The second breakout session that I attended was led by Jason Wilson, the Executive Pastor at New Spring… Staffing for Success.

Some highlights for me…

• Their staffing ratio is one staff person to every one hundred weekend attenders. The typical staff/attendee ratio in their area is 1/50.

• They follow Bill Hybels approach to hiring (we do too at Northgate – read more about it here). Hires are based on:
  • Character – is this a person of integrity who loves God?
  • Competence – can this person do the job that needs to be done and do it well?
  • Chemistry – will this person get along with the team and the church?

• When hiring they always look at their volunteers first!

• When you find someone you want to work on the team… go after them hard! It doesn’t matter what they’re doing or what they may have to leave… if God has laid them on your heart and they meet the requirements of the “Three C’s”… PURSUE THEM RELENTLESSLY!

• Performance evaluations – New Spring does them once per year, but is moving to a bi-annual evaluation format. (For the Northgate evaluation format click here).

• Vision, not need, drives the hiring process. This is HUGE! The reality is that there is SO MUCH that we could do, but that should not be what drives our hiring! We MUST hire based on where we are supposed to go and do! This means that some needs will go unmet. “Staff according to your vision.”

• The roles of the New Spring staff are always changing! As the church continues to evolve so must the roles of those serving her! The question that the leadership is always asking is, “Where is the best spot for this staff member in the current context of church life?”

• Currently New Spring has 55 full-time staff and 18 part-time staff. Do not underestimate the value of part-time staff. (We have awesome part-timers @ Northgate: Terri Noble, Kim Kibler, Mike McGrath, Traci Wells, Barb Ettinger, Sue Ellen Franclemont, Candy Gilbert, Carissa Helsdon, and John Dayton – I love you guys!)

• Staff development is a high priority for New Spring! They do it through personal accountability and an emphasis on continued learning (books, conferences, etc.). How do we do it at Northgate?
  • All staff lunch every Monday – all paid staff is invited to eat and laugh together from 12:30 – 1:30.
  • Learning together (Management Team) – monthly book studies; conferences
  • Laughing together (Management Team and sometimes other office staff) – every other month we leave the campus for a “Laugh Event”. Thus far we’ve done things like play laser tag, go ice skating, and eat lunch together @ Margaritas
  • Quarterly retreats – every quarter the Management Team takes off on a Sunday afternoon to discuss a “BIG” topic (e.g. core values; ministry strategy, etc.) and returns on Monday evening.
  • Monthly all day, off-site, worship planning with the Management Team.

This was a great session led by a great leader! Thanks Jason for the great work you do at New Spring!

The first breakout session that I attended at the Unleashed conference was for senior pastors only. It was a Q & A with Perry.

The highlights from this session…

• As the church grows your immediate circle of fellowship will get smaller. There is no way that you can be intimately connected with every person in the church. The role of the Senior pastor is to make sure that everyone is cared for, but not to try to care, personally, for each one. For Perry, most of his time is spent with his management team and his family.

• New Spring church is closed on Friday too! I remember when we made the decision to close the church on Friday, it was not a super popular idea… but when do staff get a weekend? It was nice to hear that another church is doing the same thing! People have asked me, “What if there’s an emergency?” I ask, “What if there’s an emergency in the middle of the night?” We are not a 24 hour office. We have an emergency phone number on the answering machine for those situations.

• Perry said, “I own the vision of this church and cast it in a strong and encouraging way.”

• I asked him what role his blog played in his ministry. He said the blog allows him to cast vision for the church and to share what he’s learning with other pastors. He also said that while not everyone in the church reads his blog, the ones that do share what they’ve read with those who don’t. On a personal note, the same thing is happening at Northgate… those who do read this blog are sharing it what they’ve read with others in the hallways, etc.! Thank you for spreading the word!

• At New Spring they have defined “evangelism” as “bringing someone to church.” They base this on John 1 where Andrew brought Peter to Jesus, and Philip brought Nathaniel to Jesus. Interesting.

• Perry’s take on criticism…
  • It hurts.
  • “I don’t handle it well because I’m so invested in the vision of this church. When people criticize the vision of this church and then say ‘Don’t take it personally,’ it’s like saying, ‘Your kid’s ugly, but don’t take it personally.’”
  • “The bigger your church gets the more criticism it will get.”
  • There is a difference between criticism that focuses on me and criticism that focuses on the church. I totally agree with this! I can handle when people criticize me, but I can’t handle when people criticize the church. It’s the difference between telling me that I’m ugly and telling me that Sherri is ugly. If you tell me that I’m ugly it may hurt me, but if you tell me that Sherri’s ugly it may hurt you!
  • Perry and the New Spring staff have put structures in place that protect him from unhealthy doses of unnecessary criticism.

Good stuff from a great leader.

A lot of people are criticizing Perry and may not like his methodology, but let me say two things:

1) He does not violate any biblical teaching

2) What he’s doing is working. Hundreds of people are coming to know Jesus.

Way to go Perry and New Spring church! Thank you for putting it out there and sharing what you’re learning!

As noted earlier… the Unleashed conference was great!

There were two main sessions and then a TON of breakout sessions to choose from.

I went to the two main sessions and then to a breakout for “Senior Pastors ONLY” and then to a breakout called “Staffing for Success.”

Notes from the two main sessions, led by Perry Noble.

Main Session #1 – “Go for it”

• The goal of the church is to “Make the name of Jesus famous!” Four things we must do as we seek to accomplish this goal… (taken from Matthew 17:1-9 – the story of the Transfiguration)

• We must be creative as we tell the story of Jesus. Perry said, “The transfiguration was a creative way to demonstrate who He (i.e. Jesus) was” (see v. 2). Jesus was always creating environments where people could discover who He was (e.g. miracles)

• We must look beyond ourselves. Making the name of Jesus famous will require that we think less of ourselves and more about others! Perry asked this question, “Do you want a church where everybody knows everybody or everybody knows Jesus?” I know what kind of church I want to be a part of… a church where everybody knows Jesus!

• We must pay attention! As soon as Peter saw what was happening to Jesus he started talking… and then a voice, the voice of God interrupted him and said, “This is my Son… listen to Him.” When God starts working, this is the time to LISTEN! When Peter listened, Jesus said two things… 1) “Get up” and 2) “Don’t be afraid”. Perry talked about the fact that when you “Get up” and move down the mountain to make the name of Jesus famous… people are going to oppose you! At that point, “Don’t be afraid!” Pay attention to what Jesus is saying and share it with others, and when opposed… don’t be afraid!

• We must focus on what matters. After the whole transfiguration experience the disciples looked up and “they saw only Jesus” (Mat. 17:8). Unfortunately we often see more than “just Jesus.” If we’re going to accomplish the goal of making the name of Jesus famous then we must limit our focus to the things that matter… “Christ and Christ alone!”

Main Session #2 – “The Leadership Challenge”

• “The myth about growing churches is that it’s all about style.” Perry shot this one down and said, “If a church is growing it’s not by accident… it’s about leadership. If a church is growing, godly leadership is in place.”
  

He drew four lessons from the life of Moses:

• #1 Moses simply listened to God and obeyed.
  • “Leadership is as easy as listening to God.”
  • “If you’re the Senior Pastor time with God is the most important thing you do.”

• #2 Moses did not compromise the vision.
  • There will always be someone who will ask you to “change” the vision. In Moses’ case it was Pharaoh.
  • Often times the “ask” will come from a powerful person or a “Big-Giver.” Perry said, “You will either be a prostitute or a prophet. A prostitute performs a service for a paycheck, but a prophet says, ‘Thus sayeth the Lord.”
  • The vision is not mine to compromise… it comes from God to the pastor for the church.

• #3 Moses didn’t try to do it all.
  • The problem of many senior pastors is  that “we  think we’re needed” for everything! IT’S NOT TRUE! The church can get along without the “interference” of the senior pastor in every decision!
  • Senior pastor… “Surround yourself with godly people who can carry out the vision that God gives you.”
  • RECRUIT THE BEST PEOPLE to help carry out the vision! (volunteers and staff)
  • “If you take God or the team out of the picture everything falls apart.” In other words, though the vision for the church is given to the leader it is NOT all about him/her! If God or the team is absent… there’s trouble!

• #4 Moses was willing to attempt the impossible.
  • “We often want a vision that’s safe. That insults God!”
  • “If it’s God’s will, it’s God’s bill!” GO AND DO WHAT GOD IS CALLING YOU TO DO!