Church Planting Think Tank

Are you considering starting a church? Do you have a friend who was crazy enough to jump off the church planting cliff?  Are you involved in restarting or revitalizing an existing congregation? Are you involved with or leading an effort to extend God's Kingdom beyond the walls of your church?

Don't miss this upcoming think tank for church planters and leaders, their teams, wanna be church planters, and church leaders looking to make a significant impact on their community.

Bring your team and join us in the sunny Silicon Valley for a packed day of tested and tried best practices for advancing the Kingdom.

Practicioners Andy Wood and the team from South Bay Church join with Ben Pilgreen and team from Epic Church SF to share upclose and personal strategies and principles that have led to significant kingdom advancement in an area known to be hard ground for starting churches. By God's grace, South Bay Church is one of the fastest growing churches in the San Francisco Bay area. They have grown from handful of families to over 550 people in regular attendance in under two years. Ben Pilgreen has led the launch of Epic SF, one of the strongest church planting stories in San Francisco over the last decade. 

COST: $20 includes the cost of conference fees and lunch from Silicon Valley's Blue Rock BBQ. (vegetarian options available). $15 rate is for teams with more than 1 person attending. 
*Rates go up after March 21st.

Think Tank Schedule: *schedule subject to change 
9:00- 9:30- Registration Open
9:30-11:30- Best Practices for Gaining Traction. (Andy Wood, Filipe Santos, Ben Pilgreen)
Covering: Momentum Initiatives, Working with God in Faith, Mobilizing Your People to Invite their friends, engaging in your community, etc...
11:30-12:30- Breakout #1-See options below
12:30-1:00- Lunch/Break
1:00-2:00 Breakout #2-See options below
2:00-2:30- Break/Networking
2:30-4:30- Best Practices for Leading With Vision and Integrity. (Andy Wood, Filipe Santos)
Covering: The power of vision and creating culture, dealing with hidden barriers in from our personal lives that prevent growth, building your family while building your church.

For questions call South Bay Church- 408-890-5010 or email Laura@southbaychurch.org

Breakout Options: 
Andy Wood/ Ben Pilgreen- Developing Partners and Raising Resources.
Filipe Santos/David Hibiske/ Lindsey Lee- Connecting People Into Groups and Teams.
Renan Santos/Tim Milner- Getting Your Systems Straight. (Budget, Finances, Legal Stuff)
Archie Jackson- Maximizing Your Sunday Morning Experience.
Stacie Wood/ Juliane Santos- Launching a Killer Kids Experience.
Chris Lagerlof- Vision 360- Planting The Gospel While Planting The Church.

Click here to register.

Confessions of a neat freak...

Confession: I do not like messes. I don't like playdough or painting or chocolate pudding or bathtimes that include excessive amounts of splashing. I'm pretty sure that puts me out of the running for "Mom of the Year" award.

As much as I have tried to just get over it and let it go, messes do not say "A Good Time" to me. They say scream "A Lot of Clean-Up". Perhaps if I was not the one doing all of the clean up, I could really get into jumping in puddles, smearing peanut butter all over my face, and shaking my sippy cup full of milk all over the carpet. But, as we have it, a wonderful mess is not a wonderful time. At least for me.

However, I do have my moments when I push past my phobia of messes and bust out the paint or playdough. In those rare moments, I have to snap a few photos lest my children believe I completely deprived them of all fun in life. In the Wood household, we have come to an agreement that these are outside activities...good thing we live somewhere that we can go outside most of the year!

So, for your viewing pleasure (and to remind my boys that they did [occasionally] get to paint)...

15 minutes to set it all up.
20 minutes to clean it all up.
But, man, they sure did have a blast for the 14.5 minutes that they painted.

I know. I know. I've got issues! :-)

Quotable Caedmon

Caedmon says some pretty stinkin funny stuff. I try to tweet/FB as many quotes as I can so I that I'll remember them later and share a good laugh with some of you. But I realize that not all of you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, and I don't want you to miss out on my silly son. So here's the latest from the Cade-man.

• Caedmon came into my room early one morning and said, "I just have one small problem with sleeping. My eyes won't stay closed."
• Reflecting on the 5 vaccinations Caedmon received at his check-up he said, "Mommy, I cried when the doctor shot me."
• Caedmon came running over to me breathing really heavy and said (multiple times), "Mom, I'm trying to catch my breasts."
• As he was laying in bed one night trying to fall asleep he started singing an original song with the main lyrics being "Tortilla in the Highest". 
• "Mom! Sammy is on a mission to bother me!" ...Premeditated bothering. Sounds like a serious crime.
• "The great thing about birthdays is that they always come back!"
• "Mom, you should start saving boxes now because I'm going to take all of my toys to college...I'll leave some for Sammy, though."
• "Mom, I've got some terrible news. I just saw gray clouds in the sky. Lots and lots of them. I told them, 'Oh no! Not again!'"

Conversations:
Me: "Caedmon, what is that on your pants?
Caedmon: "I dunno. It's not boogers. Mom, is that good that it's not boogers?"
Me: "Yes, Caedmon. I'm proud of you."

Caedmon came out of his room crying one night after we had put him to bed. He said,
"Mom, I hit my head on the bed."
Me: "I'm sorry buddy."
Caedmon: "Can I have my cold pack?"
Me: "No."
Caedmon: "Why not?"
Me: "Because the last time I sent you to bed with a cold pack we had to call Poison Control."
Caedmon: "Aww, Man!"

Caedmon & Lily (Fi & Mandy's 4 year old daughter)
Lily: "Hey Caedmon, do you know what you have to do to go to Heaven?"
Caedmon: "What?"
Lily: "You have to die."

Monday Matrimony

Your weekly bit of [unsolicited] advice...

Tip of the Week: More or Less

This tip requires a little courage. Especially if you're a perfectionist like me who feels totally deflated when you realize that everything you do is not perfect and (gasp) someone might actually be upset with you. But if you're willing to get over yourself and maybe take a small hit to the pride, this tip can serve you (and your marriage) well.

Here's what you do: when you and your spouse have a few minutes for a good conversation, ask the following two questions:

1. What do you need more of from me in our marriage?
2. What do you need less of from me in our marriage?

Simple enough, right? But actually getting those words to come out of your mouth can feel oh so intimidating because you have no idea what is going to come back at you. You may have just unleashed the floodgates of bitterness that your spouse has been holding in...You may have just given them full permission to rip you to shreds. At least, that was my fear.

However, I was pleasantly surprised that Andy was completely gracious with me and actually much easier on me than I would have expected.

But regardless, even if a lot of bad things do come out, wouldn't you rather know? I mean, probably not in that moment, but when you step back to think about it...What if your spouse does carry bitterness or resentment toward you over some issue, big or small? Let's get it on the table, People! Let's have the courage it takes to get to the root issues behind the frustrations and enjoy the deeper intimacy that will result on the other side.

So, sometime over the next 7 days, find the time to ask your spouse these two questions. I dare you!

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Erica Halpin! You are the winner of a $25 gift card to Amazon!

Erica is a fellow church-planters wife, mother of 3 little warriors, and a paperchasing adoptive family! They are in the process of adopting a little girl from Ethiopia. Follow her blog by clicking here.

Thank you all so much for participating in this giveaway! We had 78 different comments...I think the most comments I've ever had was about 3, so that's like about a 2,500% increase in comments! :-) Good job, friends! You didn't let me down!!!