Top 18 quotes: 2014 Global Leadership Summit

This week for the 6th year in a row Grace Church hosted Willow Creek's Global Leadership Summit. It continues to be one of the most important events in my own development as a person and a leader. Here are some of my favorite quotes from this year's Summit. They are in no particular order.

1. If you know the right thing to do, and you don't do it, that for you is evil. -Ivan Satyavrata
2. When it looks like everything is going wrong, embrace the darkness. God is preparing you for a greater role in his unfolding story. -Louie Giglio
3. Gaps exist all over our countries, cities and villages. Gaps today are wider and more destructive than they've ever been. God is still asking, "who will stand in the gap" -Wilfredo DeJesus
4. I want to know the God that makes my mom this happy. -Tyler Perry
5. Going through tough times makes us humble. Humility isn't a character trait that we develop--it is a byproduct of being with Jesus. -Louie Giglio
6. Any time you find yourself stuck, there is always a crucial conversation that needs to happen that's not happening. -Joseph Grenny
7. We often believe the myth that we have to choose between telling the truth and keeping a friend. -Joseph Grenny  
8. Crucial conversations can become a trust-building accelerant toward intimacy for our organizations, teams, or families. -Joseph Grenny
9. I'm tired of hearing about "servant leadership" -- because I don't think there is any other kind. -Patrick Lencioni
10. You can't be too vulnerable as a leader. People expect us to be competent, but they don't want us to be perfect, they want us to be human. -Patrick Lencioni
11. Our identity can get wrapped up in being a leader--and this is a problem when it crowds out our higher identities as a child of God, a parent or spouse. -Patrick Lencioni
12. Stop the madness in group work and team brainstorming. This is torture for introverts. Use a hybrid approach: let people work alone, and then come back to the group to share. -Susan Cain
13. You can't tell anything about a leader when the sun is up, when times are good. It takes a crisis to really discover a true leader. -Jeffery Immelt
14. The highest calling of leadership is to unlock the potential of others. -Carley Fiorina
15. Leaders with the highest level of vision and passion often have the lowest level of awareness of the spirit of the team surrounding him/her. -Bill Hybels
16. Every meeting should contain the three M's: 1) Move something ahead; 2) Modify the plan as needed; 3) Motivate your team. Make sure they leave encouraged. -Bill Hybels
17. If we invite the Kingdom of God to where we are (business, politics, etc.), I believe God will take over and we will begin to see better societies. -Allen Catherine Kagina
18. Each one of us is more like orchestra than a soloist. We must learn to negotiate with our inner team. -Erica Ariel Fox

I took a 50% pay cut this week…

This past week was one of the most heart-quickening weeks in my 18 years of ministry. It started on Monday when our Central Team at Grace Church got another discouraging financial report about November. We are in a $22K hole already this fall (our fiscal year starts in September).  What’s concerning is that historically the fall tends to be a strong financial season for us. We don’t fully understand these giving trends since other indicators are generally good – attendance is strong, we’re constantly hearing stories of life-transformation, many are experiencing forward motion in their faith, our people are active and engaged in serving the community, etc.  Certainly, there are some new realities that we can’t ignore; the economic downturn, a bit of a turnover in our membership due to some recent transitions, a very young demographic that we’re reaching. (you can read the letter we sent to our congregation here).

We needed to quickly create some margin in our budget so that ministry can continue as planned.  We believe strongly that God has called us to do the things that are in our budget this year. We also can’t keep going further and further in the hole and considering using our line of credit to fund ministries or salaries until things turn around. I was not ready to move toward ministry reductions (we would have to eliminate an entire department) or staff layoffs (I believe we have the right people on the team).  And truthfully the ultimate answer isn’t cutting staff or ministries – it’s moving the people of our church toward generosity in their giving. But how does one do that? Our leaders decided to lead the way. 


In order to spark a movement of generosity at Grace, Kim and I talked and prayed and decided to reduce my salary by 50% during the next three months. I also proposed this to our Central team and our staff...  voluntary salary reductions. I was overwhelmed by the response. On average our staff is taking a 20% pay reduction over the next 3 months until we right the ship and figure out what’s going on.  I was moved to tears so many times last week as I got reports of what staff members were doing. In addition, our elders started sending emails – some of them are committing to increase their giving up to 50% and  100% during this time.   It’s as close to Acts 2 as I have felt in a long time. All of the leaders at Grace, including Kim and I, are going to feel this deeply.  Everyone made a sacrificial decision that will lead to a different kind of Christmas this year.


But among all the other options, here’s why we chose to take the approach we did. 

1. Church leaders must lead by example. As church leaders, we can scold our churches into generosity, we can preach them into generosity, or we can lead them into generosity through our example. This decision by the leaders at Grace was a clear demonstration to our church that we believe in our mission to the core. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 11:1 Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.  Our leaders stepped up to the plate this week and said to our church, ‘follow us as we follow Christ.’ 
2. The church must solve problems in community.  The impact of this past week on our staff is immeasurable. The most frequent response I got from staff members was “thank you.”  What a strange response from people who just had their salaries reduced for three months! Why would they be thankful?  I suppose everyone was aware that we could have simply started laying people off, but instead we chose to address the problem together – all hands in (We may eventually still need to consider layoffs, but at least we gave it our best shot first).  As we walked through this hands-in-the-middle moment together, our staff is as close as we’ve ever been to one another. There are stories of staff and their spouses sharing deep and intimate moments together as they considered what they would sacrifice for the cause.  We are better for having turned to community first and tried to solve this problem together. It reminds me of Acts 4:32 - All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.
3. Church leaders must embrace opportunities to sacrifice for the sake of the gospel. Jesus has always called his followers to sacrifice.  He said in Luke 9:23, whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.  Sacrifice means giving to the Lord whatever He requires: our time, our earthly possessions, our energies to further His work. Christians have always been tried and tested to see if they will put the things of God first in their lives. And I’m convinced that we are most like Jesus when we choose sacrificial generosity. This week the leaders at Grace Church were put to this test, and they stood up. 

I pray that many more in our congregation will also stand up – and learn the beauty of sacrificial generosity.

Leadership Summit Day 2 Highlights

The 2011 Global Leadership Summit is in the books. I'm so proud that Grace Church is associated with this event. We had nearly 300 leaders from a variety of different organizations and over 30 churches from throughout the region. The conference blog is here if you'd like to catch up with some of the backstage information and session summaries. I'm including my favorite quotes from each speaker on day two along with a link to Tim Schraeder's blog summaries of each talk - he does a great job capturing each speaker with thorough notes. 


Mama Maggie Gorban - Silence yourself to listen to God.  Silence your tongue to listen to your thoughts.  Silence your thoughts to listen to your heart beating. Silence your heart to listen to your spirit.  Silence your spirit to listen to His Spirit. In silence you leave the many... to be with the One. 


Michelle Rhee - I would much rather have anger than apathy (in the people I'm trying to lead). 


Henry Cloud - Don't let someone else's character problems stop your vision.


John Dickson - Some of the most inspiriting leaders in all of history had no structural authority. Sometimes you don't need the power to hire and fire to change empires or individuals. You don't need the keys to the kingdom to have impact on the kingdom.


Pat Lencioni - In order to be vulnerable as leaders we must overcome the fear of being embarrassed. When we're leading/serving others- we sometimes have to do things that could embarrass us.  We have to ask questions that might make us look stupid. 


Erwin McManus - The church needs to reclaim its place as the incubator of God-given talent and potential inside of every human being. There is no better way to live than to redeem the image of God in every human being. 


If you were at this year's Summit - what was the most impacting moment for you?

Leadership Summit Day 1 Highlights

This was one of the best first days of the Willowcreek Global Leadership Summit since I've been attending the conference. It was a great mix of practical leadership advice, stretching vision ideas, and personal inspiration and challenge.  I'm including links to Tim Schraeder's notes from each session since they are very thorough along with my favorite quote from each keynote speaker of today.


Bill Hybels - Are you naming, facing, and resolving the problems that exist in your church or organization?  Leaders call problems 'problems' and then turn over heaven and earth to try to solve them.


Len Schlesinger - We have been educated to believe that failure is a dirty word, but failure doesn’t mean “game over;” it means try again with experience.


Cory A. Booker - The world you see outside of you will always be a reflection of what you have inside of you


Dr. Brenda Salter McNeal - A mutli-national, multi-lingual, multi-racial church was born in Acts 2. From the beginning the church was a global movement. Are we going to be global Christians?

Seth Godin - If failure is not an option... then neither is success.


Steven Furtick - Having good ideas doesn't make you a visionary, it makes you a daydreamer.  The difference between the two is having the courage and audacity to act. If the size of your vision isn't intimidating to you, there is a good chance that it's insulting to God. 

Getting the most out of conferences

We are hosting the Willowcreek Global Leadership Summit this week at Grace Church. It is 

a tremendous event and has had a huge impact on our church over the years. As an 

occasional attendee at conferences of this sort, I'm always looking for ways to leverage the 

time most effectively.  I was reminded of some advice I received a few years ago from my friend Bob about getting the most out of conferences.  Here are a few thoughts that I found 

most helpful. 

1.  Note Taking. Keep a running list of thoughts and notes from each general session and breakout workshop.  If possible take your laptop so you can email and live blog what you are learning.  I like to take notes for application and action instead of content when there are reliable bloggers who are blogging content (a common occurrence at most conferences).  I 

have found that they capture content far better than I ever could - so I just need to be responsible for what I'm going to do with the information.   

2.  Daily Wrap-Up. If you’re with a team use meal times and breaks to debrief your learnings/insights. Group discussions always yield great understanding of the session/topic, 

you get to hear other point’s of view.  Include insights from these debriefing times in your notes.

3.  What do you think we need to think about?  Good conferences raise questions, great conferences cause us to question and evaluate what we’re doing.  Be sure to write down 

what questions you’re beginning to ask, questions you believe we should be asking, 

questions worth asking.  Plan to incorporate these questions into future meetings with 

your teams when you get back home. 

What older leaders should know about younger leaders

I ran across this post from Brad Lomenick of Catalyst fame about older leaders understanding younger leaders better.  At age 40 I find myself in the middle of this spectrum between young and old.  We have worked hard at Grace to continue to stay young with our staff hires and our volunteer leaders. It is so easy for churches to allow their ideas, their methods, and their programs to become outdated and stuck.  We want to avoid this by creating ample opportunities for young leaders to be involved in leadership roles in our ministry. I have seen the truth of Brad's post first-hand as I've worked with young leaders.  I picked the three insights from Brad that I resonated with the most (Brad lists 14).

1.  Willing to work together - young leaders are more willing to collaborate than any other generation before. They trust each other. Really. And see collaboration as the starting point, not some grandiose vision of teamwork that is far off in the distance. Collaboration is now the norm. Many young leaders don’t care who gets the credit- it’s way less about WHO and way more about WHAT.

2. Authenticity and humility wins - trust is incredibly important. Leaders won’t have followers going forward unless they trust them and see that they are authentic and real. Authenticity is not only important to the next generation; it’s a requirement. The next generation wants to follow leaders who are willing to admit that they don’t know it all.

3. See social justice as the norm  Leaders who care about the poor and lean into causes and see the social gospel as a key ingredient to following Christ are no longer seen as the exception. Young leaders see taking care of the poor and sharing the Gospel as BOTH crucial to the advancement of the Church and of God’s Kingdom. 


If you are an older leader, what are some insights/experiences you have had in working with younger leaders?  Younger leaders, what would you add to this list?

Are people glad to see you coming?

I heard a quote recently that said, "would you rather lighten up a room when you enter it or when you leave it?" If you are a leader, and you are leading in a God-ordained way, then most often, those you lead will be glad to see you coming around the corner.  This applies to your workplace, to your neighborhood, to your family, to your team, etc. Three things should happen in those that you lead when you walk into the room...

1. They will be refreshed and ready to grow when you are around. They will not dread your presence. 
2. They will look forward to seeing you. You will add energy to their day and not drain energy from it.
3. They will be filled with hope and not despair. They know that even when it is dark in their world you’ll come looking for them.

For those who are not leading teams of people, try applying these 3 criteria to your kids or your spouse... how are you doing?

Combating Workaholism

We went to Arizona for vacation this spring.  It was my first 2 week vacation in many years.  The vacation allowed me to reflect and re-prioritize. Workaholism is something that I've struggled with throughout my career (although I feel like I've made some good strides since the old youth ministry days). There is a great article at Relevant Magazine that has a list of 10 ways to break through workaholism.  You can read the whole article here.  I've grabbed 3 of their suggestions to highlight here - the content from the article is in italics.

1. Observe the Sabbath

Because of my job, Sunday isn't a good Sabbath day for me.  But Friday is the day that I try to reserve for Sabbath.  I don't think the main point is the exact day, but that one day out of seven be set aside for rest and reflection.  I've tried to be much more intentional about how I spend my Sabbath day in recent months. 

After God had spent six days creating the earth, He rested on the seventh day and sanctified it. In Exodus 20: 8:10, we’re instructed: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work”. This isn’t just a suggestion—Sabbath observance is the fourth of the Ten Commandments. Going to church and then coming home to plug in your laptop so you can work the rest of the day just won’t cut it. If you know there’s a big meeting or a final coming up at the start of the week, push yourself hard on the previous Thursday and Friday. Bottom line: If a day of rest is good enough for God, it’s good enough for you, too.  

2. Unplug From Technology

I chose not to take my laptop on our vacation.  This was a good decision. It allowed me opportunity to slow everything down by removing the constant flow of information.

Dr. Bryan Robinson, author of Chained to the Desk, calls technology “the opium of our generation,” and few of us can claim we’ve never felt something of a rush when using a tech toy. But just because you’ve got a new, flashy cell phone, Blackberry or iPhone doesn’t mean you have to answer it, even if your company’s paying for it. Weekends and evenings are what the “ringer off” setting is designed for, so use it. You won’t be able to check work email if you don’t plug in your laptop, and let’s be honest: What could have happened at your job that’s so urgent it needs your immediate attention at 11 p.m. on a Saturday night?

3. Stop Procrastinating

This is one that I need to continue to get better at.  It is the #1 contributor to my workaholism.  When I'm staying ahead on projects and deadlines my workflow is much more manageable.  I've been a life-long procrastinator -and just this year I've started to leverage my calendar and pre-planning to try to combat this.  I'm forcing myself into a schedule that keeps the procrastination to a minimum and helps me to work ahead.

Responding immediately to friends' and colleagues’ voice mails, IMs, Facebook posts, and emails adds up, eventually creating a mountain between you and what you need to get done before the end of the day. Leaving projects until the last minute can be even worse, as it creates unnecessary pressure and can leave you unprepared for that important presentation to your boss. If you plan ahead, particularly for big projects, and block off time daily during which phone, IM and email are off limits, you’ll have no problem getting tasks finished.

What are some tips that you have found helpful in combating workaholism?

3 Stages in every great work of God

From the great missionary Hudson Taylor...every great work of God goes through 3 stages:

1. It's impossible
2. It's difficult
3. It's done

What great work is God preparing you for that looks impossible right now?

Why is Grace Launching a Second Campus? Part 5

I have been posting some thoughts on why Grace is launching a second campus in Harborcreek this spring.  Today's post is for you ministry strategy geeks.  It's an inside look at some of the structural grids we have used to think through how our two campuses will operate and how they will remain unified despite their differences.


1. IPOD's
This was a concept that we borrowed from a book that our team read together called A Multi Site Church Road Trip.  It is a grid that helped us to think through what programming we would offer at our Harbor Creek Campus and in what order of priority. The acronym stands for:

• I - Initial (programs that we will offer in full at launch)
• P - Priority (programs that we will offer within the first 12 months)
• O - Optional (programs that we will offer as we are able)
• D - Discouraged (programs that we never intend to offer)

Then we listed out all of our ministry areas and passed them through this grid.  So, we looked at  Worship, Tech, Staff, Guests, Groups, Kids, Students, College/Young Adults, Community/Missions, Facility, Budget, Preaching, Communications, Volunteers, Adult Education, etc. and decided what we needed at launch, what we needed within the first year, what we would offer as we were able and what we would never do.  This construct was very helpful in thinking through the scope of our programming.


2. Alignment vs. Contextualization
This is a grid that we learned from my buddy Dan Nold at Calvary Baptist Church in State College.  It's basically an acknowledgement that when you launch a new multi site campus some energy comes from alignment with the launching church and some energy comes from the freedom in contextualizing ministry for the particular community that you're in.  Some multi site approaches like LifeChurch and Newspring tend to lean toward alignment while others lean toward contextualization (almost to the point of a church plant). We want to walk this balance.  To seek alignment where it makes sense so our campuses don't have to re-invent the wheel in different areas.  But also, to seek contextualization where it makes sense - so that they can use strategies to reach the Harbor Creek area that are different than the strategies we are using to reach McKean/Millcreek.

Alignment and contextualization are two wheels on the same axel.  If you only have one you’ll be going around in circles. Some things that bring alignment are vision, mission, values, whole-church events, and words/names that are used to describe programs and ministries. Some things that bring contextualization are methodologies, community-specific events, worship service elements, etc.

3. The 5 C's of Clarity

This final construct speaks to how decisions are made between campuses. We are very clear that for the ministry staff at Grace Harbor Creek authority flows vertically through the Campus Pastor (Mike Watson), and influence flows horizontally through ministry counterparts at Grace McKean.  But how do ministry decisions get made on a day to day, week to week basis?  We've come up with the 5 C's of Clarity.

• COLLABORATION - the first stop is just to collaborate with ministry counterparts at Grace McKean.  Most decisions will be made at this level.  Children's team leaders from Grace Harbor Creek will meet regularly with Children's team leaders at Grace McKean and most of the week to week decision making will happen at this level.
• CONSTANTS - if there is not clarity on a particular decision from simple collaboration - teams will consult our campus constants.  Each ministry has a list of 3-5 constants which are ministry values that will carry through to all campuses. This constants contain the basic ministry philosophy for each department and should clear up most decisions.
• CHURCHES - we are developing a list of mentoring churches - one for each ministry area - who are also doing multi site church.  If there is still cloudiness about a decision that needs to be made in, say, our guest services ministry department, they will have a mentoring church contact that they can email and ask what that church does in this particular instance.  There is no reason for us to re-invent the wheel when so many other churches are doing multi site ministry successfully.
• CAMPUS PASTOR - there are some decisions that will need to come to the Campus Pastor to make a call on.  He will have a finger on the pulse of both the church and the community and should be able to be a final tie-breaker in any decision that is having trouble coming to resolution.
• CENTRAL STAFF - finally some of our staff will be acting in a central role. That is - they will not have duties associated to only one specific campus but will have responsibilities to all campuses equally.  This small team will serve as a leadership team over the whole multi site movement at Grace. The Campus Pastor will be able to come to this team at any time for counsel or advice on specific ministry decisions that will affect the whole church. There will be times when this team has to weigh in on decisions because they will have church-wide implications.

Feel free to post any thoughts or questions and I'll be happy to interact with you.  And if you're a church leader who is considering going multi site let me know.  We've learned a lot through this process and have gathered tons of information and are very willing to share!


On Easter Sunday 2011, Grace Church will launch a second campus in Harborcreek, PA.  We will meet at the Harborcreek High School at 11:00 AM each Sunday.

  

More than wearing green and getting drunk

Modern day St. Patrick's Day festivities are a reminder to me that our tendency is to take things that are deep and sacred and make them trivial and silly.  The fact that we memorialize an unbelievable Christian saint by pinching each other and getting hammered is just plain stupid.  In an attempt to reclaim St. Paddy's Day I want to suggest a few things that we could learn from St. Patrick.  These are the kinds of things that March 17 should remind us to celebrate and imitate.  I read a book last summer that I would highly recommend called Movements that Change the World.  It includes a chapter on Patrick that is very enlightening.  Addison paints a picture of St. Patrick that is so compelling it made me want to be like him when I grow up! Here is a little background and then three lessons we can learn from Patrick through excerpts from this book by Steve Addison.


Some Background
Patrick lived a privileged life growing up in Britain.  He was born into the Aristocracy and his father was a Roman Magistrate. This meant that one day Patrick would rule a part of Roman nobility in Britain.  When he was 16 though - his village was invaded by raiders and he was kidnapped and taken back to the pagan land of Ireland where he was sold into slavery.   He lived the lonely and difficult life of a slave for the next 6 years. Before his abduction Patrick did not believe in the living God - but as a slave Patrick came to see the hand of God at work all around him.  His land of captivity had become a land of freedom in God.  He would stay out late into the night in the forests and mountains to pray.  He would rise before dawn to pray in the icy coldness of the Irish winters.  This was his delight because the Spirit of God was burning in him.  The rest of his story will be told through 3 lessons I think we can learn from Patrick.


1.  God speaks through whispers if we will listen.  
One night during his captivity in Ireland, God spoke to him in a dream and revealed that there was a ship waiting to take him home to Britain.  There was one small problem - 200 miles of dangerous territory lay between him and his escape. But he made the journey and returned home as a runaway slave. He resumed the life that he once knew with his family.  But again, God had different plans. Patrick awoke one night to the voices of people he had known in Ireland crying out, "we beg you to come and walk with us again!"  Their cries pierced his heart, God was calling him to return to Ireland and he did.  Over time he was ordained as a priest and then as a bishop despite his limited education and experience. God took the initiative to transform a teenager into an apostle compelled by the Spirit to take the gospel to the ends of the earth.  The slave boy had become a slave of Christ and an apostle to Ireland.


2. The work of God can't be contained by religious institutions
Patrick's lack of formal training contributed to his openness to trying new methods that were not approved by the church at the time.  His heart longed to reach the "barbarians" beyond the borders of civilization.  By contrast - the church of the Roman Empire was not interested in taking the gospel beyond their own borders. He traveled throughout Ireland to remote and dangerous places to preach, baptize converts, and raise up clergy for new churches.  Thousands of Irish people turned from their pagan idols to serve the living God. Many of these converts joined Patrick's missionary band. He gave the Irish the gift of non-Roman Christianity.  He liberated Ireland without the backing of the Imperial power. Despite his role in the conversion of much of Ireland, Patrick's worst critics were the bishops in Britain.  Patrick's approach was to de-centralize the church and remove the power from the bishops in large urban centers and give it to the rural and tribal people. The Roman leaders did not approve. Rome had the resources but Patrick's followers had the zeal - and they could not be stopped. 


3. Christianity is a missionary movement and every Christian is a missionary
In the Celtic church life revolved around the monastery. Most monasteries were in remote places and their inhabitants withdrew from the world. Patrick would transform this concept. Under Patrick's influence, wave after wave of Irish youth flooded into monastic life.  Patrick re-imagined the concept of the monasteries and organized them as sending centers. The Irish church took on the character of a missionary movement.  Each outpost made decisions in adapting to local needs and opportunities in their immediate region.  Celtic monasticism was highly flexible, adaptable and transplantable.  Ireland had no major cities, but the monasteries grew rapidly and became the first population centers - they were hubs of unprecedented prosperity, art, and learning.  They were led by young men who once would have given their lives in feuds between clans, but now gave their lives to plant the gospel wherever Christ led them.  For centuries, Ireland became a base from which Christianity spread throughout the British Isles and to much of western and northern Europe as these young monks followed the call of Christ on their lives. 


How this rich history ever turned into shamrock shakes, leprechauns, and getting wasted, I'll never know!  I pray that this day will remind us of these lessons, of the life of this great man of God, and how we might follow Christ more fiercely.

Why is Grace Launching a Second Campus? Part 4

I will be posting some thoughts throughout the next week on why Grace is launching a second campus in Harborcreek this spring.  Today I want to very simply put forward a few statistics that as a Pastor in America - I'm having a hard time swallowing without doing something about it.  These stats come from a class that I took last summer at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Chicago called "Church Planting Boot camp."  

3 UNACCEPTABLE STATISTICS

1. During the past 30 years on average 4,000 churches close their doors each year while only 1,500 new churches start.  This is called 'losing ground'
2. The 3rd Largest Mission Field in the world is the U.S. (next to India and China) with 200,000,000 un-churched people.
3. If we continue to follow current trends, by 2050 there will be half the number of professing Christians in the United States as there are right now.

Not on our watch...

On Easter Sunday 2011, Grace Church will launch a second campus in Harborcreek, PA.  We will meet at the Harborcreek High School at 11:00 AM each Sunday.

Why is Grace Launching a Second Campus? Part 3

I will be posting some thoughts throughout the next week on why Grace is launching a second campus in Harborcreek this spring.  Today I answer the question, "Why did we choose Harborcreek?"  

WHY HARBORCREEK?

1. We believe God is calling us there

Again, not to over-spiritualize, but from the first moment that we began to discuss a second campus, it was as if God was burdening our heart for the Harborcreek area.  So we started the ball rolling.  But any exploration of demographics, community studies, etc. came after we had already decided to go there.  The decision to launch in Harborcreek has been confirmed every step of the way - most recently in meeting with a number of pastors from the Harborcreek area.  The reception from them has been great and the possibility of partnering with some of those churches is strong.  There are a number of good and healthy churches already in Harborcreek, but still loads of people to reach (see #3 below).

2. There are lots of current Grace families who come from there.

Our best estimate is that we have 162 families from the Harborcreek area who call Grace their church home. Currently these families are driving 15-20 miles each way to come to church. Instead we're going to bring church to them!  We're not assuming that all of those people will attend Grace Harborcreek, however many of them will. And it's much easier to fully enter in to the life of a church if you don't have to drive across town to get there!  These families give us a good starting place - and they're also an indicator of the kind of people we might reach out to in Harborcreek.

3. There are too many people in Harborcreek without a church home.

Our studies indicate that there are approximately 25,000 people within a 10 mile radius from the center of town in Harborcreek who don't have a church home.  We're hoping to put a dent in that number...


On Easter Sunday 2011, Grace Church will launch a second campus in Harborcreek, PA.  We will meet at the Harborcreek High School at 11:00 AM each Sunday. 

Why is Grace Launching a Second Campus? Part 2

I will be posting some thoughts throughout the next week on why Grace is launching a second campus in Harborcreek this spring.  Today I answer the question, "Why would we launch a new campus instead of, say, starting an additional worship service or even planting a church?"  

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF STARTING NEW CAMPUSES?

1. A multi-site approach to starting new campuses leverages our strength. 

We can build on the strengths of an existing healthy church at Grace McKean.  So we will utilize central leadership (Elders), centralized budgeting, centralized preaching and teaching, centralized communications (website, printing, etc.), centralized systems and processes, centralized administrative support (phone, supplies, publications, etc.) while at the same time allowing for freedom in innovation to specifically reach the Harborcreek community. For the new campus, some energy comes from alignment and some energy comes from contextualization.  So where it makes sense, we'll align and where it makes sense we'll contextualize to specifically reach Harborcreek.  Multi-site campuses have a much more healthy success rate (nearly 90% survivability) than church plants. 

2. Starting new campuses is the most effective way to reach new people.  

There is a direct link between the age of the church and the effectiveness of reaching out to un-churched people.  

• 3:1 - In churches 3 years and younger it takes three people to reach one un-churched person on average.  
• 7:1 - In churches between 3-10 years old it takes seven people to reach one.
• 89:1 - In churches ten years or older it takes 89 people to reach one un-churched person.  

On average for established churches (older than 10 years) it takes $100,000, 100 people, and 1 year to reach 1 person for Jesus. They gain the vast majority of new members by transfer growth from other congregations.  By contrast, the average new campus (younger than 3 years) gains most of its new members (60-80%) from the ranks of people who are not attending any other church.  

3. Launching a new campus forces us to develop new leaders

One of the traps a church can fall into - even a growing and thriving church - is to keep asking the same people to do all the work.  The same names keep emerging on every list to lead ministries.  Starting Grace Harborcreek is forcing us to develop leaders.  New leaders will run ministries in Harborcreek and new leaders will need to replace the nearly 100 people who will be leaving Grace McKean in April.  We're throwing ourselves into this new initiative and new leaders must step up and we must equip them for ministry.  Every church labors to develop and disciple new leaders, but new congregations do it faster.  They have to. 




On Easter Sunday 2011, Grace Church will launch a second campus in Harborcreek, PA.  We will meet at the Harborcreek High School at 11:00 AM each Sunday.

Why is Grace Launching a Second Campus? Part 1

I will be posting some thoughts throughout the next week on why Grace is launching a second campus in Harborcreek this spring.  Today I answer the question, "Why?"  

WHAT MOTIVATED US TO START A NEW CAMPUS?

1.  God is leading us to do it.  

The leaders of Grace believe that this is what God is calling us to do at this time.  This may sound overly spiritualized - but it is absolutely the leading reason.  Our staff and Elders have been in a season of waiting prayer for over 2 years now - and we are in 100% agreement that the time is right to take this step.  This move is fully in line with our mission, 'to make and to be fully devoted followers of Christ.' We believe that at this point in time the best way to reach people who don’t yet know Christ is to start new campuses. God has confirmed this decision dozens of times and in amazing ways during the past 6 months.  The time is right. 

2. Grace is ready to do it.

Grace Church is ready – we are resourced to accomplish a new campus on many levels.  The giftings and the spirit of our people are evident.  We have risk takers, many potential new leaders, an abundance of talent, and a church at Grace McKean with solid staff leadership who can resource the ministry staff at a Grace Harborcreek.  Our church stepped up during a fundraising effort this December and raised $100,000 to get this new campus off the ground. Pastor Mike Watson - who will serve as the Campus Pastor at Grace Harborcreek - has been on our staff for nearly 15 years and is so ready to do this!  He will carry the Grace DNA and is ready to lead the charge.

3. We are rejecting the temptation to coast.

Grace moved in to our new facility just over 3 years ago.  It was such a monumental effort and was such a relief when we finally arrived. We took a big risk.  The tendency in churches is to not take another big risk for a while. Just relax, enjoy the fruits of your labors, soak it in for a while and coast. We refuse to coast.  Grace has a long history of playing offense and not defense and we want to carry on that tradition.  We want to keep pressing forward, keep taking risks, keep making sacrifices to reach more people.  The gospel is worth it. 

On Easter Sunday 2011, Grace Church will launch a second campus in Harborcreek, PA.  We will meet at the Harborcreek High School at 11:00 AM each Sunday.

Grace Values 7, 8, 9

As we have embarked on launching Grace Harborcreek - one of the exercises that has been very valuable for our leaders is re-clarifying our values as a church. These are the things that define us, that carry our DNA, that ensure that whether you walk into Grace McKean, Grace Harborcreek, or any of our future campuses that you will recognize the church as distinctly Grace. In my State of the Church sermon I talked through these 9 values and will briefly outline them in this 3 part series of blog posts.  You can read part 1 here and part 2 here.


7.  We gather in groups because we're better together

• Acts 2:42ff paints a picture of the early church meeting in the temple courts and also meeting from house to house – there were both large group gatherings and small group gatherings.
• Just going to a worship service is not enough - it's too easy to be anonymous.  
• True life change happens in smaller groups - whether they're groups of 25, 12, or 2.
• At Grace we are investing tremendous time and energy to provide resources that go along with our weekend services so that groups can meet during the week to discuss what they are learning on the weekend.  Check out these resources at our sermon series archives (click on the 'details' button to see the resources). 

8. We will do anything short of sin to reach people with the gospel

• Some say Grace is too outreach oriented – I’m not sure that’s possible when we think of the stakes.   
• Of all the things that a church does, reaching people with the gospel is the one thing that we won’t be able to do when we get to heaven.  We’ll be able to grow in intimacy with God, fellowship with other believers, serve others, worship God, but we won’t be able to reach the lost.
• As a church we will always walk in a healthy tension between growing up those who are here and reaching out to those who aren't here yet.
• The 3rd Largest Mission Field in the world is the US. (next to India and China) with 200 million people who are unreached.
• Over the past 30 years an average of 4,000 churches close their doors per year while only 1,500 new churches start.  Christianity is losing ground in America.
• The church must maintain a very sharp outreach edge and must refuse to get comfortable.

9. We're real people, no masks, no games. 

• Finally, we just really value being authentic.
• We’re committed to shooting straight - using real language to talk about faith, not hiding our faults, apologizing when we do dumb things, taking on real subjects head on, etc. 
• Our Pastors will not preach from a pedestal but will relate as fellow travelers on the journey.  Always willing to preach the hard truths of the scriptures but bringing ourselves to the table too.  
• We refuse to play the game of putting on our Sunday best and pretending that everything is OK. So, it is important for the people of Grace to be open to share real stories of struggle and triumph, sadness and joy, despair and hope.   

Grace Values 4, 5, 6

As we have embarked on launching Grace Harborcreek - one of the exercises that has been very valuable for our leaders is re-clarifying our values as a church. These are the things that define us, that carry our DNA, that ensure that whether you walk into Grace McKean, Grace Harborcreek, or any of our future campuses that you will recognize the church as distinctly Grace. In my State of the Church sermon I talked through these 9 values and will briefly outline them in this 3 part series of blog posts.  You can read part 1 here and part 3 here.

4. We participate. We're not just spectators.

• Church is not a spectator sport.
• Many churches have the 80-20 rule - where 20% of the people do 80% of the work.  This is completely unacceptable.
• Christians don’t go to church – they are the church.  And they bring the church with them wherever they go.
• Role of a church staff is not to do all the work of ministry but to prepare God’s people to do ministry. (Eph. 4:12)
• You were created for ministry, and if you miss your ministry, you miss the reason for which you were created.
• Serving is far more satisfying than sitting.

5. We give because Jesus is radically generous.

• The early church mirrored the generosity of Jesus (Acts 2:42ff) and so should the modern church.  
• In general, Christians are no more generous than their non-religious counterparts. This should never be.
• A lack of generosity is not a money issue, it's a heart issue.  It's a sure indication that hearts are not being changed by the gospel. 
• Strategic, systematic generosity is the answer to greed.
• Jesus is not a killjoy when it comes to money, He simply says that there’s a better way to live.  A way that leads to peace and joy and not this crazy turmoil that so many people are in trying to play the game that says 'accumulate and consume, accumulate and consume.'
• God's design was for His ministry in the world to be funded by the overflowing generosity of his people as their hearts are being changed, so we will never resort to gimmicky shortcuts like spaghetti dinners and raffles. 

6. We serve our community, expecting nothing in return.

• Would our community care if our church didn’t exist anymore? 
• The church exists for the community and not the other way around.
• Jesus said throughout his teaching that one of the things that will distinguish his followers from the non-followers, is that their hearts are going to beat fast for people in need. Their hands are going to be busy trying to do something about it. Their wallets are going to reflect a willingness to stretch and sacrifice for those who continually live with less. 
• We hope to focus our efforts in the coming years on defining and getting after the 3-5 unacceptable realities in Erie... those 3 to 5 issues that the church can't just sit back and allow to continue.  Not on our watch.