Learnings @ Leadership Network

What are the Top 10 Kingdom Ideas in the Past Decade?

A few weeks back I posted a list of ideas we had gathered from folks around the world in an attempt to discuss the top ideas of the past 10 years.

We were inspired after reading some articles in the business world addressing the ideas that had shaped that sector and decided it would be fun to do the same in the Kingdom world.

The lists we got were very interesting. Some described things “as they ought to be” or things “that are going to make an impact in the future.” I have nothing against those ideas. In fact our upcoming Leadership Network Ideation Experience will work with some idea folks to find the best of those ideas.

The list we created included over 100 suggestions. They were developed by looking at a decade’s worth of Christian magazines, major web sites, blogs, book catalogs, conference titles, workshop titles and the like. We also got your suggestions which doubled the list in size.

We tried to build a survey which would have included the whole list but frankly, it took too long. Too many of the ideas were alike.

So we took the list and whittled it down to 40 by tossing the ones “yet to be” and combining some of the common thoughts together.

But right now we want to know – What are the best ones since 1999? What are the ideas that have had the most impact on the Kingdom/Church world?

We want everyone’s input so please repost, retweet and resend.  You get the idea.

And there is still a space at the end to add some more ideas, so please throw them in there.

http://www.zoomerang.com/Survey/?p=WEB229CXNE6UXZ

There is the link. Please click through. We have designed it to take no more than 3 minutes of your time and we want as many people as possible to respond to it.

Dave Travis is the Managing Director of Leadership Network.

Leading on Empty-Wayne Cordiero

I just read a great article by Wayne Cordiero in Rev! Magazine. The title is the same as his recent book, Leading on Empty. Leadership Network is forming Leadership Communities of Senior Pastors in three distinct age stages. I direct what we call Next Chapter, which is a community of Senior Pastors in their 50's who are leading in churches of over 3,000 in attendance. I have interviewed just over 20 of these leaders. One of the questions that I ask of all of them is what would interest them in being a part of a community of their peers. Several of them have commented to me that they would like to talk about things like balancing a busy schedule, how to avoid burnout, and how to navigate through crucibles of life.

I really appreciate the transparency and honesty of Wayne Cordiero in addressing his personal experience with burnout. I don't know if it is inevitable that successful pastors experience burnout, but it must be comforting to know that there are both ways to avoid it and principles for recovering from it. Cordiero deals with both. Here are just a few of the gems that really jumped off the page as I read this article:

"I have the same amount of energy as before, but not the same longevity. I used to go without a break for a year or more before fatiguing. But no longer. Now I have the same energy level, but it doesn't last as long. My error was not that I fatigued at three months, but that I'd keep running for another two before I took a break."

"Each morning I intentionally make time to do my devotions. It is one devoted and uninterrupted hour in which I sit at God's feet, read a certain amount of passages, and write in my life journal. It's a time when God refreshes my soul and recalibrates anything that is out of kilter. It is not a time when I study the Bible. It's a time when I let the Bible study me. It is a time to scrub my heart, motives, and soul."

"Schedule rests in before your calendar fills up. Rest is not an afterthought; it has to be a primary responsibility. It brings a rhythm back to life and a cadence that makes life sustainable. If you're tired, your soul gets weary. And if your soul gets weary, you've depleted more than you can afford."

Hopefully this has whetted your appetite to either read the article or like me, you are going to purchase the book.

For information on Leadership Network's Life Stage Leadership Communities contact:

Linda Stanley: NextGen Pastors (Senior Pastors Under the age of 40)

Richard Petty: Senior Pastors in their 40's

Don Wilcox: Next Chapter (Senior Pastors in their 50's)

A Little Megachurch Myth Bustin’

If you are a Leadership Network follower - #leadnet for all you twitter devotees – you’ve heard about the newly released mega church research study and report - Not Who You Think They Are: The Real Story of People Who Attend America's Megachurches, If you haven’t read the report, here are a few quick facts:

Prominent Findings of Megachurch Study

• Young, single adults are more likely to be in megachurches than in smaller churches.
• Nearly two-thirds of attenders have been at these churches 5 years or less.
• Nearly a quarter of attenders hadn't been in any church for a long time before coming to a megachurch.
• Newcomers almost always attend a megachurch because family, friends or co-workers invited them.
• New attenders were first attracted by the worship style, the senior pastor and the church's reputation.
• These same factors influenced long-term attendance, as did the music/arts, social and community outreach and adult-oriented programs.

And here’s a graphic illustration of some of the points included in the report:

Not just a Boomer Phenomenon –
Megachurches Draw Twice as Many Under 45

On June 23, 2009 the topic of  Leadership Network’s THE SHOW focused on the findings from this report. Scott Thumma, one of the primary researchers, was our guest. If you missed it, here’s a link:

June 23, 2009 - Megachurch Attender Research Findings
with Dr. Scott Thumma

Here’s a link to the June 23, 2009 issue of Leadership Network’s Advance, with cover story entitled  Major Study: Younger Crowds Flocking to U.S. Megachurches.

And if you still haven’t had enough, here’s a link to our beloved Warren Bird’s previous Leadership Network Learnings blog post on the report – Not True: "Megachurch attenders volunteer less than other churches" - June 12, 2009.

Now you’re all caught up.

Linda Stanley serves as Director of Life Stage Leadership Communities and provides leadership for the Next Generation Pastors Leadership Community groups. The Next Generation Pastors Leadership Community exists to create relational peer networks of senior pastors who share similar ministry challenges and desire connections to other leaders serving in similar ministry situations. Additional information is on our website - www.leadnet.org, linda.stanley@leadnet.org

how some churches feel recession's effect

This recent Orlando Sentinel's article, Churches feel recession's crunch, describes how some churches are putting building projects on hold, while others are rethinking how to gathering as the church:

About $1.4 million into building its new church on Forest City Road, New Life Community Church ran out of money. A bank loan to finish the construction fell through, and now the 13,000-square-foot church sits with plywood windows and unpainted walls while the congregation meets in a rented space.

... Christian Financial Resources in Lake Mary, which has been financing church construction and capital improvements since 1980, has seen its loans decline from $26 million to $8 million in the past year. The company, which provides financing to independent, nondenominational churches, said its funding has fallen 25 percent in the past six months.

... Weible said he is seeing more churches these days starting with no money, no paid staff and no overhead. These "organic" churches, with small memberships and part-time pastors, began popping up before the recession, but the bad economy has contributed to their growing popularity.

... Just as hard economic times are forcing Americans to think about what they need — instead of what they want — the recession has Christians rethinking the meaning of church. And in bad times, that's not a bad thing, Weible said.

Read the full article for the entire story.

How are your churches in your community making the most of this opportunity caused by the recession, and making adjustments to do effective ministry while cutting expenses and costs?

// DJ Chuang, Director at Leadership Network

For one church, their radical future was a bus ride away...

Leadership Network recently hosted the first RadicalFuture Innovation Lab, where 9 churches dug into the question, 'what will women's ministries look like in the next 10 years?' Using a unique process of innovative thinking, each church team spent time researching, dreaming, collaborating and designing a plan of 'new'. New ideas, a new approach, a new way of thinking. And all in a new space designed to stimulate, percolate and perpetuate just such ideas.

According to Shelly Juskiewicz, Pastor to Women at Mariners Church   in Irvine, CA, attending the RadicalFuture Lab was perfect timing. They desired to get their women connected not only with the needs in the community, but the with hearts of the women who lived there. Their Lab experience catapulted them into plans for a 'Diva Bus' tour that weekly leads the Mariners women out, not only meeting needs, but having critical conversations. Shelly says it's been interesting to see how this has stretched their women into new thinking and new relationships. Their initial outreach, a free lunch and diaper giveaway was launched through Craig's List, a centralized network of online communities designed to connect needs with resources. Shelly said it was great to watch the dozens of Mariners women serve food, hand out diapers to needy families and have life changing conversations.  Shelly says the time spent dreaming in the Innovation Lab was worth every moment, and their plans for weekly outreaches are growing,engaging their younger women who are passionate about making a difference in their community.

Do you have an area of your ministry that could use some 'new'? Check out our next Innovation Lab, or contact sherry.surratt@leadnet.org.