TonyMorganLive.com

First of all, I’m back from my golf trip. Did you miss me? Seems like the site survived on autopilot with the exception of my spelling error on the golf trip post. Yes, it was supposed to be "Quiet Please." Now you can be as loud as you want, though.

More importantly, it appears that something’s not working either at Bloglines or with Feedburner. Bloglines has not updated since Sunday for people that have subscribed to my Feedburner feed. Don’t you feel sorry for those people? How will they ever survive without reading my posts?

Secondly, Feedburner is not recognizing all the subscribers from Bloglines that have subscribed to the Feedburner feed. That’s why my readership stats were cut in half since yesterday. I have messages in to both the support teams from Bloglines and Feedburner. It will be a fun little test to see how helpful their responses are to this situation. In the mean time, if you techies out there know how to correct the problem, please let me know.

By the way, that little box that shows the numbers of readers by Feedburner does not include the subscribers to my blog that signed up before I started offering the Feedburner feed. I know there are at least 50 or more Bloglines subscribers in that category. If my Feedburner numbers are accurate, that means there’s probably another 50 people that are using other blog readers (Pluck, SharpReader, My Yahoo!, Firefox Live Bookmarks, etc.).

In other words, the current estimated number of total subscribers is about 140. That means you’re part of an elite group of people that probably know way too much about me.

It’s good to be back.

UPDATE: I’m pretty impressed with the FeedBurner folks. I posted a message on their support and discussion forums and had a reply in about an hour with a couple of messages coaching me on how I needed to communicate with Bloglines. The Bloglines folks acknowledged the problem was on their end and indicated they hoped to have the problem corrected shortly. I don’t know how widespread the issue was, but it appears from the FeedBurner forum that others have been experiencing the same issue. Bloglines corrected the problem sometime this evening, and my blog is back to full strength. With that news, I know you’ll all rest easier tonight.

For several months leading up to the grand opening of our expanded auditorium, my staff and volunteer team has been working behind the scenes to implement and enhance several systems in preparation for future ministry growth. Our administrative services team, which includes finance, communications, facilities, and technology, worked diligently and in cooperation with almost every other ministry team in the church. While continuing to handle regular, day-to-day responsibilities, the team focused on these specific projects:

• implementing an automated children’s check-in system
• implementing a centralized contact management system
• developing a new logo
• implementing a new system for online event registrations which will also be used at our on-site guest services locations
• implementing an online group finder
• refocusing our overall communications strategy
• implementing a system for online ministry connections
• implementing a new contributions processing system
• developing a reformatted weekend program
• redesigning and developing the new GCCwired.com
• redesigning and developing the new WiredChurches.com which included the new ecommerce solution
• redesigning our weekly enewsletters and transitioning to a new email distribution solution
• restructuring teams in a couple of key ministry areas
• streamlining the promotions process for ministry teams
• developing new systems for facility care to accommodate all the new space
• designing and implementing tech improvements for our new facility space

I thought you might be interested in seeing what happens behind the scenes in my ministry area. Some of it has become visible. Some of it will hopefully remain invisible to most people. That’s when we know systems are really working–when they make life easier for people serving in ministry and being served by ministry. It’s perfect when the systems are so good they’re almost not noticed.

In addition to letting you know what’s been happening in the background at Granger, I also just wanted to use this opportunity to give props to my team. You’re incredible! And you’ll always be the coolest of the cool cats!

From Seth Godin’s blog: "I was walking on stage, Tom was walking off. I got to talk to him for thirty seconds. My energy level tripled. Tom Peters does that to people. He does it on purpose. Do you?"

If 30 seconds of Tom Peters is the energizer, I’m afraid 30 seconds with Tony Morgan would be the sedative. That works for Tom Peters, but I don’t think it would work for me. If I tried to energize people like Tom Peters does, I think people would see it as inauthentic. And, I don’t think people would like me.

I like it when people like me.

"But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, and don’t take yourself too seriously–take God seriously."

Micah 6:8 (The Message)

I’ve put the blog on autopilot for a few days while I head up to the Treetops Resort up in Michigan with a few of my friends to play all 81 holes on the 5 courses over the next 3 days. If I play well, I’ll let you know. If I don’t, it won’t matter because I’ll be golfing.

While I’m gone, be nice. Don’t say anything that will embarrass my subscribers. Respond with helpful insights. I’ll catch up with you when I return. (Corey, mainly I’m talking to you.)

By now you know I’m not very hip on holidays–particularly holidays that really aren’t holidays. I made a big deal about finding a church on Mother’s Day weekend that wasn’t doing a Mother’s Day service. Well, it would be pretty bad if I pointed you to a cool church this weekend that was doing a Father’s Day service.

With that in mind, I searched high and low. And, indeed, I found more than enough Father’s Day services to attend this weekend. Some of them were even offering clever approaches to hit the topic. I found "Mr. Incredible." I saw "Cinderella Man." I just couldn’t pull the trigger on those cool churches this weekend, though, because I was afraid I’d experience the wrath of the angry mothers for not treating dads the same way I treated moms.

That being the case, I’m taking you to a distant land to visit a cool church this weekend. We’re going all the way across a big ocean to Sheffield in the United Kingdom. Hope City Church looks like a fun church with a fun leadership team. I have no idea what a "beige free zone" is, but is sounds like fun…though I am concerned that, once again, pink seems to be the theme of the week.

Dave Gilpin and his team are creatively bringing the message of hope found in Jesus Christ to four different communities. And, they’re doing it in a fun way. If I wasn’t attending Granger Community Church this weekend, I’d go to Hope City Church to figure out why they don’t like beige, and that makes them my cool church of the week.

In fact, you could say they’re my favourite church of the week, and I’m honoured to mention them. (I’ve always wanted to spell with a British accent.)

I can’t think of any better way to celebrate "Fun Friday" then to introduce you to one of the funnest (is that a word?) and funniest people I know. This is Corey Mann. He’s our high school ministry director at Granger. Corey joined our staff team a couple of years ago after spending his previous life as the top DJ at the hippest radio station in South Bend.

Just so you know, Corey and I have a lot in common besides the fact that we both love Jesus and work at the coolest church around. For example:

• We both have our own blogs.
• We both are children of the 80s.
• We both have a last name that begins with the letter "M."
• We both enjoy dumb movies especially ones with Ben Stiller.
• We both frequently wear shirts when we show up for work.
• We both have wives that love us even when we do stupid things.
• We both love making people laugh (only Corey’s really good at it).

You need to know that other than these seven things, Corey and I probably don’t have anything else in common. That’s probably why I love hanging around him so much. I get to enjoy life from a whole new perspective. I love being around people like that.

Welcome to the blog world, Corey! I’m a subscriber.

Here’s the feature article from this morning’s South Bend Tribune that talks about the opening of our expanded auditorium and the launch of our new weekend series.

Thanks for the feedback on my initial thoughts regarding the article I’m writing on the topic of change. Here’s the first draft of the article. Let me know what you think.

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When I was working in local government, I used to have it displayed on the wall in my office at City Hall. For the last seven years, it’s been hanging over my desk at home. It’s just a simple statement that I framed to be a regular challenge for me in my leadership. What’s hanging on my wall is this quote from Sir Francis Bacon: “If we are to achieve results never before accomplished, we must expect to employ methods never before attempted.”

It’s so true, isn’t it? Yet churches, in particular, have a rich history of hoping (and even praying) for different results while clinging to the same ministry approach they’ve used for years. In some places it’s church circa 1950. In others, the church is stuck in the 80’s and it’s considered “contemporary.” Of course, if you’re going to be stuck in any decade, the 80’s are a pretty good place to be stuck. After all, it’s the decade that gave us break dancing, parachute pants, and the mullet hairstyle. Those were great days.

The fact is—change is hard. Even if it’s a good change, change is hard. Without working through the difficult challenges of pursuing positive change, though, we’re missing out on the opportunities that might bring something new to our churches—new families, new faith, new hairstyles.

God loves the fresh and the new. As an example, he promised us in Isaiah that he has new plans for our lives and our ministry: “Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new. It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it? There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands” (Isaiah 43:18-19, The Message). I love serving Jesus in the church because I know he’s always ready to do something new…if I don’t get in the way.

So, what does it take to encourage an environment that fuels innovation? How do we develop a culture where positive change is both expected and embraced? It begins by shifting what we value. Churches that embrace change value some things over others. For example, I believe organizations that are constantly on the cutting-edge of innovation:

• Value mission over methods — It’s about fulfilling purpose rather than preserving traditions. We can’t be married to the ministry methods. The message doesn’t change. The mission shouldn’t change. The methods must always change; otherwise, the church becomes irrelevant to people’s lives.
• Value people over programs – Instead of filling the calendar with programs and events, churches will ask: “How can we help as many people as possible move into a vibrant relationship with Jesus and then help them share life with other Christ-followers?” Relationships require time. Rather than taking people’s time, the church may have to stop some programs to focus on what’s most helpful for allowing people to move into healthy relationships both inside and outside of the church.
• Value innovative breakthroughs over incremental improvements — Incremental improvements are good. But if you solely focus on getting better or more efficient, you’ll always do what you’ve always done. In other words, you can’t just focus on efficiencies. You need to ask: “How can I get people’s attention so that my message will be heard?”
• Value risk over safety — We have to give people the freedom to fail. In reality, an organization that never changes and always tries to keep people comfortable and happy is ultimately far more susceptible to failure. We need to reward people for taking risks…even if they sometimes fail.
• Value superteams over superstars — A team generates better ideas and delivers better results every time. There’s a lot of power in “we.” And, when it’s “our” change, it’s easier to implement. Never do ministry alone. You need other people to listen to your cool ideas and make them better.
• Value empowerment over control — Change will flow naturally when we empower people to create rather than telling them what to do. When that filters throughout the entire ministry organization, look out! It’s amazing what happens when people stop looking to the top of the organization waiting for direction and start looking out of the organization and ask, “How can we help people experience life change through Jesus Christ?”
• Value action over analysis — We can spend so much time trying to develop the perfect solution or strategy (or more likely focus on all the reasons why it won’t work) that we never actually move forward. Just try it. If it doesn’t work, stop it. Analysis still has an important place in every ministry, but we need to find the right balance between facts and faith and let God lead us into uncharted waters.

Are you ready to achieve results never before accomplished? I think that’s what God has in mind for us. He’s ready to do something new in our lives and in our churches. We have the opportunity to impact our communities by offering people a transformed life through the grace and love of Jesus Christ. There’s power in that message of hope, but it won’t be heard and people will not respond if we’re unwilling to change how we deliver it.

God has given us a new teaching (Mark 1:27) and encouraged us to use new wineskins (Matthew 9:17). If we want to experience something new and different in our churches, then we need to employ methods never before attempted. We need to be willing to change.

I reached 100 posts and today’s only the two-month anniversary of my blog. Do I get some sort of award for that?

Here’s what you may be thinking:

• "He’s not very smart, but you got to give him credit for at least being prolific."
• "Tony needs to get a life…or at least eat more pizza."
• "How do I get a job at Granger so I can have more time for mindless endeavors?"
• "I can’t wait to see him in the pink shirt hugging Mark Waltz."

Regardless of what’s really on your mind, I have more writing to do. I can’t stop. Must blog. Must produce more witty insights to increase my subscriber numbers. Of course, you already know that I’m only really concerned about the numbers.