Been to the Summit

Along with over 78,000 others, I participated in The Global Leadership Summit of the Willow Creek Association on August 8-9. I was at one of the 269 Host Sites around the U.S. and Canada. A version of the Summit is now made available now in 100 countries during the months following the event through a combination of video and live presentations.

I always feel that I have to provide a disclaimer to get my friends who are uncomfortable with megachurches to read a blog involving Willow Creek, so let me say that I attend the Summit for three reasons:

First, Willow Creek Community Church, the “mother church” of the Willow Creek Association, does “big church” well, and they are transparent when they falter. The same spirit infuses the Summit.

Second, the worship is always different from what I usually experience and that is not bad. I need to be “stretched” a bit.

Third, the Summit organizers enlist some of the most creative and challenging leaders—religious, business, not-for-profit, political, and academic—for the program. I always come away with some fresh ideas and two or three new books to read.

This year I was especially taken by two people that I had not heard before. Actually, I had heard one of Brene Brown’s TED talks, but the application of her research on vulnerability to a religious context got my attention this time. I look forward to reading her book Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

A thought leader that I had never heard before was Joseph Greeny, one of the authors of Influencer: The New Science of LeadingChange. Greeny and his team have done extensive research on the influences that motivate persons to change. His interesting presentation immediately got me to thinking how this applies in the church and not-for-profit organizations.

Other speakers were familiar to regular Summit participants. Patrick Lencioni is an entertaining speaker, but his material this year was not new. On the other hand, I enjoyed hearing General Colin Powell who made a brief presentation and did an interview with Bill Hybels. In Powell’s case, I also heard nothing new, but he is one of my leadership heroes, so I always like to see him on stage. His most recent book is It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership. I have read it and strongly recommend it to anyone who is interested in being an effective leader in any type of organization.

Bill Hybels gave the opening presentation and Andy Stanley the closing challenge. Hybels always comes across as a leader who is willing to share the struggles he has experienced over the past year and what he has learned from them. He epitomizes a “lifelong learner” to me. I have gained greater appreciation for Stanley as a leader and speaker over the last few years. His closing talk here was appropriate to the situation, but he has done much better in other contexts. I recently read his new book, Deep and Wide, and highly recommend it to all church leaders, regardless of the size of your congregation.

As always, worship times were creative, upbeat, and inspirational.

So I came away encouraged, inspired, informed, and with several new books on my Kindle. What more could I ask?

Comments

Check these out

Confessions of a Recovering Southern Baptist

I am grateful for my heritage as a Southern Baptist. I was exposed to the Bible and worship from a very young age. I grew up in a church in south Alabama that supported the Cooperative Program of missions giving. This meant that our church had the benefit of being part of a supportive group of local churches and the educational opportunities that afforded. Our state convention provided varied and effective ministries with groups like orphans, ethnic groups, and college students. We supported missionaries at home and abroad. We had good Bible study and training literature (which we paid for, of course). I went to an accredited seminary and paid a remarkably low tuition. Wherever you went on a Sunday morning (in the Southeast and Southwest, at least), you could find a church that sang the familiar hymns and studied the same Bible lesson. In hindsight, I realize that this Southern Baptist utopia was imperfect. There were significant...

The Bible Tells Me So

As I read the story of the Good Samaritan during my devotional today, I was reminded of the times that I have heard the story in the Christian education setting of the local church--as a youngster in primary and intermediate classes (old terminology), as a young adult in college classes, and then as an adult, often teaching the passage myself. The characters and story line are very familiar due to these experiences of Christian education. These are challenging times for Christian education in the church. Like so much of what is happening in the church today, the old forms do not seem to support present needs. What once worked no longer seems to be effective. Christian education or the formation of believers is in a state of flux. In an article on ethicsdaily.com , retired professor Colin Harris addresses this issue. He points out that the period of the 60’s and 70’s “saw the beginnings of a loss of vitality within the educa...

Metaphors of the Kingdom of God

In a recent blog , consultant Seth Godin addresses the power of metaphor. He points out, “The best way to learn a complex idea is to find it living inside something else you already understand.” In other words, “this” is like “that.” “When you see a story, an example, a wonderment,” says Godin, “take a moment to look for the metaphor inside.” Jesus turned this around. In the use of parables, he told a story or provided a metaphor and challenged his hearers to see the truth within. For example, in his teaching on the Kingdom (or Reign) of God in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus compares the Kingdom to such things as a mustard seed, yeast, a hidden treasure, a net, a king, and a landowner. His hearers are encouraged to use their imaginations to understand something that they had never experienced. He also attempted to shift their perspective so that they might see signs of the Kingdom breaking into their present reality. These are metapho...

The Tragedy of Willow Creek Community Church

File photo of Steve Carter, Heather Larson, and Bill Hybels As Christian brothers and sisters, we need to pray for Willow Creek Community Church. On the eve of the Global Leadership Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by the church in cooperation with the Willow Creek Association, church leadership imploded as a result of further allegations against former pastor Bill Hybels. Last year, Hybels introduced the team who would assume church leadership upon his retirement--lead pastor Heather Larson and teaching pastor Steve Carter. Although the founding pastor planned to stay on to assist in a time of transition, reports of sexual impropriety involving Hybels surfaced early this year. He accelerated his departure from the church and left the board of the Willow Creek Association. When other charges emerged last week, teaching pastor Carter resigned. On Wednesday evening, Larson and the entire elder board--lay leaders who provide accountability ...

A Future for the Global Leadership Summit?

Craig Groeschel, the founder and senior pastor of Life.Church. The Global Leadership Summit which began as a project of Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Illinois, and its founding pastor, Bill Hybels, over 25 years ago was held this week without Hybels. For several years, the GLS has been now produced by the Willow Creek Association, a spin-off organization and a loose network of churches but Hybels has been its driving force. Attended by thousands at the church facility in South Barrington and broadcast to thousands more at satellite locations, the annual meeting brings together not only evangelical leaders but outstanding speakers from business, charitable organizations, politics, and business. For the first time, Hybels did not appear due to allegations of sexual impropriety brought against him over the past year by former employees, staff members, and business associates. He has already left the church and resigned from the board of t...

Barnabas File

Search This Blog