Maurilio Amorim

Author: Maurilio Amorim

  • Before You Name or Rename Your Church

    A lot goes in a name. And a whole lot goes into naming or re-naming a church. I remember when my friend Frank Santora from Danbury, CT, renamed his church. They went from Bright Clouds Ministries (not an Indian reservation) to Faith Church. Well that was a big win for them. I don’t think anyone in congregation complained; again, why would they? One of the frequent questions I get from church leaders has to do with their church’s name. But before you go out  and change your congregation’s name, here are a few thoughts to consider:

    • Make sure you have a compelling reason to change the name. Name changes are traumatic. The older the congregation, the more emotional equity a name has. For example, it doesn’t make sense to be “Hunter Street Baptist Church” if you’re moving to Michigan Avenue. A name change is warranted here, or if your church name is Bright Clouds.
    • Location-specific names tie you to one location. Much like the previous example, if you are Haywood Lane Assembly of God and you want to start a satellite in another part of town than your name will not resonate with your new community.  If you ever relocate, that name will not work either. Think big, think far and don’t put unnecessary limits on your congregation by making it community specific.
    • Church names in foreign languages are confusing and come across pretentious. Imago Dei, Oikos Fellowship, Kaleo, Coram Deo unfortunately are real church names. I know some of these folks are going to wake up some day, maybe some already have, and say “What where we thinking?” If you have to explain the meaning of your church name you are in trouble.
    • Make sure people know you’re a church. Names like “Threshold” and “Inversion Fellowship” can mean a lot of different things. Don’t make people ask “What is it?” most will not do it anyway, they will just ignore you.
    • Use words that cannot be use negatively. There’s never a negative connotation for “Hope” or “Faith” these are positive words by definition. But what about “Locust Lane Chapel?” Well, the last time I check locusts were a plague. I know that might be the name of your town, but it’s still a plague.

    What about your church name. What does it communicate?

  • How Are You Wired for Creativity?

    Part of my work at The A Group focus on helping leaders, speakers and authors with the creative part of their jobs. Several of my clients are pastors of large congregations and ministries and part of my work is to help them develop teaching series ideas, book topics, titles and creative concepts for their ministries. Some believe that the creative process is as mysterious as a muse who descends upon humans at her will to impart inspiration. I must say I’ve had a few inspirational moments over the years, but most of my best creative work comes through a process that is not as much magical, as it is intentional.

    How are you wired creatively Maurilio Amorim

    I plan on writing more about the process in future posts, but before I can make any progress with a client, I need to understand his or her “creative style.” Usually most of my clients fit in one of or a combination of the following creative styles:

    Verbal Processor. You need to talk your way through a problem or opportunity. You say a lot and most of it never works, but then something great comes out and it sticks.

    Thinker. You listen to ideas or options but unlike the verbal processor, you’re not willing to commit or even comment on them until you’ve had a chance to think it through. Thinkers usually have to see the entire process through in their minds before they sign off on a course of action. But once they do, they never look back.

    Slow Starter. Slow starters are not good at coming up with ideas on their own. However, once you give them a good idea, they can take it and run with it. They might start slow, but they usually finish strong.

    Kinetic Creative. Also know as the ADD learner, the Kinetic Creative has to be doing something physical before they can think creatively. I have clients who do their best working on the golf course, during a morning jog, and even walking in a shopping mall.

    My job as a creative coach is to understand how my clients are wired for creative output and help them develop their best work.

    How are you wired for Creativity? Do you have another category that I didn’t mention?

  • Working with Generation Y: Getting More than I Bargain For

    Every rule has its exception. In the past few days I have worked closely with few members of what a lot of experts have labeled the most “entitled” generation ever in the history of mankind. However, my experience has been nothing but positive. I’ve been working side by side with creative, hard working and competent young professionals.  Before you decide to fit everyone 20 year old in a high-maintenance and low-return box, consider this.

    Working with Generation Y

    Every person deserves to prove his or her own merit. It’s easy to label someone but hard to change one’s preconceived notions. Give them the benefit of the doubt, expect the best. Simply, treat them like you want to be treated.

    Give them guidance but let them perform. When you have young talented people working for you, let them be young. Point them in the direction you want them to go, but try not to micromanage. If you’re too heavy-handed you’ll lose the freshness and creativity a young professional brings to the table.

    Wisdom is not age related. I’m currently working with wise young people who understand human dynamics way better than I did at their age.

    Don’t judge, mentor. If you see potential and a willing heart, you should mentor them instead of dismissing what could become one of your best assets. I have learned a lot from some of the young people I’ve mentored over the years. I still do today.

    Set them free. Sometimes the best thing you can do is let your young and talented and yet immature employee go. You’re the employer and not their parent. I have seen business owners suffer through non performance because they like the “kid” and wanted to help. Sometimes the best help you can offer is letting him feel the consequences of not meeting expectations. That’s a lesson we all need to learn. The sooner we learn it, the better off we are.

    The best resource I’ve found on all thing Generation Y, is Tim Elmore’s Generation iY book. You can get it here.

    What has been your experience working with Millennials?

  • 3 Things You Should Consider When Planning Christmas

    Christmas is my favorite time of the year. Nearly all churches will have a special Christmas service. However, most will miss out on the opportunity that it offers. In this quick video, I talk about the 3 key considerations for a successful Christmas outreach.

    Is your church thinking strategically about your Christmas services? What should you be doing differently?

  • What I learned from My Workout Buddies

    In the past few months I have been working out at the Y with a couple of guys I’ve met in the weight room. They are not only younger than me, they’re also in better shape, and while some might find working out with people who can lift twice as much weight  as you a bit intimidating, I decided that I needed the challenge.  The right workout partner can help you push through psychological and physical barriers. So after months of hitting the gym hard with my bald friends, Chris and Christian, here’s a few things I’ve learned:

    What I learned from Workout Buddies Maurilio Amorim

    1. The early hard workouts sucked. No need for euphemisms here. They were hard and painful. At one point, I asked for my mommy.

    2. I needed a change. I have been working out at gyms for decades. My routine had become, routine, very routine. I was not seeing much improvement because I did the same exercises all the time. Suddenly I was doing all kinds of different stuff and working out different muscle groups and my body noticed and responded.

    3. Accountability. That seems to be a reoccurring theme for me, but having someone waiting for me at the gym, kept me from sleeping late and blowing off the workout.

    4. Friendship. Whether I’m running or working out, having someone to share the experience makes my time so much more enjoyable. There’s always sports talk, movie talk and girl talk. It’s a bunch of guys at the gym, what do you expect?

    5. Challenge. I remember my first ab workout with Christian. I did maybe 20% of it and cried like a little girl during the whole time. It was not only physically painful, it was psychologically damaging to know I couldn’t finish a 20 minute ab workout. (in all fairness, this is a very tough routine, some 350 hardcore crunch combination by the time it’s all over). Today I’m almost 75% of the way to completing the entire routine. I’m still whining, however. This morning I almost threw up at end. Good times.

    6. Results. Nothing motivates us more than to see the results of hard work: clothing that fits better, shoulders that are wider, arms that are stronger and abs that are tighter.

    I have been a member of the Maryland Farms YMCA for many years. I know a lot of people there and I’m even on the board.  However, it wasn’t until I decided to put my insecurities and hang ups aside and befriend people whose work ethic and results I wanted to emulate that I began to see the personal transformation I had always wanted.

    Are you stuck on a non-productive routine? What are you going to do about it?

  • A Church Won’t Grow When Led by a Superstar

    Churches stop growing or they plateau for several reasons, too many for one blog post. So I’m tackling them in a series of posts featuring growth barriers for churches I have encountered during years of strategic consulting. I’m calling these posts “Churches Won’t Grow When.”  While some of the issues that keep churches from growing can be classified as communication barriers, in my experience, the most debilitating ones are leadership and systematic mistakes that will derail growth or even kill a congregation. Interestingly, these apply to business and ministries as well. Your church will stop growing when its leader put his or her interests before what’s best for the congregation. I call it the superstar syndrome.

    All about me Superstar Pastor Maurilio Amorim

    I have seen this one play out time and time again. These are gifted communicators who are able to draw large crowds but can never get past making personal sacrifices for the sake of the organization. The superstar pastor bent is to grow the congregation to serve his need for a larger audience–not because a larger audience means a deeper reach for the gospel, even though that’s how they frame the strategy.

    I’m not saying that all gifted communicators, pastors of growing churches, or popular leaders fit in this category. While we should never judge a leader’s motive, we can and should consider his or her decisions. Given the chance, the superstar will take the spotlight every time. They will justify unreasonable time away and expense on the premises that “what’s best for me is best for the church.” They will say “yes” to opportunities that tax the church’s staff and volunteers because it might given them more exposure. They will leverage the church for their personal interests given the chance.

    Great people don’t stay around the superstar for long. High-capacity volunteers and top notch staff eventually figure out that the superstar only truly cares about himself and will abandon ship. After all he seldom gives credit to the rest of the staff because, well you’ve guessed it, it’s all about him.

    So the church led by the superstar grows and implodes, or it attracts a lot of people but can’t keep many of them long term. One of the signs your church might be led by a superstar pastor is staff and leadership turn over. If you’re always seeing lots of new faces but not many familiar ones, or the church seems to always be on the verge of a breakthrough but never quite there, you might just be led by a superstar.

    Have you been around the superstar pastor? What happened?

  • What If We Just Gave and Did not Take for a Day?

    If we are honest with ourselves, most of our lives is a series of exchanges.  We work and we expect payment for it. We exercise and we expect better health and a stronger body. We help friends and we expect gratitude and good will back.  We even have this exchange mentality with God: we pray and ask and we expect God to deliver the blessings.

    Today I’m challenging  myself  to go through this day without doing the exchange game. Can I go an entire day just being completely altruistic? Probably not. The human condition is far more selfish than any of us realize, but I’m willing to try not entering into an exchange– just be a blessing to someone. Someone who might never be able to give anything back in return.

    Can you truly do acts of kindness without any expectations? I hope you’ll join me today and see what happens.

  • Wearing Your Religion

    He was about to give the man at the front desk a piece of his mind. He had some of the worst customer service experience in a long time, after all, these people had overcharged his credit card two months in a row. The fitness club manager was a shady character who wore warm up suits and gold chains and spoke words like “your health is the most important thing to us.”  My friend stood at the front desk getting the run around on why the charge discrepancy. As his righteous indignation grew into plain anger, and the level of his voice began to raise he suddenly stopped dead on his tracks.

    I stood to the side of him watching the whole exchange go down. Secretly, I was looking forward to the show down between Dickie and the smarmy manager. But it didn’t happen. Dickie, stopped talking and said, “I’ll deal with this later,” and walked away.

    I made my way into the club and found him a few minutes later. “What happened? Why didn’t you finish the conversation.” In my mind I was thinking, “I had front-row seats to see you take down Mr. Smarmy.” His reply was not what I expected. He looked my in the eyes and said, “I couldn’t do it. I have Jesus on my back.” The look on my face must have given my bewilderment away because without saying anything else, Dickie turned around and pointed to the large letters resembling an old Coca Cola logo: JESUS CHRIST stamped all over his shirt.

    That happened several years ago, but I have never forgotten that conversation: “I’ve got Jesus on my back.” Even before the WWJD bracelets became popular, I always thought of Dickie’s sudden realization that he was wearing his religion, literally.

    Since then I have always struggled with the question, “how much differently would I act if I had Jesus on my back constantly?” What would my conduct be if the words “Jesus Follower” were branded on me for all to see?  So, maybe it’s a t-shirt, a rubber bracelet, or even a tattoo, but from time to time, I believe we Christians need a visual reminder that Jesus not only has our back, but He’s on it.

    What do you think of wearing a reminder of your faith? Is that a cop out or a legitimate help tool?

  • You Might Be Holding to Your Youth Too Tight If

    Every good communicator has to be a student of human nature. After all you cannot connect a message with an audience you don’t understand. Some of us, myself included, have decided not to age gracefully. Heck, to some have waged full blown war on aging. But even our best attempts of staying young sometimes backfires. You might be holding on to your youth a bit too tight if:

    1. You buy your clothes at the same store as your teenage children

    2. You have a punch card for your Bottox treatments (13th is free!)

    3. Your “maintenance plan” includes a team consisting of a cosmetic dentist, a dermatologist and homeopathic Chinese Lady with exotic herbs.

    4. You crave protein bars.

    5. Instead of buying hair color, you’re now buying hair.

    6. You run for treats.

    7. You have considered having a “six-pack abs” spray painted on your belly, several times.

    8. Chemicals are your best friends. You have pills for energy, to burn fat, to help you sleep and to put you in the mood. Without them you wouldn’t function.

    9. You asked your barber for the “Bieber.”

    10. You’re running out of skin to pull from.

    It’s your turn. What else would you add to the list?

  • Before You Make a Career Change

    More than any other time in my career, I have had more people ask me how I started The A Group. These are entrepreneurs who for a variety of reasons find themselves in transition. Look around you. A lot of us are in transition right now. Jobs are going away or morphing into something completely different than you signed up for. Jobs that were profitable a few years ago, are disappearing today, so now you’re re-evaluating your options. If you’re considering a career change, here’s a few thoughts.

    Considerations for your new career Maurilio Amorim

    Be honest with yourself. Yes, the recession has wreaked havoc in the job market, but it’s easy to blame the economy on our bad job performance or misaligned career choice. Ask yourself, “even if times were good, was that the best job for me?” A good friend came to a sober and yet liberating realization recently. He decided that his career path was not a good fit for his skills and personality. The tough job market forced him to rethink his choices and make a change that potentially would have taken much longer to make and keep him from personally fulfilling work.

    Remove old labels. What worked in a now failed economy or industry most likely will not work in the new one. Don’t try to use the language of yesterday to created the position for tomorrow. I wrote a post about that here. Think about what you can offer, deliver, fix or create for someone or organization. What need do you see in ministry or in the marketplace that you can meet? When the rules change, there are always new opportunities that arise. Design your new business or position based on the new opportunity. No matter the economic climate, if you can deliver value, you’ll always have business.

    Your self worth should come from who you are and not from what you do. The argument usually goes like “but I want to do work that matters, something that makes a difference.” While I understand the sentiment behind the words, I think we might be missing the boat here. Sometimes work done well allow us to find time, resources and tools to serve, give and do ministry. Somehow we have shifted our cultural status quo ideal from a highly lucrative work towards a socially-conscientious, environmentally-friendly and animal-protecting job. But as Christians, our value and personal fulfillment should come from our view of God and His value of us and not from what we do.

    We have replaced money with social conscience. While it sounds more noble, it’s no less wrong.

    What trends have you notice in your profession?