As you may know, North Point is opening two new campuses this year, Watermarke Church and Gwinnett Church. Jeff Henderson, campus pastor of Gwinnett Church, shares some of what he is learning during this process in the post below. We thought this would be helpful if you are leading through uncharted territory in your own job right now. Don’t forget to leave a comment to share what you are learning along your journey.
From Jeff:
Recently, I had the privilege of speaking at Soul City Church, a new church in downtown Chicago. Soul City was started a few months ago by my good friends Jeanne and Jarrett Stevens. What I experienced Sunday was so encouraging to me for several reasons.
First, planting a church is extremely hard work. For that matter, starting anything new is difficult. To start something like this from scratch is almost impossible.
Second, I walked away reflecting on a few things for our upcoming launch this Fall. Here are just a few of my takeaways.
1. Leverage your experience but don’t depend on it.
Both Jarrett and Jeanne have worked for Willow Creek and North Point Ministries. This provided great experience for both of them and they have leveraged what they learned. But they didn’t depend on it. They have depended on God to provide. This might seem like an obvious choice, but isn’t it easy how we sometimes, maybe unknowingly, lean in on our experience, talent and previous success. All of that is important but it can also prevent God from doing a fresh, new work in our lives. This was an important reminder for me. I am so blessed to have learned a great deal during my time at Buckhead Church. I definitely want to leverage that experience. At the same time, I want God to do something fresh and new in me. This will only happen if I depend on Him, and not my background or training.
2. Fight the voice of doubt by praying BIG.
The Soul City Church team has had plenty of reasons to doubt whether this was going to work. Doubts aren’t a sign of weakness as much as it is sign that you’re not denying reality. But you have to fight the doubt. You have to get up and push back when it knocks you down. You do this by praying BIG. One of Soul City’s big prayers was over the possibility of leasing a warehouse space in downtown Chicago. As the pictures below can prove, God showed up in a remarkable way. Sure, the doubts are still there but prayer and praying BIG has a way of shoving doubt aside. If you’re starting something new, you should expect the doubt. It’s a part of it. Recognize it when it arrives and let it force you on your knees. Pray. Pray. Pray.
3. Ask for help.
Soul City’s volunteers are beyond passionate. In fact, I didn’t think anyone was going to leave Sunday night after the final service of the day. Many of them had been there all day. Part of the reason for this is that Jarrett, Jeanne, Amy Lawlor and the core leadership team have made ‘personal asks’. They have personally asked people to serve. They have asked for help, and they celebrate when people say yes. During the welcome at the two Sunday services, Jeanne called out new volunteers by name who were serving for the first time that day, and everyone cheered. No wonder their volunteers are so committed. To borrow a phrase from the Auburn Tigers, they’re ALL IN.
Driving away from Soul City Church on Sunday night, I was once again reminded of the power, beauty and hope of the local church. It’s also why I’m ready for October 2nd to get here.
This Sunday, the North Point campuses will promote a total of 1,400 children from our Waumba Land (preschool) environments to our UpStreet (elementary) environments. This process involves training many new and returning leaders.
Below is a fun video that our children’s ministry team shared on Inside North Point Kids earlier this week. They used it last year and are using it again this year to remind new and returning small group leaders of a few important things. We pray your back to school season is going smoothly, and that God blesses your church abundantly with the right leaders this year!
This year, North Point will launch two new campuses. In light of the extra work involved in opening these locations, we decided to take a year off from Drive. We believe this decision will enable us to wholeheartedly invest in two new areas of our city and learn some new things in the process.
We’ll be back! In the meantime, thanks for being on the road with us.
We will be live streaming the first Main Session of Drive 11 online. Led by Andy Stanley, this session will be packed with worship, teaching, and of course, a few surprises. Join us Monday, March 28 at 7:30 p.m. by clicking the link below.
We are pretty sure you’ll feel like you are in overdrive during your time with us. That’s why we created a chance for eight groups to take a load off in a Drive Rest Stop during conference breaks. In Rest Stops, groups will downshift between sessions to have a snack, catch up on Facebook and Twitter, and start to process all they are learning at Drive. Each Rest Stop will include beverage and snack service and be hosted by the staff of North Point. To be eligible to win a Rest Stop, simply register your group of 10 or more on or before February 28. If you register by the deadline, then there could be a Rest Stop with your group’s name on it!
Rick Holliday is one of the original six staff members who founded North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, Georgia. Currently, Rick serves as the Executive Director of Administration for North Point Ministries, Inc. (NPMI). In his role he oversees finances, facilities, resources, information technology, web services, office management, and personnel for both NPMI campuses.
I am getting excited about Drive 11! I always look forward to talking with other leaders about practical church issues. I suppose that makes us church geeks, but if you have to be geeky about something, I can’t think of anything more important than the local church.
We have added several brand new Church Administration topics in order to focus on some of the issues that we discuss at North Point on a regular basis. I think a lot of people will benefit from the breakouts Measuring What You Manage and Managing The Tensions of Ministry.
We measure a ton of stuff and use the resulting data to create more relevant and helpful environments. In the breakout, Measuring What You Manage, we will show you what we track on a consistent basis and what we do with the information that we gather. Numbers aren’t everything, but they definitely tell part of the story.
If you’ve been to Drive in the past, then you’ve definitely heard us talk about tensions to manage versus problems to solve. When you attend Managing The Tensions of Ministry, you can expect us to dive deep into the specific issues we experience and to hear a real-life view of how we’ve chosen to manage these issues. Remember, not everything is a problem to solve and living with tension can sometimes be a good thing.
There will also be breakouts offered on the topics of staff development and the employment process. These topics are always popular. For most of us, staffing costs represent the largest single expense in our budget each year.
In these breakouts, you’ll hear us talk about how we find incredible staff and how and why we let people go from time to time. Hiring well and firing when necessary is how you build a dynamic team.
If personnel decisions are in your future, you might want to check out:
Creating a Healthy Staff Culture
Making Tough Calls
Starting with the Right People
Apprenticing the Next Generation
Building a Strong Staff Team One Person at a Time.
Whatever breakouts you choose to attend, we look forward to hosting you and learning with you at Drive 11.
Did you know?
1. We have added a fourth main session-BONUS!
2. You can attend any pre-conference session for only $29.
3. Some of the LIVE Showcases are already FULL.
4. Drive 11 attendees will receive a 20 percent discount on all North Point resources while at the event.
Reserved parking. Front-row seats at all main sessions. A private lunch. North Point Store gift cards. Meal vouchers. Custom swag.
Meet the 10 Drive 11 VIPs who will roll in style at this year’s conference:
Dave Baxter from Northridge Church in Rochester, NY
Linda Ehardt from Lifepoint Church in Fredericksburg, VA
Eric Waldrop from The Summit Church in Kernersville, NC
Andy Gwak from All Nations Community Church in Lake Forest Park, WA
D.C. Choi from Binnerri Church in Richardson, TX
Archie Mason from Central Baptist Church in Jonesboro, AR
Mary Weeks from Salem First Church of the Nazarene in Salem, OR
Stephen Hower from St. John Church in Ellisville, MO
Cynthia Howe from Biltmore Baptist Church in Arden, NC
Billie Lang from Delaware Grace Brethren Church in Delaware, OH
Congratulations, winners! Of course, we consider every Drive guest to be a VIP. In fact, we wish that we could offer all of you the Ultimate Drive Experience. Since time and budget won’t allow for that, we chose to do for 10 of you what we wish we could do for all of you. Andy recently spoke on this principle of “One, not everyone.” Below is a brief description of his talk. You may click here to download it.
If I let you do it, I have to let everyone do it. If I give this to you, I’ll have to give this to everyone. Sound familiar? You might have grown up hearing this from your teachers, parents, or coaches. They tried to be fair. So, the question is, Is it more important to be fair or to do good? In this message, Andy explains why you should do for “One, Not Everyone.”
Recently, North Point Ministries, Inc., announced some exciting changes. In 2011, our network of campuses will grow from three to five. In addition, current staff will take on new leadership roles.
This news complements two breakouts offered at Drive 11: Leading Through Change and Mentoring the Next Generation of Staff Leadership. In Leading Through Change, we’ll talk about the potential to earn greater trust and generate momentum when leading through a season of change. Mentoring the Next Generation of Staff Leadership will focus on creating a culture where the next generation of leaders will thrive. Certainly, the content from those two breakouts is applicable to us right now.
Read on below to get all the details straight from Andy.
Hi Everybody,
As we begin another year of ministry together, I wanted to update you on several exciting changes. As you know, we are gearing up to launch a new church in Gwinnett County. Our goal is to have services underway in rented facilities by this fall. Jeff Henderson is transitioning out of his role as Campus Pastor at Buckhead Church to take on the role of Campus Pastor for Gwinnett Church. Billy Phenix will be replacing him at Buckhead.
On the other side of town, we are in the process of transitioning Watermarke Church to official campus status. Watermarke is our strategic partner in Canton. Under the leadership of Gavin Adams, Watermarke has grown to over 1,000 attendees. By giving them campus status, we will be providing additional resources, equipping them to reach their community more quickly. The first step in that direction will be to connect Watermarke to our Sunday message delivery system. This transition should be completed by Easter.
All that to say, in a matter of a few months, we will have gone from three to five Atlanta-area campuses. As the organization continues to grow, my role continues to change. This past fall it became apparent that I needed to hand off some responsibilities. Until now, I have filled the role of Campus Pastor for our Alpharetta campus, as well as giving oversight to the entire organization. And then there’s that preaching thing I do from time to time.
So, in October, I asked Joel Thomas to begin transitioning out of his role as Director of Adult Ministries and to gear up to step into the role of Campus Pastor for North Point Community Church. That transition is complete as of this month.
Joel is certainly no stranger to the North Point family. He has been a part of North Point for almost thirteen years. Both his wife and his sister serve on our family ministry staff. Joel is a great leader and communicator. But he brings something else to the mix. Joel is a great pastor.
In the meantime, I’m not going anywhere. With Joel in the mix, I’ll be able to devote the lion’s share of my attention to preaching and giving overall leadership to our growing network of churches. Please pray for Joel, Billy, and Jeff as they transition into their new roles. Pray for the Watermarke team as they transition to campus status. And pray that God will keep us on mission as we continue to create churches that unchurched people love to attend.
It could be you! If you register for Drive 11 on or before January 31, 2011, then you will be eligible to win the Ultimate Drive Experience. A random drawing will take place on February 1, 2011, to determine ten winners. Each winner will receive the following prize package in addition to the exciting programming already in store for all Drive 11 guests:
• A special welcome gift with one-of-a-kind Drive Conference swag
• A reserved VIP parking space
• VIP seating at all main sessions
• A VIP lunch with the other winners hosted by a North Point staff member
• A $50 voucher for off-campus meals
• A $20 North Point store gift card*
If you register by January 31, you will not only be eligible to win the Ultimate Drive Experience, you will also get the lower rate of $279 to attend. The registration rate increases to $329 on February 2, 2011. So sign up today, and you could be one of ten guests who has the Ultimate Drive Experience!
*Drive 11 attendees will receive a special 20% discount on all North Point resources, so this gift card may be used along with the discount!
