Donald Miller is back with a new one, and I've got to say as good as blue like jazz was, I like his latest musings even more. 

Miller explorers the power of stories as he journeys through making a movie based on his life.  The primary premise of the book was that a story is 'a character who wants something and overcomes conflict to get it'. 

The stories we believe or tell ourselves drastically change the world in which we live. 

This book would be great for anyone who's a communicator and understanding the techniques that make a powerful story. 

But the most important take away that Miller hammers really well at, is it's not a bad thing to be able to tell great stories, but what's even better is living out an even greater story.  Best of all, there's an even greater story every one of us is already a part of.  

Dave Ferguson

1. General Session: Friday Morning
2. Panel Participant: Church Next: A Panel of Innovators
3. Book Signing: Friday at 12:30pm

Kevin Harney

• Breakout Session: Mobilizing Your Church for Outreach
• Discussion Group: Igniting A Fire for Outreach In Your Church
• Book Signing: Friday at 10:00am
•  

Dino Rizzo

• Healing Place Church
• Breakout Session: Servolution for the One
• Panel Participant: Church Next: A Panel of Innovators
• Discussion Group: Increasing Your Community Impact
• Book Signing: Thursday at 5:30pm

Geoff Surratt and Greg Ligon

• Pre-Convention Event: A Multisite Church Road Trip: Exploring the “New Normal”
• Breakout Session: Overcoming the Ministry Dumb Tax
• Discussion Group: Lessons In Innovation From Seacoast Church
• Book Signing: Thursday at 5:30pm

Larry Osborne

• Breakout Session: Sticky Church: Strategies for Slamming Your Back Door Shut
• Panel Participant: Church Next: A Panel of Innovators
• Discussion Group: Closing The Back Door
• Book Signing: Thursday at 12:30pm
•  

Hugh Halter

• Breakout Session: Turning Consumers Into Missionaries in the Local Church
• Panel Participant: Church Next: A Panel of Innovators
•  

View the entire speaker lineup.

Last week I had the chance to connect with Steve Saccone during Catalyst 2009 in Atlanta.  Leadership Network recently partnered with Steve and Jossey Bass in the release of his first book – Relational Intelligence.  You can check out our conversation here.  Also once you get to YouTube be search “relational intelligence” for some “Relational Intelligence meets The Office” clips – funny stuff and a great book.  You can also connect with Steve on his road trip by going to his blog and checking out his speaking schedule.

Greg Ligon

Vice President and Publisher

Leadership Network

twitter - gregligon

Author Steve Saccone and his super-creative team have produced another clever video on the theme of Relational Intelligence. Take a look:

There are some people that just ooze charisma – and Steve is one of those people. His book unlocks some of the secrets to being a relationally intelligent leader – the kind of leader that people can’t help but follow.

Visit www.relationalintelligence.info to order the book and for more information, including FREE resources:

• The RI Assessment – Test your RQ
• A discussion guide for small groups

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Stephanie Plagens is the Publications Manager for Leadership Network.

        The advantage of looking at anything “inside out” is that you leave behind static forms, dogmatic assertions, stylized behaviors (i.e. what most people think of when they say “church”), and you see clearly dynamic flows, faithful intentions, and authentic behaviors (i.e. what most people think of when they say “spirituality”). My paired reading this month has been Church Turned Inside Out by Bergquist and Karr (2009 Jossey-Bass) and Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Harney (2007 Zondervan).

        Church Turned Inside Out is a challenging read, but worthwhile to those who proceed slowly and persist to the end. The first hundred pages or so are quite abstract and conceptual, and many references could have been placed in footnotes so that the reader could more directly follow the main argument. But again, it’s worth it for two reasons. First, Bergquist and Karr (like Alan Hirsch who writes the foreword) are like artists struggling to put creativity into language. They force us to reshape our own theological terminology and rediscover the original intuitions of “being church”. Second, without all that theory it would be easy to re-dogmatize the inside-out design process that is finally described for practitioners in figure 11.1 on page 166. Indeed, you might be well advised to ponder that image first, and then read the theory.

        Once you get a feel for the theory and practice, many readers will react in two ways. First, they will appreciate the fluidity, focus, and functions of authentic Christian community more powerfully. Second, they will suspect that there is something missing from the final analysis. This intuition emerged for me in the chapter “Embracing Culture” (chapter 8, page 120). The contrast of “bounded sets” and “centered sets” to describe group dynamics is too simplistic. “Bounded Groups” (like Christendom churches) are supposedly defined by theological dogmatisms and political correctness, while “Centered Groups” (like authentic Christian communities) are supposedly aimed at a central theme, principle, or idea which for the church is “Jesus”. Group unity in the first instance comes from conformity, while group unity in the second instance comes from intentionality.

        It is not just that readers intuit this distinction to be impractical. The earliest Christian communities rapidly shaped doctrines, liturgical practices, and behavior expectations long before Christendom was a reality. It was, and is, inevitable. More importantly, this inevitability is not wrong. Bergquist and Karr seem to imply that there is a fundamental purity to “centered groups” that must be protected as the church embraces culture. The “centered group” is simply another form of conformity, only this time it is conformity around an intentionality, urgency, or emotional intensity rather than conformity around doctrines, practices, and behaviors. Yet it is conformity no less. Even today we see that only those who share an emotional intensity and urgency about “Kingdom” cannot really belong to the in-group.

        This is an old theological debate. Is the church primarily an eschatological community formed around an intention not yet realized? Or is the church primarily an incarnational community formed around a presence not fully comprehended? The former tends to be protestant and the latter catholic, but Bergquist and Karr help us temporarily to set aside merely ecclesiastical differences that would capitalize the “P” and the “C”. I suspect they would want to say the church is shaped around both principles. But if this is the case, then the simplistic contrast between bounded and centered sets must be abandoned.

        I suggest that the way out of this dilemma is to consider that not only is God in Christian community reaching out to embrace culture, but also that God in culture is reaching out to embrace Christian community. We Christians still think so one-sidedly, as if the church is doing all the “embracing” and culture is doing all the “resisting”. I think that attitude persists in this book. Instead, God is simultaneously using and shattering all cultural forms to express the immediacy of the Holy. The church, no matter what model, and however “Protean” and pure it might be, is still an aspect of culture. And it is the immediacy of the Holy, and neither the conformity of insider behavior nor the conformity of insider intentionality that seekers seek.

        This changes the inside-out design process (figure 11.1 on page 166). Note that in this diagram two lines converge as values and pragmatisms come together. Yes, the lines converge on “Kingdom Intent” … but where do the lines actually intersect? That point of intersection is only described as “essential, non-negotiable, and abstract”. Where one would expect to find incarnation and heartfelt intimacy with the divine, one finds instead the Protean Model of church. Are these really the same? More importantly, if all norms of doctrine, practice, and behavior are ruled out as cultural relativisms, how can we tell?

        Such questions bring me back to the other book I have been reading: Leadership from the Inside Out by Kevin Harney. Harney does something similar to what Bergquist and Karr do. He tries to get beyond the intellectualism, professionalism, and ego of church leadership to expose the inner nature and discipline of spiritual leadership. He encourages the life-giving power of self-examination that is “forged in the furnace of real ministry”. In my experience, self-transformation always precedes church transformation, so this is a helpful balance to the other book. The experience and model of Jesus the Christ is the beginning for all New Testament mission. Yet once again something is missing. The healthy church leader that emerges seems to be leading a church that still looks remarkably churchy in unchurchy times. I can imagine Bergquist and Karr asking some urgent questions. It would be interesting to hear them reflect on leadership in a church turned inside out. If there is a Protean Model of church, then what does the Protean leader look like?

Tom Bandy

www.ThrivingChurch.com

Today, Mel Lawrenz, author of Whole Church will be stopping by a few blogs to answer questions and respond to comments from readers. Got a question for Mel? Check out the blogs listed below and join the conversation. You can also visit his webpage at www.wholechurch.org 

A big thanks to these bloggers for their participation:

• Greg Atkinson http://www.gregatkinson.com/ 
• George Bullard  http://www.bullardjournal.org/
• Kent Shaffer http://www.churchrelevance.com
• Mark Roberts http://www.markdroberts.com/
• Todd Rhoades  http://www.MondayMorningInsight.com
• Sherry Surratt     http://www.sherrysurratt.com/

Haven’t read Whole Church yet? You can order it through our website, and watch this short video to hear a message from Mel.

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Stephanie Plagens is the Publications Manager for Leadership Network.

By the way on October 7, 2009, Joy is also leading a webinar (fee involved) for the Alban Institute titled, "Developing Your Community Outreach Ministry."

Joy, whose last name is pronounced "Sheg-stad", recently wrote an article called "Are  Grants the Answer?" It was published in Faith and Leadership, a publication of Duke Divinity School. Excerpts are below, along with a link to the full text of the article.  Boldface is my own.

ARTICLE EXCERPT:

. . . grants can be a great resource. But congregations sh ouldn’t think of grants as the cure to their money troubles. Instead, they need to consider what aspect of their ministry might be appropriate for outside funding, and what compromises they might have to make to take advantage of the money.

When I served as the executive director of a church-based nonprofit in the 1990s, I was involved in securing grants for community ministry programs. Over the years, we built relationships with local foundations that supported our summer youth program, a computer learning center and a health clinic, among other initiatives.

The money was great, but I often found myself struggling with the dilemma it posed. We wanted to serve the community. But our goal also was to serve people spiritually.

I spent a lot of time looking out the window of my office wondering: Should we take money from groups that don’t share our spiritual goals?

One of the main concerns of the foundation staff I interviewed for my book was whether programs seeking funding would serve only the people in the church. . . .  if your proposal is focused only on people in your congregation or denomination, you may not get grants.

The issue of spiritual content in programs also is a challenge for funders. If you apply for grant funding, expect to be asked whether clients are required to participate in religious activities such as Bible study or worship services. If the answer is yes, many grant funders won't support the program.

In addition, many funders think church members ought to pay for the services they receive at church. So congregations are unlikely to get grants for core internal ministry programs of the church, such as worship, pastoral care or Sunday School.

. . . If your organization offers -- or wants to offer -- services such as job training and placement, affordable housing, prison re-entry and teaching English as a second language, you may find grant funding. . . . Remember that most foundations and corporations focus on program grants, not unrestricted operating support or capital grants. So ask for help covering the costs of a program, underwriting staff positions, supplies, facility costs, event fees, curriculum and other expenses directly related to the program. . . . But if you do find the right fit, grant dollars can be a great addition to the time and money that the people in your congregation are already investing.

The full article is online (free) at:  http://faithandleadership.com/content/are-grants-the-answer

Warren Bird, Ph.D., is Research Director at Leadership Network, and co-author of 21 books on various aspects of church health and innovation.