Willow Creek Leadership Summit

This year's Leadership Summit has definitely been great. Fantastic speakers. Well done Willow.
Here's some great notes if interested.

Seeing gray in a world of black & white

Our senior pastor, Adam Hamilton, is starting a new sermon series on January 6th titled Seeing Gray...which will look at a variety of issues, particularly in regards to the upcoming election. Here's a video promo...looks to be quite intriguing and informative. And I just want to say that it is great being part of a community that is not afraid to talk about these issues. We may not all come down on the same side of each issue, and that's okay....I'm just glad we're talking about them!

What Not to Wear - Comfortable is Out!

You may have seen the TLC show What Not To Wear. If you have, you are probably aware that the majority of people on the show are wardrobe-challenged. You come to find out that many of the people just do not give their wardrobe that much attention. You also find out that most folks on the show take the 'function over fashion' adage to the extreme by saying that they prefer their clothing to be comfortable.

What the hosts of the show argue is that the way you dress is a reflection of yourself, and how you dress communicates a great deal about you and how you feel about yourself. Many times when people say they want their clothing to be comfortable, what they are really saying is that their current style of dress (being sweats or baggy clothes, or 1980's style) has more to do with their psychological comfort zone and not so much how the actual clothes feel.

The hosts then help each person venture outside of their comfort zone by trying on new clothes and giving them guidelines on how to shop for their particular body-type. Without fail, each person on the show comes away saying that not only do they feel great about how they look, but that their self-confidence has grown tremendously. A transformation has occurred.

I sometimes wonder...do we as the church sometimes find ourselves in the exact same place as some of the people on the show? Do we have a way of doing things that may be outdated, or just doesn't work? A way of functioning that alienates others, or is downright unhealthy?

Do we as the church have a comfort zone that is keeping us from realizing our full potential?

Are we intentional about doing the things Jesus told us to do, such as spending time befriending those outside the faith, or in different cultural or socio-economic standings? Do we allow the fear of change to dictate how our corporate gatherings are shaped, or to allow a program to continue which shouldn't, or a whole host of other things?

Is our desire to be comfortable?

I know for myself, deep down, that I desire comfort. I usually resist change that I do not help initiate. I think it is human nature to desire consistency, pattern, and repetition. But I also wonder if our affluence has contributed to our desire for comfort. We've grown accustomed to being able to satisfy our needs very easily and without much sacrifice, so why should we have to sacrifice in our churches. Why should we have to change?

If we cater our churches only to those who are already a part of them, then we are probably not developing relationships with those outside the church. If we are not developing relationships with those outside of the church, then we become no more than a narcissistic organization trying in vain to relive its glory days.

So I find myself continuously asking myself and those I am in ministry with, are we currently trying to reach others in this particular effort...or are we just trying to keep those of us already here happy and...comfortable?

Church growth in Russia

The methodist church has an agency called the General Board of Global Ministries, which part of their purpose is to assist with the expansion of the methodist church across the globe. Russia happens to be one of the places which is experiencing a great deal of growth and expansion which has been assisted by the GBGM's Russia Initiative Conferences held annually throughout the US which attempts to partner local churches in the US with churches in Eurasia in order to grow & learn from each other.

We've had the opportunity to host this years Russia Initiative, which is number 13, and has been an incredible experience. A delegation of 110 pastors and lay leaders from Eurasia along with 227 pastors and laity from the US have gathered to be in dialogue and communication on how to best continue supporting the church in Russia and Ukraine and I must say it has been great meeting folks from halfway across the world that share in the same mission and vision.

I'll try to post some pics soon.

are you Innovative?

check out these videos of all the main sessions from Granger's Innovate '07 conference. They have some pretty sweet stuff going on.

5 Conferences in 5 days!

The church I serve has one week in October that is quite literally insane. This is that week. we have almost 2,000 people coming from all over the country (as well as several other countries) to gather, worship, learn, reconnect, network, and learn about communicating the message of Christ in today's world. We have compiled several different conferences together so the energy is contagious and they seem to feed off of each other. There is an IT roundtable, a Contemporary Worship Institute, some Pre-Institute intensive sessions, an all-day conference hosted by Group Publishing on the 'Me to We' phenomenon, and then finally the actual Leadership Institute.

Things are going great, on the line-up is Greg Scheer, Doug Flather, Len Wilson & Jason Moore (Midnight Oil guys), Sally Morgenthaler, Adam Hamilton, Emanuel Cleaver, and several other great presenters. I'm totally stoaked about the night of worship that our contemporary music ministry is hosting tomorrow night...should be pretty tight! Hope to see you there.