Will Mancini

In the next few weeks I would love to meet you and share with you some of the experiences, principles, skills, and tools for discerning God’s direction and casting vision in your ministry.

ATLANTA CO:LAB (starts March, 30)

Tomorrow (no it’s not too late) come to Mountain Lake Church for the kick-off of the Atlanta Vision co::lab. This is the first of 5, 4 hour sessions that we will do (1-5pm), once a month on a Tuesday afternoon. The cost is $300 per month.  We are pretty much full, but we could take one or two more teams if you were really interested. E-mail me if you are interested. 

SAN ANTONIO: METHODIST LARGE CHURCH INITIATIVE (April 12-15)

This is going to be a great event with lots of opportunity to interact, including a pre-conference workshop. Here is more information. 

ORLANDO: EXPONENTIAL PRE-CONFERENCE LAB (April 19-20)

I will be leading a Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning time workshop (6 hours of training) before Exponential as well as leading some break-outs. I would love to meet you here, and it only costs $49. Sign up through Exponential. If you do mention this post to me via e-mail, and I will bring you a FREE collaboration cube. 

CHICAGO: Q CONFERENCE (April 27-19)

As always, I can’t wait for the unique Q Conference . This is a fabulous time to connect and if your going to be around, let me know.

Seven days ago I took I ride you never want to take. Wrapped like a new-born baby, starring up at the sky, I was rushed down the mountain slope in a Ski Patrol toboggan, painfully shaking all the way.

 Within the hour a doctor was looking at an x-ray of damaged shoulder parts. His diagnosis was enough for a temporary solution plus a new directive. “When you get home, you will need a better picture of your shoulder.” He concluded that my humerous fracture (that’s not very funny) had a 3mm discplacement and would not require surgery. 

 Three days later I was staring at a much higher definition x-ray of my shoulder. Using computer equipment, the doc quickly drew a line revealing an unmistakable 12mm displacement. With the need for surgery a high probability, he sent me to get a CT scan. While his picture was much clearer it was still only one dimension. My case required a 3D snapshot.  The next day, a magic machine with camera’s whirling around a 360 ring, made the exact position of my large bone fragment clear. Surgery next week!

We constantly seek clarity in every dimension of our lives. From windshields to teen-age faces to sunny days and diamond rings. In the case of my shoulder, each clearer snapshot proved not only helpful but necessary for the right solution. My doctor trip diary reveals once again one of my fundamental mantras: Clarity isn’t everything but it changes everything. The rest of my life would be adversely affected if I had only the first x-ray.

Yet for leaders in general and with ministry in particular our appetite for clarity process and conversation is way too faint. Like anorexic teenage girls our whole life is adversely affected because every decision is made from a vantage point that’s not whole, not robust, not complete. 

What level of clarity are you operating from?

1X CLARITY:  You know “what” but not much more. You think most activity is on mission, but really, many decisions miss the mark. Practically you don’t have much more equity with mission, vision or strategy than to “make disciples.” (You correctly know that you have a fracture but don’t think you need surgery – wrong diagnosis)

 2X CLARITY: You have been intentional to articulate your identity and direction to a degree. You have confidence that many of your decisions and much of your activity is on mission. But at the end of the day the picture, while clear, is one-dimensional. Practically, a sense of mission defines your people and there is some awareness of cultural uniqueness. As good as this is there is still much value to be gained from more clarity work. (You have a fracture and probably need surgery- get a CT scan)

 3X CLARITY: You know that you know that you know. Practically speaking, people are attuned and ministry activity is well aligned. You can answer in a clear, concise and compelling way, the what, the why, the how of the mission. You know when you’re successful (as God defines it) and you know where God is taking you. (You need surgery next week with “this kind” of metal plate.)

Tim Schraeder is the director of communications of Park Community Church and he knocked it out of the park on a recent post entitled REWORKING Church Communications. The post was inspired by the book REWORK by the founders of 37signals. Among many bullets that you will want to read, he mentions the cardinal sin of church communications- “copy + paste.” Listen to what he says…

The cardinal sin of church communications is our use of copy + paste. I’m not going to do the original vs recycled argument, but will say this much: STOP IT!  Churches are notorious for copying. For some reason we feel we have permission and entitlement to copy, steal or imitate what’s not ours. Open source is great, learning from others is invaluable, but every church has a unique audience and importing what worked somewhere else might not translate in your context. You learn the most by doing things yourself. And, God is the author of creativity [Genesis 1:1], maybe if we spend some time with Him some if it can rub off on us.

But why is copying harmful? Again this quote is helpful:

The problem [with copying] is it skips understanding – and understanding is how you grow. You just repurpose the last layer instead of understanding the all the layers underneath. So much of the work an original creator puts into something is invisible. Be influenced, but don’t steal.

These last words are profound. I had to reread them several times. So much of my ministry is defined by the problem that people want to skip understanding in the vision process. As I like to say, people are addicted to product, but it’s the process that provides meaning. 

Here are some of the other bullets in this post:

• Stop Being a Communicator, Start Being a Curator
• Stop Sounding So Profeshional.
• Marketing isn’t a line in your budget
• Forget writing Press Releases.
• Say No by Default
• Good Enough is Fine
• Don’t Commit the Sin of Copy + Paste

There is actually a biblical reference for this superman speak. In Psalm 18:29, David writes, “For by You I can run upon a troop; And by my God I can leap over a wall.”

Every leader hits walls and runs into obstacles. If you are leading well, the most important question is not when, but what. What barrier are you facing now, or what roadblock is just around the corner?

For a decade, I have studied the walls that church leaders encounter.  Without question, the need to find the right staff is one of them.  That’s why I am delighted to announce the beginning of a new ministry, started by my friend and colleague William Vanderbloemen.  The Vanderbloemen Search Group (VSG) specializes in creating connections between the right people and the right ministries.

I don’t often refer other organizations or programs out of concern for diluting or eclipsing the importance of clarity on behalf of the ministries I serve. But William and his team are one of the exceptions. I met William in years ago, when he brought in Auxano to navigate the Vision Pathway for the church he was serving. I have watched William lead in many contexts. Here are a few things I know:

• If he is in the room, he is most likely the smartest person in the room, but you won’t know it right away
• The team at VSG is a culture-savvy machine; they are gifted at discernment and will appreciate your ministry’s unique vision
• These guys know a ton of people, period
• I have watched the process work up-close for several of my friends and ministry clients

If your next staff hire is important to your mission, consider giving William a call.  Creating the  right connection can make a world of difference, and might catapult you over the next wall. 

If you like the new Vanderbloemen Search Group logo, check out the story behind it at Cheryl Marting’s blog. Cheryl leads Auxano Creative.

In yesterday’s post I talked about the 6 signs of being stuck in the “more is more” program mindset called “Walmart thinking.” The solution to this common ministry problem is to develop a simple strategy for your church designed to connect people to Jesus and to others. Having a simple strategy promotes and protects the big picture of disciple-making. It also enables the church to live in a “less is more” reality. Think Starbucks not Walmart. 

If you are reading my blog, you have probably figured out that it is one thing to talk “simple church” and quite another thing to execute it.  Long before Thom Rainer decided to publish his student’s research project (His student was Eric Geiger and the book was Simple Church) the Auxano team had been working with a wide variety of churches to develop and maintain a simple disciple-making strategy.

What have we learned? Simplifying around discipleship requires ruthlessly consistent communication. 

The single greatest tool for ruthless consistency is what we call the Missional Map (mMap). The mMap is picture that shows how the church will accomplish its mission at the broadest level.  Just imagine if every regular attender’s experience at your church was saturated with a picture that points to discipleship. What if this picture trumped everything else in church communication? The benefits would be huge.

THE MISSIONAL MAP WOULD:

1. Connect the mission with a  few “best” ministries
   
2. Present Jesus and guide people toward life change in Him
3. Remove complexity and clarify a pathway of involvement
4. Limit time “at church” to release people to “be the church”
5. Filter which ministry ideas fit best and which ones don’t fit 
6. Build a climate of invitation that encourages new commitment
   
7. Shape a culture of Christ-following over program-consuming 

The daily work of discipleship is hard and messy work. So why not limit all the random, attention-draining and resourcing-depleting moving parts of your church that keep you from getting the basics done. Why not highlight the best ministries you can offer and show how they relate to each other for the purpose growing people in Jesus and for His mission in the world. This post is adapted from page 150 of Church Unique. To learn more about developing a Missional Map for your church, contact me through Auxano.
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