Church Requel Blog - Writings of Mark Pierce

Night of Worship

Last night Crossroads enjoyed a very special "Night of Worship."  We dedicated our entire Midweek service to worshipping and praising our Lord Jesus.  What a great night!  The auditorium was nearly full - we estimate another hundred people showed up more than normal. 

The Magnifcation Department did an outstanding job putting together the whole service.  I especially admire our two lead worshippers, Dan Fleming and Milo Scambellone.  Dan has been going through some difficult family problems, yet he showed up and led with great devotion and commitment.  Milo wrote a special song for the evening and placed the song right in the middle of the service, strategically allowing our congregation to enjoy his music and grab a rest for themselves.

Many of us needed this night to focus on God.  The staff, especially, enjoyed the time of praise. I thought you might enjoy see a few pictures.  Check out the photo album!

Lewis and Clark for Today

I finished viewing Ken Burns' documentary on Lewis and Clark Monday evening.  I highly recommend it.  Not only is the scenery simply amazing, but the documentary is an excellent resource for leadership and team building.  I especially liked this quote from Dayton Duncan, one of the writers and co-producers of Lewis and Clark:

One of the intriguing things about the Lewis and Clark expedition is that when they
worked together as a team they were better than the sum of their parts. They
were E pluribus unum. The E plurabus was a motley collection of people and the
unum was the Corps of Discovery that did amazing things that they could only do
if they worked together.

E pluribus unum - "Out of many, one" is definitely the goal of any leader of staff.  If done right the church staff has the greater advantage of a different take: In ONE are the many!

Getting the Chemistry Right

The other day I had a pastor-aquaintance in our local area call me to let me know that he was available for a position here at Crossroads.  Two facts lept immediately to mind.  The first I shared with him, but not the second.  The first fact is that we do not have any openings on staff right now.  The second fact is that even if we did have an opening, we would only hire outside the church if we had exhausted all other possibilities internally first.

In my experience, our best hires come from within - from a member, who has volunteered, who knows Crossroads and its mission well, and has already committed himself or herself to that mission.  I'm looking for the 3 C's in every potential staff member: Competence, Character, and Chemistry.  While I could write an entire article on the first two C's - they are critical and one cannot have a successful staff member without competence and character - the truly tricky part of any new hire is in finding the right chemistry.  How will the new staffer fit within the staff and organization?  Will they bring a unique element to the staff that will raise the bar for everyone?  Do they own the mission of Christ and see their role through the strategies of Crossroads?

If chemistry is of such vital importance, how do you measure it before someone already has the job? 

What Do You Do With The People You Don't Hire?

Recently our board of elders approved a new hire for me.  For two weekends we advertised in our weekly program the need for a new administrative assistant.  I was surprised to receive thirteen resumes for the position.  I set up interviews and met with seven candidates.

One candidate seemed to be the right choice.  Of course several others were close and would be disappointed to find out the bad news.  The first call to the chosen candidate was fun.  She was happy and excited.  As I hung up the phone, I thought to myself: "What about the other twelve?"

John Adams Bonus

I just finished watching the HBO series, John Adams.  I'll repeat here what has now been said in so many other places: Watch this and learn from it. Some quick takeaways for me:

1) Leadership comes in many styles Adams was not today's version of a smooth, polished politician. He was just the opposite. But through sheer bullheadedness he got the job done.

2) Vision counts.

3) it is impossible to overestimate the value of a great mate.

4)Thank God for modern dentistry!

BTW, don't miss the great special bonus feature on disk 3 on David McCullough - It's inspirational

Logos Camp II

This past week I attended Camp Logos II in Houston, Texas.  Logos is a Bible Software program that uses the Libronix Electronic Library system to store and retrieve books and research on the computer.  Currently I have just over 1500 books in my electronic library, which I mostly use for research and sermon preparation.

Logos Camp II consisted of two days of training.  I learned how to access my library more effectively.  Our instructor, Morris Proctor, did an excellent job in helping me to organize my library.  While I have accumulated an immense digital library over the past two year, Morris accurately described my library as a black hole into which I reach to find books. 

Over the past two days I have arranged my library into two dozen different collections.  Some of the collections include English Bibles, Greek Bibles and Interlinears, Bible Dictionaries, Critical Commentaries, Pastoral Commentaries, and Devotional Commentaries.  I also have organized several collections by author.

I'm looking forward to better usage of my library.  Anyone who owns the Logos Bible Software really should invest further by attending by Logos Camp I and II.  It will be money well spent!