Work, work, work

A lot of stuff on my plate today, and the appetite isn't there for all of it.

The Budget:

Tonight is my monthly report to our oversight board. We submit to oversight by the Deacon Board of Pasadena A/G church. I report each month the financial picture of our church. Most months are a great joy to report on because we out-give our projection. Only a couple months during the summer did we not hit our projections. We're pretty open about our finances at Severn River Church. I think that disclosure/transparency is our best friend. As soon as I have the bottom line numbers I'll post them.

The doozy tonight is that I am reporting on the entire year as well. Our budget concluded at the end of August. So tonight I'm submitting a supplemental budget to take us through the end of the year, and expect to start on a January to December cycle in the new year.

The Compassion Journey:

There is a lot of work going on for the CJ. I was really happy to share about it Sunday as I challenged our church to be praying for the CJ and gave them a summary of what to expect. The biggest thing right now is organizing host homes for the small groups. If you want to host a group please click the link in the e-mail that all SRCers will be receiving this week.

We're providing a DVD with a 10 minute teaching followed by pre-scripted discussion questions for each week of the Journey. Hosts will just need to provide the DVD player, TV and place to meet. Working on all of that is time consuming, but worth it compared to what our church will be like on the other side.

Looking for Leaders:

My coaching meeting last week came face to face with an "AHA" moment. My coach talked to me about the 40 barrier. He faced it himself. The key to breaking through is the development of leaders. Now that's not a big realization to me, I've always known it. But what I'm finding is that I've seldom done it effectively.

Permission to speak freely? I have a great ability to mobilize doers. I'm a doer myself. But to take the next step, I'm going to have to become a developer, and I'm going to have to expect my leaders to be developers as well. Developers lead doers. Developers look for leaders who are emerging from the doers and develop them into developers. This isn't rocket science, but it sure isn't easy either. Leadership takes time to develop.

Now I'm focusing on seeing each person at SRC a little differently, looking to see who will lead us into the future. The leaders we have now are good leaders. All of this is not to take away from them. It's really just a reality check for me. As their leader, I owe it to them to develop them as leaders.

Set Building:

Just got a call from JoAnn Fabrics. Our material is in for the curtains. Work will begin tomorrow. If you have a sewing machine and are willing to sew, please click here for instructions.

--Ben