Rethink Leadership - Carey Nieuwhof

Last week I had the privilege to attend Rethink Leadership a conference organised by Carey Nieuwhof. Carey is the Lead Pastor of Connexus Church– which is a multi-campus church near Toronto. You can read his thoughts on Christian leadership at his blog. The following are a few quotes from his opening session on strategy.

• Solitude is a gift from God. Isolation is from the enemy.
• Most of our problems in church are not vision problems but strategy problems
• The vision of the church was handed to us by Jesus. We can’t come up with our own vision.
• Strategy, more than your mission and vision, determines your destination
• You don’t have a ministry problem. You have a strategy problem.
• Vision often falls flat if there is no Strategy. 
• Clear strategy provokes deep fear. A strategy is often divisive. For example, blended worship rarely makes anyone happy
• Ambiguity never provokes fear. Clarity does.
• Strategy is the execution of your mission and vision.
• Strategy becomes divisive because it is clear.
• Clear strategy initially divides before it unites. What initially pushes people away eventually creates unity.
• The clearer you are on your strategy, the simpler it is, the more it is written down, the easier it is.
• The more a church grows the more complicated it gets.
• If you’re going to stay current, you’re going to have to reinvent your strategy.
• It’s easy to change something someone else has built. It’s much more difficult to change something you have built.
• Strategic is the key to attracting young leaders.
• Yesterday’s ideas never attract tomorrow’s leaders.