Books @ Leadership Network

The Show hosts Multi Site Church Road Trip

On Tuesday, September 15 at 3:00pm CST, Leadership Network will host A Multi-site Church Road Trip authors, Geoff Surratt, Warren Bird and Greg Ligon on The Show.  Tune in to hear the top 10 new innovations in multi-site churches around the world and then play stump Geoff Surratt with your toughest multi-site questions.

Multisite Road Trip Leadership Guru Stop – Steve Stroope at Lake Pointe Church

Welcome to day four of our conversations with senior pastors featured in our new book – A Multi-site Church Road Trip.  No reason to leave Texas so soon … so today we check with Steve Stroope, Senior Pastor at Lake Point Church.  

Steve, you say in Multi-site Church Road Trip that you and the team at Lake Pointe are always looking for leaders.  Outside of folks that are in your church, where and how do you look?

We utilize two primary profiles in vetting potential leaders to invite to the Lake Pointe team.  One is Strengthsfinders by the Gallup organization, which is a measurement of strengths.  This is not a personality profile.  It measures something entirely different.  It measures competencies.  When combined with a good personality profile, it gives you a good indication of how one will approach a task and their likelihood of success.  The second tool we use is a form of the DISC.  The one we use was developed by John Trent and is a profile called Leading From Your Strengths. 

In addition to these two profiles, we are looking for someone with strong character and a strong track record of leadership.  Of course, there is no profile to measure those two things.  We have found that it is essential to know someone who knows the candidate well and who also knows us well to assess both character and past performance.

You told me that you are known around Lake Pointe as somewhat of a “nut” about leadership!  I know that reputation is simply a reflection of your belief that if leaders are not developed, the church suffers and is limited in it’s capacity to touch its community and the world.  Your passion is a demonstration of a strong culture for leadership.  What are the things you do to develop and nourish that culture?

I agree with Bill Hybels when he said the best way to learn how to lead is to lead something.  We are continually putting people in situations to lead that will stretch their current capacity.  Part of our corporate language around here is to identify opportunities for leading as M1, M2, and M3.  If someone is doing a good job leading in a M1 situation, then let’s invite him/her to lead at the M2 level.  Then if that individual is doing well at the M2 level, let’s give him a try at the M3 level.  The way you get better at anything is to do it—including developing your leadership muscles.

Secondly, I think it is important to be around other leaders.

Finally, you improve your capacity to lead by reading everything you can get your hands on concerning leadership.  I have been mentored for years by many leaders who I’ve never met, but I have benefited from their leadership IQ by reading their best stuff.

Some have critiqued the multi-site movement believing that it feeds a diminishing pool of leaders.  You told me that you believe it has exactly the opposite effect.  How so?

This is a great time to be a participant in the church leadership world.  There are so many different kinds of opportunities to lead that require different types of leaders.  The multi-site movement is an example of this.  It is providing many more opportunities for strong leaders who may not fit into the “senior pastor” leadership mold.  Some do not possess a strong gift for communication or teaching, but they are high capacity leaders and the multi-site model is creating a variety of brand new categories for those leaders.

One of the key components to your leadership development model is what you call “resourcing.”  What are the resources you are feeding your leaders with during this season of ministry?

I think there are three streams of resources that help build a leader and I need to make sure that my leaders are getting a fresh infusion of all three streams.

First, there is what I call the science of leadership, and there are a lot of great writers and thinkers out there to whom I can introduce our leaders, i.e., Peter Drucker and Jim Collins. 

The second stream is the implementation of those leadership principles.  People like Ken Blanchard and Marcus Buckingham represent the group helping us with those issues.

Then the third and most important stream is the leader’s soul.  People like Mark Buchanan who wrote “The Rest of God” and J. Oswald Sanders, who wrote “Spiritual Leadership” are two examples of contributors who help us consider the importance of growing in character.

What is new about the multi-site ministry at Lake Pointe since we last talked?

In the last year, we have closed down a couple of what I would call “boutique” campuses.  These are campuses that were “flyers.”  In other words, we didn’t know whether they would work or whether there was enough of a critical mass for them to be successful in the long run, but we thought they were worth trying.  After giving them a good run, we realized they weren’t going to be viable.  We’re not sorry we started those particular campuses.  We learned a lot about what to do and what not to do, and we believe that a certain amount of experimentation and risk is healthy and necessary.  We are getting ready to launch a third major campus within the next 12 months, and because of the current economic environment are moving slower but are feeling confident that multi-site ministry is a proven and effective way to make disciples.

What have I not asked that I should have?

You did not ask what do we not have figured out about multi sites.  There are several—but the one most perplexing to us that we continue to struggle with is what strengths and personality type are necessary for an effective campus pastor.  We are still trying to figure this one out.  I think we are getting closer – but we’re not there.

To get the latest updates be sure to sign up for the RSS feed at www.multisitechurchroadtrip.com

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

 

Robert Emmitt, Community Bible Church, San Antonio – You Want to Launch a Campus Where?

Welcome to day three of our conversations with senior pastors featured in our new book – A Multi-site Church Road Trip.  Today, we are headed to San Antonio for a conversation with Robert Emmitt, Senior Pastor at Community Bible Church. 

1. Robert, your original campus there in San Antonio reaches 14,000 folks every week in a large, beautiful campus.  Some multi-site churches have chosen to secure locations with a similar look and feel to that of their original campus but you chose to go with a wide variety of locations?  Say a little about why you chose to do that?

Variety is the spice of life! The only people who really cared about the multi-site CBC's looking and feeling like the original campus, were those of us who were at the original campus. The communities that we are reaching with our multi-site CBC's don't know anything about the original campus. So rather than try to recreate something that no one knew about, we just decided to let the pastors and leadership teams build their own church. They are all called CBC's. They all have great music, practical bible teaching, and small group ministries. They are connected through our website. The pastor's job is to find the best building at the best price. Whether that is a school, shopping center, restaurant or sharing another church facility. We're open to whatever doors the Lord opens up for us.

2. What are the pros and cons of being in such a wide variety of campus settings? 

The pro's are the more different campus settings we find, the more doors we learn to knock on for the new CBC's. I can't think of any negatives for the wide variety. We are trying to reach, teach and help as many people as we can in Jesus name. The campus settings are secondary to our mission. That has been the history of CBC. We started in a restaurant, moved to a park, a movie theater, a store front, a shopping center and our current location. The buildings change but the mission remains the same.  

3. Which of the settings works best?  Why?

The permanent (at least 3 years) works best.  The shopping center with a 3 year lease, is working great. The 4 acres with a new church on is great. Schools have been frustrating as they don't really like having churches in them. 

4. What is new about the multi-site ministry at Community Bible Church since we last talked?

We quit playing the CD's of Robert, and let the pastors do the preaching.  We are looking more like a church planting ministry than a traditional multi-site. We are moving from a part time pastor to a full time pastor model. It costs more, but if you want the churches to grow, then the pastors need to devote their full time to it.  

5. What have I not asked that I should have?

How many CBC's would you like to have in the next 5 years? Answer: 100  Are you on track? No.
Why not? We got bogged down in trying to manage all the details for the multi-sites. What is your solution? Tell the pastors "You can do it. We can help." Wait a second, that's Home Depot's line.  How about "You can do it, we'll help you."

We will stay in Texas tomorrow with a stop in to talk with leadership development guru Steve Stroope, senior pastor at Lake Pointe Church. 

We would love to have us help spread the word about Multi-site Church Road Trip.  We have developed a free online resource – Multi-site Church Toolkit: Launch Analysis that we will send to anyone who completes one of the following. 

Buys a copy of the book

Posts this tweet – Get a copy of Multi-site Church Road Trip Now at http://bit.ly/2KZlzO

Posts a comment on this blog or creates a post on your own blog.

Posts a review on Amazon.com

Once you have completed one of the items above send an email to multisiteroadtrip@zondervan.com indicating where you purchased the book or made your post and we will send you the free resource.

To get the latest updates be sure to sign up for the RSS feed at www.multisitechurchroadtrip.com

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

Multi-site Church Road Trip Gone Global, Dave Browning, Christ the King Community Church

Welcome to day two of the road trip.  This is the second in a series of posts containing conversations that we recently had with some of the senior pastors featured in our new book – A Multi-site Church Road Trip.  In each post you will gain additional insights by getting updates about the featured church and hearing the heart of the leader.  

Today’s guest – Dave Browning (twitter - @bigdaverino), Christ the King Community Church.

1. Dave, you say in Multi-site Church Road Trip that you and the team at Christ the King have 120 campuses and many of those are actually International campuses.  What does an international campus look like?  How is the same/different from one of your state-side campuses?

Overseas our gatherings are often not in an owned or leased facilities.  Some of our congregations meet in tents, or under trees, or town squares.  Often the gatherings have children present, whereas in the US we offer children's programming simultaneous the worship service.  In the US our services are typically an hour or less.  Overseas, our services are often longer than two hours.  In some cultures the leader has a more prominent role that we tend to see in the US.

2. I think it is interesting that you have a commitment to international campuses and a high value for use of technology in developing leaders but no Internet campuses?  Any reason for that?

Our international reach is more of a "God-thing" than anything else.  We had no plan to be outside of our own county, much less around the world.  But once you define the church by relationship, instead of geography, you realize that relationships do not respect geographical boundaries.  We say that we can go as far as relationships will take us.  Our goal is to raise up people to do ministry, so we view technology as a tool, not a strategy. 

3. We have talked recently about your discovery that there is a greater access to cell coverage than high speed internet in India and many of the countries you are serving in Africa and that this has prompted you to redesign your leadership development training to be delivered in text size messages. Can you give us an update on where you are in that process?  What is working?  What is not?

I send out a weekly email that gets resent as text by our international leaders.  Some of our leaders follow me on Twitter as well.  The cell phone is clearly the next laptop.  More SMS texts are sent every day in the world than email messages.  We are attempting to take our "teachable points of view" and distill them to 140 characters or less.  We are also developing 60-second sermons that can be utilized on cell phones.

4. You are the author of Deliberate Simplicity, another title in the Leadership Network Innovation Series.  How do the key principles of simplicity find application in the establishment and execution of International Campuses?

Simplicity resonates in the two-thirds world, because it really is the only option.  There are not resources available in much of the world to support the attractional model. 

5. What is new about the multi-site ministry at Christ the King since we last talked?

I believe that God is showing us some new things about worship.  Many of our leaders are feeling that our corporate worship has been too much about us, and not enough about Him.  We are also exploring more non-musical forms of worship that have great potential to reduce our dependence on musicians as key to expanding the church. 

6. What have I not asked that I should have?

You ask great questions.  One additional one might be, "What complicates overseas ministry?"  The answer would be:  money. There is such a huge resource disparity between our church in the US and our church in the two-thirds world that we are wrestling constantly with how much to support needs overseas.  So far we have sent very nominal and sporadic support, and have placed an emphasis on being self-sustaining.  But it is often difficult to say "no" when they need it and we have it.

Next stop? Robert Emmitt, Senior Pastor, Community Bible Church, San Antonio, Texas

To get the latest updates be sure to sign up for the RSS feed at www.multisitechurchroadtrip.com

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

Multi-site Church Road Trip – Craig Groeschel and Shared Communication

This is the first of a series of posts containing conversations that we recently had with some of the senior pastors featured in our new book – A Multi-site Church Road Trip.  In each post you will gain additional insights by getting updates about the featured church and hearing the heart of the leader. 

First up – Craig Groeschel, LifeChurch.tv.

Q: Craig, you and the team at LifeChurch.tv have really pioneered the most effective model of using what we call a shared communicator in the Multi-site Church Road Trip.  Beyond your excellent communication skills, what are some of the primary reasons it works for you to be the primary teaching pastor and directional leader for a campus that is literally a couple of time zones away?
A: Greg, first of all, I’m actually doing less teaching now than in the past. We are working hard to develop more speakers on our team and effectively using guest speakers. Even with this shift, we still generally have one communicator broadcast to all the campuses. Having only one person preparing a message, frees the other pastors to spend more time shepherding people and leading their teams. Rather than being the directional leaders for the extended campus, we’re also allowing our campuses more autonomy to make decisions in their community.

Q: You have developed a model for connection with LifeChurch.tv that has three tiers - Open, Network and United. Why "qualifies" a church to become a part of the tightest affiliation - United?
A: Far more churches are becoming a Network Church rather than a United Church. As of today, we have 74 Network Churches. These are totally separate 501c-3s that use our weekly teaching. (Many also use our kids curriculum and worship all at no charge.) Churches who are part of the LifeChurch.tv Network are reporting great responses and stories of changed lives from their members and attendees. In order for a United partnership to occur, we’re looking for a unique set of circumstances where we can do more together than apart. Only in rare situations is it worth uniting since merging churches can be painful, and there are so many effective ways to partner.

Q: It is not news that you, and other pastors of large multi-site churches, are sometimes accused of building your own kingdom ... of limiting the leadership potential of others because of your "celebrity status".  When you get these calls and emails, how do you respond?
A: People may say that, but I rarely hear it. Truthfully, we believe that we are building great leaders and don’t pay a lot of attention to uninformed criticisms.

Q: What is new about the multi-site ministry at LifeChurch.tv since we last talked?
A: We continue to become more passionate about serving the broader body of Christ. Rather than simply focusing on building more campuses, we are focusing on building the Church at large. On our personal learning curve, we have learned that our multi site strategy works better in medium sized and larger campuses. We haven’t learned to do multi-site at small campuses well. We’re trying to learn from others who do church in small venues effectively.

Q:What have I not asked that I should have?
A: You didn’t ask me what I’m pumped about! I’m pumped to see generosity and Kingdom mindedness in churches across the world. So many anointed Christian leaders are working together. I honestly believe that together we can make a significant difference in the world! I'm also very excited about what God is doing through church online. This is a fantastic tool to take the message of Christ to people who might not experience it otherwise. I’m excited about all the different ministries God is blessing.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s conversation with Dave Browning, author of Deliberate Simplicity and lead pastor at Christ the King Community Church.  You will get the behind-the-scenes scoop on International Campuses – the multi-site church gone global!

We would love to have us help spread the word about Multi-site Church Road Trip.  We have developed a free online resource – Multi-site Church Toolkit: Launch Analysis that we will send to anyone who completes one of the following. 

• Buys a copy of the book
• Posts this tweet – Get a copy of Multi-site Church Road Trip Now at http://bit.ly/2KZlzO
• Posts a comment on this blog or creates a post on your own blog.
• Posts a review on Amazon.com

Once you have completed one of the items above send an email to multisiteroadtrip@zondervan.com indicating where you purchased the book or made your post and we will send you the free resource.

To get the latest updates be sure to sign up for the RSS feed at www.multisitechurchroadtrip.com

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

Follow the Multi-site Church Road Trip

On the road again!  The book is out and now we are hitting the road once again – this time to share the stories captured in A Multi-site Church Road Trip with churches and leaders across the country and around the world.  Over the next 8-9 months we will be conducting a tour that will include stops at churches featured in the book, major conferences and plenty of online stops to explore the new normal. 

First stops – Senior Pastor Blog Tour and Leadership Network’s The Show

Current schedule includes:

• 9/09/09 Blog Tour with Senior Pastors Featured in the Book
• 9/15/09 Leadership Network’s THE SHOW
• 9/24/09 Innovate Conference at Granger
• 9/28/09 FIND Conference Seacoast Church
• 10/07/09 Catalyst Conference  Atlanta, GA
• 11/04/09 National Outreach Convention San Diego, CA
• 11/07/09 Lead Now Conference Dallas, Texas
• 3/15/10 Group Blogging Tour Launches
• 4/22/10 Exponential  Orlando, FL
• 6/14/10 Bloggers Free-for-All Starts 4 days. 4 blogs. Unlimited questions

To get the latest updates be sure to sign up for the RSS feed at www.multisitechurchroadtrip.com

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

Multi-Site Church Road Trip En Route to a Store Near You!

We are thrilled to announce the release of our latest book on the multi-site church movement – A Multi-site Church Road Trip.  According to the great team at Zondervan, copies began shipping from their warehouse today, Friday, September 4.  So pick up yours at a local Christian bookstore or place an order today.

The book is packed with the stories of leaders and churches who are taking the multi-site model to innovative new places – from lower income neighborhoods to the internet and literally around the world through locations in India and many countries across the continent of Africa.  Warren, Geoff and I take you behind the scenes to our road trip conversations with 15 plus senior pastors who are leading the new models.

In addition to new locations, you will discover what is new in terms of technology, structure, mergers and leadership development.  And be sure to check out what is certain to be a hot topic chapter, “Are You Sure This Isn’t A Sin?”

We would love to have us help spread the word.  We have developed a free online resource – Multi-site Church Toolkit: Launch Analysis that we will send to anyone who completes one of the following. 

• Buys a copy of the book
• Posts this tweet – “Get a copy of Multi-site Church Road Trip Now at http://bit.ly/2KZlzO”
• Posts a comment on this blog or creates a post on your own blog.
• Posts a review on Amazon.com

Once you have completed one of the items above send an email to multisiteroadtrip@zondervan.com indicating where you purchased the book or made your post and we will send you the free resource.

Hope that you have as much fun “exploring the new normal” on this road trip as we have!

To see all posts for the tour, select tour stop from the category sidebar.

Twitter - @gregligon @geoffsurratt @warren bird #mscr  #leadnet

What is the best book on church leadership?

From the latest edition of Leadership Network Advance (Issue #101):

Search Is On: Best Book on Church Leadership 

We want to know what our readers are reading in the area of church leadership. Which of the many books available have you read that really struck a chord for you? Which of those books did you recommend to your peers? In other words, what are the must-read books for church leaders on leadership?

Leadership Network wants your nominations for Church Leadership Book of the Year. Submit your nomination HERE before August 25. Then, beginning September 8, we'll list the main nominees and open the polls for you to vote on the best book for church leaders.

Leadership Network Advance is an indispensable, twice-monthly, free email newsletter featuring the best in innovative church strategies.  You'll gain insights from the ministry pioneers who are setting the standard for tomorrow's church.  Each issue will also point you to resources, tools and events that will help you build a more effective ministry. Subscribe for free >>

Bloggers Bookstudy with Flamingo Road

The leadership team at Flamingo Road Church is hosting a Bloggers Bookstudy this summer. That's 12 leaders blogging about 6 books in 9 weeks.

Join the discussion on these 6 books:

• Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels
• Crazy Love by Francis Chan
• Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen
• Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire by Jim Cymbala
• How the Mighty Fall by Jim Collins
• Axiom: Powerful Leadership Proverbs by Bill Hybels

As they enter into week #2 of the book study, they're finishing up their blog discussion about Courageous Leadership by Bill Hybels. Today's discussion on Chapter 9, the Art of Self-Leadership, is over at Matt Miller's blog.

See the full schedule at www.flamingoroadchurch.com/bloggersbookstudy. The 12 bloggers hosting the discussions are:

1. Heredes Ribeiro
2. Barby Ward
3. Mauricio Tinoco
4. Heather Palacios
5. Miguel Umanzor
6. Stacie Gonzalez
7. Matt Miller
8. Marcella Ribeiro
9. Lilibeth Rivera
10. Troy Gramling
11. Genie Mokher
12. Yoel Torres

See you over there! Add a comment here if you've already read one of these books, and what your takeaway is.

// DJ CHUANG, Director at Leadership Network

Do the Mighty Always Fall?

I’m a big fan of Jim Collins, author of Good to Great and Built to Last. So when I received a copy of his newest book, How the Mighty Fall, I put my other reading aside and dug in.

Collins takes an interesting turn in his latest, research-based project. Rather than focusing on greatness, he examines why successful companies fall and how they might prevent or reverse a meltdown. He identifies five stages of decline that form a consistent pattern in these riches-to-rags stories. Interestingly, the first two stages (and even some of stage 3) occur when a company is still on the way up.

As with Collins’ other works, the lessons for churches are readily transferable. I’ve known far too many that are guilty of “grasping for salvation” (stage 4), thinking that all they need is the right leader or the latest fad program. And I wonder how many of today’s newsmakers might have entered stage 1, “hubris born of success.”

There’s one caveat to this recommendation. Even though How the Mighty Fall is based on the same type of in-depth analysis as Collins’ other books, this one is not as lengthy nor did I have as many “aha” moments. Collins explains in the preface that the project began as an article, but then “evolved into this small book.” The flip side is that it’s a quick read – only 123 pages plus appendices. My bottom line: it’s a worthwhile investment to learn (as the subtitle says) “why some companies never give in.”

Mike Bonem

www.SecondChairLeaders.com