Childrens Ministry Online

Creating a healthy staff culture

Posted on 30. Apr, 2012 by Kenny.

Most of us could probably tell some great stories of horrible church staff situations. I’ve been a part of several, some of which were highly political where few trusted each other and I’ve been a part of church staff where things even got hostile. I’m not quite sure that the perfect church staff culture exists out there, but I’ve been a part of some good ones too.

While at The Orange Conference last week, Andy Stanley spoke specifically to to the issue of staff culture. Many of the points I’ve heard before in one of his leadership podcasts, but it was a great and timely reminder. He spoke at length about creating a staff culture where mutual submission is present. Yes, God may have called key leadership and senior staff to do something significant and the primarily purpose for additional staff is to serve that vision (I truly do believe that), but this doesn’t mean that senior staff doesn’t and shouldn’t serve the staff that works for them. This type of mutual submission creates a healthy culture where people want to work.

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Orange 2011: Andy “Freaking” Stanley

Posted on 16. Mar, 2011 by Kenny.

With only two days left to sign up for the Orange Conference at the discounted rate, Orange dropped the A-Bomb. That’s right, they just added Andy Stanley to the lineup.

Over the years, Andy has had a presence at the Orange Conference (although I’m not sure if he was there last year) and every time he’s as good as gold. He speaks with conviction and authority and I always walk away from a talk by Andy both encouraged and challenged. So, if you’ve not signed up to attend Orange yet, maybe a little Andy Action will change your mind. Click here to register!… Read the rest

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Making Vision Stick: Book Review

Posted on 09. Mar, 2010 by Kenny.

Last year just before the Orange Conference I spent some time at North Point hanging out at both the Alpharetta campus as well as at Buckhead. I spent a small fortune at the bookstore. While there, I picked up this little book, “Making Vision Stick” by Andy Stanley. It’s small, thin and something that can be wholly digested in one sitting. All I can say is this. Thank you Andy Stanley for writing this little book. Let me share with you a few reasons why I like this little 74 page book.

• I’m not the fastest of readers. My life is busy, so I’ll sit down for an hour, read part of a book and then several days later I’ll sit down and read for another hour and over the period of days or weeks, I’ll finish up a book.

… Read the rest

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Personal investment equals great influence: followup thoughts

Posted on 04. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.

Yesterday I posted about something Andy Stanley said in the first paragraph of the forward of Think Orange. Click here to read it.

Essentially, I wrote about North Point being so successful in their efforts to reach families. One of the driving forces behind their success was that most of the key leadership and staff had skin in the game. It was so important to be successful in this area becasue their kids and families were at stake too. It sounds selfish, but it’s the truth. We always show more interest in the things that are going to affect us most.

So, what if the average age of the senior leadership at your church is in their mid to late 50′s?… Read the rest

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Personal investment equals great influence

Posted on 03. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.

Several weeks ago I posted on my blog the books I wanted to read this year. One of them was Think Orange by Reggie Joiner. Don’t call me a hypocrite, it’s been on my stack of books to read. So, my friend Henry Zonio is leading a group blogging project around the book Think Orange, so I figured I’d join in. I actually didn’t get in early enough to participate, but I’ll be reading along and commenting (if I can keep up). BTW, Henry’s giving away a ticket to Orange, so if you really want to go to Orange, jump over to his blog and PARTICIPATE!

I opened this book and got no further than the first paragraph of the forward by Andy Stanley.… Read the rest

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Orange 09: Session Three (Reggie, Perry and Andy)

Posted on 04. May, 2009 by Kenny.

Reggie asked about sermon prep:
Andy prepares all day Wednesday, half the day on Thursday and reviews most of Saturday evening.
Perry was elusive. He said he downloads Andy’s message. It seems that Perry’s schedule changes.

Kids for so long have been bored with church.

Many parents take their kids to worship and say “I want my kids to see me worship.” How egotistical is that? If your kids haven’t seen you worship the rest of the week, your teaching them that you’re a hypocrite.

Middle Schoolers scare the crap out of Perry.

When you’re giving a message, speak like it is your child is in the audience and it is their last chance. If you’re more concerned about covering the material, you’re not concentrating on reaching that person.… Read the rest

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Orange 2008: Session Four

Posted on 30. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.

Session four was a discussion/interview with Andy Stanley. Not sure if it’s just me, but it seemed like it wasn’t planned… almost like Andy was a fill-in. I only say this because this was the only session that there wasn’t a speaker who delivered a message. In addition, it ended about 30 minutes early.

Don’t get me wrong… it was awesome though. I think anytime you can get Andy Stanley and Reggie Joiner to engage in a conversation, we should take notes!

Andy spoke about how they attract people to North Point. Basically he said it boils down to this: “If you create irresistible environments, people will come.”

Andy then went on to talk about the process of discipleship at North Point.… Read the rest

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North Point: Buckhead visit

Posted on 27. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.

This morning I got up early to drive into Atlanta and visit Buckhead Church. Since being involved in multi-site churches, I’ve never experienced a video campus larger than 1000 people. So, I wanted to experience Buckhead Church, a multi-site video mega-church. I was hoping to see a video teaching experience in this large church setting as well as experience KidStuf, the family worship experience that North Point is known for.

Buckhead is amazing. If your ever in Atlanta, you’ll want to spend some time in Buckhead. It’s an amazing community/city. It’s a little north of downtown Atlanta, but it’s where all the good shopping and restaurants are. I’ve been told that it’s becoming a business/financial powerhouse. As you drive around the neighborhoods you’ll see that this is a very, VERY high dollar community.… Read the rest

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