I’ve been inspired by some incredible ladies. What makes them incredible is that, from the outside looking in, they’re completely normal; but they write with utter abandon, complete transparency and total authenticity. This is a group of women who are leading through the reflection of Jesus in their lives. My own bride is one of these lady bloggers and I couldn’t be more proud.

As a man, I’m inspired to live my life more fully for Jesus. Now to learn to open up – even more – on my own blog.

Thanks for the leadership, ladies. You truly are examples of Destiny In Bloom.

I may be just old enough to remember this, but there used to be commercials from E.F. Hutton that said “When E.F. Hutton talks, people listen.” Today, one of the guys that has quickly earned that reputation with me is Allan Kelsey, a former pastor who now consults with churches and organizations.

I first met Allan at Gateway Church where we both serve on a leadership advisory group for one of the ministries of the church. He said something profound in that meeting that impacted me: “Culture always wins.” In just one meeting, I knew this was a guy I’d like to get to know and made a point of connecting with him frequently afterward!

I tend to resonate with only a few people; it’s an instant connection that just happens on rare occasion. Allan is one of those people. I’m promoting him on my blog because I believe so strongly in his leadership and authority that I want my church friends to know about him and his company, Leading Leaders.

Here’s a snippet from his website that I believe authentically summarizes his work:

“Leading Leaders’ primary focus is to create dramatically improved performance and life satisfaction for people, by helping them understand who they are first and then where they are gifted. Then turning those abilities into their strongest contribution to the world, work, passions and life.”

I recommend following Allan on Twitter: (@AllanKelsey) and subscribing to his E-Newsletter. He can help your church understand how to leverage the talents and unique identity & gifting of your staff. He’s someone I listen to – I recommend you do the same.

Years ago I met William Hendricks, co-author of “Why You Can’t Be Anything You Want To Be” and was hooked on two simple truths:

God created me uniquely different on purpose.

Focus on my strengths; manage my weaknesses.

In a society that focuses on conformity and averaging, this book opened my eyes to the possibility of changing how I learn and grow. One of the main premises is that our education system teaches us to work on improving in areas where we are weak. So, if a student routinely gets A’s in History and Language Arts but consistently only delivers C’s in Math and Science, our educators teach us to bring those C’s up to B’s. However, there’s nothing wrong with an average grade in a subject where you’re – well, just average. Instead, build on the areas where we have natural gifting and strength so that we can highlight what makes us unique.

Soon after, I read the second work “Now, Discover Your Strengths”. The focus on maximizing my existing strengths resonated deeply with me, allowing me to become extraordinary in areas where I’d naturally been very good. The book didn’t ignore my weakness; it simply taught me how to keep them from become obstacles to growth.

Years later I took the Clifton’s Strengths Finder test. The results, in combination with the Myers Briggs assessment (ENTJ for me), helped me focus on how to leverage my personality, traits and strengths. More recently, I met Allan Kelsey at my church. Allan is a gifted consultant who has a ginormous knowledge around strengths research. Allan encouraged me to take the new Clifton’s Strengths Finder test (available only through the book “Strengths Finder 2.0″ by Tom Rath). Now at 38, the results were slightly different than they were in my early 30’s.

The built-in, customized report that’s generated from www.StrengthsFinder.com was eye-opening. Here’s a bit from each of my top 5 strengths.

Strategic – People who are especially talented in the Strategic theme create alternative ways to proceed. Faced with any given scenario, they can quickly spot the relevant patterns and issues. You can present your ideas in a reasonable, sequential, and methodical way. Moreover, you generate lots of options for others to consider. Because of your strengths, you are innovative, inventive, original, and resourceful. Your mind allows you to venture beyond the commonplace, the familiar, or the obvious.

Ideation – You refuse to be stifled by traditions or trapped by routines. You probably bristle when someone says, “We can’t change that. We’ve always done it this way.” Instinctively, you welcome opportunities to understand people one by one. The hope of discovering a new way of thinking motivates you to read a lot.

Activator – Your straightforward explanations and stories help listeners see you as you see yourself. You reveal your strengths and limitations. You are forthright and plainspoken. Instinctively, you regularly energize people with your ideas about what can be changed or done better.

Relator – Because of your strengths, you are known for making unintelligible or complex ideas, plans, procedures, or regulations easy to understand. It’s very likely that you find it easier to befriend people when they tell you what they want to accomplish. When you can share information that helps people move closer to their goals, you understand each other better. By nature, you may be determined to share some of your knowledge, skills, or experiences with people.

Competition – Because of your strengths, you rely on reason to make sense of facts, events, people’s behavior, problems, or solutions. Instinctively, you peruse books, publications, documents, or Internet sites to gather information and collect insights. This knowledge often gives you the edge you need to produce better outcomes or scores than anybody else can.

Previously, I’d not had the Activator category (it was Command). Reading through the Activator, I instantly understood how this explains my overwhelming desire to tell stories in order to drive home a point. Taken as part of the whole, I’d say that this is a hyper-accurate view of my top strengths. My next step is to find ways to build upon them through my interactions with people. I’m excited to put a renewed focus on these descriptions and learn from my friend Allen Kelsey as he helps me work through the implications and processes necessary to yield substantial growth.

If you’ve taken the new Strengths Finder 2.0 test, tell me your top 5 strengths and how you’re building upon them.

“It’s time to tighten things up.”

“Show me a new budget with only the needs, not the wants.”

“How can we save money on technology this year?”

If I were to poll, I wonder how many of you working in churches have been hearing questions and statements like the ones above? Based on emails I’ve received and countless blog posts I’ve read, the common theme is a reduction in expenses across most church ministries. Yet I’m also hearing and seeing church leaders requiring budget reductions without the required reduction in expectations to match the new, lower budgets.

“It’s the economy, stupid” are now famous words by James Carville, the former campaign manager for the Clinton administration. So much of the American psyche is built upon such phrases as consumer confidence and market fluctuations. We’re conditioned to think along the bull or bear market concepts and act accordingly.

While I’m all for being responsible and conservative as a general rule of thumb, I also can’t stop reading story after story and truth after truth in God’s Word how He is Jehovah-jireh, or “God the provider”.

Possibly my favorite lesson in God’s total provision was in taking care of the entire nation of Israel as they wandered the desert.

According to the Quartermaster General of the U.S. Army, it is reported that Moses would have to have had 1,500 tons of food each day (which is 3,000,000 lbs!). To bring that much food each day would require two freight trains: each a mile long – which is a lot of donkeys back in that day. So God provided Manna in the morning and Quail to fly in and then simply die in the afternoon, ready to be cooked!

Also keep in mind that they were out in the desert, and sand doesn’t make very good cooking material, so they would have needed firewood to use in cooking the food. This would take about 4,000 tons of wood and a few more freight trains, each a mile long, just for one day. And just think – they did this for 40 years (146,000 days).

They would also need water. If they only had enough to drink it would take 11,000,000 gallons of water each day. Add some more freight trains with tank cars spanning a few miles, every day. God had Moses strike a rock with his staff to make water burst forth – in a desert!

One more thing: each time they camped at the end of the day, a campground two-thirds the size of the state of Rhode Island was required. That’s a total of about 750 square miles, and they somehow all were able to have daily access to food and water.

(paraphrased from Lane Palmer – website link no longer active)

And in all of this, there He was: Jehovah-jireh.

The first lesson is this: We rely on God. Alone. Period.

Our second lesson is this: Plan and look at ways to be wise with the monies God has entrusted your ministry with, but also plan on God showing up and meeting your needs. Set a budget and stick to it as much as you are able within your spending and planning. But don’t take God out of the equation.

The final lesson is this: Don’t worry. Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I initially named this “linear growth vs. logarithmic growth” because that’s really the crux of this message, but it’s not as good for SEO. Let me ’splain my thinking:

If a church has a goal of 10% growth in, say, attendance over one year, then it would be logical to expect a 2.5% growth every 3 months (for a total of 10% over a year). That would be linear growth. And it would also probably be unrealistic.

Logarithmic growth, on the other hand, assumes that ramping up will take time, effort and refinement. The growth may be .5% after the first three 3 months, 1.5% at 6 months and a larger ramp-up over the last half of the year. That’s logarithmic growth.

I don’t think it’s a shock to hear that the best results almost always come about after a period of sustained, goal-focused effort. We all want the results (I know I do), but we don’t always want to take the time to really put forth the right kinds of effort to get those results (I struggle with this). A gerbil in a wheel will work, very, very hard and get exactly nowhere.

Maybe it’s different for you, but I’ve found that I focus on that which I enjoy. The key, therefore, is to align my tasks to match up with the objectives (bite-sized and created from the original goal) that allow me do things that I enjoy during the process. For me to get the results, I’ve got to set myself up for success (and it helps if your boss helps you do this, too, by giving clear goals and realistic expectations). Since I’m all about “story”, I’m taking my tasks and doing them in the context of building up towards the over-arching story. Point is, find a way to get those things done, consistently, while filtering them against the goal.

My natural desire to see immediate results. My experiences have shown results come over time. It’s not linear….it’s logarithmic.

I wish I had the ear of more pastors. If I did, they would have known by now that the Federal Communications Commission has enacted law that orders all users of the 700MHz band to move frequencies. That may sound like techno-nonsense, but I assure you it will affect a great many churches because older (and often less expensive) wireless mics, in-ear systems and assisted listening systems use the 700 MHz frequency.

As of June 12, 2010, churches must cease using any 700 MHz gear or be subject to prosecution. Here’s the legal mumbo-jumbo:

FCC 08-188 (NPRM&O), Paragraph 14:

“As discussed above, the Commission and various affected parties, such as SBE and Shure, have contemplated that low power broadcast auxiliary devices would lose their secondary status, and would need to vacate the band, upon completion of the DTV transition. We therefore tentatively conclude to revise our rules to make clear that low power auxiliary stations authorized under Part 74 of our rules – including wireless microphones – will not be permitted to operate in the 700 MHz band after the DTV transition.”

My friend Mike Sessler (churchtecharts.org) created a nifty chart (for those who want to dial their inner geek up to 11) showing how this will pan out : Download the PDF chart here.

Fortunately for churches, many of the manufacturers went to battle on The Hill for you (in particular, Shure, Inc. and Sennheiser – thanks, fellas). They lost, but they have since regrouped and made trade-in offers to make this mandatory transition less costly. Check out Shure’s rebate and Sennheiser’s rebate.

So, pastors, follow me on Twitter and have a tech dude speaking into your life. @anthonycoppedge. Oh, not sure about Twitter? Well, here’s a big, shameless plug for my e-book “The Reason Your Church Must Twitter”. $5. Get it.

Research guru George Barna’s firm (I also recommend him as an author – see “Revolution” for a great read) has published part two of a three-part series studying the effects of the economy on local churches. The study focused on 1,114 pastors and church executives and was conducted in the fourth quarter of 2009. So far, the results are not only interesting, some are flat-out surprising.

According to the research, “nearly half of church leaders (45%) said they had not (emphasis mine) made any changes to their ministry as a result of the economic problems of the last year.” The remaining 55% have reduced spending, cut staff, reduced missions giving, and/or reduced facilities budgets.

• About 20% of the pastors surveyed have cut budgets, while only 2% to 3% said they “were watching spending, conserving more, shopping for better deals, eliminating non-essentials, freezing portions of the budget and re-evaluating vendors”.
• “About one out of every six churches (18%) indicated that they had to eliminate positions, reduce salaries, rely on more volunteer time, and cut hours from full-time to part-time.”
• “…nearly one in every 25 churches said they had reduced their giving to missions or missionaries.”
• A mere 3% of those surveyed reduced facility budgets.

Doing Less vs.  Doing Differently

The “easy fix” is to simply do less; whether that’s less staff, less programs or less budget – the first response is to make cuts. There’s nothing wrong with tightening the financial belt, but cuts alone won’t provide the church with the leverage to ramp up once the economy turns around.

I thought that David Kinnaman, President of the Barna Group, concluded his thoughts brilliantly as he talked about the challenge of not merely doing less, but doing things differently.

In the past year, most churches have been satisfied to tie down loose financial ends and keep costs under control. That has been no small feat for most organizations, let alone donor-driven congregations. Yet, the surprise is how few churches seem to have clearly and intentionally developed a proactive response to the downturn.

When pastors were asked to identify the changes they had made as a result of the economic downturn only about one out of every eight church leaders (13%) identified what might be described as activities that proactively position the church as a valuable resource to churchgoers and to those in the community.

For instance, many churches understandably have put off purchasing new equipment and technology. Yet less than one-half of one percent of the churches we interviewed said they upgraded their use of technology in order to help cut down on costs or to maximize communication and reach. Some churches were naturally deferring building projects and facility-related expenditures, but virtually none of the leaders we interviewed said they were rethinking whether the future of congregational ministry required or could even sustain their current campus, much less planned facility expansions. And while some churches have offered resources, training and assistance specifically in response to the economic crisis, it is surprising that so few pastors had made strategic shifts to become a significant and vital resource to their congregants and to the broader community. Like so many others, church leaders have been focused on surviving; now is the time, though, to calibrate ministries and strategies to the opportunities brought by the new economy. (David Kinnaman, The Economy’s Impact on Churches (Part 2 of 3): How Churches Have Adapted)

Having worked with churches on the big three areas of consulting (people, process, technology), I’m in complete agreement with David’s assessment. Change is hard. Aligning your people, processes and technologies can make the difference between doing less and doing things differently. It’s harder than only making cuts, but the results are far more effective.

In addition to David’s suggestions, how would you (or has your church already done) help churches think different instead of/in addition to doing less?

I have a problem: the Internet is ginormous and gleaning slivers of insight is hard.

Given the extreme availability provided by blogs, videos and Twitter, it’s not hard to find people who share about topics that interest me. The problem, of course, is that managing the volume of content on the Internet is like drinking from a fire hydrant – nix that – from Niagara Falls. Searching has never been easier, but the sheer quantity of results from Google/Yahoo/Bing can often keep us from taking the time to sort the data. Instead, I find myself starting my searches in two different ways: Blogrolls & Twitter.

Where to Look

I already have a large number of blogs that I follow (thank you, Bloglines for making this easy), so starting my searches on blogs of people who I know have similar affinity is a pretty good way of finding other people who I may not know. Quite often, I’ll find what I’m looking for in a matter of minutes.

But my favorite way to search for people (more accurately: experts) is by making the ask on Twitter. I’m AMAZED at how quickly and how accurately my Twitter crowd sends links to the people I need to find/follow.

How I Sift, Sort & Soak Up Expertise

When I find someone that’s really compelling and has great knowledge coupled with tremendous insight, I’m a sucker for soaking up anything and everything I can find about them. Once I have good information, I’ve had to learn to not be overwhelmed by the amount of information I find.

Sifting

When I find a site or blog that has great information, I’ll search that site using the Google site search “site:domain.com” and then put in the words or phrases that I want to find within this site. For example, I could search like this: site:withoutwax.tv leadership will search pastor Pete Wilson’s blog for the term “leadership”).

Though it may seem ludicrously obvious, I use the COMMAND + F (CTRL + F for Windows) – the ever-useful “Find” feature” – in my browser to search through a page for keywords or phrases.

Sorting

There are plenty of ways to capture data, but my favorite is Mindjet’s MindManager. It’s mind-mapping software that allows me to type in anything (useful for brainstorming, too) and drag-and-drop images, links, URL’s, etc.) right into the mind map. Obviously, this can be as simple as a TextEdit or Word document, or even XMind (a less robust but free mind mapping tool).

Soaking

Because research can be a time-sink, I have taught myself to focus on no more than one main topic at a time. Again, using MindManager, I will capture content that I need. Anything extra gets saved into a different “drawer” on the mind map, ready for me to look at later on.

Once I have my research, I will continue to check for new updates from the blogger and, more often than not, follow them on Twitter and add them to a search group (list). In this way, I can continue to learn from their insight over time. This is the key. A single point of data is good, but a consistent stream almost always provides better context, deeper understanding and more practical application for me.

By taking their ideas, insgights and experiences and writing out how I can apply the information – in my own context – helps me to “own” the information. I don’t think we really soak up anything until we can teach what we’ve learned to someone else, using our own context.

Do you have other ways of “soaking”? Feel free to share them in the comments.

I’ll be the first to admit that there are, in my opinion, far too many church conferences. Leadership. Servanthood. Technology. Creativity. Growth. Church Plants. Mega Churches. They’re all covered, ad nauseum.

I wonder if what we need isn’t another pep rally or just the perspective of one particular church methodology but rather practical, we-can-do-this-too ideas that are not predicated on the DNA, methodology or programs of other churches.

I think I’ve found a group of people who have some of this figured out. They’re a group who created Dirt, a conference that invites us to make something from nothing.

Last week, I spent nearly three days in the company of people like myself who simply wanted to help the “Big-C” Church learn from the collective creativity, processes and experiences of people who are not on the big-time speaking circuits. It was a collection of not-so-average, average people; folks who had done things with next to nothing and were willing to share their successes and failures as adventurers who had been where most of us are today. The results of this collective group of co-adventurers provided us all with truckloads of knowledge and pages of notes that could readily be applied regardless of budget, attendance, venue, position or denomination. It was beautiful.

I had the privilege of being part of the gaggle of people presenting years of experience and encouraging each person to go back and make some necessary changes. The format was simple: a panel of us would answer a set of questions from a moderator and then dive into Q&A with the attendees. I kept my MacBook Pro open with MindManager ready for note-taking and my Bible available to share inspiration as the Lord impressed upon me during each lab. At the end, I have more excellent ideas, solid best-practices and a huge dose of practical inspiration to share with my ministry friends.

Dirt may be the most practical, down-to-earth, encouraging and equipping-focused conference for churches today. With over 500 in attendance during the inaugural conference, I’m sure we’ll see another one in 2010. I, for one, will be there, speaking or not. This is my new favorite conference. I encourage you to reach out to Neil Greathouse, the Technical Director for New Life Church in Little Rock, AR, and share with him your desire to bring your team to next year’s Dirt Conference.

This session from the Dirt Conference was another that I had the chance to help lead along with panelists Anne Jackson, Kristen Becnel & Charlie Loften. The wisdom these three shared was eye-opening and extremely transparent. In particular, Anne Jackson really knocked it out of the ballpark with her insight. Of course, the IS the author of “Mad Church Disease” – a book about ministry burn-out – so she had a lot to say that was very helpful and insightful.

Here are the notes I took while trying to hold my laptop, a microphone & my Bible while sitting on a stool (in other words, not as many typed in as I’d like to have done):

1.  How can I say no? (or how do “you” say no)

In terms of serving your Pastor: There are three answers for your pastor – “Yes”, “Yes, but” or “No”; but “no” is reserved only for that which is unethical, immoral or un-Biblical.

By having a strong relationship with your church leadership, you can share openly & honestly about your workload. As leaders, there job is to lead you and protect you.

Anne Jackson talked about how in Luke chapter 4 Jesus pulled away from the non-stop ministry. He set a precedent for us to retreat away to spend time refreshing.

Charlie & Kristen spoke of putting boundaries on your time commitment.

I implored people to track their time via projects. By first understanding how & where you spend your time, you can begin to make changes in prioritization and in making important cuts to buy margin in our time.

2.  What do I do if my family is missing me and I have a deadline?

“An inconsistent schedule has to be the exception, not the norm.” – Charlie Loften

Go home. Work will be there tomorrow. Your family needs you more than yet another project.
3.  How do you teach the concept that this job isn’t 9-5?

Respect the seasons of ministry. Know that extra time is required during Christmas & Easter. Balance that time with rest afterward.

“We need time to dream & rest.” – Kristen Becnel

Manage people well. Help protect your staff’s time and ensure you’re “selling what you’re smoking”.

4.  How do you protect yourself from becoming burned out?

Spend time with the Lord daily.

Protect YOUR Sabbath (for most church staff, that’s not Sunday).

Be part of a group that holds each other accountable.

Read Anne Jacksons’ book “Mad Church Disease”.

5.  Can you have a successful family life and work life?

The quote of the day was a stunner: “We like to let productivity define our spiritual maturity” – Anne Jackson. Smack, that’s good!

The answer is “Yes”, but it requires intentionality.