Cohort

The last two days I spent with about 65 pastors from the Potomac District in a cohort; the first of 5 throughout the next year. It is led by Drs. Wayne and Sherri Lee. This is the second year that it has been offered, and though I wanted to get in it last year, I decided to wait. I'm sorry that I did.

If they do one thing they assess. They work to constantly quantify what you are doing and where you are as a church. I know one pastor that has assessed his church thrice in a year.

The first meeting, this week, was pretty much just learning a common language so that when they refer to things we understand what they're talking about. Dr. Lee has pastored four churches two under a hundred, one that grew into a mega-church, and another mega-church. He pastored in Urban, Suburban, and rural settings. He has spent his life of ministry as a research field to train other pastors, and for the last ten years has served as a professor in Bible colleges. He is a good teacher.

His cohort is not a seminar or conference. He doesn't tell us what to do, or suggest that our church look a particular way. Instead he offers the essential functions of the church, no matter what it's vision looks like. This is different from most conferences where churches say, "This is what we do, if you do it like us, you'll succeed." Dr. Lee approaches things very differently. Start with prayer, determine God's vision with the church people, work on ministry holistically, and become the church God intends for your setting, in your community, with your people.

It's going to be a worthwhile investment of time, though before I start implementing anything they've recommended that we take our time. Some guys have been in the track a year, and are just starting to implement things they're learning. Others are working on a five year plan of implementation. So I'll take my time too, and learn as much as I can.

--Ben