I Love my Staff!

This past weekend we had our very first staff retreat. It was great spending time with my team and with their spouses. Friday we got lost getting to P.F. Chang's that was Jared's fault and for some reason that felt really good. I guess because it's usually me getting us lost. I should have asked Robby how to get there seeing how he has lived in Atlanta forever, but I was trying to keep it a surprise. The food was great and our waiter Michael was amazing. we then went to Barnes & Noble's and each team pastor and spouse got to buy something that would help them grow, or relax. Everything from MUTEMATH's newest cd to Andy Standley's new book Communicating for a Change was purchased.

After that we got back home and crashed. We woke everyone up in the morning with the smell of bacon and french toast ala me' (unless ""ala" means "all over me", not "by me", because that would be gross and reason enough to continue sleeping.) Anyhoo we had a nice breakfast and then began one of several work sessions throughout the day.

The session I will make mention of that I thought was just great was the one when we were brainstorming an annual thematic preaching schedule. OK so what does that mean? We desire to be very purposeful in how we are helping people grow in their faith, self-development, and relationships. To do this well we need to be sure that we are teaching to meet the needs of the total person and their roles in life. I believe a random approach to weekly teachings will fail to connect a person to the vast flow of transformational power and information found in God's Word. Preachers (my self included) have a tendency to find a niche and work that niche to the expense of not delving into other areas that help us become balanced in our faith and how that affects our lives, relationships, etc....

This past year we have been purposeful in our monthly series, but maybe not as purposeful in our major thematic blocks. Ok ,again Ross what are you talking about? I want to be sure that we hit themes that are actual needs that people face in life. On the other hand I want to be sure that year to year we have a tool that will help us when designing specific series to be sure to hit on a variety of themes so as to be speaking towards people's spiritual, physical, emotional, and social concerns.

I have been trying to think of a way to help jog our thoughts during this brainstorming session and what came to me a few days prior was to use Malsow's hierarchy of human need. This worked amazing as we began to identify and define for ourselves the needs of people that we need to speak to on an annual basis. After coming up with 6 or so major themes we then began to look at each month in the year to see when that theme would best fit. Finally when we were finished we had a thematic calendar that year to year we can design and plug series into making sure we do not lean to heavy on one side of personal development at the neglect of other needs.

Sometime soon I'll blog our discoveries and lay out our proposed thematic calendar. For now I'll just tell you a few of the thematic categories; relationships, life security, team theme (vision/purpose of emc), discipleship, etc..........

I am looking forward to using this calendar as a guide as God helps us to design teachings that will meet needs, challenge hearts, and give direction for the entire man while on their journey with God, purpose, and friends.