FredMcKinnon.Com

I just read an incredible article by Tim Stevens about the culture needed in churches for volunteers.  This quote rocked my world:

It takes a volunteer-centric culture in the entire church, from top to bottom, to build a ministry that is truly focused on plugging people in positions where they are wired by God. Without that, a scarcity mindset takes over and we shift to turf-guarding and silo-building. And that produces frustration, bitterness and cynicism on a church staff–which no one likes to be around.

WOW – how true is that.  Checkout the rest of the article at LeadingSmart.Com.

How would you like to be trained by some of the most gifted, innovative leaders on the planet?  I’m talking … people like:

• Anne Jackson
• Carl Cartee
• Carlos Whitakker
• Dino Rizzo
• Geoff Surratt
• Glen Packiam
• Jeff Deyo
• Jonathan Lee
• Mark Batterson
• Ross Parsley
• Sherri Gould
• Skye Jethani
• Steven Furtick
• Tony Morgan

(are you getting the idea yet?)

So, that’s exactly what you get when you become a subscriber to a new, web-based training ministry called “Innovative Ministry Leader” at www.innovativeministryleader.com.  I’m so excited about this resource I can hardly stand it.  The price is amazing – especially because the membership fee includes training for EVERYONE on your staff.  Training in worship, leadership, marketing, culture, and technology.  WHO DOESN’T NEED THAT?

This isn’t some cheesy PowerPoint narration either.  This is HIGH QUALITY VIDEO that you can watch LIVE, or access the archives to watch later.  This is COMMUNITY where you can chat and ask questions.

Today is the launch of the first webcast – a live interview/leadership lesson with Anne Jackson.  I can’t wait.

To sweeten the deal, the guys at IML are offering 8 books on Leadership from Zondervan to the first 150 registrants who signup.

Friends, worshipers, followers – this is a NO-BRAINER if you ask me.

NO:  this is NOT a paid sponsor ad.
NO:  I do not get any payment, affiliate credit, props, or credits for blogging this.
YES:  I’m excited about it, and that’s why I’m sharing this resource with you.

Check it out – www.innovativeministryleader.com.  Also, if you are a registered member of TheWorshipCommunity.Com, be sure and checkout a special 10% discount promo code, exclusively for our members.

For the Kingdom,
Fred

Let’s face it.  Ministry is tough.  As leaders, we are held to a higher standard.  The world is watching and they are eager to pounce on the story when someone in ministry screws up.

The fact of the matter is this – we are all destined to screw up.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not discounting the power of God’s Holy Spirit – the power to transform our lives, and change us “from glory to glory”.  Still, this is a process.  We are still human, and though we have a new “birth” through Christ, the old sinful nature still wrestles with us.

Don’t take my word for it – listen to the Apostle Paul:

15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (Romans 7: 15-20, ESV – YouVersion.Com)

We discussed this last week during the re:create conference for a while.  We paint ourselves into corners by pretending we have it all together – that we are living the perfect lives.  We would never get vulnerable and confess our struggles – then, we find ourselves out of a job, crucified, and kicked around.  It happens all the time.  I once even confessed a struggle AFTER I’d sought out counseling and was walking in victory and it still was used against me.  Thankfully, God vindicated that one in my behalf.

So we find ourselves in this “don’t ask, don’t tell” environment.  Don’t ask your staff or co-laborers how they are doing … because truth be told, we’re afraid of what the truth may be.  And whatever you do … “don’t tell” or volunteer anything.

I want to see this culture changed in ministry.  It’s time that we learn to walk in love and trust one another.  It’s time we find people who can hear our struggles and help us wihout us fearing the fierce kick in the butt from the religious crowd.  As Randy Elrod said this past week, “I’m tired of people getting fired by people who haven’t been caught”.

What about you – do you ask, do you tell?  Do you have a safe place?  Don’t fool yourself – we all have issues.  How do we wrestle with them?   By hiding them in the dark?  No – those things that are hidden need to be exposed.

Thoughts?

Hey Everybody -

Hope you had a great weekend.  I wanted to chat about leadership today, and how we can apply it in ministry, in worship leadership, or even in business.  It’s about celebrating our victories.

We discussed this at length in staff meeting at SSCC this morning.  It seems that our tendency in “meetings” is to come together and discuss problems, errors, issues, and how we can best fix them.  Whether it’s a church staff meeting, a praise team meeting, a band gathering, etc … so much of our time is spent communicating what we “can be doing better”.

I’d like to challenge you to take some time this week and “celebrate the victories” with your staff and with your volunteers.  One testimony of a changed life can float someone’s boat for weeks.  One story of a person who was blessed and encountered God during our Sunday service can boost the entire staff up a couple of notches in their passion and motivation to serve.

Let’s face it.  We all like to see fruit from our labor.  But how many times to we stop and actually savor the fruit?  How many times do we slow down enough to see the progress we’ve made instead of focusing on the grueling road ahead of us.

When I was a teenager, I spent a few hot summer days in a Middle Georgia watermelon patch.  It was so hot you’d nearly pass out … especially if like me, your body wasn’t yet accustomed to the physical labor of throwing 50 pound “jubilees” onto the back of a trailer being pulled by a tractor … or worse, stacking those watermelons in the trailer of an 18-wheeler with no A/C, in 100-degree heat with 100% humidity.

On those days, the work was hard.  However, a couple of times per day someone would always “drop” one of those jubilees onto the ground (accidentally of course, haha!), splitting it open, yielding the sweet, refreshing, juicy heart of that melon for all of us to dig into.  We’d stop for 15 minutes, dig our dirty hands into that watermelon and enjoy the fruit of our labor, and celebrate how good it was.

That 15-minute break would be enough to inspire us to pick up, crank up, and keep walking.  And by stopping and celebrating our victories in the midst of our work and ministry, we too can be inspired to press onward.

I hope you will join me this week in taking some time to celebrate the victories you’ve seen over the last few days, weeks, and months.  If you can’t see any victories, you aren’t looking for them.  They are there.  Just ask around.  And when you hear a great testimony – don’t keep it to yourself.  You’d be amazed how much your team NEEDS TO HEAR that what they are doing MATTERS.

Wanna share some of your victories here?  Go for it.

Fred 

Hello Everyone,

A couple of days ago I posted “Effective Leading” and asked for your comments on two words:
1 – communication
2- leadership

Your comments were incredible and continue to come in.

I’d like to further discuss these as we dive deeper into this discussion about Effective Leadership. These comments are inspired by the time we had in staff meeting and the notes I took from Pastor David’s discussion with us.

Communication:

This is critical. We cannot expect people to follow our leadership if we do not clearly communicate. It’s far easier to under-communicate than to over-communicate. Think about your role as a leader. What are the non-negotiable aspects of your ministry? These need to be communicated over and over to those who are following. As you define your mission and vision statement, find ways to continually communicate this.

As a church, we have asked ourselves these important questions:
1 – Who are we?
2 – Why do we do what we do?

Answering these questions gives some good direction in finding a vision statement to clearly communicate this to others.

Our response at SSCC:

Our mission is to help people discover God’s purpose for their lives as fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ. We seek to create environments where people are encouraged and equipped to reach up, reach in, and reach out.

As leaders, it’s easy for us to focus on the “big communication” – like our church vision, our business model, our strategy, etc. Let’s not forget how critical basic communication is with those who serve with us.

As a Worship Leader:
1 – communicate your gratitude to your team OFTEN
2 – communicate your gratitude to your tech team OFTEN
3 – communicate your thoughts and vision for introducing a particular song, or flow
4 – communicate the vision behind actions.

For example, we’re encouraging our singers to make every effort to memorize their lyrics each week so that we can get rid of our music stands. Just giving them instruction without communicating vision is critical here. I have to explain to them WHY it’s important, and the BENEFIT that we’ll have in doing so – both on an individual basis and a corporate basis.

What are some examples of good (or bad) communication that you’re experiencing. Feel free to share your business, church, or personal mission statement that you are communicating as well. Let’s discuss.

For the Kingdom,

Fred