STORY Chicago ’09 – Ed Young

Ed Young is the founding pastor of Fellowship Church, which has four campuses in the greater Dallas area and one in Miami. ed has written numerous books and provides resources for church leaders through CreativePastors.com and the Creative Church Conference (C3). Ed Young Television can be seen on major networks throughout the US, Europe and the Far East. He and his wife Lisa have been married for 26 years and have four children.

-Story Chicago

• The ring is the thing
• The hope is the rope
• Church work is “brutiful”
• The main thing in church work is souls
• Yacht clubs started as rescue societies… has the church made the same shift?
• How many churches are baptizing adults?
• If I had to choose between small groups and volunteers, I’d much rather have people volunteering.
• Pull so the house will be full.
• Remember to leverage your passion for a purpose.

“RESCUSES”

• Sheeple excuse – are we reaching people or are we shuffling sheeple?
• Safety excuse – I wanna play it safe, If I change it’ll cause conflict.
• Depth excuse – I’m looking for something deeper. All rescues happen in the deep water! Be active in sharing your faith!
• God in a box excuse – thinking that you’ve got God all figured out. Being complacent in ministry is a dangerous place to be.
• Knowledge excuse – If I knew more I’d share. We need to encourage people to share their rescues. You gain more knowledge by sharing with others.
• We need to pray about it – We have a culture in crisis, and a cause that’s commanded. We have to tell the story! That’s all there is to it.

Questions to ask church staff members

• Who are you reaching?
• What are you doing?

[Image by: storychicago]