Yesterday I led the first of three Church Unique mini-conferences for the Florida Baptist State Convention this year. Attenders included peer learning groups, churches undergoing revitalization and large fast-growing churches like Calvary Baptist in Clearwater and Flamingo Road. Two things about the day struck me. First, the diversity of the leaders in the body of Christ never ceases to amaze me and constantly underscores the message of Church Unique. In the same room sat Troy in his designer jeans and Jerry in his three-piece suit. Both men were thoughtful and passionate contributors and effective leaders in their contexts. Troy recently spoke to sixteen thousand people this Easter. In a recent series called “The Bed,” Troy delivered his message from the platform while him and his wife “talked in bed.”
The second thing that struck me is the need to “unconference.” The day was not designed as an info dump but as a “process on-ramp” that concluded with a clarity challenge. I urged each leader to spend one day per month for nine months to hammer out their own vision with greater clarity. I overviewed the Vision Pathway we use at Auxano and equipped them with questions, models and tools, to discover their own strategic model of ministry rather than to photocopy one from another church or the latest trend.