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Main Themes
1.    Missional Living. It seems that most of the churches represented are striving hard to have some type of “missional engagement” in their city. There are obvious things like adopting schools, etc. but there is also an overarching paradigm of moving away from purely attractional to missional models.
2.    Church planting and multisite. Most of the larger churches are engaged in both multisite and church planting efforts. Many have even started or are partnering with church planting networks.
3.    Gospel centered preaching. There seemed to be a consistent theme of preaching and teaching the gospel to congregants and in interactions with other pastors. The speakers often did a good job reminding people about justification but also talking about how the gospel plays out in sanctification. There was much talk about “gospel centered Christianity or living” and pastors were continually reminded to not seek righteousness from outside sources, as well as the dangers of doing so. I was encouraged to see some real theological depth at a LN event.
4.    Favorite talk was by Reggie Mcneal he spoke and also did a dinner where he fielded questions. I felt like he did a good job painting a picture of where the culture is and where the church could go as a result.
5.    All Conference notes http://www.innovation3gathering.com/downloads/

Main Session 1 – Risk and Failure
Pete Brisco
Honest about how the older crowd left Bentree for Stonebriar and the younger crowd left for The Village and how the made him question his motives for ministry.
Success is to speak the gospel in spite of opposition.
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We took our annual staff retreat last week. It is our annual 36 hour team building, vision casting, game playing, laughing a ton, over eating, exercise in sleep deprivation. Michael Fleming and Kraig Kubiceck drove in from Watermark Denver and it was great for them to pick up where they left off and really encouraging for us to hear stories about the new work in Denver. We started with watching this video from Penn of Penn and Teller. We then had to share our faith before we met up at Kincaid’s in Ft. Worth for an unbelievable burger. It was a blast to share the stories of how it went. Some memorable because they were so funny and some because it reemphasized to us how easy it really is to share your faith and how fun it is to see God at work.

Highlights for me were the times we celebrated great stories of the last year.  Jen Farrell receiving her Watermark Brand for 5 years. It was fun to encourage and thank her for all she does around here. I also realized that there was not a single person on our staff that I would not have not enjoyed spending 1 ½ hours in the car with. As always game losers had to jump in the frigid waters and bowling losers had to rap about the retreat. You have to respect that they took it like champs. This is one fun staff to be a part of.

Thanks For Making Room For Me from Steve V on Vimeo

We are a couple of weeks into the ask we made of our body to finish giving to the new sanctuary. I am proud of the way our leadership has handled the process. Here are a few of the things that haven’t shown up.

• No manipulation or fund raising tactics. We showed videos of people’s lives being changed. A fundraising company didn’t help us shake down or people.
• No word from the Lord. Often times to kick of a campaign a pastor will stand up and say “God Told me that we need to build this building.” Cynically I’ve often wondered if that really was the case and practically it completely shuts down dialogue because to question the idea would be to somehow question God. There have been countless meetings where people have been able to come in small groups and hear and sharpen the vision.
• No debt. I’ve been impressed how at each stage of our history how our elders have considered and then decided against taking on debt even if it means we move slower. They have been very clear to say that the Bible does not prohibit debt but it always warns against it. I think churches lose some of their credibility when they ask their people to get out of debt while at the same coming their body to large amounts of it recklessly.
• No pledges. If you are going to give it give it. If you are going to give it tell God not the church.
• No hubris. Along the way there have been several pauses where our elders have prayed and processed to make sure they still had a sense of his leading and that this is still wise way to move forward.
• No freaking out. The day after the ask was the largest single day point drop in the history of the DOW. Being an insider I can say there is a bizarre kind of trust that the rest of the money will come when it is supposed to and we can just get on with our work.

The conference was fine and I left with some things to think about but hanging out with these guys made it a really memorable trip. I laughed more in those 3 days than probabbly any other 3 days this year. I was great to reconnect with them all, put our feet up at night and talk and dream about Watermark, search for the best Chicago PIzza, and watch guys take the embarasing and public consequencse of drawing the low card in a hotel lobby late at night. Spending more time with them makes me remember why I love being on mission with these very bright and Christlike guys.

So they called and audible and brought up a few pastors to talk about the financial crisis. I generally don’t say disparaging things publically but this session was a real disappointment. I stopped listening about 10-15 minutes into when Michael Moore starting talking about how Exodus 10 - Egypt and Goshen was like the world and Church or something like this I am not really even sure. It was a wild collection of misinformed and unbiblical opinions by men. I imagine Willow gets ripped on this session. I am praying for the people in the churches of these pastors. I pray that they will open the Bibles or maybe some books by Randy Alcorn and move towards a better understanding of stewardship, possessions, and giving.

I was really proud of Todd Wagner yesterday. He was on a panel to talk about how to embed the Bible. He had some great things to say but the most powerful part was the way he quoted Scripture incessantly as he talked about leadership in the church – this really was the best way to communicate the message and challenge the pastors in the room.

Gateway Community Church in South Lake led worship in the morning - crazy powerful. I wasn’t sure why people were flocking there, without having visited I now understand why.
The first session was an interview with Robert Morris about Sunday morning experiences. In a way that is hard for me to comprehend they expect God to show up and really feel like they are interacting with God on Sunday morning. There is a “ministry time” each week which gives people a chance to consummate what God had done in them.
Empowering People to be the church
3 Keys Empowering people, Equipping to Succeed, Hold People Accountable
David Bish. Tri-County Church. Du Bois, Pennsylvania. Branding throughout the church “I don’t go to church…I am the church” Great stories of service in the community. Jesus told us to love our neighbor which is manageable he didn’t tell us to love the world. Struggling with a new metric – not counting numbers but touches.
Tim Gray. The Bridge Community Church. Ludington, Missouri. Start fully functional  mini churches.  Members sign 9 covenants and one of them is to be mentored. Emphasis on training leaders. Importance of setting a high bar. Exercising church discipline when people don’t live up to their the standards they agree to.
Bruce Sofia. Gloucester County Community Church. Washington Township, New Jersey.  We saw a flaw in the disciple we were making. Importance of small group. Stopped other functions of Church for 6 weeks and asked everyone to get into small groups.  “Through the gate in 2008” we turn in names, exchange them, and pray for people they wanted to see come or return to Christ each year – every week someone will come forward that his been prayed for. One service giving people money and asked them to

Pastoring Your Local Community
3 Keys. Set the Bar high for Serving the Church and Community Needs,  Building bridges in the local community, make serving a platform for the gospel
Steve Gallimore. Tennessee Valley Community Church. Paris, Tennessee. Tell people right away they don’t come to sit they come to serve. Tell the church “We have to pay for your seat, if you aren’t going to serve there are several other churches that would be glad to have you.”
Roger. Harbor Light. Freemont, California. God will birth ministry out of the design of his people. Very involved in the city – we were not going to outsource the needs of our city. City asked them to serve the non-profits. They set up an office to act as a clearing house for volunteers for local non-profits and asked churches to consider giving locally instead of just internationally.
John and Barbra Sullivan. Spirit of God Fellowship. South Holland, Illinois. John is a full time dentist.  Having bible studies in state drug rehab and opening up 2 half way houses in Harvey – a really rough area next to their town.

Catalyzing Spiritual Growth

Top 5 learning’s from Reveal. Greg Hawkins.
Reading and Reflecting on the Bible is the Most Powerful Catalyst for spiritual growth across all segments.
Developing Core Christian Beliefs is Crucial of those in the Early Stages. Salvation by Grace, Trinity, etc. Willow used to think you waited until later to teach.  If they don’t understand these early on they can stall out.
Personal spiritual practices are the building blocks for a Christ centered life.
Severing is the most catalytic experience offered by Churches. Need to get them serving early. Movement will be from serving in the church, outside to those in need, to a lifestyle of service.
Spiritual community is vital and migrates from organized to organic.
What people want from their church
Help me understand the Bible in greater depth87% However most people are not very satisfied with how their church is doing.
Help me develop a personal relationship with Christ 86%
Provide strong programs for kids 85%
Challenge me to Grow and take next step 83% Must challenge and give them next steps.
Provide compelling worship services
This is all in the scriptures. Biblical revelation backed up by facts releases you to act.
David Loveless of Discovery Church in Orlando
Personal story about how diagnostics have helped him with his physical health. Alerted to problems or strengthened resolve to do what he is doing.
David was the 2nd church to take Reveal. Was excited because it wasn’t measuring “nickels” and noses but spiritual growth. Felt like it would strengthen the resolve of what they were doing or help them reinvent themselves.
3 things that they have changed since reveal:
Our mission: “To strengthened your spiritual journey with God.” Build  is God’s role to bring the change, Discovery Churches role to strengthen, and the Individual’s role/responsibility for their own spiritual growth. Jude 1:20-23.
Mission Map (spiritual formation process). 4 members exploring, beginning, growing, Christ centered. explain they are at different places but this hasn’t anything to do with their worth – they talk about the stages of physical development from childhood to adulthood.
E3 effect.
Evaluate where you are
Embrace the life of Christ (we are in danger of creating a generation of spiritual doers). Help people to learn to embrace their circumstances which are God’s “customizable discipleship program”
Engage in your next steps. Produced quarterly customized spiritual growth programs, currently collaborating on application that does 5 minutes of diagnostic questions and then gives them a customized growth plan,
Mission Map Catalytic Teams, Community Teams, Coordinating teams

Greg Hawkins
Why do we do what we do? Make Disciples – Mt. 28. Move those far from God to Disciple of Jesus.
Disciples are those who love God and others.
We have programs, classes, etc. to put people through to produce this change.
Reveal study showed that these activities didn’t predict if someone’s heart for God and others. Not about activity but intimacy.
Researchers found 4 groups. Exploring Christ, Growing in Christ, Close to Christ, Christ Centered.
Bill Hybels
Usually we go to conferences that we agree with to “pump us up”  - this is going to mess with you.
Heb 13:17. Leaders will give an account. The question is did we build the church to his satisfaction? Most churches get to a place of good enough and then cease to change or take risks to preserve peace.
Willow found they had several non believers and fully committed. Found many things that were disheartening to see after 30 years after ministry.
Having categories’ and a graphic (and facts that back it up) to talk about where everyone is in the congregation has been helpful.
Can address each individually, make specific appeals, informs preaching to specific groups. Informs how to help them take next steps - for example for seekers they have made changes to expose people to scriptures, community, and serving more quickly. Stopped midweek services to serve each section better.
Hardest movement is to get someone from close to Christ to Christ Centered. From getting people to see God as wanting to bless them to complete surrender. You can’t change the world with close to Christ but can with Christ Centered.
Motivation to keep going after 33 years comes from those who are Christ Centered.
Inseparable - series that Hybels talked about Reveal to Willow.

Today we took about an hour and discussed Power Through Pray by E.M. Bounds with our staff. It really was a sobering conversation. Here are a few of the bullet points I wrote down during our free form discussion.

• Prayer matters
• Pray is not preparation for the ministry it is the ministry
• Holy dudes of days long ago woke up crazy early to pray and prayed a long time.
• The gospel moves through hearts not heads.
• Avoid being a hermit or being with people all the time p 18.
• People won’t pray more than their pastor.
• Calmness and strength are not the companions of hurry
• Prayer is the preachers mightiest weapon.
• “The real sermon is made in the (prayer) closet. The man – God’s man – is made in the (prayer) closet”
• “It takes 20 years to make a sermon, because it takes 20 years to make a man…”
• It takes a tremendous amount of energy, focus, and discipline to have a solid prayer life.
• “Ages of millennial glory have been lost by a prayerless Church. The coming of our Lord has been postponed indefinitely by a prayerless church.”
• Importance of praying with your kids. Keep a prayer journal to show your kids the way God answers prayer – this is one of the best motivators.
• Henrietta Mears example of prayer that brought about Bill Bright and Billy Graham.
• Easier to talk to God in the car than listen to him.
• One of the gals on our staff recounted how she saw her dad wake up at 4:00 am every day to pray and often left them notes about what he was praying for them. Very powerful.
• Let your kids in on what you are struggling with and praying for, and ask for prayer from them.
• Pray scripture whenever possible.
• I wonder how Bounds would fit on our staff.
• What would happen at Watermark if everyone believed the most important activity we could engage in is prayer?

I listened to the Leadership Network telesiminar with Larry Osborne on his new book Sticky Church. There were several helpful thoughts that came out of the time for me.
•    Member retention is not so much about church growth as much as it is about having people stick around long enough to disciple them.
•    For a church to double from 250 to 500 over a 10 year period with a 30% retention rate it takes 834 new members.
•    For a church to double from 250 to 500 over a 10 year period with a 70% retention rate it takes 357 new members.
•    People tend to come to a church because of its children and youth programs. These youth go off to college get married and don’t come back until they have children which repeats the cycle.
•    We measure the wrong thing . For example new members and growth instead of retention.
•    Most small group models are broken and we retool them every 3-7 years. NC has a “very relational model” base on the word (sermon) that hasn’t changed in the last 22 years.
•    NC has 80% of Sunday morning attendance number in small groups.
•    People are like legos. Once their connectors are full they become friendly but don’t connect. Often time churches aren’t “clickish” their connectors are just filled. Create new groups for new people.
•    People need their own “Mayberry USA” in a hectic world. Churches that are constantly dividing and multiplying are more about growing the church than the people!
•    “Ingrown talk” is often more about leaders trying to “drive the people to accomplish what we want” than it is a concern about growing the people!
•    I wonder what our “retention rates are relative to our new members.