Join us for Easter!
Okay, so I’ve gotta brag on Community a little bit… I just received this graph from our finance director David Girdwood, and I am so amazed at what God has done through the years through the people of this church!! The graph at the right shows the Easter attendance each year at Community throughout our 19 years of existence…. What will the attendance be this year?! I can’t wait to find out!!
And if you are out there, no matter what church community you belong to, and you’re debating about whether or not to invite that person or family to church you have been praying for…
Remember the first time you came to church….
Remember the first time you came to small group…
Remember the first time you realized that Someone cares about you unconditionally and sacrificed His life so that you might have life…
Make the ask. Make it again if you’ve already made it! Say yes to praying fervantly that God’s transforming power will transform and soften the hearts of those who have not yet found their way back to Him… Say yes to setting aside your own fears and insecurities and opening up yourself to the promptings of God’s Spirit to move you to take a risk with someone…. Say yes to being generous with your time, your resources, your whole self… so that someone else might find their way back to God. Have a wonderful Easter, everyone! Can’t wait to celebrate together this weekend!
A Learning Organization
I just read the March issue of the Harvard Business Review, and there are some terrific articles in there to check out if you are at all interested in leadership, organizational growth, strategy, authenticity, talent management, and much more. This month’s issue is great. This morning I read a particular article entitled, ‘Is Yours a Learning Organization?’
David Garvin, Amy Edmondson, and Francesca Gino explore how an organization ‘learns’ new things. They say,“Leaders may think that getting their organizations to learn is only a matter of articulating a clear vision, giving team members the right incentives, and providing lots of training… A learning organization, however, not only has a compelling vision, but has team members skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge and ideas. These people foster open discussion, think holistically and systemically, and are able to adapt quickly to unpredictability.”
The authors then go on to describe three building blocks for assessing the depth of learning in your organization: 1) a supportive learning environment, 2) concrete learning processes and practices, and 3) leadership that reinforces learning.
As I read this article, I am reminded of the book The Starfish and the Spider. The basic idea of this book is that creativity and new ideas come from the edges of an organization and not necessarily from the center. Knowing that and encouraging that in your organization is helpful; but in order for that creativity to be ‘learned’ within the organization, the organization must become a learning organization! This is the piece that intrigues me the most about this HBR article. It describes the means by which our organizations can foster and implement new ideas effectively.
In the church planting world, it is ever so important to foster and implement new ideas effectively, especially when it comes to catalyzing a movement!
Is yours a learning organization? Why or why not?
NewThing and Wheaton College? Yes, it’s true!
This just in! NewThing and Wheaton College have formed a partnership agreement! Our NewThing team had a meeting yesterday with Rick Richardson and Carol Fowler from the Wheaton Graduate School, and we made some good progress on the marketing of this brand new partnership! Our NewThing leadership residents will now be eligible to receive up to a 50% tuition discount (through some upcoming tremendous generosity!) for a master’s degree in a new missional leadership program at Wheaton’s grad school. Additionally, Wheaton grad students will have the opportunity to do a residency at Community or one of our other NewThing affiliate churches as a part of their degree. Our hope is that this will recruit and equip even more high capacity leaders to plant and grow reproducing churches! Stay tuned for more details!
As Iron Sharpens Iron
“As iron sharpens iron, so does one person sharpen another” (Proverbs 27:17).
I had a great conversation with Jerry Schriver yesterday from the Christian Stewardship Network. He is doing some great things in networking stewardship and development pastors nationwide through forums, events, peer-to-peer coaching, and other venues. His network members are an impressive list, and I am happy to become a part of that list in the near future. We’re going to be working together on bringing Community‘s Generosity Conference experience to more churches and sharing experiences of how to grow together in catalyzing generosity within our churches. If you are seeking coaching and resources from someone who has been in the industry for quite some time now, check this network out! And if you’re in the Atlanta area, be sure to visit Jerry at Perimeter Church in Duluth, GA – a church that really ‘gets’ generosity!
Ever Done a Shopping Fast?
Ever done a shopping fast? No, I don’t mean ‘shopping fast’ in which you shop quickly for your most coveted items! I mean a shopping fast – in which you fast (or abstain) from shopping for a selected period of time. Many of you are likely familiar with different types of food fasts. Food fasts challenge us to abstain from eating from a certain period of time so that we might focus on prayer and seeking God’s guidance. A shopping fast operates in the same manner – only the outcome is two-fold! By abstaining from shopping, you can grow closer to God by placing priority in people and nature rather than material items AND you are able to discipline your spending habits into a much wiser shape – thus allowing you to be more generous!
Back in November, three friends in my small group and I did a three-month shopping fast. For three months, we didn’t purchase anything other than basic grocery items and basic toiletry items. No arts and crafts, no clothing, no specialty food items, no jewelry or other accessories. Nothing other than basic groceries and basic toiletries. We allowed ourselves $20/month to spend if something absolutely came up that we needed – such as a pair of gloves or some type of specialty food treat for a birthday party; but other than that, we spent nothing. We ended it on the day of the Generosity Conference in February. The result? We were able to increase our generosity to the ministries and people we love! AND it’s amazing how much you realize you can live without….
A week later, I challenged Community‘s Yellow Box campus to a 6-month shopping fast challenge with me. So beginning on February 9, I began another 6-month shopping fast. Many attenders from Community have joined along in this with me, and I would like to challenge some of you out there to join in as well – even if only for a month or two. Who’s in?? Maybe you don’t spend a lot on shopping…. maybe it’s something else… maybe it’s fast food…. What will you fast from?…
Generosity in Action
This picture is one of the best results of generosity I’ve ever experienced! Did you know that our 190-person launch team for the Plainfield launch personally sacrificed not only their time, their hearts, and their talents – but also their resources?! It’s true. Our Plainfield launch team, led by Brad and Anne Prunty – who sacrificed significant resources themselves, prioritized generosity as a key value of their launch team. Because of this, 4 families at JFK Middle School were able to have a $500 gift each at Christmastime, over 5,000 canned goods were donated to the Plainfield Interfaith Food Pantry, and 642 people entered the doors of a brand new worship space last Sunday morning! I don’t know about you, but if that even means that one more person finds their way back to God, then I say, ‘Take all I have, God! It’s yours!’ And this just in…. Week 2 of the Plainfield launch had over 500 in attendance, many of who are beginning their journey in finding their way back to God. So we aren’t just talking about one person… we are talking about hundreds coming alongside of us in this journey! In the coming weeks, I’ll be writing more about how we can spend more wisely on ourselves in order to have greater generosity towards the mission of Jesus. Ask questions and add in your own ideas along the way, we’re all in this together!