Twice last week I posted on the influence of Chip and Dan Heath's Made To Stick on how we do ministry and communication at Good Shepherd. You can read about it here and here. Those posts talked about how effective communication is both simple and unexpected.And it is...
I spent part of Saturday at the work site for the home Good Shepherd is building with Habitat For Humanity.About 25 people from the church, as well as some new friends from Selwyn Presbyterian Church, braved uncomfortable weather and uncertain gasoline supplies to...
Through the years, I've agonized over situations that might affect church attendance on Sundays. Of course, the vast majority of these are things over which I have no control. Things like:Good weather -- Nice conditions mean people will go either to the beach or the...
Take a look at this commercial.Didn't see that one coming, did you?It's the power of the unexpected, the second hallmark of communication that sticks. I posted about Chip and Dan Heath's book Made To Stick on Monday.Any time communication -- whether a television ad or...
Years ago, I had a District Superintendent (which is like a pastor to the pastors in Methodism) who taught a group of us: "Any time you want to get the last word in . . . don't."That's hard isn't it? Especially if you are a know-it-all like me! My natural tendency is...
I am a great fan of Chip and Dan Heath's Made To Stick:The book's focus is corporate communication -- advertising and product development primarily -- but it more than applicable to the church world. In fact, I would make it required reading if I were teaching a class...
The Simple Church book tells church leadership that the journey towards simplicity must involve clarity, alignment, movement, & focus.We do a lot of things wrong at Good Shepherd, but in this current series Heroes, I feel we are living into that powerful...
Last week, I posted about the different cars of my life. Almost an autobiography told from the perspective of different cars I'd driven. A lot of you seemed to enjoy it.So I thought it would be fun to do the same thing . . . except with tennis rackets. Caution: this...
I used to think that if I said something once, people would get it.These days I realize that's not communication; that's vanity. It's a bit arrogant of me to think that just because something comes out of my mouth one time, it will have lasting impact.Advertisers say...
Kinetic is a fancy word for movement. I know this because my wife works for Kinetic Concepts, Incorporated (KCI), a leading edge medical device firm originally focused on movement therapy.But we at Good Shepherd are emphasizing kinetics in this season of our life. As...