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Internship Announcement

 
I am very excited to announce SpringWell Churchwill begin an Internship starting August 1, 2010.

 

This intentional leadership development program focuses on helping interns discover their own call as a church leader, acquire specific skills relating to ministry, and form habits that will carry them into a lifetime of ministry service.

 

Interns will have the opportunity to receive practical training through one of two different internship tracks: General and Specific. Our hope is to give our interns a 30,000 foot view of the church in the General Track or detailed training in the Specific ministry related Track.

 

Interns will be fully immersed in ministry alongside a staff pastor who leads a specific area. That staff pastor will serve as your immediate supervisor and coach. Mentorship in the areas of spiritual formation and leadership development will be provided by the Executive Pastor. Your involvement will span everything from service tasks that are critical to the running of the ministry, to significant leadership opportunities designed to stretch and grow you, and then everything else in-between. While your focus will likely be on a particular ministry area, you will need to see yourself as a team player who is able to serve wherever needed. 

 

If you sense God calling you to an adventure that requires huge faith, this might be just what you are looking for.

 

Interns will raise funds as a missionary to our community. You will receive training and personal coaching to help develop partners and raise funds.

 Download SpringWell Internship Application

Check This Out!

Todd Carpenter is our Pastor of Connection & Discipleship at SpringWell.

He has written a couple of great posts this week about Fasting.

Check them out:

21 Days of Fasting…

Fasting and the Face of God

Fasting – Suggested Reading

As we prepare for our 21 Day Fast (February 1-21), I wanted to offer some suggested reading. I have read each of these books and can easily recommend them. You can order each book by clicking the picture below.

I would love to hear about your learnings if these books are an encouragement to you.

 

 

 

The Daniel Fast

As we prepare for our church-wide 21-day fast, I wanted to share the basic guidelines for a Daniel Fast. This is based the experience of Daniel in the book of Daniel in the Old Testament.

SpringWell is fasting from February 1-21, 2010. Each person is asked to fast something of his or her choice. Some will be fasting food altogether, others will be fasting technology such as TV, texting, internet, or Facebook, while some will do different types of food fasts.

If you choose to do a Daniel Fast, the following will be helpful:

Foods You May Eat

• Whole Grains
  Brown Rice, Oats, Barley
• Beans
  Dried Beans, Pinto Beans, Split Peas, Lentils, Black Eyed Peas
• Fruits
  Apples, Apricots, Bananas, Blackberries, Blueberries, Boysenberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Cranberries, Oats, Figs, Grapefruit, Grapes, Guava, Honeydew Melon, Kiwi, Lemons, Limes, Mangoes, Nectarines, Papayas, Peaches, Pears, Pineapples, Plums, Prunes, Raisins, Raspberries, Strawberries, Tangelos, Tangerines, Watermelon
• Vegatables
  Artichokes, Asparagus, Beets, Broccoli, Brussels Sprouts, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chili Peppers, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Gingerroot, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Okra, Onions, Parsley, Potatoes, Radishes, Rutabagas, Scallions, Spinach, Sprouts, Squashes, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnips, Watercress, Yams, Zucchini. Veggie burgers are also an option if you're not allergic to soy.
• Liquids
  Spring Water, Distilled Water, 100% All-Natural Fruit Juices, 100% All Natural Vegetable Juices. You may also drink protein drinks.
• Others
  Seeds, Nuts, Sprouts

Foods To Avoid

• Meat
• White Rice
• Fried Foods
• Caffeine
• Carbonated Beverages
• Foods Containing Preservatives or Additives
• Refined Sugar
• Sugar Substitutes
• White Flour and All Products Using It
• Margarine, Shortening, High Fat Products

 

12 Reasons to Fast

1. Jesus told us to
2. Jesus fasted and modeled it
3. To get closer to God
4. To understand God's purpose and direction
5. To receive greater spiritual power
6. To receive health and healing
7. To receive financial breakthrough
8. To experience deliverance in your life
9. For mountains to be removed in your life
10. For unity and blessing
11. For Revival in the Church
12. For faith to be increased

 

 

The Future of Spiritual Formation

I am so excited to announce that SpringWell Church is partnering with Monvee to be on the forefront of The Future of Spiritual Formation.

We will unveil this exciting web-based tool on Saturday during our CORE Leadership Retreat.

Monvee will assist those who desire to be a fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ by developing a handcrafted personalized spiritual growth plan.

John Ortberg says, "Assembly line approaches to discipleship don't work, because everyone is uniquely wired. Monvee will help people own and design the way of life where they can experience maximum growth. People have a crying need to find a way to follow Jesus that is not mechanical or legalistic and that is concrete. Disciples of Jesus cannot be mass produced they have to be handcrafted."

One of our Core Values at SpringWell is Personal Growth. We believe every disciple of Jesus Christ must take personal responsibility for growing in character, emotional wholeness, and relational authenticity. This is why we feel providing such an innovative resource as Monvee meshes with who we are as a church. You are unique and God created you that way. Therefore, a cookie cutter approach to discipleship must be replaced with unique personalized plan, based on how you were created.

Monvee will be the perfect partner with our Growth Groups. Monvee will challenge you as an individual to take personal responsibility and Growth Groups will provide a relational environment for support, encouragement, and accountability. This is a powerful combination.

Monvee will be available to those not attending the retreat for a cost of $40.00. This will give you lifetime access to developing your personalized spiritual growth plan. You will be able to update your plan periodically based on the stages and seasons of your life.

You will hear much more in the coming weeks and months. We are thrilled to be ahead of the curve as we partner with the exciting innovation that is going to take the church and discipleship into a completely new level.

Types of Fasts

As we prepare for our church-wide 21 Day Fast from February 1-21, I wanted to share 6 types of fasts:

1. Normal - abstaining from all food, but not water.
Example: Jesus "ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them was hungry" (Luke 4:2).

2. Absolute - abstaining from food and water; normally no more than 3 days. The body can only go a very short time without water. This is an exceptional fast for an exceptional situation.
Examples: For three days Paul was blind, and did not eat or drink anything" (Acts 9:9), Moses (Deut. 9:9), Israel (Ezra 10:6), Israel (Esther 4:16).

3. Partial - restricting diet of certain foods or a meal a day rather than complete abstention. This allows for many variations.
Examples: Daniel "so the guard took away their choice food and the wine they were to drink and gave them vegetables instead" (Daniel 1:16), (Daniel 10:3).

4. Regular - fast days that commemorate an event or weekly fasts on a regular day.
Examples: Day of Atonement (Lev. 23:27; Ps. 35:13; Is. 58:5), a fast day (Jer. 36:6); four separate festivals (Zech 8:19); twice a week (Luke 18:11-12).

5. Public - fasts called to times of special need and emergency. Almost all regular fasts were public fasts, but all public fasts are not necessarily regular ones.
Examples: King Jehoshaphat when Judah was invaded (2 Chron. 20:1-4), Ezra returning the exiles (Ezra 8:21-23) Ninevah, as a result of Jonah's preaching (Jonah 3:5,10).

6. Involuntary -no desire for food because of anxiety, sorrow, or mental distress (Dan. 6:18), and where a person finds themselves in a situation where no food is available (Matt. 15:32; 2 Cor. 6:5, 11:27)

Fasting is effective because the man or woman who can conquer self-denial can be entrusted with spiritual power. The hard thing is conquering self. The way God trains us is through fasting.

Are you praying about how God wants you to fast?

Dominican Republic Mission Trip Announcement

 I am so excited to announce SpringWell will be going to the Dominican Republic October 16-23, 2010 for our foreign mission trip.

We will be partnering with Missionaries Danny and Denise Stone who lovely lead Restoration Ranch. The Ranch is a residential home for abandoned or orphaned children.

We will serve this awesome ministry through a number of servant-evangelism projects. These include:

· Construction Projects

· Prayer Walking

· Children’s Ministry

· And much more

The trip will be open to all those 18 years old and up.

If you are interested in being a part of our team…. Download Dominican Republic Mission Trip Packet 2010

New Orleans Mission Trip Announcement

 
I am so excited to announce SpringWell will be going to New Orleans July 18-24, 2010 for our stateside summer mission trip.

We will be partnering with several ministries to impact the lives of those still devastated by the aftermath of Katrina.

We will serve this great city through a number of servant-evangelism projects. These include:

· Children’s Ministry

· Work a Day Camp

· Music Ministry

· Construction Projects

· And much more

We will be coming alongside Vintage Church (a church plant in the heart of New Orleans) and MissionLab as our primary partners.

The trip will be open to all those 12 years old and up.

If you are interested in being a part of our team….

Download New Orleans Mission Trip Packet 2010

Fasting

The purpose of fasting is to increase our appetite for God. As a fully devoted disciple of Jesus Christ, there is an expectation we will include this spiritual discipline as part of our lives. In Matthew 6:16, Jesus said, "When you fast"; He had an assumption we would be fasting.

Fasting is all about removing something from our lives so we can get closer to God. Most often fasting involves food but we can fast other things as well. We can fast entertainment, data (i.e. texting, Facebook, the internet), caffeine, or much more.

SpringWell is asking our entire church family to join us in a group fast from February 1-21, 2010. Yes….a 21 day fast! This fast will end on Sunday, February 21^st during our Sunday morning services as we share communion and an extended time of worship.

Throughout the month of January, I plan to blog about fasting to help us prepare. Later this week, I will share the benefits of fasting for breakthroughs in your life.

I would love to hear your experiences with fasting. Click the Comments link below so others can learn from you as well.

SpringWell Retreat

You do not want to miss SpringWell's CORE Leadership Retreat planned for January 22-23, 2010!

You can register here and save $15.00 per person. The current cost is only $60.00. The retreat is for ALL Volunteers and Leaders at SpringWell. However, ANYONE who seeks spiritual growth and is interested in developing a personalized plan is welcome to join us. Friday night will be a time of outstanding worship and a message from Scott. Saturday will include a live simulcast with John Ortberg and Dallas Willard along with a catered lunch. You also get your very own SpringWell T-shirt and registration to a new Web-based Spiritual Growth Tool. Don't forget…we are providing childcare at no cost when you request it during registration. Sign up today and spread the word!

Fasting, Faith, and Finances

Several weeks ago, we had a combined meeting with our Elders and Management Team at SpringWell. The purpose of our discussion was to assess church health and financial need. Scott asked the question, "What are you hearing from God? It did not take long to recognize our unity. One by one, we all basically said the same thing: "God is obviously at work through SpringWell. Lives are being changed and growth is taking place in every area of our church. We just cannot seem to experience a financial breakthrough."

We all agreed whatever God is up to will require a greater measure of faith from our leaders and church. This led us to recognize the value of fasting to increase our faith. We all agreed to pray about how God would stretch our faith to believe for big things for our future.

This challenged me to read the Elmer Towns book Fasting for Financial Breakthrough. It is a quick read and inspired me to share some principles with our staff during a recent staff meeting.

I believe our biggest challenge for experiencing a financial breakthrough is not getting more money but more faith.

After sharing my thoughts from this book to our staff, several have committed to various types of fasts. One staff member shared their journey with me about how they were praying for a specific $3,000 need within our Family Ministry. The first day they were preparing to fast, they received a phone call from a member of SpringWell who asked, "How could the children's ministry use $3,000? I would like to make such a donation."

Do you see the connection?

Fasting increases our faith. Faith and faithfulness are needed if we expect a financial breakthrough.

To listen to the lesson I shared with our staff visit this link.

Please keep in mind, I was sharing with our staff and certainly said some things I would not say on a Sunday morning. Leaders must address reality and I certainly did so in the context of this meeting.

God is so clearly at work at SpringWell and we desperately desire the faith required to experience all He has in store for us.

I'd love to hear about how God is stretching your faith.

My Anniversary

Today is my Blog Anniversary. I wrote my first blog 2 years ago on October 12, 2007. Since then, I have blogged about 150 times. My topics have covered issues regarding life, leadership, and church health. I have been honored and humbled by the influence blogging provides. As I have reflected today, here are some thoughts I have about blogging:

• When I don't blog….I am too busy
• When I blog….it's a sign I am reflecting
• Reflection is a sign of spiritual health
• People have visited my blog from 43 different countries in 2009
• I need to consider more video blogs
• I need to blog more often
• Never underestimate the influence you have
• Despite your intentions, some people will misunderstand you
• I love it when I receive a comment on my blog
• People like bullet lists

Will You Partner with SpringWell Kidz?

We are so excited at SpringWell about the future of our Family Ministry. We have spent months praying about how to intentionally impact families. We have integrated all ages (nursery through 12^th grade) under one strategic effort.

On Sunday, August 16^th, Chip Joiner shared many of the things we are hoping to accomplish soon. I highly recommend you listen to the podcast. Also, checkout the SpringWell Kidz Facebook page to stay updated with happenings.

It is our goal in 2010, to totally renovate the Family Ministry Center and making it a place where Preschoolers, Elementary, Middle and High School Students can develop as fully devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.

In the mean time, we have 5 small projects that need to be accomplished over the next month. They are:

1. Paint Building A (now the Family Ministry Center) – we are going to make this colorful. Can you say CRAYOLA!!
2. Signage – We want to place a large 20' x 11' sign on the front of the building with the new SW Kidz logo (Above)
3. Lighting – We need to brighten the large auditorium for preschool students on Sunday
4. Portable Walls – We are building portable walls to create a better environment for preschoolers
5. Update Audio/Video – The small auditorium needs updated for audio, video, and computer.

I would like to encourage you to partner with us in making this a reality. Here is how:

1. Pray – Pray for the families in our church. Our staff is committed to praying with you.
2. Serve – If you are not serving in a ministry consider serving in the nursery, preschool, elementary, or student ministry.
3. Give – Will you consider giving (above your tithe) an offering toward the above projects? The estimated cost is $5,000.

You can give here. Please put "Family Ministry" in the memo.

These are exciting time in our church. Let's partner together to impact a new generation of Christ followers.

Memories or Vision?

Yesterday, I heard Andy Stanley make the following comment: If your memories outweigh your vision....the end is near.

I found myself thinking about it most of the day. It caused me to pray and ask God to open my eyes to the grander vision he has for my life.

What is the grander vision God has for my…Marriage…Family…Ministry?

My blessing is my challenge. I am blessed to have great memories in each of these areas of my life. God has done some incredible things in my marriage, in my family, and through my ministry. The challenge is to not allow these memories to outweigh the grander vision God has for my future.

I plan to take some time over the next couple of weeks to seek God's grander vision. I am confident He has great plans for Renee and I, for my family, for SpringWell, and Legacy Coaching.

I look forward to sharing.

How about you? Do you memories outweigh your vision?

Do You Limp or Strut?

Yesterday, I wrote the following status on my Facebook: When hiring staff.....I'd much rather hire someone with a limp instead of a strut.

I received several comments and thought I would expound more on my blog.

I think the limp represents those who are broken and dependant. Jacob is a great example of this in Genesis 32:22-32. Jacob wrestled with God and walked away with a limp for the rest of his life. He was transformed through his struggle.

When I hire someone, I want those who have been through enough struggle they know they are dependent on God. Broken people are dependent on God. This is much different from those who act like a victim all the time. Brokenness and dependence produces humility.

Those with a strut are quite the opposite. They are self-reliant and have no need for others. They miss the point of team ministry and dependence on God. I often say, "I cannot teach someone who knows it all." The strut represents those who know it all.

To be honest, when I first started out in ministry….I walked with a strut. It took almost 10 years before I was willing to wrestle with God and walk away with a limp. Today, I would never trade my limp in for the strut. I embrace it. I value it. I respect it.

How about you? Do you limp or strut?

Fierce Conversations: Book Review

Fierce Conversations is one of the best books I have read in a long time. The reason is I can put what I have learned to use right away. Many books are inspiring but very few actually cause us to change our behaviors.

There are so many quotes I enjoyed; I would not know where to begin in sharing them with you. I will say this book challenged me in a huge way. I've never been one who enjoys idle conversations that stay focused on the surface. Fierce Conversations opened my eyes to how I can influence each conversation to be a meaningful one. As a result, I was inspired to share with our staff some lessons regarding Confrontational Conversations.

Below are some of the notes. If becoming a more effective leader is important to you, I highly recommend reading this book.

 

Staff Meeting Notes from June 9, 2009

 

How do you have a conversation where you need to confront an issue?

 

What does it mean to confront someone?

 

Fierce = robust, intense, strong, powerful, passionate, eager, unbridled

 

Four Purposes of a Fierce Conversation

 

1. Interrogate Reality
2. Provoke Learning
3. Tackle Tough Issues
4. Enrich Relationships

 

Why do we avoid such conversations?

 

Seven Components to Opening a Fierce Conversation:

 

1. Name The issue
2. Provide specific example that illustrate the behavior or situation you want to change
3. Describe your emotions about this issue
4. Clarify what is at stake
5. Indentify your contribution to the problem
6. Indicate your wish to resolve the issue
7. Invite a response

Core Values 3 of 7

 

Reproduction - Church growth is the result of growing people…growing people.

 

Today's core value is the direct result of transformation. We all reproduce what we are. The best church growth strategy is when changed people…change people. When growing people….grow people.

 

What are you reproducing? God has an expectation for each of us to influence the lives around us. What is your influence producing?

 

Here are a couple of scriptures that guide this value in my life:

 

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

Matthew 28:19-20

 

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ;    Ephesians 4:11-13

Problems

Anyone can make me aware of the problems…

…I want to know, who will help me solve them?

Blogging Break

Renee and I are leaving for vacation early tomorrow morning. I have decided that I will NOT blog or update my Facebook when I am away. In the past, I have stayed connected with status updates or quick pictures of what we are doing.

I think it is important I totally disconnect on this trip. No blogging, no Facebook, and no email. I will be back the week of September 29^th.

See you then.

Legacy Coaching Web Site

I am so excited to announce that Doug Cowburn and I have gone public with our new web site for Legacy Coaching.

My blog is reaching people from several difference audiences.

• As a way connect and communicate with the members of SpringWell.
• To keep my family, friends, and ministry colleagues up to date concerning my life and ministry.
• To challenge and serve church leaders regarding leadership, church health, and change.

Legacy Coaching is just another way to help encourage and support church leaders. I plan to blog more about this in the future.

I would love to get your thoughts regarding the new web site.

Membership at SpringWell

It has been a great year at SpringWell. So many things have excited me. One of those things is how well our membership workshops have been. We have offered SpringWell 101 three times this year and have received 87 new members as a result. Wow!

If you haven't made the commitment to partner with SpringWell through membership, the next date will be Sunday, November 2^nd from 4:00-7:00 PM.

Staff Announcement

I am so excited to announce that SpringWell has hired Todd Carpenter as our Pastor of Connection & Discipleship. As the Pastor of Connection & Discipleship, Todd will be responsible for leading our assimilation process and discipleship strategy. Todd will lead the charge to connect people through our Home Groups, Serving Groups, and Care Groups. He will be working side by side with Tracey Daniel (Home Group Coordinator) and Dan Elmore (Care Pastor) as this team creates the best opportunities for everyone to connect at SpringWell. Our goal will be to connect every guest we can into at least one of these groups.

Todd will also take the lead in developing our discipleship ministry. This includes facilitating our SpringWell 101 through 401 membership workshops and Synergy Classes. Todd's responsibilities also include leading our Guest Service Teams each Sunday, as we do our best to create the best first impressions possible.

The Pastor of Connection & Discipleship position is a new role on our staff. Todd is "technically" replacing Dan Dather, who resigned in May. After Dan departed, we spent a lot of time redefining this position to meet the current needs of SpringWell.

Todd has been a part of SpringWell for quite some time and has stepped in a lot for Dan Dather during Synergy. We has planted a church and worked as an interim pastor in the past. He has recently served as the Director of Habitat for Humanity in Greenville. He has a military background and loves to hit the road on his bike. Todd is very organized and gets what we want this position to accomplish.

When you see Todd on Sunday, welcome him to our team.

IT'S A GREAT DAY TO BE AT SPRINGWELL!!

Volunteer Perspective

 

Since being at SpringWell, I have heard week after week, how we do not have enough volunteers to serve each Sunday in our Preschool ministry. Jennifer Eleazer does a great job recruiting but never seems to be able to fulfill all her needs. She has told me many times how she is short 50 or more volunteers in a month. Jennifer and I met two weeks ago to discuss this situation. I asked her to share what the need was and how she scheduled each month. After reviewing the schedule I determined that we don't have a volunteer problem….we have a system problem.

When Jennifer took the job, she inherited a scheduling system that requires 145 volunteers to serve each month. This encompasses all classes from infants to 5K and serves an average of 80 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers each week. We currently ask each volunteer to serve only one service a month and have 82 on our roster. Did you read that? We have 82 volunteers serving each month in our Preschool ministry of 80 children. This is off the charts! If I told all my ministry friends that we have 82 volunteers serving in our Preschool ministry, they would think we are Rock Stars. Most churches would love to have that many volunteers. Yet we think we have a volunteer problem because our schedule does not have a name in every slot. We don't have a volunteer problem….we have a system problem.

We can't take time to celebrate the great achievement of 82 volunteers because our system is working against us. So how do we fix it? Instead of asking volunteers to serve one service and month…we are asking them to serve one Sunday a month. This immediately affects how Jenifer will be able to create a monthly schedule where all the needs are met.

On Sunday, I met with about 25 volunteers from this ministry and shared the above details. It was amazing how everyone recognized that we are in a much better place than we thought. We went from being overwhelmed by how many volunteers we needed to celebrating how many we have.

The next time you see Jennifer let her know how much you appreciate what she is doing. She leads more volunteers than any area of our church and has created a safe and loving environment for our children on Sunday's.

The Words Out of My Mouth

My good friend Doug Cowburn turned me on to wordle.com as a tool to discover what I am really saying as I blog.

The graphic below illustrates the words that have been coming out of my mouth. J