When you visit another country, you immediately experience its culture. Music, language, architecture, food, government laws, customs ... all these things contribute to that country’s culture. They aren’t necessarily right or wrong; they just are. It’s “how they do things.”

In the same way, each of our churches and organizations has a unique culture — “a way we do things around here.” The question is, does the way we do things create a healthy or toxic environment? Every organization has a culture, even if that culture was not intentionally developed. Most cultures are shaped by the things we tolerate, celebrate and evaluate.

So, how do you create a healthy culture? That’s the focus of this edition of Make It Count. The next eight lessons cover practical steps you can take to ensure the culture of your church or organization is healthy:

• Model trustworthy behavior.
• Clarify inspiring vision.
• Identify compelling values
• Recruit the right team.
• Cultivate healthy relationships.
• Increase team engagement.
• Develop effective systems.
• Measure ministry health.

As you discuss these lessons with your staff and volunteers, determine to make the changes necessary to improve the health of your culture. It won’t necessarily be easy, but the outcome will be well worth it.

This eight-week study, which appears in the May/June 2020 issue of Influence magazine, is now available online as a free download in English and Spanish. Church leaders can print multiple complimentary copies of this resource and use it to promote development, spark discussion and inspire vision among team members.

The online resource also includes a fill-in-the-blank guide for team members to use as they follow along with the studies.

Adapted from the May/June 2020 edition of Influence magazine