Highlights

Full Breakfast on Saving Money, Sponsored by GuideStone

Keynote by David Middlebrook and Matt Anthony. David and Matt are nationally noted attorneys and will be discussing “Mergers & Acquisitions: How to Avoid Collisions and Stay on the Road to Ministry Growth”

Case Study: Church Mergers & Acquisitions, Part II (Part I was presented in 2010). An ongoing story of The Chapel merging with a daughter church. Call it a marriage or an acquisition. This is the ongoing story of a multi-site church in the process of acquiring another church.

Keynote by Paul Sartarelli, the Senior Pastor of The Chapel. “Leading from the pulpit or how a prophetic voice can be even more effective (and biblical) than a CEO’s voice”

Lunch Discussion. Interactive discussion with Senior & Executive Pastors. What does the Senior Pastor desire for the church? Get out of step with your Senior Pastor and prepare to pack your bags. The Senior Pastor is the one who casts vision, but the XP also has vision. What is the balance? Who is the “boss?”

Keynote, “Life Without Sound Bytes: Living Together in a Mixed Race Church, Rodney Lara

Keynote with Special Guest, Reggie McNeal. Changing the Scorecard: Moving from a Program-Driven Culture to a People-Development Agenda. We are good at doing programs, so good that we tend to measure our church’s effectiveness in program participation. But in the face of increasing evidence that program involvement doesn’t yield disciples, how can we reshape our church agenda so that we are confident that people are actually growing? This discussion identifies key components of a people-development culture and makes suggestions about how we move in a direction that helps our people have lives that are fulfilled, not just filled full.

Three lunch options

• Interview and Q&A time with Reggie McNeal, Ballroom.
• Pick up lunch outside the Ballroom and go to the second floor for Nathan Baxter on Mentoring Staff in their Own Spiritual Journey
• Pick up lunch and go to the second floor for David Nicholson on Peacemaking

Four Workshop Sessions

Sponsors

SponsorsFor the seventh year as a sponsor, thanks to our friends at Generis Partners. True giving is a deeply transformative act. At Generis, we believe it’s less about raising capital and more about raising the spiritual consciousness of people. It’s about meeting churches where they are and helping them achieve their own true vision according to their unique culture. Whether that entails a video venue, multi-campus site, or raising a daunting amount of capital, Generis consultants are ready to share the Leadership’s risk—because they understand it. Brad Leeper and his counterpart, Gerald Farley have both served in church leadership roles and have real-life experiences to offer far beyond that of most industry consultants.

For the seventh year as a sponsor, thanks to our friends atMinisterSearch. Many have met David Lyons, their founder and president, at previous XP-Seminars and XPastor events. MinisterSearch empowers churches to have access to a larger, more qualified pool of candidates. They also help reduce the time spent searching for qualified and competent staff and increase the retention rate among pastors and ministers.David Lyons says, “As church leaders, it is critical to utilize all available resources as quickly as possible when filling a pastoral staff position. I have talked with countless pastors and lay leaders who, after months of searching for one or multiple positions, recognize that there must be a better way.” Whether you desire to fill a ministry position or find a new place of ministry, MinisterSearch can help.

For the fifth year as a sponsor, we welcome the Evangelical Christian Credit Union. The Evangelical Christian Credit Union (ECCU) is a trusted banking resource that shares your passion for kingdom impact.With ECCU’s wisdom gained from more than 40 years of experience serving evangelical ministries, we are helping churches in all 50 states increase their effectiveness through biblically based banking, financing, and investing services.

We welcome GuideStone as a sponsor for the fifth year. GuideStone Financial Resources is one of the leading providers of retirement, medical, life and disability coverage, investment management and executive planning services to the evangelical Christian community. Since 1918, the organization has enhanced the financial security of more than 200,000 individuals and reported $8.8 billion in assets as of September 30, 2009. GuideStone offers its clients access to Christian-based, socially screened investment funds for retirement, endowment and operational assets. GuideStone’s medical programs offer rate stability, the largest network of healthcare providers in the U.S. and a comprehensive suite of plan options providing quality care and protection for our participants and their families. GuideStone’s insurance agency affiliate, GuideStone Agency Services, makes available full lines of property and casualty coverage as well as risk management education and tools designed with the ministry in mind. For more information about GuideStone, visit the organization’s website atwww.GuideStone.org.

For the fifth year, we welcome ServiceU as a sponsor. ServiceU specializes in web-based, event management solutions designed specifically for churches, nonprofits, schools, universities, festivals, and theaters. ServiceU offers three core products, EventU: Scheduling of events and resources by providing an online calendar; TransactU: Online donations, online payments, and online event registrations; and TicketU: Online ticketing and box office management.Founded in 1997, ServiceU is a trusted provider of online event management software to the nonprofit market.

For the third year, we welcome Fellowship Technologies. Fellowship One is the leading 100% web-based Church Management Software solution, that helps dynamic churches of any size or denomination to effectively care for people, efficiently manage resources, and enable real growth. Fellowship One is used by ministries around the world ranging from new church plants to mega-sized, multi-site, churches.

For the second year, we welcome The Church Law Group. They focus on the specific legal needs of nonprofit and tax-exempt organizations, including numerous churches, ministries, faith-based organizations, and clergy throughout the United States. The Church Law Group is comprised of a talented and diverse group of acclaimed professionals sharing a singular calling and dedication to work with and further the successes of their clients.Three members of the team are former Assistant District Attorneys, Felony Prosecutors, and one is also a distinguished former State District Judge. Several of our attorneys hold certifications from Cambridge University in Risk Management for Churches and Schools. Other attorneys in the group are trained specialists in the field of mediation. “The Church Law Group … restoring relationshipto the Attorney-Client Relationship.”

For the second year, we welcome Slingshot Group! They are devoted to helping churches discover worship and arts breakthroughs through Strategy, Structure and Staffing. Our team’s many years of experience in worship and arts ministries along with our nationwide network of relationships are leveraged to help churches reach new heights in worship ministry. We consult closely with churches to assess the current state of their programs, philosophy and approaches to worship through written and verbal feedback from staff and lay leaders. We then give specific recommendations, practical solutions and pathways for progress specifically designed for each church, including the identification of the best worship leaders and staff to fit their situation. We know from experience how critical it is to hire the right people whose experience, calling and style align with the church and its vision for the future.

For the first year as a sponsor, we welcome HH Architects. For nearly 40 years, HH Architects has had the privilege of working with and planning campuses for many of the fastest-growing and top-attended churches and private Christian schools across America. HH Architects has worked with a broad range of churches on a wide variety of facilities, from first-unit buildings to 7,000+ seat Worship Centers, providing Strategic Positioning, Master Planning, Architectural, and Interior Design services for nearly all aspects of religious facility projects. HH Architects offers a unique skill set of experience and expertise from having served as a ministry partner on a wide variety of projects which includes: Master Plans, Church Relocations, Worship Centers & Sanctuaries, Education Facilities, Dining Facilities, Sports & Recreation Facilities and Parking Garages.For the first year as a sponsor, we welcome David Nicholson, Christian Counselor. Consider getting time with David to talk through challenges in your ministry! This is a nice bonus to the Seminar. At no charge, get some professional insight into personal or church issues. Email David directly to set up a time with David during the XP-Seminar. David is a licensed counselor and passionate about conflict resolution. Poorly handled conflict can destroy ministries, marriages, and can negatively impact the reputation of the church. Thanks to David for joining us!

Promotional Sponsors

For the seventh year as a sponsor, thanks to our friends at ChurchExecutive magazine. ChurchExecutive is a monthly how-to business information resource for 20,000 readers, reaching pastors, executive pastors and business administrators of larger and megachurches—throughout the United States. Read the bio on Ron Keener.

For the sixth year, we welcome Leadership Network as a sponsor. Leadership Network is a Dallas-based nonprofit that seeks to accelerate the impact of 100X leaders. Leadership Network brings together innovative church leaders, creating an environment for collaborative discovery, dialogue and sharing. Leadership Network further enhances this process through the development and distribution of highly targeted ministry tools and resources—including video, podcasts, concept papers, special research reports, and e-publications. Resources are available as free downloads atleadnet.org/papers.

Workshops

“All the workshops I attended were very relevant and applicable”

Dr. Nathan Baxter—Mentoring Staff in their Own Spiritual Journey

Thursday Breakout Lunch.  Nathan has taken his many years of experience as an XP and SP and developed one of the nation’s premier XP-SP team coaching services. Few have his experience in both realms! The purpose of this lunch is to provide XPs with practical tools and methods for helping their direct reports grow spiritually. Nathan will let you tour some of his systems that he uses to keep track of conversations as well as provide take-home templates that are easy to use and effective for guiding mentoring conversations. It is important that XPs provide professional development for staff but not at the expense of neglecting spiritual conversations. Oftentimes these conversations are neglected and we wonder why our leaders are not producing at the level they are capable of serving the church.

Thursday Afternoon.  Nathan has taken his many years of experience as an XP and SP and developed one of the nation’s premier XP-SP team coaching services. Few have his experience in both realms! Come for one or both of these Thursday afternoon workshops!  The first workshop will be on The Importance of Self Leadership for Executive Pastors. It will provide you with practical steps for leading yourself well. If you can’t lead yourself well, then it will be difficult for you to lead others well. It is not uncommon to get stuck or “plateau” at various points in your life and ministry. An outside perspective is the best way to break through or avoid these plateaus, grow, and keep moving forward. The ultimate goal is not only living well, but finishing well. Dr. Baxter will cover the five areas of self leadership and the five core skills for leading others.

The second workshop will be one Mentoring Tools for Maximum Performance in Ministry. Nathan will be sharing 4-6 mentoring tools that you will be able to put into practice the moment you return home. During this session, he will first teach you how to use each mentoring tool and then have you give it a test run on one of your fellow XP’s. All of the tools he has developed are proven to be simple and effective for helping you develop and mentor leaders. During the hour, you will learn how to use: The Frustration Gap, 5 Areas of Self Leadership, 4 C’s for Increasing Commitment, Pressure Points of Motivation, 5 Core Skills of a Visionary Leader. Learn them, use them, and train your staff to do the same.

“My conversations with Nathan Baxter were great!”
Nathan is a premier coach to XP & SP teams

Tim Beltz—The Church Planting and Multi-site Vision of Mars Hill Church and Acts 29 Network

Tim is the Executive Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. He will be leading an interactive workshop telling the story of Mars Hill Church and Acts 29 Network. This will explore the growth experience and the strategies to achieve a God-sized vision of 100 campuses and 1,000 church plants. According to the September 2010 Outreach Magazine’s stats, Mars Hill is ranked #7 on the most campuses list and the 30th fastest growing church in the US out of roughly 400,000 churches. Acts 29 is a movement of church-planting networks that empowers men to lead churches and make disciples of all people groups.

Dr. Warren Bird & Jim Tomberlin—Five Mistakes to Avoid in a Church Merger

Warren is the Director of Research and Intellectual Capital at Leadership Network, author and former pastor. Jim was with Willow Creek Community Church and launched the multi-site revolution. Now, he heads the premier consulting group on multi-site ministry. This workshop involves lots of discussion as Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird first walk you around the landmines in church mergers, showing ways church mergers are similar and different from corporate mergers. Also two XP veterans of a merger will each share their stories, talking about the mistakes they made – and avoided. If you’re exploring a merger or acquisition, or just curious about the growing trend, this workshop will show you the options, helping you rank each with its likelihood of success. Jim Tomberlin is founder and chief strategist of MultiSite Solutions and an experienced coach of church mergers. Warren Bird is research director for Leadership Network and co-author of 23 books for church leaders.

Mike Buster—That Five Letter Word, BUILD

Mike is the XP of Prestonwood Baptist Church of Frisco, Texas. Mike will be speaking on: “Our North Campus is expanding rapidly running 2,000 in attendance. We are entering into our 10th building project since 1998 and our 4th capitol campaign in as many years. It seems that churches are starting to expand once again and are considering building projects.”

Few XPs match Mike’s depth of experience and excellent consulting with church leaders.
Prestonwood Baptist is an internationally known and respected church.

David Fletcher & Rob Cizek—Understanding the Roles of Overseer and Administrator

David and Rob are XPs with plenty of experience. David’s church has 3 campuses with 4,500 in worship and Rob’s has a Christian School attached. These two will have a great time talking about a vital “basic” of the XP role. “So, you are new to the role, it’s not quite what you expected and you’re trying to figure out how to make sense of it.” You need to balance leadership with managing, administration with pastoring, your Senior Pastor’s expectations with yours and everyone else’s … and have a job description that reflects that well. Together we will hammer out ways to bring clarity and understanding to this job that often requires more finesse and balance than any other on the team.

David Fletcher—Church Leadership Yesterday, Today and in Twenty Years

David is the Founder & Host of XPastor. One of his passions is the area of leadership. This workshop will have a round table discussion of:

• How have we led the church in the past?
• What are the current paradigms? What is working and where are the trouble spots in leading the church? What are your current issues?
• Where will church leadership be in twenty years?

These questions, and more, will be covered in this workshop.This will be an interactive discussion, so come ready to share your current leadership issues and experiences. This is a great opportunity to talk with David about leadership issues. It will be held both hours on Thursday afternoon; come at either workshop hour. Seating is limited to 12 people.

Rick Friesen—Change Management & Corporate Sharks

Rick serves Peacemaker Ministries as Director of Ministry Relations. The word “change” is often the church’s equivalent of the work “shark” at the beach. Poorly managed change is a common cause of difficult church conflict, and many leaders admit to feeling seriously under-equipped and under-trained in managing the change process. Unfortunately, following secular thinking on managing change will often cause more harm than good—the secular emphasis of results over relationships often leads to relational carnage. So where is the Christian leader to turn? In this workshop, Tim will a) explore how to determine whether change is really necessary, b) unpack a biblical view of change, and c) tie this to practical steps to implement change wisely and graciously while protecting the relationships God calls us to gently shepherd.

Monty Kelso—Architecting Worship, Art and Communication in the 21st Century

Monty has excelled internationally at both directing creative church communications, and leading and designing worship and programming. Monty has served as a clinician and consultant to numerous Worship and Arts conferences and entities, including the Christian Artists Seminar in the Rockies, Willow Creek Association, Christian Associates International, Campus Crusade, the Jesus Film project, Continental Ministries, Hope International University and National Outreach, Inc. About this workshop, Monty says, “In the new millennium it is no longer ‘church as usual.’ The methods of the 90’s just don’t work today. This session is designed to help you grasp 21st century realities and their implications of how we design our weekend services.”

Brad Leeper—Resourcing Ministry

Brad is the Vice-President of Generis Partners. Based on experience and affinity, Brad is drawn to innovative, growing churches and the challenges of helping them expand practically and spiritually. With Generis, he is well served by his experience as a consultant to churches across the nation, a staff leader in resource development for local ministries, a Campus Director for Campus Crusade for Christ, and his role as church elder in his own 4,000-member home church, Perimeter Church in Atlanta.

Donna Lively—Health Care Reform … The Continuing Saga

For the past six and a half years in her role as Director of Insurance Solutions and Services, Donna has led the growth of employee benefit division at GuideStone Financial Resources.   She brings twenty-five years experience in health and welfare benefit sales and sales leadership to her role and has held sales leadership positions at Aetna, CIGNA, and Humana, as well as several years spent as an employee benefits insurance broker/consultant. About this workshop, she says: Join me for a continued look at the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). We will review what has taken place over the 12 months since PPACA became law, the impact the law has on your ministry and healthcare in America, and look into the not-so-crystal-ball to see what the future holds in relation to PPACA. Adequate time for discussion will be included during the presentation.

David Lyons—How to Hire Staff with a Ministry and Business Mindset

David is the Founder and President of MinisterSearch. While placing hundreds of people into ministry positions, David has seen the centrality of fit and gifting. Is one more important than the other? Can we compromise because “we know that person,” or “he or she is an insider” or “their gifts are just so strong that we … ?” If you are going to hire staff in the next 12 months, then this workshop with David will help you. He has led workshops at each of the previous XP-Seminars, to rave reviews. Bring your questions for the discussion portion of the workshop as well.

Scott Nelson & Bruce Woody—Old Normal vs. New Paradigm: The Future of Your Next Building Project

Scott and Bruce are architects with HH Architects in Dallas. This workshop will bring their expertise to bear on your next building project. Many churches talk about “getting back to normal” but most experts say back to normal no longer exists! The old normal has been replaced with a new paradigm of pervasive uncertainty. As a result of the new normal, today’s leaders are utilizing a Strategic Positioning process as the launching pad for their next church building. This process helps develop effective ministry plans that consider key factors as they relate to your ministry objectives. Strategic Positioning focuses on helping churches to quickly explore options that account for planning in four different areas: People, Space, Time, and Money, in an effort to make informed decisions as you prepare for future development. Experience how this process centers around an interactive work session with your key leaders allowing you to participate in “real-time” analysis of “what if” scenarios enabling you to arrive at value-based decisions after reviewing the pro’s & con’s of various scenarios before engaging in major capital expenditures.

David Nicholson—Cutting-Edge Conflict Resolution Resources

David is a licensed counselor and passionate about conflict resolution. Poorly handled conflict can destroy ministries, marriages, and can negatively impact the reputation of the church. Fortunately, high quality, research based instruments and programs exist to help us learn the attitudes, skills and strategies necessary to become conflict competent. In this session, participants will hear a review of these most recent developments, both from the secular and Christian perspectives. One program in particular will be highlighted, as participants will learn how to organize and expand their awareness of an issue, as well as how to improve their ability to understand another person’s perspective at a deeper level.

Jeff Pelletier—High Tech and High Touch: Can Both Peacefully Coexist?

Jeff is the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Fellowship Technologies, a provider of 100% web-based Church Management Software. The idea that the use of technology in ministry creates an impersonal environment between the staff, the congregation and the community could not be further from the truth. In fact, the effective leveraging of technology can be a critical ministry component in ultimately caring better for those God has called us to steward. This workshop will highlight some practical uses that allow both the “High Tech,” as well as the “High Touch” to peacefully coexist.

Dan Reiland—Developing a Leadership Culture in your Church & Staff

Dan is the Executive Pastor of 12Stone Church and writes “The Pastor’s Coach” which is distributed to over 40,000 subscribers, www.injoy.com. Why would a church want a culture with a bias for leadership? What does a leadership culture look like? Can any church accomplish that? Developing a leadership culture in your church involves a big picture plan that incorporates five distinct elements. They are connected in a specific sequence that matters. When you add heart and passion to the mix, the results are amazing.

Paul Sartarelli–Preaching with Great Strength

Sr. Pastor, Paul Sartarelli, to lead two workshops, back to back. The first workshop will be: Preaching with Great Strength. This is a great time for those who regularly preach to talk with a master communicator. Can we preach with great strength in a business dominated culture? As a pastor in Ohio, Paul preaches to 5,000 people each week and also uses a multi-person preaching team. The second workshop will be: Having a Great XP. This interactive discussion will explore: Why the XP? How to have a terrible XP relationship! How to find and then cultivate an XP! Before coming to The Chapel, he planted a church and grew it to 1,200. Thus, preaching pastors and XPs of various size churches will appreciate Paul’s practical wisdom and vast experience.

Sue Sartarelli—The Grandstand: an audience of One

Wednesday Afternoon: Wives of Pastors Only.  The XP-Seminar is bringing back the Wives of Pastors track! This is for women only (apologies to the male spouses of XPs). On Wednesday afternoon terrific times of discussion and interaction are coming. Being the wife of a pastor can be challenging. It is like walking a tightrope before hundreds of people. The balancing act of a public role and private life takes work. Wednesday afternoon, noted pastor’s wife and mentor to women, Sue Sartarelli, will have two sessions with pastors wives. Any wife of a pastor is invited to register. Sue will begin by working through: The Grandstand: an audience of One). She says, “This covers the expectations of others … our fears about ministry … who do I listen to anyway … where is God in all this question. Why and how can I have God be my audience when so many others want that spot … and I would rather let others have that spot. It also visits what I call the ‘comparison trap’ that women, especially ministry women, get caught in. Having others be our measuring stick rather than a Holy God.” After this, there will be a time for discussion of current issues of pastors’ wives.

Clint Smith—The Middle Man Role of the XP

Clint is the XP of North Church of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. In 2010, Clint was featured in one of the interviews during the seminar and brought refreshing insight into how their church increased their giving. This year, Clint will lead a workshop on the special role of the XP, middle man and yet leader. For the workshop, Clint says: “Ever feel like you are stuck in the middle? I guess that is the nature of our roles as XP’s. Anytime someone has a problem, whether the building is falling a part or the staff is, there we are. Dealing with people and problems is such a huge part of our jobs yet we talk about it so very seldom. In this workshop, I will be dealing with the life reality of being the middle man and three key things that make me successful in this role.”

Nicholas Smith—The 5 Functions of the XP

Nicholas, the XP of Bethany Baptist Church of Lindenwold, New Jersey, will share the biblical basis of the XP as revealed through the Scriptures. Though young, Nicholas is a strong XP in a church of 18,000 members. Read the2006 case study on Bethany Baptist. This session will introduce the foundational characteristics of an Executive Pastor: Administrator, Catalyst, Mentor, Minister, and Overseer. During the hour, we will assist XP’s in finding which functions they are strongest in and how best to operate in them. For any Senior Pastors attending the session, we will help them discover what to look for in an XP.

Paul Utnage—Becoming Missional: A 70 year-old church reinvents itself

Paul is the XP of Montgomery Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, where he has implemented this topic! Paul says about this workshop: “Change is never easy, especially if you’re trying to transform a 70-year old traditional church into a missional congregation. Pastors often muse on Monday mornings, “If I could just plant a simple church with a missional movement from scratch, life would be easier.” Unfortunately most live with the baggage of decades-long tradition. Missional living is only a dream for them.”