Leadership: Questions (1 of 3)

This post originated from an Advanced Leadership Development course that was a part of the Wesley Academy at Resurrection taught by Dr. Lovett Weems and Cathy Abbott.

Leaders do not need to have the right answers, but they must have the right questions.

• Who can assign you work?
• What is it that these people have a right to expect of me?
• What is it that if I do not do it, no one else can or in all likelihood will?

What is the best conference to attend?

I always hope to continue learning for my own faith journey, leadership, and to be a part of renewing the mainline church. One of the ways that this can be accomplished is through networking and learning at conferences. I personally recommend and will be presenting at Leadership Institute, but I am also considering the following possibilities for events to attend in 2008 and 2009.

• June 6, 2008 - Seed Conference
• June 8-10, 2008 - Envision: The Gospel, Politics & The Future
• June 11-13, 2008 - Arise Arts Conference
• June 26-27, 2008 - Unplugged
• August 7-8, 2008 - The Leadership Summit
• August 14-16, 2008 - Echo: Church Media Conference
• October 2-3, 2008 - Leadership Institute
• October 8-10, 2008 - Catalyst Conference
• October 20-23, 2008 - The Internet Ministry Conference
• October 24-25, 2008 - Change the World
• November 6-8, 2008 - worship in a postmodern accent…
• April 21-23, 2009 - Origins

Do you have any experience with any of these conferences? Which of these do you recommend? What other learning / leadership / conference opportunities would you suggest that are not listed here?

young pastors’ network

I heard about the young pastors’ network yesterday and am thinking about putting in an application. From the website:

Young Pastors’ Network

…a partnership between the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and Ginghamsburg Church.

The Young Pastors’ Network is designed specifically for high capacity clergy within the United Methodist Church who are under the age of 35. Network candidates must be nominated by their bishops based on each candidate’s potential and drive to serve as a future leader of a large membership church within the annual conference.

Another project with great potential for renewal within the denomination. This is really exciting! It feels like the movement of God’s Spirit.

United Methodist Young Clergy

If you are a young clergy person in the United Methodist Church, I want to make you aware of these links and upcoming video project (Project started by Jenny Smith):

• http://www.umcyoungclergy.com/
• UMC Young Clergy on Facebook
• Filming a documentary on UMC Young Clergy on Facebook

If you are a young United Methodist clergy in Kansas make sure and check out:

• Kansas UM Young Clergy on Facebook

I am excited about the potential for renewal within the United Methodist Church and I believe that projects like this - grassroots and potentially viral - can help make a positive impact.

Stories from Easter (2 of 4)

I lead worship at the 5:00 PM Saturday and 9:00 AM Sunday services. Resurrection had services at the following times.

• 5:00 PM Saturday
• 7:00 PM Saturday
• 7:00 AM Sunday
• 9:00 AM Sunday
• 9:00 AM Sunday (Resurrection West)
• 9:15 AM Sunday (Student Center)
• 10:00 AM Sunday (Grand Avenue Temple)
• 11:00 AM Sunday
• 11:00 AM Sunday (Resurrection West)
• 11:00 AM Sunday (Internet)
• 3:00 PM Sunday
• 5:00 PM Sunday

Each of the services that I helped to lead were near capacity (3200 seats) in the sanctuary. It is really cool to lead worship in a space that is full - no matter what size.

Thanks to Travis for reminding me about the Resurrection West services and Janelle for the Internet stream. I apologize for initially leaving out these services.