Executive Pastor Online

Brian Jones (our Senior Pastor) is writing a book and needs your help. If you are a guy, check this out ...

I need your help.

I am in the process of writing a book to help men work through the key areas in which every guy struggles. I really want this book to be helpful, so I'm emailing my ministry friends to fill out an anonymous 3 question survey. Would you be willing to help me out real fast?

This is for guys only. No questions are personal. All it does is ask you to rank what you think are the top areas in which most men struggle. Also, would be willing to forward the survey link to guys you know inside your church?

On a side note we're going to take the top 4 issues identified in the survey and turn them into a 4-week sermon series in June 09 called "The Man Series." If you want I can share the data I get from the survey as well as the series stuff once it's done.

Here's the link:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=PnwSbnhTU_2bNZXwEZawHoBQ_3d_3d

Thanks for your help guys.

Brian Jones

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Shift Book Cover" width="111" height="168" align="right" />I recently re-read a booklet entitled, Culture Shift by Dr. Price Pritchett. One chapter was right to the point, in my view, concerning a common cultural characteristic in all organizations, but is especially prevalent in those where rapid change is the norm ... like a growing church. The chapter is entitled, Taking Personal Responsibility for Fixing Things.

CCV's culture is certainly one of rapid growth and constant change. Dr. Pritchett says that such environments are like a "breader reactor for problems." In such an environment, as problems crop up, it is easy to blame others. "Pointing the fingers becomes the most popular form of exercise." But blaming others does not solve problems. It merely creates a culture of blame.

Blaming others, we may think, diverts attention from us. It makes us feel good, perhaps even "high and mighty" at times. "I'm intelligent! I recognize problems and have great insight into finding who's at fault," we say. All this does, however, is waste the time and energy that could be spent on solving the problem. Pointing the finger at someone does nothing to solve the problem. And the person blamed usually becomes defensive, perhaps even hostile.

Identifying problems is important in our culture. But identifying the problem is not the same as placing blame. When we find problems, we must work together to find solutions. I especially urge anyone in a leadership position to avoid finger pointing. It doesn't shift the blame to others; it merely identifies us as those who are not willing to do the hard work to solve problems.

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working with our teaching and creative arts teams to formalize and document our process for designing and producing weekend services. What a challenge! Getting something this big and complicated on paper in a way that actually helps, has proven to be a daunting task!

As part of my investigation and learning process, I attended a Big Idea breakout at this year’s Willow Creek Arts Conference. Dave Ferguson and Eric Bramlett, Lead Pastor and Lead Arts guy at Community Christian Church (CCC), facilitated the breakout and it was excellent! I got so much out of it that I decided to buy and read their book The Big Idea. Jon Ferguson is also one of the book’s authors but he was not present at the breakout.

These guys have done a great job of putting a process in place that gets the job done! Here’s a chapter listing:

Part 1: Little Ideas or Big Ideas?
1. No More Christians!
2. Communities of Transformation, Not Information
3. Creating Missional Velocity

Part 2: What’s the Big Idea?
4. The Genius of the “And”
5. Changing Churches One Big Idea at a Time

Part 3: Create Your Own Big Idea
6. Creating Your Own One-Year Big Idea Plan
7. Implementing Your Big Idea Plan
8. The Two Most Important Players in the Big Idea
9. The Big Idea Creative Team Meeting
10. The Big Idea Teaching Team Meeting
11. The Implicit Big Idea

Part 4: A Really Big Idea
12. Creating and Reproducing Big Idea Networks

The first part of the book makes the case for the concept of implementing the Big Idea in the church. Dave writes that “more information = less clarity.” He says that we “bombard” the people attending our churches with so many competing little ideas that they fail to get much, if anything, out of the experience on Sunday. Good point I think. In chapter 4 he says, “What we are discovering is that offering people just one Big Idea at a time results in more action, not less.”

Chapter 2 is devoted to the Big Idea as it relates to community. Dave begins the chapter with the story of an elderly man who dies and is not discovered until 4 years later … then only because developers (who purchased his house at a tax auction) come to take possession of the house. They enter only to find a man’s body, almost completely decomposed, still sitting in his living room chair. The story underscores the state of loneliness many people experience. At CCC the Big Idea is implemented in all areas including the small group.

The most useful (to me anyway) part of the book is Part 3 where Dave describes the actual Big Idea process. The bottom line is that planning ahead (One-Year Big Idea Plan) and collaborating in all parts of the process of creating awesome weekend experiences is better than the way most churches get it done every weekend – working on this weekend this week. This has also been our experience at Christ's Church of the Valley. The more we plan ahead, the better the service. It’s very difficult to actually get this done all the time, though.

The Big Idea process starts with development of a One-Year Big Idea Plan with a “Creative Brainstorming Gathering” that includes representatives from each group that will implement the Big Idea. This, of course, includes some key volunteers from each ministry area. Dave says, “At CCC, we extend an open invitation to any staff member in any ministry to attend these brainstorming gatherings.” The calendar is finalized during a “Decision-Making Meeting” where key decision makers go through a step-by-step process to actually create the calendar. The book includes a great example of the calendar on pages 101-103.

After the calendar is created, 13 weeks ahead of the beginning of a series “Big Idea Graphs” are created by the “teaching/preaching arm” of the church. Page 108 shows a great example of one of these graphs. The Big Idea Graphs are distributed to all ministry areas 10 to 13 weeks out. Nine weeks out the Big Idea creative team begins working on actually creating the services. “At CCC, we walk out of the Big Idea creative team meeting with a clear plan for the upcoming celebration service, including sketch/story development, special music, worship songs, video ideas, and the order of service, all the way down to how many minutes each segment should be.”

Five weeks out there’s a “Big Idea Reality Check” to make sure what the team planned a month ago still makes sense. Three weeks out the teaching team gets together to brainstorm ideas for the sermon and to delegate responsibility for writing the different parts of the actual manuscript. That’s right! At CCC all of the members of the teaching team collaborate in writing each sermon! Can you believe it? Dave says this method reduces the amount of time it takes to write a sermon by almost 10 hours per week. Worth looking into I would say.

Two weeks out the teaching team has collectively produced the first draft of the manuscript and 1 week out there’s a production team meeting to make sure everyone is on the same page and that all the details are worked out.

Jon Ferguson writes Chapter 8 – The Two Most Important Players in the Big Idea. He does an excellent job of describing the “trust and risk” relationship between the lead pastor and lead Arts person. An important factor in this relationship is that there needs to be a “friendship” between these two individuals. They should be spending lots of time together and actually “like” each other. Jon writes about “proximity” as an important factor in the relationship. Basically, their offices need to be near each other.

The bottom line is that this book is a “must read” for those of you who struggle to get it done each weekend. I highly recommend that you read the book and post your thoughts/comments here. This will help me a great deal as I attempt to get our process on paper so we are planning ahead more and working on this weekend this week less.

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While attending a Maximum Impact event at our church back in May, I picked up a copy of John Maxwell's new book Talent is Never Enough. It's been a while since I read a "business book" and I must say that I was not disappointed.

I've been a little bit turned off by many of the recent business books I've browsed to decide whether or not to read. They have all seemed to "rehash" the same concepts. You know ... they all say the same thing only with a slightly different slant or perspective. In other words, it's all the same stuff! This is an unhealthy perspective and not even accurate. Having just finished this book (and now having moved on to the next: The Blogging Church), I can now say that I've "snapped out of it!" What was I thinking?

What a great read! Maxwell does an excellent job of describing how a person's choices affect their talent. He says "everyone has talent" but the choices they make in terms of developing their talent makes the difference between success and failure.

In the book he outlines and develops thirteen different choices a person can make to improve their talent. Here's a list of the chapter titles:

1. Belief Lifts Your Talent
2. Passion Energizes Your Talent
3. Initiative Activates Your Talent
4. Focus Directs Your Talent
5. Preparation Positions Your Talent
6. Practice Sharpens Your Talent
7. Perseverance Sustains Your Talent
8. Courage Tests Your Talent
9. Teachability Expands Your Talent
10. Character Protects Your Talent
11. Relationships Influence Your Talent
12. Responsibility Strengthens Your Talent
13. Teamwork Multiplies Your Talent

As I read this book I was struck by how much sense Maxwell was making. I've often said, for example, that what one lacks in knowledge or expertise can be made up in enthusiasm and extra effort. Maxwell makes the point that "perseverance means succeeding because you are determined to, not destined to" and that "initiative is often the difference between success and failure." Words to live by, I would say!

Maxwell also emphasizes the importance of good character on talent. Self-discipline, values, and integrity are among the important aspects of a person's character. How many examples can you think of where a very talented person failed due to lack of character? Maxwell tells a couple of good stories in the book to illustrate the point.

The stuff on relationships and teamwork was also very good. Maxwell tells the story of the relationship between Johnny Cash and June Carter. Great story! Definitely a good example of the impact a relationship can have on a person's life.

The book was very practical. At the end of each chapter, Maxwell includes a section called "application exercises." These sections include four of five questions or exercises the reader can use to think the chapter's subject through and apply it to their life. Good stuff!

All in all ... an excellent read! I highly recommend it!

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