Leaders converge for Leadership Conference 09

by Karen Galarpe

Some 3,400 D-12 and D-group leaders and their interns from the various CCF churches all over the Philippines trooped to CCF St. Francis Square for the CCF Leadership Conference 2009 on 23-24 January. Though video and live sessions, they learned more about true leadership from distinguished pastors.

“In CCF, we want to grow exponentially and spiritually,” said CCF Senior Pastor Peter Tan-Chi, in his final exhortation for the summit.

It all starts with knowing the foundational principles of true leadership. Ptr. Peter explained that leaders must first understand what leadership is: the act of influencing others out of Christ’s interest in their lives so that they accomplish God’s purposes for and through them.

They must also:

• have a sound sense of who they are in Christ
• have in-depth relationships with people on their team
• have the appropriate ability to confront, the courage to take loving stands
• be willing to humble themselves
• follow Jesus and model what they want their followers to be and do
• be willing to risk rejection
• not allow themselves to be trapped in bitterness
• be loving enough to have insight into the hearts of others
• have clarity of vision

Ptr. Bill Hybels of Willow Creek talked about the leader’s state of mind and how it is affected by a “holy discontent,” put there by God as his assignment or calling. “When a leader is gripped or driven by a powerful passion, he enters into a different state of mind. You surrender your ego. The cause is more important. You take risks you normally wouldn’t take,” said Ptr. Hybels. He advised that once you find your holy discontent, you must feed it, stay close to it, increase your exposure to it, and do what you have to do.

Author and pastor John Ortberg said in his talk, “Everybody’s Normal Till You Get to Know Them,” that we are all “weird, as is” Christians. “There is no such thing as ‘normal,’” he said, “and desperately needed is a community for weird, ‘as is’ people.”

He went on to talk about the paralyzed man who had been lowered by his friends through the roof so that he could see Jesus (Mark 2). Ptr. Ortberg called this kind of community the fellowship of the mat, which calls for faith, accountability, and going the extra mile for someone abnormal, just because of friendship.

Saddleback Church Ptr. Rick Warren then focused on stewardship. Taking off from Moses’s encounter with God through the burning bush, Ptr. Warren said that leaders should see themselves the way God sees them. As Moses laid down his staff, they ought to and lay down what is in their hands — everything that represents their identity (pride), income (greed), and influence (self-centeredness). Leaders have to practice stewardship of affluence and of influence.

Participants also attended one of two modules: How to Start a Small Group given by Edric Mendoza, and Relational Intelligence given by Ptr. Ortberg. The latter taught leaders to listen to, involve, accept, bring focus to, and inspire members.

Pastor and Illinois state Senator James Meeks then talked about the enemies of a growing church:

• lack of faith
• lack of knowledge
• failure to realize that God is no respecter of persons
• not believing that growth is the goal of a New Testament church
• an unsure pastor
• failure to build upon small victories
• failure to preach the announcements
• lack of corporate fasting and prayer
• failure to get started
• wrong motives

Participants also took part in workshops to processed what they learned in the seminar modules. At the end of the two-day event, participants committed to continue or start serving God by leading small groups guided by the principles learned.

Following is the final message from Ptr. Peter as he closed the conference: