Discoveries from Leadership Summit

Those of us who attended Willow Creek’s Global Leadership Summit this past week, came away with a strong sense of affirmation that KGF is on the right track.

Our church has come through a very difficult period, but has refused to give up, convinced it had a reason to endure, that God still had a mission for it.

Having said that, we were also made aware that it doesn’t take much to lose sight of God’s intent for one’s church, and that even the smallest amount of arrogance will sink it.  We learned that a healthy church will always in humility acknowledge that it has received blessings way beyond its doing.

As our church continues to grow, we learned, we must at all cost preserve our core values, the mission and vision God has given us.  Our “practices” should and will go through growth and change, but our “foundation” cannot.

We learned that if we “over reach” our calling, being too ambitious with our goals, moving ahead without the “right” leaders in place, in the long run will prove  to be disastrous for our church.  We must not fear reality checks and open, frank discussions.

One of my favorite speakers was Terri Kelly, President and CEO of W.L. Gore & Associates.   It was fascinating to hear how this large company adopted a non-hierarchical (collaborative, peer-based) management structure many years ago, much like KGF.  The values they’ve established are much like ours.

 Briefly stated they are:  a solid foundation with clear values, but adaptable practices”, all practices in alignment with each other, although the culture of the various plants may differ (for us that could mean our various areas of ministry or even services) respect and belief in each individual (the goal is to make everyone on the team successful) the power of small teams (for us that would mean small groups/small congregations), long term view (building a solid reputation, encouraging innovation etc). decisions based on what is best for the common good.

 Let’s be encouraged to stay the course God has us on!

 Ellen Hubert

In attendance:

Ellen & Helmut Hubert,

Rupinder Bains,

Don & Kathy Embury,

Ginger Goma, Kristy Cooper,

Josh Smith, Mike Penninga