An Open Letter to PCC

Dear PCC Friends,

Right now, PCC is coming out of 'summer' mode and into the high-speed, fast paced, quickly changing environment of the fall. This, of course, leads directly into the crazy chaos of January, when we normally see the already growing numbers of Christmas explode into something between overwhelming and awesome, all at the same time.

Add to that 'normal' cycle the gutsy move we've made to launch Project Freedom, the ever-controversial 'Christmas falls on a Sunday this year', and a couple of exciting staff changes (all good), and we have the makings of a whirlwind. Or maybe it will feel more like a mighty rushing wind, as the Holy Spirit blows with a force powerful enough to change lives on a huge scale right in front of our eyes and through our church.

I believe that's what He has been preparing for us. And I think we'll see that in the next few months.

If you are a part of PCC, I want you to see it, too. This coming Sunday, September 25, at 6pm at the Powhatan Campus, we'll have a CORE event. In 90 minutes together, we'll have some worship, share some information, and we'll enjoy some Q&A, as always. Refreshments will be there, too. (your kids are welcome to come, but we won't have any childcare).

I hope you can and will make it as we only do this 3 times a year and The CORE is a part of our strategy to keep you up to date. If you can't come in person, we'll live stream it at www.pccwiredlive.net. You can even ask your questions there in real time.

See you Sunday,

Brian

Finished Book 1: QBQ

I had gotten this book at the conference I attended in Tennessee a couple of weeks ago (see my post at http://tinyurl.com/3ftkw8m). It looked intriguing, had an unusual title and it came from an organization I highly respected - they GAVE it to me, so I figured it would be helpful to read it. Plus it was very small - a quick read.

QBQ (which stand for the Question behind the Question) is a book all about personal accountability. It forces you to take a hard look at yourself - your behaviors, attitudes and thoughts - so that you ask questions that will prompt solutions, not endless complaining and fingerpointing. It's basic premise rests on a 3 legged stool:

1) Your questions should start with What or How, not who or when. Instead of asking 'who's fault is it that this wasn't completed' or 'when am I going to get the budget I need', the QBQ would ask 'What can I do to help resolve this' or 'How can I be a part of the solution'.

2) Your question should always contain an 'I'. How can I help. What can I do.

3) Finally, your questions should always contain an action. Words like do, solve, help, tackle, overcome, contribute, make the team better, make it happen, achieve the goal, accomplish, etc. are all a part of the QBQ.

There is no single QBQ. There are lots of examples of them, though, that John Miller poses in a helpful chapter near the end.

I found the book a helpful reminder of my personal responsibility for my own life, my leadership, and my circle of influence. It was a little choppy, not particularly well written and lacked some continuity. It WAS helpful, but if it had been much longer, would probably not have been worth the the read.

As it was, with only 2-3 hours of reading time, it was a worthwhile investment, especially since it was free.

Guess that wasn't a rousing endorsement, huh?

Tribes

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading Seth Godin's book, Tribes. A short book, but packed with really great help for leaders who are passionate about doing something significant in our techno-savvy world. It was really helpful to see how the role of leadership is to help connect people who share a common cause or vision. It was a new way of thinking about leadership for me. A few notable quotes include:

"If you’re not uncomfortable in your work as a leader, it’s almost certain you’re not reaching your potential as a leader."

"finally you begin to realize that the safest thing you can do feels risky and the riskiest thing you can do is play it safe."

"So great leaders don’t try to please everyone. Great leaders don’t water down their message in order to make the tribe a bit bigger. Instead, they realize that a motivated, connected tribe in the midst of a movement is far more powerful than a larger group could ever be."

"Settling is no fun. It’s a malignant habit, a slippery slope that takes you to mediocrity. Managers settle all the time. They don’t really have a choice because there are too many competing priorities. Heretics don’t settle. They’re not good at that. Managers who are stuck, who compromise to keep things quiet, who battle the bureaucracy every day—they’re the ones who settle. What else can they do? The art of leadership is understanding what you can’t compromise on."

(these are just a few, I had many!)

I recommend Tribes to anyone who is a leader or wants to be a leader.

The CORE and Strategy

I loved being able to do a Q & A time last night at the CORE meeting. In case you didn't know, this is the gathering of PCC folks where we share info about where we're headed, what's been going on and update changes, etc. We do this 3 or 4 times a year, and the next one is scheduled for Sunday, September 25, at 6pm.

Anyway, during the Q & A, there were a few questions that warrant a little more clarification.

First, the easy one. The PCC Concert raised $3,724. Every dollar of that will go to helping us pave the parking lot.

Second, I was asked a great question about strategy that was something like 'Given the growth of PCC, what is our strategy as we look out in the 3, 5, or even 10 year range?' I think I fumbled the answer a bit. Let me see if I can clarify.

Part of the culture of PCC, and one of the things that is a signature for us, is that we really do try to stay in tune with the winds of the Spirit of God. I know that sounds churchy and maybe even over-the-top, but it's true. We have, so many times, done things that were counterintuitive, with very little preparation, simply because we had a strong sense that God was moving. When we first went to 2 services, the auditorium at the High School was not even half full, but we sensed it was time. When we moved into the High School. When we bought our land. The launching of Westchester. Recently, I would put our Saturday night service into this list. And there are other decisions, too, but you get the point.

This is not an argument for intentional poor planning that we conveniently blame on God. I think it's smart to have an idea of where we think God is taking us. For PCC, I would say I think God is leading us to more campuses, more venues at our existing campuses (won't it be neat with WC has 2 services, Powhatan has 5 weekend services, etc.). I feel a pretty strong tug to begin doing some preliminary work to the north and to the west on that. And I could easily see a Sunday evening service and another Sunday morning service or two at Powhatan, as well as 2 services at WC. I can see us begin to explore different stylistic choices - a country or bluegrass venue, for instance. Or a cafe style venue.

Yes, there are hundreds of unanswered questions with all of these options. But that's the point of following God. We are on a need to know basis.

My foundation for this kind of thinking is not entirely limited to faith-based thinking. The secular world makes a similar argument, albeit one that does not overtly include God.

Jack Welsh, the legendary former CEO of GE, wrote the best management book I've ever read, and one of the best leadership books I have, called Winning. He has an entire chapter on strategy and here are some notable quotes:

"Forget the arduous, intellectualized number crunching and data grinding that gurus say you have to go through to get strategy right. Forget the scenario planning, yearlong studies, and hundred-plus-page reports. They're time consuming and expensive and you just don't need them.

"In real life, strategy is actually very straightforward. You pick a general direction and implement like hell."

"The more you think about it, and the more you grind down into the data and the details, the more you tie yourself in knots about what to do. That's not strategy, that's suffering."

"Most managers I know see strategy as I do - an approximate course of action that you frequently revisit and redefine..."

Welch goes on to lay out a very simple, three pronged approach:

1) "Come up with a big aha for your business - a smart, realistic, relatively fast way to gain sustainable competitive advantage."

2) "Put the right people in the right jobs to drive the big aha forward."

3) "Relentlessly seek out the best practices to achieve your big aha, whether inside or out, adapt them, and continually improve them."

All that is to say, our strategy is to be relentlessly focused on our niche: reaching people who don't go to church through innovation, technology, creativity, excellence, and rooted firmly in the Bible. Our strategy is multi-site, multi-venue, and completely following the winds of the Spirit.

That's the best I know about strategy at PCC.

A Pastor's Tough Call

I've spent a lot of time in the past few weeks with a very good friend of mine, who is the pastor of another church. Like me, he's a church planter and we share the same heartbeat: to help every person come to know who Jesus is and help them know how great church life can be.

But church life is not always great. Especially for the Senior Pastor.

No time is that more true than when he must make controversial decisions regarding the staff and leadership of the church. I have been there several times. I have had to let go of staff members for poor performance, bad behavior, and - once or twice - because their job simply grew beyond their ability to do it. I've had to lay people off because giving was poor and we just didn't have the money to keep them. I've had to cut full-time folks to part-time status for the same reason.

At PCC, our Steering Team - which is like an Elder team - is always involved in these decisions, coaching and advising me. Occasionally, other staff members help, too, if they are the manager of someone else. Sometimes, they are the ones who carry the decision out. I know it weighs on others, too. But it always weighs on the Senior or Lead Pastor, regardless of who has the exit interview.

Some argue that letting a staff member go is not Christ-like. With all due respect, a person who says such a thing simply doesn't know much about the job we do or the calling we have. Let me explain.

We are pastors, leaders, communicators. And, we are also stewards. We are entrusted the allocation of resources - time, energy, and yes, personnel.* These resources are scarce. Further, I take Matthew 25:14-30 very seriously. I consider it a mandate to me as a Christ follower and a church leader. We must be responsible with whatever - and whomever - is entrusted to us. Sometimes that means we have to make a change.

For my friend and colleague, this is a new experience. The sleepless nights, the agony, the second-guessing. Then there are the people who can be so brutal in their judgment and so mean in their tone. I've been there. I've taken those calls, gotten those emails, had those meetings, and watched attendance decline. I know the feeling of coming home feeling so beat up...wondering why I continue to torture myself...crying out to God for some kind of relief.

Which is where we actually find the solution. Slowly, a new day dawns. We get up every day and gruel our way through the difficult season, and then we wake up and find.......Church is fun again. I enjoy coming in. I can't wait for Sunday. I'm EXCITED because I know God is up to something NEW! People are coming to know Jesus and lives are being transformed and marriages are being made and restored and a sense of life and joy and energy and passion and vision has returned - to the church and to my soul!

It will happen. But you have to work through the valley.

Pastor, make the tough call you've been avoiding. Most of us let it linger far too long (me included). And we end up stalled and stuck and leading our church to no-man's land. Pull the trigger. I know it's hard. Yes, there is a price you'll pay. But you can't stay where you are. Move into the valley so that you can journey towards new life again.

I'm praying today for the pastors I know making difficult choices and facing a certain burden which very few understand. But I do. And God does, too.

*NOTE: Yes, others are involved with that stewardship. But in a church like the one I lead, the buck stops with the Senior Pastor. He will carry a disproportionate share of decision-making burden, and he will get the brunt of the disgruntled church-member feedback.

Cause or Organization?

One of the more tricky areas in leading PCC has to do with the nature of the church itself. Let me explain.

When we started our church, we were very nimble. Decisions were made immediately, in real time, and executed right away. It didn't take long for changes to take effect. This is important, because churches who do not respond to the changing environment around them quickly become irrelevant, which leads to decline. Why? Because all of us have a finite amount of time. Time is precious and valuable to us, and most of us choose to put our time into activities that bring the most value. And for an activity to be valuable, it must be relevant. Or, to put it in a linear form:

Relevant = Valuable = Time Investment

Relevance is a core value at PCC. We believe that God is alive and interacting with people and the world, and that He speaks through the Bible, Prayer, Circumstances and the Church. When we gather for Church and examine the Bible together, we can help people have a meaningful encounter with God that is valuable when we respond to culture in a relevant way.

I read an article about this that would be quite helpful for me in bringing some clarity to this conversation. It poses a question: "Is your church an organization or a cause?" I really liked this quote:

"In a “cause with organization,” however, the leadership’s emotional commitment to the organization itself is always subordinate to the emotional commitment to the cause. Decisions are made rigorously around expanding the cause-outcomes. Vision is visceral. Self-preservation is not even on the radar, because death-in-dramatic-attempt is more attractive than life-in-playing-it-safe."

To see the entire article, click here.

I think PCC is a 'cause with organization'. I'd be interested to know your thoughts, too.

A Season of Huge Growth

Last weekend, we had a fantastic evening with a couple hundred PCC'ers and talked about the up-and-coming things that are happening in our church. Here are a few highlights:

• Latest Trends. PCC is in a major growth right now. (see graphs below)

Just for kicks, if we only grew 20% from January to January going forward (less than our historical rate above), we'll have 2,200 people every week at PCC in 36 months!

This naturally leads to a question: What are we going to do? We're almost completely out of space at the Powhatan Campus - especially for the 11:15 service. We have to have some room to grow. More ideas will take shape, but for now, here are a few things we're doing:

1) Saturday evening service. We're going to launch this in March and do it on an experimental basis. When we surveyed PCC folks a few months ago, there was a notable percentage who indicated they would switch to Saturday evenings if given the chance. If you are one of those folks, this is your chance. It will be the exact same service as Sunday morning. If folks come, and if they - and you - invite your friends - we expect to see God work as powerfully in that service as he does on Sunday mornings. If it doesn't seem to be a good fit for our purpose and our mission, we'll go back to the drawing board. However, we believe this is a great opportunity to for you to invite those you know who aren't interested in or able to attend a Sunday morning church service. Maybe Saturday night would be a great fit for them!

2) The Green Room. We have worked hard to get the big room on the main hall ready. This coming Sunday, the Green room will be equipped with great sound and great live feed. It will be ready for approx. 80 people. Check it out...I'll be in that room during our worship time this week!

3) Westchester. We ARE a multi-campus church, and Westchester has plenty of great parking and great comfortable seating. Our music there is exceptionally good, and you'll get the same message from the same pastor on the big screen. Plus, this weekend is donut Sunday at Westchester and you'll be in for a special treat on the stage.

4) Come Early. The 9:30 service has some empty seats left. If none of the other options appeal to you, consider coming at 9:30.

• Staff Changes. It's important that we begin to think and act our size. Large and rapidly growing churches like PCC have constantly changing staff makeups. We need to get used to this. We've had some staff departures, additions, and some restructuring. More is on the way. Here are some highlights:

• Chauncey Starkey. As the Campus Pastor in Powhatan, Chauncey is doing an increasing amount of pastor-type work. This is what we need him to do. We are taking the finances (especially the outflows) off of his plate. He will oversee facility maintenance as well as logistics, in addition to pastoral care.
• Dennis Green. The final few special projects for our building are almost complete, and Dennis will focus on growing our Westchester Campus, staff management and financial oversight.
• Lindsay Harris will be the Communications Director, in addition to her role as Worship Leader at Westchester.

• Connections Team. We are really excited that Katherine Ramsey is building a new team that will focus on helping people connect into service and small groups at PCC. Sammy Frame showed us how information will flow so that people can make meaningful connections at PCC.

• Communications. Lindsay introduced our new Texting platform, which we will roll out the entire church on February 13. She is also working on a comprehensive communications strategy that will streamline communications and make them more effective.

• Building issues. Dennis shared a few of the new and exciting things with our building. We now have screens in the atrium, a workday is being planned, and there is a plan in the works to possibly pave our parking lot!

This is a cliff-notes version of our time at the CORE, but there is a LOT happening at PCC! I'm glad I'm a part of what God is doing!

PCC CORE Meeting January 28

THE PCC CORE

January 28, 6:30 pm

There is a LOT happening at PCC! At this meeting, we'll give you the latest info, talk about the excitement of where we're headed, a few stories about changed lives, and discussion about some coming changes, and we'll do a little Q&A. Anyone interested in PCC is welcome to come.

Topics include changes in our staff and structure, updates on our Westchester and Online campuses, building and facilities, growth in attendance, 3rd service, assimilation, communications and our thematic goal. This night, we'll also share in some great worship and we'll share communion together. You don't want to miss it! Don't wonder what's happening, come and be a part of it!

It’s Friday January 28th from 6:30-8:30 at the PCC Powhatan Campus.

Some responsible PCC Teenagers are going to make childcare for this event possible. So, we ARE offering childcare for this event for infants through kindergarten. Please make a reservation for childcare at children@pccwired.net so that we can be sure to have enough caregivers.

Introducing the Campus Pastor

Recently, the Steering Team gave their final approval (they also had the proposal and worked through it for several weeks), and I want to make it official today and then give you some idea of what this role looks like.

Dennis Green will be the Campus Pastor at the PCC Westchester Campus!

Chauncey Starkey will be the campus pastor at the PCC Powhatan Campus!

What is a Campus Pastor?

Glad you asked. The role of the campus pastor is as follows:

1) Logistics. At the campus where they serve, the Campus Pastor’s role is to ensure that everyone has everything they need at each weekend service. I personally served in this role for a long time at PCC. The CP makes sure the doors get opened, the trailer arrives, the equipment gets set up, there are greeters in place, children are safe, the room gets put back like we found it, the coffee gets served and the door gets locked on our way out. The CP doesn’t have to DO the logistics, but is responsible for ensuring that everything gets done. Chauncey largely already does this in Powhatan. Dennis will do this at Westchester.

2) Follow Up. The CP will be the one who follows up with first time guests and others who are ready for various levels of contact after the weekend services experience.

3) "Weekend Shift Manager". We'll probably never use this language, but it's the best I have to describe this aspect of the role. What this means is that, once church is underway, the CP is the final authority for everything that happens at that campus. As we plan, schedule and rehearse, authority is a blending of centralization and decentralization. Beth, for instance, has the authority on creative arts for all of PCC. But when the service happens, if the CP needs to pull a drama, he can do it. (there are creative coordinators who also have input, so this is muti-layered.) Publications and money management will also be centralized. Other things, like guest services, will largely be site specific and decentralized. But when we’re ‘on’, the CP is the final authority.

4) Pastoral Care. The CP is the pastor. He’ll certainly need the help of the Care team (and we’re still figuring out how the care team will work in a 2 or 3 campus model), but when someone needs the pastor to go to the hospital, they’ll see the CP. Of course, there will be the same coordination we’ve always done, where Angie might be the pastor who visits a student, Susan a child, etc. But when someone wants the pastor, the CP will be it. And I’ll jump in at those moments when it’s appropriate.

5) The 'face with the place'. Everyone who is new wants to know 2 things: 1) who’s in charge, and 2) who can help me. The CP fills both of those roles, so he has to have some face time welcoming folks to the church. Beth and I will be working with Chauncey and Dennis to help them get better and better at this.

So, 5 things: Logistics, Follow Up, On-site Leadership, Pastoral care, and the face with the place. After that, both of these guys will also be involved with some coordinated planning for services and strategy when it comes to churchwide themes, like coordinating with the care team, leadership development, volunteerism, etc.

FYI: Both Chauncey and Dennis have other roles (Dennis is still the Executive Pastor and Chauncey is still the Administrator). All of our full-time staff and many of our part-time staff wear multiple hats. There is simply to much to do for us to only do one thing.

Tomorrow, I'll blog about my role and what the Senior Pastor does. But today, please join me in welcoming Dennis and Chauncey into their new roles as Campus Pastors at PCC!

Need some ideas...

I'm preparing for some training I'm doing in a few days with some PCC folks who want to gain greater proficiency at hospital visitation. I'm really excited about it and I'm drawing on a lot of resources. We'll do case studies, some role playing, and share some good information and questions. We have such an exceptional care team, and I love being around them and I'm so grateful for what they do.

What I'm looking for are a couple of movie clips. Can you think of a scene from a movie where someone visits someone who is sick or going through a crisis or in trouble, etc. Examples of both positive and negative experiences (how to or how NOT to) are welcome. If you have any ideas, you can post them here or email them to me at brian at powhatancommunitychurch dot org.

Thanks for your help.

Coaching Training

There is a new discipline called coaching. I say it's new, but it has actually been around for a few years. It's a rather interesting relationship that is somewhere between mentor and supervisor. Coaching is described in these ways:

• “Coaching is the hands-on process of helping someone to succeed.”
• “It’s the art of helping someone to do what they don’t want to do so they can accomplish what they do want to accomplish.”
• “A coach is an unreasonable friend.”

I spent all day today in my second training event for coaches. The more I learn about it, the more I see the benefits of it. It can help me as I oversee and lead our staff, other leaders in the church, and a team of campus pastors as we become a multi-site church.

As we expand with facilities and new locations, my ability to coach, lead, and manage our staff will increase. This kind of training will prove invaluable in the days to come. It's a skill set I have long needed to better develop. There are others at our church who would also benefit from this kind of training, too. I hope to be able to have a coaching training for some of our leaders in 2010.

Spence Network

I'm away for 3 days with some incredible, amazing leaders. It is a great honor to be invited to the Spence Network gatherings of innovative pastors who lead incredibly exciting churches. In the room are maybe 20 or so senior pastors. We stay at very nice places...places I could not afford to stay normally. We eat at very upscale restaurants, which are somewhat more gourmet than the fast food I usually have when we 'eat out'. And we interview and dialogue with some of the most exclusive and renowned leaders anywhere. I feel unworthy to be included in this gathering. But it is a rare treat for Susan and me, a genuine blessing to both of us to stay in such luxury, to eat so fine, and to be treated with such honor. All of this is paid for because of the work of the Spence Network leaders, who believe in the great Kingdom value of getting church staff and church leaders together on various levels, mixing them up, adding some outside voices, and turning them loose.

This is my 3rd invitation (once per year) to be a part of this gathering, and there are now some friendships that are forming. It takes a long time for Senior Pastors to make great friends because our schedules are so full all the time. But slowly, the networking is paying off. I had a conversation last night with a friend and we started talking about Zions Crossroads and batted around the idea of us partnering to either planting a church there, or launch a campus there. Another approached me about some work we might could do together at the state level that would make a real difference. One asked me to give him some counsel on how to help him lead his rapidly growing church through a period of very scarce resources. Another talked about their venture into a new building program.

On the flip side, I reached out to several guys who have successful multi-site strategies. I'll meet with them after this retreat is over, and they were gracious enough to give me a piece of their calendars. With some others, we decided to bring all of our campus pastors (we haven't selected ours yet) together for a 2-day intense training that we would jointly arrange. I was able to unload a little about my frustrations with our building...and some of the frustrations with myself.

John Chandler, who leads the Spence Network, probably doesn't really grasp the value of the work he does. But this gathering has become an oasis for me - a much anticipated time of growing, reflecting, and learning. There is nobody here that I have to lead, nobody here who requires anything of me. There is no stress on finances or guilt for spending, because it costs me nothing. And Susan and I get to enjoy some amenities we rarely (never) have.

And, best of all, the Kingdom wins. I'll return invigorated, ready, better equipped, charged, and with more support.

Thanks, John, for what you are doing for the Kingdom and for our church. We are very grateful!

Working with Leaders

I had a really great meeting last night with our Steering Team that went really late. But it was so good to be with them. Most people have no idea how important that team has been over the life of our church. They have navigated some of the most difficult waters our church has experienced and guided us masterfully to follow God every step of the way.

When we go through difficult seasons, God always opens doors to make good things happen out of bad situations, but we have to see and seize those opportunities. Putting two texts together helps this make sense to me:

"...we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28, NIV)

And

"Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." (Colossians 4:5, NIV)

The Steering Team helps keep me looking to God for positive things to happen. They prompt me to ask: "How can I make the most of this opportunity to promote the Goodness of God in the midst of struggle?'

Am I the only one that has to make a conscious effort to do this?

A Note From Beth

You may have noticed that this blog has been very quiet lately. I thought I'd sneak over and hijack it...

Perhaps Brian has run out of words; could it be?

Who knows for sure? He does have a LOT going on, and in spite of all the interruptions and crises, he DOES manage to stay focused on the things that matter. He is more excited about our upcoming series on Colossians (coming in August!) than I've ever seen him. Things are cranking back up at the building site, and plans are in place for a terrific time at the upcoming Leadership Summit.

I will say this: for the first time in history, he is SO FAR AHEAD in service planning that we have time for some REALLY creative brainstorming in our production meetings....

A Pastor is Born from PCC

Bob Roberts & Northwood Community Church

One of the most compelling teachings I ever heard came from the journey of Bob Roberts.  Bob is the Senior Pastor of Northwood Community Church in Texas.  Early in the life of Northwood, Bob had a conversation with God that was defining for him.  Northwood was growing and Bob had grand plans for the church.  He says that God asked him this question:  'Bob, do you care about my Kingdom...or do you care about your empire?'  As Bob wrestled with that question, he decided that he would be focused on God's Kingdom.  Northwood averaged a couple thousand people each weekend at church as of a couple of years ago, but the real story is in the number of churches they have planted.  Over 80 churches have come out of that ministry. In fact, Northwood has one of the best church planting organizations in the country, with a very high success rate and tens of thousands of people now coming to church throughout the network.

I'll bet that along the way, Bob has had to answer one recurring question again and again: 'Why would we let that gifted person go to plant another church?  Shouldn't we do what we can to keep them here?'  Bob's answer is predictable and it's implications are profound:  'Because we care more about God's Kingdom than we do about our empire.'

I hope we can make that same claim at Powhatan Community Church.  If the Kingdom benefits, we all can celebrate.  If the Kingdom wins, we all win.  If the Kingdom grows, God is honored.  PCC is a church that cares about God's Kingdom, not just about our church.  

Kevin Salyer

Many years ago, Kevin came to our church.  When he came, it was obvious right away that he was a gifted singer.  I got him into that role as quickly as I could.  He and I met on the front porch at my house and he planted his feet here, dug in, and made a great contribution.I'll never forget the moment when I asked him if he had any questions for me and he said, "Yes. I have one question: Are you a Christian?" I have never had anyone ask me that question before or since, but Kevin was sharp enough to know that just because you are a pastor does not make you a Christ follower. I gained a huge amount of respect for him that day.

Then we had a need for a worship leader and Kevin came on staff here.  As his gifts became more clear, we knew God had led a gifted pastor to our team, and we partnered with Kevin to nurture that pastoral gift.  He became a great pastor, did some teaching, got ordained, and then wrestled with his calling.  

Now that calling is clear for him.   God has prepared Kevin for the moment when he would become the pastor of a church.  That moment is here.  This past Sunday, New Beginnings  Church called Kevin to be their full-time pastor, and he accepted the invitation.

On a personal note, Kevin remains one of my close friends.  I respect him as a man of integrity, as a husband and father, as a fellow Christ follower and as a pastor.  In fact, I believe that Kevin is one of the most gifted pastors I know.  It is personally hard to see him move on, but it is also with a much anticipation that we celebrate this move for him.  God is going to continue to use him to do incredible things for the Kingdom!  

I know you will join me in congratulating Kevin and wishing him well.  He will always be a part of our family, and I hope you will pray for him in the coming days as he lives out a new adventure.

Here's a short message from Kevin to his PCC family, written this past Sunday:

“It’s a Pastor!”

Congratulations PCC family! At noon today, you helped give birth to a brand new, bouncing baby Pastor!

Friends and family, it is with both excitement and sadness I tell you that New Beginnings Church made the leap of faith today to call me as their full-time Pastor. I’m excited for the opportunity it brings…the doors God has been opening up…and the chance to grow in new directions. I’m also sad…because this move does not come without sacrifice. Even though I’ve been apart from you on Sundays for the last three months, I have still been connected to the life of PCC. The reality is, with this move, I will not be part of the daily life of the Powhatan Community Church family that I so dearly love. This is painful, and will take time to make the adjustment.

Here’s the good news…we’re still neighbors! I’m just around the corner and only a phone call away. I will be serving the community of Powhatan just the same as PCC, but in a different way – with folks who have a unique calling from God to serve a unique segment of the population in their own unique way. In every way, we’ll continue to be partners in ministry…worshipping God and making a positive difference in the lives of people around us who need hope, help, and Jesus in their life.

Thank you, my dear friends and family, for investing in me for the past six years. It is by God’s grace that He chose to grow me out of you…through you…and with your help…from a casual Christian who could sing a song, to an ordained Pastor who is committed to loving God and neighbor and changing the world one life at a time. I truly believe that without you, I would not be here today.

Celebrate, PCC! You have been there to witness hundreds of people come to know Jesus and have their lives irrevocably changed…you have helped raise up scores of volunteers who give their time, talents, and resources to touch people through dozens of ministries…you have encouraged the development of countless leaders who never thought they could do what they are now doing for the Kingdom of Christ.

Now you’ve given birth to a Pastor.

Who’s next? Maybe God’s tugging at… you.

Blessed to be your friend,

Kevin Salyer
Pastor
New Beginnings Church

Guest Blogger Beth Brawley

Guest blogger Beth Brawley leads the Creative Arts Team at PCC and is an avid blogger.  Here's a copy of her post from her blog - Grace, Every Day - about how an experience at last year's Leadership Summit continues to impact her.

PCC will be going to the Summit again this year, August 6-7.  Find out more about the event here.  If you're interested in going with us, contact Lori at the PCC office (804.598.1174)

At last year's Leadership Summit I was introduced - via video - to Carly Fiorina. She was a dynamic, engaging speaker and I was captivated, listening to a strong woman talk about leadership and empowerment. I picked up her book, Tough Choices, and have referred to it off and on throughout the past several months.

Truth be told, I'm just reading it VERY slowly - it's sort of a monthly devotional book for me, with constant encouragement and information about leadership.

Okay. Honest truth? It's in the bathroom.

Midway through the book Fiorina talks about the creation of Lucent Technologies, which arose out of AT&T getting rid of a collection of assets called Newco. She was tapped to be Executive VP of Corporate Operations. Here's what she says:

"For some, the words aspiration and inspiration are mumbo jumbo; or hype; or soft, nonoperational stuff. These are people who forget that every income statement and balance sheet in the world is produced by the everyday hard work of everyday people. And people achieve more when they're motivated by a purpose worthy of their efforts. They align their individual actions in to a more powerful collective effort when they know they strive for a common and commonly understood goal. Nowhere are aspiration and inspiration more important than in a large, complex organization undergoing major change. In large companies myriad actions taken and countless small decisions made must add up to the bottom line. And in a period of change, each employee must break old habits and learn new skills, and every employee's actions and decisions must align in new ways to produce something different."

In the midst of everything that we are doing as PCC staff members, in spite of what we're feeling and experiencing on a personal level, regardless of the current status of our personal relationship with God, we are in the middle of some major changes at PCC. We are the folks who are not only doing the "everyday work of everyday people", but we are also inspiring and leading volunteers who are doing the same thing as they serve at PCC.

We each have unique goals for our ministry areas that are hopefully clearly and commonly understood by those folks who serve with us. But I think it's important to still remember that we are, technically speaking, a "large, complex organization undergoing major change."

Our mission is to reach and lead. That is the purpose worthy of our efforts. Lives are changing because of what God's spirit is doing through PCC.

I just want to challenge each of us - myself included - to continue to live in the awareness of the challenges of change, and to take to heart the necessity of breaking old habits, learning new skills and aligning our actions and decisions in new ways. God is using us - and he is also changing us, through this time of change. It's a remarkable thing that ultimately results in eternal impact for our community. We are led by a senior pastor and an executive pastor - but we are also given the great responsibility and even the luxury of leading ourselves.

I'm focusing on praying for us as a body today, and thankful that God's drawn us all together for the sake of His name.

A Pivotal Week At PCC

No one has ever accused me of being brief. There are many times when I can say something with fewer words than I choose. But this is one instance when it is important for me to tell you a rather lengthy story. I ask for you to bear with me, as what I have to say here is exceedingly difficult, but incredibly important - all of it.

My Heart...
In 1 Samuel, we learn that God chose one of Jesse's sons to be the new king - to lead God's people into the future. He sent the prophet Samuel to be His ambassador, but there was a problem: Samuel didn't know which son God had chosen. So, Jesse paraded each son in front of him. The first son was tall, refined...Kingly. Samuel thought, "This has to be the one!" but God spoke to Samuel these words, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 16:7b, NIV, emphasis mine)

For my entire life, I have always thought this scripture was about how we see other people's outward appearance - how we look at their size, color, shape, build, hair (or lack of hair), etc. But this week, for the first time, I saw what I hadn't seen before. It still means those things, but I saw another angle. I saw it also pointing to the reality that people look at the outward appearance - the raw facts - of hard decisions that are made by other people, and don't always see the heart that is behind those decisions. God assured me as he brought 1 Samuel to my mind that, while people sometimes only see the outward appearance of the decisions we make, God always sees the heart.

I so badly want you to know my heart right now, so let me share a little bit of it.

I love every member of our staff.
I pronounced some of them husband and wife.
I declared some of them an ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I was there when some of them graduated from college.
I was there when some of them when through the most difficult seasons of their lives.
I have seen them grow, transition, fail, persevere, succeed, triumph, despair, doubt, trust, and experience the power of community.

For their part, at times they have carried me.
They have laid their hands on me.
They have cried with me.
They have stood with me during my darkest days.
They have made me better than I am.
They have encouraged me, grown our church, believed in our mission, trusted in God when no one else did, given from their hearts even when it hurt, sacrificed time with their families and time for themselves. They have proven their loyalty in many ways.

There is not one member of our staff for whom I do not deeply care or whom I do not indescribably love.

My heart also bleeds Powhatan Community Church. There is nothing in my life about which I am more passionate than our church. In spite of our challenges, we are healthy - reaching tons of people, changing lives, and helping people find a better way to live. We are making a difference around us. We are obeying God's call upon our lives, and I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life.

That is my heart. God knows my heart; and I'm hoping you will, too.

A Little History...
On October 1 of last year, I sent a letter to every family on our church's mailing list, telling you that the struggling economy was clearly beginning to affect our church's giving. At that time, we didn't really know how much, but we could sense it was happening. I made this statement:

We also have to consider cutting back on our staff expense – either by laying off folks or reducing already below-market salaries…or both. Every staff member is aware of what is happening. This is not where we want to be, but it is where we are.

I plead with our church to step up and help, but giving did not improve. In fact, while attendance continues to climb, so does unemployment. We are not failing, but we had to make adjustments. Our commitment was to keep PCC out of financial trouble, and the only way to do that was to cut our expenses.

Our Current Situation...
The 4th Quarter of 2008 was extremely difficult for PCC - as well as for many other churches. Those around us and around the country are hard hit and considering their options now, too. But that's little consolation. Here's our situation:

We passed a very reasonable budget of $1,081,600 budget for 2009. At the time, this was conservative. However, given what we know today, we are forecasting that we will fall short by $113,000. That's an estimate based on what we know right now. The economy is very unpredictable.

Further, we are approximately $300,000 behind our our building fund. We have been very creative in raising money. A few months ago, this number was half a million dollars. But we thought outside the box, prayed, were open to creative solutions, listened to people who had ideas and empowered them to implement the best ones and we've cut that number down considerably. I have every confidence that we will continue to chip away at this shortfall until it is zero by the end of the project. However, today, the shortfall exists.

So, let me be clear and concise: what we need to find in 2009 is $413,000, based on what we know right now, in addition to the income we already expect. We can find it in increased income, decreased expenses, or a combination of the two.

What We Could NOT Cut...
We tithe our budget. That means that we give away 10% of the money we receive to people in need in our community, missions projects oversees and in the US, church planting, etc. Tithing is a Biblical concept about which we feel very strongly. We cannot ask our people to do something (tithe) that we as a church are not willing to do. Since our first day, we have tithed on every dollar we have received through our offerings.

We also could not cut the mortgage payment. We are now in the middle of our building project. Expected completion is sometime this summer. When it's done, we'll owe about $3.5 million. The payment on that debt is required. It's not an option.

When you take out our missions budget (which is our tithe) and our mortgage, there is only one place left to cut for significant reductions, and that is the staff expense. So, for the past few weeks, I have been agonizing over this, looking at every option imaginable. I thought about falling on my sword and finding a way to go with no salary at all, but it would render me unable to do what I do for our church. We considered letting someone go, but this is the worst job market in 26 years. If I can find a way to avoid leaving any staff member without a paycheck right now, I'm in favor of it.

We thought about an across the board equal pay cut for all staff, but in order to get to a high enough number, we would have to place every single staff member in a position where we'd all have to go out and find part-time jobs to supplement incomes. That would be extremely detrimental to our church.

In the end, I felt that, given all the circumstances and facts, the fairest and most loving thing we could do for our staff, while still producing a major reduction in our expense, would be to cut everyone's pay and take three of our full-time folks to part-time status. This may seem harsh, but at the end of the day, everyone still has a paycheck and everyone still has a job. In an era when people are being laid off left and right, I felt like this was a silver lining in a difficult situation.

Who?
If anyone was going to go from full-time to part-time, my home would have to be affected, too. So, though our children's ministry cares for 200 children, I insisted that Susan Hughes be one of the three. Angie Frame and Kevin Salyer are the other two staff members whose status changed from full-time to part-time. This was the hardest decision I have ever made. Yesterday, Dennis Green and I gathered the entire staff together and relayed the news to them individually, then as a group. We prayed, cried, vented, then went to lunch together. They all received it well and made it far better than it could have been. Still, it was the most difficult day in my 6 1/2 years here as the Senior Pastor of our church.

The outward appearance was that we eliminated roughly $85,000 in staff expenses. But I hope you are able to catch a glimpse of my heart. The heart of it was one of the most painful things I've ever done. You see, the folks who serve you on staff don't do it for the money; they do it because they believe in the cause. They believe in what we do, in the mission of our church. They serve you with great passion and great sacrifice. And this decision impacted everyone in a way that will be deeply felt; even those who retained full-time status had their salaries cut severely. With salaries already on the low end and most staff members providing their own health insurance with private pay policies, my heart broke to have to ask them to give even more.

How Did We Decide Who Would Go Part-Time?
This is the most difficult question, because everyone has a passionate attachment to some ministry or staff member. It was a terribly difficult choice to make. Instead of going at it from a negative perspective ("Who can we live without?"), I came at it from a positive angle: "Who can we NOT live without on a full time basis?" I know you can make a case for every person on staff remaining full-time. If we didn't have a money challenge, I'd be right there with you, but we had to trim some money, so I had to draw a line. I started with Beth and Chauncey, and for days I prayed, yelled, argued, cried, and prayed some more. Finally, I took a plan to the Steering Team (who was well informed that we had to act).

We met together on Tuesday night until midnight. We also cried, prayed, debated, struggled...and finally agreed. There was no great plan...but this was the best one on the table, and we had to do something.

How Will This Affect Us Now?
We all count on our leaders to guide us into the future safely. Good leaders navigate difficult waters so that we arrive at our destination together, without harm, and in a position of strength. Your leadership has been proactive to keep our church strong, effective, and on task. As difficult as this season is, we are as focused as we've ever been - and just as healthy. We have no crisis because we have been smart and acted ahead of a problem. That's what good leaders do.

Specifically, Susan will continue to do what she has been doing. PCC's children's ministry is simply too big to be managed and led from a part time commitment. But PCC cannot afford to hire someone else, so she can't quit (and Susan loves what she does, so she wouldn't want to anyway). Therefore, my family is going to have to make some additional adjustments and I've got some things to figure out, but I believe that God will provide a way, and I trust Him for that.

Kevin and Angie were also dependant on their incomes to support their families. So, while they are unsure of exactly what lies ahead, they certainly are going to have to do something to replace the lost income.

The other staff members also have to make adjustments and plans to answer the question of how they will live on significantly reduced income, too. Every one of our staff had their incomes reduced.

We are committed to shouldering this challenge together; we are no different than many of you who are struggling with similar financial challenges. We are committed to the vision God has given us for this community; we know that many of you are just as passionate about PCC, about the work God has done in your life and in the lives of some of your friends and families. Let me repeat: our church is healthy. And we remain fully committed to the vision to which God has called us - to reach people who have been unaffected or untouched by traditional churches and lead them to become fully devoted followers of Christ. We may have to be more creative, more careful and more intentional - but that just might be a good thing!

What Can You Do?
First, I realize situations like this can produce heated emotions. There is a natural human tendency to talk amongst ourselves, to worry the issue to death, to allow drama and adrenaline to fuel the fire of conflict. Honor the process, your leaders and the staff members that you love by refusing to contribute to the drama. If you have questions, ask them - of me or of any staff member or steering team member. We welcome dialogue with you, as we try to learn from this situation. Remember Paul's words in Romans 12:

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Let me be very clear: I'm here and I'm available. Email me or call and we'll schedule some time to meet. The only time I'm not willing to sacrifice is message preparation time; other priorities can be pushed or rearranged each week until every person who wants to meet with me has done so. Dennis Green will do the same. The staff member that you want to speak to would also be glad to engage with you, as well as a member of the Steering Team. Let's have constructive, open dialogue that honors the future of our church and the prayerful process that we have been through.

Secondly, at the risk of appearing to manipulate the situation, I will challenge you in this way: Does your life of obedience to God include consistent giving? You see, if everyone at PCC was giving, we would not be faced with these difficult decisions. Ultimately, this issue is between you and God; however, it's not prudent of me to neglect mentioning this fact. The number of people at PCC support the size of our staff and our budget - but when people do not give, we cannot continue to do ministry effectively. Of course, you may not feel as though you are in a position to give due to your own personal financial situation. However, I encourage you to remember God's promise in Malachi, when he says:

"Test me in this, and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it." - Malachi 3.10

Not so that we can restore our staff salaries; not so we can build a bigger budget - but so that you might continue to grow to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. That is our responsibility and our call from God, and we remain committed to that.

You see, the outward appearance here is that we have a financial shortfall...that we don't have enough. The outward appearance is that our church is in a situation of great need that has resulted in some difficult and painful decisions regarding staff salaries.

But the heart of the matter is this: God always provides. And I believe that the rest of this story remains unwritten. I believe that God is going to use this situation - and the personal situations of many of the individuals at PCC - to draw us to a deeper knowledge of him, a greater understanding of what it means to be a fully devoted follower. God causes all things to work together for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose (Romans 8.28), and this situation is full of opportunity and potential.

As difficult as this season has been, I remain as committed and passionate and excited about our church as I have ever been. I hope you are, too.

Until tomorrow...

(Special Note: One of the hats that Beth Brawley currently wears at our church is that she is coordinating our Communications efforts. To that end, she frequently edits my posts for me and helps me refine them. But she did more than that this time, and I need to give credit where credit is due. Her words were used a lot here. She didn't just edit, she wrote some. She helped shape this post and its tone, and the hours spent ensuring that I communicated what I really felt and what was really in my heart were reflected more accurately becasue she was there during part of the process, made herself available to hear my intent and then helped me write. I am grateful for her extra, beyond-the-call of duty effort during this difficult week.)

Criteria I Use to Select Someone to Speak at PCC

In the past 6+ years, we've had a handful of people who have spoken for me in my absence.  Most have done a good job, some have done a great job.  But this kind of language is subjective. What does it mean to do a good, great, mediocre or poor job when standing in for me?  To be sure, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.  One person will think a joke is funny while someone else won't even get it.  One person will be moved to tears and the person next to them will be offended.  So the point is not to make everyone happy.  If that was the goal, it would be an effort in futility, because it's simply impossible.  Any given Sunday I get a word from somebody somewhere that I've upset them in some way.  I understand that in a church our size.  

But there are some criteria that I use to evaluate a person to determine if I will ask them to speak, and if I will ask them to return to speak again.  Here are a few of the guidelines I consider:

1)  Do they have the gift of preaching?  I don't use this word - preaching - very often.  It's a churchy word that has lots of negative connotations.  People remember mean 'preacher', a boring 'preacher', and a judgemental 'preacher'.  So I try to avoid the word.  But the truth is that the Bible says that God gives every Christ follower at least one spiritual gift, and among the list of options from which He chooses is the gift of preaching.  People who want to preach who do not have the gift of preaching end up being bad preachers.  Unfortunately, there are lots of these folks out there.  So, I try to look at a person and ask, "is the gift of preaching inside of this person somewhere?"  I've sometimes thought it was there and been wrong, but usually I can spot it.

2)  Are they coachable?  I am not the world's gift to public speaking.  I still have so much to learn and I am still growing.  One, Five and Ten years from now, I'll be so much better than I am today.  But, having said that, it's not a prideful statement to also recognize that this is something I have a good bit of experience, training, and a gift at doing.  I've learned a lot of lessons.  When I work with someone, I want to know that they are going to actively seek out my advice and that they are going to take some or most of it.  I want them to ask questions and seek feedback from me.

3)  Do they want to learn?  In short, I don't want anyone who thinks they already know it all.  I'm looking for someone who will take advice on books to read, CD's to listen to, other speakers to go online and seek out and learn from.  I want them humble, hungry, and hopeful that they can be better than they are.  

4)  Do they understand our church?  Almost always, I use people who are already at PCC because I don't want to have to worry about whether or not they understand who we are.  I don't want a mess to clean up.  At PCC, there is a certain structure, a certain theology, a certain style, a certain leadership, etc. that is important for a speaker to honor.  If someone were to stand on the stage and violate certain boundaries, it would hurt our church.  

5)  Can they meet deadlines?  We work as a team.  There are certain things that I do that are acceptable because they are the norm because I am the normal speaker.  When a guest speaker comes, he or she has to live within a set of deadlines.  Being on time to meetings, with early copies of outlines or manuscripts or pictures or slides is important.  

That's probably more than you ever wanted to know, but just in case anyone ever asks, now you can tell them to come to the blog and find the answer!

Innovative Church Network

Innovative Church Network

You may not know that PCC is one of the churches that helped form the Innovative Church Network. It started as a way for me and other staff and leaders to connect with other churches like ours. I became friends with Jeff Boggess from Atlee Community Church in Mechanicsville, Mark Jenkins from Mountain View Community Church in Culpepper, and Hank Brooks from Coastal Community Church in Virginia Beach. Each of these guys is the Senior Pastor at their church. We hit it off and felt that we could really understand each other and the highs and lows, challenges and triumphs of leading a new and different kind of church. We talk regularly about staffing, our families, balance, teaching, structure, leadership, church growth, finances, buildings, multi-site, education, and everything else under the sun. We’ve usually spend three days in the summer together with our wives talking, having fun, learning from each other, and planning the ICN.

The Innovative Church Network came out of our desire to help other pastors and church leaders to find what we have – a common bond with others in churches that are different from those around them. Specifically, the ICN caters to churches that either reach unchurched people, or churches that want to. We favor peer-to-peer learning, through guided discussions that give us all a chance to gain insights through each others’ experiences. While we hope to employ technology to help us in the future, we currently physically meet once per month, from September through May, at Atlee Community Church. We do not meet in December or during the month of Easter. We meet from 10-2 and lunch is served, but has to be purchased.

In October, PCC’s staff led the discussion, which was about building teams. Breakouts included ideas about building trust, mining for conflict and building a team from scratch. We also invited Tim Kinnell from Powhatan Mennonite Church to come and share from his experience leading his church from a committee structure to team based ministry.

This really is a unique opportunity for churches like ours and it is well worth the effort. I’ve heard more than one pastor now say that they would not still be in ministry if it wasn’t for the support and friendships they’ve found at this network. If you’d like more information about the ICN, you can contact our office or Desiree Henderson at DHenderson at coastalcommunitychurch dot com. If you are able, I hope you will come and be a part of this sometime soon!

Brian Hughes

Why do we take Risks?

At the Leadership Summit last week, Bill Hybels talked about the need to take calculated risks in the church. (see my thoughts on that from my post on Sunday, August 10).

I wanted to clarify a few things. First, we don’t take risks just for the sake of it. Rather, we take them because if you aren’t staying out on the edge, you aren’t growing. Our world, with it's instant communication and information - is changing at a pace never seen before. If we don't stay on the edge, we'll fall behind. Falling behind means that we become out of touch. And being out of touch - for a church - is...fatal.

When we take risks, we're just looking for wild, crazy, whimsical risks…but calculated risks. These are the kind where you measure, consider the angles, consider the potential payoffs, weigh them against the potential and actual costs and, seeing a great unrealized reward, you just go for it.

I asked people at the summit to share some ways PCC had taken calculated risks and the list was amazing and included many things I'd never considered. But one person I pushed back on. Jim Mustian said that he thought the start of PCC was a calculated risk. My argument was that 'we had nothing to loose. There was property, no people, no established church. What was there to lose? That's how I viewed. Then it occurred to me later that night, after the meeting was over, that it was a calculated risk for the few dozen people who helped us. They had come from other churches and some were being scolded or shunned. Since they were helping the 'crazy church', their reputation was on the line. Politically, their standing with certain groups was on the line.

So, I take it back, Jim. You and Charlene are absolutely right. The starting and the launch of PCC was definitely a calculated risk...and I'm really glad you and a dedicated group like you were there - taking the risk together. I couldn't name the all, but some who come to mind are George and Regina, Sharon and Berk and Sallie Mae, Carolyn, Ryan and Ginny, Bridgette and Jeff, Kenny and Nora, Danny and Faye, Greer and Lori, Jeanette and Mel...the list goes on, but my brain is shutting down.

Suffice it to say this calculated risk paid off in ways none of us would have ever dreamed!! And I'm sure we didn't take a month of meetings to make it happen. We moved and God honored.

I'm enjoying these follow-up conversations. They will help make us better leaders and more willing to talk calculated risks.

Until next time...

Bian