jayhardwick.com

Buzz at the Dentist

Just got back from the dentist and three of the employees asked me about the Egg Drop. This viral marketing thing makes me so nervous because there is no way to control or monitor it.  But when dentist office employees whom I have never met are hearing about it, and somehow connect me with it, it must be working!

CC'ers...this is possibly the EASIEST thing you could ever invite people to attend.  What kid wouldn't want the chance to win a Nintendo Wii while collecting his/her share of 25,000 easter eggs that were dropped out of a helicopter?  You're doing a great job already...now keep it up! 

8 days and counting...

The Eggs Are Coming

Somewhere in Greenville, there is a UPS truck packed to the gills with 25,000 candy-filled easter eggs. And, at some point today, he's going to deliver those bad boys to our office. Now we have to figure out who's going to work outside for the next 10 days so we have room to store them all!

AND...our bright green posters are about to pop up all over Greenville! Yeah...this is exciting!

I Want to Throw My Treo

Courtesy of one of my favorite blogs, I found this article at Adweek.com. GREAT argument for the value of Sabbath. Boy, I need to get better at this. I'm working on it...here's an excerpt from the article:

The reason why most of us have our best ideas in the shower, or while walking the dog or driving to work, is that the subconscious mind has many times the processing power of the conscious mind. It's what Da Vinci suspected when he observed that "the greatest geniuses accomplish more by working less." The subconscious needs time and space to roam, yet our weird notion of what it means to do a professional job means that we are spending ever-increasing hours at work, where we are least likely to come up with ideas, and cutting the downtime when we are in fact most productive and creative.

In recent years a new medical condition has emerged, which is caused by our obsession with always being connected, available and on top of things. Attention Deficit Trait manifests itself in a constant state of readiness to be interrupted, and thus an inability to concentrate on other, more pressing tasks...That may not be such an issue if the job simply involves moving information from one place to another, but if the task is to think, to interpret, to solve, then the problem is clear.

We all have to create the time and space for thought, to respond to e-mail when it suits us, not as soon as it arrives, to find the "off" button on our cell phones and Blackberries, to get out of the office once in a while, to create some distance. And when we leave work, we should leave work. Our brains will carry on working whether we like it or not; we will simply be more effective if we are relaxed and reenergized.

Staff Shuffle

It seems that one of the signs of a healthy team is the ability/willingness of the players to shuffle roles and responsibilities around. Several of the churches we pay attention to, including North Point, have made a practice of moving staff members into new roles and sometimes even creating brand new roles in order to better maximize gifts and accomplish the mission.

Over the past two months, our management team has been evaluating every process, system, responsibility, task, etc. being led/performed by each of our staff members and key volunteers. We found a couple of things that are worth mentioning here:

1. I was so involved in "running the church" that I could not lead the church effectively. By nature, I am a dreamer. One of my StrengthsFinder strengths is "Futuristic." However, in recent months, I allowed myself to get too immersed in too many details. Overloading me with a bunch of details is a recipe for disaster. Not for me as much as for the team counting on me for the details. People have not heard enough about where we sense the leadership of the Holy Spirit and that's a result of me being out of place a little.

2. Casey and Jake both had some available bandwidth and better skill sets to handle some problem areas and prepare us for growth. Casey is the king of creating systems and processes that work and that people buy in to. Jake has grown tremendously as a leader and is ready to tackle the financial and facility challenges that lie ahead of us as we grow.

So, we adjusted our roles, responsibilities and even changed some titles. Here they are:

Jay Hardwick, Lead Pastor
Visioncasting; Communication; Sunday Worship Environment; Fund-raising

Casey Ross, Strategic Director
Environments (except Worship); Volunteers; Communications

Jake Miller, Stewardship Director/Groups Director
Financials; Facilities; Human Resources; Groups

I know that doesn't say a whole lot about what we actually do, but trust me, we have PLENTY to do! It's not working harder or longer...it's working smarter. This plan helps us do that, and after a week, it's working! By the way, our part-time staff roles were not changed.

So thankful God has surrounded me with people who are willing to shuffle around a little if it makes the team better and the mission more effectively advanced. I'm sure we'll change it again in three months! :-)

Turnabout

Last Friday night, I had one of the best conversations I have had with a pastor/leader/friend in a long time. Granted, it was in Gaffney (you out-of-towners will know Gaffney as the city on 85 with the GIANT peach watertower that could be mistakenly identified as a body part with an issue...:-0), but we met at Starbucks, so it was like home. (Perry...if Gaffney has a Starbucks, please tell me why Anderson doesn't? It does not get ANY more redneck than Gaffney...there is just NO excuse!)

A few years ago at the start of my junior year at North Greenville, I met a pumped up freshman from Moncks Corner, SC. He literally found me everyday for about 3 months straight wanting to know about preaching, and how to find places to preach, and what to wear to preach, and what preachers I liked, and how I prepared a message, and...you name it, he asked it. He was a little on the charismatic side for me, but I liked him. He had a fire...a passion...a drive and it was tangible. As I began settling more into local church work, I started passing off my speaking invites to him. He took every one of them - believe me, he saw it and did it ALL in those days!

I'll never forget the night Clayton King and I were going to the Waffle House after BSU or something and I invited my freshman friend along. That night, I watched him do in 3 hours with Clayton what he had done with me for 3 months - ask questions. I knew then that Steven Furtick would be a man that God would use to do things beyond imaginable. It was true then and as thousands of people all over the world know, it is true now. Steven was somebody I believed in from the moment I met him.

Fast forward to Friday night and there we are in Gaffney, SC. Now, he's not a freshman any more. He's still asking questions, but he's also got a ton of answers and a ton of wisdom. More passion. More drive. God all over him. For the first time in several months, we just sat and talked.

This time, it was me asking a ton of questions. This time it was me sorting through 1000 thoughts about what's happening and what God may be doing in my life. This time it was me looking for wisdom, clarity, and encouragement. And, it was Steven casting vision. It was Steven reminding me of how God has used me in the past and using it as motivation for the future. It was Steven pointing out dangers and potential pitfalls. It was Steven calling out things in me that I had pushed to the backburner. It was a classic case of turnabout.

And I loved every minute of it.

My respect for Steven Furtick is off the charts. The guy loves Jesus, loves the church, loves the city where God placed him, and is relentless in his pursuit of God's absolute best for Elevation Church and the city of Charlotte. Steven, thank you for your friendship. Thank you for your courage. Thank you for turning around and investing in me.

It's Tuesday Already?

Wow...where did Monday go? Good grief, what a whirlwind we're living in right now! Finishing up Pause this week, dropping 25,000 eggs on April 7, doing easter @ catalyst on the 8th, one-year anniversary on the 22nd, casting big vision for our volunteers on the 27th, and going every week May 6. Yep...we've lost our minds. But, I LOVE IT!

The Bracketology Wizard Has Returned

What a comeback by the Georgetown Hoyas to topple the "other" Carolina! They played inspired basketball down the stretch to pull out the win. I may as well have had my face painted navy blue and grey - no, not because I wanted North Carolina to lose to get under Jake's skin. No, not because I wanted the last ACC team out of the tourney while the Gators continue to represent the SEC. Georgetown's win did two things for me...

1. vaulted me to the top of the Catalyst Bracketology standings.
2. for the first time in I don't know how long, I correctly picked the Final Four. Last year, I did manage to pick Florida and LSU into the Final Four, but missed George Mason (who didn't?!). I always seem to get 2-3, but always miss one. This year, my wizardry returned and Florida, UCLA, Ohio State and Georgetown did their thing. :-)

Now, I need Florida and Georgetown to advance to the championship game and I'll win our little competition. And of course, I'm pulling for "the family" (SEC) - Go Gators!

That's Quotable: My 2-Year Old

This morning, my family and I settled in to check out the local church scene via TV.  We've all been battling a stomach bug the last 4 days, so it was best to stay in today...which set-up one of the funniest things our 2-year old daughter has ever said.

As we're watching a local pastor who is fairly well known, my daughter looks at me and asks, "Daddy, why is he yelling?"  She then said, "Someone needs to tell him to stop."  Couldn't have said it better myself.

Hilarious. :-)

Welcome to the Blogosphere, Casey

As of today, Casey Ross, our Strategic Director at Catalyst, is blogging on his own. For the past few months, Casey has led the blogging effort of our family ministry blog, familynoise. Casey is a master strategist and is one of those weird people that love drawing out flow charts and step-by-step processes on dry erase boards. :-) His blog will be a must read, so add him to your feed readers.

Rock Point Community Church l Chattanooga, TN

If you live in or have friends who live in Chattanooga, TN, then you need to know what's happening THIS SUNDAY, March 25. The 11th NPM Strategic Partner, Rock Point Community Church, will launch large on Sunday night at 6:00 pm at the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Heath Bennett is the lead pastor at Rock Point. He has been the Middle School pastor at North Point since the beginning, so he has been around for all the amazing things God has done in Alpharetta. Now he's putting on his big boy pants and jumping in to church planting! :-) Heath and the team have done a great job building a core and now they are ready to roll.

If you know people in Chattanooga, make sure you invite them. If you live in Chattanooga, check out Rock Point's launch page and go check it out Sunday night.

Can't wait to see what God does in Chattanooga!