This past weekend on the Sun Valley Gilbert Campus I kicked off the new year sharing about why I love being a part of Sun Valley so much and something that has me deeply concerned as we go into 2013. Here’s the talk below, hope it’s helpful!
When you’re in the middle of the fray it’s often difficult to see what kind of progress you’re making. That’s why it’s helpful from time to time to take a step back and review the ground you’ve taken and celebrate the wins! After all what gets celebrated, gets repeated! So here are some of the ministry highlights that I experienced in 2012!
Being a part of leading through the transition from one campus to three campuses and a church merger has been one of the most exciting opportunities I’ve ever had to lead through. To read more about it follow this link.
It was an honor to have Sun Valley Community Church recognized by Outreach Magazine as one of the top 10 fastest growing churches in America this year!
We baptized 382 people this year on the Gilbert Campus and two of those were my oldest daughters. Big moment in the Alexander house!
More Students went to camp this year than ever before in the history of the church!
The Elementary Ministry has grown by 12% this year! We’re continuing to reach young families!
We mobilized more than 2,000 people to serve in local outreach through quarterly Community Impact Weekends! The word “Community” in our name actually means something!
Small Group Bible Studies increased by more than 50% this year! Life change happens best in the context of relationship and I love the fact that more people are getting connect with each other centered around God’s Word!
We discovered that 82,000 people in Maricopa County don’t know where their next meal is coming from and we decided to do something about this Christmas. To read more about it follow this link. The goal was to fill 5,000 boxes of food between all three of our campuses. I was thrilled when I learned that the Gilbert Campus filled more than 4,500 boxes of food this December to combat hunger in our own neighborhood (and we blew past our goal by the way)!
Within a 10-mile radius of the Gilbert Campus there are 880,000 people who don’t go to church anywhere. So while we’re nowhere near done, I’m excited about the ground we’re taking!
I’d love to hear about the ministry wins you experienced in 2012! Leave a comment!
A couple of weeks ago, we opened applications for the new leadership coaching networks that will begin in March through TonyMorganLive. The deadline for applications is January 31, but applications have already been coming in and these new coaching networks will probably fill up before then.
Still on the fence about whether or not to participate? Here’s what others have said:
“Paul Alexander is a natural leader and a great coach. He’s strategic, constantly learning, and has been very helpful to me in my ministry leadership and management.”
– Mike Work, Executive Pastor of Mission Community Church in Gilbert, AZ
“When I have a leadership question Paul is always one of my first calls. He is a gifted leader and strategist. Paul knows how to ask the right questions to properly diagnosis current systems, and the unique capacity to help teams formulate a plan that is both practical and attainable. Working with Paul has been an encouragement and has stirred in me the desire to be a better leader.”
– Aaron McRae, Senior Pastor of Hillside Community Church in Alta Loma, CA
“Paul Alexander is simply brilliant when it comes to helping pastors and churches get laser-focused on their purpose, process and values. I believe he is one of the top strategic thinkers in the church today. After connecting with him, you will be encouraged, inspired and equipped.”
– Kyle Wall, Senior Pastor of Atlantic Shores Baptist Church in Virginia Beach, VA
“Paul is a very talented leader who knows how to form and implement strategic plans, while encouraging and building leaders in the process. He is methodical in planning his approach, and builds his processes to include appropriate goals, steps, budgets, and measurement for completion. During my time working with Paul, he demonstrated how to focus on projects and refocus when scope changed or obstacles rose up. While learning from Paul, he made things “reproducible” which has allowed me to keep my teams on task and lead them to do the same.”
– Kerry Dodd, CFO of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA
You can get more details about the next Coaching Network on our website.
What’s next?
Complete the Coaching Network Application. The Phoenix Leadership Coaching Network that I’m leading will be limited to no more than 10 leaders and begins in March 2013. I’d like you to consider joining us. The deadline for applications is January 31, 2013.
Questions? Contact me
You made this the most popular post in 2012! Apparently you resonated with the idea that the church is a leadership starved organization and that the church that decides to “operate as normal” actually repels leaders. This means you and I have to lead our churches to operate and act differently in 2013 if we want to build a healthy leadership culture in our churches this year!
There are all kinds of threats and challenges facing the church these days. But underlying them all is one common denominator. The greatest crisis facing the modern day church is a crisis of leadership. Churches don’t naturally attract, develop, or keep leaders. But why?
Leaders live in the future. They dream about what should be. Most churches are consumed with preserving the past.
Growing and developing young leaders requires giving leadership away. But when the organization is driven by a personality rarely are young leaders given real leadership opportunities to experiment with and grow from.
A majority of churches are stuck, not because they don’t have a vision, but they have not aligned the systems and ministries of the church to move people and the church towards that preferred future. Leaders grow frustrated in silo oriented misaligned organizations.
Leaders by their very nature are change agents. Because the unstated goal of most churches is to preserve the past, church leaders find themselves fighting the family instead of fighting the enemy.
High capacity leaders can use their skills in a variety of industries and participate in meaningful work. Many churches simply aren’t willing to, or can’t pay leaders what they’re worth.
How are you addressing these underlying issues of an anti-leadership culture in your church? What’s missing from the list?
I was particularly excited to write this post. One reason is because the first opportunity I was ever given in ministry was when I was a freshman in college and my pastor believed in me enough to give me a shot at leading a Jr. High Sunday School Class (trust me, it was a big risk on his behalf). Another reason is that Mike Branton happens to be on my team at Sun Valley and I’m just super proud of him!
During the last couple of years there has been a slowly growing trend in churches across America. Churches are pulling their preteens out of children’s and student ministries and ministering to this demographic uniquely. Fueled by kids “growing up too quick,” the age of adolescents dropping, and ministries and organizations like FourFiveSix, Orange, preteenministry.net, and Christ in Youth hitting the scene, this preteen movement is gaining traction in the church. If you’re not thinking Preteen Ministry at your church, you need to be.
Last week I had the unique opportunity to sit down with Mike Branton, the Preteen Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church and Christ in Youth National Preteen Pastor of the Year, to talk about this emerging ministry. The interview is below:
Paul: What does the label “Preteen Ministry” mean and why is this something that churches should be paying attention to?
Mike: Fundamentally Preteen Ministry is ministry to students who are moving through the transition from childhood to adolescence. You’re typically talking about students who are between 8 and 12 years old and in 4th – 6th grade. During the preteen years human beings develop physically and mentally faster than at any other stage of life other than the infant and toddler phase. Preteens are moving from concrete to abstract thinking. They are thinking less about the faith of their family and more about their own faith and figuring out what they believe. They are at a time in their lives where their identity is being formed; they’re less inhibited and as a result are more open to inviting friends, sharing the Gospel, and combating injustice in the world. Their ability to understand and respond to the Gospel provides us with a unique opportunity that few Churches are taking advantage of.
Paul: What are some of the unique dynamics of preteen ministry?
Mike: Preteen students are beginning to experiment and explore with their identity both socially and sexually. They are often prematurely exposure to adult ideas and concepts without having a developed faculty to truly handle it. Some still believe in Santa Clause and have teddy bears and some of them are sleeping with their boyfriends. And some are doing both of those. Finally, increased specialization at an early age regarding extracurricular activities such as the arts and sports are limiting healthy experimentation and growth.
Paul: The reality is that the majority of churches can’t afford to hire someone to specifically minister to preteens. What can churches do?
Mike: Every healthy church has preteens in it. They may be a part of the Children’s Ministry or a part of the Student Ministry, or simply in a Sunday School Class. But whatever the form, churches can take the step to have a couple of volunteers focus specifically on this group of students. Churches can partner with parents by helping to equip them to know what to expect during the preteen years. We’re talking about kids who are challenged to succeed in every other area of their lives. Churches need to shift their thinking and stop viewing these students as “just kids” so that they’ll begin to expect more from them in their journey with Christ. Finally if they can, churches can give them their own space, even a simple classroom. These students want their door locked and decorated at home so why not appropriately support that at church. Space matters. It shows value, and helps build identity and connection.
Mike Branton is the Preteen Pastor at Sun Valley Community Church Gilbert Campus, a contributing writer for K-magazine, part of the FourFiveSix Team, and the Christ in Youth National Preteen Pastor of the year.
You can connect with Mike on Facebook
I help churches make vision real. I am a pastor, speaker, strategist, and ministry consultant at The Unstuck Group.
Read more about me.
