MLI retreat 2 notes - part 2

Here is part 2 of my notes from the second Missional Leadership Initiative retreat with Reggie McNeal on May 3-5, 2010 at Salt Fork State Park. Part 1 is below (or here).

SESSION 3 - (May 4, morning)

• Sometimes it's like we've landed at the Cancun airport, and as we drive to the Maya Riviera we didn't even notice the poverty along the way...
• **Most religions are framed by control and fear, which is why hell is the most religious place in the universe.
• Morph budget breakdown into a "project budget" idea - with built in administrative costs; rather than breaking everything apart.
• Missional = more an idea of 'networked' than strictly 'house church' based.
• ***We have created a 'nursery culture': no one wants to leave it, or they always want to go back to it. We need to train them up to flourish, to go out "in the way they should go."
• *Over half of Campus Crusades converts are via the internet now.
• ***We're tracking the numbers of kids leaving church, but we're not recognizing the empty-nest boomers that are leaving with them.
• "Post-congregationalist expression"
• Do we have a scarcity mentality or abundance mentality?

SESSION 4 - (May 4, afternoon) - program-driven to people-development

• 1. Customization - starbucks starts with your order, rather than making mass latte's and expecting you to take one. But they are programmed to the extent that latte's are all made in the same way.
• Maturation is more important than participation (or should be of greater concern). Keep score of maturation, rather than participation (ASK them).
• ***The things you enjoy doing may be how God wants to bless the world through you.
• ***What would you like to see God do in your life in the next 3-6 months (or whatever)?
• ***Old youth model was 1 adult for every 5 kids; What we need now is 5 adults for every 1 kid (see Lance about this - until his book comes out anyway).
• 2. Intergenerational - programmed church separated; we need them together again.
• 3. Service -
• 4. Debrief - asthmatics need to breathe out, not take more in. Question: What did you learn about God?
• 5. Life-centric - people don't grow in artificial environments.
• At the end of preaching, ask what their take-away is.
• Don't be allergic to intentional process. We need intentionality.
• We need to move from church-centric to kingdom-focused; from managing an institution to movement leadership network.
• *There are certain competencies for leading a movement instead of an institution: 1. Spirituality - your life cannot be explained apart from Jesus; 2. Entrepeneurial - discover markets and take risks. See opportunities where others don't; 3. Developers - release people for ministry; 4. Team Players - cannot do it alone; 5. Kingdom oriented... (and there are others. Many are in his book Missional Renaissance).
• The "scorecard" is whatever it is you celebrate.
• We need to change the scorecard in the areas of: Prayer, time, people, money, facilities, technology (again, these are in Missional Renaissance).
• We need to be constantly feeding a missional worldview, or people will go back to think the institution is more important than the mission.
• *At this point I wrote that I was feeling very overwhelmed.
• ***Someone recommended the book Transformissional Coaching by Steve Ogne and Tim Roehl. It has a good list of questions to help people debreif.
• ***If you don't know what you're trying to get done then nobody else will either. [ugh. I think this is my problem].

SESSION 5 - (May 5, morning)

• Reggie harassed me about writing on Facebook that he had blown my mind.
• ***When is the last time Jesus changed my mind about something? Pray for an open mind.
• **Psalm 139 - the "precious moments" were surrounded by David's dark side.
• Self-Management areas: Time, Money, Difficult Emotions, Dark Sides, Boundaries, Expectations, Bodies, Energy...
• Time - do a time audit: how will I spend my time differently now?
• *Difficult emotions - anger, depression, isolation, fear, loss, etc. (don't vent anger at the same person all the time; assess the source).
• Dark Sides - need to be liked, right, cautious, etc.
• Boundaries - 3 violations that stalk ministers: compliance, non-responsiveness (walls), controllers. When you start changing the boundaries don't expect your emotions to agree with you.
• *Expectations - must figure out which set of expectations to live up to (apostle, prophet, evangelist, shepherd, teacher). *I've got to figure out who to create a disconnect among.
• Bodies - exercise, diet, etc. Sleep, brain (get adequate protein).
• ***Archibald Hart books on depression in ministry. maybe here.

As we left we were assigned the 2 books to read, and the profile in the back of 'Strengths Based Leadership.' We were supposed to reflect on the self-management list and scorecard list from the previous day. What do I need accountability with, and how is s.m. list impacting my scorecard issue?

We also set up cohort meeing times: June 24 (Decatur, IL), July 14 (Findlay, OH), and August 17 (Anderson, IN).