5 Questions with Ben Arment – A Leadership Profile

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Kary Oberbrunner

Entrepreneur.

Don’t belittle the word unless you’ve had the courage to try it on for size and walk around a bit. When I think of Ben Arment words like guts, bold, and fearless come to mind – not to mention entrepreneur – (hence his founding of The Whiteboard Sessions).

You gotta be a little crazy when you’re a church planter. It’s one of the toughest jobs and 3 out of 5 church plants fail. My dad’s planted 3 of them and he is as tough as nails.

Listen in to my interview with Ben as I asked him about the Risks he’s taken as a leader and the next ones that have him in right in their sights. (If I were you Risks, I’d walk away, before it’s too late.)

How did you get from here to there? I wanted to be a political journalist, but then interned at the White House with Monica Lewinsky and had enough of that. =) I moved into writing for an advertising agency until I realized my soul was shriveling. So I started dabbling with youth outreaches and discovered I had a passion for ministry. I went to seminary at Liberty University, but Lynchburg was saturated with ministry students, so I drove 4 hours each weekend to work at a large church in Virginia Beach. After 3 years of feeling like a social director on a Christian cruise ship, my wife Ainsley and I decided to plant a church in Reston, Virginia, just outside Washington DC. Seven years later, I stepped down from pastoring to create The Whiteboard Sessions and then become a director for Catalyst.

Please identify one of your leadership weaknesses that’s been exposed while functioning as the Experience & Innovation Director at Catalyst? I’ve come to realize I’m not a good shepherd of a congregation. I must have been trying to fake it for 10 years because now that I’m not in that role anymore, I have an overwhelming sense of relief. Joy is being restored to my soul. As for my Catalyst job, I’m not good at brainstorming in groups. I’m too decisive.

How have you closed that leadership gap? I ask my team to brainstorm without me and then ask for their recommendations. It lets them dream without my interference.

What led to your decision to transition you and your family from serving in a local church? After seven years, I felt my shepherding gifts being stretched beyond comfort. I’m rather entrepreneurial in my gift mix, so I kept trying to reinvent the church, but it was lurching the organization. They needed a true pastor to give them stability, and my associate pastor was the perfect guy. God used me to launch the church, but he provided a true shepherd to lead them on. At the end of my tenure, I invited 5 local pastors to assess our church. They confirmed my suspicions and graciously and lovingly helped me move on.

I applaud the vision to take the Catalyst brand beyond the Podcast, Filter, Catalyst Atlanta and now into Catalyst One Day and Catalyst West. What steps are you taking to protect the Catalyst brand from diffusing too much and becoming victim to the Starbucks parable we all know so well? For the record, I still love Starbucks, =) but I understand what you’re asking here. Keep in mind there are hundreds of thousands of church leaders who have never even heard of Catalyst. I can’t tell you how many people ask me, “What is Catalyst?” So we’re working hard to reach those people. To our die-hards, this might feel like over-exposure, but our One Day events, for example, attract a whole new audience. Our “community” consists of over 140,000 leaders, but only 19,000 will come to our events this year. And those are only the leaders who know us and love us.

Which of the Catalyst brand is your favorite and why?

5 Questions with Mark Batterson – A Leadership Profile

Posted on March 9, 2009 by Kary Oberbrunner

761

You ever meet someone who’s just a nice guy?

Such was the case for me at the Catalyst conference this past year. Standing in the concession line during one of the breaks, never knowing a stranger, I asked the guy in front of me if he was author extraordinaire Mark Batterson.

Sure enough the guy who held a box of popcorn in his hands was the same dude who uses animal names in the titles of his books like: In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and Wild Goose Chase. More than that, he’s a leader I totally respect. One of those courageous folks – a guy who’s church in the DC area (National Community Church) is comprised of 70% dechurched or unchurched people. Under Mark Batterson’s leadership NCC is 1 church in 5 locations.

What I like best about Batterson isn’t his popcorn or his legacy as a leader, it is his down-to-earth, “can’t buy it” humility. Needless to say, I’m a fan. Listen in to my interview as I asked him about his successes, failures, and challenges as a leader:

How did you get from here to there? It all goes back to a cow pasture in Alexandria, Minnesota. Isn’t that how every story begins? Seriously, I have a picture of a cow pasture hanging behind my desk because that is where I felt God calling me to ministry. I had no idea what or how or where. But that was my first burning bush.
Over the years I’ve learned that “sometimes it takes a shipwreck to get you where God wants you to go.” It was a shipwrecked church plant while I was in Cemetery, I mean Seminary, that forced us to consider other options. Long story short, we packed up all of our belongings into a fifteen foot Uhaul and drove from Chicago to DC. Can’t imagine being any place else. My wife and three kids live on Capitol Hill and we’ve had the privilege of serving National Community Church for more than a decade now!

Please identify one of your leadership weaknesses that’s been exposed while the Pastor at National Community Church? One? I have a hard time saying “no.” I have a hard time confronting issues. I think I’m a people-pleaser by nature. And I’m also a perfectionist. Oh yeah, I have a hard time answering requests for “one” weakness. Put that all together and I’m as messed up as the next guy.

How have you closed that leadership gap? I’m still closing the gap, but having boundaries has helped on several of those weaknesses. For example, I only give National Community Church one night per week because I need to coach my kid’s teams and help them with homework. Obviously, that wasn’t the case during the church plant phase. But over time you need to find the right balance between family and ministry and that means putting family first. I have our Stewardship Team limit the number of boards I can serve on and the number of speaking days I can travel. Those boundaries help me say “no.” I also take all of my vacation because I owe it myself and my church and my family. Do I still get out of whack at times? Absolutely! But then I reestablish boundaries.

I applaud your vision for National Community Church. What is your “God size” vision for it? I think it was Bill Gates who said we tend to overestimate what we can accomplish in two years and underestimate what we can accomplish in ten years. I’m taking the long-view. I want to pastor one church for life and that allows me to dream God-sized dreams. First and foremost, I envision us giving millions of dollars to missions every year. That is our driving force. We want to grow more so we can give more. We’ll give about half a million to missions this year along with ten missions trips to ten countries, but enough is never enough when it comes to giving. And we believe God will continue to bless if we continue to give. Beyond that, I envision us influencing five digits on a weekly basis and having twenty-five locations in the DC area and possibly in other parts of the country or even across the big pond. Finally, I see a franchise of coffeehouses giving every penny of profit to missions while creating postmodern wells where people can encounter Christ (and get a good cup of coffee).

Give us the Big Idea behind your breakthrough book Wild Goose Chase and why you wrote it? The Celtic Christians called the Holy Spirit An Geadh-Glas or The Wild Goose. I love that characterization. You cannot track or tame a wild goose. There is a element of danger and an air of predictability. In a nutshell, if you take the Holy Spirit out of the equation of my life it spells boring. If you add him into the equation, all bets are off. You never know where you’ll go, what you’ll do, or who you’ll meet. Wild Goose Chase is a book that invites people into the unequaled adventure of living a Spirit-led life.

So as a reader, what’s your take-away from Mark’s interview? Where is the Spirit leading you? On a Wild Goose Chase?

5 Questions with Anne Jackson – A Leadership Profile

Posted on March 6, 2009 by Kary Oberbrunner

In the “church” world some of us unfortunately forget that women are leaders too (The Apostle Paul didn’t forget – just read Romans 16 for a list of women that I’d take in Grace Church any day {in addition to my wife and soulmate Kelly who has a heart for giving and hospitality to internationals} )

I’d like to introduce you to a bold leader – Anne Jackson. I consider her my teacher in several areas. Both Zondervan authors, we chatted at Catalyst -THE leadership conference. Anne is a leader at her church (Cross Point Church) and what encourages me is that she’s not afraid of anything (hence going public with her past porn addiction and her recent 40 day fast from soical net-working). Her bold new book MAD CHURCH DISEASE is helping many people experience healing. Listen in to our interview.

How did you get from here to there? It’s interesting to see my professional career come full circle. I went from an author (in the fifth grade – my mom threw the book out because it was a little too gory for a ten year old Baptist preacher’s daughter) to a bookstore manager after high school. And now I get to stalk large Christian bookstores and make sure they have my book. I feel sneaky because I know all the secrets. Anyway, I digress. It’s been an unpredictable journey – from bookstore manager, to spending several years in communications and media roles after I left the faith. After a bit of a reconversion experience, I wound up in full time ministry, and have spent the last six years serving in a variety of roles within the church. Then I realized how much I love to write, and I love the church. Combining the two made sense. Hopefully, my mom won’t think this book is gory.

Give us the Big Idea (3-4 sentences) behind your breakthrough book Mad Church Disease and why you wrote it? Just two years into my ministry, I stressed out to the point of being hospitalized. After returning from a short break, my eyes were opened to how burnout was killing so many other leaders – whether it be physically, emotionally, relationally or spiritually. I’m a fighter. Burnout is something that can’t win. We are called to be the hope of the world and so many of us live in a professional ministry world with hidden hopelessness. Nope. No more. We have to stop. This book is a call and a challenge to do just that.

You’ve written about your addiction to porn in an article called: Dirty Girls: The New Porn addicts. What’s has been the response of sharing your secret? It’s been almost three years since that article released and every week I’m still contacted by women (sometimes men) who have found freedom in being able to admit they too are addicted yet they now know they’re not alone. It’s opened up doors to speak on the subject, which surprises so many people that women can have sexual addictions. At least a third of us do. So why not talk about it?

How have you closed these leadership gaps in your life (ministry burnout and porn addiction)? COMMUNICATION. I can’t stress that enough. Open, honest, messy, ugly, painful, hopeful, scary, redemptive, grace-filled communication. With my husband, with my friends, and even with the public. Both my husband and a few friends have access to everything I touch…my email, calendar, computer, passwords – everything. Keeping nothing hidden is key. And being wise to stay as far away from the lines we’re so easily tempted by is essential.

When I think of Anne Jackson I think of 2 things: (1) someone who re-invents herself and (2) someone who takes risks. I applaud your courage to take a 40 day fast from blogging and twittering. What’s the next risk Anne Jackson is taking? Ask me in six months! I have no idea. That’s not true. I do have a few ideas, but that’s part of this fast is to seek God, eliminated the noise, and align my heart with his so I can confidently take the next leap. God and I have a deal set up. I keep praying for opportunities that require me to jump and jump high, and he keeps providing them. He hasn’t failed me yet. It’s going to be an exciting year!

Thanks Anne for helping us grow as leaders!

Before I sign off, I’d like to ask you the reader 2 questions… 1. “What’s the last big risk you took for God?” 2. What are some tips for protecting yourself from potential pitfalls like porn and/or burnout?

5 questions with Dave Ferguson – A Leadership Profile

Posted on March 2, 2009 by Kary Oberbrunner

I’m committed to bringing you great content, so I landed a huge interview with Dave Ferguson Lead Pastor and Spiritual Entrepreneur of Community Christian Church and New Thing Netork, Co-Author of The Big Idea. I asked him 5 questions that would stretch you as a leader. What impresses me about Dave is his God-sized dreams. I met Dave via his amazing breakthrough book THE BIG IDEA. If you’re a pastor or ministry leader you need to read it. If not, you need to buy your pastor one. His book will help mobilize your church by helping it clarify the message it communicates. Tune in to our short interview, but I’m warning you: Dave’s passion is contagious.

How did you get from here to there? (short recap of your professional career)
When I was a freshman in college the single compelling question that I could not escape was, “for what will you trade your life?” I had thought seriously about going into law; but the only answer I had for that question was to “help people find their way back to God.” I knew that the way to do that was through a local church. I knew that most existing churches either would not be able to tolerate me or I would not be able to tolerate them so my brother, wife and three friends from college all started a brand new church in my hometown, Chicago.

Please identify one of your leadership weaknesses that’s been exposed while the Pastor at Community Christian Church.
I am not good at raising enough money in enough time. Too often my vision has outpaced my ability to raise money. On at least one occasion when we were starting a new campus or some endeavor we didn’t get all the money we needed till the last minute. The result was it caused a lot of chaos and sucked some of the fun out of what should have been a great time of celebration.

How have you closed that leadership gap?
I have brought people on staff to help fill that gap. I have also put safeguards in place so that we cannot put ourselves in that difficult position. I have also tried to improve my leadership skills in that area.

I applaud your vision for NewThing Network. What is your “God size” vision for it?
We want to be a catalyst for movement of reproducing churches. When we sit down and strategize we start with 1 billion people and work backwards. One billion is about 16% of the world population and a tipping point for influencing the entire planet. It sounds grandiose, but that is where Jesus started, “…all the world.” We have found that by using that as a starting point it causes us to dream bigger and think differently – for the better. The immediate goal is to recruit leadership residents for at all of our NewThing churches. I want to give young leaders interested in planting a new church to have the best possible experience and training.

Give us The Big Idea (1-2 sentences) behind your breakthrough book The Big Idea and why you wrote it?
We bombard people with more information every weekend than a Christ follower can possibly apply and live out. In so doing we implicitly communicate that you don’t have to live out the truths of scripture you just have to sit there and let us bombard you with them. The solution is to give your people one BIG IDEA every week and challenge them to live it out. We believe the BIG IDEA is one the reasons we are experiencing incredible missional velocity.

Thanks for the lessons in leadership Dave! I’d like to ask you the reader…”What are you willing to trade your life for?” I’d like to know – if you’re bold enough please comment below.