caseyross

The Things I Learned On The Ministry Services Retreat

In keeping with the spirit of "The Things I Learned On Summer Vacation" posts, I thought I'd post what I learned on my first Ministry Services retreat...

• I am a fan of the Ritz Carlton.  I think I could go back.
• Service is my ministry.
• I love that I work with all kinds of different people.  No cookie cutter was used when assembling the Ministry Services Team.
• My team won the "talent show/homecoming king" contest...although we did not actually win anything.  We knew dressing a man in a toga and having him act like a frat guy would guarantee us a win.
• I work with some really smart people.
• While I learned, laughed, and sat by the pool and lake, my wife oversaw our moving out of our house in SC. She is awesome.  Yes, I know I owe her big time.
• I love sitting in a room of people who, regardless of the their day-to-day roles, wholeheartedly believe in our mission.
• Customer Service looks so different and so similar at every level.
• The one thing I am walking away thinking about is...systems can be environments.  In my mind and world, that is earth shattering.  I'll post more about this I'm sure.

Oh yeah, Ministry Services is the department I am a part of at Browns Bridge and North Point Ministries.

What Kind Of Church Are You Looking For (In Greenville)?

My three years at Catalyst Church in Greenville redefined church for me and my wife.  It honestly changed our standard for the kind of church we want our family to be a part of.

What is our new standard?  It's simple.  Can we, with 100% confidence, invite our unchurched friends?  Regardless of our friend's past or present, regardless of how they view church or God, etc., do we feel 100% confident inviting them to our church?

For us to feel this way, it is a church where we are connecting with what God is doing and where our kids are being led towards a relationship with Jesus.  When those things are happening and happening in irresistible environments, we know we've found a church that we can partner with.

I'm so excited for Greenville that a church like this is opening on July 13!  NewSpring Greenville opens two weeks from today.  I am so excited about them being in Greenville because I know there are Christians in Greenville looking for a church to which they can invite their unchurched friends.  And there are well over 160,000 unchurched people in Greenville who need churches like this.

Welcome to Greenville, NewSpring!  I am praying for you!

Inconsistency Drives Me Crazy

Inconsistent people, organizations, leaders, restaurants, brands, [insert just about anything] drive me crazy!

I love Chick-Fil-A and Chipotle and other places because I know what I'll experience when I walk in.  One of the things I love about the North Point model of church is I know my experience will be consistent regardless of what campus or Strategic Partner I go to.  I once had a friend, though, who was either a cool, normal guy to be around or an elitist...we weren't friends long.  And I've been to churches with an incredible, forward moving student ministry and the rest of the church contently stands still...and they wonder why the students don't come back as they get older.  Unfortunately, I think I've come to expect inconsistency.

Yeah, I know, consistency can sound boring.  Very few things are 100% purely consistent.  People add their personalities and locations add context.  Those are all good things.  When I say consistent, I don't mean cookie cutter.  I mean consistent with some personality and context added to make the experience even better.

My wife's phone freaked out on her Saturday morning.  She took it to the Verizon store closest to our house.  They treated her poorly, were not willing to help, and pretty much told her she was out of luck.  She left there and went to another Verizon store 15 minutes away and had the exact opposite experience.  They treated her with respect, paid attention to her phone problems, and fixed the problems.  Why does another location 15 minutes away make that big of a difference?

If your customers / audience experience inconsistency with what you offer them, you have a problem.  The scary thing is you may be the last to know.

They Don't Just Happen

Greatness.  Effectiveness.  Sustainability.  All focused on the win.

These things don't just happen.  I've been reminded of this over and over the last few days.

They take time.  It takes patience to truly reach these levels.  You have to be willing to be in it for the long haul.  You have to be able to see into the future and know where you want to go.

They take systems.  You have to know how to get from A to B.  You have to create and stick with healthy ways to do things.

They take people.  And not just any people, the right people.  People who get it.  And putting these people who get it in the right places.

And before you think this sounds real easy, they take honesty.  And this may be where so many organizations get off track.  It's not real difficult to be patient, create and work systems, and involve people.  Defining a win is pretty easy too.  But...

You have to be honest with yourself.  There is a difference between defining a win and achieving that same win.  Too many organizations are accomplishing something other than their defined win.  Defining it, writing it down, and memorizing it don't mean you're accomplishing it.  Don't worry, you're accomplishing something, but it may not be what you want to accomplish or what you say you're accomplishing.  Be honest.  Evaluate yourself.  Let others evaluate you.  It may require major changes in timing, systems, and people.  But it's worth it to achieve greatness, effectiveness, and sustainability...all focused on the right win.

Voted The Worst Customer Service Seven Years Straight

"For the seventh year in a row, Charter Communications Inc., the Upstate's dominant cable television provider, has received the lowest score given to any company in any industry in a national ranking of customer satisfaction by the University of Michigan."

I posted in October how Charter "won" this honor for the sixth year in a row.  Now it's seven years in a row.  Wow!  And if being voted the absolute worst in customer service is not enough, Charter actually scored 1.8% lower than its score last year.

In October, their Senior VP for Customer Operations said the company took big steps to improve customer service.  In the recent article, a Charter spokeswoman said,

"Charter has made and continues to make investments to enhance the customer experience. We know that it takes time for these improvements to resonate with customers, and we’re committed to continuously refining and making improvements. Our goal is to provide value to our customers through quality products and service, and to earn the respect and confidence of our customers."

How is your organization doing in customer service? Where is it not as good as it should be?  We'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you're trying to improve in this area.  If your improvements "take time" to resonate with your customers, try harder.  Maybe your improvements aren't really improvements...even though you think they are.

And be honest with your customers and yourself.  If you're voted the absolute worst customer service seven years in a row, don't say you're committed to making improvements that add value to and earn the respect of your customers.  Saying that makes it worse.  Don't ever over-promise and under-deliver.

Whatever you do, customer service matters.  How you treat people matters.  How people perceive how you treat them matters.

You're Going To Be What?

I'm going to be the Director of Ministry Services at Browns Bridge Community Church in Cumming, GA starting in early June.  I'm sure that means absolutely nothing to you.  When Lane first described the role to me, I told him it was a weird role that would take a weird person to do it.  Allow me to introduce myself...my name is Casey, and I am weird.  I know that just confirms what most of you were already thinking.

So, what does a Director of Ministry Services do?  I won't bore you with the details, but I thought I'd give you a snapshot of the job.  I get to lead the leaders (I love leading leaders) of areas like Care, Facilities, IT, Resources, and Office Management.  I get to oversee budgeting for BB.  I get to focus on the BB staff in a HR type role.  I also get to help create an intentional and holistic strategy for married couples.  And, to top it off, I get to be on the leadership team of BB...which is extremely humbling. Oh yeah, and perform "other duties as assigned by the BBCC Campus Pastor"...that one always keeps things fresh.

Like I said, it's a weird role that requires a weird person.

What do I love about it?  I love how all of these areas connect...connect with each other and connect with all the other environments at BB.  I love that the job is at BB.  I love what God is doing in the Cumming area.  Most of all, I love how it all leads people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ.

Trust Your...

I'm not a NBA fan...although I may be able to get on board with the Hawks after we move to ATL. I'm not a Boston Celtics fan...although I am a huge Boston Red Sox fan.  But I am a fan of sports and competition, so I actually watched some of the Celtics' game 7 on Sunday.

TV cameras were in the Celtics' locker room before the game showing Doc Rivers, head coach of the Celtics, talk to his team.  His advice:

Trust your system.
Trust your teammates.
Trust yourself.

I got so excited when he said this, I hit the rewind button and listened to him say it over and over. Yes, I am aware that this probably elevated my nerd status.

"Trust your system.  Trust your teammates.  Trust yourself."  When you finally have the right system and the right people in place, this should be your slogan.  You should shout it from the rooftops.  I know it does not sound overly motivating or inspiring, but it is what winning teams do.  It may even sound boring, but it is what championship teams do to make it to the top.

"Trust your system.  Trust your teammates.  Trust yourself."

Before you can say it, though, how is your system?  Is your system healthy and efficient and effective?  Is it moving people towards your win for them?

Before you can say it, though, how are your people?  Are they the right people to have on the team to accomplish your win?  Once you have the right people, are they in the right roles to carry out the system?

And once your system and people are right, you have to lead them to trust.  You have to teach and lead people to trust both systems and people.  You have to talk about it and lead by example constantly.  It's what will move your team from being a good team to being a winning team.

From Start To Finish

Last year I was completely humbled when I was asked to be on the content team for a breakout session at Drive.  Who, me?  I thought they'd called the wrong person.

I got to spend time on the phone with the leaders of some amazing churches (Cumberland, Connexus, and Pittsburgh East).  I loved our conversations, the questions we asked and tried to answer, and the issues we wrestled with.  I was so honored to be a part of the conversation.

The point of our conversations was to create a valuable breakout session at Drive for those who are currently leading a church and want to transition it to a church using the North Point model. Wow!  What a topic.  What a challenge. 

Well, fast forward to today.  I'm sitting in the "Turning The Bus Around" breakout session.  What we talked about months ago is happening in front of hundreds of leaders from around the country and world.  Carey and Lee are doing an amazing job communicating the information.  Their personal stories give them so much credibility to talk about this.

Personally, I love seeing a process carried out from start to finish.  And I love hearing leaders ask questions and process what they are learning.  That's why I am sitting in the breakout session for the second time today.  Very cool!

(By the way, we know the NP model is not the only way to do church.  It's just a model the four of us really believe in.  And since people paid money to come to NP's conference, they obviously are interested in the model.)

20/20 Wisdom

Some people (mostly people in our line of work) have asked me to share some of the lessons we've learned.  They want to know what we've learned that could help them avoid getting to where we got.  Over the last few months and days, I've had a lot of time to think about what I'd do differently.  Hindsight is always 20/20, you know.

Here are some of the lessons I've learned.  I won't elaborate much.  Let me know if you want more details.

1. Start the right way.  Emphasis is on "right" and not on "start."  Every decision made and every system created at the beginning will affect everything else as you move forward.  You can always start later.

2. Pick the right people to be in the right roles...from volunteers to paid staff.  Find people who get what you're trying to do, why you're trying to do it, and how you're going to do it.  Then put them in the right roles.  Don't be too quick to put someone in a role.  And just because someone comes along, it does not mean they are the answer to your prayers.

3. Be who you are and nothing else.  Know what you want to do.  Know how you're going to do it.  And don't do anything else.  And don't let others sway you from your focus.

4. Create a giving culture.  Lead people to become generous givers (preach it, teach it, celebrate it).  Help people see the connection between giving and stories of how you're accomplishing your vision.  Hopefully you'll do #5 so well they will give generously to you.

5. Constantly talk about your vision.  Talk about it so much that others become better vision casters than you.  And then realize you haven't talked about vision enough.  You cannot talk about it too much.

Chipotle, Focus, & All Of Us

I love Mexican, Tex Mex, Southwest, etc. foods.

I love Chipotle.  (I've emailed with them begging them to open a restaurant here.  No luck...so far.)

When Fast Company's latest issue contained an article entitled "Ode To A Burrito: the ingredients that make Chipotle the hottest fast-food chain on the planet", I had to read it, of course.

Cool article about what sets Chipotle apart from all the others.  But something CEO Steve Ells said jumped off the page at me:

"We want to do just a few things better than everyone else," Ells says.  "We just do things we think are right."

Focus!  I love focus.  I think too many leaders, dads, restaurants (see this post about KFC) , women, churches, families, and [insert just about any category here] are not focused.  Most get lost in the idea that if you offer everything you will appeal to more people.  Or if you do everything you will be well rounded.  Are these beliefs true?  Or if you try to reach everyone, do you really end up reaching no one?  Or if you try to be a well rounded person, do you really end up knowing a little bit about nothing?

You see, it's not about specific areas of your life being focused.  It's about you being focused.

Do words like clarity, simplicity, direction, and results describe your life?

Focus brings clarity.  Focus bring simplicity.  Focus brings direction.  Focus brings results.

Be Still Moments

I love to flip channels.  I can't help it.  We've got DVR, and I can even look at what is on other channels without changing the channel, but I still love flipping through the channels.  Oh, well.

Sunday night I caught some of Jeff Foxworthy on Glenn Beck's show on CNN.  I'm a Foxworthy fan because, well, there will always be some redneck in me.

There were a ton of good things said about family, God, humor, etc. during the interview (check out the transcript), but I had to post some of the things he said about our time...

I think there's too much going on. You know, it's like the old thing, "Be still and know that I'm God."  We never have be still moments anymore because we filled them up.  It's like with the microwave making potatoes in six minutes and saved you an hour. What happened to that hour? I ain't sitting around going, "I have an hour to kill."

And I don't think we were intended to live that way. There's too many things to do and you don't have those be still moments.  I mean, there's always something going on.

I think the whole idea was God going, "You know what? Take a day off from you putting out the effort and just trust me for one day. Just trust me one day and I'll take care of you."  We've lost that.

Hard to argue with that.  I think most of us would say we have no choice but to fill up every moment of our time.  Why have we fallen for that lie?  What would it look like for you to take control of your time and schedule some be still moments? 

Perception Is Reality

I once had a boss who would always say, "Perception is reality."  I thought he was wrong.  I was wrong.  He was right.

Last week, Katya posted something from the book The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing:

Many people think marketing is a battle of products.  In the long run, they figure, the best product will win.

It’s an illusion.  There is no objective reality.  There are no facts.  There are no best products.  All that exists in the world of marketing are perceptions in the minds of the customer or prospect.  The perception is the reality.  Everything else is an illusion.

This certainly applies just as much to the church as it does to restaurants, coffee places, stores, etc.  I know some will say we shouldn't care about peoples' perceptions of the church.  But I could not disagree more.  Katya added:

So what do you do about it?  You focus on your audience as much as your programs.  You show why you matter to them rather than trying to convince them to listen to what you do.  You seek to own a unique perception in the minds of your audience rather than trying to dislodge their perception of your competition.  You can fine-tune your programs or re-brand all day long, but until you connect to what is in someone’s heart or mind and create a perception, your “product” doesn’t exist for them.  If you do have a place in people’s hearts and minds, honor that perception with your actions.

Perception is reality.  Perception matters.  Time to think.

My Greatest Roles

I play a lot of roles.  You do too.  But two of my roles rise far above any other roles I will ever have.  They are not only my most significant roles, but they are also my favorite roles.

I love being a husband.  And I love being a dad.  If I could figure out a way to get paid to do these two things, I'd make a career out of them.

I see so many people and leaders who treat these roles as secondary roles.  Or they mentally acknowledge the significance of these roles, but they are emotionally detached from them.

In my own life, I fear accumulating a lot of accomplishments and experiences but finding myself detached from my wife and kids one day.  I'm willing to pass on some accomplishments and experiences to prevent this from happening.  What about you?

Fighting For How We Do Things

I sat in a meeting a couple of years ago at North Point and was surprised. If you don't know who NP is, they are our "parent" organization and a ministry in the Atlanta area with three campuses connecting with over 20,000 people every Sunday.  They are successful.

In the meeting, I heard one of the top leaders talking about fighting for their model (a.k.a. how they do church). It surprised me.  Here they were, ten years old at the time with multiple thousands of people attending their environments and seeing lives changed all the time.  Why would they have to be fighting for how they do church?  They were proving every day how they do church works.

I've thought a lot about that meeting since then.  And I've seen many positive and negative examples of this principle since then.  Seth posted this last week:

Remarkable visions and genuine insight are always met with resistance. And when you start to make progress, your efforts are met with even more resistance. ...the forces for mediocrity will align to stop you, forgiving no errors and never backing down until it's over.

If it were any other way, it would be easy. And if it were any other way, everyone would do it and your work would ultimately be devalued. The yin and yang are clear: without people pushing against your quest to do something worth talking about, it's unlikely it would be worth the journey.

Catalyst will forever have to fight for how we do church.  It's worth the journey.  People are worth it.

How Did We Survive?

What did we do before student ministry, children's ministry, Sunday night discipleship classes, men's ministry, women's ministry, mandatory membership classes, small groups, church fitness groups, Sunday School classes, multiple week spiritual maturity classes, church sports leagues, and the list goes on?

How did we survive before these things existed (at some point none of these things existed)?  Were people less Christian before these things were added to church?  Were people less spiritually mature before we added these things to the church buffet?

Why can't church be simple?  Why do we think complexity and abundance make church and Christians more mature?  Why can't less be more?  I've noticed simplicity scares people...especially Christians.