SERVE Leadership Community

Tomorrow morning Encounter has one of its quarterly leadership gatherings.  We call it, Leadership Community (LC). Each is themed off of one of our four core values: Celebrate, Grow, Serve and Multiply. 
Usually we have a guest speaker come in and cast vision to the group about the core value but tomorrow my wife Melissa & I are leading the talk. Recently her and I read the book, Sifted, by Wayne Corderio and also heard two different speakers on our vacation to Gull Lake Ministries in Michigan that spoke about Christ followers serving.
So tomorrow we will discuss why we serve and how we ought to serve biblically.
I really look forward to this time with our leaders because they are some of the greatest people the Lord has put in my life. 
Tomorrow there will also be a time of worship, an elders Q & A, a small group and budget update as well as a ministry breakout time for our ministry coaches to get together with their teams for connecting, instruction/teaching and prayer.
To learn more about our past LC's, scroll down the page until you see "Categories" and click on the Leadership Community blog post label. 

GROW - Leadership Community

This mornings LC was great.  Sarah Knepper was our guest speaker on our core value Grow.

Having it in a home makes it cozy and the time together as leaders is so good. As usual, we had an elder Q & A time and broke into ministry groups for training, accountability and prayer.

Last LC of 2011

Today was a super time together with our leaders of Encounter.
We small group leaders met at 8:00am to talk about how each of our groups are doing and to get some training from Kyle Mielke, Encounter's small groups coach.
Then at 9:00am everyone else rolled in for coffee, muffins and conversation. Rob Dubois had to break up the awesome connecting everyone was having to start are time with some worship.
Having my buddy Bacho Bordjadze, CRU's director at OSU, as our guest speaker went really well. He's a very intelligent man with the ability to communicate heavy concepts in an easy to understand way. Once he was done speaking we had a short time of open Q & A with the elders and then broke into ministry groups.

LC #4 for 2011

Saturday, November 12 is our last Leadership Community of the year. We've moved our LC's from Eli Pinney Elem. to the home of Matt & Chrissy Jacob's. I like having it in a home. My good friend, Bacho Bordjadze is our guest speaker on Encounter's core value multiply. Bacho is OSU's Campus Crusade for Christ Director and is an excellent speaker.
As a group we will also sing, give some ministry updates, have a Q & A time with the elders, pray, and break into our various ministry groups.
It's 2 1/2 hrs. with some of my favorite people in the world:-)

Great time at LC #3

Man, do I ever love spending time with people who want to do great things for God!
We're not the special ones, God is. Like I said on Sunday, "God doesn't call the qualified; He qualifies the called". Our time together at leadership community was fun and productive. We had a time of worship, I invited our leaders to consider going to Guatemala next summer and 37 signed up, we had an elder Q & A time with numerous questions and then Melissa and took the group through a fun personality survey where there was much laughter over some of the extremes. The morning ended with ministry groups meeting together to go over best practices, training, connection and prayer.

LC #3 for 2011

This Saturday morning is our third Leadership Community of 2011.
We decided to lower the number of LC's we had a year but added a half hour to the time. Each of the four LC's line up with one of Encounter's core values: Celebrate, Grow, Serve and Multiply. This Saturday has us talking about Serve.
As is normal, we'll begin our time with a few worship songs and prayer. Then we usually have the elders communicate a few things or update our leaders about items that will eventually be announced to the larger congregation. I feel that leaders should be in the know and part of the decisions made. There's greater by in that way and they deserve/need to know b/c of the time, talents and treasure they put forth towards the mission and vision.
Usually we have a guest speaker but Saturday Melissa and I are leading the teaching time. We'll be having the group take a personality survey and talk through the various pros and cons of each type. It should be quite fun and informative.
Then, again as usual, we'll break into our ministry teams for specific training, encouragement, connecting and prayer.
It's a worth while two and a half hours together as leaders once a quarter.

2011 Leadership Community #2 - GROW

This Saturday we had the second LC of the year. I'm peticularly excited because my friend Eric Metcalf, of the NewThing Network, came as our guest speaker. He is part of Community Christian Church in Naperville, Ill. and is the Director of NewThing. We first met in Orlando, FL three years ago when Melissa and I attended Exponential '08.

I asked him to speak on our core value, GROW. He was also part of our small group leader and apprentice leader time before LC began.

During tomorrows service Eric will give his testimony about how he came into a personal relationship with Christ.

Leadership Community - Celebrate

This Saturday, January 15th is the first Leadership Community of the new year. As elders we reviewed last years LC's and decided to stream line our time with leaders into four specific time together in 2011. Each will emphasis one of our four core values.

This first one we'll talk about the leader and our core value CELEBRATE. I've asked my good friend and past church planting coach, Clancy Cruise to be our guest speaker. He is the lead pastor at our sister church Marysville Grace.

We will worship for 10-15mins, our elders have some things to share about a survey that's coming to the congregation, Clancy will speak and then we'll pray in groups. We finish with specific ministry groups gathering to connect, train, share best practices and pray.

Preview of what's to come at LC #12

Here's a video I'll be showing at this Saturday's Leadership Community. I really like the illustration of how a race car is like the mission of the church. It will go perfectly with what I'm planning on saying.

Leadership Community #12

This Saturday morning from 9:00-11:00am is an important time for the people of Encounter Church. We will worship our great God in song, be reminded again of the vision for our local body of believers and hear from our elders about what came out of the leader/elder retreat back in October.

This Saturday's LC is for everyone who calls Encounter Church their home.

Rut Chamale speaks & Azalia leads worship @ LC

This morning at Leadership Community we had the pleasure of being led in worship by a guest band named, "Azalia". It's a fun story about how they ended being with us. Ask me about it sometime.

It was also very special to have our new friend Rut Chamale from Guatemala in town to share about her passion for loving the children many of us sponsor in the Cruz Blanca ministry center. She will be in our church service tomorrow morning as well.

A time of prayer at LC

This morning at Leadership Community we took a little extra time to get before God and commit ourselves and this summer to Him. We used our core values celebrate, grow, serve and multiply to have a concert of prayer. Some of it was open prayer, some silent, some in groups and some assigned to individuals.

All throughout the church planting journey we have taken specific times to get before the Lord to bring our requests, offer our thanks and ask Him for wisdom on how to move ahead. It is often one of those quiet things that happen in the backdrop of our personal and church body lives, but it is the backbone of the Christian life.

Leadership Community #7

Well today we had LC again. The last one was supposed to be in March but was cancelled due to a snow storm and we don't have LC in April because of Easter. So it'd been awhile since our leaders had been together.
Today we started out enjoying some coffee and Timbits as we connected. Then I ask the group to share things they are celebrating. I told the group that the McCaman's have a new job and that we've begun supporting Ryan Janosko with his ministry at OSU with Campus Crusade for Christ. I also asked those who went to Exponential 2010 in Orlando, FL. with me to share about their experience. Deb Taylor, Kyle Mielke and Phil & Jen Hill all spoke. Just before breaking into our specific ministry groups I asked everyone to pray for people who they know are not yet followers of Christ.
It's a busy time no doubt so I really appreciated those who made the effort to attend this month.
Tomorrow is Mother's Day and the service is packed with many good things including three families dedicating themselves to the Lord. I'll tell you more about with pics. in the next day or two.

Review of LC

It was a great time with leaders yesterday at leadership community. As it's titled, our leaders really spent time together in community. First connecting over coffee and Rice Krispies, then celebrating our new ministry leaders and vision for the future. I reminded them of the things we measure based off of the philosophy, "You inspect what you expect". There are five basic things we inspect to see if we are truly living out our core values: Baptisms, Attendance, New Leaders, Tithes & Offerings, Small Groups & Bible Studies, and a church plant birthed out of Encounter. Presently there is growth in the first four and the fifth, a church plant, is something we have put 5% of our offerings toward since last January 2009. Our dream is to see a church planted out of us before we ever own land or a building. That may be a little radical for some but it is what we have been talking about since the beginning of the plant. Just before getting into our various ministry teams I asked everyone to get into groups of two or three and pray.

March Leadership Community

Tomorrow is another of our monthly Leadership Communities (LC). We meet from 9:00-11:00am at Eli Pinney Elementary the first Saturday of every month out of the year except April, July, and December. Nine LC's a year for 2hrs. That's not too much to ask, right?:-) It's a great time for our leaders to get together and connect over a coffee & a treat. Sometimes we worship our awesome God in song and sometimes through prayer. Typically we're celebrating new leaders and hear about the vision and decisions we're moving ahead with for the body. I feel that leaders deserve to find things out before the general congregation b/c they are so essential in the carrying out of the vision. Plus, many of our leaders are part of the decision making process anyway. Another important aspect of LC is that each ministry team gets together and discusses best practices, how things can improve, they pray for each other, and bond more as a team. It's a great way for leaders to feel connected to other leaders.
To learn more about LC click on the links below, esp. #5 & 6, to read past blog entries about LC.
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First LC of 2010

Today was the first Leadership Community of the new year and there was a lot to celebrate. Each ministry coach spoke of wins in 2009 and things to look forward to in 2010. It was the highest number of people at an LC so far with 33 in attendance. It is so good to have committed individuals willing to serve in so many ways. The meeting was in the schools library b/c there were basketball games going on in the gym. I thought it worked out very well.

Great discussion with Encounter Leaders @ Retreat

I've gotta say I just love spending time with the leadership of Encounter Church! It energizes me.
This past Friday night from 6-10pm and Saturday 10am-4pm was our first leadership retreat. Our Ministry Coaches and Apprentice Coaches as well as our Small Group Leaders and Apprentice Leaders were all together to discuss four main topics: 1) Membership and Assimilation 2) Appointing Elders 3) the 2010 preaching schedule and 4) the 2010 calendar.
Prayer was sprinkled throughout the days and we ate two meals together. There's plenty of follow-up action that needs to take place but our time together was both bonding and productive.
Thanks team for making ministry at Encounter a joy!

Big Weekend Ahead

Once a year Encounter Church will have a Leadership Retreat to seek God for what the next year will hold and to discuss/wrestle with decisions that need to be made to better shepherd His flock. That weekend is two days away. This will be our first retreat together as leaders.
A year ago we were meeting weekly to discuss our core values, dream, pray and visit other churches to see what they were doing. Now we find ourselves with 38 Sunday morning services under our belts and new people coming every week.
The retreat will be at the home of Chuck & Deb Taylor's and includes Ministry Coaches and Apprentice Coaches as well as Small Group Leaders and Apprentice Leaders. The Finance team will also be there.
On Friday night we'll have supper together, hear from all the ministry Coaches and various other leaders and have a concert of prayer. Afterwards for those who desire to stay later there will be some fun games. On Saturday we'll have lunch together, have three times of prayer and the agenda items will include membership/assimilation, elders & deacons, the 2010-11 preaching schedule and calendar of events. It's a pretty full schedule to be sure. No matter what though we'll end by 4:00pm.
Pray that we will make wise decisions.

Leadership Community #6

Tomorrow morning we meet again as coaches, leaders and apprentice-leaders for Leadership Community (LC). We do this once a month as a special time for connecting, worshipping, communicating, casting vision and breaking into ministry groups. It also allows us to set-up for Sunday morning a day early. That's nice:-)

LC #5 and fun with many friends

Today was filled with spending time with a wide variety of friends both old and new.

Starting this morning with the August Leadership Community, we had a "Concert of Prayer". Using our four core values CELEBRATE - GROW - SERVE - MULTIPLY, we had popcorn prayers, prayed in groups of 2 or 3 and prayed silently. I spoke to the group using Galatians 6:9,10 encouraging them not to grow weary in the good they have done over our first six months of services and to trust in Christ for the strength in the next six months.

After LC our family headed to the pool and met up with two other families. That was relaxing and fun for all of us.

Then we went to a friends annual "BBQ & Kickball" evening where we reconnected with a few dozen friends from our mother church.

Lastly, on the way home we dropped by a home having a teen party. It was fun crashing the group.

I've had the last two weeks off from preaching with Jeff Persall and Mike McCaman filling for me. I look forward to getting in front of our people and continuing in our Philippians series titled: Renegade Joy.