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Charity: Who Cares? - from Mint.com

Interesting information from mint.com, which, by the way, is an awesome online budgeting/expense tracking solution.....that's free.  Click here if you can't see the image below.

budget planner – Mint.com

Two Principles for Delegation: Part 2

One of the challenges every leader faces is delegating responsibility and authority.  In Children's Ministry at CCC we're at a stage where myself and our environment directors probably need to delegate more of what we do.  In approaching that challenge, there are 2 principles for delegation that I think are important to remember.  I talked about the first principle in the last post, and the other principle is...

#2 Let it Fail

Another principle is to let it fail.  Often times we never delegate certain responsibilities because we feel like nobody will take them on.  Obviously one way to hand those responsibilities off is to ask someone if they will take it on, but sometimes people are already aware that you need help with something (usually because you aren't doing it well).  In those cases, it's best to let it fail by not doing it.  Clearly there are some things you can't let fail, but many things you can, and people will surprise you by stepping up and taking on that responsibility.  I have found this to be true especially when I didn't feel like anyone was trained/equipped enough to take on the responsibility, but by letting it fail (not doing it), they learned on their own and made it happen.

In some ways I think delegation requires a little faith, believing in others and believing in God's plan that is based on everyone in the Church using their unique gifts and abilities to contribute to a shared vision and purpose.

Two Principles for Delegation: Part 1

One of the challenges every leader faces is delegating responsibility and authority.  In Children's Ministry at CCC we're at a stage where myself and our environment directors probably need to delegate more of what we do.  In approaching that challenge, there are 2 principles for delegation that I think are important to remember.

#1 List it Out

I think we have to list out everything we are responsible for if we ever hope to delegate any of it.  Much of our busyness comes from not having a good understanding of all the things we actually have to do.  We just get them done when we need to and underestimate how much of our time it takes.  Our team is listing out everything we are responsible for, and then dividing those responsibilities up into 3 categories: 

• Things only we can do
• Things other people could do
• Things nobody needs to do

Even if we can't hand off a ton of our responsibilities, every little bit helps us be more effective and gives other people opportunities to contribute in a bigger way.

In the next post I'll share what I think is another important principle to keep in mind when trying to delegate.

Set People Up to Succeed

The other day I was reading in the book of 1 Chronicles in the Bible, and came across this verse:

"Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it." 1 Chronicles 15:22

It made me think about how often in the Church we don't put people in a position to succeed because they serve where they aren't skilled.  Here are some scenarios that come up:

• People don't know where they are skilled - In this case it's best to let them serve wherever they would like to at first, or even where you need them, but it's important to evaluate how that role fits them and try to help them learn what their gifts and abilities really are.
   
• People want to do something they aren't skilled at - This is one of the most difficult because it means having a hard conversation to let them know they should probably serve in a different capacity that utilizes their true gifts.  Interestingly enough, like the verse in Chronicles, music is where we find this happen a lot.  
   
• People don't realize how skilled they are - Some people are more skilled than they realize, especially when it comes to leadership.  We have to recognize that and encourage them to reach their full potential by giving them opportunities.

The team, the mission, and the Church has to come before any individual and if everyone has that attitude, and we work hard to set people up to succeed, great things can happen.

CCC Web Presence

At CCC we have been working on upgrading our web presence for a while now.  The biggest upgrade was overhauling our website (see left).  The new website runs on WordPress and is adapted from a theme/design that was done by Rob Spangler for another one of our websites: thrivebaltimore.net

Tons of people were involved with making it happen, starting with Rob's design, Zak's modifications for the new site, Ryan's kickin' graphics, Adam gathering and managing content from the staff team while I tried my best to learn WordPress on the fly to make it do what we wanted.

In addition to the new website, we launched our new blog, new Facebook page, and new Twitter account.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  Don't forget to subscribe to blog updates, follow us on twitter and become a fan on our Facebook page.

Music Video Tribute to CCC Kids Volunteers

This past May we gathered all the CCC Kids volunteers for an event we called Heroes.  It was a time to celebrate everything they do for CCC by having fun and sharing stories.  Below is a video our worship arts team created that was part of the fun:

Free Resources for Churches

I love how there are so many great resources out there for churches.  They're usually from churches who are sharing what they have created.  Steven Furtick's announcement of their new resources website made me want to list all the great church resource websites I know of, so here they are:

Inside North Point: http://www.insidenorthpoint.org 

Elevation Church: http://resources.elevationchurch.org/ 

LifeChurch.tv has provided so much that they get a list:

http://open.lifechurch.tv/ (church resources)

http://www.churchmetrics.com/ (church statistics tracking) 

http://www.youversion.com/ - (online Bible w/journal) 

http://swerve.lifechurch.tv/2009/09/01/youversionlive/ (YouVersion Live coming in Oct)

http://www.videoteaching.com/ (free message videos for churches)  

http://www.babelwith.me/ (group chat with translation for 45 languages)    

NewSpring Church:  https://www.newspringonline.com/  (ignore the Google warning)

Revolution Church: http://revolutionbackstage.tv/ 

Seacoast Church:  http://www.seacoastallaccess.org/ (will return soon, bookmark it)

And, you can check out some more stuff at http://churchrelevance.com/free-church-graphics-and-resources-toolbox/

Catalyst One Day Coming to Baltimore

Catalyst One Day is coming to Baltimore, MD (Fulton, specifically) on Monday, November 16.  A bunch of people from CCC will be going, including staff and volunteers.  I'm thrilled about an event like this coming to MD (or anywhere in the northeast) and I'm excited that some of our volunteers will be attending.  

If you lead anything, you'll want to attend this event.  It is specifically geared towards church leaders but the principles would apply to any leadership context.  The theme is momentum.  

Grace Community Church is hosting the event.  Check out the website to sign up.  

Yeah, I know

I know it's been a long time since I blogged anything, almost a month in fact. It's been more than a month since I blogged anything besides a video link. August has been a CRAZY month and I just haven't had the time.

For our church and our staff August is typically a down month, and we avoid scheduling things as much as possible. But, we actually had a lot going on this month (not in any specific order):

• Made big changes to our auditorium and some other rooms to make room for more people
• Worked on a new website that will be unveiled soon
• Planned Kindergarten Confidential (orientation for incoming kindergartners and parents) from scratch and launched it today (We had a great turnout and from my perspective everything went well)
• Wrote the children's ministry portion of a new book for parents we are creating that explains our strategy for families
• KidStuf tech workday to prepare for a new KidStuf season

On top of all that I had to write a 10 page paper that was due last Monday. I was actually on vacation the first week of August but even with that it felt like one of the busiest months ever.
On one hand I'm just whining, but on the other I'm setting the stage to say that we have an awesome team of people (staff & volunteers) who have done a lot of great work this past month to help CCC do a better job of helping people find their way back to God.

Louie Giglio Tells the Story Behind God of This City

This is a cool video of Louie Giglio telling the story behind the song God of This City.  I often pray the lyrics of that song would ring true for Baltimore, that "greater things have yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city".