The Leadership Forum

 

by

Matthew Blackford

2006 Evangelism Module Report

Woodbury Lutheran Church

 

I. Purpose

1.  Give those who attend the ten week course the opportunity to hear how the faith of other Christians, who are leaders in their community, influences the way they carry out their duties in the various secular vocations to which they have been called.  The goal is to provide guidance and encouragement to those who attend and who may be struggling with how Christians ought to live in this world.

2.  Provide non-Christians and those who are not members of the congregation the opportunity to become familiar with the church.

3.  To provide an opportunity to witness about God's love in Christ to those who do not know Him.

 

II. Initial Needs:

1. Prominent speakers from the community
2. Advertising for the classes
3. Topics for each speaker/class
4. Funds to sponsor the speakers
5. A core leadership development committee
6. Registration strategy

 

III. Strategy

From September 14th until November 1^st, challenges were identified and discussed in an effort to solidify a ten-week evangelical/educational course. During these weeks of preparation, speakers were identified, contacted and slotted to speak for 60 minutes/session. Our core team promoted the event throughout the community at various public locations (supermarkets, businesses, churches, organizations and more). We agreed that the gospel message of Jesus Christ must be proclaimed every week so that the Holy Spirit could work on the hearts of the hearers.   

 

IV. Challenges:

1. How will we fund the cost of the speaker? Right now we don’t mention cost unless they ask. So far, only one speaker asked for money. Most of our speakers want to donate their time for the cause of raising the awareness of servant leadership.
2. Who is our targeted audience? Who will actually attend these classes? The Greater Woodbury/St. Paul area, men and women, believers and non-believers.
3. What will this course look like in 5 years? Future plans have been discussed as an alumni group, leadership breakfasts and more. 
4. What if a speaker doesn’t show up? One speaker showed up a half hour late, and this caused frustration for a few of our attendees. Our numbers declined minimally the following weeks. For the next forum, the leader must contact the speaker even a day before his/her speech to make sure there are no immediate complications or misunderstandings.

 

V. Who, What, When and Where?

The Leadership Forum began at 6:30pm and ended at 8:00pm on Thursday nights at Woodbury Lutheran Church. Refreshments and cookies were served following the question and answer session, which preceded the sixty-minute talk from the scheduled speaker. The agenda for each evening followed this format:

 

5:30pm      Set-up complete (1) Camera; (2) Music; (3) Power-Point; (4) Tables & Signs

5:45pm      Coffee table set-up

6:00pm       Meet Speaker (1) Host; (2) Debrief; (3) Show him/her sanctuary

6:15pm      Begin playing music and Power-Point

6:30pm      Introduction and announcements

a.     Welcome and Mission Statement

b.     Give agenda

c.     Questionnaire cards (results from previous week and new questions)

d.     $25 gift card drawing

e.     Announce schedule for upcoming weeks

f.      Pray

g.     Introduce speaker

6:38pm      Speech

7:40pm      Questions, comments, reactions from the audience; facilitate discussion

7:55pm      Closing Remarks

a.     Thank Speaker

b.     Tickets are still available           

c.     Return Questionnaire cards

d.     Refreshments and cookies are available

e.     Next session is…

f.      Closing prayer

g.     Have a great evening

8:00pm      Dismiss the forum

                  Clean-up

8:45pm      Out of building

 

VI.  Topics, Dates and Speakers:

Week 1 (Dec. 1)

The Servant: The Primary Ingredient for Christian Leadership

What is the primary ingredient for Christian Leadership? Come here Pastor Dean Nadasdy open our forum as he speaks about the concept of servant leadership.

 

Week 2: (Dec. 8)

Boundaries in Christian Leadership

The President of Concordia University-St. Paul, Dr. Robert Holst, will talk about setting appropriate boundaries as a way to maximize your effectiveness as a Christian leader.

 

Week 3: (Dec. 15)

Leadership against the Grain

Minnesota Senator Michelle Bachmann will lead a discussion on challenges facing Christians who work in difficult environments.

 

Week 4: (Jan. 5)

Defining yourself as a leader

Pastor Kelly Chapman will share some of the characteristics of a Christian leader.              

 

Week 5: (Jan. 12)

      Christian Leadership in the Community

      The Mayor of Woodbury, Bill Hargis, will tell us about his intentional involvement in building a community on Christian principles.

 

Week 6: (Jan. 19)

Christian Leadership in the Home

Marilyn Sharpe, Harvard Graduate and Team Member of the Family and Life Institute, will share her insightful perspective on Christian leadership in the home and with the family.  

 

Week 7: (Jan. 26)

Financial Principles in Christian Leadership

Mr. Dennis Doyle, CEO of Welsh Companies in Bloomington, will share ethical financial principles for the purpose of strengthening the Christian leader.

 

Week 8: (Feb. 2)

Mentoring Future Christian Leaders

Dr. Kimberly Harms, founder of Rivers Edge Dental in Farmington, shares how she treats employees and develops Christian leaders for tomorrow.

   

Week 9: (Feb. 9)

Lead like Jesus

Mr. Ken  Melrose, CEO and Chairman of the Toro Company, provides biblical insight on Christian leadership.  Mr. Melrose is on the Board of Directors with Ken Blanchard’s “Lead Like Jesus.”

 

Week 10: (Feb. 16)

Christian Leadership in the Marketplace

Mr. Chuck Ripka, co-founder and Sr. Vice President of the history-making Riverview Community Bank, will share practical guidance to Christians who work in the marketplace.

 

VII. Criteria for Speakers

• Leaders who rely on the Lord for direction in all aspects of their work and life.
• Leaders whose faith influences their leadership role, in the way they treat their employees, customers, and others.
• Their lives are above reproach.  It is very important to select speakers who would not diminish the success of this program.
• Leaders don’t need to be financially successful. 
• We need to look for humble servants of God. Thus, we need to stay away from business owners or leaders who view it as an opportunity to look good or to advance their business goals, e.g., prideful, competitive.
• Leaders who are generous in giving both time and money to further the Kingdom of God—church, community, missions, etc.  (It’s easy for the rich to give money.  We want to avoid having successful business leaders who take the easy way out by just donating money.)
• Before final selection, it may be a good idea to have less well-known speakers submit an outline for their talk and answer some questions about how they bring their Christian faith into their work, community, and other aspects life. 

 

VIII. Evangelism Results

The forum attracted an average audience of over one hundred people per week. Many people selected their favorite weeks and attended only those sessions that interested them.

 

During the second week of our forum, I asked in the questionnaire, “Do you believe that Jesus Christ is your Lord and Savior?” Eight percent of the people answered “No,” which indicated that a significant number of non-Christians were hearing the Gospel that was proclaimed. I anticipate future events to be even more outreach oriented because the focus of the forum will be more narrow (women’s leadership, business Leadership), and thus it will attract a new crowd.

 

Our core team made CD copies of each event and sold these CD’s to members and non-members of Woodbury Lutheran Church. We are currently transferring the DV Mini Cassettes into a DVD format to put into the church lobby for sale. The speakers gave us the permission to use their speeches to bring the gospel to our community. Overall, this event was successful in reaching out to non-Christians.  It continues to have a lasting impact even today as we are still selling CD’s to business leaders, organization leaders, and various non-members of Woodbury Lutheran.

 

IX. What did I learn from this evangelism experience?

Throughout The Leadership Forum, I learned the fundamentals of managing a team to reach the lost with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Looking at the core demographics of the community and noticing Woodbury to be a growing entrepreneur location, the forum reached an audience that is in need of Christian values and ethics.  Overall, The Leadership Forum challenged me to share the gospel in a unique way not explored before in this church.

 

X. The Core Team

Eight people are core members of The Leadership Development Team:  Vicar Matthew Blackford, Nancy Branton, Cheri Frost, Tom Bystrzycki, Tim Schubbe, Vicki Strong, Angela Johnson and Pastor Dean Nadasdy. Each person offers a unique contribution to the vision, planning and production of The Leadership Forum and its future events. The following is a draft of the anticipated contributions of each member:  

• Vicar Matthew Blackford:  Director of The Leadership Development Team, preparing and developing future events while calling potential speakers.

• Nancy Branton: Assist with researching potential speakers, registering participants and participating in forum discussion

• Cheri Frost: Assist with recruiting “servants” to assist with set-up of childcare and refreshments

•  Tom Bystrzycki: Assist with registration, tickets, follow-up discussion after each event, and direct alumni relations

•  Vicki Strong: Assist with marketing, sales, and advertising of The Leadership Forum events

•  Angela Johnson: Tim Schubbe and Pastor Dean Nadasdy will assist and attend quarterly meetings for the purpose of evaluating the efforts of future leadership events.

 

XI. Our Core Team Ideology

As a team of believers in Christ Jesus, our core team strives to elevate servant leadership in the marketplace, home, church and world so that Christ may be glorified in these areas of life. Each leadership event must contain the gospel message so that the Holy Spirit can work in the hearts of the hearers. Our team has already seen tremendous response to The Leadership Forum as believers and non-believers alike have attended. With the contribution of each member of The Leadership Development Team we can make a difference for the Kingdom of God.

 

XII. Current Budget

By the grace of our Lord, The Leadership Forum has raised a capital amount of $4,260.00 with ticket sales and post forum CD sales. Tickets sold for $25 (covering all ten sessions) and each CD sold for $5. We have set up a separate account to use these funds specifically for future leadership events.

 

XIII. Future Events

1.  Six week forum dedicated to business servant-leadership.  Each week a prominent Christian-business leader will lead a discussion on the one of the following six topics:

week i.            Leading by Example: Raising Up Servant leaders

week ii.            The Wrong Made Right: A move toward integrity

week iii.            Managing the Details: Why small stuff matters

week iv.            Communicate the Vision: Knowing why you exist

week v.            Jesus and Ethics: Business with compassion

week vi.            Proactive Goals: Rejecting passivity for greater progress

 

XIV. Potential Speakers

    • Mr. Brad Anderson, CEO of Best Buy

    • Mr. Duane Kropuenske, President of Riverview Community Bank

    • Mr. Os and Angie Hillman, Authors of The 9 to 5 Window and President of the

       International Coalition of Workplace Ministries (www.marketplaceleaders.org)

    • Mr. Bill Farrell, Founder of Christian Fellowship at Medtronics Inc.

    • Mr. Ken Melrose, Chairman of Toro Company

    •  Shelly Nemerov, Vice President of Operations at Riverview Community Bank

 

XV. Research Notes

1. Businessman Obeys God

• Chuck Ripka launches a small community bank in Elk River and ends up as the cover story of New York Times magazine.  Come and hear him share about his relationship with God and how it is impacting his business and transforming his community.

 

2. Carrying out the Lord’s Work: Going Against the Grain

• Senator Michelle Bachmann

 

3. Christian Leaders: Dealing with Dynamics of Church and State Separation

• Bill Hargis, Mayor of Woodbury
• Governor Pawlenty?

 

4. Christian Leadership in the Home

• *Lori & Harold Voth
• Single parent- Mary L. may have some ideas

 

5. Business Leaders Bringing their Christianity into healing people’s mind and body

• Marcus Bachmann- owner of Bachmann & Associates
• *Dr. Jim Finnell
• * Michelle Frauenshuh- counseling

 

6. Christian Business Leaders Bringing Christianity into the Community

• Tim Maudlin- successful business leader who has been actively spreading the word of God through leading a variety of community programs, also he led the reorganization of Augsburg Fortress, and much more

 

7. Leaders who carry out their faith in leading their business—how they treat their employees, customers, and/or how they contribute time/money to furthering God’s Kingdom and spreading His word in their community and/or abroad

• Debbie Murphy- a Woodbury business owner. I’ve heard so many positive things about how she treats her customers and employees and she generously gives her time to the community.  She has played a key role in the Mayor’s breakfast, has served on the board of Woodbury’s Chamber of Commerce, and more.
• *Phyl Burger- a Woodbury business owner and a single woman who relies on the Lord for her livelihood.  She has been going to Ecuador every year to teach missionaries and serves on WLC’s Mission Board.
• *Larry Wilford, a Woodbury business owner who’s active in the community
• *Jim Widen, a Woodbury business owner who’s active in the community

           

8. Christian Business Leaders Evangelizing in Other Countries

• Dr. Tom Christ (former member/elder of WLC and local dentist who’s done much dental mission work abroad)

 

9. Lead like Jesus

Mr. Melrose-CEO and Chairman of the Toro Company; Board of Directors with Ken Blachard’s “Lead Like Jesus.”

 

NOTE:

*Our core group (Nancy, Tom and Vicar Matt) have agreed that WLC members should not be considered to be a selected speaker in the forum.