Today, in one of my breakout sessions, I heard something I’ll definitlely be repeating at some point.
Jeff Henderson, the campus pastor at Buckhead Church said this (and he attributed this quote to Andy Stanley):
“When something dies, it begins to smell bad! What smells bad in your church? It might be dead.”
Just a thought.
The Orange Conference crew surprised us all in our latest session by bringing Andy Stanley in, and asking him some questions.
For those of you who may not know Andy, he is the lead pastor of Northpoint Community Church, and the author of several of my favorite books, including, “The 7 Practices of Effective Ministry”, “Choosing to Cheat”, “Communicating for a Change”, and “The Best Question Ever”.
Although it was an interview format, I still walked away with some great notes.
Here are a few of them:
“At our church, we want people to become self-feeders. We quit holding people’s hands a lot earlier than most models of church do.”
“Everyone I’ve ever talked to has experienced spiritual growth and progress due to one or more of the following: Practical Teaching, Providential Relationships, Private Disciplines, Pivotal Circumstances, or Personal Ministry”
“If spiritual growth happens this way, then why not be more intentional about making these things happen?”
“Why can’t we do what God wants us to do without being critical of someone else who is doing what God wants them to do?”
“If you’re teachable, you’ll go further faster. If you’re not teachable, you’ll have to learn everything the hard way!”
“Everything we do must be tied back to the fact that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God…if this truth is getting lost while you help the poor or do whatever else it is that you’re passionate about, then you’re missing the point!”
Donald Miller is a writer and speaker who is probably best known for his book, Blue Like Jazz. Throughout his talk yesterday evening, he made it clear that he’s not really a leader, but at the same time, wanted to talk about leadership observations he’s made. Here are a few things he said…
A great leader is a person who gets to know me in such a way that I want to take part in their vision.
A great leader consistently involves someone in the process of the journey.
A great leader speaks something into nothingness.
I think my favorite statement he made was, “If the leader you’re following isn’t following anyone else, find another leader to follow.”
Not my favorite session so far, but I definitely left with a few takeaways.
Although the first breakout of the day was exceptional, the second breakout session I attended was beyond brilliant.
Reggie Joiner led the second breakout session and he shared with us eight observations from Andy Stanley’s leadership style.
I wish I had the space to blog about everything he mentioned with each principle, but for today, the eight principles themselves will have to do.
1. Meet to learn
2. Ask the right questions
3. Believe the best
4. Establish margin
5. Move the spotlight
6. Keep things simple
7. Personalize the strategy
8. Lead exponentially
Again, I wish I could break all this down for you, but it would take up way too much space. Trust me though…amazing stuff!
I attended two breakouts today and both were outstanding.
The first breakout session was led by Carey Nieuwhof, and centered around simplifying your church.
Here are some of the notes from that session on “How to Become and Stay Simple”:
1. Redesign with the end of mind.
2. Think steps, not programs.
Do less for more.
Make the things you do easy, obvious, and strategic steps that actually move people along their spiritual journeys toward an actual destination.
3. Get great at saying, “No!”
Most of us are unconsciously willing to let our organizations suffer to avoid personal pain
4. Cultivate Organizational and Personal Alignment
Aligned “B” players are more effective than super-star “A” players who won’t work together.
Select team members who have a greater heart for the vision than they do for their place in the vision.
