Unleash Your Potential Without Unleashing a Lot of Money

Unleash your potential, without unleashing a bunch of dollars.

There’s no doubt church conferences are best utilized when an entire team of staff and volunteers are able to attend together. But how in the world can you convince your staff and your volunteers to lay out hundreds of dollars each, and multiple days off to attend a conference?

Unleash may be the answer for you.

Unleash may be the best value for the dollar of any conference around, particularly for teams seeking to experience a church conference together. In fact, for what a normal conference costs, you can take a team of about 5. And because the conference is a one day event, volunteers are all the more likely to be able to afford the time.

At the conference, slated for Thursday, March 4 2010, you will get an inside look at how Perry Noble and his team have navigated extraordinary growth in a small population base and a short amount of time. In only 10 years, Perry’s church, Newspring has grown to four sites, and 10,000 in weekly attendance; – all in and around the town of Anderson, SC. Newspring may have a bigger population dominance than any other church in the country, and the insights gained from them will help you and your team go to a new level of effectiveness.

I talked to Perry yesterday about the conference, and asked him why he started it. He said,

“After my first trip to a really cool church conference, I came back frustrated that I hadn’t taken a whole team with me. So once we were able, I figured we should offer a similar conference that would rock your world and be affordable.”

Mission accomplished. At $39 and a one day commitment, this is a value worth investing in.

I’ll be there, and I may bring a team. Will you?

Let me tell you bout a Story

Bout a man named Ben.

 

If you haven’t heard of Story, you need to know about it.

 

Yesterday, I highlighted Catalyst as the single best investment of training dollars out there.

 

Today, I’m going out on a limb, but it’s a pretty strong one.

 

I believe Story  is going to be a must attend event. Held in Chicago for the first time this year, I’m sure it will be first class, and a high value add for communicators of the Gospel. Why?

Because at the end of the day, all that we do in church rises and falls on the weekend, and the weekend rises and falls on our ability to tell the Story. You can have it all together in your other ministries, but if the Story isn’t told, it’s all for naught. The best money a church leader can spend on training may be their training in telling the Story

Why plug an event with no proven track record? Easy….Ben Arment 

Ben played a key role with Catalyst for years, and is now making this his first attempt on his own. So who gets behind a first year event in the worst year economy in our lives?

More than a couple of good speakers and storytellers, including,

• Donald Miller
• Nancy Beach
• Dave Gibbons
• Stacy Spencer
• Ed Young
• Mike Foster
• Chris Seay

 

Workshops with film makers and producers, an intimate setting (seating will be limited), and some of the best storytellers in the biz should make this a great investment of money.

I asked Ben to tell me why people should come to this event when dollars are so limited. His response?

“Story is not for everybody. If you’re asking yourself this question, it’s probably not for you.”

STORY is slated for Thursday, October 28-29, 2009, at the beautiful Paramount Theater near Chicago. I’ll be there. Will you?

What to do if you have little or no training dollars

 

Training budgets in churches have been over the last 12 months at a rate I’ve never seen. But training is a must. So how do you train on little or no money?

 

Maybe you don’t have to have money….

If you have no money, then perhaps you should consider attending via Twitter. Following conferences virtually has muis benefits, as pointed out in a great post by Will Mancini last week. Conferences are using Twitter, online links, and chat rooms to let people attend who cannot be there. What do you think? Can you attend a conference virtually and gain substantial benefits?

 

If you have a little money, or can beg for it, here’s where you need to be…

Each day this week, I’ll be highlighting a top training event. In a countercultural move, I’m starting my countdown of top training events with the #1 event I know:

Catalyst

In my online poll last week, Catalyst was the clear winner, taking over 34% of the vote (more results to come throughout the week).

 

Why?

If you haven’t been, Catalyst ranks in my books as a great buy because of the experience. While some conferences are just as good online, or via DVD’s bought afterward, Catalyst is a must attend event. From the literal red carpet treatment on Day One, to the unpredictable stage interruptions of Lanny, you just can’t beat the on site experience of this event. Nevermind the networking, the content, and the resources that are available.

I asked conference point man Brad Lomenick why this year would be a must attend event. He said,

 

“I’m really excited about this year’s event. This is our Ten Year Anniversary of Catalyst this October. Because of that, we’ve put together the best lineup of speakers ever, in my opinion. And with the ten year anniversary we’ll be celebrating and highlighting some great moments from past Catalyst experiences. At the same time, we are going to focus on what the next ten years hold- and what we can accomplish as individual leaders and as the entire Catalyst community.

Our theme is On Your Mark, and really getting in line with what God has for you next. I can’t wait.”

 

Nearly every client I help find staff through FaithSearch  is involved, speaking at, or attending Catalyst. I’ll be there. And if you don’t like the event, find me there. I’ll buy your ticket…actually I’ll just buy you a cup of coffee.

It’s my favorite and most valued event of the year.

What’s yours?

 

Why You Should Have More Money For Training

In a season where every dollar in a budget is fought for and must be defended, how can you talk about increasing training budgets?

The response to my post about training dollars has been much bigger than I had predicted. I’ve received emails and even phone calls from people who know they need to either ask for training dollars or defend their training budgets to boards or committees.

Nobody expressed a desire to cut their training budgets. But few were able to articulate why they should keep their budgets, nevermind increasing them.

Here are three great reasons for continuing and even increasing training budgets

1. Training dollars retain your top talent. Studies have clearly shown that top talented people see training dollars as a clear signal that they will be valued, and that the church is willing to invest in their growth. Conversely, cutting training dollars sends a message that talent (and talent development) is expendable.
2. Training dollars recruit other talent. Attending conferences is the second best way to meet candidates and talented folks (#1 is hiring a search firm….). Same reasons as above, but in spades. Even more, it sends a message to potential employees. More times than I can recall, I’ve been asked by top candidates, “If I go to work there, what will they do to help me grow?
3. Training dollars show a commitment to the long haul. A top talent manager in the UK recently spoke to this point, “If you want to cut a leg off your organisation for short-term gain, then cut back on training. If you want your organisation to continue to flourish during an economic cut-back, maintain training standards and levels.

What reasons can you think of?

Later this week, I’ll share a list of ways you can maximize your training dollars. And next week, I’ll talk about the results of the poll listed below, and profile a different training event each day that I believe will provide a real return on your training investment.

 

Keep voting, and keep the conversation going!

 

Help Me Decide Where to Spend Training Dollars

As I mentioned in my last post, I’m spending the week asking the question:

 

“What is the most effective way for church staffers to spend training money?”

I’d love for you to weigh in and let me know your vote for best most worthwhile conference to spend your money on. Take the poll, and watch for my feedback in the coming week.

The Most Common Budget Cut I See

What’s the number 1 budget cut going on among churches these days?

As I travel visit with and talk to leaders of our largest and brightest churches through my work at FaithSearch, one area of cuts keeps coming up:
Training budgets.

Personnel Today recently reported that of all companies they surveyed, only 2% expected a training budget increase in the coming 12 months. If that’s what is happening in the corporate world, you can make a pretty safe bet that it will be mirrored in the not for profit and church world.

It seems that nearly church I know has had to think and rethink their budgets in light of the economic downturn, and one place that continues to get trimmed is the money available for staffers to attend training events, conferences, and the like

As an aside, I find it a bit ironic that many of the folks I know who are cutting training budgets are also people who argue that a public health care system will lead to less training among doctors, and lower quality health care in our country. I believe that “the staff that isn’t learning, isn’t growing,” And most of the churches I work with believe that as well. If you need some good reasons to keep the training dollars up, go to the Personnel Today article I mentioned above.

However, I understand the need for pragmatic and careful expense control in this area until things settle and turn for the better economically.  Thinking on this has led me to a great question:

 

“What (if any) conferences are worth the money?”

 

Particularly in a period when training dollars are scarce and internet connectivity is cheap, conferences better be worth the money, and provide a real Return on Investment for the church and staffer attending.

Throughout the week, I’ll be highlighting what I believe to be the best investments of training dollars for the rest of 2009. I’d love your thoughts, comments, and input.

So I would a couple of questions to you: Are conferences beneficial to church staffers? If so, what conferences would you recommend for the balance of the year and why?

Post your thoughts, and let’s have a conversation.

Can you do pastoral care over Facebook?

Today, I happened upon an interesting question:

 

Can you do pastoral care over Facebook?

 

We have a family at Cypress Creek Christian Church that has had a terribly long week of cancer surgery and recovery at MD Anderson (affectionately known as “the best place you never want to visit”). I was there to visit and pray with them early on the morning of the surgery, and did a follow-up visit late that night.

 

The week has moved on, and I’m out of town working on a new (and very exciting) search for FaithSearch Partners.

 

While in the middle of working, I saw my parishioner was online, on Facebook, while sitting in ICU. We had a brief visit via chat, and a nice interaction.

 

I left the chat wondering: does this count as pastoral care?

 

On the one hand, nothing replaces face-to-face interaction. That’s one of our core beliefs at church and at FaithSearch Partners. So nothing can sub for my time and prayers with them on the day of surgery.

 

On the other hand, I’m currently six states away, they are in ICU round the clock, where cell phones are prohibited, and Facebook gave me a great way to supplement my care for them given our realities.

 

I posted this on Twitter and Facebook and got a big enough response that I thought I’d post on the blog, and ask you the question:

 

Is this valid pastoral care? Do you have similar stories? I heard one friend in a very cool church say that he has even done counseling over Twitter. What are your thoughts and experiences in the brave new world of ministry and social media? Where are the limits?

 

Post a comment and let’s have a conversation.

Alternatives to Firing and Layoffs During a Recession

 

Everybody, and particularly every not-for-profit I know has been affected by the economic downturn. While most of our clients are growing and expanding, even they are growing at slower than projected rates, and have to keep an eye on the money like never before.

While the best solution for churches is obviously to get more people to give more money, leaders are having to find other ways to make the balance sheet work.

The Wall Street Journal recently posted seven excellent alternatives to firing or layoffs during a recession. I hope they are a help and idea machine for those of you facing tough decisions in your ministries.

1. Ask workers to take day off without pay. Field employees at Zurn Plumbing Service Inc. of Chamblee, Ga., take a mandatory day off each week without pay, their hours cut from 40 to 30. Office workers do the same every other week, saving the company about $7,000 a month in labor expenses.

2. Manage workers’ schedules more efficiently. At Samovar Tea Lounge in San Francisco, restaurant workers get a free massage when the owner doesn’t have to pay for overtime. It no longer allows its 60 employees to clock in early, even encouraging them to clock out early.

3. Find something for them to do. Anything. Infinite Care Home Health Inc. of Duncanville, Texas, found volunteer work for its 38 full-time employees at local clinics during down time. They get paid for their time, with some using it to recruit new clients.

4. Cut back on salary. Office workers, including executives, at All Steel Structures Inc. of South Holland, Ill., took a 10% pay cut. The owner himself stopped taking a salary, except for during the holidays.

5. Participate in work sharing. About 18 states have what’s called WorkShare, which gives companies the ability to reduce full-time employees’ hours by getting compensation through state unemployment insurance funds. In the Maryland program, in which employers must reduce hours by at least 10% but no more than 50%, the number of businesses signing up for work sharing has at least doubled this year from last year. In Oregon, work-sharing unemployment claims were up 433% in January compared to the year before.

6. Lend your workers to other companies. Rhino Foods in Vermont, which makes cookie dough for Ben & Jerry’s ice cream, recently sent its 15 factory workers to Autumn Harp, a nearby lip balm maker, for a week to help the company with its holiday rush. Employees were paid by Rhino, which invoiced Autumn Harp for the hours worked.

7. Train existing staff to do more. Luxury Retreats in Montreal moved eight of its 75 rental agents from areas such as product development to sales and a personal assistant to the accounting department.

Staffing to Support a New Reality for Senior Pastors

Leadership Network just released their most recent study of Senior Pastors of large churches. I received an early copy since I participated in the study since in addition to my work at FaithSearch Partners, I also serve as Senior Pastor of Cypress Creek Christian Church. 

 

The study revealed a number of interesting facts that will inform pastors of larger congregations, particularly regarding staffing.

 

From my read, there are multiple takeaways for staffing. I’m sure there will be more, and would love your thoughts. For now, here are three initial impressions.

 

1. Churches need to shore up visionary leadership. Only about 1/3 of all pastors surveyed viewed “visionary leadership” as a key facet of their work. This should point churches, and senior pastors, toward hiring a constellation of visionary leaders that can collaborate, rather than leaning on one luminary to drive the church.

 

2. Churches need to hire field generals for pastoral care. These key hires could be the heart of the church, and could equip teams of volunteers to care for the flock. “Pastoring” ranked fourth in most important tasks listed by the surveyed senior pastors. When asked what issues “keep them up at night,” Senior Pastors answers were almost uniformly organizational (rather than pastoral) issues. These issues were a mirror image of the issues listed by executive pastors in a recent survey of their lives and work.  Congregations would do well to remember that while preaching draws people in, a sense of home keeps them in church. A recent study of large churches by LN revealed a very large back door in nearly all of large churches. One key to stopping the bleeding might be realizing that the Senior Pastor of large churches is not equipped to both lead and pastor, and addressing that need through strategic (and highly invested) hiring of those who can lead congregations toward a feeling of home.

 

3. Recreation = Retention. Sports were listed as the far and away leader of how pastors spend their leisure time. Whether leagues, memberships in health clubs, or time playing tennis or golf, Senior Pastors deal with the stress and constant “on call” nature of their jobs through sports. In fact, “sports” was listed as the number one way pastors maintain their sanity. Wise churches will take note of this and offer avenues for their Senior (and other) Pastors to enjoy such activities as part of their compensation. Corporations have realized the value such benefits (and the reduced insurance costs related, with many offering health club memberships and other sports packages to employees. In an age where retention of good employees is becoming more and more challenging, this could be an easy win for a church board with their employees. 

 

Read the report. Let me know your thoughts. I’d love to hear your thinking.

 

William

New Search for COO of Major Methodist Church

God continues to afford us the chance to help large churches find key staff.

I am excited to announce the search we are managing for the Executive Director/COO of a large Methodist church of over 7,000 members in Houston, Texas.

The church is well known both regionally and nationally within the Methodist denomination and is led by a visionary, mission-oriented senior pastor. The COO role is newly created and will serve as right hand to the Senior Pastor in completing and implementing a strategic vision for the  church.  In addition, the position will directly oversee outreach and communication ministries, including a television ministry.
Successful candidates will have substantive experience in an operationally administrative role in a large church.  Alternatively, corporate leaders with strong management skills seeking to positively impact a significant ministry will also be considered.

A more detailed document describing the opportunity is available upon request.

If you are aware of interested and qualified prospects for this position, please contact me at your earliest convenience. Candidates may contact us directly by sending a current resume to the email address below.  All inquiries will be held in strict confidence. Thank you for your time and assistance!

 
Blessings,
William

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William Vanderbloemen
Senior Vice-President
Ministry Practice Leader
FaithSearch Partners

william@faithsearchpartners.com

832-606-8905 – mobile (US)