1. Cornerstone Church Network Master’s Group Session 4
April 29, 2018
Cornerstone Church Network Master’s Group Session 4
As usual, you should have this slide showing on the screen as group members arrive. Use the arrival time as greeting and catch-up time with group members.
Masters Groups | Cornerstone Church Network

2. Agenda 9:00 Koinonia Connection and Hand of the Lord
8:45 Arrival, breakfast and fellowship
9:00 Koinonia Connection and Hand of the Lord
10:00 Church Health
11:00 Leading Change
12:00 Lunch
12:30 GPS
2:15 Wrap up / Debrief the day / Admin stuff
2:30 Adjournment
The two content elements that are new this session are ‘Church Health’ and ‘Leading Change’. The main idea for this session is that understanding a local church’s current state of health is a prerequisite to knowing what needs to change in order for the church to be healthy enough to become all God wants it to be. Once the needed change is identified and understood, the leader needs to know how to skillfully lead the organization through the change process.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

3. Koinonia Connection X Information + Feelings Information Only
April 29, 2018
Koinonia Connection X
Information + Feelings
Information Only
PAST Here is something about my past that would help you know me better
DEFINING A difficult life experience MOMENT which helped me grow as a person was..
VALUES Here’s what I stand for…
To kick off the theme of the day and help the group members get to know each other a little better, ask each to respond to the following questions: “When was the last time you had a complete physical check up?” “Were there any things the Doctor recommended you work on?” “What changes have you made based on that recommendation?” “How did you develop new, healthier habits?”
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

4. Hand of the Lord Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network
April 29, 2018
Hand of the Lord
Ask your group members to identify ways they’ve seen God specifically at work in their lives or ministries this past month. Spend some time in prayer together thanking God for His involvement in such practical ways.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

5. Leading well demands clarity about:
April 29, 2018
Leading well demands clarity about:
‘Where we are’
‘Where we need to go’
‘How to lead the change required to make the journey possible’
“Where we are” I once had an experienced sailor ask me what I thought the most important piece of information is in order to chart a course to a destination. After making several incorrect guesses, I asked him what the answer was. He said, “It’s imperative to know your current location! Otherwise all your other charting skill is useless!” It’s the same with church leadership. If you don’t know the truth about your current state, you can’t lead to the appropriate next level.
“Where we need to go” Developing clarity about the ‘destination’ of your church’s journey (or at least the next leg of the journey) is the next leadership task. Having some objectivity about this is a huge help when it’s time to lead out in the right direction.
“How to lead the change required to make the journey possible” Like it or not, it’s inevitable that something will have to change to make the move to the next level. The ability to lead well through that change is a high priority skill set for anyone who is serious about pursuing God’s call on their church.
Today we are going to dive into some practical input that will give guidance regarding these leadership essentials.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

6. Where we are in terms of Church Health
April 29, 2018
Where we are in terms of Church Health
We’re going to look at church health today because it is foundational for an understanding of the church’s current position and potential readiness to move forward on the next leg of the journey toward effectiveness and fruitfulness. If the church has significant health issues, there’s not much sense in trying to pursue significant forward progress because the health issue is likely to emerge at the worst possible time and neutralize all the work you’ve put into the leadership task.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

7. Characteristics of a Healthy Church
April 29, 2018
Characteristics of a Healthy Church
Acts 2:42-47… 42And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
Ask a group member to read Acts 2:42-47
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

8. Characteristics of a Healthy Church Derived from Acts 2:42-47
April 29, 2018
Characteristics of a Healthy Church Derived from Acts 2:42-47
Prayer
Worship
Evangelism
Discipleship
Ministry
Fellowship
Stewardship…time, treasure, talent (giftedness)
Unity
Leadership
Missions
Talk through this list of characteristics with the group and have them identify the parts of the passage that prove the characteristics. Ask them to identify other characteristics they might add based on the passage or any they might delete based on the content of the passage.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

9. Characteristics of a Healthy Church: Other Considerations
God’s Empowering Presence
Spiritual Disciplines
Wise Administration and Accountability
Centrality of God’s Word
Centrality of the Good News
Church Planting
Church Discipline
Sound Doctrine
This list includes additional church health characteristics that have emerged through significant study done by Leadership Transformations, Inc. Take some time to talk through this list with your group. Ask which items on this list get the most attention and which get the least attention in group members’ churches.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

10. Assessing Health and Developing Healthy Habits
What is the current state of your church’s health?
What ‘vital signs’ are you currently tracking?
What additional ‘vital signs’ should you be tracking?
What is the current state of your church’s health? Go around the group and ask each person to identify what they believe is the current state of health in their church. Ask them to identify the specific things they base their opinion on.
What ‘vital signs’ are you currently tracking? Ask each to identify what health issues they specifically track on a regular basis and why they track those things..
What ‘vital signs’ should you be tracking? Having looked at the list of church health characteristics, ask the group to discuss what health issues are essential to keep track of. Also ask how this tracking might be done.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

11. Church Health Assessment Tool (CHAT)
Take some time here to talk about the value of assessment. CHAT is the tool that we would like all CCN/MG participating churches to use during their first year of involvement. You might want to look at the website to familiarize everyone with the tool. Let people know that it takes some time to get their church Board/leadership up to speed with the assessment idea so starting that conversation right away is important.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

12. Leading Change John P. Kotter
The Eight – Stage Process of Creating Major Change
“Successful change of any magnitude goes through all eight stages, usually in the sequence shown. Although one normally operates in multiple phases at once, skipping even a single step or getting too far ahead without a solid base almost always creates problems.”
The following slides provide an outline of Kotter’s classic book on leading major change in organizations. While the book is written primarily for business, the content is significantly instructive for leading any organization through change. The reason for considering this content is to help the group members realize that change leadership is a significant skill that takes thought, hard work and follow through. Way too often, churches attempt major change without a clear understanding of the complexities of the process. As Kotter says on this first slide, “…skipping even a single step or getting too far ahead without a solid base almost always creates problems.”
We’re considering the change process today because any assessment of Church Health will eventuate in some kind of needed change if the church is to move forward to healthier places. This change won’t just happen…it will take wise, skillful leadership.
Walk through the eight stages listed on the following slides and discuss them with the group.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

13. Stage 1 ESTABLISHING A SENSE OF URGENCY
~Examining the competitive realities
~Identifying and discussing crises, potential dangers, or major opportunities
Stage 2 CREATING THE GUIDING COALITION
~Putting together a group with enough power to lead the change
~Getting the group to work together like a team
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

14. Stage 3 DEVELOPING A VISION AND STRATEGY
~Creating a vision to help direct the change effort
~Developing strategies for achieving that vision
Stage 4 COMMUNICATING THE CHANGE VISION
~Using every vehicle possible to constantly communicate the new vision and strategies
~Having the guiding coalition role model the behavior expected of other team members
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

15. Stage 5 EMPOWERING BROAD-BASED ACTION ~Getting rid of obstacles
~Changing systems or structures that undermine the change vision
~Encouraging risk taking and nontraditional ideas, activities, and actions
Stage 6 GENERATING SHORT-TERM WINS
~Planning for visible improvements in performance, or “wins”
~Creating those wins
~Visibly recognizing and rewarding people who made the wins possible
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

16. Stage 7 CONSOLIDATING GAINS AND PRODUCING MORE CHANGE
~Using increased credibility to change all systems, structures, and policies that don’t fit together and don’t fit the transformation vision
~Developing people who can implement the change vision
~Reinvigorating the process with new projects, themes, and change agents
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

17. Stage 8 ANCHORING NEW APPROACHES IN THE CULTURE
~Creating better performance through productivity-oriented behavior, more and better leadership, and more effective management
~Articulating the connections between new behaviors and organizational success
~Developing means to ensure leadership development and succession
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

18. Discuss Your Experience:
Identify one major change process you have led. What went well in this process? What did not go well? Which step identified by Kotter should have been given more attention in your change process example?
Ask each person in the group to identify one major change process they have led in their church (It doesn’t have to be a successful change process. In fact, a non-successful example would be a good entry into this discussion!)
Ask the group to talk about what went well in their change processes and what did not go well.
Ask each person to identify one thing from Kotter’s material that would have helped their change-example go smoother or be more successful.
This would be a great time to spend a few minutes praying for each other’s leadership wisdom and skill as well as the health of each church represented.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

19. Growing Past Stress Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network
April 29, 2018
Growing Past Stress
See the “Growing Past Stress Instructions” document for a step by step description of how this process works.
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

20. Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network
April 29, 2018
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

21. Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network
April 29, 2018
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network

22. April 29, 2018

23. Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network
April 29, 2018
Master’s Group | Cornerstone Pastors Network