Ever wonder the main reasons for why pastors get fired? Me too! Thank to the Baptist Press, they’ve given us a new report on the forced termination of pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention.

10. conflict with other staff
9. sexual misconduct
8. administrative incompetence
7. week leadership style
6. decline in attendance
5. conflict pre-dating the pastor’s arrival
4. too-strong leadership style
3. poor people skills
2. church’s resistance to change
1. control issues (the same #1 reason every year since 1996)

I found it really interesting that of the top 10, five had to do with issues surrounding the pastors leadership style or approach. It makes me wonder if the church could reduce some of the pain of termination and overall terminations by simply added 2 components—better leadership training of pastors; and equipping churches with simple human resource tools in the interviewing process.

Revolutionaries Syncroblog.
(Read introductory post for details and more great posts on the subject)

As I looked back over 9 years of ministry (a “professional christian” as some may say) I am amazed that I’m still at it. You could say that I’m a glutton for punishment, that I tend to find myself, more often than not, in some of the worst ministry situations imaginable each progressively worse than its predecessor. It feels as if I have been continually battered and beaten, each time progressively cutting deeper and deeper into my ravaged soul. The stories of pain, and trauma becoming more and more unbelievable with each passing season. It feels as if my spirit, my heart, and my passion have been consistently abused in an attempt to destroy the fiber of hope that lay deep within. In fact, a dear friend and mentor once made the hard observation/comparison that my relationship to the traditional/institutional church is like the woman in an abusive relationship that keeps going back determined that he is going to change… So why have I stayed?

I have found myself in some of the worst situations not because I actively seek them out, but rather, because I long to see change in the church. I desperately want the traditional/institutional church to be the fully-realized, incarnational hope of the world—the beautiful bride of Christ that she was intended to be! There is a deep desire and an everlasting sense of optimism within my soul that has never quite shriveled up no matter how tough the circumstances; this keeps pushing me to see the traditional church for what she was meant to be… the embodiment of Christ on Earth revealing the mysteries of the Kingdom.

Although this eternal optimism has driven me to stay, it’s been a few key relationships in my life that has given me the proper perspective in making it through the hard times. If my friend Gentry hadn’t been there to listen and offer his prayers, allow me a place to get away from the situation and explore my dark night of the soul; if it hadn’t been for my mentor Hank and his “kick in the pants”, the constant encouragement of my parents and the support from so many others I’m not sure I would have stayed… I’m not sure I would’ve made it. The people that I allowed in, the people that I allowed to experience these things with me have been the greatest God-send of all. If it hadn’t been for them, I wouldn’t have experienced the greatest season of healing and ministry of my life.

For nearly a year I have been at Community Christian Church being allowed to heal from the past, serve on my own terms and timetable, and prepared for a new phase of ministry… planting a reproducing church in San Francisco. My experiences here have given me a new, broader sense of hope in the church, a feeling of excitement in what is next and what is possible, and a belief that the institutional church can change the world. These are the experiences that I hope to carry with me as I continue this journey in the institutional church.

Ultimately, this is why I have stayed.

just a quick announcement to let you know that i’ve rolled our (tracy and I) newthing.aaronmonts.com site into this blog and you can easily access it through the tab » newthing, at the top. in that tab it talks about what it is that we’re doing in naperville and preparing to do in san francisco. at the bottom of the page you can read our monthly e-updates to stay current on the haps in the monts household. i just recently uploaded our december 2007 update if you’d like to take a gander…

also on the page are the current things that we need prayer for and instructions on how you can support us financially, if you so choose.

so, check it all out and let me know what you think!

Last month I was asked to write the feature article for the NewThing e-Newletter and this is what I came up with:

Be Unstoppable: From Idea to Implementation

There is a dream within all of us that sparks our passions and our desires; dreams that keep so many of us up talking late into the night, brainstorming and picturing a different world, a different community or a different church. Yet, for so many, those dreams never become reality. They remain simple hopes that we eventually throw into the trash heap as nothing more than ideological delusions of grandeur stashed alongside the deceased dreams of days gone by; deceased dreams that could have truly changed the world and made a difference for the Kingdom. Every time we allow a dream to die, we also send along a portion of our idealism and a piece of our soul.

Why do so many dreams die? Are we not fostering the types of communities that allow us to take risks? Are we uncertain of our own abilities? Are we allowing fear to rule instead of jumping forward into the faithful arms of our Heavenly Father? Why do so many potentially revolutionary dreams go by the wayside?

Six years ago my wife, Tracy, and I had a dream of planting a church and, like so many others, we held the dream inside, not sharing it with a single soul. Time passed and the dream began to flicker and fade away as the notion of “someday” was quietly being replaced with “probably not gonna happen.” Fast-forward a couple years to today where we are making preparations to move to San Francisco to plant a church with Stadia and the NewThing Network. So, how did we get from “probably not gonna happen” to “we’re moving to San Francisco to plant a church”? Great question!

1. Tell Somebody. This may be the most difficult proposition, however it is vital. I had no intention of telling anyone until Tracy finally challenged me to, “put up or shut up!” I may have been haphazard in whom I told and whom I confided this dream in, but in the end, a few strategic people helped bring me to NewThing’s Reproducing Church Experience, which ultimately led to a Leadership Residency at Community Christian Church and a future NewThing church plant in San Francisco.

If I had never revealed my dream and desire to plant a church, I wouldn’t be where I am today. This may sound strange to some, but it’s important to leverage your relationships in positive ways so that the dreams that God has placed within your heart can have the chance to become reality.

2. Take Risks. For some, the notion of telling someone your hopes and dreams is an extremely risky endeavor, but the risks don’t stop there. It’s not only important to tell a trusted friend, but to also tell organizations. Tracy and I took a major risk by attending the Church Planting Assessment Center (CPAC) on our own dime and without the backing of any organization or group. It was extremely expensive for us to undertake on our own, however we believed that if God had really placed this dream within our hearts then he was going to begin opening doors. But not unless we were willing to take some initial first steps of faith.

I truly believe that many dreams die because we play a cosmic game of chicken with God. We sit waiting for God to take the first step while, in turn, He is waiting for us to take a risk and put our trust in Him.

3. Be Unstoppable. Our 6-year journey to this point has been met with numerous challenges in the shape of closed doors, rejections and disappointments. We’ve had plans fail and have experienced major heartache and setbacks where it seemed we would never recover. Yet through it all, God has been faithful. We have not allowed the difficulties of the present to change the course of our future. There will be challenges, there will be closed doors, there will be rejection and there will be major disappointments, but the only way your dream will ever see the light of day is if you are unstoppable. Keep pressing on, keep pushing forward and know that God will guide you to the end that he has in store.

Throughout it all know that this is a journey and that the plans that God has for you and your dreams are not there to fade away and land in the trash heap. Be faithful to God, follow hard after Him and the One who is most faithful will take those dreams to places and heights that you never before thought possible.

[Link]

six years ago today i am back in the exact same place—sitting in the offices of community christian church (CCC) in naperville, illinois… yet, it’s taken me a while and a crazy journey to find myself right back here once again. today marks the 6-year anniversary of 9/11, and maybe that’s what’s provoked me to think a little bit about my journey over the course of the past 6 years that all started with sitting in the cafe watching the twin towers crumble before my very eyes on television.

in some respects it seems as if i’ve come ful-circle—going out after being ordained by CCC and being tested, tried, beaten-down and ultimately experiencing the gut-wrenching side of ministry. yet, now i find myself back here once again at this very same place preparing once again to be sent out into the vast open spaces of ministry… it’s strange, but this place of preparation has stirred up within me a wealth of fear, fear that somehow i will end up repeating the last 6 years of pain over again. but, i don’t want to be controlled by this fear, and i don’t want to take the seemingly safe choice of staying here within the safety and security that CCC has been for me throughout my ministry career. (i’m not sure if the church or its leaders really know just how much they have helped guide me and even protect me since i walked out of the doors 6 years ago to take my first full-time ministry position—CCC has truly been to me and will continue to be my home church!)

it’s funny, but i don’t really despise my journey thus far. i don’t regret decisions that i’ve made, the cross-country moves or even some of the positions that i’ve taken because i know i’ve learned a great deal from it all. the wisdom from this journey has been immense and although in many instances i wish i could’ve done some things differently, i know that they have served to bring me back to where i am today preparing for this next phase of life: planting a church in the 5th largest metro area in the united states.

it’s amazing how cyclical life can seem… it’s amazing how God brings us back with a fresh perspective and new tools to send us out all over again to give it another go… it’s amazing that it’s only been 6 years…

well, it’s official… i resigned.  as of february 11th, 2007 i will no longer be the interim sr. pastor of heartland community church and will begin to roam the streets as a substitute teacher in the decatur public school system (hopefully) and as some sort of employee in the wonderful world of starbucks (also hopefully). 

although these employments will only be temporary (hopefully) it will provide me with a great deal of opportunity to step outside of the church world and once again be immersed in the culture and be able to connect with and understand people from different walks of life—not to mention visiting some other churches to learn from and understand the idea of community in a variety of contexts.  i’m truly looking forward to this. 

now some of you may be thinking/wondering what on earth is going on and why i would leave a stable position in order to substitute teach and work at starbucks (not so stable positions).  that’s a good question… and i do have an answer for you.

for about 5 years (yes that would be shortly before tracy and i got married) we started talking about and wondering what it would be like to go and plant a church—in fact, you could say that God very much put this idea/dream/vision upon our heart to plant something that would make a major difference in a large urban center as well as making an impact around the country and all throughout the world.  well, for 5 years i’ve chickened out of the idea.  however, God has continued to place this burden more and more on our hearts to actually step outside of ourselves and do something about it.  (that’s a lot easier said than done.)  we tried this about 2 years ago when we first thought about joining up with the boston partnership (now reunion christian church) but God in his infinite wisdom and mysterious ways put a stop to that mid-stream leaving us in decatur, illinois to try and figure things out.  well, nearly 2 years later God is making “way” and opportunities and possibilities have been opening up in front of us like never before.

upon the words and advice from a friend to “nut-up” i decided to start testing God in this area about 2 months ago (november) to see if this is really what He’s calling us to do and what He wants from us/for us.  through a series of events that one could only call “God things” and through a series of confirmations that also could only be called “God things”, tracy and i made the decision to  step out, “nut-up,” and work towards planting a church.

for several months i’ve carried around with me a list of 10 questions that i have periodically returned to wondering if this church planting route is really for us.  it’s been an invaluable tool and last week, for the first time ever, i was able to answer all the questions in the affirmative.  not only that, i posed the same questions to tracy and got the same answers.  for the first time in a long time we feel a sense of clarity about our vocation—for the first time in a long time we feel that God has given us a direction to pursue.  and it is with this realization that we’ve understood (in hindsight) that God has been preparing us for this next adventure and journey in our lives.  we’re excited and we’re look forward to figuring out the details and allowing God to push us in his direction…  we’re being patient and allowing God to make “way” before us. 

please pray for us, we’re excited but nervous, exuberant yet freaked out at the same time.  we have all sorts of thoughts and emotions running through our minds and hearts and could use some clarity from God—but we’re hopeful and anxious. 

we’ll keep you abreast of the developments as they come to light! for now, all we know is: 1) church-planting; 2) urban-center…

(musings: part 1)
(musings: part 2)

way opens… and way closes…

this week i have felt way close in some big ways (details to come soon) and it’s been a very good thing—in fact, it’s been very exciting despite the pain of uncertainty that surrounds a closed door.  however, God has been good… and at the same time i have seen a great deal of way open up (details to come soon—there’s a journey a brewin’!)

the reproducing church experience has been an amazing journey, yet at the same time a very difficult one as it has forced me to stare my dreams in the eye and make a decision about them… whether it was time to let them die, or "nut-up" and go forward with them.  it’s an interesting time in life and despite all the vagueness of this post, there is a lot of way opening up before me and a lot of things a brewin’!

i’m excited to share… but i must be patient, and i must allow some things to fall into place first before divulging these exciting things—so, i leave this post with a lot of words mounting up to nothing of substance, but behind these words lay a grand amount of passion and excitement!  the journey has started and i’m looking forward to the ride!  (more info soon!)

(musings on the open way part 1)

yesterday started my three-day journey at the reproducing church experience, a small gathering of leaders from around the world, joining together at community christian church with new thing network and dream.

what a novel concept for a “conference”, put 35 “emerging leaders” around tables and let them talk about their dreams for the church and for what may be next for the future of the church! i will say that despite my personal frustrations of uncertainty it is certainly exciting to hear the dreams and visions of others as they give voice to their innermost desires of seeing the church grow through church planting and reproducing networks of church planters, not only across the US, but around the world! (in fact oliver, a member of my team and a church planter from germany has shared his dream to go back to munich and begin a movement of churches that will spread all over germany! the amazing thing is this isn’t just a dream, but a dream with legs!) how sweet is that?!

i’m looking forward to networking with all sorts of guys from different walks of life and different ministry situations and contexts. i’m looking forward to a good couple of days of dreaming out loud and formulating words and a vision behind the desires that lay within my heart for the church. i’m looking forward to hearing more dreams from others and seeing just how God is at work in different places, challenging the church and expanding his Kingdom! and maybe most of all i’m looking forward to seeing what God has in store for the next chapter in my story and seeing how it will help contribute in greater ways to the story of God.

i’m excited about this journey!

christmas has come and gone yet again.  each and every year comes a wonderful time with family and the opportunity to catch up with good friends– and this year was no exception!

my favorite part of the holiday was spending time with family, especially as once estranged family members returned home–it has been a beautiful and yet difficult story to watch unfold, however the reconciliation and forgiveness have been tremendous as it seems we didn’t even skip a beat!

i had a wonderful morning spending time with my mentor and friend (lead pastor of this church plant) as well as an afternoon lunch with this guy (world renowned bible college professor).  it was nice to catch up and talk, spend time discussing ministry and life in general… and actually have real, authentic, live conversation for a change.

however, in the midst of all of these good times seems to be a new tradition brewing in the monts household.  every christmas tracy and i are invariably met with the ever dreaded questions and uncertainties of vocation, as our future becomes terribly uncertain*– not necessarily by choice mind you.

this has been a "beautifully tragic/devastating"** year for us (more on this later–check out the yearly wrap-up in a couple of days) and life continues to throw us a little chin music, brushing us back and moving us along.  way opens and way closes only to open up again and close again–it’s a vicious cycle, yet a beautiful symphony of God’s orchestrations as he moves and directs our path.***  i am looking forward to what is next with great anticipation, however i am continually reminding myself that i must indeed take it slow….

so, christmas time was here and it was beautiful, but i could really do without the same sorry old tradition.

—–

* it was last year at this time that we decided we wouldn’t go to boston–leaving us terribly confounded, and it was this time two years ago that we decided to leave north point–however still quite uncertain how boston would pan out, and it was this time 4 years ago that we decided to move from california–leaving us terribly uncertain as to what was next, and it was this time 5 years ago that we had no idea what was next as i sat completely jobless. ( this tradition is getting a little old.)

** i have yet to settle on an appropriate title for this @#$^&*  year.

***or at least i keep telling myself that…

sometimes there comes a time when you need a real “pick-me-up” to reinvigorate your hope in the church–and it’s not necessarily that you’ve lost hope in the church, but rather hope in christianity, christendom, the institutional organization we call church. sometimes we find ourselves getting so caught up int those types of things that we need a spark, a reminder of what the real church is supposed to be about.

enter shane claiborne’s autobiographical sketch of his community and hope, dreams, desire for the church. i picked this book up a couple of days ago and haven’t really been able to put it down. it’s captured my heart, my dreams and my desires, refocusing them and me on what the gospel is all about and what community can and should truly look like.

its so easy to find ourselves veering off the path that embodies the hopes and dreams, the values and desires we hear clearly displayed in the gospel as we get bogged down with the rigors and issues, problems and pains of ministry. we can quite easily find ourselves surrounded by the problems, dealing with the issues, and overwhelmed by the situations–so much so, that we forget what it is that we’re all about, we forget how God created us with an inner voice of love that calls out to us, pushing us towards his intended means.

with his story, claiborne has helped me to refocus, he has helped give voice to the inner calling within which i have unintentionally stiffled and pushed away. he has helped to reinvigorate a hope once again in the church and help me realize more so that it is not about christianity, it is not about the institution–it’s about the gospel, and it’s about the people*.

sometimes all it takes to bring us “back” and out of the funk is a little spark…

I remember hearing about an old comic strip back in the days of St. Ed’s. Two guys are talking to each other, and one of them says he has a question for God. He wants to ask why God allows all of this poverty and war and suffering to exist in the world. And his friend says, “Well, why don’t you ask?” The fellow shakes his head and says he is scared. When his friend asks why, he mutters, “I’m scared God will ask me the same question.” Over and over, when I ask God why all of these injustices are allowed to exist in the world, I can feel the Spirit whisper to me, “You tell me why we allow this to happen. You are my body, my hands, my feet.” (The Irresistible Revolution, p.64-65)

——–

*some of you may be thinking that my psyche’s is just a little too fragile, that i’m just being tossed back and forth in the waves. well, i’m inclined to somewhat agree with you–but maybe someday i’ll be able to share the saga that has been 2006–a year of ups and downs, spinouts and blowouts–and then maybe you’ll be able to catch a glimpse and understand.

when ‘way’ closes its a really good thing… but for some reason it just pisses you off, makes you angry and makes you feel slighted that it didn’t work out–even though you know there was no way that it would or even should.

maybe the reason you’re so angry is the feeling of uncertainty that is thrust upon you. or maybe it’s the pain of letting go of your carefully laid out plans for the future realizing that it’s just not going to work out the way that you wanted or had hoped for.  and all of a sudden time is progressing a whole lot faster than you wanted it to.

but maybe it’s a good thing… of course it’s a good thing, it’s exactly what you wanted and it is exactly what you needed to happen. the closed way is forcing you to get your butt in gear (albeit sooner than you hoped) and move towards the open way that has made itself quite evident.  but it’s never easy.  it’s never easy to face ‘way’ when it closes. it’s never easy to see ‘way’ slam shut right in front of your face even when it’s a good thing.  and honestly, maybe that’s why it hurts, maybe that’s why you’re angry–you were focusing on the wrong way. you were looking at the easier ‘way’ (relatively speaking) and ‘way’ had to close in order to shift your attention in the right direction(s).

why are you so angry that way closed?  you shouldn’t be. maybe your anger is just a natural reaction to what happened, but the closed ‘way’ is a good thing for you.  ‘way’ closed for you today and you should be thankful that it did because now it is guiding you towards what is opening up in front of you. don’t look back, just look forward.  you need to pay attention, carefully, to where you’re being guided. 

you’re still angry, and maybe that’s okay… but don’t let this closing, this guiding event color your person.  listen to ‘way’.  listen carefully and walk in the guiding steps and directions.  because ‘way’ is opening up–you just have to pick yourself up, dust off your shoes and walk.

it’s amazing how many things change in a years time and it’s amazing the doors that were closed a year ago seem to be flying wide open now.  it’s an exciting time in the monts household as tracy and i continue to consider an pray about opportunities that are coming our way.  we’ll keep on walking through those doors until we hit a dead end, but it’s always an exciting prospect to see doors opening up before you and opportunities that you never thought would become a reality become plausible–not just dreams.

we’ve been running up against closed doors for quite some time now (a year and a half) and it’s been a very frustrating experience and time for us as we continue to pound our heads up against the wall of life (it all started when we realized the door to boston was closed–one of the hardest decisions of our life together).  but i think we’ve taken it in stride (but of course only after much pouting).  we’ve certainly learned to live with uncertainty during this time, which hasn’t always been an easy thing to do, and we’ve learned to be content with our situations and our surroundings.  (not to mention that  we’ve learned a lot about patience.)  but by-and-by we’ve seen the tremendous faithfulness of God throughout it all.

to paraphrase parker palmer: “a lot of way has closed behind me, and that’s had the same guiding effect as way opening up before me.”

for the first time in a while i’m content and maybe that’s why God is throwing us a curve–but it’s a good one and this time i think we’re ready to hit it out of the park.  i guess we’ll just have to wait and see where all these doors take us and how “way” opens up before us… or if it continues to close behind us.  whatever the outcome i’m pretty sure that this time we’ll be more prepared for what lies ahead…. 

to be continued…