What are your Summit Nuggets?from Kristen AikmanOne of the reasons that I hear so many leaders love the Summit is the questions that it leaves you wrestling with. I was talking with a good friend of mine from Canada a few weeks ago debriefing this year's event and he called them nuggets. He said that the powerful impact of a few nuggets injected into his team is irreplaceable. Whatever you want to call them ... they stick with you. They are the one-liners that your team repeats back home or the one question that a speaker asked that you can't stop journaling about. Some of them are so simple but so profound. So, we spent a few minutes on Skype reflecting back on some our favorites. How they molded our team culture or pulled us up to a new level of leading. These are the moments the Summit leaves behind ...
What's your holy discontent?
Are you cheating your church or your family?
Who are your lightening rod friends?
Are you a hireling or an owner?
What is your shadow mission?
What is their inspirational language?
What makes me feel strong?
There have been so many over the years. What nugget or question won't leave you alone? Is there one that your team still quotes?
Posted at Wednesday, October 10, 2007 4:15:00 PM Comments (15) Email This
What's been stirring in you since the Summit?from Ray Pelletier
It's hard to believe that it has been a full month since the Summit.
We have been blown away by the stories of lives and leadership impacted by our time together in August. Our constant prayer is that you clearly hear God's call for you and that you are helped, encouraged, trained, and challenged to live it out fully and without fear.
We thank you for being a part of the Summit, and we are grateful as well for the sacrifice of countless Summit volunteers across the country and -- as the Global Leadership Summit season begins -- around the world. Most of all, we thank God, who has once again been faithful to do what only He can do: move deeply in the hearts of men and women to accomplish His purposes in increasing measure.
Enjoy this video of highlights from Summit 2007, and as you do, we invite you to ask yourself some tough questions. Have you taken the time to process what you heard during the Summit? Have you acted on the things that you felt stir in your heart? Do you have next steps that you know you need to take but are yet to be taken? If so, I encourage you not to hold back, but to move forward boldly in acting upon what God has stirred in you.
We'd love to hear what some of those stirrings in your soul have been. What have you been prompted to do or to think differently about since the Summit? Share your comments and thoughts here so others can be emboldened, uplifted, and helped!
Posted at Tuesday, September 18, 2007 11:51:00 AM Comments (20) Email This
Message for you from Bill & Melinda Gatesfrom Jim Mellado
During the Summit planning sessions, a couple of names that kept coming up as potential faculty members were Bill and Melinda Gates. We all thought that they would add huge value to the Summit experience. Bill Gates could speak about leadership issues learned from his amazing run as the CEO of Microsoft, and they as a couple could talk about how they are now leveraging their influence to make the world a better place for those who are suffering the most.
Unfortunately they were not able to accept our invitation, even though they wanted to support what we are trying to do. They believe that churches play a key role in bringing relief to those in need. While we were disappointed that they couldn?t join us, we were so glad that they were willing to send us a brief video, addressing some of the issues that we wanted them to cover at the Summit. They also offer encouragement to church leaders to continue making a difference in the fight against poverty and HIV/AIDS. Who knows, perhaps someday they will join us as faculty members!
Check out Bill and Melinda Gates' video. Then, let us know what you think!
Posted at Wednesday, September 05, 2007 12:51:00 PM Comments (4) Email This
Still Haven't Found What You're Looking For?from Ray PelletierI hope you had a fun and restful Labor Day weekend with family and friends and are geared up for the kickoff of another great ministry year.
Many of you have been asking for help in finding resources in the Online Experience of the Summit that will help you process what you heard and apply it in your context. We want to make sure that you get right to the resources you need, so here's a quick walk-through of the most requested online resources from the 2007 Summit.
You can find these on Porter's Session In Depth Page on the Session Tab listed in Links & More
This video is available to Willow Creek Association members by logging in to the newly revamped Membership Area of the willowcreek.com website.
The Fast Forward Video is available for purchase (with a ship date of 9/24/07). Check out the
Summit Programming section to see each element for all 10 Summit Sessions and if available, where they can be found. Greg Ferguson, writer and Team Leader for Fast Forward also has a great
blog post that takes you behind the scenes.
Colin Powell's session was full of great content and even the best note-taker could miss something. Our friend
Dave Ferguson, Senior Pastor of
Community Christian Church and co-author of
The Big Idea wrote a guest
blog post with fantastic notes from Powell's session. You may also want to check out
Craig Groeschel, Senior Pastor of
LifeChurch.tv's guest
blog post with his general thoughts on the session. You can find both of these posts in the
Session In Depth Page for Powell's Session.
Every session has a couple of process questions found in the Next Step tab on the Session In Depth Page. John Ortberg's session has a special downloadable resource to help you, your team, and your church discern possible Shadow Missions that may be present.
We also had a chance to ask John some questions that leaders had after his Session. He responds in a
three minute video that is invaluable. You can find the video by going to the
Session In Depth Page and clicking on the
Video tab - John's video response is the one where you see a close-up on his face.
We'd love to hear from you on which resources online post-summit have been the most helpful to you and what resources you'd like to see in the future. Comment below and let us know what's on your mind.
Posted at Tuesday, September 04, 2007 3:17:00 PM Comments (11) Email This
Gary Schwammlein on the Global Leadership Summitfrom Kristen AikmanGary Schwammlein is an unbelievable leader and one of the most inspiring people at the Willow Creek Association. Gary worked for 28 years in the marketplace before leaving its financial benefits 11 years ago to work in ministry fulltime. Since then he has been opening doors and resourcing countries around the world as the executive vice president for WCA International. He lives what he believes with passion and with energy that never quits.
Read More >Posted at Wednesday, August 22, 2007 2:17:00 PM Comments (0) Email This
