Multisite Campus Constants

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Multisite Campus Constants

Sunday, March 9, 2014

At Sun Valley we are one church family that meets in many different locations. As any church or organization grows there comes a point in time where oral tradition only goes so far. At some point, you’ve got to write things down. This helps provide clarity to everyone as to how to make decisions and what direction to go. After all lack of clarity is the greatest barrier to growth and speed in any organization. To that end we’ve adopted the following “Campus Constants” that every existing and future Sun Valley Campus will adopt. If you’re in a multisite church or thinking about going multisite I hope this serves as a resource to you and your church!

1. Mission:“We exist to help people meet, know, and follow Jesus.”

2. Vision: To reach as many people as we possibly can with the Gospel by growing a movement of healthy reproducing Campuses and Churches.

3. Strategy: This strategy serves as the foundation for spiritual growth.

Meet: We help people meet Jesus through Weekend Services.
Know: We help people know Jesus through Small Groups.
Follow: We help people follow Jesus through opportunities to Give and Serve.

4. Cultural Values: These values are what keep us on target as we move towards our vision.

Authenticity: Trusting Jesus and others with the real me.
Community: Learning from Jesus through strong friendships centered around God’s Word.
Generosity: Living like Jesus through giving and serving.

5. Leadership Distinctives: This is what we expect from those in leadership and what makes the Sun Valley Staff Culture so unique. If you’re interested in learning more about our 7 unique leadership distinctives you can follow this link.

6. Leadership Structure: At Sun Valley vision is global and leadership is local. Leadership authority and responsibility flows through the Campus Pastors and influence flows through the Ministry Champions. Every ministry of the Church at each Campus operates under one leadership structure that ultimately comes under the authority of the Board of Servant Leaders and the Lead Pastors.

7. Weekend Teaching: The Teaching Team sets the teaching schedule and serves as the primary communicators either in person or by video.

8. One Church: We choose to align the ministries on each of our Campuses, including Children’s, Students, Groups, Care, Missions, Guest Services, and Weekend Services.

9. Corporate Branding: Every Campus operates under the same branding and communication strategy including a centralized website for the Church representing all Campuses.

10. Financial Model: Every Campus shares these financial goals:

Within 12 months, offerings from the Campus cover its ongoing ministry expenses including staffing costs.
Within 24 months, the Campus also contributes its prorated portion of central service expenses.
Within 36 months, the Campus also contributes towards expansion endeavors.

11. Central Services: There is one centralized process or system for administrative services including banking, budgeting, staffing, payroll, benefits, capital expenditures, I.T., facility management, lease agreements, etc.

Posted in Leadership

Leadership Lessons I Wish I Understood as a Young Leader

Monday, September 2, 2013

Lately I’ve been thinking about some leadership lessons. You know…the “I wish I knew then what I know now” kind of stuff. See I’ve had a lot more time to think recently. That is, thanks to my wife for registering me for a triathlon this Fall. She said it was something that “we could do together.” She’s the one who races in the family. I’m the one who visited 5 different Starbucks cheering her on while she ran the Chicago Marathon. But it’s been interesting, as I’ve been training how many of my experiences have paralleled lessons that young leaders need to internalize and learn early, or risk potentially derailing their leadership journey before it really gets going.

So in no particular order here are 5 Leadership Lessons for Young Leaders based on my experiences training for a triathlon.

#1 Young Leaders have a Tendency to Overestimate their Capacity

When I started training for this triathlon I thought I’d pick it right up. After all I played varsity sports through out High School, have been pretty active as an adult, and heck I even lift weights pretty regularly. Well that was before I got in the pool and almost swallowed half of the water as I attempted to swim laps. Young Leaders are notorious for believing they can do more than they actually can. If you’re a young leader and ready to change the world, don’t be discouraged it may be in there; it just needs to be developed over time. You’re not nearly as good as you’re going to be if you keep working on it over time.

#2 Young Leaders Need to Learn Internal Fortitude is the Muscle of Leadership

I’ve got to be honest. There are days I don’t feel like training…I’d rather sleep. And there are moments when I’m running, or biking, or swimming that I’d rather just stop. But I don’t. And if you’re a young leader you need to soak this next statement in. The will to keep moving forward in the face of adversity, to find a way when there doesn’t seem to be a way; this is what separates “Big L” leaders from the weekend warriors. Not a lot of people will say this, this way, but there are a lot of ridiculously talented leaders out there (more talented than me) that fell by the wayside because they simply lacked the internal fortitude to take another step forward. They allowed their leadership muscle to atrophy.

#3 Young Leaders Need to be Given the Right Resources

I can’t believe all the gear that you “need” to run a triathlon, it’s a complete grocery list! Shorts that you can swim, bike and run in. Shoes that you can run in and another pair that clip into your bike. A helmet for your bike ride (we didn’t wear helmets when I was a kid…just saying). Oh yea, gotta have a bike, and I’m not talking about the BMX bike you had as a kid. A special watch for training where you can measure you distance, pace, calories spent and will probably tell you what time it is on Mars at any given moment. You get it. But why don’t young leaders get that there are real leadership skills that can be and need to be acquired and honed over time? If you’re a young leader and aren’t being developed where you are, then you need to take responsibility for your own growth. Listen, the majority of talented and experienced leaders out there aren’t going around looking for people to invest in. They’re up to their elbows creating the future! You’re going to need to find a leader who has what you want and chase them until they catch you. Remember leaders press into people who press into them.

Posted in Leadership

5 Reasons it’s Good When People Leave Your Church

Monday, May 27, 2013

Over the past 17 years of full time local church ministry I’ve seen people come and go from churches for all kinds of reasons. For the most part I’ve observed that those reasons have more to do with personal preference, style, and relationships than God actually “calling” them to be at one church or another.

And when this begins to happen I’ve seen Church Staff agonize over people departing from their churches. Frustration and fear can begin to creep in. How are we going to replace their financial support? Who is going to fill their recently vacated volunteer role? If they’re leaving and they’ve been here so long, then is there something wrong? Do they know something that I don’t? Should I be leaving too?

Even worse I’ve seen Church Staff begin to make decisions rooted in the fear of people leaving as opposed to the advancement of the mission. And when that begins to happen it’s a clear indicator that the church is drifting towards becoming insider focused.

What if I told you that people leaving your church can actually be a good thing? Maybe even the best thing? Below are 5 reasons that it’s actually good when people leave your Church:

1. They fell in love with who you were, not with who you are becoming

They’re stuck in the past. They were there when the church was small enough that you could know everybody by name and the Pastor was more available. Or maybe their favorite Staff Member excelled in their role when the church was smaller but it passed by their capacity and they’ve been moved to a different role, or they’re off the bus all together. Now things have changed and they’ve become critical that things aren’t the same anymore. You know people are stuck in the past when they keep talking about the “good ‘ole days” instead of what God is doing now.

2. It creates new opportunities

When people leave your church it creates an opportunity for new people to jump in, serve, and fill the gap. The exciting thing about new people is they always have fresh eyes, a different experience base, a new perspective, and new ideas. When people leave your church it’s an incredible opportunity for an infusion of new talent and ideas that will help propel things forward.

Posted in Leadership

How to get Different Solutions

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Getting different solutions isn’t always about looking for new ideas but sometimes just looking at the same things differently. But looking at things differently and changing your perspective usually means getting outside of your tribe. After all if what you were doing were working you wouldn’t be stuck and you’d already be heading where you want to be going. One of our biggest problems is that we have a tendency to surround ourselves with people who are just like us. People who think like us, dress like us, talk like us; they even believe the same things we believe. That’s why we allow them to be close to us. But getting different solutions means going to new sources. Here are 6 ideas to get outside of your tribe and get different solutions:

1. Invite the Wrong People to the Meeting

Instead of inviting the same old people to the meeting who have the same old ideas, change up the invite list. Bring in people from a different generation, background, or layer of the organization. I guarantee you’ll walk away with different ideas.

2. Make a new Hire

Any time you make a new hire from the outside you’re bringing in a wealth of new and different experiences and ideas. Go to work in the first 3 months of mining those ideas. Let them have a look at everything you do and encourage them to question ‘Why do you do it that way?’

3. Chase until you get Caught

Make a list of people that you respect who have different abilities and gifts than you, who have been successful in their field, and then chase them this year (don’t stalk them). You’d be surprised how many successful people are generous with their time when it comes to investing in others. Remember leaders don’t go looking for people to invest in, leaders press into people who press into them. This may mean investing some time and money, but the ideas and personal growth that you experience will be well worth it!

4. Take a trip to Disney World

Go and visit leaders from different industries and learn what principles can be transferred back into the area you’re leading in. A Chic-fil-A Executive once told me that they don’t look at other fast food companies to learn from, they go outside their tribe to other global industry leaders to learn from.

5. Engage a Good Consultant

Bringing in an outside experienced professional with fresh eyes and different questions is a great way to help you begin to think differently. I know some great consultants at TonyMorganLive (the consulting group I’m involved with) that love the local church and want to see you win, that I’d highly recommend.

6. Move your Workspace

This is a simple step you can take this week. Take a day and move your workspace to a coffee shop, a cabin, a park or any place other than where you work every day. You’d be surprised how a change of scenery can make you think and act differently.

Posted in Leadership

new in 2012

Thursday, January 5, 2012

This past weekend I had the opportunity to preach the last message at Sun Valley Community Church in 2011 and the first of 2012. It was a great weekend and God used this message to speak to a bunch of people. The feedback was incredible! Hope He uses it to encourage you. Enjoy!