Yesterday I got to spend the day with other church administrative leaders from around the Triangle – and some as far away as Texas, Massachusetts and Ohio.  I attended a national XP Day which is run by Dr. David Fletcher who serves as an Executive Pastor at a church in Austin, Texas.  It became very apparent to me right away that David’s heart and passion is to help church leaders lead effectively.

Whenever I go to seminars or conferences like this, I like to walk away with 3 ideas that I can either implement or begin to investigate and I like to develop and cultivate relationships that will be ongoing.

One of the main things that I learned yesterday is that para-church and other non-profit organizations do a much better job at telling stories than the local church.  The top 11 para-church organizations received $3B in funding in 2005.  B as in BILLION!  That’s why I love our church.  Telling compelling life-change stories is a high value to us.

I also learned that there is a growing frustration of the complexities within the church.  There has been movement recently to reduce these complexities.  This has caused me to begin the re-think some of our processes to find out if we have built in complexities to them where they are not needed or required by law.  Obviously this is not a one-time shot but an ongoing process to see if we can expedite ministry without compromising government rules and regulations.

Another thing that I took away from this meeting is the 4 signs of a healthy church and I know that I am part of a team who works very hard to ensure that these do not drift over into the unhealthy category.

  1. No egos or silos
  2. An always learning church
  3. Failure is normal – if you are not failing you are stuck in the status quo
  4. Generous

Lastly what I took away from this day is the relationships formed with others who do the same type of job that I do.  I don’t have to do this alone.  I have colleagues who are there to help and advise.  There are even 6 of us who have committed to meet on an ongoing basis to help, encourage and pray for each other.

All in all a day well spent away from the office.



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