Cape Resurrection (Photo credit: DCSL)

Last week, someone shared with me an insight that they had gained serving as a volunteer at Resurrection.

You can’t lead beyond the leader.

If you are not ultimately responsible for a ministry area, worship service, congregation, or nearly any other grouping of people there is always some limit on what you can implement. The leader has to make space for engagement, different perspectives and empower those that are being lead.

As a leader, equipping others is one of the most important things that I do.

As a follower, patience, encouragement and service are valuable in making progress.

Telling stories is one of the most effective ways to lead a community or congregation.

The church that I serve, Resurrection West, is a member of the Olathe Chamber of Commerce who recently released a video to promote Olathe.

This model could be effective for a wide variety of settings to share stories of:

• Generosity
• Vital congregations
• Church conference reporting
• New church starts

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One of my favorite podcasts is the HBR IdeaCast. Episode 283, The Right Mindset for Success, focuses on the distinctions between a fixed and growth mindset. One of the most helpful portions was about supervision and management. This list, from Carol Dweck, describes the methods and message that a manager or leader could give to new employees that would put them into a growth mindset:

• We value passion, dedication, growth and learning; not genius.
• We do not expect that you have arrived here fully formed. We expect that you have arrived here ready to learn.
• We expect you to stretch beyond your comfort zone and take reasonable risks. We do not expect you to do the same thing you are good at over and over and stay in your comfort zone.
• We value and reward process, taking on big but reasonable challenges, dogged pursuit of challenges and teamwork.
• Even without success we reward that you have engaged in the process in a wholehearted and smart way.

I have much to learn from these methods in the way that I supervise staff and volunteers. These methods would be helpful for:

• Pastors with staff and volunteers
• Board of Ordained Ministry with candidates
• Bishops and District Superintendents with appointed clergy.

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I have had the privilege of spending time with Ray Pitman, a member of Resurrection, over the past several months. Several years ago, I officiated at the funeral for his wife, Betty, and we reconnected this summer when I lead worship at Leawood one Saturday night. I found his perspective on capacity to be particularly helpful as presented to an executive MBA class at the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University.

As drinking glasses exist in different sizes, people have varying capacities in life and work. If you fill a glass to the point of overflowing it won’t do any good to keep putting water in it. When your own glass is overflowing you have to be able to recognize that and make sure that you are surrounded by other people who have some additional capacity.

1. Opportunity – Be able to recognize an opportunity when it presents itself.
2. Vision – Have the vision to project that opportunity to where it might go; Be able to recognize if this is the opportunity for you
3. Ability – Have the ability to make it happen
4. Passion – Have passion for what you are doing.

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I have had the privilege of spending time with Ray Pitman, a member of Resurrection, over the past several months. Several years ago, I officiated at the funeral for his wife, Betty, and we reconnected this summer when I lead worship at Leawood one Saturday night. Last Friday he invited me to hear him speak to an executive MBA class at the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University. He has told his life as a case study to classes at the Helzberg School for several years and I wanted to share a few tidbits for life, work and ministry.

• Don’t ever be afraid to ask. Don’t worry if you don’t have the money to accomplish a project that you have in mind. If the idea is great, there will be someone that will be able to help fund it.
• Just because your back is against the wall don’t think that there isn’t anything to do about it.
• What may seem to be tragedy at the time may be the best thing that ever happened to you.
• Surround yourself with people that are smarter than you are and your horizons will be broadened by their abilities.
• Sometimes its best to ignore the details and focus on the people who are caring for the details.

• Number of stories?
• Category of stories?
• Stories of visitors?
• Community impact?

Related articles

• Why Numbers Matter in the UMC – Naming Reality (1 of 3) (andrewconard.com)
• Why Numbers Matter in the UMC – Learning (2 of 3) (andrewconard.com)
• Why Numbers Matter in the UMC – Community (3 of 3) (andrewconard.com)

• Will.i.am makes me smile – and he still does!
• Nothing to Do but Save Souls in the UMC – What else is there?
• Groundbreaking at Resurrection West – I had no idea that I would be at Resurrection West.

Near the building, I saw a woman with a blue jacket who I first thought was another volunteer greeting people. When we shook hands, I saw her nametag: Jane Chu, CEO.

The CEO was standing outside in the drizzle shaking hands and greeting everyone in line.

I don’t know if she stayed there to greet every one of the over 50,000 people who were at the open house, but it made a distinct positive impression on me. Not inside, not present just at the gala opening previously – outside in the rain, greeting everyone.

This is the kind of leader that I want to be and follow.

This process is critical for a local church to have significant success in their purpose. At Resurrection, our purpose is that we are building a Christian community where non-religious and nominally religious people are becoming deeply committed Christians. Each year the church council defines strategic objectives to help us accomplish this purpose. As an associate pastor, I have some role in this process and when I am the lead pastor at a church I want to be great at leading the congregation through this type of planning process.

Strategic planning can undergird the purpose of the church, equipping volunteers, mobilizing for mission and faith sharing. It is a helpful skill for pastors.