Yahoo for Yahooz

After realizing what an idiot I really am, (I don't want to even get into that) I spent an enjoyable dinner at Yahooz with 5 new friends from Seattle I met at the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leadership. We sat outside, which was nice. They are a fun bunch of people. I will post more about them later, hopefully. The Kansas City steak was really good! However, I am not sure it was any better than Tuesday night's meal at the Hereford House. I liked the peppercorn sauce tonight but I think the KC Steak at the Hereford was more tender.


I did get to meet a couple from PA - Dillsburg to be exact- while at Yahooz. His father is a member of the Jacobs Brothers - a local PA gospel singing group. They are here for the Beeson Institute as well. Small world.

Misc. Stuff from Beeson

I got to hear a bunch of successful pastors and teachers the past two days. Adam Hamilton, Dr. Lieth Anderson, Dr. Jim Jackson, and Miles Mcpherson all did teaching on Healthy, Winning Staff Teams. Here are just a few tidbits from Wednesday and Thursday:

• You can never hire enougth staff to carry on the ministry.
• The board should set the rules of the game and boundries of the playing field.
• The purpose of an organization is to "free" and not to "bind".
• "Don't waste your shot on those who fight for sixpence a day. Save your shot for the epaulet men."
• There is no spiritual gift called "sitting in church".

Beeson Training - Better afternoon.

Well, the afternoon today went much better than the morning. I got to the Church of the Resurrections for the Beeson Institute for Advanced Church Leasdership modul and found a few friends. This module is Healthy, Winning Staff Tems. We heard from Dale Galloway from the Beeson team and Mike Breaux, teaching pastor at Willow Creek. Some highlights:

"Master Plan for Staffing" From Dale Galloway . . .

Eight major comcepts you need to know in order to build your dream team:

1. Choose people who have the same philosophy of ministry as you have
2. Hire persons who are ministry centered rather thatn performer centered
3. Select someone who either can do something you can not do or who can do something better than you can; otherwise, you don't need that person
4. Put the staff person over an area of ministry. Give them ownership and responsibility to grow as large as possible.
5. Everyone should have the same "#1" job description: To recruit, equip and train lay leaders in your area of ministry.
6. Recruit the strongest staff leader you can get to join your dream team.
7. You have to change a grow every time there is a new staff person so you can help the new staff person be successful.
8. Staff should have areas of specialization as well as common ministries that all staff will be responsible.

NEVER ADD A STAFF PERSON TO REPLACE VOLUNTEERS!

"Leading through Transition" From Mike Breaux:

1. Know who you are.
2. Own the dream.
3. Share the Load
4. Communicat vision over & over
5. Three steps forward, two steps back
6. Refuse to let ANYTHING get you down.

Everything's Up To Date For Kansas City!

Today I made some final plans for my trip to Kansas City for my third Beeson Institute For Advanced Church Leadership module next week. The module, "How to Build Healthy, Winning, Staff Teams" will be held at the Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, KS from Tuesday, May 8 to Friday, May 11. I have really enjoyed the other modules I have attended and have learned a lot. The days are filled with lectures on the topic for that module with "processing groups" following. These groups allow interaction to help sort out the things you have just heard. At the same time they try to work with churches who are prolific in the topic at hand. Some of the guys are taking the modules for their Masters degrees and a few are working on Doctoral degrees. The rest of us are just . . . there learning.

I will get to hear Miles McPherson from the Rock Church in San Diego, CA, Mike Breaux from Willow Creek, and others from successful ministries around the country.

I also like the chance to get out of Central PA and see different areas of the country. I always try to eat at local places that aren't available here. Also, the Royals are in town Tues - Thursday, so maybe I will get a chance to go to a game - they play the A's.

Then on Friday the module is over at 11:30 AM and I am taking my rental car across the state of Missouri to Saint Louis for one night to visit my cousins.

It will be a nice break and yet a great learning experience for me.