During my time at Resurrection, I have taken three trips to benchmark other churches.
- Bus trip with senior staff to Willow Creek and Granger Community Church
- North Coast Church and Rock Harbor in preparation for launch of the Vibe worship service
- LifeChurch.tv in preparation for launch of the internet campus.
Each of these trips have been with several other team members. These trips have each had a full schedule and been intense and tiring. In each of the places you can look to see what the church you are visiting is doing better than your current church. However, it is also important to remind yourself what your church is doing that is better than the one you are visiting. It may be helpful to visit a church that would be considered a peer and another that is bigger than what you are currently. Adam reminded us of these things on our trip to Willow and Granger.
I think that the practice of visiting other congregations to learn is something that would be helpful for church, staff and leaders of any size congregation. Being away together as a team allows you to commit time and brain cycles to a particular project. This often cannot happen in the midst of day to day responsibilities. Perhaps more valuable than the time visiting other churches is the time together as a team to build relationships in ways that are not always possible in other settings.
I hope that other congregations make Leadership Institute one of those events for their leaders. I hope to continue this practice in every church of which I am a part.
Rev. Andrew Conard 