Leaders away day Cloverly Hall

On Friday afternoon the church leaders headed to Cloverly Hall near Whitchurch

It is a place we had been before set ,in lovely countryside with great food and facilities.

It was great in the middle of busy lives to put 24 hours apart to be together.There is something about eating,sharing, talking,praying,walking and even "wasting time" together away from some of the normal pressures of life

Sometimes leaders meetings can get crowded out by stuff that needs to be talked about and decisions that need to be made .

The urgent however is not always the most important though, and it was good at Cloverly to step back, and to build our relationships as leaders, to take time to think about our vision and how we present it ,to talk honestly about our personal spiritual lives,to share our joys and sorrows  

Much of our discussion was based around Bill Hybels " Courageous Leadership" which we had all read before we went and formed at least the starting point and the background for our sessions, 

We came away with some fairly concise thoughts & ideas about future direction and areas we need to concentrate on.We  we will work on these and share them more widely  but perhaps even more valuable was the fellowship and deeper relationships that resulted as we built team together 

we must do it again soon!

Resources

      

Discipleship Day tomorrow .Some resources to look at at your leisure

(New Testament) Prayer for Everyone – Tom Wright
Revolution of Character – Dallas Willard 
Hearing God – Dallas Willard
The Divine Conspiracy – Dallas WillardIn Search of Guidance – Dallas WillardS
Virtue Reborn – Tom Wright
The Radical Disciple – John Stott
Re-Jesus – Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch
Too Busy Not to Pray – Bill Hybels
Celebration of Discipline – Richard Foster(New Testament)
 Prayer for Everyone – Tom Wright
Revolution of Character – Dallas Willard &; Don Simpson



 BELLS  Bless x 3 – Everyone in the community has to do three acts of blessing a week, how and why they do it is entirely up to them.
One to a person inside the community of faithOne to a person outside of the community of faithOne to either sideEat x 3 – You’re going to eat with people at least three times.
One to a person inside the community of faithOne to a person outside of the community of faithOne to either sideListen 1 hour/week – One hour a week of contemplative prayer, just listening to God.
Learning reading each week:
1 Gospel1 Other Book of the Bible1 Other Book – Doesn’t matter what kind of book, but it has to be a good book, the best you can find in any given category.Sent – Everyone in the community spends at least 10 minutes reflecting on their day, answering 2 questions:
Where did I work with Jesus today?Where did I resist Jesus today

New Wine Leadership 2012 -part 3

 Alan  now moved onto suggest a way forward  I have captured the bits that spoke most to me but it was a really interesting session


Firstly he said we need to focus on discipleship because if we fail in discipleship we fail everywhere. (-"if we dont make disciples we cant grow 
movements" ) Alan suggested the church in the west is generally not good at this but it is important because discipleship is the way we show people what God is like "If you hold to my teaching,you will know truth and truth shall set you free"
Christian leaders therefore need to raise the bar on discipleship and lower the bar on ecclesiology as if we don't disciple are leadership is not Christ like - because Jesus did disciple.

HIrsch then went onto suggest one or two ways we might do this including setting up small groups with this intent. Alan  spoke specifically about acting our way into a new way of thinking 
Alan finished by describing an example of a group he knows that uses  an acronym


BELLS as a focus for action 
They
Bless x 3 – Everyone in the community has to do three acts of blessing a week, how and why they do it is entirely up to them.
One to a person inside the community of faith
One to a person outside of the community of faith
One to either side
Eat x 3 – You’re going to eat with people at least three times.
One to a person inside the community of faith
One to a person outside of the community of faith
One to either side
Listen 1 hour/week – One hour a week of contemplative prayer, just listening to God.
Learning reading each week:
1 Gospel
1 Other Book of the Bible
1 Other Book – Doesn’t matter what kind of book, but it has to be a good book, the best you can find in any given category.
Sense – Everyone in the community spends at least 10 minutes reflecting on their day, answering 2 questions:
Where did I work with Jesus today?
Where did I resist Jesus today?

I think this would be difficult to do in a large group but very possible in a small grouo. If we were  committed itself to this kind of accountabilty and intentional discipleship we  should really grow in Christ

I am attracted by the idea!

Reflections on New Wine Leadership 2012 -part 2

I am sitting writing this blog post on a glorious summer morning, in the garden of a beautiful house on the Island of Mull

This idyllic and very quiet spot has given me the opportunity to contemplate.

 

I have been particularly thinking about the new wine conference I went to last week and the two books I am reading at the moment.Tim Chester's "A Meal with Jesus" and "Right Here ,RIght Now by Alan HIrsch and Lance Ford

TIm Chester's book focuses especially on the gospels and demonstrates again and again just how much time Jesus invested in relationships,with all sorts of different people but especially the poor and needy.It is a book well worth reading

 

I have read a great deal that Alan Hirsch has read over the last few years,I think he has something profoundly important to say to the church in the western world,so when I heard he was speaking at new wine I was determined to go.

 

I was not disappointed!

I suppose much of what he said Is simple ,at least in theory.Hirsch believes we have the wrong ideas about Jesus. This has happened over many years ,even many centuries

 

We have forgotten( largely because we neglect the gospels ) what Jesus is like,the people he spent time with ,the things he said etc and because of this we need in Alan's words to reJesus the church, as the church in the west has ceased to look like Jesus of the gospels and has instead made Jesus in it's own image

Alan suggested we had at times begun to look more like Pharisees than Christians and reminded us that" Christianity minus Christ equals religion"

 

As I thought about the things that Christians have got really passionate about in the last 30 years or so ,the debates that have divided church from church and Christian from Christian things like worship styles or music spring to mind, and not so much passion or discussion about how to be better followers of Jesus so I thought there was more than a touch of truth to what he said

Since spiritual authority comes from the ability to live your message we are in trouble

 

I will write more about HIrsch's suggested solution to this in the next post

Leaders time away Shallowford House 2012

The church leaders are back from a brilliant 24 hours at Shallowford house
These times away in very comfortable surroundings have proved so helpful to us as we seek to follow God into the future

We ate together, prayed together,planned together and enjoyed just being together.

A very diverse bunch of people with very different gifts but sharing not just a common faith in Jesus but a common calling to be leaders,and a shared passion to build the Kingdom of God to His glory!

A lot of our discussion was around how to reshape  ourselves to be more effective in what God is calling us to do and we also gave time to thinking and praying about children's and youth work.

I suppose the test of a leaders weekend is not whether we had fun (we did!) but whether the time together makes a difference (I am sure it will!) but I must say I really enjoyed being with this  great bunch of people, and as we often say to each other "It is all about relationships "!
Good relationships  demand quality time -It was good to get it!

lessons for church leadership from Steve Jobs

The BBC news today led with the death of Steve Jobs, who was a remarkable man by any standards.

Saw this on The Gospel Coalition site which I thought was worth sharing press here

There is also some good stuff here that much of which could usefully be applied to church life  press here

A morning with our church leaders

We had a great session with our church leaders yesterday !
We gathered on a beautiful October morning to think and to pray about about our priorities in the next 1-3 years.

These are a great bunch of people, who have stuck with the church through good times and the bad, and we have travelled an exiting but not always easy journey together

In the process we have grown and built strong relationships with a high level of mutual trust.
Given all that it was no surprise that we were agreed as to what those priorities should be.

I won't post them on here yet because we need to share them with the church first(though reading this blog would allow anyone to make an educated guess as to what they are !)

The task now is to make sure that we focus our prayers and energy on those priorities and make sure we have the people and the structures in place to fulfil God's purposes for us

We enjoyed lunch in the garden together before heading for home!

As a postsript in the morning we asked ourselves these questions to both give us context and guide our prayers.I found them online (but have forgotten where Sorry!)
and adapted them slightly for our situation


1. When was the last time I heard from God? Am I doing what he called me to do?

2. What should our church be known for in this community?

3. Are we really focusing our time, money, leadership, prayer behind the things that will produce life change and community impact?

4. Is our church growing both spiritually and in numbers?


5. Is there a clear path to help people take steps in their faith with the ultimate goal of them becoming fully-devoted followers of Christ? (ie disciples)

6. What does a disciple of Christ looks like?

7. Are we empowering the people of God to do God’s work?


8. Are we developing leaders?

9. Do believers see their ministry happening only at the church or have they become missionaries to their families, their neighborhoods, their workplaces, their schools, etc

10 Do I have the right leaders around me to accomplish the vision?

Short video but a key point!

I think that Chris Wright makes a key point here about the qualifications for leadership
Thanks to Steve for pointing it out




Chris Wright - Disciples First from Bill Kinnon on Vimeo.

The church and change 1

(from Ross Baptist Church website)




I have been a church leader for 28 years.
I can still remember my first Sunday as Associate Pastor at Ross on Wye Baptist Church.
The church had endured a painful split,during the early days of charismatic renewal
.A split which  divided Christians and also divided families ( I am delighted to say that since those days there has been complete healing of those broken relationships)
I remember being approached by a confident young man at the end of the evening service that day who told me" "I am surprised you have come here- God has laid aside this church!"
It was a fairly unnerving experience and happily subsequent events proved that despite being a very imperfect pastor trying to lead an imperfect church, God had not finished with the church yet and indeed the work continues to this day.
It would not be true to say I have loved every minute of church leadership.Some of the most painful moments of my life have happened in churches. There can be no doubt that some of it was my fault but I bear scars from those conflicts as do other church leaders.As I have been reminded the phrase "The church is for hurting people " is double edged!
However leading a church is for me an enormous priviledge  and a very enriching experience.There can be no greater joy than seeing God at work in peoples lives bringing them to faith,giving them peace and purpose,comfort in their sorrows,and watching them grow as Christians.
It goes without saying that the world has changed since 1983 in so many ways, and though the gospel never changes the way the church operates to bring that message of Jesus Christ into the world has had to change as well.

Interior of church 1979

I thought over the next week or two to write a few posts about some of the significant changes that have happened  in English churches  and the way they have impacted the church , its leadership,its ministry and mission.

Ministry of Women- NT Wright

I do enjoy reading and listening to NT Wright!
and on this occasion I agree with him for what it is worth!

Time to pray and a time to plan

I managed a rare night away the other day

With the other church leaders we went to Shallowford House, a diocesan retreat centre,not far from Stafford, which I had first visited on the Fresh Expressions course. It makes an excellent venue because it is in a beautiful location,serves excellent food,has comfortable meeting rooms,and even its own bar.It must be said though that the main railway line is rather close to the house.

The purpose of the 24 hours we spent together can be summed up in 2 words Praying and Planning

It was good therefore , away from the demands of busy lives, to have the opportunity to talk about the joys and the challenges we face,and to be prayed for individually.It was good too, to share communion together and to experience Gods presence .There appeared, to me at least, to be an authentic hunger to know God better alongside an acknowledgment of our own weakness.

I wont go into great detail here about decisions we made, but we certainly recognised that 2011 is a vital year for our church.

The new town centre building is being built, and meanwhile we have the chance to lay solid spiritual foundations for our new church.

Among other things this means

We need to deepen our prayer life

We need to be prepared to be not just believers but disciples.

We want to put down deep roots in to the two communities we feel God has given us a particular responsibility for.

We are all totally determined to put mission at the centre of all that we do as a church

There is no doubt these will be big challenges but we feel they are not so much our priorities but Gods

We can so easily be distracted from keeping the main thing the main thing but we have not merged two churches and founded a new church in order to empire build, and we are not building a new church building to make ourselves more comfortable

This must be about building the Kingdom of God

We were very tired when we left Shallowford on Saturday afternoon but we sensed Gods leading,and aware aware of just how much work there is to be done, but also very hopeful for the future and determined to lay strong foundations.

These are challenging days for churches but also days of great opportunity

Celebration of New Ministry

In the old days we would have called it an induction service but the title on the front of the order of service was, The Celebration of New Ministry,which is a longer but preferable title in my opinion.
The church where the celebration took place was Christ Church Bayston Hill and we were not only celebrating the arrival of a new Vicar - Tim Lomax- who steps into the shoes of the much loved Ralph Goldenberg, who recently retired after many years of faithful ministry, but also celebrating the ministry of his wife Kate, who was Licensed as Associate Minister.
The service had a great deal to commend it, not least Bishops Marks sermon which was brief, and reminded me again that a sermon does not need to be eternal to be immortal. The Bishop spoke apropriately about the necessity for a leader to also be a servant.The hymns and prayers backed up this theme well and included a couple of my favourites Stuart Townend's Speak Oh Lord and Tim Hughes God of Justice.
In an interview with the Bishop; Tim came accross as full of faith and enthusiasm, with a passion to make a difference and a very strong sense of call

The singing was loud and enthusiastic,the amens were very affirming and taken together they signalled how excited the church are about the future under new leadership

These kind of services can drag on a bit ,but this one was over in about 65 minutes and it had everything necessary including an excellent Blessing at the end which included the words
May the boldness of the Spirit transform us,
the gentleness of the Spirit lead us,
the gifts of the Spirit equip us,
to serve and worship The Lord

I look forward to serving and indeed worshipping with Tim as I have with Ralph in previous years to build God's Kingdom in Shrewsbury

Mentoring

Just begun this book and am so far challenged by the case that Kreider makes ,which is supported by biblical evidence.
As someone in my mid 50's I was startled by the assertion that Kreider makes that "Few Bible leaders finish well" ( There are massive exceptions to that ,of course; Jesus Himself and Paul for starters!) but there is enough truth in it to make me think.

I also was reminded of 2 people who have mentored me over the years.

The first was Gordon Heath my first pastor at Hamilton Baptist Church who encouraged this shy ,young boy lacking in confidence (no honestly!)that God really could use me. Gordon also taught me that it is not enough to inform in a sermon ,the preacher must also inspire people to live up to the call of the gospel. I have rarely succeeded but Gordon taught me that this is the preachers calling.

My other mentor who was so very helpful to me in my early years in ministry was Pat Goodland,who had done an awesome job as pastor of Gorsley Baptist Church and who encouraged and inspired and advised me for so many years.

Gordon has long since died and Pat is I think about 80 now but their influence on me and I am sure on many other lives on ! They both finished well I thank God for them!
That is my task now over whatever years God gives to me to finish well and by God's grace to inspire others to be disciples as I have been inspired!

Marks of a good minister

Analysis - Christian Reformed Church

A really excellent article! Especially this bit

THE MARKS OF GOOD MINISTRY
We believe that excellent pastors are marked by six key traits and that any programming related to pastoral excellence must aim to strategically advance these traits. Excellent pastors are those characterized by:

1.A deep, authentic relationship with God marked by prayer, godliness, and fruits of the Spirit.
2.A strong vision of the mission of the church in which the church exists not merely to sustain itself but to serve the world and minister beyond itself.
3.A thorough grasp of the biblical, pastoral and theological contours of the Christian faith and church, with an ability to communicate these contours in meaningful, relevant, and integrative ways through sound preaching and teaching, and imaginative pastoral leadership.
4.A pastoral identity that includes healthy self-understanding, strong relational skills, relationships with significant others that provide mentoring and accountability, and a balanced life with respect to work and non-work.
5.An intelligent appreciation for the congregation as a social system that requires creative and patient leadership in the face of anxieties and conflict.
6.A commitment to lifelong learning, including personal, spiritual, intellectual, and professional growth and development.
A well-lived pastoral life gives evidence of these marks of good ministry. They represent vital habits and practices for sustaining pastors in ministry. In contrast to more utilitarian models, it is this holistic vision of pastoral excellence that needs to be promoted, taught, modeled, and encouraged through sustained programs and relationships.

A great aid as I think about my future role in the church

Helping people grow

I am now turning my thoughts away from boxes,foxes and chickens towards discipleship!

One of the most challenging changes the missional church needs to make, is to help people grow.This will be one of the great themes of our new church in 2011 and one I am thinking about now!

One shift we will need to make is to allocate more time to people development ,(both our own and other peoples, for the two are powerfully connected)
I honestly believe that I need to focus more on developing myself and other people rather than supporting more meetings or programmes.
If I am going to do that some things will have to be given up and I am thinking and praying about what those things might be .Of course giving things up may not make be universaly popular, but I need to demonstrate in my own life the things I want to see happen in the whole church.( ie people discipling each other and helping each other grow in Christian maturity.This has to start with the church leaders but it must not end there

For some time now people have asked the reasonable question " What are we going to do with our buildings?"
It is a question that deserves some thought but its not the key issue. Our buildings will not dictate the sucess or failure of our church ,nor will the events or ministries we put on- but our discipleship will
The big question for our leaders, and utimately for us all, is this; Are we helping people towards Christian maturity?, If we are then prayer will increase ,evangelism will happen and people and the church will grow.

Challenges of leadership

some good friends gave me this great card to mark my sabbatical!

Leadership for the long term

This is an excellent artcle by Jim Collins ripped from his website

Almost by definition, an enduring great company has to be built not to depend on an individual leader, because individuals die or retire or move on. What's more, when a company's identity can't be separated from the identity of its leader, it can't be known for what it stand for. Which means it sacrifices the potency of being guided by its core purpose.

So the charismatic-leader model has to die. What do you replace it with? The task that the CEO is uniquely positioned to do: designing the mechanisms that reinforce and give life to the company's core purpose and stimulate the company to change.

Building mechanisms is one of the CEO's most powerful but least understood and most rarely employed tools. Along with figuring out what the company stands for and pushing it to understand what it's really good at, building mechanisms is the CEO's role—the leader as architect.

The old role is still seductive, though. Past models have glorified the individual leader, especially when he or she was an entrepreneur. And charismatic-style CEOs understandably find it hard to let go of the buzz that comes from having an intense, direct personal influence. But a charismatic leader is not an asset; it's a liability companies have to recover from. A company's long-term health requires a leader who can infuse the company with its own sense of purpose, instead of his or hers, and who can translate that purpose into action through mechanisms, not force of personality.

However hard the transition to architect might be, there are three issues, affecting every CEO, that encourage it—and eventually may even force it. One: time for creativity. Two: time span. And three: scale.

First, let's discuss creativity. As personally energizing as it is to have an effect on an employee and to touch his or her life, it's so energy absorbing that you're never left with enough time or spirit for real creative reflection or real creative work. Which is what mechanism building should be. The absence of that time is one great source of burnout.

The second concern is time span. Clearly, building a mechanism will have a much longer-lasting effect than leading by virtue of your presence. A mechanism doesn't depend upon you. If a truck hits you tomorrow, the mechanism will still be there.

The last concern, scale, is the most crucial. You can't build something really big just on charisma alone. At some point the scale is too great; you can't reach that many people. If you want something to really grow over time, you've got to build mechanisms that can touch everybody every day. What you get in the end is more reach, more power, the ability to affect more people. It's a leverage game

Thoughts on Leadership!

Have look at this youtube video YouTube - Evolution Of Dance Party



Mark Sayers comments on it
So much of leadership and innovation involves taking the first step. One of the keys to innovative leadership is having the guts to break from the crowd and risk looking like a nutcase for a while. So many of us fail to do this because we are afriad. Many of us want to be creative and innovative without the cost, we want to lead but only after there is a small crowd already signed up and ready to follow. Sadly this rarely if ever happens.

We want the power and recognition without the risk of looking stupid. To be an innovative leader, you have to get up, and have the nerve to keep dancing alone like an idiot for often what seems an eternity. Sometimes you may be followed by one or two others who’s sanity you may begin to doubt. But only when you have fully made a fool of yourself, when you feel you are getting nowhere, does that magic moment occur and people take notice of your enthusiasm and join your cause, this is that tipping point when movement and momentum begins.

Taking risks is an important part of innovation as the man said "you cannot discover new lands without being willing to travel a long way from a safe shore"