https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BntfBuT8vU&feature=youtu.be
Eric Camp
Christ-Follower, Husband, Father, Pastor
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“Where do you find good people?”
Isn’t that age-old question? Every church, whether big or small, one-site or multi-site, volunteer or full-time staff, is looking for capable, talented, and hard-working people.
So where do these people come from? Or perhaps the better question is, “Can I do anything to attract them?” In my experience the answer is yes. But they may not show up overnight. If you’re willing to play the long game, I believe you can indeed attract the right people to your team. Here’s how.
- Excellent people are attracted to excellence.
A few years back we had the opportunity to help a church with their weekend worship experience. As part of the consultation, I asked their worship pastor to gather together all of his best musicians so we could work on some sounds and just get an overall feel for where they were at as a band. After just a few minutes of listening to them play, it became painfully clear that their band was extremely inexperienced—and that’s putting it kindly. The bottom line was this: it didn’t matter how much we practiced that day, these guys weren’t going to get much better until they put in a lot more hours of individual practice.
As I came away from that trip, I found myself wondering why a church of their size didn’t have better musicians. On the surface, it just didn’t make any sense. That’s when I realized excellent people want to be a part of something excellent. They generally don’t sign up for rescue projects. This church probably did have some good musicians in their congregation, but they just weren’t interested in being a part of what they saw each week on the stage. Think about it. If you were a really good drummer, would you want to be a part of really bad band?
Excellent people want to be a part of something excellent.
The fact is, many of us think that excellence will only come in our situation when excellent people show up. But if you want to attract good people, you’ve got to change your mindset. You’ve got to decide that excellence starts with you, and it starts now—not just when the “talented” people show up. This is the “faithful in least shall be faithful in much” principle. If you want God to give you great people, do a great job with the people you already have. That may mean you have to challenge them in a new way or grow yourself as a leader. But start making the absolute most out of what and who you do have. Then see if God doesn’t give you more.
If you want God to give you great people, do a great job with the people you already have.
- Grow them before you find them.
So often we assume that the people we’re looking for are “out there” somewhere and that our best option is to go and find them. To be sure, sometimes it’s necessary to bring people in from the outside. But in my experience, many of your best people are grown from within. Are you creating opportunities for that growth?
Here’s how you might start. Give them a voice. No doubt, one of the biggest contributors to my own personal development over the past 14 years of working in church work was the fact that I was included in the conversation of where our church was heading even before I was a staff member or a lead Pastor. Yes, I had some bad ideas, and no, I didn’t have a ton of experience or wisdom at that time. But being included in the conversation meant the world to me, and it created buy-in that paid big dividends later on down the road.
We have to put this idea into practice at Oasis by inviting young people with potential into our work environment and processes. We must work harder than ever to develop, mentor, and include new young leaders of all kinds in the day-to-day of what we do, because you never know what kinds of leaders they’ll develop into one day. And I want them to stick them around when they do!
- Get rid of the drama.
Nobody wants to work in an environment where tension and frustration are commonplace. Unfortunately in many churches, the infighting and politics are so pervasive that it’s no wonder new artists aren’t interested in joining up. Creating a clear, healthy culture is an absolute essential to attracting new talented leaders. I’ll say it again, Creating a clear, healthy culture is an absolute essential to attracting new talented leaders.
Over the years I’ve worked really hard to keep the vision and values of our church in front of our team so that issues of ego and hurt feelings never really have a chance to set in. Our motto should always be “the best idea wins”. It doesn’t matter if it came from the lead pastor or the janitor, we don’t really care. We just want the best idea. Creating this kind of culture is extremely attractive to new and upcoming artists, because there’s no political game that must be played. And there are no delicate relational issues to be careful of before they can really contribute. As long as their ideas are good they can be involved at a high level right away.
Unfortunately, there isn’t an Ikea warehouse out there filled with talented people—waiting to be browsed for and bought. There’s no magic wand for big churches that allows them to conjure great volunteers. But you can create a culture that attracts talented people and makes it easy for them to get involved.
Let’s make this a very intentional approach as leaders at Oasis.
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Simply contact me by calling 228-762-5639 or by email at eric@oasis.church
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I first want to give props to my friend Josh Mauney who pastors TurningPoint Church in Lexington, KY for posting a blog similar to this one awhile back. Most pastors feel the same in certain situations and difficulties that come their way, however, many don’t have the freedom or boldness to talk to anyone or post about it openly.
My wife Toni and I have been in ministry for 14 years now and lead an amazing church at Oasis on the Gulf Coast. We launched the church 6 1/2 years ago and are amazed by all that God has done and is doing in this ministry. However, there are struggles. I am going to quote and even copy some of what my friend Josh posted on his blog because it captures the essence of what I wanted to share today. Thanks Josh for letting me quote you and use some of your post! You can check out Josh’s blog page here. So here we go………………………..
Ministry is hard. The hardest thing to do in ministry is to pour into people’s lives, introduce them to the friends that they have, the faith that they hold, and the freedom they experience, and then **poof**…like you never meant a thing…they are gone!
Josh quotes the following statement that someone who had been in ministry for many years told him one time:
“You aren’t a human anymore when you become a pastor. You are thing. A thing that is there to baptize them, bless them, pray for them, and serve them, but if you cross them, fail them, or fall short for them they will leave you to go find another thing. No one goes to the doctor because they care how the doctor feels. They go to the doctor to get better…and once they are they will have no use for the doctor.”
With that, I feel the sentiment of this post. I think it is many times overlooked that I am a man and have feelings just like you. Maybe you understand that, maybe you don’t. I hope you do. We left a very comfortable life in central Alabama where the salary was big and the success was off the charts to plant a life-giving church on the Gulf Coast. Thousands have come through the doors of Oasis. 16,000 people in 6 1/2 years to be exact! THAT’S A CRAZY NUMBER!!!! Yes, that is documented through systems! Yes, we are blessed to be a church with many people from all different walks and types, but there are A LOT MORE THAT have NOT STAYED than those who have! So let me just talk to you whether you are a member of Oasis now or ever have been a part of Oasis.
Does it hurt when people leave the church? Absolutely! Does it hurt worse with some than others? Absolutely! However, most of it has to do with THE WAY you do it.
I am not saying that you should always stay at one church, my church, or that I should always be your pastor. What I am saying is that there is a right way and wrong way to move on.
Wrong Way: (From my perspective, especially to other pastors)
1) Just disappear: You didn’t know you had failed them or fallen short, but they just quit you. And since you are just some emotionless thing, you don’t deserve to know!
2) Email: Really? Do I really need to explain how awful that is? I was there when your baby was born, or your wedding, or I led you to the Lord, and that meant so much that you wanted to send me an email?
3) Just tell about 10 other people: Eventually it will get back to me, and you knew that. If anyone in the world did that to you it would devastate you, but I’m a pastor so we probably just pray all day and read our Bibles, and things like that don’t make us cry and want to quit.
4) Facebook/Text/Or any other social media: I have received some of the most hateful messages of my life via social media. So much so that I don’t even read it or go on it anymore. I want to be able to connect with friends and family, but I have had to stop getting on there because people use it just to rip you apart. (See my previous post that I put out today)
5) Call or Text: I get that sometimes situations might prevent you from sitting down face to face, but use this rule of thumb, If I took the time to sit down face to face with you to help you out, you should at least do me the same if you are going to go.
The fact that I am even writing to say it hurts is sort of taboo in my field. We as pastors are supposed to be bigger than these kinds of things… You know…turn the other cheek, forgive just as we have been forgiven, don’t return insult with insult but insult with blessing.
I know all of that, but the longer I am in this, the more I realize why only 10% of guys ever finish in ministry and why 80% of pastors say they are lonely and don’t have 1 good friend. NOT 1!
We aren’t a thing. We aren’t a service to be provided or a healer of wound. Nor are we a savior or anything else like that.
We are men. Real men. Who have families, and fears and short comings, and insecurities, and pain deeper than the people we are trying to pull out of pain.
Publicly, we smile and act like nothing is wrong, but inside, we are hurting and lonely. Week after week we stand in crowded rooms as the loneliest person in it. We wonder how much longer it will take until you decide you are done with us, and then we will smile as you check in on Facebook at other churches, or we pass you in the grocery store or see you out around town, and in case you were wondering, we aren’t thinking anything other than, ”Why would they just leave me like that and never say a word?” or “They could have left without being so hateful?”
So it hurts. I might be the first pastor to say it. I don’t know that I have ever heard many others acknowledge it. We talk about it with each other…pastor to pastor, but we never say anything to you. It hurts and quite honestly, I think we deserve better. It’s a shame that the devil doesn’t have to work to make pastors quit, when its easier and more effective to use the Christians.
I don’t know that this post would ever change anything, but my prayer is that whoever your pastor is, you would remember that he’s a Christian first, he’s probably a husband and a daddy, and he is trying. He is giving his whole life to try and impact yours. He doesn’t need your life long allegiance, worship or praise, he just needs you to treat him as something more than a thing. I get that seasons change and needs change and feelings get hurt. Trust me I get it! But just remember, we got into this to serve.
If you are a pastor reading this, keep your head up.
If you are reading this and you left the wrong way, I encourage you to go make it right.
I hope this post didn’t offend…its just the most honest post I know how to write.
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Hello everyone!!! Thank you for taking a minute to read this blog post today. I want to inform you of a couple of things that may be of interest and some changes that I am currently making that may inspire you to do the same.
First of all, the launch of “At The Movies” at Oasis yesterday was AMAZING! Record crowds and decisions for Jesus along with a great start to this series that will last the next several weeks! We will be adding seating in the auditorium this week along with arranging some additional parking. Stay Tuned. We ran out of seating and parking at both Experiences and will looking to remedy that the best we can this week so you can continue to invite people to The House!!!
We launched Oasis.Church website along with that being our official name now. I decided a long time ago that we shouldn’t say that we “go to Oasis Church”, instead we need to understand that we ARE THE CHURCH and we may go to Oasis, but The Church is not the buildings that we meet in. So a small tweak in our image. We are simply Oasis. This new web domain helps us to promote the ministry easily and also enables us to simplify a uniformed name recognition physically and online.
The “grow” classes this month have been GREAT with over 100 people participating in this monthly class. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to plan on attending the classes in September. You can check out the website at Oasis.Church for more information.
Personally… I am having to make some changes in my life to be the leader that God has called me to be. I have to make some difficult decisions that I am not super happy about, but I know in the long run that it is necessary in order for me to be faithful with my role and responsibility in leading Oasis. Most I think will understand, many may not. For those who don’t, I apologize in advance as to hopefully help you understand the reasoning behind it. So here it goes…
Social Media. I love Social Media. It is the best tool for connecting and staying connected that we have. However, it can sometimes be a burden as well as a problem in itself. I personally get more messages on Facebook than I care to tell and when I do, I feel the responsibility to respond to each one because that is the type person that I am. However, what has been discovered through myself and my overseers is that I am still too connected and too easily assessable personally. So therefore, the only social media pages I will maintain are those that are limited in exposure personally. Only public connections and comments and messaging can be made in going forward as there will no longer be private messaging capabilities on my facebook. What about contacts about Oasis? We have an office receptionist and I have an assistant at 228-762-5639 and there is an Oasis Facebook, twitter and Instagram page for all things Oasis. There is also a great website at Oasis.Church.
My emails will also be monitored by an assistant. I get an average of 50-100 emails a day with at least 50% requesting response on a personal level. I have to adjust this so I can spend my time wisely. This doesn’t mean that I may never respond to an email, it just means that an assistant will be monitoring and responding as well. Those messages that need my attention, she will direct to me for response.
If you know me, you know this is difficult. I love people. I love connecting with people. I love what I get to do with my life, however, I have to make some changes so that I can keep leading effectively as well as stay emotionally healthy for those who I get the great privilege of leading. I will post a video on this as well.
I tend to find myself looking at posts that other people make too and getting frustrated or irritated because I KNOW THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT ME, MY FAMILY OR OASIS! 🙂 So… I will no longer be looking at timeline feeds on Facebook. In fact, I will not be able to do that in the coming future with my facebook as I am going to disable the personal profile and just use the page that I have. Right now I have 2 places of presence on Facebook. A profile and a public figure page. The profile will be disabled. If you haven’t “liked” my public page, please do so now by clicking here: Facebook Page
I will still have a page and a profile on facebook along with instagram and twitter. Just know that I will not be monitoring all activity personally.
Thank you again Oasis family and Gulf Coast for the amazing opportunity to make a difference for Jesus! We are witnessing an amazing move of God and I am super excited about the future!
-Eric
Eric Camp 