Since the beginning here at CCV, we’ve encouraged our staff to “put themselves out there!” We believe, beyond our own church, we are called to be a resource in our region … the northeast. So, our staff is encouraged to network with other independent Christian churches, making themselves available to share ideas and otherwise be a resource for other church leaders.
This calling takes several forms. Every staff member is encouraged to blog and be active in other “social media” forums (Facebook, Twitter, etc.). If they’re up to it, we also encourage them to coach, speak, write books, and anything else they are capable of doing to help others.
We feel called by God to be a teaching church in the region. This calling translates into much action on the part of our team. For example, we host a quarterly “summit” for independent Christian church leaders in the northeast. We call it the “Northeast Pastors’ Summit.” It takes place on our site each quarter and every independent Christian church leader north of Virginia and as far west as Pittsburgh is invited to participate. It’s no big deal; the point is more to create a forum for networking and supporting one another in the task of ministering and growing the local church here in the northeast. The event includes breakouts on different topics of interest, lunch, a keynote speaker, and a time to pray and share ideas and challenges. The next Summit is coming up on Wednesday, December 2, 2009.
OK, so does all of this take time? Absolutely! But, we believe it’s important and the time it takes results in many benefits to others and the expansion of God’s kingdom overall. Practically speaking, by engaging in helping other church leaders in the region, our staff gets better. You’ve heard the adage that, “I got much more out of it than I put into it.” This has proven to be the case around here. I know for me every time I spend time working with another church, I come back a different person. I always discover a “nugget” of information or have an “a ha” moment during which I realize something that can be applied back home. Make sense?
If you’re interested in connecting with one or all of our staff, here’s a listing with links to blogs, Facebook, Twitter, websites, etc.:
Frank Chiapperino, Teaching Pastor – Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Small Group Help
Kelly Clark, Children’s Director – Blog, Facebook
Ben Foulke, Arts Director – Blog, Facebook
Brendon Foulke, Student Ministries Director – Blog, Facebook, Twitter
Brian Jones, Senior Pastor – Blog, Facebook, Twitter, Brian Jones UNCUT
Kevin Stone, Executive Pastor – Blog, Facebook, Twitter
Terri Stone, Involvement Director – Blog, Facebook, Twitter
To find out more about the Northeast Pastors’ Summit, shoot me an e-mail at kevin@moviechurch.com.
