Seasonal Leadership

What is the one thing your church could do this Fall that would open the near future - either in the Spring or a bit later?

That's what we call seasonal leadership.  Seasonal leadership begins with asking, "What could we do this summer that would help us in the Fall?"  Could we equip some leaders?  Do a summer reading challenge at our church that could involve everyone?

One church launched "Summer Pursuit: More than Rest…Restore."  The dream was to keep the people connected as they vacationed and played by reading, blogs and facebook.  Restore was built around a reading schedule and each week the worship highlighted something from the reading schedule and recast the vision of what the summer was about. 

What was even more telling was the response of the church!  By setting direction for the summer it allowed the peopleto take action!  It was restorative action not busyness.  Still, it brought a sense of direction, joy, and anticipation to the body.

Setting a seasonal direction can make the vision even more "earthy" as the people not only hear the larger picture (vision), but see the next steps toward that vision.  Seasonal direction also gives meaning and significance to every thing the church does.  Sermon series, an outreach event, small groups, etc. all have meaning in the season which helps to accomplish the larger vision.

Seasonal direction can give handholds for the vision so that the average person knows how to engage the vision, knows what to do that can add significance to the church, sees their part as a meaningful piece of the larger vision that the Lord is breathing into the leadership.

Seasonal leadership can be as short as 3 months or as long as 12 months.  Leaders need to cast vision beyond 12 months but when a leader brings it down to the next 3-12 months with real action steps (launching small groups, hosting a Friend Day, etc), the leader empowers the people to action.

What's the most important thing for your church in this season? 

Filling Tasks With Vision

My team mate just did an amazing job of leading.  GraceRiver is a vision rich community full of life and power.  As we are doing a backpack drive for the start of school our church body donated 144 backpacks ready with supplies.  To get the backpacks filled they had a packing party!  And this was the key leadership act on his part.  He told the key organizer/ leader that one of the values was to gather different members of the body and have them connect as they accomplished the task.  The goal was to keep building the community, keep connecting the people.  It became more than just about backpacks!  Yes, the mission of getting the backpacks ready was accomplished but much more was accomplished... community was built, acceptance was given, friendship and faith was ignited.  And the result?  The vision of the mission of leading people to real life in Jesus was lived out as was the value of community.

Filling tasks with vision pushes the vision to the outer banks of the organization.  But it is more than just reminding people what we are doing and why, it is viewing each task a moment to build momentum, to live out a value that will have far reaching impact.

GraceRiver is a blessed place.  So many people made this back to school mission happen.  But we are blessed as well for the leaders we have, leaders who get the vision, who live the vision and who embed the vision in every task.  Here's to my team mate who rocked it big time!!!

Making Vision Seeable!

Most visionaries are abstract thinkers.  That can frustrate those who want to follow but just can't figure out what that vision looks like, what to do, what steps to take.  Vision has to be made "seeable" to those even on the fringe of the organization.  One way to do that is to take the purpose statement (vision) and then use the calendar to connect every activity to the vision.  We have found it really helpful to name each season (this current season of Fall 2012 is "Prayer and Planting") and then showing how each event, every resource and calendar is fulfilling that vision.  

For us that looks like the following:

Planting

Backpack Drive                                 Aug 5-19

Meet the Teacher                             Aug 16

                                                       10-11a & 5-6p

Back to School w/GR                      Aug 19

Kid’s Curriculum Launch                Aug 19

God Space Reading Plan                Sept 2

“Gifted: Discovering How

You Can Impact the World”          Sept 16-30

Growth Groups Begin                     Sept 16

Friend Day                                        Oct 7

Trick or Treat Block Party                Oct 31

Angel Tree                                         Nov

Christmas Eve Worship                   Dec 24

Prayer

Prayer focused worship                    Aug 12

Week of fasting & prayer                 Aug 26-Sept 2

Day of Prayer                                                Oct 22

Day of Prayer                                                Nov 12

Day of Prayer                                                Dec 10

As we lead our people through this plan the feedback was "We have direction!  We know what we are doing."

And the abstract vision became concrete!

Prophets, Priests and Kings

The Old Testament structure for the people of God had three leadership positions.  The king was the governmental rule.  The king had legislative power, laws and taxation, a kingdom to run, etc.  The priest was to keep the people connected to God, to "run" the temple system which was intended to be pathways (traditions) that would help the people to be right with the Lord.  Priestly laws had to do with worship, ethics, relationships and the like.

Both of these mostly had a line of descendants who would follow in their father's footsteps.  Occasionally a king was overthrown and a new king came to power who was not part of the family tree.  Priests were,by and large, all of the same bloodline.

The prophet, however, was a horse of another color.  Prophets had no blood line.  In fact, most of them were people of obscurity until the Lord "called" them to the place of a prophet.  The stood outside the system.  That is significant.  Sometimes being in the system causes leaders to compromise, to shift in decision making to what is best for them, to lead from popularity rather than from direction from the Lord.  The system is set to create a culture of health and obedience.  But when a leader begins to compromise, to lead out of fear or selfishness, the system is corrupt.  Enter the prophet!  No prior connection.  Nothing to lose.  No dog in the hunt.  Free to fulfill the call of God.

Mostly the prophets move on the scene and then disappear.  No wonder.  They are not a part of the system but God's way of entering the system when it goes awry to call His people back.  Prophets enter the drama then exit having done their work, speaking the word of God at the moment.  That requires that the key attribute of the prophet is not boldness but prayer.  The prophet must hear from the Lord.

So the question of the day is how do you know you are hearing from a prophet?  Isn't it likely that if the system is going awry and I am a part of the system I would dismiss the prophet?  Maybe that is why the Lord would send his prophets but they were seldom heard.  Can I hear?  Can you?

Peaks and Valleys

Chapter 8 of Screwtape Letters gives us a different understanding of valleys. Low moments are alive with the presence of the Lord!! I've been trying to remember that when I hit low moments when life seems dark and God seems far. That truth, that these are fertile moments for the Lord to work breeds hope and joy in the valley.

One of the powerful realities of community, life together in small groups is that others can remind us that though the moment seems hard when we lose a job or face a crisis the Lord is with us and is at work!!

In a valley today? You are right where the hand of God can be more evident!! You have a God. Valleys are fertile ground to grow real faith!!

Celebrating the Leaders @ GraceRiver

Tuesday evening our small group leaders met to debrief the year, celebrate and set direction for the coming Fall.  The room was full of vision, passion and the presence of the Lord.  These people are amazing!  The Lord moves big in them and through them.  This community will never be the same!!!

Who's on your team?  Who stokes your fire and fuels your vision?  II Corinthians 2:12-14 this trailblazer named Paul leaves a wide open opportunity and moves on looking for his teammate Titus.  Imagine that, he leaves a wide open opportunity!  Church is not a place we go.  Church is not a Sunday experience.  Church is a group of people called together to make a difference in this world.  People... called together...to make a difference!  This Summer we want to be on your team, fueling your fire and restoring your soul so that we can have the flow of His life into and through us.  Together we experience joy, hope, vision and passion.  Come join the team at GraceRiver and experience the real meaning of "church"!

Better Together

Many Bible scholars understand Paul the apostle to be an independent type, task driven, mission oriented leader and he was. But once in a while we get a glimpse inside the heart and life of a leader by what they say, do or don't say or do. II Corinthians 2:12-14 Paul discovers an open door for ministry to Troas. But he doesn't stay. In spite of the open moment he moves on. Why? Looking for Titus! This independent apostle still needed "team". Instead of feeling guilty, thinking he was missing an open door, he moved to on and experienced that the Lord would use him wherever he went.

We are better together. We need teammates! One of the cool joys of GraceRiver is doing ministry with so many amazing teammates! I find encouragement, laughter, joy, hope and care when we serve together. It is such an amazing gift to be together in this pursuit of God's heart. Here's hoping you are finding teammates to dream together, laugh together, pray together and fill each other's heart with hope!

The Time Value of Leadership

Which is true,  "If your church does not break 200 in the first 36 months it never will!"  Or, "The best years of a pastor often begin in years 5, 6 or 7?"  Two very different viewpoints!  Maybe both are true!  But if you are past year 3 what do you do now?

 

The time value of money says invest your money in the right places, consistently and over time you will experience the results.  Watching churches and church leaders across the country, I see the same power of exponential impact is often catalyzed by leaders who consistently build a culture of outreach, develop leaders, and hang in through the ups and downs. 

 

Leaders want to make a difference.  We want to see progress and impact.  We do the reading. We go to conferences and experience a dream moment there. When we hear of a church that has reached the pivot moment, explosive growth, we mistakenly ask the leader what catalyzed the pivotal moment.  The mistake is thinking that if we could harness that one pivotal moment and inject it into our church we could ride the wave as well.

 

However, what is most often overlooked, are the day by day steps the leader took leading to that pivotal moment.  Success and impact is never the result of one decision.  It may be the result of "one more" added decision that catalyzed the move. More often, that move began decades earlier when the church decided to relocate to a growing side of town, focus on the children's ministry, become outward focused, or call a new leader.  The day-by-day process of forming disciples who live missionally, give sacrificially,  and serve passionately may take months or even years to create the desired growth wave.  The time value of leadership reminds leaders to keep doing the right things (Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9).

 

Jim Collins "Good to Great" clearly declares that the process of creating the good to great movement (exponential growth in a church) flows from a series of steps.  Those steps "turn the flywheel" and cause the growth more than a stand alone moment, decision, added staff or outreach event could do.

 

The time value of leadership says keep turning the flywheel (making disciples and building a culture that has the power and passion of the Spirit flowing freely).  The time value of leadership declares that if a leader will think strategically, day by day make one more decision that will prepare for the expansion (multiplying leaders, creating a better assimilation system, etc) a harvest will one day come.  It may be that leader will not be present to see the results, but leave no doubt when the pivot moment ignites, the day by day leadership becomes the foundation for sustained growth and development.

 

Day by day, decision by decision we are building a future, leaning forward in the hope that our efforts will have a harvest.  That's the time value of leadership.

Sacrifice

Sacrifice opens the door to the future. Unknowingly, when we resist sacrifice, we close the future for ourselves and those we love.

Palm Sunday

I am jazzed about this coming Palm Sunday. Easter can seem so much like just another day we want to celebrate but just can't seem to really get there. This Palm Sunday we are going to take our people from the parade of Jesus entry where the masses celebrated to the upper room where Jesus dipped a piece of bread into the wine, held it out and looking at the disciples said, "This is my body broken for you." That moment would have been etched in the minds of the twelve forever. Hoping it will be for GraceRiver, too!

The Vision Challenge

One of the most difficult jobs for a pastor is casting vision.  Although many of us would think that visioning would be a strong suit for us, the reality is that casting a vision others can see and are captured by, is very, very difficult.

 

A part of that challenge is the speaker, the visionary.  Unaware, we work under the idea that if we say it they will get it!  The truth is that most people are not auditory learners!  One pastor told me people were using "the ignorant card" on him.  After all, he has told them a hundred times!  After listening and thinking more I told him it wasn't a card.  They actually were ignorant!  That is not an insult - it is real.  Speaking a vision that people immediately get and gravitate towards is nearly impossible.  Another pastor, speaking of his church not inviting the unchurched was asked by a consultant, "What is happening?  Why have the people not reached out?"  His answer, "I don't know I told them to do it!"

 

Telling is one form of vision communication.  Are their others?  How does Jesus cast vision?  In Mark 1 he announces, "The Kingdom of God is here."  He does speak the vision, announce that the future has arrived and God is here.  But… vision is hard to hear.  We read the scripture flat and unaware of the struggles of the people of Jesus' community to grasp the vision.  But struggle they did.  So, Jesus kept "casting vision" using more than words.

 

When he heals the leper (Mark 1) it is Kingdom come!  The Kingdom IS here and it looks like that!  More than words, people now see the effects of the Kingdom and may now grasp a bit deeper what the Kingdom looks like, what it does - how it transforms life.  Stay in the leper's story.  Kingdom come for the leper would mean no more isolation into a leper camp!  He would be brought back to community, his family and friends.  Kingdom come moves into what separates people.  Kingdom come breaks down barriers between people (as Paul said in Ephesians about breaking down the dividing wall).  And he, the leper, could go into the temple!  Lepers, any with a deformity or sickness, would not be allowed into the temple.  Think of the implications of that one.  No wonder the disciples (and the people of that time) thought that deformities and sickness must be a sign of being punished for it kept people out of the "God place" of the temple!  That would be huge!  Kingdom come brings families together and paves the way for people to come to God.  (Sounds like the ministry of Jesus, doesn't it?).

 

Casting vision goes far beyond just saying a few words in a Sunday sermon or writing a vision statement on a wall or web site.  Casting vision is using more than words.  It is demonstrating what the vision looks like when it is being fulfilled.  That would mean us taking our vision statement and creating moments when people could experience vision fulfillment.  It means tying everything to the vision so that the people begin to taste the kingdom in a variety of experiences and places and begin to know what living this vision really looks like.

 

Keep thinking through Jesus' vision casting.  How does his blessing the children fulfill the Kingdom come vision?  How does feeding the 5,000 express Kingdom values?  What is Kingdom come about the time he tells the disciples to not stop someone else from casting out demons in his name?

 

If you are experiencing a level of challenge about now - you should.  I certainly am!  Visioning is way more than just telling.  It is getting into the nuances of what the vision will look like and creating moments (ministries, opportunities, etc) and then saying, once the people experience it, "That is what our vision looks like."

 

Getting practical

 

How about starting here.  Write down your vision: "life change", "real life", "reaching the lost", "making disciples", and then do some deeper thinking.  What are the nuances of your vision?  What does life change look like?  What does real life look like?  And here's some real help.  Don't do that alone.  Why not get a few key people and ask them to join this vision nuance moment.  What would happen if we do bring life change, real life to people?  How would their lives really change? How would they experience real life?  Get some key people to enter the dream with you.  (By the way, that is one key way to cast vision, to get a few to move toward the vision rather than thinking that everyone on Sunday gets it.  Jesus spent most of his time on a few not the "Sunday crowd".)

 

If "real life" or "life change in Jesus" means families connect (like the leper healed), how can you help that to happen.  If making disciples is more than going to church on Sunday, what does it mean?  How can you create a process for people to follow so that they do move forward spiritually?  If reaching the lost is the vision, how can you create moments for your people to connect to lost people and from there begin to pray for them? 

 

The point is how can we get past the telling stage?  How can we mix the heavenly vision with the earthy reality so that our people are captured by it and choose to give their lives to it?

 

This vision thing is challenging work.  It is far more than dreaming a bigger church, telling people to reach the lost, or a Sunday sermon.  It is taking the time to think through what the vision would look like and getting your people into those moments so that they will "see" (a major way we learn) the vision. 

 

One writer said, "Jesus was always imagining the Kingdom and creating moments for people to experience it."  Take the time to imagine.  Get a few people to imagine with you and nuance it further.  Why?  "Without a vision the people…"

 

The Right People

The future of any church or organization is having the right people in the room and in the right places. This is such a season of delight at GraceRiver as we look around and see people with joy, passion and hope on the team. We are so excited to see the future, to build it with these people, to love, laugh, serve and honor the Lord with them. The right people are in the room and that means the future will be really special!

Vision

Leaders talk a lot about vision and we should. But I am wondering if we miss a key part of the visioning moment. Vision is much more than just a big picture that we throw out and hope someone grasps and joins us. Jesus did broadcast vision. However, he also made vision very specific to his key leaders. Peter he gave a vision of being a rock, solid, foundational. James and John he named sons of thunder, men of passion. The vision Jesus cast would call for sacrifice and commitment. But it was clearly to be a blessing, a specific blessing that would alter the lives of those committed in a positive way. Vision always has to be digested so that people understand what they are giving their lives for and who they will become along the way.

The Distance Between Reality and Vision

Met with the guys for leadership again Saturday. That is an amazing time. We laugh, care and learn together. it is fueling passion among us and commitment between us. This week we walked through the distance between where people are and the vision. Here's the takeaway. The further people are from the vision, the more distance between the values and the more people have to unlearn before they can learn the more time and nuances the vision will demand.

The disciples had a vision of a warrior King. Therefore, learning that Jesus would be a suffering servant King would take many conversations and moments of picturing the vision for them. No wonder Peter rebuked Jesus! Suffering wasn't a part of the vision he carried even though he was following Jesus.

When our vision is not natural to the culture, to the thinking of the people it will take us as leaders many times of teaching but more than that, it will take debriefing, interpreting events and decisions, and getting the people into moments when they will experience the vision first hand.

Jesus took the disciples on a journey of understanding what the Kingdom of God was like. At times it would wear him out! But he kept teaching, showing, challenging, picturing for them. It takes lots of time and many pictures for people to get the vision. The more the differences between the culture and the values of what is from what the vision will be the more work it will be required. But eventually, a community is born full of vision and passion and the world changes!!!