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Valentine McDonald
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1 SAGE: Wisdom from Those Who've "Been there, done that." Imagine sitting across the desk from some time-tested, well-seasoned ministry leaders. It's your chance to ask them the question, "What things have you done, that if given the chance, you would do differently?" You'll have that chance on May 19th! In the tradition of THE NINES and AHA!, SAGE will be a totally online event... that means no travel arrangements, no days away from the office, and no hassle. And, you can attend for free! Acclaimed author Jeff Sheler's Prophet of Purpose is an insightful biography of Rick Warren based on three years of research. Sheler observed Warren in contexts from training pastors in Africa to conducting Saddleback Church staff meetings. Warren Bird recently interviewed Sheler about his unique access to Rick Warren, Warren's staff, and Warren's family: What does the Rick Warren story teach others, especially other church leaders, about the idea of innovation? Rick's story certainly tells pastors and church leaders that they can be committed and faithful to the gospel, to spreading a timeless message, while remaining open to new approaches and methods of ministry. Warren talks about the five purposes that drive his ministry and his church: worship, service, evangelism, discipleship and fellowship. While those purposes never change for Warren, his programs and his methods do change. In fact, he would say that they must change as needs and circumstances require. So he's always looking for a better way, a more effective and innovative way of reaching people for Christ and ministering to their needs. How would you describe the way he handles his staff as you observed it? I have found him to be a delegator. He's definitely not a micromanager -- he is not detail oriented at all. People who work with him say, "Rick soars at the 30,000 foot level. He likes to look at the big picture and he leaves it for the people on the ground to work out the details." His staff know that he trusts them, he respects their abilities, and he respects their ideas. At the same time, sometimes in unexpected situations he will step in and shake things up. He'll say, "Let's stop this plan, let's change and go in this direction." And that can be very disturbing to people when their routine gets broken. His staff sometimes refers to him as "the chief disturbing agent." Was he always a delegator with his staff? I think he's certainly grown in empowering others. He has always been one to learn from others. He's always been one to recognize his own strengths and weaknesses and to have people around him who are strong where he is weak. And he takes pride in the fact that he doesn't do it all himself and that he has needed the help of mentors over the years and OneHundredX Adds New Board Member We are pleased to announce that Randal (Randy) Linville has joined the Board of Trustees of OneHundredX, parent organization to Leadership Network. Randy brings more than three decades of experience and success as a commodity market trader, international business executive and corporate board leader. He brings the foresight required to help growing companies and non-profits reach their potential. Coming Up on The Show

continues to seek out mentors. I think he has demonstrated this aptitude from the very beginning and continues to demonstrate it.

Rick has felt called from the very beginning of his ministry to be the pastor of one church for his entire life and he has never lost that vision. He's stuck to it very carefully.

When The Purpose Driven Life took off, and certainly... May 11 John Siebeling, lead pastor of The Life Church in Memphis, TN.

One Song from Multiple Locations More Americans Choose Internet over TV For the first time, a slight majority of Americans would choose the Internet over TV if they were forced to make a choice to

Survey participants were presented with a choice to either never again watch television, or never again access the Internet.

2 continues to seek out mentors. I think he has demonstrated this aptitude from the very beginning and continues to demonstrate it. How does he allocate his time between church responsibilities and other initiatives? Rick has felt called from the very beginning of his ministry to be the pastor of one church for his entire life and he has never lost that vision. He's stuck to it very carefully. He still sees himself primarily as the pastor of Saddleback Church. That remains his number one priority. But over the years, he and his staff have learned to have less of Rick Warren. When The Purpose Driven Life took off, and certainly... May 11 John Siebeling, lead pastor of The Life Church in Memphis, TN. May 18 Scott Wilson, pastor of The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, TX and author of Steering through Chaos. One Song from Multiple Locations More Americans Choose Internet over TV For the first time, a slight majority of Americans would choose the Internet over TV if they were forced to make a choice to use only one of the two forms of technology according to the results of a recent study by Arbitron and Edison Research. Survey participants were presented with a choice to either never again watch television, or never again access the Internet. Just over 49% wanted to keep the Internet and just over 48% preferred to keep TV. The results were based on a national survey of 1,753 persons ages 12 and over... New Spotlight Topics Exponential Generosity Brings Exponential Growth Helping Others Excel Untamed Teen Birth Rates Fell in 2008 Teen birth rates in the U.S. declined in 2008, after increasing in 2006 and 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The 2008 numbers show that the rate declined by 2% among girls 15-19, with the largest decline occurring among 18- and 19-year-olds at 4%. Pew Research Center analysis attributes the birth rate decline in all women of childbearing age to be linked to the recession. Their analysis suggests that the falloff in fertility coincides with deteriorating economic conditions, with a strong association between the magnitude of fertility change in 2008 across states and key economic indicators including changes in per capita income, housing prices and share of the...

3 US Teens Prefer Texting Over Talking Cell phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, while cell calling is a close second. Some 75% of year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in These phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens of all teens--or 88% of teen cell phone users--are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters... You can peruse 100+ past issues of Leadership Network Advance and get valuable information on a variety of ministry topics in our Archives. Select VIEW FULL ARCHIVES LIST to see what's there. Here are a few topics of interest we covered recently:

4 Acclaimed author Jeff Sheler's Prophet of Purpose is an insightful biography of Rick Warren based on three years of research. Sheler observed Warren in contexts from training pastors in Africa to conducting Saddleback Church staff meetings. Warren Bird recently interviewed Sheler about his unique access to Rick Warren, Warren's staff, and Warren's family: What does the Rick Warren story teach others, especially other church leaders, about the idea of innovation? Rick's story certainly tells pastors and church leaders that they can be committed and faithful to the gospel, to spreading a timeless message, while remaining open to new approaches and methods of ministry. Warren talks about the five purposes that drive his ministry and his church: worship, service, evangelism, discipleship and fellowship. While those purposes never change for Warren, his programs and his methods do change. In fact, he would say that they must change as needs and circumstances require. So he's always looking for a better way, a more effective and innovative way of reaching people for Christ and ministering to their needs. How would you describe the way he handles his staff as you observed it? I have found him to be a delegator. He's definitely not a micromanager -- he is not detail oriented at all. People who work with him say, "Rick soars at the 30,000 foot level. He likes to look at the big picture and he leaves it for the people on the ground to work out the details." His staff know that he trusts them, he respects their abilities, and he respects their ideas. At the same time, sometimes in unexpected situations he will step in and shake things up. He'll say, "Let's stop this plan, let's change and go in this direction." And that can be very disturbing to people when their routine gets broken. His staff sometimes refers to him as "the chief disturbing agent." Was he always a delegator with his staff? I think he's certainly grown in empowering others. He has always been one to learn from others. He's always been one to recognize his own strengths and weaknesses and to have people around him who are strong where he is weak. And he takes pride in the fact that he doesn't do it all himself and that he has needed the help of mentors over the years and continues to seek out mentors. I think he has demonstrated this aptitude from the very beginning and continues to demonstrate it. How does he allocate his time between church responsibilities and other initiatives? Rick has felt called from the very beginning of his ministry to be the pastor of one church for his entire life and he has never lost that vision. He's stuck to it very carefully. He still sees himself primarily as the pastor of Saddleback Church. That remains his number one priority. But over the years, he and his staff have learned to have less of Rick Warren. When The Purpose Driven Life took off, and certainly after starting the P.E.A.C.E. plan, Rick found himself being pulled in directions that he had never been pulled before, in terms of demands on his time and his energies. Initially that did cause some problems for him and his staff. After a while, they got together and sat down and really hashed it out. His staff told him, "Rick, you've got to let go of some of this." What would the pastor of a church of 100, of 1,000, and of 10,000 learn most from Rick Warren? Warren has been in all of those positions. Right out of seminary he captured a vision of building a church for the unchurched: people who hate going to church. So he did research in order to learn about his target audience: their needs, their motives, the reasons why they stayed away from church. His first service had about 120 people, but each step of the way he continued to learn, he continued to do research, continued to try new methods. He was willing to let go of ideas that didn't work, and willing to try something new. He was eager to learn from others. He didn't have a lot of pride in 'this is my idea and we're sticking with it." He was willing to use other people's creativity and to recognize his own strengths and weaknesses. That's a useful attitude for a pastor of a small church or a large church.

5 The conversation continues with a humorous story about Rick Warren, lessons from Warren's P.R. challenges and more. Listen to the entire 11-minute podcast from which this interview is excerpted. For another recent interview with Jeff Sheler about Prophet of Purpose, see Church Executive. Interviewer Warren Bird is research director for Leadership Network and co-author of 23 books including Viral Churches (2010), for which Rick Warren wrote the foreword. For more on Jeff Sheler's work on Prophet of Purpose, go to Insider's Take on Rick Warren Post a Comment View Comments Rate this Article: Average Rating: 0

6 SAGE: Wisdom from Those Who've "Been there, done that." Imagine sitting across the desk from some time-tested, well-seasoned ministry leaders. It's your chance to ask them the question, "What things have you done, that if given the chance, you would do differently?" You'll have that chance on May 19th! In the tradition of THE NINES and AHA!, SAGE will be a totally online event... that means no travel arrangements, no days away from the office, and no hassle. And, you can attend for free! You also have the option to upgrade to a premium registration for just $20. This cost includes a full-color program book featuring each speaker's bio and contact information, full of notes from each talk, and a group discussion question that you can utilize to continue the conversation with your staff or team. Make sure you reserve your spot today at OneHundredX Adds New Board Member We are pleased to announce that Randal (Randy) Linville has joined the Board of Trustees of OneHundredX. Randy brings more than three decades of experience and success as a commodity market trader, international business executive and corporate board leader. He brings the foresight required to help growing companies and non-profits reach their potential. Most recently, Randy served 25 years for The Scoular Company earning positions of increasing leadership and management responsibility. As President and CEO from , Randy led Scoular through a decade of extraordinary success stemming from his foresight to create a portfolio of diverse business operations. Randy resides in Leawood, Kansas, with his wife Debbie and their two children, Grace and Jacob. They enjoy an active family life that includes serving as leaders in the Church of the Resurrection and frequent traveling as a family both within the United States and abroad. Coming Up on The Show May 11 John Siebeling, lead pastor of The Life Church in Memphis, TN. With a vision to build a life-giving church where people of all races, cultures and backgrounds would worship together, John and his wife Leslie launched The Life Church in 1996 with seven people. Today, The Life Church is a thriving, multicultural church with multiple campuses that is serving people, developing leaders and impacting generations. May 18 Scott Wilson, pastor of The Oaks Fellowship in Red Oak, TX and author of Steering through Chaos. Scott Wilson has been in fulltime pastoral ministry for more than twenty years. In the last three years, The Oaks Fellowship has experienced robust growth--nearly tripling in size--and is now ministering to more than three thousand people.

7 More Americans Choose Internet over TV For the first time, a slight majority of Americans would choose the Internet over TV if they were forced to make a choice to use only one of the two forms of technology according to the results of a recent study by Arbitron and Edison Research. Survey participants were presented with a choice to either never again watch television, or never again access the Internet. Just over 49% wanted to keep the Internet and just over 48% preferred to keep TV. The results were based on a national survey of 1,753 persons ages 12 and over. When the question was first asked in 2001, only 26% said they would choose the Internet over TV. For further details about the study, visit Edison Research. Teen Birth Rates Fell in 2008 Teen birth rates in the U.S. declined in 2008, after increasing in 2006 and 2007, according to the Centers for Disease Control. The 2008 numbers show that the rate declined by 2% among girls 15-19, with the largest decline occurring among 18- and 19-year-olds at 4%. Pew Research Center analysis attributes the birth rate decline in all women of childbearing age to be linked to the recession. Their analysis suggests that the falloff in fertility coincides with deteriorating economic conditions, with a strong association between the magnitude of fertility change in 2008 across states and key economic indicators including changes in per capita income, housing prices and share of the working-age population that is employed across states. However, Valerie Huber, executive director with the National Abstinence Education Association, credits the message of abstinence for the drop in teen birth rates. US Teens Prefer Texting Over Talking Cell phone texting has become the preferred channel of basic communication between teens and their friends, while cell calling is a close second. Some 75% of year-olds now own cell phones, up from 45% in These phones have become indispensable tools in teen communication patterns. Fully 72% of all teens or 88% of teen cell phone users are text-messagers. That is a sharp rise from the 51% of teens who were texters in More than half of teens (54%) are daily texters. Among all teens, their frequency of use of texting has now overtaken the frequency of every other common form of interaction with their friends. Fully two-thirds of teen texters say they are more likely to use their cell phones to text their friends than to call them.

The Show Strategic Conversations about the Church from Leadership Network Live every Tuesday at 4pm Eastern.

The Show Strategic Conversations about the Church from Leadership Network Live every Tuesday at 4pm Eastern. Coming up on The Show: Missional Map-Making: Skills for Leading in Times of Transition by Alan