance for church leaders looking to move their churches forward.

Guest Bio

• Dan Reiland is a veteran executive pastor with over four decades of experience
• Served as John Maxwell's first and only executive pastor
• Spent 23 years at Twelve Stone Church in Atlanta
• Currently transitioning to full-time coaching and consulting
• Originally studied criminal justice and worked briefly as a private investigator before entering ministry
• Married for 43 years with two children and three grandchildren
• Known guitar enthusiast with a collection of 18-19 guitars

Key Discussion Points

Understanding Maintenance Mode

• Definition: "An ongoing and unaddressed holding pattern in momentum or attendance"
• Simplified definition: Being "stuck"
• Key indicators include: 
  • No longer taking risks
  • Vision isn't compelling or clearly defined
  • Working hard but not making progress
  • Not reaching new people

Leadership Self-Evaluation Questions

1. What's my leadership lid? Where do I need to grow?
2. Who's my coach/mentor?
3. How am I a better leader this year than last year?

Common Issues in Stuck Churches

1. Emphasizing Discipleship Over Evangelism

• Churches naturally gravitate toward discipleship
• Need to maintain balance between discipleship and evangelism
• Leaders typically lean toward one or the other
• Must intentionally fight to keep evangelism as a priority

2. Ministry Busyness

• Many churches try to do too many things
• Need for a "lean church" model
• No church can do everything effectively
• Focus on God's specific "thumbprint" for your church

Evaluating and Streamlining Ministries

1. Put a moratorium on new ministries
2. Conduct a ministry audit
3. Evaluate productivity and alignment with vision
4. Question why each ministry exists
5. Consider better alternatives

Tips for Making Changes:

• Go slow
• Honor people
• Invite them into something new
• Accept that meaningful change will create some opposition
• "If you change something in your church and nobody gets mad, you've just changed something that doesn't matter"

Leadership Development vs. Delegation

• Develop leaders before delegating responsibilities
• Start with who you have
• Never underestimate the power of one leader
• Development takes time - embrace the "awkward zone"
• Focus on developing a few leaders while handling many tasks

Final Encouragement for Church Leaders

• Ministry is worth it - don't give up
• What you're doing matters
• Focus on "one more" - one new leader, one person saved
• Progress can be incremental
• God is pleased with faithful progress, even if it's one person at a time

Resources

• Dan's website: da