Thursday, October 26, 2006

A2 Bullpen Discussion: Marc & Nicole Conner

FUNNY! On stage, the bullpen sits there and asks questions to the people right after they speak. They all have bottles of water. Some of them have regular bottles, and some of them have these fancy-looking glass bottles. So I sent an email to the help desk and asked them how to qualify for "fancy water." They just read out my name and my question, and announced that after the session, I have a free case of "fancy water." HILARIOUS!! How did you let people go that were on your dad's ministry team? There was a long transition period (2 years) where he ran the church in the day-to-day stuff but his dad was still around (he was 33 at the time). Eventually there was an official baton-passing ceremony. Then his dad traveled for a while, to distance himself, before coming back and taking a job at the church. How did you "de-elder" people? They basically fired the whole elder board, and then as they changed things allowed people to re-enlist, if they fit with the vision and values. "It's actually at the end of the change process, when you think it's over that the emotional impact kicks in and it gets hard." (Marc) How do you lead as a couple? Marc is the senior pastor -- they aren't "co-pastors." She's an associate pastor. ERWIN McMANUS: you guys are a great example of why women in leadership is so critical and biblical There's a lot of questions about how they cooperate in all areas of life (as spouses, as coworkers, as parents, etc.) to Nicole: Who's changed more? You or the church? The church -- I've gotten some brains...but the church changed soooo much...but I've gotten more gracious. What was the hardest thing to change? Non-essential areas -- or stuff that shouldn't really be a "big deal" -- his example is drinking alcohol. What do you know now, that you didn't know then? The pace of change...it takes a lot of time. People need understand why you change. How do you balance your Pentecostal past? We still believe in all those things...but, for example, we wouldn't allow someone on the weekend to grab the microphone and speak in tongues (he references Paul in 1 Corinthians). We've had to teach people to think about seekers that would be visiting. okay...their session was blase, but this bullpen discussion was pretty good, because all the guys on the stage have face similar change challenges!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

see there really is no such thing as a stupid question. i bet there were many people who were wondering the same thing and are now kicking themselves because you asked and got a whole case of fancy water!! haha!! i love it!

Anonymous said...

Hey man, i'm here at the confrence, and i work at christ the rock with Dave and Megan Crow, i'd like to meet ya. where and how can i find you?
benlenz@gmail.com

ben lenz

Anonymous said...

FYI...the fancy blue water is nasty. pretty bottle though.