FIERCE CONVERSATIONS/FIERCE LEADERSHIP: Seeking life & relationships that are deep, authentic, passionate and unbridled …
Susan Scott in her books, “Fierce Conversations,” and “Fierce Leadership” has my attention. Over the course of this past summer during my annual study leave, these two books managed to deeply root themselves into my mind and heart about what it means to walk and lead with authenticity and integrity, what it means to connect deeply and passionately with my team, my family, or whomever God has me in relationship with. Her clarion call to sincerely invite truth, creativity and even contrarian thinking to the table hit me with an intensity that I have rarely experienced, even under the best of preachers and Christian writers. That may have more to do with me and where I’m at in my life journey these days, than any preachers or Christian writers, but even so, there is a freshness to Scott’s approach that simply rings true. And yes I believe the Holy Spirit spoke clearly and directly to me, through the words of this secular prophet.
I owe a huge thanks to a couple of guys in my Pastoral Small Group, Mike Wilkins from West London Alliance and Garth Leno from Heritage Park who introduced me to the books and blog of Susan Scott. I was working through some of my own “stuff” and sharing that with the group, when both guys jumped with the name Susan Scott and strongly encouraged me to take a look. They were surprised that I was unfamiliar with her as so often I’m the guy recommending secular authors who have something to say to the life of the local church.
Contrary to Susan’s Scott’s strong recommendation, I read “Fierce Leadership” before I read “Fierce Conversations,” which worked well for me, but “Fierce Conversations,” is clearly the foundation upon which the next book is built. I was struck by how the virtues Scott espouses are so obviously Christian. I wondered what in her background contributed to an ethic that so often reflected the teaching of Jesus despite her obvious disdain for institutional religion as well as her colourful yet sensitive use of such language. Perhaps her expression “what fresh hell is this,” will not win her points with the average evangelical church goer, but I must admit I found it an original and winsome way to express the realities we continually encounter in church and family life.
It wasn’t until I got to her first book, “Fierce Conversations” that I discovered that Susan has a churched upbringing with a mom who has been concerned about her daughter’s rejection of their family’s faith background. That explained a lot, including her phrase, “What Would Love Do?,” likely her secularized version of WWJD. She provides an excellent exposition of Matthew 18:15-17 without ever letting you know that she’s been influenced by the Bible. Reading between the lines, I suspect the values that she holds so strongly to, that she “preaches” so passionately, which are biblically consistent, were likely sadly absent in the church of her upbringing. Like so many, she embraces many biblical values, sees herself as “spiritual,” but rejects Christianity. Someone how I found myself identifying with this jaded reflection of church culture, and it caused me to look deeply within, at where I might be contributing to the culture Scott has come to reject.
Let me just throw your way a few quick things among many that struck me as I read these two books:
• Our work, our relationships succeed or fail one conversation at a time. We build our emotional wakes for the positive or negative, one conversation at a time.
• What each of us believes simply reflects our own view of reality … and reality is unforgivingly complex. In other words, no one person owns all of the truth.
• The person who can most accurately describe reality without laying blame will emerge the leader.
• If your behaviour contradicts your values, your body knows, and you pay a price at a cellular level.
• Authenticity is not something you have, it’s something you choose.
• What are you pretending not to know???
• We must recognize that humans share a universal longing to be known, to be loved.
• What we do at work that hurts people or alienates coworkers we also do at home, hurting and alienating those we love.
• When we keep important thoughts private, our ability to learn and make good decisions is lost.
• Feedback is invaluable. Anonymous feedback is not honest. Like all toxins, anonymity should be kept as close to zero as possible. Trust requires persistent identity.
• The goal is to have open, honest, face-to-face conversations, 365 days a year, with the people central to your success and happiness.
• A careful conversation is a failed conversation because it merely postpones the conversation that wants and needs to take place.
• A central part of my job is to build a culture that includes genuine affection for and an emotional connection with coworkers and customers.
• Master the courage to interrogate reality.
• The point of accountability is to empower the other person, not for you to become the new source for his or her power.
• Tell me what you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Well that’s just a tease that hardly scratches the surface of two books that are immensely practical, incredibly challenging, yet refreshingly biblical in an arena you might not expect it. In some ways Scott’s books were almost like reading the sequel with practical application to NT Wright’s new book, “After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters.” Wright talks about the tough work of putting to death our old nature and putting on Christian virtues, and likens it to the difficult challenge of learning a new language. Yes we have the working of the Holy Spirit who will empower us, but only as we first choose to do what we as human beings have been enabled to do by our Creator God, as His image bearers. But that would take another blog to unpack.
So I give a hearty two thumbs up to both of Scott’s books, “Fierce Conversations,” and “Fierce Leadership.” I’d recommend them for use at home, at work, in the church, or wherever you interact with people committed to some sort of mission or task. Hey, I might even suggest that “Fierce Conversations,” might be one of the better books we could use in pre-marital counseling. Go buy both books and read them NOW!! (And after that take a look at Wright’s book! )
The 2010 Willow GLS: Leadership in Transition
The WillowCreek Leadership Summit, now called the Global Leadership Summit has been a staple in my summer diet for 14 out of the last 15 years of the Summit. I am never disappointed. Always I find myself inspired and challenged deeply by the event. This year through the diversity of speakers I could visibly see the transition taking place between the leadership thinking of modernism and what is beginning to develop with the emerging post-modern generation.
The Summit did start a bit slow for me. I found the first day of the two-day event to be good but not as captivating as in previous years. One of the contributing factors was the lack of emphasis on worship and the arts on that particular day. I found it intriguing that that lack had such an impact on my experience, despite some amazing teaching and presentations. The second day was much stronger on the arts front and contributed to my ability to better take in all the material that was presented. That contrast between day one and day two was a significant educational “take home,” for me about the power of the arts as well as the release that comes from spending a significant amount of time in corporate worship. I don’t think some of my staff team who were not at the Summit would have made it through day one with the almost “all business approach” to the day.
But the lack of arts and worship on day one aside, the Summit proved once again to be an invaluable contribution to my own leadership journey. I commend the Willow team for putting together such an excellent teaching team or as they like to call them, “faculty.” Let me just list a few of the many “take homes,” that impacted me. It’s too long for many of you to read all at once, just scan down and see what catches your attention:
• I had already been in a setting where BILL HYBELS did a test run of his Summit talk, but I was struck anew by the intensity of his passion for knitting together teams of what he calls “fantastic people,” folks who you would go out into the hall and vomit if you ever heard they wanted to leave your organization!
• Hybels has now added a fourth “C” to his team-building list, that being “culture,” in addition to character, competency and chemistry. He distinguished between chemistry as being inter-personal, and culture being the DNA or ethos of your organization.
• “Good is the enemy of great,” was the renewed rallying cry of JIM COLLINS, who once again was mesmerizing in his presentation.
• As a part of his presentation on why some “mighty organizations” fall, Collins built on Hybels session by emphasizing that we must have all of our key seats filled with fantastic people, that we must resist any attempt to move ahead or grow until we have those fantastic people occupying those key leadership seats.
• The signature issue that separates great leaders from good leaders, leaders who are often able to prevent “a catastrophic fall,” are those who are marked by humility.
• With passion Collins said that if we desire to be truly useful as leaders, then we must never capitulate, never ever give up on the idea of creating a great church or organization, never ever give up on the discipline of creating our own future, while being willing to embrace loss and endure pain in the journey towards those goals. You might have thought he was a preacher!
• DR. PETER ZHAO XIOA’s presentation was simply fascinating. He became a Christ follower studying the American economy for the Chinese government and concluding that biblical values make for a stronger economy. He is proud of his Chinese heritage and looks forward to China becoming once again one of the dominant nations in the world. His call is for us to not fear China, but to work to strengthen Christian presence in China, which will only benefit the nation and the world.
• The concept advanced by ANDY STANLEY, that great organizations have problems that shouldn’t be solved and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved, is a keeper! He argued that we need to identify those critical problems and tensions, that if held in a creative both/and balance, bring progress for the organization. While tensions are organizationally specific, they include things like: time with family/ time at work; reaching the unchurched/maturing believers; led by the Spirit/ attentive to logic. He calls the balancing of these unresolvable tensions a “third category,” that when artfully handled, propel the organization forward.
• Throughout the Summit there was an emphasis on creating environments of collaboration. This came out brilliantly in TERRI KELLY’S, the CEO of what we know as Gore-Tex talk. The culture of Gore and Associates really grabbed my attention, where it is a peer-based organization where everyone understands that it is their job to make everyone else in the organization successful. Her presentation of what a peer based organization based on personal relationships and the power of small teams is all about, where there are more coaches than bosses, where every staff member has a sponsor in addition to a supervisor who is committed to the betterment of the person, really got my mind going on overdrive. Yeah she stretched me big time, and it was good to be stretched!!
• Again the whole issue of hiring the right people was emphasized. The need for the right kind of behavioral interviewing that assures that the people you hire fit the culture they will be working in.
• And if I thought Terri Kelly was brilliant then I’ve run out of strong enough adjectives to describe the thinking of DANIEL PINK. His work on what it is that truly motivates us was simply captivating. I bought both the audio and print editions of his book, “Drive”!!
• Pink uses three concepts to describe what he calls “enduring motivations”: autonomy, mastery, and purpose. He argues that most organizations use lesser motivations like reward and punishment, including financial profit and money. He calls “management theory,” an outdated 1800’s concept designed to get compliance when folk yearn for autonomy, that we need to find ways to give folk autonomy over their time, teams, tasks and techniques. This leads to the need for an individual to develop mastery in what he or she is doing that reflects their personal passions, and mastery is motivated as people see they are making progress. Pink like some of the other contrarian thinkers at the Summit is very hard on traditional performance appraisal systems, opting instead for an ongoing process of encouragement, where the individual is motivated to monitor his or her progress with the help of a supervisor/coach.
• Pink then moves on to purpose, which many of us resonate with who think of faith in terms of “the purpose driven life. Pink is strong that even in business purpose trumps profit every time.
• Tom’s Shoes with it’s CEO BLAKE MYCOSKIE is a great example that purpose trumps profits, in a for-profit business venture. His buy a pair of shoes, and we’ll give a pair away to someone in need in the majority world has impacted both the churched and unchurched community. It’s become a viral movement capturing the heart of the younger generation that truly want to make a difference. I’d love to see Tom’s Shoes in Canada!
• Listening to JACK WELCH helped me to better understand Bill Hybels. There’s a unique combination of old school and new school leadership thinking that Welch represents that has impacted Hybles, who re-reads Welch’s “Winning” every six months. He isn’t the most studied CEO of the 20th century for nothing! Welch brings to leadership an amazing combination of energy, candor, as well as passion for the individual. However he takes a more hard lined approach to performance appraisal that clearly grades the individual in relationship to the rest of the employees, so that he can abundantly reward the top 20%, care for and grow the core 70% and remove the bottom 10%. Hybles takes a softer approach on this than Welch, but similar. After listening to Daniel Pink and Terri Kelly, I sensed that on this issue, the Welch performance appraisal system’s days are numbered.
• The summit wrapped up with a resounding message by Bishop TD JAKES. I’ve heard him speak before and was not all that enthused to hear him again. I personally find wumped up enthusiasm, and what for me is trite clichés, to be a bit grating. This time, Jakes surprised me and totally engaged me. There was a level of humility in his speaking that captivated me. He was well worth the risk Hybles took in brining him back to the Summit.
• Several of Jake’s statements that stayed with me include: “You cannot lead someone who cannot read you, you have to transparent enough to be understood, you have to show your wounds.” “They learn as much from your troubles as they do from your strengths.” “Lord I need a me! That’s someone who is safe to encourage me as I encourage others.” Jakes lamented how few “safe encouragers” there are out there for pastoral leaders.
So yeah, a lot of good stuff!! I hope to bring some of these sessions to the Redwood staff team and the Christian and leadership community at large in Thunder Bay through a series of “LEADERSHIP LUNCHES,” at Redwood’s Thunder Bay campus. I just have to check with Jane and see if she’s willing to put the soup on for us! I should have more information come September.
Rancorous Times!
Eighteen years ago it was my privilege to take up the role of what we’re now calling the “Lead Pastor” of the Redwood Park Church. I entered into Redwood at a time of seismic paradigm shift that was a source of great tumult not just for Redwood but also for evangelical churches all across Canada. Some, particularly some over 50 who had invested their lives into building the church, struggled with the new and sometimes unfamiliar paradigms that were emerging. Others clearly understood that for the church to remain effective in its mission to reach those apart from Christ as well as the next generation, they would have to sacrifice their own comforts for the sake of prioritizing the needs of those we are called to love and impact with the message and life of Jesus.
The late 80’s into the early 90’s for many Canadian churches with an evangelical heritage were a time of what’s been called “the worship wars.” Some churches moved through them well, others have still held onto old paradigms, creating greater distance between the local church and the average Canadian. Redwood did not move through this period unscathed but eventually moved through to the other side and was sometimes viewed as a positive example within the evangelical community of a church that was effective at prioritizing the needs of those apart from faith in Christ.*
Twenty years later those who study culture and the church like George Barna in the United States, Alan Hirsch formerly from Australia and Alan Roxburgh here in Canada are all telling us that we are the midst of a much larger shift than any of us have experienced in our lifetimes. Roxburgh calls these “rancorous times!” Here we are for the first time in Canadian history, watching churches with an evangelical heritage not just in decline, which has never happened before, but in many cases move into steep decline, while the more progressive churches over the last 20 years think they are still relevant because of the changes that have been made.
Roxburgh led me to look at a book by Joshua Cooper Ramo called “The Age of the Unthinkable.” Roxburgh wants us to understand that title is a great description of our time. He passionately says to the Canadian church that we live in the age of the unthinkable, a time of massive cultural change where the real driver of change is the unexpected, where “focusing on well established categories and measurables is worse than useless.” He goes on, “The standard answers operating in our churches and among our leaders today can only misdirect us … focusing on improving worship, developing better evangelism, getting more imaginative discipleship programs or creating a passionate spirituality will no longer get at the levels of change we face … living in an age of the unthinkable.”
“Unthinkable Times” … Roxburgh just might be onto something. As we move into the 2010’s, there’s a complexity to doing kingdom work here in Canada that is deeper than most of us have ever experienced. The transitions that led to the worship wars of 20 years ago, pale in comparison to what we fact in the next few years. My fear is that we will move into this future with grasping the enormity of what’s before us and in the end become increasingly irrelevant to and out of touch with the average Canadian.
My prayer is that the passion that has clearly marked Redwood for at least the past 20 years, that we would be like the Old Testament, “men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do,” (1 Chronicles 12:32, NIV), would remain core to who we are. And what that means is that I like many others need to be careful that in our deep and irrevocable passion to hold on to the truth of God’s Word, that we don’t hold onto other “stuff” that gets in the way of mission in an age of the unthinkable.
* (Side note: Both Faith Today published by the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada as well as the denominational magazine Alliance.ca have published articles about Redwood’s missional focus. You can download a pdf of the Alliance .ca article here.)
Perhaps St. Guinness?
As we approach St. Patrick’s Day and celebrate the passionate Christ follower God used to lead so much of Ireland into the Christian faith, it got me pondering another interesting character in Irish history, Arthur Guinness. Both Patrick in the 400’s and Guinness in the 1700’s used beer within the context of Christian mission and ministry. Patrick employed a brewer in his household and often brought beer as a gift to village leaders he was seeking to evangelize. (And try not to read into that any motivation other than beer was truly an appreciated gift!)
I first got a hint about what an amazing individual Arthur Guinness is when the Doyle family in a vacation last spring checking out our ancestral heritage, toured the amazing Guinness Brewery in Dublin. But I never really knew the full Guinness story until Darryl Buckle, our new Pastor of Adult Ministries bought me a gift, a newly published book by USA Today columnist, Stephen Mansfield. It’s titled, “The Search for God and Guinness: A Biography of the Beer that Changed the World?” It was written to celebrate the Guinness Company’s 250th anniversary.
Who would have thought that a book about an iconic Irish stout and the family that had made it famous would actually be a riveting and inspiring read, challenging us how to live and do business for the glory of God. While it might sound strange to some from more traditional evangelical settings, Arthur Guinness was motivated by his deep personal commitment to God to develop a product that would contribute to the good of society through a company devoted to the well being of its employees.
Here are some interesting thoughts that have come from reading Mansfield’s book:
• Arthur Guinness was deeply impacted by John Wesley’s preaching in Dublin. With Wesley he accepted the idea from Psalm 104 that alcohol in moderation was a gift from God “to gladden the heart”. However Wesley deplored the use of distilled beverages such as gin, brandy and whiskey because they led so quickly to the sin of drunkenness. Guinness came to see the brewing of beer as a way to promote the God honouring moderate use of alcohol, while leading people away from the “Gin Houses” that were such a blight in Irish and British society. Brewing beer was part of his mission to make a positive difference in Irish society.
• Guinness founded the first Sunday Schools in Ireland. He fought against dueling. And he chaired the board of a hospital for the poor. He had a huge Christ centred social conscience. As a Protestant he fought for the rights of the oppressed Roman Catholic majority in Ireland.
• The generations that followed Guinness produced not only some very God honouring businessmen, but some passionate pastors as well. In the 1890’s, Rupert Guinness, future head of the brewery, received five million pounds from his father on his wedding day. Shortly after, he moved into a house in the slums and launched a series of programs that served the poor.
• The Guinness brewery routinely paid wages that were 10 to 20 percent higher than average and had a reputation for being the best place to work in Ireland. Guinness paid for all of his employees’ ages 14 to 30 to attend technical schools if they wanted and more advanced school if they qualified. He provided medical and dental health care to the whole family, with doctors and nurses on site; subsidized meals; provided a company funded pension, sports facilities, free concerts … And the list of way over the top generous employee benefits goes on and on. Guinness believed, “You cannot make money from people unless you are wiling for people to make money from you.”
• And then in 2003, scientists at the University of Wisconsin reported that a pint a day of Guinness is good for the human heart, confirming that call to drink a little wine in 1 Timothy 5:23, is relevant today and can be extended to beer!
It’s only been in recent years that major evangelical denominational families like Christian & Missionary Alliance that Redwood Park is a part of, have been officially willing to go back to a balanced biblically grounded understanding regarding the consumption of alcohol. The latest edition of the Manual of the Christian & Missionary Alliance in Canada states:
“The Bible contains guidelines regarding the moderate use of alcohol and warnings regarding its misuse. The misuse of alcohol is damaging to individuals, families and society. The C&MA expects its credentialed workers to exercise their Christian freedom responsibly within the framework of God’s Word.”
Guinness, Wesley and St. Patrick would all have approved.
But what’s most fascinating about the life and legacy of Arthur Guinness is not the novelty of seeing beer as a tool in Christian mission, as much as it’s simply to see how a Christian businessman worked out his faith so holistically through his business. We truly need to see God raise up a few more Arthur Guinness’ in the world!! Oh and Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
WHAT’S REDWOOD READING? Twelve Books of Influence
I’m often asked what authors, theologians and perspectives are influencing us in our thinking at Redwood. Like many churches that insist that they are committed to the authority of the Bible, we realize that we all view Scripture through lenses that we believe most accurately reflect what God intended to communicate through his Word.
As a church that is part of the Christian & Missionary Alliance family of churches we recognize that one of the lenses we look through is that of the holiness tradition. Like all traditions is has its strengths and flaws. Bernie Van De Walle’s, “Heart of the Gospel,” is a wonderful overview of that lens. We’re also absolutely committed to the passion of the Protestant Reformers to question all traditions, including our own, in light of Scripture. That has led us to rediscover the “whole” Gospel, that the over arching plan of God is to rescue not only individuals from their sin, but this entire planet: that we are responsible to bring the whole gospel to the whole world. The book list that follows reflects those themes and a little bit more. So here goes …
The Hole in our Gospel
Richard Stearns (Thomas Nelson, 2009)
World Vision’s American president articulates well that the Gospel is far more than announcing how an individual can experience salvation, it’s bringing God’s kingdom wholistically into this word.
Surprised By Hope: Rethinking Heaven, The Resurrection and the Mission of the Church
NT Wright (Haprer Collins, 2008)
A refreshing look at what the Bible teaches about the new heavens and the new earth, and how what we do now will have eternal impact. A call to not stop at just leading individuals to faith but to anticipate the eventual renewal of our world by bringing healing and hope in this present world now
Jesus Creed: Loving God, Loving Others
Scot McKnight (Paraclete Press, 2004)
A clear articulation of Jesus vision statement for his followers, that we are to passionately love God and passionately love our neighbours. Get this right, and you get the Christian faith right.
Blue Parakeet: Rethinking How You Read the Bible
Scott McKnight (Zondervan, 2008)
Could be the best book out there to help you make sense of the bible as a whole, and how to approach difficult passages.
Seeing Gray in a World of Black and White: Thoughts on Religion, Morality and Politics
Adam Hamilton (Abingdon Press, 2008)
A call to live in the middle between fundamentalism and liberalism. Whether we agree with Hamilton or not, and I don’t on all issues, he helps us understand where we draw our boundaries, calling us to learn how to see gray in a world of black and white.
Spirited Leadership: Empowering People To Do What Matters
Thomas G. Bandy (Chalice Press, 2007)
A great primer on governance and staff relations, calling us to put the emphasis on empowering others to serve well. Quite profound, it’s not an easy read.
Re Jesus: A Wild Messiah for a Missional Church – The Posture and Practices of Ancient Church Now
Michael Frost & Alan Hirsch (Hendrickson, 2009)
A good read about current thinking on the emergent/missional church movement that passionately wants to see the church be Jesus to the world.
Chosen But Free: A Balanced View of Divine Election
Norman Geisler (Bethany Press, 1999)
A great study on the relationship between divine election and human choice, from a classical evangelical scholar.
The Tangible Kingdom: Creating Incarnational Community
Hugh Halter and Matt Smay (Jossey-Bass, 2008)
Another well articulated call that the church is to reach back to some of it’s ancient roots and become again a community, that is truly the arms and legs of Jesus to a world in need.
A Community Called Atonement
Scot McKnight (Abingdon, 2007)
A wonderful exploration of how robust and multifaceted the doctrine of the atonement is, taking us beyond a traditional focus on penal substitution, helping us to better understand the breadth and depth of the work of Christ through his death and resurrection.
The Heart of the Gospel: A.B. Simpson, The Fourfold Gospel, and Lake Nineteenth Century Evangelical Theology
Bernie A. Van De Walle (Pickwick Publications, 2009)
A compelling read about what theologically shaped the founding vision of the Christian & Missionary Alliance of which Redwood Park is a part. Helps us to better understand what the holiness movement was all about and how it differs from other perspectives like the Reformed viewpoint.
Simply Christian : Why Christianity Makes Sense
NT Wright (Harper Collins: 2006)
Simply a great place to start if you want to understand a summary of what it means to be Christian.
The Summit, Catalyst & The Changing Face of Missions
I found Willow’s Leadership Summit held at the beginning of August to be yet again an amazingly powerful and empowering experience. The Summit took some of the themes that surfaced at the Catalyst West Conference and pushed them further, with noticeably more octane than at Catalyst. One of the common issues to both was the call to a more wholistic practice of missions, locally and globally. After attending both conferences, let me list a few thoughts that have struck me on the missions front:
- You can’t get past the idea that our approach to missions locally and globally is shifting quickly and radically to a more wholistic approach where tangible actions are equal to words. It’s not either/or it’s both/and. One without the other is illegitimate.
- The word “gospel” itself, as found in the great commission in Matthew 28, is being broadened to reflect the words of Jesus in the prayer he left us, where “gospel” means “seeing God’s kingdom come, God’s will done increasingly on earth as it is in heaven”. The Lord’s prayer (Matthew 6) is being linked with the words of Jesus about how the “least of these” are being treated (Matthew 25), with the meaning of the great commission (Matthew 28). This is in no way diminishing the commitment to how the word “gospel” is used in the epistles (i.e. Romans 1:16), but the epistles are being increasingly interpreted through the eyes of the four Gospels and the words of Jesus himself.
- Organizations like World Vision and Compassion International that have been seen as on the edges (probably the left edge!) of the evangelical missions movement are now moving into the centre and taking the lead. Richard Stearns’ (World Vision) “The Hole in our Gospel: What Does God Expect of Us?,” and Wes Stafford’s (Compassion International) “Too Small To Ignore: Why the Least of These Matters Most,” are rallying cries to tangibly “be” good news before and as we speak good news.
- Dave Gibbons from New Song Church in Irvine California is being lifted up as icon of a lead pastor who has helped his church make the paradigm shift to wholistic missions. His book, “The Monkey and the Fish: Liquid Leadership for a Third-Culture Church,” represents a significant paradigm shift in how local churches approach missions. Gibbons appears to be in line with, maybe even further along than Bob Roberts Jr., whose book “Glocalization: How Followers of Jesus Engage a Flat World,” paints an inspiring but radical picture of his churches commitment to wholistic mission locally and around the world.
Within my own church family, The Christian & Missionary Alliance, you can begin to see some shift in this direction, but it’s tough and slow and still very much on the fringes. Ironically we were far more wholistic in our founding than we’ve become in the last 100 years. Unfortunately that’s true of most of evangelicalism. Our current Canadian Alliance president, Dr. Franklin Pyles, has raised the issue eloquently at various times, but unfortunately appears to be significantly further ahead on this issue than the church family as whole. I’m praying for change!
Personally I’m ashamed to say that like many evangelicals, for decades I bought into the party line that depreciated the words of Jesus in passages like those found in Matthew 25, or the heart of God found in Isaiah 58, in favour of a narrower view of the Gospel that made “words” far more valuable than “deeds”. In the process I was part of a movement that promoted something that I’ve only recently come to understand as being less than the “gospel.” Sadly Canadians intuitively rejected this somewhat insipid gospel while continuing to say that they were impressed by the life and teachings of Jesus. Perhaps Canadians will be more responsive when we get back to a more biblically consistent wholistic gospel. I’m praying for that too!
I do apologize and repent of presenting less than the whole Gospel in years gone by. But now, as for me and any ministry I lead or am involved with, using the words of Richard Stearns, I will seek to live out and invite others to “both embody and proclaim the gospel, so that others can see, hear, and feel God’s love in tangible ways.”
Hybels: Pulls Through Again!!
For those of you waiting for another post about Catalyst West, it’s coming, but last week I had a phenomenal experience that that blew away Catalyst West, as great as Catalyst west was! I had the opportunity to spend a full day in a Q&A setting with one the great influencers in my life, Bill Hybels. Two hours, where a small group of us connected with him around a board table and then another 3 hours in a larger classroom setting. I’ve had a couple of previous opportunities to connect with him in small group settings, but for the most part he’s been more of a mentor at a distance. So this board table meeting in particular was way cool. I did discover that Redwood Park Church is the very first Canadian church to become a part of the Willow Creek Association. Scott Cochrane the new executive director of Willow Creek Canada made a bit of a deal of that!
What impressed me most was how Hybels continues to lead Willow in a way that keeps the ministry fresh and in-tune with the waves of culture, while keeping the church very much centred on it’s original vision to reach folk apart from a life-giving relationship with Christ . Willow is not stuck in how they’ve done things in the past, while being very aware that they are working with a huge ship that doesn’t change direction on a dime. Hybels is a leader who navigates change with great wisdom and discernment, who is not afraid to do what’s needed to keep the ship pointed in the direction of missional effectiveness, while instilling confidence among the fearful that change is good and necessary.
So let me list a few changes happening at Willow that perhaps we could all learn from:
- Midweek classes work. Willow has had a huge win in transforming it’s midweek believer service into a series of classes and courses that work with those exploring faith right through to those looking for deeper seminary style classes. The sense that some folk had they were not getting enough “deeper teaching” has dramatically decreased because of this change. Folk at Willow have really bought into attending classes geared to meet a diversity of needs, passions and levels of academic depth.
- Worship led by the younger generation crosses generational lines. Willow has opted to allow it’s younger generation to take the lead in creating and leading a weekend worship experience that is more passionate, intimate and interactive. Worship geared more towards 20-somethings appears to have the greatest reach across all generational lines. However what Hybels does to keep youthful worship from crashing with the older generations is he spends 2 hours a week working with the worship planners on the service, and he personally signs off on every song and every announcement and every moment on the order of service. It sounds controlling, but I realize it’s the key to allowing 20 to young 30-somethings lead while insuring that the older generations remain positively impacted. What Willow appears to have learned is that certain values that frame more youthful postmodern worship have broad appeal, within perhaps a few boundaries.
- The worship order is no longer tightly tied to the message. Willow is no longer interested in how closely everything fits the theme of the service. More important is that a worship environment is created that allows for a profound encounter with God Himself. Willow has moved from creating a well packaged presentation of biblical truth, to creating an experience where Truth is encountered. This is a huge shift in Willow’s thinking.
- Flexibility around worship is the new value. There is now room in Willow to change a song, somewhat re-order the flow of worship in the midst of worship, if the leader feels so prompted. Yes they still plan carefully, but they are no longer as tightly bound to the plan. They are no longer planning the worship year out a year in advance, but maybe just 4 or 5 weeks in advance. Hybels himself now has the freedom the change the message midweek before weekend worship, if he feels so prompted.
- The end of a worship service is now blurred. There is a 10 to 15 minute period of time after the message where the worship team remains on the platform and sings, while some folk sit and pray in their seats, and other folk get up and go for prayer or to other stations to work through what they sense God is saying to them. They want to leave time for folk to work through their encounter with God. (Think of the implications here for Children’s ministry!)
- Those on the platform must be able to “move the room,” though authentic expression of devotion and passion. This is particularly true of vocalists and worship leaders. Those giving announcements, leading in prayer and not just the speaker need to be able to move a room. The way Bill put it, “no dead eyes allowed.” Willow will put someone on the vocal team with less skill than someone else musically, if they have the ability to authentically communicate through their facial and body expressions. Racial diversity on the platform also remains a must.
- There needs to be more consistency among those who are on the platform. The extent of team teaching at Willow created a significant sense of inconsistency and lack of focus for the congregation, so Hybels is again the main speaker supplemented by a smaller team. The same is true of those who lead worship and play other roles on the platform. Folk in the seats highly value the relationship they develop with a handful of key platform leaders.
- Being “Jesus” to the community is a big deal. Social justice and ministry to the poor and marginalized in their city and around the world have become front burner issues at Willow. Faith has become very much what you do and not just who you are. The whole Willow family feels a part of something much bigger than just themselves and folk like themselves.
Shortly after Willow got into its new facility it began to stagnate and perhaps even decline numerically. But as it has made significant adjustments to it’s mid-week approach to teaching and it’s weekend worship, that has turned all around. A church that had peaked and begun to decline at the 20,000 mark has turned that around in the last couple of years and is now over 25,000. Even in the midst of a difficult economy where Willow has laid off 27 staff, growth has continued.
So much more was packed into those 5 hours! Suffice it to say that Willow and Hybles continue to have much to teach us.
About
Doug has just recently accepted the position of Lead Pastor of the Fort McMurray Alliance Church in the bustling Oil Sands region of Wood Buffalo in northern Alberta. Fort Mac Alliance is a church with a passion to tangibly make Jesus visible to our municipality and world, serving as a grace filled community that is welcoming and sensitive to people whatever their faith background and wherever they may or may not be at in their faith journey. It’s an adventurous community that is willing to think outside the norm while prayerfully wrestling with what it means to be involved in ministry both within and beyond the walls of the church facility. This results in a passion to see individual lives and the city as a whole touched and transformed by the love of Christ. Being in a city with global influence, Fort McMurray Alliance is seeking to be a unique global influence for Christ in partnership with it’s denominational family, the Christian & Missionary Alliance.
Doug is also involved with Briercrest College and Seminary in Caronport, Saskatchewan, where he teaches two courses a year as an Assistant Professor of Pastoral Theology. From his home base in Fort McMurray, Doug serves as the Program Coordinator for Briercrest’s MDiv (Master of Divinity) program, with an urgency to see the next generation of ministry leaders raised up up to serve effectively within our ever evolving Canadian culture, as well as our vastly changing world.
Previously Doug served for 20 years as the Lead Pastor of Redwood Park Church, a multi-site missional community that is committed to seeing the message and life of Jesus impact Thunder Bay, Barrie and beyond. LIFE, PASSION and ADVENTURE are three words that both Doug and Redwood uses to describe the nature of Christian spirituality.
Doug is married to Jane, who possesses an amazing gift of hospitality and the ability to cook for hundreds! They have three young-adult children. Meagan is a pediatric resident at the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. Susan who is married to Chris Groenheide, among other things supply teaches at Dennis Franklin Cromarty First Nations High School and promotes “eating local” through a variety of greens and specialty vegetables from her market garden. Graeme who has been involved in an eclectic mix of insurance and financial planning, working for a highway line painting company, and ushering at Thunder Bay’s Community Auditorium is heading off with a generous scholarship to the Vancouver Film School. Each of them in their distinct way has a yearning to be difference makers in this world.
Meal times at the Doyle household tend to be a bit of a party, but you might want to ask what it is you’re eating – as sometimes Doug enjoys a hike with a good friend and a gun in the beauty of our rugged Canadian outdoors, or maybe a paddle on a remote lake with rod in hand. He’s thinking that with the move for Fort McMurray, he might have to break down and add an ATV to his toys.
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