Aha! by Dave Travis Leadership Network s 2010 Large-Church Salary Survey in Progress Leadership Network s every-other-year survey of large church salaries and benefits is now underway (closing May 30, 2010). Our illustrated reports will be publicly available in September, but participating churches will have access to the results much sooner. Remember your last Aha! moment? You know, that moment of insight, that flash that opens your brain, perspective and awareness in such a way that changes the way you will do things in the future? We all have them from time to time. In fact, Leadership Network has a core value of helping leaders discover their own Aha! moments that allow them to leap beyond the norm. A few weeks ago we hosted a new, online conference featuring leaders from around the world. We had around 10,000 participants from every continent listen to 39 friends of Leadership Network share their Aha! moment in hopes that their experience could help you. In this brief article I want to highlight a representative sample of the speakers, but you can catch them all at http://aha.leadnet.org. The first is Pete Briscoe who led off the conference. Pete is the Senior Pastor at Bent Tree Bible Church in Carrollton, Texas. He shared about a time in his life when he had run out of his own strength. A friend had commented that so many people start by walking with Jesus and end up working for Jesus and running out of gas. The Show Upcoming topics on The Show: 4/13--Church Planting Networks, featuring Ed Stetzer, author of Viral Churches, and contributing editor for Christianity Today and Outreach Magazine... As Pete reflected, he realized that was him. To see his short story, click here. Jon Ferguson is one of the pastors and founders of Community Christian Church in the Chicago area. Jon shared some very practical coaching questions first shared with him by Carl George, and now incorporated in a tool Community Christian uses in all their coaching relationships. The first question is a simple relational one... Online Donation Tools for Churches and Non-Profits Church IT Resource List Multi-site Church Launch Changes The Bobby McFerrin Experience and Ours
Steering Through Chaos Great New Book by Multi-site Church Leader @scottwilson7 You and Your Friends CAN Start a Movement U.S. Church Membership Up Slightly Churches across 230 denominations in the United States increased 0.49% according to the newly released 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The report is based on membership, not actual attendance, and covers many branches and sects within Christendom. Despite the problem that 11 of the 25 largest churches did not report updated figures, the yearbook continues to provide a unique look at changes in American church life. The largest church bodies... Influx of Baby Boomers Remakes Volunteerism As the recession drives an increase in community service, baby boomers with ideas about how to help nonprofit and community organizations are remaking the face of volunteerism. Volunteerism among people older than 45 jumped 4.2% during the 12 months that ended last September, compared with 0.7% for younger people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics... 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. Poll Reveals Americans' Top Giving Priorities Feeding and sheltering the needy, and seeking cures for major diseases are Americans' top priorities for charitable giving, according to a Parade magazine survey. Here are a few topics of interest we covered recently: Asked what they would do if given $100,000 to donate, the 1,008 respondents allocated about $16,000 for the needy and more than $14,000 for disease research. Disaster relief and animal welfare were next, at about $9,300 and $8,800, respectively...
Aha! by Dave Travis Remember your last Aha! moment? You know, that moment of insight, that flash that opens your brain, perspective and awareness in such a way that changes the way you will do things in the future? We all have them from time to time. In fact, Leadership Network has a core value of helping leaders discover their own Aha! moments that allow them to leap beyond the norm. A few weeks ago we hosted a new, online conference featuring leaders from around the world. We had around 10,000 participants from every continent listen to 39 friends of LeadershipNetwork share their Aha! moment in hopes that their experience could help you. A few weeks ago we hosted a new, online conference featuring leaders from around the world. We had around 10,000 participants from every continent listen to 39 friends of Leadership Network share their Aha! moment in hopes that their experience could help you. In this brief article I want to highlight a representative sample of the speakers, but you can catch them all at http://aha.leadnet.org. The first is Pete Briscoe who led off the conference. Pete is the Senior Pastor at Bent Tree Bible Church in Carrollton, Texas. He shared about a time in his life when he had run out of his own strength. A friend had commented that so many people start by walking with Jesus and end up working for Jesus and running out of gas. As Pete reflected, he realized that was him. To see his short story, click here. Jon Ferguson is one of the pastors and founders of Community Christian Church in the Chicago area. Jon shared some very practical coaching questions first shared with him by Carl George, and now incorporated in a tool Community Christian uses in all their coaching relationships. The first question is a simple relational one: How are you doing?
The second is Where are you winning?, because everyone needs to celebrate the progress they are making. The third is What challenges are you having? which gets to the heart of helping another. And the rest? Well, you will just have to watch it here. Shelly Juskiewicz is one of the pastors at Mariners Church in Southern California and besides the way she pronounced Aha! as ahhhhh, I loved her message. Shelly s Aha! came after a mission trip to Peru where she actually had an ouch moment before her Aha! moment. As Shelly was reflecting on her positive experience in Peru, God spoke to her and said Why don t you do it where you live now? The rest of her inspiring story demonstrates how each of us can have an impact every day. In fact, following Shelly s example, I bought sodas and snacks for a group of soldiers sitting near me in the airport newsstand. See the rest of her great story here. While unknown to most of our U.S. readers, Martin Cave is a pastor in Stavanger, Norway, who is involved in our Church Planting Network project in Europe. Martin had asked himself: What kind of shock do people need to see to have people ask questions about Jesus and believe in him? A few years ago Martin s church set up a tent in the middle of their town square and began to offer prayers for healing. They had never done anything like this, but people began to stop in and ask for prayer. With those prayers, many have been healed. And then they asked about Jesus and began to come into the church. We are living in the book of Acts here, I remember him telling me. Go hear Martin s story here.
I close with one of the many stories that have come from our Missional Renaissance Leadership Community. Churches in these communities are forming partnerships with businesses and community agencies to help transform their communities. The Aha! video to watch here comes from Michelle Woodruff, a volunteer in a small town church. It describes how the church worked with their school system to identify children vulnerable to hunger issues in their community. Through the Blessing in a Backpack project, a host of volunteers, including the church s children and youth group, pack nutritious food so that hunger can be reduced in their community. Go watch the video to be inspired to launch your own project here. Space doesn t permit me to highlight all of the others but I encourage you to take a few minutes each day to watch a few videos on your own. I guarantee you ll be inspired and enriched. I am also pleased to announce that our next online conference experience will be May 19th. We call it SAGE. SAGE will feature 35 leaders addressing the topic: If I had to do it all over again, I would... You can register and get more information at http://sage.leadnet.org. Anyone can attend for free. Alternatively, a premium registration includes a schedule, program book and speaker notes to enhance your experience for $20. (Last time one of our sponsors also threw in a free digital book to boot.) We would like to thank all our sponsors for Aha!--Jossey-Bass publishers, Zondervan and Lightcast media for their support. I hope you can join us in May for SAGE. Dave Travis is Managing Director of Leadership Network. Connect with him at www.leadnet.org/davetravis.
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Leadership Network s 2010 Large-Church Salary Survey in Progress Leadership Network s every-other-year survey of large church salaries and benefits is now underway (closing May 30, 2010). Our illustrated reports will be publicly available in September, but participating churches will have access to the results much sooner. What to expect in the 2010 reports Salaries for all major church roles, clustered by church size ranges Economic outlook for the remainder of 2010 NEW--Lean staff analysis (churches that spend 35% or less of total budget on staff costs) NEW--analysis isolating African-American churches, Canadian churches, and churches and roles sharing other key characteristics. Advantages of participating Participants can attend a private online webinar for an early look at the findings and for Q&A session with the research director. Participants receive an advance copy of the report before it s made public. Participants receive actual data from survey group (with all specific identifiers removed) so they can see how they compare to other churches of similar size. Who should participate Churches with attendance (not membership) of at least 1,000 adults and children Churches located in the U.S. and Canada How to participate Only one survey per church should be completed (including multi-site churches). Typically the Executive Pastor, Business Administrator or Director of Human Resources fills out the survey. Complete the survey at http://tiny.cc/2010salary prior to May 30, 2010 Preview the survey questions here http://media.leadnet.org/salarysurvey/2010preview.pdf Questions? Send them to research@leadnet.org with subject line 2010 Salary Survey The Show Upcoming topics on The Show: 4/13--Church Planting Networks, featuring Ed Stetzer, author of Viral Churches, and contributing editor for Christianity Today and Outreach Magazine. 4/20--Skills for Leading in Times of Transition, featuring Alan Roxburgh, author of Missional Mapmaking. 4/27--Seven Secrets for Transitioning into a New (or Expanded) Facility, featuring Sergio De La Mora, Cornerstone Church, San Diego and Pierre du Plessis at The Father's House, Rochester, NY.
U.S. Church Membership Up Slightly Churches across 230 denominations in the United States increased 0.49% according to the newly released 2010 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches. The report is based on membership, not actual attendance, and covers many branches and sects within Christendom. Despite the problem that 11 of the 25 largest churches did not report updated figures, the yearbook continues to provide a unique look at changes in American church life. The largest church bodies are: Denomination Members % Change 1. The Catholic Church 68,115,001 up 1.49% 2. Southern Baptist Convention 16,228,438 down 0.24% 3. The United Methodist Church 7,853,987 down 0.98% 4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 5,974,041 up 1.71% 5. The Church of God in Christ 5,499,875 no membership updates reported 6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. 5,000,000 no membership updates reported 7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America 4,633,887 down 1.62% 8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. 3,500,000 no membership updates reported 9. Assemblies of God (ranked 10 last year) 2,899,702 up 1.27% 10. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (ranked 9 last year) 2,844,952 down 3.28% Influx of Baby Boomers Remakes Volunteerism As the recession drives an increase in community service, baby boomers with ideas about how to help nonprofit and community organizations are remaking the face of volunteerism. Volunteerism among people older than 45 jumped 4.2% during the 12 months that ended last September, compared with 0.7% for younger people, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Among those older workers, charity and volunteerism experts say, people in their 40s, 50s, and 60s are increasingly seeking to use their professional skills as volunteers, eschewing office and administrative tasks for roles in marketing, publicity, fund raising, and management. Poll Reveals Americans' Top Giving Priorities Feeding and sheltering the needy, and seeking cures for major diseases are Americans' top priorities for charitable giving, according to a Parade magazine survey. Asked what they would do if given $100,000 to donate, the 1,008 respondents allocated about
$16,000 for the needy and more than $14,000 for disease research. Disaster relief and animal welfare were next, at about $9,300 and $8,800, respectively. The survey found three distinct types of givers who are driving a current "compassion boom" that counters the past trend of less volunteering during tough economic times: 1. Yeppies are young, engaged problem solvers who actively use social media and are open to a variety of causes. 2. Rapid Responders focus on specific, often local causes. 3. Mission-minded are largely older people who are motivated by their faith.