Continuing my notes from the C3 conference….
In Session 2, Ed Young, continued to show us how to stay focused and understand some of the things that prevent churches from going to a H.N.L. (Ho Nuther Level).
Continuing with metaphor of the church as a restaurant, Ed challenged us to think about how we eat the Bread of Life and drink the Living Water, which are good things, but they are intended to nourish us so that we can get up from the table and do the work of the church! We should be trying to think of a “diet and exercise” church. Like life, we tend to spend too much time eating and drinking and not exercising! We need the nourishment that comes from eating and drinking, but that is to be used to do the work of the church!
Ed used Hebrews 6:1 to remind us how we are instructed to grow up in our spiritual maturity and get beyond spiritual adolescence. Too many in the church are spiritual teenagers and paused on puberty!. Like most teenagers, the will do and say some really stupid things, such as:
- It’s all about me
- The church is too big
- I am just not getting fed
- I am going to leave home (run away)
- The church is full of hypocrites
- My friends aren’t there
- The church is just interested in my money
The spiritually mature in the church must be the unselfish ones to reach out to the others (the empty chair) and the babies and we must be willing to get uncomfortable to do it.
Ed then started to review with us the 10.5 commandments of creativity. Here are the first 2:- It’s All About the Weekend (Stupid) – Got to love the boldness and frankness in this one, but he’s right. We might have some great things going on during the week, but if they take away from or lessen the weekend in any way, that needs to change. Ed’s ideal time allocation for senior pastors – 70% should be spent on the weekend or getting ready for the weekend. Three things every senior pastor should be focused on:
- Lead with vision
- Feed the sheep
- Read with discernment
- You Need Time for Creativity – Creativity is the most demanding thing you can do.
- It is needed because the higher the predictability of your service, the lower the connectivity it will have with the people.
- You need creativity for change and growth.
- Ideas need a pregnancy period to allow them to grow, develop and take shape before they are delivered.
- A lot of creativity is stopping (things that are not working) and starting (new things). Don’t be afraid to get off a dead horse!
- You must delegate to create.
- Great leadership is spelled T.E.A.M. A good team will have conflict, laughter, and fun. Usually 3-5 people (more than 5 is too many).
- Every venue / ministry can benefit from having a creative team.
In my next post, I’ll cover session 3 notes. Stay tuned!