Discover Your “Why”
When I served in the Conference setting I would often meet with leaders after the worship service. When we would gather sooner or later I would ask them, “what is your ‘why’”? Why does your church exist in the first place? Why has God formed this church?
Many of these churches had been around for a very long time. The leaders were quick to share what they were doing. Bible studies, prayer groups, community mission, gathering weekly for worship, confirmation classes, groups using the building – you get the picture. They could also quickly tell me howthey accomplished these things with volunteers, Boards and Committees and study groups. They could show me the organization chart and who does what and when!
Thought leader Simon Sinek was the first person I encountered who was talking about discovering your why. His Ted Talk on the topic has had close to two million hits. He introduces the concept of the “Golden Circle” seen here:
The why is the “true north” of the individual, the church, the Conference. It becomes the orienting point, the fixed point in a spinning world that helps you as a leader and the organization to keep on track. It comes from your most deeply held beliefs, values and the principles that you live by and is your core purpose, your reason for being.
I don’t think the why is hard to discover. It’s deeply embedded in our DNA and a part of who we are. What is hard is to be disciplined enough to stay true to our why and to allow it to guide us in our decision making and in carrying out of mission and ministry. It means that we must engage in prayer and discernment and to be able to say no to really good ideas. This takes commitment and clarity to the why.
When leaders wanted to go deeper on the question of the why I invite them to think about how to begin this conversation in their church. What tools can they use to discover their why? Scripture is one tool. What story in Scripture describes the why of this congregation, this Conference? Other tools include Appreciative Inquiry, Church Assessment, Prayer teams, discernment groups, previous leadership initiatives that helped to discover the church’s purpose and my absolute favorite is one on ones.
What if every member of the church or Board agreed to have “one on ones” with people in the congregation. What if they asked them three prompting questions: “What do you love about our church? What are your passions? What do you think is our church’s purpose? After an agreed upon time the leaders come together to share what they have heard and learned from those conversations.
Once the why is discovered it should be written down. Make it plain. Ask for feedback. Make changes if necessary. Give people the tools to the church/organization “elevator speech”: “our why is….” Don’t keep the why a secret. Use it in social media, on the letterhead in the bulletins, splash it everywhere.
The initiative to discover one’s why is definitely worth it!
Guest article by Kent Siladi, Director of Philanthropy, United Church of Christ