Andy Stanley came back for the last session of the Catalyst Conference. I feel sorry for the poor schleps that left early, because they missed the best session of the conference. (Why do people leave conferences early?)

I’m not going to give you a lot of details about Andy’s last session, because you need to order a copy of the DVD and watch it yourself. Then watch it with your team. Then have a long discussion about what changes God may have for your ministry. I think this may have been one of the best messages for church leaders that I’ve ever heard. You really need to hear this session for yourself.

Stanley suggested there are three components of sustained momentum: new, improved, and improving. Here are some of the key thoughts that flowed out of his talk:

  • New triggers momentum.
  • When evaluating an organization or program that lacks momentum ask, “Do we need a new leader, a new direction/vision or a new product/program?”
  • Momentum is never triggered by tweaking something old. It is triggered by introducing something new.
  • The new must be a significant improvement over the old. If not, you’re wasting your time and your money.
  • Long-term momentum is sustained through continuous improvement.
  • Your leadership must maintain an uncompromising commitment to relevance. You can’t just be “open” to change. You need to be “committed” to change.
  • “Success breeds complacency and complacency breeds failure.”

This session was filled with great Stanleyisms. Here were are a few of my favorites:

“You might not like my answers, but a least ask the questions.”

“Jesus said we’d be persecuted, but I don’t think we have to be stupid about it.”

“When you go to a restaurant, you basically have three choices–cow, chicken and fish. The content doesn’t change. It’s the presentation that changes.”

And, this one last nugget. Andy talked about times when we find ourselves “creating energy” about an event or a program–trying to generate excitement that doesn’t really exist on its own. That happens when we’re not excited about doing something, but we try to create energy to get others excited about it. The problem is, of course, if we’re not excited about it, others aren’t going to be excited about it. That’s a good sign that you need to just can the program or the event.

Related Posts: