A Few Good Practices

It is a good practice to glean what you can from those who know how to practice well.  Last week VP3 hosted a webinar called, “Best Practices in Local Church Leadership Development.”  Three panelists joined our time to share what they have learned over the years regarding an investment in the formation of those within their local communities.

Pam, Kent and Beth are seasoned at knowing how to notice the particulars of those whom they walk alongside.  All three know how to “call out” what they see dormant in peoples’ lives.  They are careful, yet direct in making appropriate and tailored prescriptions, helping people move toward a better place of maturity and a truer place of service.  Quite frankly, I was impressed with the practices they keep in this sometimes misunderstood deal of leadership development.  Their practice grows from a conviction that leadership development from a Christian perspective is first and always tethered to helping people tend to their followership to Jesus Christ.  You will benefit from listening in on what they said.  Here are some highlights… Continue reading

Discipleship: The Critical Need in Leadership Development Today

Today BrianSteenhoek and I facilitated a webinar called, “Discipleship:  The Critical Need in Leadership Development Today.”  It seemed to scratch an itch from the responses of those who attended.  We thought we would offer you a condensed version of some of our notes here.   Continue reading

Saints in the Making

      A walloping great congregation is fine and fun, but what most communities really need is a couple of saints.  The tragedy is that they may well be there in embryo, waiting to be discovered, waiting for sound training, waiting to be emancipated from the cult of the mediocre.

–Martin Thorton

This week is the third of four weeks in January, filled with “Block B” Facilitator Training Retreats.  Randy and I will have the privilege of being with a group of facilitators at Faith Church in Dyer, Indiana, Monday and Tuesday.

In an effort to both prepare and support in the implementation of The Emerging Journey or The Equipping Experience, this facilitator preparation process is structured in two retreats: Retreat Block A (usually in June) and Retreat Block B (usually the following January).  It is 4.5 days of training that seeks to do at least 4 things for those who participate: Continue reading

Church Planter Discussion – Part 4 “Relationship”

Discipleship/Leadership Development Requires Relationship…

(This is part of a series of entries regarding a round table discussion with church planters about multiplying disciples and leaders.)

       ”But God so ordered life that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens.  No one lives faultlessly.  All carry burdens.  No person really enjoys self-sufficiency; no one possesses enough wisdom for that!  All this says:  Help one another.  Comfort one another.  Teach one another.  Correct one another.”  (Thomas a Kempis from, The Imitation of Christ)

“Two are better than one…”  (Ecclesiastes 4:9) Continue reading

A Few Good Prescriptions

Sometimes we encounter experts who have fancy credentials, smacky degrees, and weighty job descriptions.  They can give us advice because they have noticed how certain things, processes or situations can be different–hopefully better.  This past weekend at our Banff Enriching retreat I encountered 18 experts…not because they had the credentials, degrees or job descriptions to prove it, but because they stayed true to their heart, gave careful reflection, and trusted what they heard.

These are folks who have become good at noticing God, themselves and others.  And, they have grown in their capacity to care more deeply about the Kingdom shaping work of God in their own local communities. Continue reading

Developing trust in a group: silence & laughter

Many groups are starting out this month in some part of the VP3 process. One of the central challenges of Stage 1 is building trust.  As we often discuss in the Facilitator Training Retreats, an atmosphere of trust needs to be fostered for the groups to flourish. Without trust, honest and prayerful discovery will become frustrated.

Developing trust requires a way of being with the group that lovingly moves the relationships beyond the pretense and comparison that pervades so many of our daily relational interactions.Trust is not simply built by following a clear set of steps, but there are things we can do. Elements of listening and question-asking and vulnerability and non-judgmental spirits all seem to blend together to make for a safe place.

As I have been thinking and praying about the many different facilitators and participants beginning the Emerging Journey or the Equipping Experience or Enriching Conversation, Parker Palmer words have come to mind.

Continue reading