After much thought, discussion, and prayer the conference leadership team, along with the CCB leadership team, has decided not to hold a 2012 version of the Connected Church Conference. The last few years have been very successful, lots of fun, and we will miss it moving forward. Here’s a bit of the “why” behind our decision:

1. Core competency – Large conferences are not a core competency for CCB. If we do a large conference again, we feel it would be best for us to partner with another organization rather than carry the entire burden ourselves.
2. Higher efficiency – Feedback tells us that people’s highest value came from being better equipped in using CCB. We believe we can accomplish this goal more effectively, with less effort, in other ways.
3. More focus – As we have assessed the how and what behind our “why”, technology and coaching are the main pillars of what we do, so it has become apparent that C3 does not fit as well as other things.

CCB is constantly growing, changing, and moving forward–so we look ahead to what new and exciting things will arise in the near future!

Sarah with friend and Church Partner, Bill.

Emcee Jenn

Fike & Dana band.

Jamie giving us all a laugh with creative balloon creations.

Powerful night of worship with All Nations Worship.

A great conference, full of memories. Here are a few of them we captured on camera. A special thanks to Sarah Jackson, Brie Ruse and Chiceaux Lynch for the great shots.

Excitement!

Table fun.

QR code prize drawing.

Coleman, Chris and Corey hanging out between sessions.

Shakin’ it during Junk In The Trunk!

Worship moment.

Will Mancini

Several facts recently caught our attention.

– In 1940, seven percent of Americans lived in one-person households. By 2000, that number more than tripled to 25 percent so that today there are more people living alone than at any time in U.S. history.

– Between 1985 and 2004, the number of people with whom the average American discussed “important matters” dropped from three to two. During that same time period, the percentage of people who had no one with whom they discussed important matters tripled to nearly to nearly a quarter of those surveyed.

– A Stanford University study found that as people spend more time on the internet, they spent less face-to-face time with other human beings.

These facts all point to the conclusion that loneliness is on the rise in America. Combined with the present difficult economic conditions, this represents a one-two punch to many Americans who are struggling to find their way.

As we pointed out in our book Fired Up or Burned Out, people need human connection to thrive. We are human beings, not machines. When we don’t experience sufficient human connection, we dysfunction. This may include experiencing feelings of emptiness, boredom and depression.  It may lead some to engage in substance abuse to numb the pain (according to the National Center on Addition and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, America has four percent of the world’s population yet consumes two-thirds of the world’s illegal drugs and half of the world’s supply of legal mood-altering pharmacological drugs).  Others may pursue illegitimate thrills to feel alive again and in doing so develop addictions to pornography, sexual encounters with prostitutes and one-night stands, or taking excessive business risks.

Current conditions present an enormous opportunity to glorify God.  Consider the church in Acts 2 and how connected the people felt to the Lord and to one another.  The 3,000 new believers were united together as one body with the Lord, just as Jesus prayed for in John 17. They were devoted to the Apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to sharing the Lord’s Supper together and to prayer. They were generous in helping one another. They confessed their sins to one another and reconciled their differences before partaking in the Lord’s Supper. As a result, they were a church family who felt embraced and valued.  The culture in the early church was in stark contrast to the cruel, harsh Roman culture that viewed compassion and mercy as irrational.  It’s no wonder then, as Acts 2 states, the Lord added daily to their number. By 300 A.D. half the Roman Empire were Christians.

Our challenge to you is to play your part in making your church a place where everyone feels embraced and valued.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to fill your heart with God’s overflowing love. Pray that you will love the people in your church family. Pray that you will love those you come in contact with daily outside your church, regardless of how loveable they might be, so that they might want to know the source of your joy and contentment during this difficult time.

To consider what you and your church might do to develop a church culture where everyone feels embraced and valued, download and read this free article entitled Alpha Church: The Church Flourishes When People Connect. We will be speaking about church cultures where people feel connected at the Connected Church Conference in Colorado Springs on September 21-23.

Pankau and Stallard are co-authors of the bestselling book Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion, Creativity and Productivity (Thomas Nelson). Jason Pankau is president of Life Spring Network, a ministry that helps pastors and church leaders develop holistic, transformational, disciple-making communities (www.lifespringnetwork.org), and he is the author of Beyond Self Help: The True Path to Harnessing God’s Wisdom, Realizing Life’s Potential and Living the Abundant Life (Xulon Press). Michael Lee Stallard is president of E Pluribus Partners, a leadership training, consulting and coaching firm that helps leaders develop “Connection Cultures” that boost productivity, innovation and performance (www.fireduporburnedout.com).

Jenn reveals some tips on how to communicate with a Techie. For more tips and tricks on how to communicate with others, come to the Connected Church Conference September 21-23 in Colorado Springs!

Ben Stroup (www.benstroup.com) will be leading a breakout session on technology, communication, and media called “The Content Matrix” and will be delivering the final keynote on “Uncovering The ‘How To’ Of Community Building” at the Connected Church Conference (www.connectedchurchconference.com) hosted by Church Community Builder (www.churchcommunitybuilder.com) September 21-23, 2011 in Colorado Springs. See you there!

Ben is a writer, blogger, and consultant who helps individuals and organizations navigate the new rules of conversation to achieve maximum impact through content strategy. He is an advocate for compelling content in a post-paragraph world and believes meaningful conversations are the most prized and coveted assets of one-person consulting firms, international charitable organizations, and multibillion dollar enterprises. Ben, his wife, Brooke, and their two sons, Carter and Caden, live in the Nashville, Tennessee area.

A leader I (Mike) know and much admire is Howard Behar, the former president of Starbucks North America and Starbucks International.   Howard told me about the time 14 years ago when he received a call in the middle of the night at his home in Seattle alerting him that three Starbucks employees at the Georgetown store in Washington, D.C. had been shot and killed, including an 18-year who had just recently begun working there as his first job.  Behar immediately called Howard Schultz, Starbucks’ CEO, who was in New York on vacation at the time.

What Schultz didn’t do says a lot about his character. He didn’t call Starbucks’ public relations people or lawyers.  Instead, Schultz headed straight to Washington, D.C.  When he arrived, he spoke with the police then proceeded to the store to get the addresses of the three murdered Starbucks employees. He went to each of their homes, told their families he was sorry and shared in their tears.

Howard Schultz’s heart was broken. He showed courage by expressing the grief he felt. Doing so contributed to helping the victims’ families, friends and colleagues. As awful as grieving the loss of a loved one or friend is, it’s far worse to grieve alone.

Howard Schultz’s empathy and compassion spoke loudly to Howard Behar, a leader who has a huge heart. Behar left his former employer and joined Starbucks in part because the previous CEO he worked for advised him he “shouldn’t wear his heart on his sleeve.”   Schultz was the type of leader Behar wanted to work for — a leader he could respect and admire because of his courageous and compassionate heart, a leader he wanted to give his best efforts to serve.

Howard Behar became part of the group of three leaders at the top of Starbucks who were referred to as “H²0” (i.e. Howard Schultz, Howard Behar and Orin Smith).  Behar had an enormous impact on Starbucks North America as its president, then went on to become the first president of Starbucks International where he led it to spectacular growth.  After Behar retired, he continued to serve on Starbucks’ board of directors.  Behar was loved and respected throughout Starbucks for his heart and passion as well as his work ethic, open-mindedness and judgment about the retail business.  He became a Starbucks employee for the rest of his career, in no small part because his boss, Howard Schultz, had a heart.

One of the great privileges of our work as leadership trainers and coaches is that we get to meet, observe and know leaders at a wide variety of organizations including churches, businesses, government organizations, universities and hospitals.  We’ve met quite a few who exercise frequently to keep their hearts and bodies fit for the long hours, and no small number of them are also motivated by the desire to impress others with their physical presence, energy and competitiveness.

Regular physical exercise is certainly of value.  What many leaders miss, however, is the need to develop their hearts in other ways beyond exercise that are even more important – ways that produce the character strengths of love, kindness, compassion, gentleness and empathy.  A leader whose character is missing these strengths may have power over others but will never lead from influence that moves people to give their best efforts and align their behavior with the leader’s goals.  This truth is expressed in sayings such as you have to “earn the right to be heard” and “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”

Research has shown that 75 percent of employees in America today are not engaged at work.  Research also shows that approximately the same percentage of Christians are not engaged at church.  They show up but don’t actively give their best efforts.  Part of this is because they don’t feel connected to their leaders and to the people around them.  The heart is key to connecting. Proverbs 4:23 (NLT) states “guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”  That’s why developing hearts is especially important to getting America and our churches back on the right track.

To develop your heart, invest the time to get to know Jesus and the people in your life.  Cooperate with the Holy Spirit by caring about and serving others as Jesus commanded.  That includes taking the time to get to know and serve your spouse, children and parents, your fellow believers at church, your colleagues at work, your friends, and the less fortunate in your midst who have nothing to give back to you. Ask questions such as, “How are you doing these days?,”  “What’s going on in your life?,” “Where did you grow up?,” and “What do you enjoy in life?”

Slow down and listen closely.  Find out about people’s hopes and dreams, and look for ways to help them. If you’re a leader, you can develop the heart of the people you lead by bringing them together to serve at a local charitable organization in your community that helps the less fortunate.  By getting to know and serve Jesus and the people in your life, your community and the world at large, you will develop a heart that connects, strengthens and grows the body of Christ.

To learn about one of the most effective churches in the world that intentionally develops hearts, read Alpha Church: The Church Flourishes When People Connect. You might also enjoy learning more about two leaders who have developed heart and who inspired the people they led: Bono of the rock band U2 and Admiral Vern Clark, the second-longest serving chief of the United States Navy.  We also recommend Howard Behar’s book It’s Not About the Coffee. Howard Schultz will be speaking next week at the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit.

Pankau and Stallard are co-authors of the bestselling book Fired Up or Burned Out: How to Reignite Your Team’s Passion Creativity and Productivity (Thomas Nelson).

Jason Pankau is president of Life Spring Network, a ministry that helps pastors and church leaders develop holistic, transformational, disciple-making communities, and he is the author of Beyond Self Help: The True Path to Harnessing God’s Wisdom, Realizing Life’s Potential and Living the Abundant Life (Xulon Press).

Michael Lee Stallard is president of E Pluribus Partners, a leadership training, consulting and coaching firm that helps leaders develop “Connection Cultures” that boost productivity, innovation and performance. September 13, Michael Lee Stallard will be speaking with Admiral Vern Clark in Washington, D.C. at breakfast and lunch events sponsored by the Wharton Club of D.C.

This Fall both will be speaking and teaching workshops on the topics of leadership, connection and character at the Connected Church Conference, the NASA Johnson Space Center, the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Scotiabank, Texas Christian University and the Young Presidents’ Organization.

I am lead pastor at Grace Community Church and a church leader passionate about planting churches, helping established churches thrive, and assisting pastors and those in ministry think through leadership, strategy and life. In addition to my role as a pastor, I consult with church and ministry leaders. (For more information about these services, click HERE.)

I have more than 20 years experience, mostly as a self-employed business owner, and have been in full-time ministry for nearly a decade. I have successfully led the restart of one church and the planting of two churches.

The greatest times for me are with my wife Cheryl and our amazing adult sons, Jeremy and Nate. I also have a non-profit ministry called Mustard Seed Ministry, which provides devotional resources, conducts family, marriage and parenting, and church leadership seminars. If you need help with your church or non-profit, please click HERE for more information.

My INTJ personality on the Myers Briggs indicator means I have big ideas, I love creative and critical thinking and I love to see progress. I am usually around people, but I crave my down time, so I am often training for either a half or full marathon. Running is my most productive thinking time.

I write almost daily on leadership, church and family. To sign up for these blogs on a reader or by email, click HERE. I do interact with my readers, so feel free to contact me.

You can email me at ron.edmondson@gmail.com. I am also on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ronedmondson and Facebook at www.facebook.com/ronaedmondson. My devotional site is www.mustardseedministry.com and my church is www.gcomchurch.com.

Bryan is COO & Co-founder of Miles Advisory Group and is blessed to run this company with his wife, Shannon. Prior to starting MAG, he worked for companies in the tech and construction industries including Cogun, Inc., a national church construction company as the VP of Consulting. Bryan obtained his B.A. in Business from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, OH. Bryan, Shannon and their daughter Rainey and son Harper attend church at the Browns Bridge Campus of North Point Community Church. Bryan also enjoys backpacking and climbing.

Shannon is CEO & Co-founder of Miles Advisory Group, Inc. Prior to starting MAG, she worked for 10 years at McKesson Corporation (Fortune 100) in sales and project management, most recently as a Customer Program Executive. Shannon obtained her B.A. in Business Administration and Psychology from Mount Vernon Nazarene University in Mount Vernon, OH. Shannon, Bryan and their daughter Rainey and son Harper attend church at the Browns Bridge Campus of North Point Community Church.