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Being a part of a rapidly growing church it’s important to realize that some things will never happen, if you don’t realize this you might end up pretty frustrated. It is easy to view most things in ministry as problems to be solved, but the reality is that many things will never be “fixed” and shouldn’t be. Many issues in a thriving organization are actually tensions to be managed not problems to be solved. Here are 4 things you will never do in a growing church (at least not for a long period of time):

1. You will never have enough volunteers. This issue shouldn’t be the result of poor recruiting, but because of increasing ministry opportunities. Develop a culture of “each one recruit one”.
2. You will never have a large enough budget. Be a good manager of the resources that you have and trust God to provide the resources that you need. He is faithful.
3. You will never have enough staff. Pour into the staff that you do have and teach them to lead and equip volunteers to do the work of the ministry.
4. You will never have enough space (especially kids space). If you’re growing rapidly you need to find creative ways to create more space for ministry. Clean out the closet, meet outside, go multi-site, add another experience time.

So, if you are faced with some of the these “tensions” then view them in a positive light because you are on the right track.

Recently churches and ministries have been making their resources available for others to download. Here’s a short list of some different websites were you can get some videos, artwork, teaching and other free stuff. 

1. seeds.churchonthemove.com
2. open.lifechurch.tv
3. stufficanuse.com/swag
4. openresources.org

If you know of more sites that are worth checking out be sure and leave a link in the comments section.

The following are some key points from a talk that Andy Stanley gave at the Drive Conference entitled The Opposable Leader: Why organizational tension is essential to progress. 

The idea of this talk is that as a leader, you have to differentiate between tensions your organization will always manage vs. problems that need to be solved.

Every organization has problems that shouldn’t be solved and tensions that shouldn’t be resolved.

• For example: What’s more important, excellence or stewardship?
• If you “resolve” any of those tensions, you will create new tension.
• If you resolve any of those tensions, you create a barrier to progress.
• Progress depends not on the resolution of those tensions, but on the successful management of those tensions.

The role of leadership is to leverage the tension to the benefit of the organization.

• Identify the tensions to be managed in your organization.
• Create terminology. (Tension is something we manage not resolve.)
• Inform your core. (Teach your leaders.)
• Continually give value to both sides. (Example: excellence vs. stewardship)
• Don’t weigh in too heavily based on your personal biases.
• Don’t allow strong personalities to win the day.
• Don’t think in terms of balance. Think rhythm. (Balance is equal amounts all the time. Rhythm understands there is a season for everything.)

Last night I returned home from spending a few days at North Point Community Church attending the Drive Conference. It was amazing, to say the least. I gained a ton of insight and clarity for Kids Ministry and ministry in general. I came back full of vision and direction. I look forward to putting in to practice some of the principles and ideas that I took away. I’ll share some of what I learned in a future post, but in the meantime check out this highlight video below.

DRIVE 2010 Highlight from North Point Media on Vimeo.

Plan B by Pete Wilson is a book that helps you gain clear perspective when the circumstances of life become unclear. It addresses the question: “What do you do when God doesn’t show up the way you thought he would?” 

Each of us either have or will experience a time in our life when we must answer this question. Pete Wilson does a great job of using stories from both the Bible and today to unpack how God can use our “plan B situations” as a catalyst for spiritual growth. In addition to Plan B being a great read, it is also a great resource. I believe it is going to bring a lot of hope and healing to a lot of people. Not only will it help the reader deal with their own “plan B situations”, but it will also equip them to help others. 

To learn more about Plan B and Pete Wilson be sure and check out planbook.com.

One of our rockstar volunteers, Mike Koehler, sent me his Top 10 Reasons to be a Kids Ministry Volunteer at People’s Church. Even if you don’t go to People’s Church I think you will agree with some of these reasons for your church as well.   

10. Who needs caffeine on a Sunday morning when you have a room full of 3-year-olds?

9. Six-year-olds never leave you hanging for a high five.

8. Too rushed to wash your hair? That’s why 2 year old room has a bubble machine.

7. The “Round the World” worship song is a great aerobic workout.

6. Gives you a chance to memorize every Veggietales movie - ever.

5. When the kids aren’t looking, you can sneak into the moon-bounce.

4. Some of the kids are old enough to tell you about the days at the Movie Theatre. (We use to meet at the AMC)

3. We know your secret. You’ve always wanted to dress up like Mary and Martha. (An inside joke for one of our volunteers, Brent.)

2. Hugs!

1. Some adult in the future will look back and remember how you changed their life!

Thank you to Mike and to all of our volunteers that change lives every Sunday. 

Check out these two new iPhone Apps that are sure to overload your brain with ministry knowledge.

1. Orange Leaders App - Orange Leaders is a gathering of leaders who are passionate about engaging churches and families to influence the faith and character of the next generation.

Here is what you can do on this app:

• Listen to free podcasts
• Read and comment on blog posts
• Keep up with current news and events
• Interact with all of the tweets coming from @OrangeLeaders
• Watch videos from their site
• You can even order books, CDs, and other resources!

2. Catalyst Leaders App - The core vision of Catalyst is to impact the next generation by shaping leaders in the Church.

Here is what you can do on this app:

• Read articles and follow the Catalyst blog.
• Listen to the Catalyst podcast
• View videos from Catalyst events
• Fully integrated with Twitter, Facebook, and email.

Here are some great blog posts and articles that I’ve come across recently:

• Asking the Right Questions via Andy Stanley
• 5 Tips for Brainstorming via Brad Lomenick
• Required Reading for Creatives & Storytellers via Dan Scott
• Thoughts on Systems via Coach Shef
• What Do You Measure? via Tim Stevens