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Who Is Your Favourite Canadian Christian Blogger?

January 7, 2011 By 6 Comments

I’m on the hunt for bloggers who are writing specifically to and about Canadian church leaders.

Several mornings each week I receive a healthy dose of information and inspiration from blogCanadian church leaders who are posting about what God is up to in their part of the Great White North, but I’d love to find more writers, compile a list, and share this list throughout our network from coast to coast.

 
 

Among the bloggers I read regularly are:

o   Carey is lead pastor at Connexus Community Church, with campuses in Barrie and Orillia, Ontario. His posts are insightful and authentic.

o   Chris is worship leader at Orangeville Baptist Church in Orangeville, Ontario. Chris’ posts keep me informed where God is at work in Canada’s worship scene.

o   Kevin is a pastor at Port Hardy Baptist Church on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Few bloggers in Canada maintain his level of quality and quantity in writing.

o   Jeff is associate pastor at PORTICO in Mississauga, Ontario. His posts are concise and direct. Love that.

o   Mike is senior pastor at Kelowna Gospel Fellowship in Kelowna, British Columbia. His posts provide an important window into what God is up to in a local church in “real time”.

What blogs to and about Canadian church leaders do you read? Let me know and I’ll promote them to other Canadian church leaders across the country.

Filed Under: Canadian, Community, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Random Thoughts from a Week in Atlantic Canada

November 2, 2010 By 3 Comments

Wrapping up a week connecting with church leaders, I’ve jotted down a few reflections…

  • Looking for a sterling example of a leadership transition? Check out the baton pass from Ted Yuke to Russ Conway at Rock Church in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
  • When you think of innovative churches, you might not think of one that looks like this. But this is Brunswick Street Baptist Church in the heart of Fredericton, New Brunswick, and they are doing some cutting edge missional ministry for the homeless.
  • Brunswick Street Baptist ChurchAtlantic Baptist University in Moncton recently changed their name to Crandall University. But that was just the start of the innovations for this landmark school. Now they’re talking about taking advantage of the fact that the Global Leadership Summit in Canada will now be in late September. The dream? To leverage the Summit as part of the school curriculum.
  • One of the most effective ministry partnerships I’ve ever seen is between two leaders from different churches, different denominations and different generations. But what Laurel Buckingham of Moncton Wesleyan church and Jerry Reddy of Hillside Baptist Church have done is nothing short of remarkable. Between these two leaders and their churches they have simply resolved to work together until the Moncton region has been reached for Christ. Inspiring.
  • Richard Jackson, senior pastor at First Baptist Moncton, is the kind of guy you want to connect with if you’re looking for straight-forward yet effective bridge-building ideas. Deep Water ChurchWhat these people recently pulled off with a simple neighbourhood barbecue is impressive.
  • If you’re ever in downtown Halifax and are looking for a church willing to do almost anything to reach their community for Christ, check out this place; Deep Water Church, and meet their pastor AJ Thomas. He’s quite a guy.
  • Apohaqui is a small, picturesque rural area about an hour’s drive from Moncton, Atlantic Community Churchbest known as the birthplace of Frank McKenna. But it’s also home to a dynamic growing group of believers, Atlantic Community Church, led by a great leader, Kevin Vincent.

Driving through this part of Canada on a beautiful autumn day, you realize you’re truly in one of the most breathtakingly beautiful parts of our country.

Filed Under: Canadian, Community, Joy, Leadership Summit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

How Do You Get the Most Out of The Leadership Summit?

July 9, 2010 By 1 Comment

I’ve taken teams to The Leadership Summit for years, and one thing I’ve learned is that what you and your team get out of the Summit is proportional to what you put in to the Summit.

Some years, I’ve found myself doing little more than determining how many would be on our Summit team, making sure we were registered, and having someone coordinate transportation. In those years the Summit experience, while worthwhile, didn’t seem to gain optimal traction with our team.

But in the others years where we intentionally invested time, energy and creativity on the front end, the impact of the Summit experience was entirely different.

One year we loaded our team on a bus and headed to a Summit site in Vancouver, BC. In addition to the Summit itself we had planned a series of team-building activities, including renting tandem bikes to cycle Vancouver’s famous Stanley Park seawall, and even wrapped up the week with a catered gourmet dinner on a beach.

That was 10 years ago, and those who were there still talk about those experiences to this day.

Today, as I talk to church leaders from coast to coast, I continue to be inspired to hear the creative ways teams are maximizing the Summit experience.

I’d love to hear what you are doing/planning to do, and then I’d like to share your ideas with leaders across Canada.

Tell me what you’re planning in terms of:

  • Team building
  • Advanced reading assignments
  • Ways you’re tying the Summit into your church’s strategy
  • Prayer initiatives

I’ll feature your ideas in a future post.

Just remember; what you get out of the Summit is proportional to what you put in to the Summit!

Filed Under: Action, Leadership, Leadership Summit Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

If You Could Ask One Question To Executive Pastors

April 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

I love meeting with church leaders and finding out what they’re learning. Even more, I love exchanging these learnings  with as many Canadian church leaders as possible.

Recently, I had another opportunity to do just that. In beautiful Victoria, BC, I met with a group of executive pastors from some of Canada’s largest, most influential churches. Several of you submitted questions for me to ask these pastors, and in the coming days I’ll post some of these questions, and their responses.

Question 1:

“Did you feel adequately prepared for your work when you took this job as an executive pastor?”

The answers here were evenly split, depending on the background of the pastor. Those who came from another ministry position generally felt better prepared for the role, having already been exposed to a ministry environment.

These EPs, who had previously worked as a small groups pastor, youth pastor, or even senior pastor, spoke of the advantages of having a familiarity with the workings of a church, and of their ability to more readily establish a rapport with pastoral staff. I asked if the administrative parts of the role were a particular challenge, and most felt that they adapted quickly to these responsibilities, often leveraging the gifts of others to help.

Those who transitioned into the role from the marketplace reported having a more challenging time adapting to the role. While most instantly excelled in the administrative parts of the role, several expressed frustrations in the early days learning to lead pastors.

Application for churches: Recognize that this critical role is one of the least trained roles of any staff position, yet it carries enormous responsibilities. If you’re hiring out of the marketplace, know that the staff leadership portion of the role may be the most challenging, and be prepared to offer specific training to help transition the EP into this aspect of the position.

In what ways have you ensured the successful transition of your executive pastor?

In my next post I look at a question which was contributed regarding church staff structures.

Filed Under: Action, Canadian, Community, Leadership Tagged With: , , , , , ,