Reflections from Global Leadership Summit 2010

The key to Logan Uniting Church fulfilling its redemptive potential is every person passionately following Jesus, listening to the prompts of the Holy Spirit and stepping outside of our comfort zone in witnessing and serving.
As part of our trip through the USA Glen and I attended the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in Chicago. This was two days of world class business and church leaders sharing their insights - FANTASTIC.
SOME of the standout speakers were:

Jim Collins
Jim Collins, nationally acclaimed business consultant, serves as a teacher to leaders throughout the corporate and social sectors. Author of the best-selling books Good to Great and Built to Last, he is a student of companies—how they grow, how they attain superior performance, and how good companies can become great companies. His writings, based on groundbreaking research, have been featured in Fortune, Business Week, The Economist, USA Today, and Harvard Business Review. His latest volume, How The Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In, looks at common mistakes of organizations in a state of decline, and what leaders can do to reverse negative patterns and flourish anew.

Key Learning
Organisational decline is almost always self-inflicted
Stages of decline
1. Hubris born of success
2. Undisciplined pursuit of more
3. Denial of risk and peril
4. Grasping for salvation (Search for silver bullet)
5. Capitulation.

In the last 100 years only 18 of the fortune 500 companies are still alive and kicking – what they have in common is that they have more reasons to endure than money – they have undiluted core values which are not open to compromise. (E.G. Apple, Sony, Proctor and Gamble.) They changed their practices but not their values. They were also not afraid of “BHAGS”, Big Hairy Audacious Goals.

Andy Stanley
Under the leadership of Andy Stanley, North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, has become one of the largest and most innovative churches in the United States. Founded in 1995, the church has grown to three campuses and a weekly attendance of more than 22,000 people. They have also helped plant more than 20 strategic partner churches across North America. Stanley is a dynamic speaker and author whose books include Visioneering, Next Generation Leader, and Communicating for a Change. His latest volume, The Principle of the Path, explores a basic truth that can eliminate regret, as it helps to successfully move people from where they are to where they want to go.


Key Learning
• Myth – Great Leaders solve problems and relieve stress – actually problems and stress should not always be eradicated but leveraged for good.
Leveraging tensions
1. Identify the tensions to be managed in your organization
2. Name those tensions – are both sides good (e.g. Salvation and Justice)
3. Inform your core
4. Continually give value to both sides
5. Don’t weigh in too heavily on your personal biases
6. Don’t allow strong personalities to win
7. Don’t think in terms of balance but rhythm, seasons of focus.

T.D. Jakes
Named by TIME magazine as one of the “25 Most Influential Evangelicals in America,” Bishop Thomas Dexter (T.D.) Jakes is an entrepreneur, global advocate, philanthropist, and pastor of The Potter’s House. Located in Dallas, Texas, this multiracial, nondenominational congregation has more than 30,000 members. Known for his service to both the church and the global community, he’s led initiatives to combat domestic violence, homelessness, poverty, and AIDS. A prolific writer, Bishop Jakes has authored more than 30 books, including two New York Times bestsellers.

Key Learning
• You cannot clone passion – people must receive it – but it is more than emotionalism it is commitment to a cause or endeavour
• People follow people who take risks for great causes
• You cannot do things without people – treasure them
• Evaluate what people can do – challenge them with something they can reach, do not defeat them with something they cannot reach – gift assessment is crucial
• Do not let depletion become normal – re-fill.

(Thanks to Steve Everist, Associate Pastor Pittwater Uniting Church, for the above
summaries)

These are only three of the 13 speakers we had the privilege of being challenged, equipped and inspired by.

On the 8th and 9th of October a large group from Logan Uniting will attend a video version of the Global Leadership Summit at Gateway Baptist. This is a fantastic opportunity to be equipped as a passionate disciple of Jesus.

We still have some very early bird registrations available and once they are taken, church council will contribute $30 each for a further ten registrations. Please contact the church office and make an investment in your growth and therefore in God’s Kingdom.

Yours in Christ

Graham Keech

September 2010 - Avoiding Burnout

Photograph by Forrest Cavale

Earlier in the year a member of the congregation asked me how you avoid burnout in ministry. This was in response to them becoming aware of a number of ministers who had experienced burnout and/or depression. My response was that at least the following four things must be in place. (I believe these to be true and necessary for all of us whatever our vocation in life to help avoid burnout and in fact are necessary if we are to mature as Disciples of Christ):

1. Do the internal work:
If we are to mature as Disciples of Christ then at some point we must allow God to look deep within us and to surface our hidden drivers and wounds. All of us have “drivers (motivators)” within us – some are healthy and some very unhealthy. Even the healthy drivers if not understood can lead us to overdo something and burnout. Understanding what is important to us, what we avoid, why we respond positively or not so positively to people and situations is critical to emotional and spiritual health. The book “Emotionally Healthy Church” by Peter Scazzero has some great tools for helping us do this (you can order one from the bookshop). Often we also need a trusted counsellor or friend who is good at asking questions that take us deeper than we would normally go.
There really is no way of avoiding this journey if we want to keep maturing in Christ and if we want to protect against burnout.

2. Ensure you have times of re-creation:
Fun, friendship and faith are actually the keys to this. I am absolutely convinced that having fun is one of God’s keys for emotional wellbeing – it is as important as sleep. What do you do each week that you really enjoy – that is fun for you?
Healthy friendships where you don’t have to wear a mask but are free to genuinely be yourself are also important in being renewed emotionally.
So too is faith – and not just faith as an abstract concept – but faith as a growing relationship with God that is renewed by taking the time to be still, alone, reflect on scripture and wait on God.

3. Clarifying the unique way God has designed you to serve:
For me this has meant looking closely at what my role as Senior Minister involves and what my unique gifts/strengths are. I have then identified where these intersect and seek to focus the majority of my time on these. I call them my four ‘big rocks’ – the things I am uniquely designed to do in my role here at Logan and they get first priority in my allocation of time.
What are you passionate about? What do you do well? How are these finding expression in your daily vocation (paid or unpaid work)?
If you don’t answer these questions you will end up doing everything and nothing (feeling like you are not really contributing anything worthwhile) and/or being constantly driven by the expectations of others.

4. Ensuring you have people who encourage you to do the above three things:
This is where “intentional faith filled friendships” (meeting with 2 other people of the same gender for accountability, encouragement and prayer) and/or “faith life groups” come into play.
I find it helpful to have people who encourage me to take time for fun and re-creation when they see I need it. It has been important to have people who ask the hard questions regarding what I am doing about my internal work. I meet in an intentional faith filled friendship where each week we talk about what we have learnt in our times with God (this helps hold us to account). It has also been helpful to have others affirm my choices in prioritising my work (around the “4 big rocks”) as there are times it means I will say “no” to people or not meet certain expectations.
I am not really sure why I am writing about this topic. All I can say is that as I prayed about Keech’s Korner this came to my heart.
I hope these insights are helpful.

Yours in Christ
Rev Graham Keech
Senior Minister

August 2010 - Hi from the States

Photograph by Richard Wong

Hi from the States. The trip is going very well. We had five days in Los Angeles and are now in Atlanta. The broken leg is fine – just a bit uncomfortable and tiring. Glen says “Hi” and we both thank you for praying for us and for our families.

So far there are two churches that stand out to me. One is Church Multiplication Associates (CMA). This is a movement passionate about leading people to Christ, making disciples and planting churches. They started by visiting a local coffee shop and doing three things:

- Drinking coffee
- Playing games (chess etc – whatever people enjoyed)
- Listening.

In the process many people came to Christ. In fact so many that they decided to move to a different coffee shop which was darker (people here were into Satanism and a witches coven met regularly at the coffee shop) in order to win more people to Christ. One great quote is “bad people make good soil; there is a lot of fertilizer in their life”.

CMA does church in people’s homes, coffee shops – wherever. Once the church reaches 12 people it multiplies and a new church is started. As a consequence there are now literally thousands of churches that are part of this movement, with a 25% conversion growth rate.

The key to the movement however lies in their Life Transformation Groups (LTG). This is a group of three people of the same gender who meet each week. Each week the members read one book of the bible and share about it when they meet. If one person has not finished the reading, all re-read the book until eventually all three people have read it. This repetitious immersion in the bible is the key to health. The LTG also have accountability questions they answer with each other. And the third component is that they pray strategically for pre-Christian people. Once someone comes to faith in Christ the LTG’s divide and two LTG’s now meet. There is never more than three people in an LTG. It is actually the LTG’s that carry the DNA of the movement and are the key to ensuring disciples, churches and the movement itself grows in health.

The second is “The Dream Center”. This church began 15 years ago led by a 19 year old, very new pastor – Matthew Barnett. Matthew thought he would grow a church on great preaching and worship but discovered the needs and poverty in downtown Los Angeles were so great he had to take a different approach. He chose to “find a need and fill it; find a hurt and heal it” and this continues to be the mission statement of the church. From very small beginnings The Dream Center now uses an old Catholic hospital as its base and serves over 40 000 people every month. This involves food vans, a mobile free health clinic, working with people on skid row (the area of LA where homeless sleep on the street); one section of the ex-hospital is a live-in discipleship centre for people from the streets or prison; another for families who are homeless, another for women at risk and so on. Along with serving there is a clear passion for people to discover the transforming power of Jesus.

We attended the Sunday worship service which was very contemporary with dance music and fantastic technology; but people we spoke with were clear, “this is not church – church is Monday to Saturday – this is when we celebrate.”

The key learning from these growing, active, transformative churches (and also from some that aren’t doing so well) is the importance of a clear understanding of who God has called a particular church to be. This involves very clear DNA (purpose and values/culture). Those that are continuing to be used powerfully by God do not stray from this clear DNA (no matter how big they grow or how many activities they undertake) and every person is expected to live it out. As one leader put it “if disciples don’t carry the DNA, your church doesn’t.”

At Logan Uniting we have a clear purpose: “Drawing people into a life-transforming relationship with Jesus Christ” through a culture of Fun, Friendship and Faith. This means every person who is part of LUC must be praying for, serving, sharing faith with pre-Christian people and also participating in biblical community (Faith Life Groups and/or Intentional Faith-Filled Friendships) – this for us is what church is about. For us also, corporate worship is not church, but a chance to celebrate God and all He is doing, as church.

Yours in Christ
Rev Graham Keech
Senior Minister

July 2010 - Ministry Leadership Team

Over these last couple of days I have heard some wonderful stories of what God is doing in and through you, God’s church. We had five first time commitments at Kid’s Games and a number of recommitments. It is not the number that is impressive but the change in young people’s lives. Hearing the story of one of the children, who has no Christian background and for whom this was their first Kid’s Games, and the way in which they are so excited about Jesus and reading more about him, is absolutely uplifting. I also heard the story of a young mum who has just joined one of our play groups and who is experiencing an amazing sense of being loved and cared for. Another story involved children who are 8 and 9 years old praying for their Kid’s GIG leader. GREAT STUFF!!!

These are just some of the stories of what God is doing. Whilst I am incredibly encouraged by this I have a very strong sense that there is even more “Breakthrough” that God is wanting us to walk into as a church. I shared this with the Ministry Leadership Team on Tuesday and called them to trust God more, take courageous steps and make big decisions. Below is some of the growth stretches I see for every member of the MLT:

Glen: multiplying faith life groups and leaders and coaches.
Heather: developing the financial viability of the counselling centre so we can continue to keep good counsellors and expand the service.
Tim R: developing youth discipleship and multiplying youth faith life groups (and for these to be so effective there is little or no drop out of young people when they finish youth ministry). Also the development of life groups in the Carbrook area.
Craig: a clear vision of how corporate worship helps build the Kingdom of God through LUC and developing more teams and leaders to help us move into this.
Liz: increase the teams for pastoral care and prayer so we have a very strong “net of care” across LUC.
Libby: helping more and more people and leaders catch the vision and passion in her heart for children and young families so we see a multiplication of fruitfulness
Tim B: growing teams that will strengthen and multiply resources and communication across our church.
Jim: passionately pursuing discipleship with staff and students. Jenny Munns: (Jenny’s position is funded by the government and she leads our Pitstop ministry; and whilst not part of the MLT has an important role in our= outreach): expanding Pitstop beyond PPP to include health and finances; and not just running successful programs but helping people move closer to Jesus and connect more fully with LUC.
Me (Graham): calling forth success in and through the MLT; calling every member of LUC to genuine discipleship; shaping our church around the discipleship process so that more and more and more (and multitudes of) people are coming to faith in Christ and growing as His disciples.

I was very clear with the team that stepping into this “breakthrough” in God did not require people to work harder but to trust God more, take courageous steps and make bold decisions I share this with you not just so that you can pray for each member of the Ministry Leadership Team but as a call to arms, a call to prayer, a call for God to release more of His unlimited power, a call for each of us to step into what we know God is calling us to do and not to back off or get sidetracked. We are together the body of Christ and it is only as EACH one of us trusts God more, take courageous steps and make bold decisions that WE as a church will fulfil our potential in helping build God’s Kingdom.

Yours in Christ
Rev Graham Keech
Senior Minister