January 2019
Volume 19, Issue 1
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Church Planting Spotlight
Want to see multiplication happen in your church but not sure where to start? On  January 17, 2019,  at 2:00 pm Eastern ,   Exponential   is presenting a special   webinar for  EFCA multipliers  entitled   Made for More .   This is for district church multiplication teams, district planters and district pastors who have a heart for multiplication.  Made for More continues the conversation of church multiplication by looking at 6 critical shifts for a mobilization culture from the book of Ephesians. To get a preview of this conversation, check out the  FREE   Made for More Church Leader Resource Kit .
Transition Gatherings Start in Three Weeks
There will be four gatherings offered throughout EFCA West in the next four months for senior pastors who are 55 years old or older to begin/continue the discussion of how and when to transition from the lead role into a new season of life and ministry.

The locations will be:
Monday , January 28, 9 am-4 pm in Chandler, AZ, 20 minutes from PHX
Monday , February 18, 9 am-4 pm in El Segundo, CA, 10 minutes from LAX
Monday/Tuesday, March 25-26, noon to noon in Tulare, CA (this gathering includes wives)
Monday , April 29, 9 am-4 pm in Salt Lake City, UT, 20 minutes from SLC

The gatherings will be limited to 8 pastors. You can choose by the date that works best for you or the location closest to you. The Chandler, El Segundo and Salt Lake City gatherings will be for 8 individual senior pastors. The Tulare gathering will include 8 pastors and their wives.

For the the Chandler, El Segundo and Salt Lake City gatherings EFCA West will provide lunch. Due to a generous gift from the Tulare EFC, the Tulare gathering will include dinner on Monday and a hotel room for each couple. The couple will need to provide any other meals before or after the gathering.

Registration deadline is the Monday before each Gathering:
January 21, February 11, March 18 and April 22.
Invitation from the Western District of EFCA
Neal Brower, Superintendent of the Western District of EFCA, is inviting any and all pastors in EFCA West to join them on Monday, March 4 from 8:30 am to 3:00 pm as they gather for their annual District Leadership Development day. Francis Chan will be the featured speaker. Click here to register. Include names of attendees and mailing addresses. Registrants will receive a copy of Chan's latest book, Letters to the Church. The cost is $60/person . Make checks payable to WDEFCA and mail to:1527A McAllister Street, San Francisco, CA 94115. When the check is received, the book will be mailed to each mailing address provided for registrants. Location will be announced to registrants when confirmed
Something to Talk About: Improving Our Meetings – Working Better Together
"Last month’s article encouraged us to talk about how to better prepare for our leadership team meetings, primarily by means of an effective agenda process. This month, let’s talk about what happens during our meetings." Bob Osborne guides leaders through a series of key questions and observations about how decisions are made and who gets to make them in his article Improving Our Meetings – Working Better Together . "Why is it that we so often find when we meet together that we spend the largest amounts of time working on things that are not very important and seldom have enough time to fully address the really important and big decisions facing our congregations? Why do we so often feel rushed in making important decisions?"
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Two Common Mistakes in Hiring
In his article Two Common Mistakes in Hiring, Steve Graves acknowledges that there are many ways a hire can go wrong but he seeks to boil the mistakes to failures in two general categories: the who and the what. " Considered rightly, the 'Who' you hire necessarily includes the 'What.' I think in terms of character, competence, and chemistry when I hire, and good hires hit all three because they have character as a baseline, they improve the team dynamic, and they have competence for the job I’ve asked them to do—the 'what.'"
" Here is the reality, and all leaders will at some point live with this reality: The most expensive hire you will ever make is the wrong hire . The most expensive hire is not the one whose 'total cost' was greater than you initially imagined but who turns out not to be a fit with the team or a fit with the role." Eric Geiger writes about the three real costs in hiring the wrong person. "All hires cost money, and more money than we often realize. Not only is there the cost of the salary and benefits, but there is the cost of the office, the onboarding, and the expenses related to the role."
Dan Reiland talks about his ordination: "The District Superintendent, who I love and respect, came up to me at the reception to pass on a few words of wisdom and encouragement. He said, 'Dan, God has given you ability and opportunity, I want you to promise me that you’ll try really hard not to mess up. ' That was it! But all these years later, I see the wisdom. We have to be intentional, or we will mess up. I want to offer some safeguards here that will be helpful to you as they have been to me over many years in ministry."
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What Every Pastor Should Consider When Raising Up Young Leaders
In an article for Focus on the Family, Brittany Rust writes about the good and bad ways that pastors seek to raise up young leaders. " I’ve watched executive pastors give young leaders too much too soon because they liked the outgoing personalities or didn’t want to lose the talent. I’ve witnessed leaders hold their responsibilities close and struggle to delegate to younger pastors out of fear of losing power . And then I’ve experienced a pastor guide their young leader(s) with wisdom and steady timing. "
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Something to Think About
"Memory's oldest trick is convincing us of its accuracy."
-- Virgil Wander by Leif Enger
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