The Five Star Church



-10160347980Written by By John Overton, Edited by Will OvertonINTRODUCTION:The words Five Star usually bring to mind a top quality hotel or restaurant. This presentation will cover the attributes of a Five Star Church. We have used a book entitled The Five Star Church by Stan Toler and Alan Nelson to develop this presentation. The writer has also taken some spin liberties of his own.3070860139065Most of the traditional denominational churches in the United States are showing symptoms of sickness, are very sick, or are dying! Unfortunately, apathy and acceptance of mediocrity has contributed to this demise.Too often, these churches have fallen for the misconception that a better building, a seminary educated leader, and lots of free pizza, fun and games will provide new life for their church while community relevance deteriorates. It is somewhat like the crew frantically rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic after striking the iceberg!The fourteen principles illustrated in this presentation will not likely help those churches that have passed the point of plateauing and are now living on life support because they will not have the manpower and financial resources to apply them. If, however, several such churches will be willing to merge and combine their resources, they probably could start a new church that can become a Five Star church in their community.Our Objective:-255270101917534163004860290It is mandatory for a church striving to become Five Star to crisply identify her purpose and rally total loyalty by all of the leadership and congregates to agree and support that purpose. Otherwise she will soon be attempting to do too many good things at the expense of focusing on her primary goal. The good is the enemy of the best. This is similar to using a rifle with laser sights rather than a shotgun.Once the primary objective has been agreed upon, then application of the fourteen principles in this presentation can serve as a road map to attain and sustain Five Star status. Sustain is a key word that must be emphasized.What is a Biblical church?A Biblical church is a living organism with Jesus the Christ as her head. She is called the Body of Christ and her bodily members are made up of people providing varying functions. 288734575565Our God lives in a Five Star heaven and His embassies on earth, churches, should be Five Star embassies. We must strive for excellence by putting God first, being people focused, loving and serving others by meeting their needs, and by being leaders in excellence and customer service because we have the highest stakes -- Eternity.44824236556-7112001543050There are all sorts of churches in the United States. Across all denominational lines, there are only about 10% that are rated as being healthy. Unfortunately, sick and dying churches present a negative impression on the culture where they are located.Tradition is not bad but must be periodically reexamined to determine if they still support the primary objective of the church. Long-standing traditional churches must be willing to alter or drop their traditions if they fail to reinforce the mission of the church. Our culture has gone through radical changes over the past few decades. People's preferences have changed with the culture. They no longer shop at old department stores, and small businesses. Choices for restaurants, service stations, drug stores, and churches have changed with the passing of time. The products of department stores, restaurants, service stations, drug stores and churches have not changed, just the curb appeal and the manner that service is being rendered has adjusted.Do not Look Back:3429000264160Building a Five Star church is much easier to attain with a new church plant than by transforming an older traditional church due to the multitude of memorable traditions that are very difficult to drop.-53340960755Knowing that people's choices have adjusted to the changing culture, the church must carefully but deliberately set future goals and resolve to not allow long established traditions to interfere with attainment of those goals.A corporate willingness to do whatever is necessary to attain Five Star status (and sustain it) must be cultivated by the church leadership The Following fourteen principles will lead to a Five Star church if faithfully practicedPRINCIPLE ONE":We want to be the best we can be, reach our potential, serve people better, and glorify God. To do this, we must be intentional and visionary.102870253365The temptation will be great to espouse "Cheap Grace" so that we will attract more people to our church and hope they will stay. Cheap Grace, however, has been tried unsuccessfully too many times and has contributed to symptoms of church sickness.The vision of a Five Star church must be to sustain and spread the Gospel in her local community, surrounding areas, and ultimately to the uttermost parts of the globe.281940156845Jesus said, "I will build My church; I'M commissioning you to Go, make Disciples, teach them to Obey all that I have taught you, and I will be with you."PRINCIPLE TWO:102870622300Hypocrisy, real or perceived, has caused multitudes of seekers to turn away from the church. Faithfully living what is being espoused from the pulpit and church classrooms must be practiced in the community. Religious leaders were the most criticized by Jesus due to their hypocrisy.Focus on improvement must be continuously in the forefront of leadership and congregates minds if Five Star goals are to be reached. Accomplishment of significant milestones along the way to Fire Star should be celebrated but never as an occasion to loose sight of the ultimate goal.The expression to put "Thorns in our Laurels" is to remind us to not sit or rest on our accomplishments but to keep moving toward Five Star status.PRINCIPLE THREE:2457450266700The third principle is to maintain an environment where all of the church members have a freedom to be involved in analyzing what the church is doing, how we do it, and how to serve people best.Several of the following principles complement this one by emphasizing that church members will talk favorably to their friends and neighbors about the church if they are being recognized as very important members and their spiritual gifts are being used. Mid-course corrections are often necessary to hit a target. The more members observing the course of the church on her way to Five Star the better if they are free to speak up about their observations.3406775114300PRINCIPLE FOUR:If Five Star is to be attained, the best people must be elevated into roles of leadership. Quality will only be maintained if the best resources of the church are being used. If a more qualified person joins the church that is qualified for a leadership position, the person currently in that role must be lovingly and tactfully moved to a different role that he/she can manage so the best can perform.PRINCIPLE FIVE:2727960363220Staff and lay leader involvement in the process leading to Five Star is mandatory. Staff meetings, meeting minutes, social media, newsletters, etc. are all effective ways to communicate and receive information about plans and suggestions leading to Five Star. To reduce the temptation to take a path that will lead away for the ultimate goal and consume needed resources, each means of communications should raise questions about where a new project will lead.Equally important is the necessity of candidly discussing the results of events. Never start planning a new event until the one just completed is fully assessed. Transparency is crucial to Five Star attainment.PRINCIPLE SIX:99060469265Church resources are usually in short supply but must be spent on a very high priority basis to teach, train, and retrain people to develop their skills and gifts as well as provide avenues for effective application of their capabilities.The Bible is very clear that all have special spiritual gifts to be used for the benefit of the Body of Christ. New Christians and many seasoned ones are not sure if they have a spiritual gift(s) or for sure what it (they) may be.4883151388745A Quality Action Plan flow chart is illustrated on the last page of this manual that must be followed. This diagram is of a flow through a series of Discipleship levels intended to equip church members to effectively obey Christ's commission to take the Gospel to all parts of the world. Providing the facilities, materials, time, and instructors to sustain a quality church is costly -- the way to Five Star is costly. We cannot afford to do every good task that will become available to us so prioritization will be necessary.PRINCIPLE SEVEN:Leaders of Five Star churches repeatedly promote Quality to staff and congregations. Periodic retreats for fellowship and open discussions should be promoted which afford excellent opportunity to keep the Vision alive.PRINCIPLE EIGHT:2990850104140Five Star churches must provide an environment where her members feel unthreatened and free to express their ideas about ways to improve the quality of the church. Leaders cannot possibly experience all areas within the bowels of the church that have become troublesome; only the members that are exposed to such situations will know of these problems and have suggestions for their elimination or improvement.PRINCIPLE NINE:-72390447040Building and sustaining a team mind-set is not easy but is necessary to stay on the path to Five Star status. Members must work together for a common goal. If not made to feel like they are part of the church team, members may involve themselves in some good tasks but fail to contribute to the principle church objective. Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote a little book entitled, "No Little People, No Small Places." The theme of the book is that there are no unimportant people and no unimportant ministries.A sense of importance must be maintained about everyone and everything involved in a Five Star church.PRINCIPLE TEN:233172020320Five Star churches struggle with short-term goals that interfere with the ultimate goal by draining resources. Keeping focus on the ultimate church objective must constantly be renewed, emphasized, communicated, practiced, etc.This principle will require much vigilance. Good social ministries are very tempting to draw needed resources away from the path to Five Star.PRINCIPLE ELEVEN:The avoidance of numerical goals along the way to Five Star will be very necessary. Traditionally churches count attendance, revenue, converts, baptisms, etc. as a measure of progress or decline.2404110118110Jesus told us in John 15:5 that He would provide the spiritual life (Holy Spirit) which causes us to be bearers of fruit. He also warned us in this passage that apart from Him, we can do nothing.So the emphasis for members of a Five Star church must be to Abide in Christ and let Him produce the fruit. Growth will result from abiding. A branch separated from the vine will fail to grow.The measure of progress toward Five Star is the number of Disciples of Christ the church develops that abide in Christ.Evangelism and failure to disciple may grow a church but Disciples will change the world!PRINCIPLE TWELVE:-15240464185The twelfth principle toward Five Star status is to empower the people. Once their spiritual gift(s) have been identified, they should be provided opportunity to use it (them). Church members who sense a role of ownership will be much more inclined to tell their friends and relatives about the church than those who feel that they are only expected to attend services and help pay for the operation of the church.This principle must be followed with great caution. There must be an accountability process in place whereby the actions of all church members are known and checked to confirm that they support the primary objectives of the church.The Quality action plan illustrated on the last page must indoctrinate new members of what is expected of them and of their obligation to support the policies of the church.The church needs an executive council that closely monitors actions of the church members and can probably best accomplish this by conducting periodic open forum meetings in which members sense a freedom to express themselves and report their ministries.PRINCIPLE THIRTEEN:-26670340360Disciple making is the key principle on the path to Five Star. Disciple making is being obedient to the Head of the Church. Vigorous training both in a classroom environment and in the field is necessary to develop the daily, cross- bearing disciplines of Prayer, Bible Study, Journaling, Witnessing, etc.-2392680254635PRINCIPLE FOURTEEN:137160516255The final principle in this presentation is to have a specific plan for putting the other thirteen principles into action. Just transferring Biblical knowledge to people's minds is good but grossly inadequate. Traditionally, churches have depended upon Sunday school, preaching, and special classes to transfer knowledge but have failed to provide opportunities to put their new knowledge into action.57785675005Remember the goal is to attain Five Star status so do not settle for anything less.QUALITY ACTION PLAN:This flow diagram suggests a quality action plan for Five Star attainment.10591803622040-19050151130New converts should enter into a Spiritual Nursery where they will be taught the mission and vision of the church before being accepted as members. They should then be advanced to a class which emphasizes the basics of Christianity (i.e. The Bible is the inspired word of God, Some things we know about God, What it means to be Born-Again, etc.) New candidates from other churches will likely bring religious baggage with them so they should go through the Basics class before being accepted as members. The next step is to teach them that the church is a living organism with Christ being the Head of the Church and they being a member of His Body. They are equipped with spiritual gifts for their function in the church (i.e. service, teaching, administration, etc.) The final class should be to learn how to make disciples that will make disciples (T4T for adults and TST for students). Ultimately, they should be shown how to apply what they have learned in the community. ................
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