Tag Archives: Mission
Be Strategic
Posted on 23. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.
From day one of engaging with Orange (more than 4 years ago), the word strategy was a word I heard often. It’s not a new concept, but it was something that was brought to my attention again last Friday and I’m glad it was. Reggie painted a clear picture of the importance of strategy. He described how many great churches have incredible mission and vision statements that never really seem to do anything. Many of those church’s doors are closed now.
Strategy – A plan of action with an end in mind.
I love it. I’m leading a breakout at Illuminate in Nashville in a few weeks titled, “What Matters Most.” In this breakout I’m going to speak about how sometimes we lose track of that particular “end” in mind or maybe the “end” we’re focused on really isn’t as important as it should be.… Read the rest
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How I’m dealing with Halloween
Posted on 26. Oct, 2010 by Kenny.
So, three years ago I wrote a post about Halloween titled, “Halloween = Satan?”
I had almost forgotten that I wrote it. Since Halloween is coming in a few days, I figured I’d address it.
Like I said before, I didn’t celebrate Halloween as kid. We always went to the church to hide. It was a fun family night of games, bon fires and candy. If we did stay home that year, we turned the lights out and locked the doors. We were not going to celebrate this evil holiday. I’m not saying that this behavior was wrong or that I have any regrets, but my wife and I have decided to make different decisions about this holiday.
Three years ago we decided that Halloween is a huge night for our culture.… Read the rest
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Service project versus teaching kids to serve
Posted on 07. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
Our mission for Next Gen mirrors the mission of our church. One of the components of our mission relates to serving. Specifically, here’s how serving supports our mission.
Be the Body (Serve)
We help kids realize that they are part of a collective body bigger than themselves and that through God’s power they can make a significant difference in the world for Christ.
Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
I’ve been working with my team in setting goals for 2010 and I’ve been thinking a lot about this area of service.… Read the rest
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Gutsy or stupid about your mission
Posted on 06. Jan, 2010 by Kenny.
I’ve been thinking a lot about mission the last few weeks. One of my goals for this year is for pervasive saturation of the vision and mission in the heart and minds of our volunteers and leaders. Actually, it’s not optional for our leaders. They have to know our mission… what we’re trying to accomplish. I’ve been talking with my team how we can continue to over-communicate our mission so that everyone will get it.
Just before Christmas I had to stop at a gas station to use the bathroom. I usually try to refrain from taking pictures in the rest room, but I couldn’t resist. Just above the dirty toilet was Tetco’s mission statement. What was especially ironic was their first line, “…by providing quality service in a clean and pleasant atmosphere.” I’ll give them the benifit of the doubt.… Read the rest
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Values terminology help
Posted on 04. Aug, 2009 by Kenny.
Okay, I’ve been working on our ministries vision, mission and values. We’ve settled on our values, but I need help witht he wording with one of them. Currently our values are:
- Safety and Security
- Relevant Teaching
- Engaging Environments
- Authenticity
- Excellence
- Creativity and Innovation
- Biblical Reliance
- Worship
- Communication
My problem is that I don’t like “Biblical Reliance.” As a value, I want our kids to rely and depend on God’s word, that they know and love God’s word. However, Biblical Reliance or Biblical Dependence don’t do it for me. What do you think? Any ideas?… Read the rest
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Orange Leadership Forum (Part 5)
Posted on 28. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
Reggie is a big fan of Apple computer. He equates ministry and leadership to Apple.
Between the Macintosh Plus and the MacBook Air, there have been 80 system upgrades. The technology has changed dramatically, but the mission has never changed.
As the church, we need to guard our mission.
Too many churches stick with their mission, but never upgrade their system. We need to lean into the younger generation and ask them to help us upgrade our systems. Frequently upgrade the system!
Sometimes we fail to connect people to our mission when making a system upgrade. When making changes, ALWAYS connect people back to the mission. Don’t talk about change before connecting them to the mission. Then they’ll know why the change needs to happen.… Read the rest
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Mission review (Surge Part 4)
Posted on 14. Mar, 2008 by Kenny.
Typically after every event I do, I make notes for the following year. On the server where we keep all the files, I’ll usually open a folder under “Surge” called 2008. In it will be a single word document with all the recommendations for the next year. I try to do this within the week of the event and then close the file out completely and not think of it for a while. It feels very good to close the file and move on rather than dwelling on it continually. So, here are the things I would do differently (but I must preface… there is very little I would have done differently… it was an amazing experience).… Read the rest
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Staff Retreat – Developing Mission, Vision and Goals
Posted on 28. May, 2007 by Kenny.
A few weeks ago I took my staff on a retreat. We rented a great lake house on Lake Travis just outside of Austin, Texas. Initially I was taking the team to the PDCM conference… but it was cancelled. So I found this place and made plans to retreat instead of going to a conference.
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The strategy of the Purpose Driven model has helped me tremendously in ministry. Since I moved into my current position a year ago, I’ve made adjustments to ministry to reflect a more “purpose driven†strategy. Everyone has been on board for the most part; however, I wasn’t completely convinced that everyone understood why. This is the reason why I planned to take everyone to Saddleback.… Read the rest
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