History in the Making

John Wooden's Pyramid of Success

The legendary UCLA hoops coach John Wooden has a "pyramid of success" that is profiled on Entrepreneur.com. It presents 14 building blocks of skill and character that lead to competitive greatness.

Now age 96, Wooden was known to tell his players, "I'm not going to be talking to you about winning or losing because I think that's a byproduct of our preparation. I would much rather be focused on the process of becoming the best team we're capable of becoming," 

The Power of a Press Release

I first experienced the power of a press release while working as a marketing assistant at a publishing company in college. I sent a press release and a book sample to the Dayton Daily News in Ohio, and the story landed on the front page of the Sunday edition. The book sold out in every local store...

My big prayer is that the Washington Post would send out a photographer... and a good one at that... tomorrow morning to take photos that will accompany our story. Stories without photos make very little impact... and get bad positioning in the paper. A great photo can move a story to the front page.

Church is...

A college gal in our church said something about our church that stuck to my brain... "A community with a commission." Nice.

An Attitude of Inquisitiveness

My first line in an article for the Nat'l New Church Conference notebook is "You can always tell a new church planter from the veterans: he's the guy who knows what he's doing." =)

The other day, I had a conversation with a guy who is several months away from planting. Not even on the field yet. But I got a wave of ideas, opinions, convictions and theories crashing over me in just 5 short minutes of conversation. Not a single question.

Now, I may not have had anything to offer him... but what I saw was a train wreck of discouragement waiting to happen. Church planting will do that to you. I'll give him a year... I'll bet his statements will end with more question marks than exclamation points.

Highlights from Andy Stanley Interview

Highlights from the Andy Stanley interview:

On Starting North Point
-first organizational meeting had 1,000 people
-met every other week for 3-1/2 years
-had a lot of extra time by meeting every other week
-moved into a building after this time
-didn't focus on church growth, but creating systems

On Creating Systems
-preacher kids have advantage if they can get thru adolescence
-worked in a large church so he understood them
-second book staff read was 'The Fifth Discipline'
-systems, not personality-driven church
-systems make things more personal, not impersonal
-wanted to create a transferrable model
-another book was 'The E-Myth'
-predictable + creative = irresistible environment

On Hiring
-they are notoriously slow
-very elaborate hiring process
-tests, 6 or 7 interviews
-very few seminary trained people
-but many staff currently in seminary
-wants job to be fun and enjoyable
-new employee orientation every month

Personal Issues to Andy
-most difficult thing is losing people
-people who hate that church is changing
-has a personal board of directors - 3 men
-strives to understand the rhythm of life
-and schedule according to it
-guard that time when you figure it out
-not doing that leads to unnecessary stress
-45 hour work week has changed cuz kids older

Narrowing the Focus
-you don't have to have something for everyone
-be excellent at just a couple of things
-only churched people expect us to have more

Books that Have Shaped Him
-Focus by Al Reece
-any leadership book, Jim Collins
-doesn't have to be a great book
-just learn together, be a learning environment
-5 dysfunctions of team by Lencioni
-Visioneering is his favorite self-written book

Andy Stanley Interview at Exponential Podcast

Andy Stanley is interviewed on the Exponential Podcast ~ which is part of the National New Church Conference.

Refusing to be Loved but Wanting it Desperately

Every time I get home from an out-of-town trip, our little 2-1/2 year old Wyatt avoids me like the plague. He'll stay in another room for as long as he can, and eventually, when he walks out, divert his eyes and walk away from me. I love this little game because I did the same thing 30 years ago. I know what's going through his little brain. It's a dare to see if I care about him enough to push through the wall of resistance... and love him.

And I don't mind pushing... I start with a funny voice... then hide behind a chair... and slowly creep up on him. As I prepare to pounce, I see a small crack of a smile being suppressed at the corners of his mouth. Then with a loud, warrior-like cry, I snatch him up and hug the daylights out of him. By this time, he's laughing uncontrollably and back to the same Wyatt I knew before I left.

What a picture of me and God. I'm so thankful that God cares about me enough to push through the walls of resistance I give him... insist on loving me... and restore me back to himself.

Saturation marketing as we approach Easter

Getting ready to go out this evening to put out road signs featuring "EasterInReston.com" with some RCC crew... On my way home from the SBCV church planter's gathering in Richmond today, I did an interview with the Washington Post about our launch in the Town Center on Easter. A photographer is slated to be at our third and final sneak preview service this Sunday to take pics. Matt tells about his outreach to the town center business this afternoon on his blog... I'm praying for God's favor all over this thing... especially our incredibble people, as they invite friends to experience our new location.

Church Plant Diagnostics

After assessing church planters for  a solid day, I always come away with some invaluable insights...

Many church planters are operating on far less cash flow than can possibly be effective, but they don't know how to look for outside funds to take their ministries to the next level.

A church plant's expenses determine its effectiveness. Many planters don't realize that changing how they spend money could improve their results The same activity will always produce more of the same.

Church planters are always 8-12 months away from their next factor of opposition... or their next big breakthrough.

Quote on identifying potential planters ~ "Spend a day driving with them to see if they get road rage. That's how you know they have passion." =)

The Name Game

I've been assessing church planters all day for our denomination in Richmond, which is always a blast. The subject of our church's name change has come up over and over again, so I've gotta recap it here:

When we moved to Reston five years ago, the name Reston Community Church was not available. A small, ecclectic group of people were using the name for their church, which was described as having "transcendental worship" in local yellow page ads [some still appear]... which I have no idea is a good thing or a bad thing. Either way, they didn't make it. Maybe they transcended...

Back in the early 1980s a Unitarian Universalist church in Reston also called themselves Reston Community Church, but abandoned it in order to identify themselves more accurately. I can imagine the confusion it must have caused for visitors stopping in, expecting a church that actually had beliefs. =)

So after informal street surveys told us several months ago that people overwhelmingly preferred "Reston Community Church" to the other 5 names on our survey... I reluctantly embraced the change. [Sometimes people forget that change is hard on leaders too.] However, our attorney just conducted a trade name search for us to ensure that no one else has claims to it... or that we would be assuming somebody's else's debt. =) We're good to go.

Whaaaaa?????

A New Kind of Visitor

Moving to the Town Center has yielded an entirely new kind of visitor to our church... "the walk-in." Our school was located in an obscure neighborhood surrounded by hundreds of families sleeping in on Sunday mornings. Barely a car drove past... and maybe just a dog-walker or two. But meeting in the heart of a downtown environment that was dubbed by its architects as a "Sunday afternoon place" we're getting more and more guests who just happened to see us while passing by.

Giving ownership vs. Being right

One of the signs of a strong church is a healthy debate over the right way to do things. I'm not talking about debate from people who have never attended our church... [I couldn't care less what they think]... but those who are committed to it. When people become passionate about our church, they get a little fight in them about how we should do things, which is totally a great thing. I had a mini-battle with one of our leaders this past Sunday over the arrangement of one of our ministry areas... and I found myself thinking, "How incredible is it that someone cares this much!" I'll lose any battle to someone who cares about getting it right as much as I do... if not more.

Francis Chan's Ampitheater

[Watch] why Francis Chan's church in Simi Valley California decided to build an outdoor ampitheater instead of a new facility.

The secret to a great welcome ministry is the person who leads it

Lisa Owen and her husband Bryan do an amazing job leading our Welcome Center ministry. Lisa - a former special events planner - just returned to active ministry from having her second child, Eli, and I met with her on Saturday to commission her again as team leader. She said two things that blew me away:

"People often come to church 'armed' in some way, and I love being able to disarm them at the welcome center."

"I want to encourage my team to watch out for their guests over the next few weeks, to look after them, and reach out to them."

Church Growth and Church Shrinkage

"When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him." ~ Matt 5:1

Jesus became unsettled by large crowds. Whenever the masses started forming around him, he knew something wasn't clicking with them. Jesus' message, when truly understood, was sorrowful. It had a way of dispersing the same crowds who had come to be entertained and healed by him shortly before. The mark of a truly devoted disciple was an escalating progression of commitment to Christ. And Jesus made sure this happened time and again... not only by leading them up physical mountain peaks... but also spiritual ones. Curiosity seekers were constantly being challenged to climb or fall back.

Knowing what you can't do and not doing it

Stopped in my favorite store this afternoon, Martin + Osa, and was pleasantly surprised to learn the store manager, Michelle, and her husband are church planters. One of the things I love about M+O is that their website describes the kind of clothes they DON'T make. Being excellent starts with knowing what you can't do... and not doing it.

Sunday 8:45 AM

God, give us Gibbs - part 1

Inspired by the success of our One Hundred project, I'm now on a personal and spiritual campaign to get coach Joe Gibbs to speak at our church. Every week, I'm going to send him a letter with one more reason to reconsider [he's turned us down once]. Think Caleb's famous cry in promised land: "Give me that mountain." This week's reason was:

Reason #1 - Your impact at our new church could have reverberations for the next 20 years in an area where more Gospel-speaking, Bible-teaching churches are desperately needed. If Reston is going to be reached for Christ, the mega-churches can't do it alone.

Joe is known to speak occasionally at local mega-churches, but he has a residence in the Reston Town Center... and in northern Virginia, we're the underdog. He's good at turning those around.

Jesus Camp

Watched the documentary Jesus Camp last night at Matt's recommendation and thought it was disturbing. This is a must-see film for any believer who wants to see the growing perspective of Christians in the US... and the dangers of mixing politics with faith. Erwin McManus is right when he says that the greatest threat to the movement of Jesus Christ is Christianity.