BLeach

A Thought for Teams

As our team has started developing for The Philly Project, we have intentionally been slow to talk about roles. We made this decision for a few reasons. 

First, a church plant is like a baby, rapidly changing and developing. As a result, a role that needs to be staffed in month one may be different than a role that needs to be staffed in month 9. 

Second, roles will change based on our context. If we wind up planting in a neighborhood without any teenagers, we may not need a youth pastor.

Our philosophy has been to focus on getting the right people on the bus, and then addressing roles once the team is defined. Instead of committing to a position, we're asking our team to commit to the mission and values of our new church, the people of Philadelphia, and to Leah and I personally as leaders.

Of course, the challenge this approach creates is the tension of developing and defining roles within the team after it's been formed. This will be an important process for us that will be informed by our mission as a church, the needs of our target neighborhood, and the gifts of each team member.

This afternoon I met with Jane Patterson. Jane is a professional leadership coach who specializes in team coaching. She is also a member of Allison Park Church and a believer in the Philly Project. She is volunteering her time to coach our team as we continue to develop relationally, spiritually, and strategically. So thankful for her generous help!

Today she reminded me that every member of a team fulfills two distinct roles.

• Outer Roles: This is the more obvious role and includes the tasks of ministry as outlined on a job description.
• Inner Roles: This is the less obvious role and includes the personality that each team member contributes to the team. For example, each team needs inner roles like big picture thinkers and process thinkers; strategic people and tactical people, optimists and pessimists. Jane pointed out that even a complainer or two can be helpful so that venting can happen in a natural way within the life of a team.

It was a great conversation and opportunity for me to think about the development of our team. And it made me even more thankful for the variety of gifts and personalities that are represented on our team so far!

Steering Through Chaos

I was recently given a copy of a brand new book by Scott Wilson to read and review--and I'm so thankful I was!

I used to think that leading change was a leadership skill that only applied to pastors of established churches. Having a baby changed my perspective. As soon as Gabby was born she began to change. 

Church planters need to develop skills to navigate transition and change as much as anyone, for two simple reasons. First, as soon as a new church is born, it begins to change. You want it to change in the right direction. Second, no church plant is perfect. They all have strengths and weaknesses, and leading change is the important process of continually improving your organization.

The truth is, leaders in any organization must effectively lead through transition. That is why Scott Wilson's book, Steering Through Chaos, is such an important resource.

Scott leads The Oaks Fellowship in Dallas. The church is experiencing amazing growth, due in large part to some important changes that have taken place through Scott's leadership. 

One concept that Scott develops was particularly intriguing to me. As leaders, we don't simply try to deal with transition when it does happen. We actually create transition. He points out that transition and change is not a necessary evil to be endured, but a positive opportunity to be embraced.

I also appreciate the way Scott highlights the importance of spiritual leadership in the midst of change. Specifically, he talks about the importance of corporate prayer during times of transition in the life of a church.

Steering Through Chaos also includes profiles from several leading thinkers including Larry Osborne, Dino Rizzo, Greg Surratt, Tim Stevens, and Sam Chand. I know I'll be putting it to use as we plant churches in Philadelphia!

I'd encourage you to pick up a copy of the book for yourself.

Happy transitioning!

Emotional Endurance

 

In October, Leah and I started the Weight Watchers Online Program (thanks to Tory for the inspiration)!  It was great to lose some weight.  But I'm also enjoying the ability to push myself a bit harder in the gym, which is probably another benefit to being 20 pounds lighter.

Since College, I've rarely run more than three miles at a time.  This morning I ran seven miles.  I'm thanking God for His grace in giving me good health, and thinking about training for a half-marathon for the first time in my life.

This experience of building greater physical endurance is a metaphor for something God has been doing in my emotional life--something that is critical for the challenge of church planting.  Church planting is an emotional roller-coaster.  Because so much is constantly developing, I find myself experiencing almost daily highs and lows.  So God has been working on my emotional endurance.

God is constantly preparing us to grow into His plans for us, not only spiritually and physically, but emotionally as well.  Leadership demands that we live in the midst of tension, face conflict, and live through stress.  In the face of these realities, God builds our emotional endurance so we can stay on the leadership treadmill for a longer time, and at a higher level.

My recent experience physically illustrates two ways we can partner with God to build our emotional endurance.

• Eliminate Fat: We need to remove the obstacles to emotional health (sin, lack of sleep, unhealthy relationships, wasted time, etc).

• Overcome Resistance: In the gym, resistance is necessary for stronger muscles or longer endurance.  Likewise, in life, resistance isn't something to escape.  Instead, embrace resistance, lean into it, and overcome it.

As you eliminate fat and overcome resistance, God will build your emotional endurance so that you can experience greater longevity and effectiveness in life and ministry!

Leadership Necessities for the 21st Century

I don't claim to have the corner on this topic, but I did listen to an inspiring talk from Byron Klaus, who leads AGTS, in which he shared 8 demands leaders need to be wrestling with today.  Really meaty stuff that I continue to chew on.

• Knowing who we are and what factors shape us to be who we are (reflect, acknowledge your scars, track answers to prayer, foster a sense of destiny as you recognize the story God is writing with your life)

• Knowing the impact we have on others (influence is currency that should be spent only to serve and benefit people)

• Knowing the values we exhibit in ministry practice (be true to the few things you'd bleed for)

• Valuing integrity and knowing what truly drives us to serve (motives, motives, motives)

• A commitment to the greater good of the communities we serve (create strategic alliances with organizations that share common causes)

• An ability to use power constructively and ethically (claiming to speak God's Word is something to be very careful with)

• A deep commitment to growth toward Christ-likeness (seeing this commitment as the cost that must be paid for leadership success)

• The growing capability to know the difference between humanly devised ministry strategies and divine initiated redemptive mission (not tough to discern between satanic and divine, but between human and divine)

Handing off the Staff

Yesterday I had the honor of commissioning Tal as the new Lead Pastor at COTK.  It was a powerful, emotional day.

I preached Jesus' promise in Matthew 16.18.  The message actually included the same outline that I planned to preach at our church's grand opening service September 19, 2001.  Of course, 9.11 changed my message that week.  But the truth that prompted me to launch COTK is still true.  The Church is God's and can't be stopped.

After the message we sealed a significant moment as a church.  Leah and I blessed Tal and Gwen, their kids, and the leadership of our church.  And then I handed over the staff.

I'm extremely proud of Pastor Tal and our church, and confident that God has positioned them for such a time as this.

To be honest, I feel a little disoriented today.  While this weekend was an exciting culmination of God's leading during this transition season, it was sad as well.  Sad to begin the goodbyes with so many friends and ministry partners, and sad to know that my time as Lead Pastor at COTK is done.  My life has been directed toward planting and serving COTK for almost ten years.

But a minor identity crisis is good for me.  Reminds me to press into Jesus and find my identity in Him.

I'll still be here for a few more weeks, serving Tal and taking care of some final transition details.  And I'll get to preach again on January 17.  Can't wait for that! 

This week I'm also beginning to spend more of my time on our next church planting adventure.  Stay tuned--I'm excited to start sharing more of those details in the next few days.  We still have several unanswered questions, but the details that have come together are blowing me away!

Following the Holy Spirit is a joy, and an adventure.  Let's go!

Shred Your Pain

I've been going through some old files in my office today, trying to determine what to keep, throw away, or hand off to Tal. 

When I got to the "C's" I found a counseling file which contains my confidential notes from various crises I've dealt with in the past eight years.  These include sensitive conflicts, some of which required multiple meetings and church discipline.  Some of them even had me convinced at the time that the church was going to be irreparably damaged.

I realized something encouraging as I looked through my notes.  I experienced a lot of stress while walking through each situation, but until today I didn't even remember these things happened.  Once I saw the notes I could recall some of the details, but it had been months, and in some cases years, since any of this stuff had even crossed my mind--which reminds me of one of my favorite phrases in the Bible. 

It came to pass. 

That thing you're going through right now that feels like it's going to crush you.  That thing you just want to try and ignore because it feels so overwhelming.  You know, that thing you're just convinced is going to be the death of your dream.  Yeah.  That thing.

It won't be too long and you won't even remember it!

Looking back, I can identify the real benefit of these experiences.  God increased my emotional endurance.  Very slowly, and very painfully, He's been building my capacity to lead through difficulty and resolve conflict.  And I'm grateful for it.

Now I get to do something that I'm going to really enjoy.  This file that I'm talking about--I'm about to shred it!

Are you in the midst of some epic difficulty today?  If so, don't give up.  Persevere.  Endure.  It won't be long before your pain is a distant memory on its way to the shredder.

A Morning with Jim Cymbala

On Friday I had the opportunity to join a group of church leaders to spend a few hours with Pastor Jim Cymbala from the Brooklyn Tabernacle.  His book Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire was really influential in the formation of Church of the King.

Pastor Cymbala said several things that were really challenging.  Here are a few thoughts that stood out to me.

• One sure way to grieve God is acting like a minister. God never uses actors. The Holy Spirit is gentle like a dove, and He will withdraw as soon as he sees something that's not real.
• Prayer is the engine that drives the church.
• He rejoices in and appreciates seasons of financial difficulty. When finances are tight it keeps us trusting God.
• When a professional golfer struggles, the first thing a coach will check is his grip. It seems so basic, but we never get past fundamentals. If your ministry feels like it's stalled, go back to the fundamentals of prayer and the Word.
• There's an important difference between Pentecostal sub-culture and New Testament Pentecostalism.
• We like to quote the past and predict the future, but we must care about what is, or isn't happening right now.
• Be careful that you don't have a vision for your church that is different than Jesus' vision for the church. If we all read the same New Testament, we all have a similar vision.
• Most ministers read the Bible looking for ammunition to affirm what they already believe. Instead, we should open Scripture with an open mind.
• Concerning church government--all forms work and all forms don't work. The difference is God. When he is present in the lives of the leaders there is health.
• The Holy Spirit is a person. He doesn't just fill you. He controls you.

Dream Miners

A pastor is like a coal miner--only we're out to uncover hidden dreams.

Today I came across this excellent post from Steven Furtick.  His words prompted me to remember an important tension in leadership.

A leader is responsible to recruit people to use their gifts in an effort to serve a corporate vision.  But there's more to it.  As leaders, we must personally serve the unique dreams that God is birthing in the hearts of our people. 

Our dream should be to see people in our organizations accomplish their own dreams.

Isn't this what it means to equip God's people for works of service?

Yesterday I met with a retired couple in our church.  My purpose was to recruit them to lead a ministry in our church.  But God had something better in mind.  We ended up talking about their dreams for retirement.  The conversation was fulfilling--and energizing!

Are you working hard to staff your ministries?  Take it up a notch, and begin working to release your ministers.

Life on Life

I spent some time this morning in orientation with our newest summer intern.  Mitch will be our 27th intern in 8 years. 

We don't host interns because of what they do for the church (although they always make a contribution).  We host them because we believe that the greatest investment of our time as leaders is personally discipling the next generation of leaders.

I'll spend hours with Mitch this summer in conversation and prayer.  He'll sit in on all of our leadership team meetings.  We'll read books together, prepare for sermons together, and watch the Red Wings together. 

Today I read through the list of young leaders who have done an internship with us.  I'm proud to see how much God has done through their lives already.  It's an honor to serve emerging leaders!

Women in Ministry Quotes

I'm streaky with Twitter.  I tend to post more when I'm traveling and sitting.  So I was a bit more active yesterday during my various flight delays. 

I especially enjoyed following Geoff Surratt while he posted updates from Nancy Beach's talk at the Orange Conference.  Here are some of my favorites:

• God has created many women to be leaders and teachers and he didn't make a mistake.
• Whether complementarian or egalitarian we all need to approach the subject with more grace and humility.
• Churches not using women leaders is like soldiers fighting with one hand tied behind their backs.
• Men need the blessing and guidance of women leaders as well as men leaders.
• If you don't listen to and seek the wisdom of women leaders in your church you are a bonehead (not sure if that one's from Nancy or Geoff).
• On sexual attraction between male and female leaders: "Sorry guys, we're just not that into you."
• Sometimes the greatest barrier in the church to women leaders are other women.

Geoff is posting some great links again today from the conference.  Follow him here.  And you can follow my irregular tweets here:)