Staff Reatreat 2010

I confess, I'm not sure we're going to get to the "Part 2" of the Leadership Summit notes. Life has picked up the pace and it doesn't seem likely that I'll be able to backtrack anytime soon.

We finished the Summit and left the following Sunday after church for a short working retreat with our PCC staff, including Lindsay Harris, who is leading and coordinating worship along with me, focusing on Westchester. Lindsay is a great asset to our team and a good friend to me; in fact, her contributions to our efforts in music and programming have literally changed the way I do my job. God brought Lindsay to PCC and He provided a wonderful gift when he did so. It was a joy to have her along on the retreat! She's joined us as an unpaid staff member who is basically doing full-time volunteer work with us. You can find out more about Lindsay on her blog.

Lindsay with her bed buddy

Chauncey

I hesitate to share too much about our time away. Some of it was incredibly personal and deeply emotional. We did some challenging relational work, firmly believing that in order to live and serve in community, we have to be willing to be honest, to trust one another and to hold one another accountable. Patrick Lencioni's book Five Dysfunctions of a Team has been pivotal in our team-building work, and we worked through the exercises he recommends. "Strengths and weaknesses" is a time of focused attention on each member of the team, one by one, where they hear from their peers directly. Eat person looked at me (and everyone else, when it was their turn) and said, "I think your greatness strength that you bring to the team is ________". That's a pretty powerful time; I heard some life-changing words that I'll never forget. Just as moving is the next go round, when each of my co-workers looked at me to say, "I think the greatest weakness you bring to the team is _______". We all dreaded the exercise; it is hard to be the recipient of that sort of truth. It's even harder to look at someone you care for and be brutally honest. But that's just what we did, and I continue to believe that it is one of the most powerful things you can do in any relationship: Tell the truth.

Brian

PCC talks a lot about truth and grace, "the last 10%", etc. You need to know that we are living it, that this week we were willing to jump into the muck of relationships that are messy sometimes when you dig beneath the surface and mine for the reality of emotions and hurt feelings and passions about the church and hope for the future. We worked hard to be the best we can be, in order to carry out the mission that God has called us to here in Powhatan and Westchester.

We're better people for it. After a day spent focusing on our team interaction, we got down to some practical business about the next few months at PCC. We firmly believe that we are entering a pivotal, exciting time in the history of our church. We firmly believe that the local church is the hope of the world, and that PCC is called to bring hope and light to this community.

We're making a plan, fueled by God's direction and inspiration. I hope you're ready, because we're getting ready for you.

Major props and gratitude to a very special PCC family who generously offered the use of their house at Lake Gaston for our time away. Due to the economy, we didn't even schedule a retreat last year and had slight hopes for this year. However, prayers were heard and answered and we found ourselves in a home away from home for a few days. We are EXTREMELY grateful!