here’s some notes from another of the sessions that we experienced at the 1-day conference…

craig’s session was addressing how we think in relation to what we do. some good mental gymnastics on why we do what we do & how to get our “thinking” to the next level so that our “doing” truly matters & has impact.

5 places we need to “re-think”
think differently about…
…your church CULTURE
…PROGRAMMING
…the MISSION
…people LEAVING the church
…LIMITATIONS

…the church CULTURE
if we’re always putting the blame of what’s going on in the church we’re serving we’re simply not doing our job. to some degree people are stubborn & will have difficulty moving into new directions. however, some of the cultural issues are yours as the leader.
LEADERSHIP QUESTION: what am i doing as a leader to change & redirect the culture?

…PROGRAMMING
so much of what we do in life [work, school, family, church] is built around what we’re “doing”. are we making the grade, producing enough, meeting quotas, providing the right programs?
is it possible that we need to scale back all the ‘suff’ that we’re doing [& doing half-way] & focus on a couple of things that we can do well; i mean really well?
the axiom says “if we do more, we can reach more”
i’m becoming less & less convinced that it’s not true.

…the MISSION & people LEAVING the church
so many times the mind-set is that we don’t want to hurt someone’s feelings because they might just get up & go to another church. anyone felt this way or heard this said?? yes, i see that hand.
the biggest problem here is that when we begin to become so focused/concerned on those who are considering leaving because the music isn’t just right, or they didn’t get to have a leading role in something & or they just don’t like the way that another is leading – when they become the focus of the leaders we’ve lost sight of the mission.
it almost seems like we’ve become focused on the pharisees & have forgotten about the tax collectors & prostitutes.
Jesus seems pretty clear on this issue. he says, in 21century language, “I’m going this way. if you want to be with Me come on.” he doesn’t seem real concerned with trying to chase down those who don’t want to be involved.
the other thing that pops up here is this notion that if people leave our church we can’t possibly grow. that is a soiled notion!
i heard, quite while ago now, that who is ON the team is as important as who is NOT on the team.
that is to say that there are some that simply are not going to help the cause reach it’s potential & are going to drag their feet at every turn.
help them find a place that they’re going to be happy & productive.

…LIMITATIONS
we often see the possibilities around us as hurdles & impossibilities instead of places that God can move. the churches we serve will often cast a dream as “we can’t do ______, because we don’t have ______”
our job in changing the mindset is to get them to say “we can do _____, because we don’t have _____ obstacles to overcome.”

so, loads of good stuff. too much to put into just a couple of postings here.

is anyone considering catalyst in the ATL for next fall? i’m definitely on-board & would be interested in sharing hotel or vehicle costs. let me know!

Labels: catalyst, change, mindset changes