From the desk of Rob Lawler at the Montana Office of Faith and Community Based Services (OFCBS). Spring in Montana has been beautiful, stormy, and windy, but it is still the best place to live. The OFCBS has been busy across the state in the communities of Bozeman, Billings, Great Falls, Dillon, Butte, Missoula, Hamilton, and Harlowton. If you are interested a visit from the OFCBS for your church, organization, ministerial, or non-profit contact us and we will plan a visit. We can explore ways to partner in your community, guest speaking, or just to find out more about our office. https://dphhs.mt.gov/faithandcommunity/index

I know that many of us have heard of transactional vs. relational leadership. I wonder if we have ever thought about our church or nonprofit in the same terms. Transactional being based on external rewards or consequences such an eternal life, duty, recognition, or fear of discipline. As opposed to relational where internally focused on such things a personal growth, purpose, belonging, friendship, and true compassion with nothing expected in return.

Social media, we see tag names like friends, avatars, and profiles that allude to relational concepts, but in reality, they couldn’t be more transactional. We post, picture, and video all kinds of various aspects of our lives. Let’s be honest it is 90% so we can get a rise, reaction, like, or comment from people we may or may not know. What could be more transactional? This isn’t what true relationships are made of.

I wonder do houses of worship, organizations, and nonprofits run like a transaction more than we want to admit. I see many across our state focus on programs, events, worship services and community activities more focused on the transaction of programming rather than the people they are supposed to affect. Do we provide opportunities for relationships, growth, purpose and belonging in our houses of worship or dare I say are we about a good show and numbers. I have “read” (audio book) a few books in recent weeks as I travel across the state which have to do with church growth, our identity, and self-development and one thing that keeps being is a central theme is relationship with each other and our creator. As a former pastor of course, I could keep going on and on, but I’ll leave it for now with this, recent studies have come out since covid that share the need for relationships among people and the detriment of our health without them.