Will Mancini

In the last month I have been evaluating a pretty big decision. One of those kinds where, for better or worse, my resting moments are flooded with pros and cons and “what ifs.”  Here are some things I have been been doing in the process of discernment.

#1 Keep it about the walk.

Whatever the decision, remember Jesus is walking next to you and your life belongs to Him. How will the decision affect your relationship with Him? This question alone should be the only one you need to ask. During this season, I have been reflecting on the pattern of big decisions in my life and relishing the memories of Jesus guiding me for 30 years. Prayer this way becomes more than an act, it’s an expression of long relationship.

#2 Don’t get advice, get better questions.

Getting advice is a no brainer. The real pursuit is getting better questions. You will have the top three or four people from whom you receive general wisdom. What about the next 15-20 who can give you special, very specific insight? With each person, ask, “What other questions do I need to consider about _________?” or “Here is an assumption I am working from, but what question am I not considering?” I have had some big explosions of insight by asking these questions.

#3 Create a tug-o-perspective-war.

It’s important to “mine out” the conflict and tension of the decision. I even imagine a tug-of-war of different perspectives. Who can you enlist to pull on the different sides by offering new perspective? Of course you’ll have to live with the internal battle in keeping the first and last “move” of this list in mind. In the last month I have different sides “winning” as I stack each side of the rope with new people offering new points of view.

#4 Travel in time, while watching time.

God gave you an imagination so that you could dream forward and exercise faith. While we can’t predict the future, you can play out your decision, and practice in your minds-eye the blessings and byproducts of your big decision. How does the decision change your life in the next year? In the next ten years? How will the tone of the hours of your day be affected? How will all of your key relationships be affected? The list goes on. Remember there are times when your creative mind is more active, like the fringes of sleep and hypnotic states, like taking a long shower or driving. I intentionally use these times. But remember to watch your time. Don’t make a decision to quickly, and don’t forget that some opportunities expire. You only have the lifetime of the opportunity to leverage the opportunity of a lifetime.

#5 Do the trust fall.

In the end, every decision is an act of trust. Remember that crazy thing you did at camp when you were a kid? You really didn’t know if your buddies were going to let you hit the ground for a laugh. But you did it. You let go. You trusted. The final act of the decision-making process is the moment of commitment. How does this act of trust feel for me? I simply tell God, “I have listened and discerned as much as possible and I am making this decision for you. If this is not the right decision, I trust you to show and to direct my path. Everything I have and I am belongs to you.”

If you watched my talk at the NINES online conference today, below are the free tools I referenced.

The Vision Frame Summary

The Vision Casting Spider Diagram

Download the Church Unique Visual Summary

Leadia was just announced by Leadership Network and it will rollout to the world tomorrow at the online conference, The NINES.  What exactly is Leadia? In short it’s “leadership + media-” It’s a short digital book, combined with embedded video, audio and social media. Check out the intro video:

I have been working with the LN team on it for the past couple of months as a contributor of one of the first four Leadia Experiences. Here is my take on why you are going to love this innovative app.

#1  It’s a totally new genre that’s more fun and more effective than other ways of learning

#2  The experiences are less than 10,000 words so you can interact with them in one sitting

#3  The learning is customized and expandable allowing you to go deeper if you want

#4  New and diverse content will come from a broader range of authors

#5  The content costs less than a book and lots of ebooks

#6  It’s downright fun because use you can be surprised as you go through the experience

#7  It’s great for individual or team use.

I will be sharing about my contribution (FLUX: Four Paths to the Future) once Apple approves it for publication within the Leadia app.

How are you helping your best leaders grow in the area of applying strategy and visionary thinking?

• What about every person on staff?
• What about the elders or deacons or administrative council?
• What about every person leading a small group or bible study?

These questions got me thinking more specifically about the developmental process of visionary leadership. What came from the reflection is 28 “competencies.” I use this word loosely because these simple statements need more refinement before they could be used for a serious assessment tool. Yet I think they are useful at illustrating a range of development.

The matrix from which the 28 ideas came, started with a two simple assumptions. First there are five areas of clarity that a visionary leader needs to know. The five areas are the components of the Vision Frame. (Learn more about the frame.) The second, is that each area of the frame requires a movement from understanding to appreciation to application. The head, heart and hands must all play their part!

UNDERSTANDING   > > >   APPRECIATION   > > >   APPLICATION

If we have people who are growing on this simple continuum, with all aspects of clarity, then your leaders and including your core team will be an unstoppable force.

What else would you add?

This story continues a series started from the 5 Strategic Reasons to Change Your Church’s Name. The first reason is…

 When the scope of a church’s ministry grows beyond a name that is geographically limited.

This reason has occurred for many churches venturing into a multisite strategy. For example, as First Baptist Church of Springdale prepares to launch it’s third campus, they recently navigated a change to become Cross Church. 

 At the dawn of the multisite era, First Baptist Church of Springdale made a bold move to launch a second campus called The Church at Pinnacle Hills. It was a prime location along a north-bound growth corridor from its original campus in Northwest Arkansas. With tremendous success and the opening of a beautiful Pinnacle Hills campus in 2005, the church looked ahead toward a third campus launch. Prior to their campus opening, the churched hired Auxano to guide a vision clarity process and brand development work that included primary research for name options and rationale for geographic strategy for new campuses. 

The primary research also provided priority geographic targets based on variable criteria.  Most multisite churches emphasis only the existing geography of the membership base. But First Baptist Springdale was able to look at other specific factors like:

• Where small pockets of the community are growing the most
• Where the highest percentage of younger adults are living and moving
• Where the highest unchurched population lives

In the end, they chose to launch their third campus in Fayetteville, which is the most unchurched city in their region of Northwest Arkansas. 

And they recently rolled out their new name: Cross Church. 

This naming strategy is a great example of strengthening identity and removing the limitations of their geographic based names. For now, the church’s logo design can exist with one simple and strong name (two syllables) with a secondary emphasis on all three locations. In addition, the church is able to emphasize the centrality of the cross and the Gospel, rather than denominational affiliation. (The church strongly affirms it’s connection with the Southern Baptist denomination.) The icon of the logo shown was designed in partnership with Auxano Creative.

Here is the church’s 4 point explanation of the change:

Why are we moving to a centralized identity?
To strengthen our identity in four key ways: Greater CLARITY in our communication, cause, and our convictions. Greater UNITY in our fellowship. Greater VISION about who we are and where we want to go. Greater SYNERGY which leads to greater effectiveness, partnerships, and results.

The timing of the name change was also strategic as the senior pastor,  Ronnie Floyd, conducted the survey several years in advance. Why did he wait? In the early excitement to launch a new campus it’s sometimes hard to appreciate the “identity frustration” that grows from the complexity and inefficiency of two locations with two totally different names. Names like  “First Baptist Springdale” and “The Church at Pinnacle Hills” are so different, that the names themselves may tend to promote a cultural disconnect. At the very least, it requires extra work from the communication team with every element of execution, from web to business cards. When the escalating complexity of communication commingled with the anticipation of a third campus, the name change  became a no-brainer. The church had to simplify in order to multiply.

 See the name change video.

Congratulations to Ronnie Floyd and the leadership of Cross Church!