If I Were a Pastor Today....

I was once a pastor for almost 18 years. Prior to that I served on five church staffs in various capacities. I've often thought about what I would do differently now that I've gained some new perspectives in my present role.

One thing is certain, I would take as many of my leaders to training events as I could. As a pastor I did some in-house training. I pulled all our elected leaders together for quarterly training events. In the fall I met with our Sunday School teachers every other week. Throughout the year I trained our small group leaders and our congregational care providers on a monthly basis. But seldom did I take these same folks to outside training events.

If I were a pastor today I would be loading up the van, or bus, or a bunch of cars, whatever, to take my key movers and shakers to hear someone else say what I had been trying to say to them all along.

This is one of the main reasons we have been lining up great speakers for our Area and Region events. These presenters will reinforce your efforts in leading your church towards health and outward focus. It's just kind of funny how you can say things until you are blue in the face, and then one visit to hear the outside expert who says the same thing, and they all become believers. Amazing. That's what I'm talking about here.

So, I just want to reinforce the value of leading the charge to take your people to one of the ABCNW/Area fall celebrations. Each event is heavy on training. We've lined up great speakers. Reinforce the direction you are taking your church in by exposing them to excellent leaders.

These are the top trainers we have coming to each event:

Dane Aaker, senior pastor of Centerpoint Church, Colton, CA. Will be speaking at the Big Sky Area Celebration September 18-19 and Intermountain Area Celebration on October 17. Dane will talk about how to accomplish more through moving towards simplicity, improving worship services to have greater impact, and how to make progress in your evangelism efforts.

David T. Olson, executive minister for church growth and evangelism for the Evangelical Covenant Church and published author. Will be speaking at the Far West Area and North Puget Sound Area combined meeting on Saturday, October 10. David has a keen understanding of the church today based on 200,000 interviews conducted among the American population about their church attendance, or lack thereof. Not only does he show the problems, confirms the hunches, and explodes the myths, but he will offer a clear path for solving some of the greatest challenges to the American church today.

Michael Quicke, is the professor of preaching at Northern Baptist Seminary (ABC) in Lombard, IL. He has published several books including these excellent works: 360 Degree Preaching and 360 Degree Leadership. Dr. Quicke understands the power of the preached word to help a congregation move in an outward-focused, missional direction. He is the guest speaker at the Inland NW Area Celebration October 23-24. Check out Michael's blog.

Details for registration, etc. may be found at www.abcnw.org. To receive notices for all ABCNW events send your email address to communications@abcnw.org. I'm looking forward to seeing you at our fall events!