Grass Roots Podcast - Episode 20 - CGGC Leadership Initiative

I have spent the last five years in the CGGC like a guy who stumbled upon a sleeping bear in the woods. I froze and have kept my eye on the bear, for the bear, if it notices me, could devour me. Then I started backing away slowly. I have not participated much regionally or nationally, though I've been told by both regional and national directors that I am welcome and would be appreciated at both levels.

Over the past five years, I have become a fan of Reggie McNeal, a former southern baptist denom official in South Carolina, who I believe understands the exact change that the North American church needs to make and who articulates it in a way that churches at large can get a handle.

So while attending IMPACT as a breakout leader (teaching Reggie McNeal's three shifts for the church), I overheard that Reggie was coming out to consult. Rather than a desire to be helpful denominationally, I selfishly have sought opportunities to sit in the same room as Reggie (and I wasn't disappointed). So I asked if I could sit in and was warmly welcomed.

The results caused me emotional confusion. I left hopeful, passionate in fact about the idea of participating in this leadership initiative, hopeful that this could be a prescription for renewal in this denom that I do truly love. Confused, because I've been wary of the bear, pulling me away from what is most important for me -- local ministry.

My fear is that the people who need to be involved in this initiative are also people who have stumbled across the bear and who also have been slowly backing away. I hope these are the people who listen to our podcasts. These (you) are all people who I have found to be intelligent and reflective and I would love to have a conversation with you about the pros and cons of this initiative. But since I can't, I did have a conversation with Lance Finley, Fran Leeman, and Bill Sloat about it. I thought the conversation was helpful. I think it might be helpful to you to listen to it and get some feel for this initiative, which Lance incredibly optimistically would like to roll out in January.

I am not an official representative of this leadership initiative. I'm just a pastor who loves our denom and who heard something that sounds hopeful coming around the bend. This recorded conversation was a frank and honest evaluation of what we know so far.

We invite your feedback.

Download: Podcast - GrassRoots - Episode 20 - CGGC Leadership Initiative

I made a compressed version that plays about 20 minutes shorter. It is the same as the other, just plays faster.

Download: Podcast - GrassRoots - Episode 20 - CGGC Leadership Initiative Compressed

IMPACT and Reggie McNeal Consultation

Thanks to everyone who participated with me and Bill at IMPACT -- Jerry, Jim Wilder, Bill Reist, Dan Horwedal, Joe ?, a proud father from Columbia City, Judy Nolt (Doug's wife), and others. I thought the initial discussions were great, but as we reached the peak (talking about leadership changes suggested by Missional Renaissance), the conversation broke down. Oh well, the summit is the hardest to climb!

The next week on July 30 (?), Reggie McNeal came to Findlay to consult with the denom about a leadership initiative. Upon hearing about it, and my obvious fandom for Reggie (who sat by me at lunch!), I asked if I could sit in and my request was granted.

Reggie led the group through the process of defining what a leadership initiative would like with the hopes of changing the culture of the CGGC to be a missional movement. (These are my descriptions of what happened. Whether it is the official view of the CGGC, you'd have to ask them.)

The proposed process is a two-year intensive with the best CGGC leaders we can find. I'll be dead honest -- it was the most hopeful thing I've heard in my 20 years with the CGGC. They hope to start in January.

Here are the two requirements for success. (In my opinion)

1) They have to keep the deal intense. They need to pay the money to get Reggie to lead most of the six gatherings (over two years). Reggie exudes mission and excellence. And it will rub off.

2) They have to get 'buy-in' from 25-50 of the best leaders in the CGGC. I would say the best leaders in the CGGC have made it a policy NOT to get sucked in to denominational initiatives. They will have to be convinced, and that leads me back to my first requirement. It has to be well worth their time.

Church Advocate

Though you can't tell it by the cover, the latest Church Advocate is exactly what I've been asking for. For those who don't know, the Church Advocate is the bi-monthly magazine of the Churches of God General Conference. The writers/editors have always been good, but the media has shown no vision or mission, reflecting not the writers/editors, but the denomination herself.

Born Again -- pages 2-3

Ed says on page 3, "The reason the CGGC exists (other than to glorify God) is to help churches do just that, make disciples. This happens best via a growing network of healthy reproducing churches. So, inherent in the disciple making mission is the vision for more and better churches which in turn requires more and better leaders."

A few flaws (IMHO) with Ed's Born Again article -- not sure 2025 celebration should occur at the site of Winebrenner's grave.

And he closes with "The rebirth of our CGGC mission and the realization of the vision for more and better churches will require a team of committed leaders. Here's good news. All willing players are welcome on the team." This is the shepherd's heart. Everybody should get a place at the table. But leadership requires that some be raised up and some be asked to step aside. These are the tough calls I haven't seen the CGGC make.

But overall, this is the right theme and should be the flavor of all Ed's communications.

Field Director Update

And I quote, "For example, there's a need for apostolic oversight of CGGC-USA Haitian ministries..." Did he say APOSTOLIC?!

And I like the idea of field directors as long as we don't use "All willing players are welcome on the team." To get this leadership to rise that Ed wants will require some tough love.

An Interview with Jeff Rockey, pages 6-8

A nice interview with a guy who is making smart transitions within a church. I'd actually like to hear more.

Planning for Leadership Development, page 9

Ed says, "If the purpose of the Church is to make more and better disciples, then somebody must lead the change, but not just anybody."

And "For broad based themes emerged:
1. Seek Spiritual Vitality [Is Jesus Enough?]
2. Clarify Denominational Identity
3. Release Apostolic Leadership
4. Harness Youthful Zeal"

Did he say APOSTOLIC?! Also he said, "Release." There is a recognized sense that apostolic leadership is restricted at some level in the Churches of God.

My encouragement to Ed is to heavily recruit these leaders to be developed. This is good talk, but please, please, please... make this into something more than a bumper sticker. The CGGC leadership has to be proactive to make this happen.

Ed actually makes me want to join in on this leadership development.

The rest of the magazine puts some opportunities at the end. Very well done.

Three recommendations for further Advocates.
1. The content is just right. Do it again! Mission/Vision/Practical Implementation. Ed, Lance, and Don should continue to write strong missional pieces and interviews.
2. The cover should highlight this visionary/leadership content, not "Get Ready for Summer."
3. Make the content of the Church Advocate the Home Page of www.cggc.org.

CGGC Director of Church Development

The CGGC is in the early stages of looking for a new Director of Church Development. While I have no inside knowledge of this position, my guess is that he/she will have primary oversight over denominational projects involving church renewal and church planting. Since this blog explores "what [the] church will look like as fresh expressions in the 21st century" I think it is appropriate to discuss this position in this forum. Many of the "fresh expressions" of the Christian faith emerge in the midst of new church plants and renewed congregations. Since many have commented that this blog is read by a variety of people within our denomination, this is an open way to discuss the future of our denomination.

A few questions to consider:
- What role does/should a denominational office(r) have over local church and conference renewal projects?
- What should the agenda for this person contain?
- Should a CGGC "insider" be considered, or should someone from the outside be given priority?
- How would our denomination react to a woman serving in this role?
- What educational requirements should be considered (if any)?
- Which task is more difficult: planting a new church or renewing an existing one?
- Do you have any thoughts on the names of individuals who should be considered for the position?
- Feel free to add your own questions...

I am posting this on my own and have not seen a job description (if one exists). I, along with many others, received the following letter as an email forward.

- - - - - - - -
SEARCHING FOR A NEW CGGC DIRECTOR OF CHURCH DEVELOPMENT

Greetings to everybody across the General Conference

I trust your celebration of Christ’s advent is going well and that your church and community are responding well to the gospel proclamation of Luke 2:10-12. Christmas is the number one time (even more than Easter) when unchurched people are most open to the gospel. So, through your various activities and services I pray that the light of Christ may shine upon all who come. I urge us all as shepherds to be intentional in our welcome and follow-up to this seasonal visitation so that not one potential lamb may be lost.

I am specifically writing to ask for your prayers as we begin the search for a new Director of Church Development at the CGGC office. The committee (David Green, Mary Lehman, Bob Stephenson and I) met recently to lay out the process. Our first phase will be to identify potential persons for this position by March 1st. You can help here too. If you or someone you know would consider God’s call to this work, please contact Dave Green (see below) and he will send out an invitation and information packet. The next phase will be to receive applications from those who choose to respond to the invitation. After that the committee will prayerfully and carefully consider each candidate in order to discern the Lord’s leading and identify the person to be selected. So, pray for the committee, possible names to submit and for the selection process.

If you have questions or anything you think might help in the search process, feel free to contact me by phone or mail (email too). Have a blessed Christmas and thanks for your prayerful support in our search process. Godspeed!

Pastor Ed Rosenberry
Executive Director, CGGC
(419) 424-1961
director@cggc.org

Pastor David Green
700 East Melrose Avenue
P.O. Box 1132
Findlay, Ohio 45839
(419) 423-7694
glcdirector@cggc.org

Welcome to emerging cGgc

Here is the first post from Sept 2005 from this blog.

Wayne Boyer, Executive Director of the Churches of God General Conference, said in his weekly "It's Friday but Sunday is coming..." newsletter that efforts were being made to create a dialogue for an emerging/postmodern conversation in the CGGC. I offered to create this blog to provide such a space. Wayne said other efforts will also be made to create such a space. I'll keep this space up as long as it is useful and fruitful.

If you want to post to this blog, simply send me an email at bedrock3@gmail.com, and I'll set you up immediately. Everyone is free to comment. I just ask that you be gracious with your words. This can be a sensitive subject. I am looking forward to this conversation.

Wayne told me two things that never came to fruition. One was, "other efforts will be made to create such a space." My effort was to be a temporary effort. The second one was that they would set up an emailing system outside of the CGGC so as not to give any endorsement to this blog. That also never occurred. I'm not upset by these inactions, but they do lend to misunderstanding. I've also stated more than once that I regret calling it "emerging cGgc" and would have liked to have called it something with the term "missional" instead. This would have stopped all the people frustrated with McLaren from linking all his work with the thoughts on this blog.

So to answer Ken's question in one of the myriad comments on the previous post, this is my blog. I have several blogs and they are all on one blogger account, so I couldn't give this blog to somebody if I wanted to (which I have wanted to).

Though the CGGC has not endorsed this blog, Wayne and now Ed have encouraged me to continue this blog. I have made it open to as many who are interested. There came a point where some guidelines were demanded of me, so I made up some guidelines which are linked from the sidebar.

There will be a day soon (at least by the end of the year) where I will make some changes to this blog, which could include ending it, moving it, or modifying it.

Gen Conference Blogger Photos

I tried to take pics of people at GC that have posted here.

Here is the esteemed George Jensen. Whenever I talk with George, I am overwhelmed by his warmth. He has some strong opinions which bristle his spine when they come up, but he longs for conversation and listens to the arguments before him.



Here is George having lunch with Justin Meier. Justin is new to the CGGC and is planting a church in Lawrence, KS in conjunction with the Western Region and the Midwest Region. Justin blew George's mind. George is quoted as saying, "He's planting an emerging church and he's more conservative than I am!" Welcome to the emerging church George!

I was continually trying to introduce Justin to people I knew only to have him say, "We've already met and had a great conversation about church planting." This guy is a networker and is going to turn Lawrence upside down for Jesus. Justin hasn't commented on the blog, but as a church planter I had to throw him in.

Dan Horwedal surprised us all with conservative casual dress. Dan is a quiet guy who takes it all in. I was surprised by Dan because as I took his picture, he asked, "Has anyone taken your picture?" It hadn't occurred to me, nor did it occur to anybody else. Dan approaches the task from a different view, a different vantage point, and that is a real strength for a community such as the Churches of God.

Here is the photo Dan took of me. I used my daughter's camera which is a fairly cheap digital camera. My wife and I are planning on buying a new camera but keep getting upgrade fever. I wish we would have just bought the camera we first agreed upon. But these pictures did turn out better than I thought they had.


Lance has commented once or twice. He is the director of youth and family ministries for the denomination. He is a brilliant guy who needs to start talking more about what he knows. He needs to blog. I have offered to host a podcast interview with him. I buy him gifts and cards. If the denom can double in ten years, it will because people like Lance start... hmm... Maybe I should let Lance fill in this blank.

Bill Sloat, the reason I went to General Conference. I called Bill and said, "Give me three good reasons to go to General Conference," and without much hesitation, gave me three good reasons to go to General Conference. Bill is such an encourager, and he brings so much knowledge to bear about the Kingdom. He is an awesome asset of the CGGC, and one for which I am extremely grateful.


Finally, Phil Wilson from Ft Scott, KS, formerly from Decatur, IL. Phil's special to me because the church he pastored in Decatur closed and voted to give the sale of their property to start my church. Now Phil has come alongside Justin Meier and has been encouraging that plant in Lawrence. Thank you Phil.

Can We Double in Ten Years?

I have returned from three days at General Conference sessions, which occur once every three years. While my wife was driving home, I decided to take pen to paper and write down my reflections of the three days.

My thoughts are firmly couched in the knowledge that I have had a hand in preparing our own annual conference (Midwest, July 17-19)and that my criticisms will probably be true about my own planning. Also, it must be noted that I didn't attend every minute. I missed some crucial pieces by my own admission. But being a bit more post-modern than modern, we need to learn to expect that people won't sit through three days of anything. (Though I was amazed how many did.)

The event was not planned for impact. One person told me it was "a necessary evil." I'm assuming it is a necessary cog in the CGGC wheel, not fancy, not inspiring, but necessary to maintain organization. These events are often judged less by impact but by the lack of what seems like hateful debate, which used to be a regular occurrence at such meetings. There was no hateful debate, but I would think there was also little impact either.

Here are four reasons I don't think it was planned for impact.

1. Rick Rusaw wasn't advertised. This is perhaps the top reason I came. But looking at the schedule, I couldn't even immediately tell when he was speaking. And while I'm speaking of Rusaw, I thought he was tremedously engaging and wondered if he couldn't have become the center-piece of the conference, speaking the first night, and developing our vision and mission around the passion that he brought.

2. No messages were recorded. If this was a water-shed moment in the CGGC, it would have been beneficial to have recordings of the sermons, especially Ed Rosenberry's. All of the powerpoint slides should be available online, etc. Archives need to stop being an afterthought, and we need to archive with a live feed.

3. Reports were prepared to suggest progress but not give much overview of ministries. I thought the best report was from University of Findlay (both the president and Will Miller) who combined stories with an overall view of the ministry.

4. Business was done to jump constitutional hoops rather than to inspire people. This was most noticable in the acceptance of the proposed international body of national churches, which I may post about later. What was interesting to me there was that the Haitian and Indians were there, but made no comment and were not asked for a comment.

This is all really no surprise and it is what we've become used to. But here is why I write at all -- Ed Rosenberry, the newly installed Executive Director of the CGGC, said in his sermon, "Is there any reason the CGGC can't double in size in ten years?"

Well, I think this is what he said. I wasn't there. It's my own fault. My family came out with me and I chose that night to spend with them rather than miss Rusaw the next night. It was a mistake on my part. I heard it was a good message. So I asked for the tape. There is no recording. Does Ed have a hard copy? Do I even have the question right? And if the question is right, there are a number of reasons we can't double in ten years. And perhaps he addressed them, but only for the people in attendance. In what way do we want to double in ten years? If it is only a drain of dying churches pouring into our tribe, then it would not be as meaningful. A message that addressed these issues should find a way to infiltrate every level, and certainly not rely on the word of mouth of those in attendance. Perhaps it will. Perhaps it is Ed's plan to begin laying this plan out before us in a way that undergird every communication that comes from the central office, but to be truly viral, it is a message that should begin to pop up in conversations everywhere. It should be an out of control conversation.

The way forward is to not let the question die. So I post it here. Can we double in ten years? What would have to happen? Something substantial for sure. We currently have little momentum to carry us.

There were other conversations worth having that started from the lecturn at General Conference. Lance Finley made some comments worthy of discussion about the future of the faith of youth. Earl Mills made some comments worthy of discussion about vision and how it should manifest itself. Perhaps others did as well, and I missed them while in search of coffee. Perhaps a conversation about Rusaw's words.

We may see in the responses to this post a temperature taken. How hot is the CGGC to expand the Kingdom of God?