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Faith Without Works is Dead

September 29, 2011 in Changing Lives, Leadership, Summit Speakers, The Global Leadership Summit with 2 Comments

During the Summit this year, we heard from leaders who shared their response to what they heard. (You can view more Summit Backstage videos here.) In this video with JR Kerr, Daniel Hill, Senior Pastor at River City Church, says that, when you’re in the trenches, it doesn’t always feel like you’re making a difference. But Brenda Salter-McNeil’s session at the Summit provided a great reminder that part of why we’re in ministry is to be witness. We’re called to go out and be a witness to be the Kingdom of God.

    “I love the fact that Jesus said that the Father is always working. And, I want you to know that that is still true today. God’s working in your city. God’s working in your town. God’s working in your country and our job as catalytic leaders is to look around and find what God’s doing!

    My challenge to you is this, after you ask God for a divine mandate and you get the heart of God for something, something that doubles you over, something that causes you to feel like I can’t stand it anymore, somebody ought to do something and God says that somebody is you.

    And then mobilize people to go. Faith without works is dead. We have got to move outside of our Jerusalem in to Judea. There is so much ministry and so much cultural cross-pollenization just waiting to happen in Judea.” -Rev. Dr. Brenda Salter-McNeil

By: Willow Creek Association (@wcagls)

Summit – Click here to find nearest satellite location

Pastor Your Community

September 26, 2011 in Leadership, Spiritual Transformation with 19 Comments


We’ve started to study God’s activity in some of the most effective churches and want to share best practices and strategies. As we’ve studied more than 300,000 people in 1,300 churches of all different denominations, cultures, and sizes, we’ve found a few things that are consistent with the most effective churches at disciple making.

One of those things: Build a bridge into your local community.

Nick Honerkamp is one of those pastors who does just that: builds into the community. His heart beats for the community of Clyde, North Carolina. Nick is senior pastor at New Covenant Church (one of the most effective churches in America!), which collaborated with 30 other churches to tackle their community’s homeless problem, starting a shelter and supporting it completely with church funds and volunteers. This same group of churches, realizing that public school budgets were tight, pitched in to clean up school properties before the academic year began. Since this church partnership effort to support the schools in 2008, 68 churches have joined together to adopt all the public schools in the county. (Taken from MOVE, 2011).

We asked Nick to take a few minutes and answer some questions.

Willow Creek Association: We love your heart for the community! What sparked your vision and heart for other churches in Clyde?

Nick Honerkamp: One day I was reading Acts chapter 1 and I saw something that impacted me deeply. In this passage, Jesus spoke to the disciples for forty days about His favorite subject, the kingdom of God. Then the disciples asked Jesus one question, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” That one distinction changed the way I view ministry. God desires to establish His eternal reign in the lives of all the people in our community. But, too many times the spiritual leaders in that community are focused mainly on the success of their individual churches. Now, I am not saying that it is evil to want our own church to grow and be successful. I just firmly believe that there are things God wants to do that are so big that one church can’t pull it off. Dino Rizzo says in his book Servolution, “the measure of a great church is to make every other church better”. Sometimes we have to make decisions that seem counter-productive to our own interests. For example, when a brand new k-12 Christian school wanted to move into our new children’s building (and couldn’t afford to pay rent) we had a hard decision to make. It would cost us as a church but benefit the kingdom. So, we moved them in and there still with us three years later.

WCA: Why do you require your staff to get involved with a community organization?

NH: Before God lets us lead, we must learn how to serve. I believe there is a void of spiritual leadership in the daily activities of our communities. We tend to segregate secular from spiritual. I don’t see it that way. I believe everything belongs to God and there is a need for Christian leaders to be involved in every aspect of our towns and cities. But, before we get to lead we must first learn how to serve. Our church was isolated from the other churches around us and we were not connected to our community at all. So, I required each of our staff to serve on a board in our community. That did three things, it educated us to the needs around us, it gave us a focus outside of our church walls, and it developed kingdom relationships that allows us to do kingdom works.

WCA: What are some of the things that you did to start laying the groundwork for collaborating with other pastors and churches?

NH: First, we had to be willing to change the way we measure success. We had to stop measuring our success by growth inside the church to what is our impact outside the church. That meant we had to start supporting initiatives that were led by other churches and support their success. Secondly, we had to identify a need in our community that the body of Christ should be meeting. For us that was the homeless shelter. It was a need our community could not solve and it was something that all of us, no matter what our individual theologies were, could get behind. Thirdly, by partnering together on that initiative we created authentic relationships that helped us to move from social projects to doing ministry together.

WCA: What’s the biggest barrier that you faced as you started to collaborate? How did you overcome it?

NH: Our biggest struggle has been an ungodly mindset that we are this kind of church and they are that kind of church- so we don’t have anything in common. The amazing thing is that 90-95% of our theology and beliefs are actually the same. We had to choose to focus on what we have in common and not how we were different. Secondly, we realized that just like in our personal lives there are varying levels of relationships in the church world too. There are some churches we do a once a year “Day of Service” for our public school systems. There are other churches we go on foreign mission trips with for one week. There are other churches we partner with to fund and staff the homeless shelter. Then there are those rare relationships that we can partner on most anything (we do worship services, men’s and women’s meetings and Vacation Bible School together).

WCA: What’s one thing that you would tell a pastor who is hesitant to start collaborating with other churches in the community?

NH: What I am proposing is that we make ourselves available for authentic relationships that allow us to partner together on God-sized initiatives. I am not saying for us to lose our autonomy or distinctiveness. I am not saying go join the local minister’s association (please don’t). What I am suggesting is there are enriching relationships that God wants us to have and out of those relationships we will be able to draw support and encouragement for our own lives. And, together we may find a way to work together that will release the blessing of the Lord on our communities. Why would we not want to be a part of that?

Interview with:
Nick Honerkamp, Senior Pastor at New Covenant Church
“Your partner in the other boat!”
www.nickhonerkamp.com

Thanks for the interview Nick!

> Find more info on the book, MOVE (where Nick is featured).

If I Were God, I Would End All Pain

September 21, 2011 in Leadership, Webcast with 0 Comments

Today, in a Willow Creek Association monthly webcast, John Dickson explored the contrasts between the views of pain and suffering between different world faiths and Christianity. If you missed it, it’s posted below. Enjoy and feel free to pass it on!

As you process this content, we hope the questions below provide an opportunity for deeper insight and conversation with your team.

    John mentioned that in order to help others through times of suffering, we need to be (and have been) at the foot of the Cross ourselves. How do you stay meaningfully connected to the Cross as you seek to help others in times of crisis and pain? What has most informed your understanding of the problem of pain?

    Take time to read the Gospel of Mark, chapter 15:34. Now, read Psalm 22 in its entirety. How does the likelihood of Jesus’ use of the phrase “My God, my god, why have you forsaken me” as a way to call to mind the full text of Psalm 22 shape your understanding of his cry?

    Reflect (and/or share with your team) on a time when you asked, “Why God?” Where did that question lead you at that time in your life?

    What struck you most in John Dickson’s comparison of Buddhism, Atheism, Islam, Hinduism, and Orthodox Judaism? Each faith’s:
    a. View of suffering
    b. Acceptability of the question, “Why God”
    c. Hope for the future
    d. Other (explain)

    What next steps would you like to take in learning more in order to better represent the Christian perspective?

If you’d like to hear more of John’s work and ministry, check out these online resources:

    Center for Public Christianity
    John’s church, St. Andrews
    John’s website

Here to serve you,
Willow Creek Association (@wcagls)

Michael Hyatt Interviews John Dickson

September 20, 2011 in Events, Leadership, Summit Notes, Summit Speakers, The Global Leadership Summit with 0 Comments

If you attended the Summit, it won’t surprise you to know that John Dickson gave one of this year’s most popular messages. His words on Hummilitas had a huge impact on Summit guests (you can pick up a few notes from the Session here). Our team loved the time that we got to spend backstage learning more from John. In fact, Michael Hyatt took some time to interview him and ask some follow up questions.

Throughout history, some of the most influential and inspiring leaders have marked their power by using it for the good of others. John Dickson says that in order to become a leader who exhibits humility you have to first realize that you’re basically proud. He continues, the first step in the move towards being a humble person is to realize that you’re not one. Humility is knowing all of the power that you have but deciding to use it for others. Jesus didn’t think lowly of himself and still, he gave himself for others. The humble person is marked by a willingness to hold power in service of others.

If you haven’t signed up yet, each month the WCA hosts a webcast to serve your team. This month is a webcast with John Dickson (Wednesday, September 21 at 11:30CST).

By: Willow Creek Association (@wcagls)

Summit – Click here to find nearest satellite location

Interview with Outspoken Visionary

September 16, 2011 in Leadership with 2 Comments


Tim Schraeder gets it. He’s leading a team of church communicators to release the new book, Outspoken- to help spread the word about church communications.

    “The early church didn’t have the modern technologies we have today. There were no billboards or direct mail campaigns to announce Jesus was coming. The disciples didn’t tweet or blog the Sermon on the Mount or other messages Jesus gave during his ministry. The one thing the early church did have, however, was captivating stories worth telling. People couldn’t help but tell their friends and family all that they had seen and heard, and proclaim the redemptive work of Christ and the hope of the gospel. In Jesus’ final words to his disciples, we were all called to go and tell the message of the gospel.” -Tim Schraeder

Tim gave us a few minutes to answer some questions about this book. As church leaders, we thought you would like to hear what he has to say!

Willow Creek Association: Why is communication such a passion for you?
Tim Schraeder: Growing up as a kid in church youth group, I wanted to do something to serve my church. I wasn’t a good singer or musician and didn’t like being up front or on stage, but I’ve always loved to write and design. Fortunately, I had an awesome youth pastor who recognized those gifts in me and gave me the opportunity to serve in our youth group as our “graphic designer.” That early experience made it clear I wanted to give my life to serving the local church. Back then, most churches didn’t have communications directors, but as time has passed churches have recognized the need for people with those giftings and talents. I’ve been fortunate to serve churches in that capacity for the last decade now, helping them leverage new media to communicate and connect people with the message of Gospel. So, what was a hobby ignited into a passion to serve the local church.

WCA: In the introduction you say that, “Christianity is fundamentally a communication event.” How did that statement drive and guide the vision for this book?
TS: The Gospel is a message of redemption and reconciliation. It’s about God desiring to have an individual relationship with each one of us. Throughout the pages of the Bible there were countless examples of how God used ordinary objects and people to speak His extraordinary truth. He eventually sent Christ to be the sacrifice to reconcile our relationship with Him. Christ also showed us how we were meant to live, and in turn charged all believers to carry that message to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 1:8). From the very beginning, the church grew as people shared and told that message. And today, we as believers carry that same calling. We’ve got a message worth sharing and we’ve got to a better job of communicating it.

WCA: Why did you decide to write this book using a network of multiple voices rather than have just 1 author?
TS: I think there’s more wisdom with many voices than with one. And, different churches have a different angle and approach when it comes to how to communicate. The people who are a part of this project, in my opinion, are some of the leading voices that are shaping the way churches around the globe are communicating and they all have great insight and ideas to share that would be beneficial to any church regardless of their size, background, or ministry style. And having multiple contributors made my job easier! :)

WCA: What do you hope readers will take-away from reading this content?
TS: More than anything, I hope people, whether they are a senior leader or someone responsible for helping their church communicate, will see the immense opportunity and responsibility the church has with all of the resources available to us today. We’ve never been more resourced to spread the message of the Gospel. We can literally reach people around the globe with a click of a mouse. And I really believe we, as church leaders, will be accountable for how we steward what we have available to us. I hope we’ll all take communication a bit more seriously and realize the great opportunity we have to spread the Gospel.

WCA: What do you think is one of the biggest barriers that churches face
when it comes to effective communication?
TS: I think most churches are afraid. This is foreign territory and not something they teach you about in Bible college or seminary. However, we can’t deny the incredible revolution happening in our culture around communication. The way we communicate, share information, and even develop relationships has changed. Most churches are scared because they either don’t know what to do or because they think they lack the resources or staff to support whatever it is they think they need to do. And that usually stops most churches from doing or trying anything.

WCA: How would you encourage church leaders and communicators to overcome
that barrier?
TS: Don’t be discouraged by what you don’t have or by the size of what it is you think you need to do. The answer for your specific situation isn’t about getting on social media, creating a slick website, or getting a great graphic designer. The end goal is to remove the things that hinder people from hearing the message of the gospel and to clearly define the next steps they can take on their journey. It’s that simple. The solution may be a better website or engaging on social media, but all of that is secondary to clearly communicating the path you want people to follow.

WCA: And just for fun, what’s one of the lessons you learned from Seth Godin this year at the Summit? (We loved your interview with him!)
TS: Well, I thought it was pretty awkward, but one thing he said to me does resonate with this conversation today. Simply put: if something is worth doing, why wait? I believe wholeheatedly that churches who will take the time and do the work of communicating more effectively will see more people connect with Christ. The end goal isn’t a great logo or better signage, it’s lifechange. However, if those things can help someone find their way, why don’t we do it? Why wait?

More on Outspoken: Conversations on Church Communication.

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