Bigidea
Dave Ferguson, one of my favorite bloggers and the lead pastor at Community Christian Church, has written his first book, The Big Idea. It officially releases tomorrow. I just wrapped up reading the book. In addition to hearing about the Community Christian Church story, it was good to get a first hand look at how Dave’s team develops "the big idea" each week. Here are the highlights from my reading:

  • "We have bombarded our people with too many competing little ideas, and the result is a church with more information and less clarity than perhaps ever before."
  • "Every week, we give all our people of every age and at every location one Big Idea and ask them to put it into action. The challenge is simple and clear–but never easy. That’s the Big Idea."
  • "Personal growth does not happen in isolation. It is the result of interactive relationships."
  • "If we send people home with a lot of little ideas, we diffuse the energy; but with the Big Idea, we create missional velocity and maximize the impact!"
  • "The reason most churches don’t plan further in advance is because the lead pastor doesn’t make it happen."
  • "A good Big Idea will always spark interest and discussion, resulting in kudos as well as criticism."
  • "While some people say they are at their creative best when they are up against a deadline, they are seldom at their relational best; they are likely highly stressed and not very fun to be around, resulting in increased tension."
  • "It’s critical that we all understand what we are challenging people to live out."
  • "A team of people brainstorming will always develop an idea to a more profound level than an individual thinking alone."
  • "Almost all of our meetings begin with the question, ‘Where are we winning?’"
  • "Innovation happens in places where ‘No’ is seldom heard and ‘Not yet’ is preferred to ‘No.’ ‘Not yet’ keeps the opportunity alive and keeps people thinking and improving their ideas."

There’s plenty more where that came from including a step-by-step explanation of how Dave and his team develop the Big Idea each week. If you’re looking to improve how your church is impacting people’s lives, I’d encourage you to pick up this book and consider how a more focused message can influence life change.