Tag: church changes

Episode #9: Chris Freeland

Episode #9: Chris Freeland

Breakthrough ideas with Chris:

  • What if we could get everyone in here out there, instead of trying to get everyone out there in here?
  • How do we equip and deploy people to really love their neighbors every day of the week?
  • It is hard to love your neighbor when you don’t know your neighbor.
  • Don’t just introduce one idea on one Sunday – bringing people back to the idea multiple times demonstrates repeated intentionality.
  • Asking the same questions every week is not repetitive, it is intentional. Until you’re tired of saying it, they have likely not heard it.
  • When the pastor lives the vision first, redemptive movement becomes infectious and vision gets accomplished.
  • Cultivate vision at the highest leadership level among your staff and key volunteers.
  • Learn to celebrate the single step, not just the overall accomplishment.
  • Win every week by giving micro steps for everyone to take.
  • Permission to make the necessary changes to a church requires pointing to the DNA and what is not changing.
  • Executive Pastor Learning: don’t let your pastor get surprised by something you already knew about.
  • Executive Pastor Learning: know what needs to be on your Senior Pastor’s radar and when bad news needs to be delivered.
  • Senior Pastors and Executive Pastors should connect regularly in both organic and structured moments in which you can work through conflicts or divided perspectives.
  • How does the Senior Pastor empower leaders and give them the room to lead?
  • Vision is so critical to the church, that even the church name should be evaluated.
  • When making major changes: go slow, go pray, go read and go deep.
  • Connect stories to vision to declare God’s work among the people.
  • Cascading communication is critical in the success of any major congregational change.
  • Bring people to pray first then bring them to the change.
  • Set up your people to participate in leading the change, not just experiencing the change.
  • Pray and process, but be humble enough to know that you may not have seen everything.
  • What you think about the brand is what you think about the character of the organization.

Breakthrough resources from this episode:

Doxology Bible Church

The Art of Neighboring

BLESS by Dave Ferguson 

The Advantage – Patrick Lencioni

Leading from the Second Chair 

Leadership and Self-Deception

While Shepherds Watched their Flocks

Hero Maker – Dave Ferguson

Chris Freeland has been the Lead Pastor at Doxology Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX since 2011. Originally from Columbia, MO, Chris has a music degree from Oklahoma State University and ThM and Doctorate of Ministry degrees from Dallas Theological Seminary. He is married to Kari and they have three young children.