Here's some more learning from the Saddleback small group conference.
From Leonard Sweet:
Sucessful enterprises have the following characteristics...
E - Experiential
P - Participatory
I - Image Rich
C - Connective
From Leonard Sweet:
The original intention of the church...
M - Missional
R - Relational
I - Incarnational
From Josh Surrat:
The tool seacoast uses to provide guidance across 14 campuses...
I - Initial (things you've got to have in place before you start)
P - Priorty (things you've got to get done in the next 6 months to year)
0 - Optional (things that you have freedom to do on your own)
D - Discouraged (things you shouldn't do)
Pretty Good Stuff
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saddleback Wrap Up
My first trip to Southern California was awesome! Here are my top five six experiences in no particular order.
1. Driving with sun roof open down the pacific coast highway radio blaring.
2. Steve Gladen's description of the 18 families in his neighborhood. Convicting.
3. Sherwood Carthen talking about the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. The 10 minutes I spent talking with Josh Surrat from Sea Coast Church.
5. Eating coconut encrusted mahi mahi at King's Fish House with my friend Brian Conner.
6. Seeing the Rockies from 32,000ft.
1. Driving with sun roof open down the pacific coast highway radio blaring.
2. Steve Gladen's description of the 18 families in his neighborhood. Convicting.
3. Sherwood Carthen talking about the power of the Holy Spirit.
4. The 10 minutes I spent talking with Josh Surrat from Sea Coast Church.
5. Eating coconut encrusted mahi mahi at King's Fish House with my friend Brian Conner.
6. Seeing the Rockies from 32,000ft.
Saddleback Day Three
Well I'm back home now and I'm still reflecting over the events of the past few days. I didn't want to leave out day three of the Saddleback conference. It was great! We heard from Leonard Sweet, author of Soul Tsunami and The Gospel According to Starbucks. Steve Gladen interviewed him and I learned quite a bit. Here’s some highlights.
1. Steve asked him about the decorations in his home which were obviously on the antique side and the fact that he connects with culture so well and he said, “you get to choose your furniture not your culture.”
2. He talked about how he has a hard time releasing a book to be published because he is constantly making adjustments and that our lives are a draft (That really doesn’t do what he said justice).
3. He talked about the EPIC challenge of the Church. He said that any successful enterprise is “ EPIC”.
Experiential
Participatory
Image Rich
Connective
4. Steve asked him about the current state of the church and Leonard responded that the church is returning to its original programming which is Missional, Relational, and Incarnational.
5. Starbuck coffee is $40 a gallon. Starbuck is an EPIC enterprise.
6. Worship should be connected to mission.
7. The more high tech we get, the more high touch we need to get.
8. He said that Christianity is about the destination AND the journey.
9. He has a new book coming out that asked the basic question, “who do you have with you.” In it, he says that everyone needs a timothy, a paul, a barnabus, etc…
10. “Jesus had 3 years to build a ministry and what did he do? Did he build a mega church? No, He developed a small group.”
11. Sanctuary is not a safe place from risks but a safe place to take risks.
12. He used this phrase, “mind marinated in the word.”
13. “If I don’t want to talk to someone on a plane I read my bible.” Ouch. Here he was talking about evangelism in our post modern, post Christian society. He said that our chief responsibility is not ‘tell and show” but “shut up and listen”. We are to discern where God is already working in their lives and help them be made aware.
14. “Christians hate cloning but we are the biggest clone makers in the world. As we become more like Christ we should become more unique.”
15. “Jesus didn’t come to make a difference he came to make a different world.”
Nick Vujicic spoke at the end of the conference. He is a powerful speaker with a great testimony of how God uses people for His glory. Here’s a couple of quotes…
“How does a man without arms and legs become the hands and feet of God?”
“If the world says you’re not good enough…get a second opinion!”
“Without arms and legs I can fit through cracks that you cannot.”
“It takes time to see God’s glory.”
He said that we should pray for miracles but continue to serve our circumstances.
1. Steve asked him about the decorations in his home which were obviously on the antique side and the fact that he connects with culture so well and he said, “you get to choose your furniture not your culture.”
2. He talked about how he has a hard time releasing a book to be published because he is constantly making adjustments and that our lives are a draft (That really doesn’t do what he said justice).
3. He talked about the EPIC challenge of the Church. He said that any successful enterprise is “ EPIC”.
Experiential
Participatory
Image Rich
Connective
4. Steve asked him about the current state of the church and Leonard responded that the church is returning to its original programming which is Missional, Relational, and Incarnational.
5. Starbuck coffee is $40 a gallon. Starbuck is an EPIC enterprise.
6. Worship should be connected to mission.
7. The more high tech we get, the more high touch we need to get.
8. He said that Christianity is about the destination AND the journey.
9. He has a new book coming out that asked the basic question, “who do you have with you.” In it, he says that everyone needs a timothy, a paul, a barnabus, etc…
10. “Jesus had 3 years to build a ministry and what did he do? Did he build a mega church? No, He developed a small group.”
11. Sanctuary is not a safe place from risks but a safe place to take risks.
12. He used this phrase, “mind marinated in the word.”
13. “If I don’t want to talk to someone on a plane I read my bible.” Ouch. Here he was talking about evangelism in our post modern, post Christian society. He said that our chief responsibility is not ‘tell and show” but “shut up and listen”. We are to discern where God is already working in their lives and help them be made aware.
14. “Christians hate cloning but we are the biggest clone makers in the world. As we become more like Christ we should become more unique.”
15. “Jesus didn’t come to make a difference he came to make a different world.”
Nick Vujicic spoke at the end of the conference. He is a powerful speaker with a great testimony of how God uses people for His glory. Here’s a couple of quotes…
“How does a man without arms and legs become the hands and feet of God?”
“If the world says you’re not good enough…get a second opinion!”
“Without arms and legs I can fit through cracks that you cannot.”
“It takes time to see God’s glory.”
He said that we should pray for miracles but continue to serve our circumstances.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
I don't behave at conferences
I like going to conferences and wish I could go to more but I’m learning this week that I don’t behave at conferences. For instance…I know it’s a small group conference and I should be more relational. When the conference speaker says “turn to your neighbor and talk about your situation,” I cringe a little. I want to know what the speaker has to say. I struggle to connect with complete strangers even though most people think of me as an extreme extrovert. It’s a flaw. I do like talking to people in groups and one-on-one but more naturally and out of a genuine concern to know that person or learn from them. I wonder if other folks (including Highlanders at home) pushback a little when community is forced. It did seem that folks enjoyed talking to one another (and so did I) when we were directed to. Maybe it’s just an edge for personal growth. I know that I connect deeply to God when I hear a powerful speaker and wish that I could hear more from the conference speakers but at the same time I long for more nuts and bolts from speakers like Rick Warren, Steve Gladden and others. Do you suppose I could just follow them around for my own personal conference? I’ve been really surprised at the completely different levels that people are at when it comes to small groups. You’d think that by attending a small groups conference at Saddleback you’d buy in to purpose driven groups. I talked with a guy yesterday who said that many of the people in his church and denomination would think small groups were a sin. Now can you imagine designing a conference for such a wide spectrum of people? I’m wanting small groups 2.0 and many are just learning what purpose driven and small groups are all about. I will say this…I am learning a ton. I talked with josh surrat from sea coast church today about multi-site strategy for groups and that was helpful. I’d love to hear more from him. Listened to Dave whitten talk about campaign strategy (Again, he spent a lot of time in convincing and I’m already convinced so I want more). I met with Steve Gladen and others at lunch today about networking. I’ve never been all that interested in networking but my interest is growing. I met a couple of neat people from Georgia. One girl from Destiny Church. I learned some good stuff from her about coaching. All in all a good experience. The design of things at conferences seems to be Macro from the plenary speakers and micro from the breakouts. I wonder if it would be possible to design a conference that is backwards. At least at the beginning of the conference say, “all the people that don’t know what a small group is, follow fred into the basement. There you will receive your first dose of the kool aide. For the rest of you, sit back and listen as Steve Gladen explains exactly what you should do to get your small groups out of the hole you put them in.” I guess that is a little ego centric.
Saddleback Day Two
Ok. Day two. I’m learning a ton. Sherwood Carthen brought it on day two. He is chaplain for the Sacramento Kings and leads a church in that area. Powerful stuff. I can’t even describe the passion that flowed from the guy. Here’s some highlights…
1. He started off by making fun of every denomination. How many (fill in your favorite denomination) does it take to change a light bulb? Hilarious.
2. 2 peter 3.9 God is patient…that none should perish. He’s waiting on us to get our act together.
3. He spoke on the proper response for a difference maker from Jude 20-23.
4. Said that 75% of people going to church are declining or are in a critical moment.
5. A difference maker is someone who changes the destination of another.
6. What is your defining moment?
7. We spend a lot of time trying to convince people how good we are when we should spend our time telling people how God rescued us. “If God did it for me, he can do it for you.”
8. Programs without passion and the love of God won’t change anything.
9. We must get to a point where we realize that a soul means something to God.
10. You can think of two or three people right now that you don’t care if they go to heaven or not.
11. Difference makers bank on God’s power.
12. It’s not elbow grease, it’s God’s power.
13. If God is not empowering your ministry your just doing stuff.
14. Acts 1.8 He gives us power to stand on the witness stand and testify not become a lawyer and argue.
15. Everyday is orchestrated by God all we have to do is live.
16. Glean from steve’s (gladen) field but realize that unless God builds the house those that labor, labor in vain.
17. When you get ready to go big you’ve got to go deep.
18. People in this world don’t need perfect people, they need delivered people.
19. Difference makers don’t say “we don’t have time.” Wow. Others have planted. Reap the harvest.
20. Difference makers don’t say “it can’t happen” or “it’s impossible.”
Sat in with Dave whitten to hear about campaign strategy. Evidently, lots of other people wanted to know about campaigns as well. I knew a little about campaigns. Here’s a couple of things that were new.
1. Saddleback asks existing groups to stop meeting during campaigns. I think this is a good strategy but I wonder how they keep up with reforming groups, new groups etc. I would imagine there are a lot of Saddleback groups that exist but are not tethered to the mother ship because they have disbanded, reformed and nobody knows about it. This happens at Highlands a lot. Campaigns generate lots of groups and the growth outstrips our structure every time. I think that is the reason we return to a baseline number of groups. Saddleback is providing more post campaign care. We’ve got to figure that out or we’ll be right back here in the same spot next year.
2. Connections are important but to achieve 110% participation you’ve got to place the burden for inviting new people on the host. This is a great idea. One guy asked “well what happens to people who don’t get invited?” The answer went right back to the old standby…we create a list of groups, put it on the web, etc. Boy, I’ve been down that road. Creating a list of any kind is not the solution (in my opinion). You’ve either got a list of groups which makes attending group awkward and places too much responsibility on the guest, or, you have a list of guest and that places too much burden on the staff. It also creates a list of people who are having a negative experience while they are unconnected. Our solution is to have the connections, explain to hosts that they probably won’t get a full group at the connection and send them out with instructions to fill their group. There is no list, anywhere. If someone wants to get in a group, they come to the connection or are invited by a host. Period. I think this is the best way for us right now. I think with the combination of hosts inviting and connections we can reach 110%.
3. Clear the Calendar. This is a good idea. Every ministry clears their calendar for a campaign. I wish I had known this little piece of info about 3 months ago. We need to plan campaigns earlier out so that we can give ministries leaders margin. At this point, shutting stuff down will cause fires but in the future we can give people more lead time.
1. He started off by making fun of every denomination. How many (fill in your favorite denomination) does it take to change a light bulb? Hilarious.
2. 2 peter 3.9 God is patient…that none should perish. He’s waiting on us to get our act together.
3. He spoke on the proper response for a difference maker from Jude 20-23.
4. Said that 75% of people going to church are declining or are in a critical moment.
5. A difference maker is someone who changes the destination of another.
6. What is your defining moment?
7. We spend a lot of time trying to convince people how good we are when we should spend our time telling people how God rescued us. “If God did it for me, he can do it for you.”
8. Programs without passion and the love of God won’t change anything.
9. We must get to a point where we realize that a soul means something to God.
10. You can think of two or three people right now that you don’t care if they go to heaven or not.
11. Difference makers bank on God’s power.
12. It’s not elbow grease, it’s God’s power.
13. If God is not empowering your ministry your just doing stuff.
14. Acts 1.8 He gives us power to stand on the witness stand and testify not become a lawyer and argue.
15. Everyday is orchestrated by God all we have to do is live.
16. Glean from steve’s (gladen) field but realize that unless God builds the house those that labor, labor in vain.
17. When you get ready to go big you’ve got to go deep.
18. People in this world don’t need perfect people, they need delivered people.
19. Difference makers don’t say “we don’t have time.” Wow. Others have planted. Reap the harvest.
20. Difference makers don’t say “it can’t happen” or “it’s impossible.”
Sat in with Dave whitten to hear about campaign strategy. Evidently, lots of other people wanted to know about campaigns as well. I knew a little about campaigns. Here’s a couple of things that were new.
1. Saddleback asks existing groups to stop meeting during campaigns. I think this is a good strategy but I wonder how they keep up with reforming groups, new groups etc. I would imagine there are a lot of Saddleback groups that exist but are not tethered to the mother ship because they have disbanded, reformed and nobody knows about it. This happens at Highlands a lot. Campaigns generate lots of groups and the growth outstrips our structure every time. I think that is the reason we return to a baseline number of groups. Saddleback is providing more post campaign care. We’ve got to figure that out or we’ll be right back here in the same spot next year.
2. Connections are important but to achieve 110% participation you’ve got to place the burden for inviting new people on the host. This is a great idea. One guy asked “well what happens to people who don’t get invited?” The answer went right back to the old standby…we create a list of groups, put it on the web, etc. Boy, I’ve been down that road. Creating a list of any kind is not the solution (in my opinion). You’ve either got a list of groups which makes attending group awkward and places too much responsibility on the guest, or, you have a list of guest and that places too much burden on the staff. It also creates a list of people who are having a negative experience while they are unconnected. Our solution is to have the connections, explain to hosts that they probably won’t get a full group at the connection and send them out with instructions to fill their group. There is no list, anywhere. If someone wants to get in a group, they come to the connection or are invited by a host. Period. I think this is the best way for us right now. I think with the combination of hosts inviting and connections we can reach 110%.
3. Clear the Calendar. This is a good idea. Every ministry clears their calendar for a campaign. I wish I had known this little piece of info about 3 months ago. We need to plan campaigns earlier out so that we can give ministries leaders margin. At this point, shutting stuff down will cause fires but in the future we can give people more lead time.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Saddleback Day One
Reflections from Wired Small Groups Conference Day One.
1. Russ Lee is leading in worship taking me back to the old NewSong days.
2. Steve Gladen led sessions today on the 5 purposes and their relationship to groups. It was fairly introductory and I was a little disappointed. I went to supper with a guy from Murfeesboro, TN and after talking with him about his situation, I realized why Steve was so basic in his material. Many folks are dealing with traditional mindsets and lay people who do not get it. Everyone deals with that stuff from time to time but I felt really bad for this guy’s situation.
3. Steve used a polling device that I thought was cool. Everyone was given a device that looked like a small calculator to respond to questions about small group experiences and general information. Instantly the results were posted on the screen so that Steve could see info like who had small groups versus Sunday school.
4. Stuff Steve said…
a. Spend 80% of your time talking with new group leaders and leaders who are quick to adopt change. Spend 20% of your time talking to veteran leaders and late adopters.
b. Everyone has a spiritual next step.
c. Specialty groups spend 80% of their time on one purpose. These include serving groups, missions groups etc. Small groups are balanced in the 5 purposes. We should strive to have folks participating in both kinds of groups.
d. “How dumb were the Israelites? I’m just like them.”
e. He said that a previous church a deacon came forward to take the offering and was asked to pray over the offering. The deacon said, “God, thank you for this food…”
f. This quote from a girl in a video clip… “ I wanted to be closer to God but I realized I couldn’t be closer to God unless I believed in his Son, Jesus Christ.” Powerful.
g. “EGR” refers to people who require extra grace. Saddleback calls these kinds of people “heavenly sandpaper.” Funny.
h. Nobody gets into a spiritual hole with a backhoe. It’s usually with a spoon.
i. Everybody knows the 80/20 rule. 20% of the people do 80% of the work. We must teach the 20% to say “no” so that responsibility if reflected onto the 80%.
j. We launch groups for life.
5. Rick Warren led session two.
a. Said he was watching foo fighters last night and realized that the 11am drummer is in the foo fighters. Cool.
b. In typical fashion, he threw out his message and decided not to talk about the conference subject.
c. Began by saying that he was burdened by Willow Creek “Revealed” study and the alarming number of pastors who have “flamed out” or “burned out.”
d. Spent a good bit of time talking about how Willow and Saddleback are different and that the results of the study made him sad because they showed that Willow lacked maturity and that could have been avoided.
e. He explained how easy it is to make a process of maturity and that’s what should have happened.
f. Direct quote, “Saddleback is the most spiritually mature church in America. There’s not a church in America with the spiritual depth that we have.”
g. Too much focus has been placed on the front end. It is not all about the weekend. It’s about the process.
h. Gave statistics on how many are in group, how many do quiet time, how many tithe, how many have gone on missions trip, etc. “What you measure is what you succeed in.”
i. “I can teach you how to have a spiritually mature church.”
j. 8 laws of spiritual growth…Spiritual growth is…
i. intentional (growth by making commitments)
ii. incremental (“not 3, not 4, not 6, there are 5 purposes)(the starting point for discipleship is “come and see” the ending point is “eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
iii. Personal
iv. Habitual
v. Relational
vi. Multi-dimensional
vii. Seasonal (growth in summer and spring, dormant in fall and winter) (too fast growth is swelling. Growth other than conversion growth is no good. Church goers are attracted by coolness. They’d rather be cool than effective.) “Have you noticed God likes to bless people you disagree with?” Yes, I have. ☺ Growth through campaigns was stressed. (people don’t come to groups for relationships, they come for content. They go for content and stay for relationships).
viii. Incarnational - We shouldn’t strive to be more like Jesus but for Jesus to live in us.
1. Russ Lee is leading in worship taking me back to the old NewSong days.
2. Steve Gladen led sessions today on the 5 purposes and their relationship to groups. It was fairly introductory and I was a little disappointed. I went to supper with a guy from Murfeesboro, TN and after talking with him about his situation, I realized why Steve was so basic in his material. Many folks are dealing with traditional mindsets and lay people who do not get it. Everyone deals with that stuff from time to time but I felt really bad for this guy’s situation.
3. Steve used a polling device that I thought was cool. Everyone was given a device that looked like a small calculator to respond to questions about small group experiences and general information. Instantly the results were posted on the screen so that Steve could see info like who had small groups versus Sunday school.
4. Stuff Steve said…
a. Spend 80% of your time talking with new group leaders and leaders who are quick to adopt change. Spend 20% of your time talking to veteran leaders and late adopters.
b. Everyone has a spiritual next step.
c. Specialty groups spend 80% of their time on one purpose. These include serving groups, missions groups etc. Small groups are balanced in the 5 purposes. We should strive to have folks participating in both kinds of groups.
d. “How dumb were the Israelites? I’m just like them.”
e. He said that a previous church a deacon came forward to take the offering and was asked to pray over the offering. The deacon said, “God, thank you for this food…”
f. This quote from a girl in a video clip… “ I wanted to be closer to God but I realized I couldn’t be closer to God unless I believed in his Son, Jesus Christ.” Powerful.
g. “EGR” refers to people who require extra grace. Saddleback calls these kinds of people “heavenly sandpaper.” Funny.
h. Nobody gets into a spiritual hole with a backhoe. It’s usually with a spoon.
i. Everybody knows the 80/20 rule. 20% of the people do 80% of the work. We must teach the 20% to say “no” so that responsibility if reflected onto the 80%.
j. We launch groups for life.
5. Rick Warren led session two.
a. Said he was watching foo fighters last night and realized that the 11am drummer is in the foo fighters. Cool.
b. In typical fashion, he threw out his message and decided not to talk about the conference subject.
c. Began by saying that he was burdened by Willow Creek “Revealed” study and the alarming number of pastors who have “flamed out” or “burned out.”
d. Spent a good bit of time talking about how Willow and Saddleback are different and that the results of the study made him sad because they showed that Willow lacked maturity and that could have been avoided.
e. He explained how easy it is to make a process of maturity and that’s what should have happened.
f. Direct quote, “Saddleback is the most spiritually mature church in America. There’s not a church in America with the spiritual depth that we have.”
g. Too much focus has been placed on the front end. It is not all about the weekend. It’s about the process.
h. Gave statistics on how many are in group, how many do quiet time, how many tithe, how many have gone on missions trip, etc. “What you measure is what you succeed in.”
i. “I can teach you how to have a spiritually mature church.”
j. 8 laws of spiritual growth…Spiritual growth is…
i. intentional (growth by making commitments)
ii. incremental (“not 3, not 4, not 6, there are 5 purposes)(the starting point for discipleship is “come and see” the ending point is “eat my flesh and drink my blood.”
iii. Personal
iv. Habitual
v. Relational
vi. Multi-dimensional
vii. Seasonal (growth in summer and spring, dormant in fall and winter) (too fast growth is swelling. Growth other than conversion growth is no good. Church goers are attracted by coolness. They’d rather be cool than effective.) “Have you noticed God likes to bless people you disagree with?” Yes, I have. ☺ Growth through campaigns was stressed. (people don’t come to groups for relationships, they come for content. They go for content and stay for relationships).
viii. Incarnational - We shouldn’t strive to be more like Jesus but for Jesus to live in us.
Traveling Day Reflections
Here’s some reflections from yesterday. I traveled from Abingdon, Virginia to Lake Forest, California.
1. Airports are boring places but great for people watching.
2. My arrangements were made by becky and she did an incredible job.
3. I’m amazed at the streamlined processes that exist in an airport. Great signage, short waits, easy.
4. The airplane ride from tri-cities to Atlanta was rough. I thought I might lose my lunch. The lady in front of me almost passed out.
5. The ride from Atlanta to Orange County was pretty smooth. All the seats had tvs. Between my new book and the food network, the trip went by pretty fast.
6. After dark you can’t tell if the plane is descending or ascending. With no visual reference up can’t tell up from down.
7. I don’t think I will ever get over being at 38,000 feet. My son thought that was way cool.
8. It still is bizarre that I’m in California. I traveled over 2000 miles in less than 7 hours.
9. Looking forward to seeing my sister tomorrow night!
1. Airports are boring places but great for people watching.
2. My arrangements were made by becky and she did an incredible job.
3. I’m amazed at the streamlined processes that exist in an airport. Great signage, short waits, easy.
4. The airplane ride from tri-cities to Atlanta was rough. I thought I might lose my lunch. The lady in front of me almost passed out.
5. The ride from Atlanta to Orange County was pretty smooth. All the seats had tvs. Between my new book and the food network, the trip went by pretty fast.
6. After dark you can’t tell if the plane is descending or ascending. With no visual reference up can’t tell up from down.
7. I don’t think I will ever get over being at 38,000 feet. My son thought that was way cool.
8. It still is bizarre that I’m in California. I traveled over 2000 miles in less than 7 hours.
9. Looking forward to seeing my sister tomorrow night!
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
small groups conference
I'm looking forward to the Saddleback small group conference next week. It will be my first trip to the west coast. I'm sure there will be lots to learn. Steve Gladen is the groups guy at Saddleback. They have about 3000 groups. That's pretty good. More in groups than in attendance. Truthfully, I'm still being sold on the idea of campaigns. Campaigns are a way of getting people into small groups. You set the bar pretty low for leadership and try to start as many groups as possible then when the dust clears you see who sticks. Early on in my small group journey I found this method pretty attractive and tried to sell the idea to the leadership of my church at that time, NewSpring but we went for another model and it worked pretty good for that season. Since coming to Highlands I've been trying to tweak a plan that includes the best of both models. I've been curious to see the campaign plan working at Saddleback and to see how they manage so many groups and keep up with who is sticking and who is ditching. Anyway, My sister lives about 45 minutes from Saddleback so I'm looking forward to seeing her and my neice. I usually see them about once a year. I leave on the 19th.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
connection speed
We had a great connection last week at Highlands. Lots of people got connected into a LifeGroup. Lots of those people have never been in a LifeGroup so it was interesting to see how they reacted at the event. Something pretty cool happened just yesterday. We've been looking for a LifeGroup Coordinator in Johnson City who could help us with LifeGroup "on-ramps" and group health and we've found a great couple who have a heart for this. At a meeting with all the campus coordinators I asked them to give me a list of FAQ that new group leaders might ask. The new couple helping with groups in JC haven't had as much experience with small group ministry as some, so I was interested to see what kind of questions they came up with. There questions came in yesterday and I was blown away. I talk about easy on-ramps for leaders and guests into the ministry but my "easy" is not the same as a new leader's "easy". What I learned from our new coordinators is that we assume too much! We must simplify our message, take out small group jargon, and break this up into bite-sized pieces. So, we are looking at creating training opportunities that focus on taking leaders to their next level, removing confusing language and not assuming anything!
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