OC ’12: Friday 1st Session Notes featuring Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley, Lead Pastor of North Point Community Church led this session.

His main focus today is how we work together in the local Church.  This should be the safest, healthiest place for people to work.

He decided that he wanted to keep great people so he worked hard on Staff Culture.  In the City of Atlanta, North Point Ministries, Inc. came in 3rd as best workplace.  He.wanted to be the best place for people to work at.

The one thing that Andy believes that if the staff culture takes hold of it, it will be transformational.  It comes directly from scripture.

Mark 10:32-45

• Jesus telling them he was going to die
• So what do the disciples do?  Try to decide who is the greatest
• v. 42-44 – Not so with you, instead whoever wants to become great among you must become your servant and whoever wants to be first must be slave to all.
• v. 45 – for even the son of man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

Healthy and productive staff cultures are characterized by mutual submission. I am here to facilitate your success regardless of where either of us show up on the ORG chart.

This is not bottom up, but top down.  Not top down orders but top down facilitation.  We are both essential to the success of this mission.  While our responsibilities differ, everyone is essential.

The question mutual submission asks is :HOW CAN I HELP?  That’s the game-changer!

Where this is problematic is the idea the preacher is specially anointed. The only anointed one is Jesus.  We are all essential to church ministry.  If that is your church structure, you will never have a mutually submissive Church.

Even the son of man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.  Even if YOU ARE anointed, you should be the best server in your congregation!  Christ modeled it.  Everywhere in the New Testament is a mutually submissive model.

Best Practices:

1. Do for 1 what you which you cold do for everyone – do not buy into the myth of I can’t do it for one, so I won’t do it for anyone.  When you can say “yes” say “yes”.  Do not try to be fair, be engaged.
2. Systemize Top Down Service. How can you serve the people who work for me?  How can I leverage what I’m good at help support the people who work for me?
3. Create and Maintain a sustainable pace.  A lack of sustainable pace squeezes time from everyone.
4. Celebrate and reward mutual submission when you see it.  What is rewarded is repeated.
5. Confront your ego.
6. Drop the term loyalty from your vocabulary.  Anyone who demands loyalty has a loyalty problem.  Good leaders don’t need to talk about loyalty.

The starting point is this question: HOW CAN I HELP?

If you allow a “greater than you” culture around you it will corrupt you and destroy you.  Establish a culture of “How can I help?” mutual submission culture.  Christ modeled it.  So let’s follow His example.