3
2012
Saturday Rewind: Traveling, Twins, and Resolutions
An article by 
Happy Saturday!
I am back from a crazy stretch of travel to Dallas and Atlanta and have been spending a good bit of time getting reacquainted to my man chair and some quiet nights with Theresa. This week also marked the arrival of my new niece and nephew, Clay and Callie, who waited until the day after my birthday to grace us with their presence. All in all, a pretty great week!
With the start of a new month, I also need to update the world on how my goals for 2012 are coming along. My Spanish learning has slowed with all the travel I have done through February, but I am excited to start back up in earnest now that I am back on the G’Island for an extended period of time. I have lost another ten pounds through February, 35 down… 85 to go. Lastly, with our first cohort up and running, the team and I have been talking about launching our next cohorts for church planters and established church leaders. There has also been talk about launching a cohort for youth leaders… I am pretty exited about both of these opportunities.
Having said all that, here is what has been going on on the blog and the #3at3:
- Is Your Rally Cry Current? A recent trip to a hockey game got me thinking about what we celebrate in the church, and how current those celebrations are. Is your church rallying around events from more than a decade ago?
- Church Planting: Exegeting Your Community. Understanding the neighborhood that you are starting a church in takes far more than a few pages of demographic information. Who to talk to, what to look for, and how to go about developing a better understanding of your community.
- Leadership Reading List: Our Iceberg Is Melting. A review of John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber’s book that helps leaders navigate the process of leading change… and unpacking Kotter’s eight steps to effective change leadership.
- Check Out groundSWELL. A quick description of Leadership Network’s groundSWELL online conference.
- Finance Fridays: Church Planting Generosity. Jon Sturdevant from Generis shares a little of his wisdom on developing a culture of generosity within a church plant. Start early, and be consistent in the development of your culture.
From the #3at3:
- Five Things a Pastor Should Never Say, from Ben Reed. Have you said any of these? What did Ben miss?
- Three Ways to Effectively Market Your Church, from Tim Peters. Clear, compelling, consistent… These principles apply to more than just marketing.
- Why McDonald’s Never Stopped Making Cheeseburgers… And Why You Shouldn’t Either, from Jay Therrien. Stick to what makes you outstanding, plan for change, and don’t cannibalize yourself… I’d love to hear YOUR thoughts on this one.
What was the most important thing that YOU learned this week?
About the Author: Matt Steen
Over the last fifteen years I have been a Church Planter, Youth Pastor, Executive Pastor, and now I serve as a Church Concierge with churchsimple.net. I love Jesus, my wife, the Redskins and Capitals and am currently living on Long Island striving to properly pronounce the word G'island.
