Losing Life

Things 3-7

Exponential Rocked this year.  I have attended this conference for the last four years and every year there never fails to be some marker moments for me.  This year Troy and I presented a session that included 7 things we did to build a healthy staff team at our new church plant here at Restore.  I previously posted things 1 and 2, so here are things 3-7.

Thing 3: Encourage Family Members to Find a Role:  Find something you are gifted to do and do it.  God has a role for every family member to play in church planting 

Thing 4: Keep Talking:  When there is something between two staff team members, find a way to keep talking about it...to each other, not to others.

Thing 5: Take the Long View:  Church planting can be so myopic.  Everything is on the line.  It is all about this church, at this time.  Instead, challenge yourself to think about team members as being developed for the Kingdom and give them the freedom to expolore their ongoing call.

Thing 6: Celebrate with Each other - take time out to intentionally celebrate what God is doing in your staff and in your church.  Bowling, surpise staff outings, Fun stuff...just for fun.

Thing 7:  Pray for each other: 

Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.  

Matthew 5:16 (The Message)

Small Group Exchange

I recently got connected with this great resource.  If you are a small group leader, you will definitely find something there that will help you take your game up a notch.  check it out smallgroupexchange.com

Easter at Restore

Things I learned:  Mitchell looks good in jeans, Tommy owns a tie, we had 300 more people at restore this year then last year, I am totally and uashamedly addicted to chocolate, nobody goes to Abeulos on Easter, the truth of Jesus makes everything else less important.

Create a FIRST TEAM vibe

I just finished up all the power point and handouts for the exponential conference spouse track talk on Playing Well Together in the Sandbox: Building a Healthy Staff Team.  I came up with 7 things we did at Restore to build a great team.  Here is Thing Two:

 

 Create a FIRST TEAM* vibe

• Pulling together to achieve these Results
  • Helping People Find Their Way Back to God
  • Mobilizing Christ Followers to Change the World
  • Reproducing Leaders, Artists and Churches
• Respecting the first team over other teams
  • Take our issues to each other not to others
  • Stand by team decisions
  • Support each other in conversations with others

*First Team concept came from our staff's reading of Lencioni's 5 Dysfunctions of a Team, which we read together in the months before we launched Restore.

6 Coaching Questions

Thanks to a conversation wtih Carl George a number of years ago, these are the 6 coaching questions that we use at Restore in our one on one leadership development meetings:

1. How are you?  RPMS (Relationally, Physically, Mentally and Spiritually)
2. What are you Celebrating?
3. What are your Challenges?
4. How will you tackle these challenges?
5. How can I help you?
6. How can I pray for you?

Read more in a booklet I wrote a few  years ago with my friend and co-worker Tammy Melchein.  Get it here: Life Changing Conversations

A year of Counseling

I spent the bulk of this afternoon and evening preparing my talk, power point and handout for my spouses track session of the exponential conference...the largest church planting conference in America.  We have a nearly sold out spouse track this year. 

My talk this year is about "Playing Well Together in the Sandbox" - how to build a strong staff and spouse team.  I have a list of 7 things that we did at Restore to build a great team. 

Thing ONE: Offer a year of free professional counseling services to staff and spouses

But, you argue, our staff members are perfect, why would we need to encourage counseling services.  Glad you asked.  Counseling does three things:

• Acknowledges realtionship challenges as a realistic part of team building
• Provides accountability to someone outside of staff team
• Normalizes our imperfections

The other six to come.