Going To The Next Level....

Ever been to Savannah?
That's where i was last week and didn't get a chance to post to my blog...

Savannah is a nice town and this is a great time of year to visit... the weather was great and so was the event that i got to be a part of... The Next Level Leadership Conference was hosted by Savannah Christian Church. The main speakers were Sr. Pastor Cam Huxford and Gene Appel from Willow Creek Community Church.

Savannah Christian is a fantastic story... the staff and volunteers were absolutely incredible! The church has been around for quite a few years but in the last several years the church has experienced significant growth. They are located in a growing area of Savannah with tremendous potential for even further growth.

Having attended several events like this in the past it's quite easy to have fairly low expectations but the team of speakers, workshop leaders and host did a incredible job with this event. From the moment you arrived on the church campus, their gracious hospitality made all the difference!

There were three events that really impacted me in a significant manner...

First, Gene Appel took time to unpack the issue of leading a church through significant change without doing what so often happens in those instances... killing it! For me among the most significant topic Gene addressed in this regard was the topic of The 4 C's of the Channel of Change, 1) Conflict 2) Confusion 3) Comparison and finally 4) Crisis.

Secondly, i had an opportunity to sit and talk a bit with Savannah's Executive Pastor Harvey Bream, his responsibilities include but are not limited to oversight of all the staff, finances and strategic planning for the church.
1) His advice to me was to be aware that in transitioning to a position similar to his, it might be easy for people to view me differently... to become known as the "No" man.
2) He also said it is important to know that the person you as Executive Pastor answer to (the Senior Pastor) is "emotionally strong".
3) Finally Harvey recommended that the it is critical to create an atmosphere where it is truly safe to hold everyone accountable.

The last session i sat in on was on Determining Your Church's Future. In this session Harvey Bream walked everyone through the 5 year strategic plan that the leadership, staff and congregation had put together that they believe will guide them through 2012. He spoke of and explained it's simplicity. The church has chosen to focus on three strategic areas:
1) Our People (the congregation)
2) Our Community(which as i mentioned earlier is thriving)
3) Our World (the church has a heart for world wide missions)

It was truly encouraging and if i make everyone around here crazy enough perhaps next year it will be an event that several of us can travel to as a team....

Ahhh i can see it now.... we're all at the Crab Shack see and...