I’m convinced I have the best team of sponsors in all of webdom. Do me a favor and click through to one or two of these sites. If you find something you like, tell them “Tony” sent you. If you find a site that’s not your favorite, tell them “Michael Hyatt” sent you. (smile)

Here are the folks that are making things happen in August:

Collision Media – the main sponsor of TonyMorganLive.com is a creative design studio that provides web design and other media related services for churches and businesses

Clover – provides websites for growing churches and ministries

faithHighway –  develops cost-effective, cutting-edge websites to reach the unchurched including strategies to increase giving with your website

Hillsong Live – listen to their new album called Faith + Hope + Love

Launch & Lead – offering various resources including a complete set of documents and forms developed by the team at Oak Leaf Church

LifeServe National Conference – hear from folks like John Ortberg, Wayne Cordeiro and Reggie McNeal as they talk about equipping your volunteers for ministry

Story Chicago – a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel on October 28-29

If you’re interested, we still have advertising spots available for your organization. Email me for more details. I’d love to have you join our team!

I hired Zac to join the staff team at NewSpring Church about a year ago. Last month, he shared his story with NewSpring’s student ministry. You should take five minutes of your day to hear his story.

Here’s an opportunity for you to get a free lunch and save some money at that same time at Story later this fall.

Story is a first-of-its-kind conference for communicators in ministry. It’s happening on October 28 at the beautiful Paramount Theater near Chicago. Hundreds of church leaders, pastors, teachers, artists, and authors are coming to learn from some of the most effective communicators of the Gospel – the greatest story ever told.  Check out who’s going to be there – you’re going to love this lineup!

Take a look now and get registered by this Friday, August 14, so you can get the Super Early rate.  Additionally, I’ve arranged a special discount with the guys at Purpose Driven. If you use the code PURPOSE, you can get an additional $25 off this rate.

You can also go deeper in Story at a follow-up day of workshops on October 29 with some of the leading filmmakers, scholars, designers and thinkers in ministry. You’ll be guided through a creative journey where you can ask hard questions and learn the latest breakthroughs in communication. You can find out all the details about the workshops on the Story website.

Ok…one more thing.  I’ll be hosting a complimentary lunch at Story on Wednesday along with Gerald Sharon from Purpose Driven. I’d love for you to be my guest. Lunch is limited to 100 people. So go ahead and register for Story then email Gerald at pastorgerald@saddleback.net to let us know you’re registered and that you’ll be there for lunch.

Looking forward to seeing you in Chicago!

I’m excited to share with you some big news. Earlier this week, I accepted the job of executive director of ministries at West Ridge Church near Atlanta. In my new role, I’ll be one of three pastors who report directly to Brian Bloye, the founding/senior pastor. Brian and I have been acquaintances over the last several years, but have spent quite a bit of time getting to know each other and our families over the last number of months. He’s a good guy with a big vision for ministry.

In my new role, I’ll be overseeing ministry teams that include children, students, groups, outreach and church planting. A couple of other guys will be leading the administration and creative arts areas. Additionally, I’ve been introduced to a number of sharp staff and volunteer leaders that I’ll be serving beside in my role.

For those of you not familiar with West Ridge’s story, Brian planted the church about 12 years ago in the northwest suburbs of Atlanta. For the first 8 years, the church held services in local schools. About 4 years ago, they moved into their new campus near Dallas, Georgia. Though the church is having a significant impact in the northwest suburbs, their bigger impact may be the new churches that have launched from their ministry. West Ridge has been instrumental in planting almost 50 churches throughout the country including several in the Atlanta region.

This is going to be a unique role both for me and the church. The majority of my time will be focused at West Ridge. The remainder of my time Brian and I have agreed should be focused on equipping and challenging other church leaders. In other words, I’m going to continue offering coaching and consulting to churches across the country. I’ll continue to share what I’m learning through writing and speaking engagements. And, where appropriate, I’ll continue to leverage my strategic partners to help churches have a bigger impact in their communities. It’s a win-win for West Ridge and me. I get the opportunity to serve at a great church, and they get to pay me as if I’m part-time. (In other words… I’m cheap.)

What does that mean for you? Well, in addition to the learnings I’m sharing from my connections with churches across the country, I’ll be sharing a lot more about the stories that are unfolding at West Ridge. I’m convinced you’re going to be challenged and encouraged by what’s happening in our ministry. And, if history holds true, I’m also going to continue to learn from you through the conversations that these experiences and stories provoke.

In the mean time, please pray for my family and me. We have a house to sell and a move to Atlanta in front of us. Until then, our family will continue to stay engaged in our friendships and activities here in Anderson. That, of course, includes our involvement at NewSpring Church. While we’re working through this transition, I’ll be commuting to Atlanta so I can begin to get engaged at West Ridge. Yep, it’s going to be crazy for a season, but the Morgans are all excited about our new adventure.

For the record, I’m a big fan of Hillsong. If you’ve been on my blog for any length of time in the past, you likely know I love sharing what’s happening in their ministry particularly with their worship ministry. This post isn’t about Hillsong.

That said, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to many different churches and conferences over the last several months. Here’s what I’m beginning to wonder… Does anyone in the United States write worship music anymore?

Every place I go, it seems that I’m hearing the same music that was written by the folks at Hillsong. Don’t get me wrong. It’s good music. I have it on my iPod. I’m just wondering why it’s the only music I seem to be hearing everyplace I go.

And, I’m not just talking about small churches here. I’m talking about very big churches too. They’re the churches that you would think would have both the talent and the resources to be creating some of their own worship music. Why aren’t they helping us sing a new song? [btw... There are exceptions like Lincoln Brewster, Kari Jobe, Israel Houghton and some of my other friends from the Integrity label.]

I’m just speculating, but here are some factors that may be contributing to this phenomenon. Hillsong…

• Has made raising up new worship teams a priority.
• Has made it part of their church’s DNA to distribute their music worldwide.
• Sees it as part of their worship leaders’ responsibilities to write new music.
• Is led by a senior pastor who values (and likely expects) this type of creativity.

Maybe there are other factors. Maybe the biggest factor is that U.S. churches see the success of Hillsong and think they’re the church to copy right now. Whatever the case, it seems that we should be asking ourselves why so many churches are relying so heavily on Hillsong for the vast majority of our worship music.

Are there other barriers that are preventing U.S. churches from generating new worship music? Is this even an issue that should be a part of our conversation? Or, is this just a jealous rage because my wife seems to be smitten by guys with Australian accents?

What are your thoughts?

I had a great couple of days at the Leadership Summit at Willow Creek earlier this week. The notes for all the sessions are available in previous posts. Here are my top 11 leadership challenges from all the sessions. These are my favorite challenges from each speaker.

1. “Sometimes the comfortable thing to do isn’t the right thing to do.” -Tony Blair
2. “What I really find hard to take is lifeless ceremony.” -Bono
3. “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” -David Gergen quoting unknown person
4. “In God’s economy, vision should move from the fringes to the middle.” -Dave Gibbons
5. “When an organization misses the future, it’s not because it was unknown–it was because it’s inpalatable.” -Gary Hamel
6. “When you find the bright spot, study it and clone it.” -Dan Heath
7. “When I listen to God slowly, he speaks more frequently.” -Bill Hybels
8. “People consider it compassionate not to be honest with people. It’s not. That’s disrespectful.” -Carly Fiorina on dealing with poor performance
9. “People who believe the Gospel are utterly different.” -Tim Keller
10. “There is no country in the world that has developed through handouts.” -Andrew Rugasira
11. “What’s your cause? Does it move you to tears? What is it that moves you passionately?” -Wess Stafford

What were your favorite lines from the Summit? How did the experience change you as a leader?