Aspen Group Blog

Aspen is thrilled to announce the debut of the redesigned Cornerstone Conferences website! The Cornerstone Knowledge Network partnered with the talented folks at HAAN Marketing to create the new website design – a design that aligns with the content and quality of the conference and offers a great experience for those interested in learning more about the Cornerstone Alignment4 Conference.

We encourage you to visit the site and explore the great line-up of speakers and sessions planned for the upcoming March 16th conference in Indianapolis. Whether you are a senior or executive pastor, business administrator, staff, lay leader or building team member, you won't want to miss the incredible experience and insights offered at this event.

Please don’t forget that the extended Early Bird price of $100 will end on Feb 15th. Take advantage of this great deal and register today!

Aspen Group is privileged to support our friends at Parkview Christian Church with their upcoming Synergy Conference in Orland Park, Ill.  Not only is Parkview a valued Aspen client, but they share a passion for collaboration and learning.

All Chicagoland ministry leaders are invited to attend the:

Synergy 2010 Leadership Gathering

“The DNA of a Dangerous Church”

Tuesday, March 2, 2010
9:00am – 3:30pm
@ Parkview’s Orland Park Campus

Synergy 2010 is a FREE, one-day gathering for all pastors and ministry leaders throughout the Chicagoland area who are interested in getting together to share ideas, resources, experiences, and support for one another.
 
Mike Breaux will be speaking about “THE DNA OF A DANGEROUS CHURCH.”  Mike is the teaching pastor at Heartland Community Church in Rockford, Illinois.  He is also a former teaching pastor at Willow Creek in South Barrington, and the former senior pastor of Southland Christian Church in Lexington, Kentucky, where he helped the church grow to 8,000+ in attendance during his time there.
 
The event will also include lunch and small group ministry roundtables to brainstorm and get to know one another.  
 
For more information or to register your ministry team for Synergy 2010, click here or contact Nikki Petrey at 708-478-7477, ext. 235

Guest Blogger - Rex Miller

There is a wonderful scene in the movie Chariots of Fire. Eric Liddell, the 400 meter Olympic champion, is portrayed as struggling with the choice of racing or going to the mission field. At that moment he said two very important things:

“We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ, or we repel them from Christ.”

"I believe that God made me for a purpose, but He also made me fast. When I run, I feel His pleasure."

What would it be like if we could better help people discover how God made them and then allow them to perform in such a way that they could say, "When I do (you fill in the blank), I feel His pleasure."

The current economic difficulties have placed even more demands and more pressure on organizations and their people. Organizations can avoid burnout and keep performance at a high level by developing and aligning roles with people's natural talents.

The book, Living Your Strengths, provides a starting point for discovering how God designed you.  Please join me in Indianapolis at Aspen Group’s Pastors Lunch on February 11^th as I show you how to take the principles and tools from this book back to your church and begin the process of helping your teams get into the right seat so they can function with greater effectiveness and with greater joy.

How much ministry potential is lost by not having each team member’s job matched with his/her giftedness?  A recent Gallup study shows that in most organizations only 17% of employees are performing at a high level.  The other 80% are unengaged, simply going through the motions.  In fact, some of those are actually draining the vitality of the organization.  

Could this be impacting your ministry potential?  Learn more at Aspen's next Pastors Luncheon in Indianapolis. We host two of these luncheons in the Indianapolis area each year as part of our effort to provide church leadership learning events with the Cornerstone Knowledge Network (CKN).  Key speakers meet with church leaders to dialogue about areas that impact church leadership, finance, communication, reaching post boomers, and more.

The February 11 Pastors Luncheon will feature Rex Miller, futurist, author and consultant for TAG, as he addresses the importance of having the right people on the bus AND in the right seats.  Attendees will leave with tools to begin the process of getting their team in the right seats so they can make even greater ministry happen at their churches.  Rex has written, The Millennium Matrix:  Reclaiming the Past and Reframing the Future of the Church and also The Commercial Real Estate Revolution.  He is a national speaker with a proven track record of building and leading high-performance teams.

If you are interested in attending the February 11^th Indianapolis Pastors Luncheon, contact Lynn Noe at lnoe@aspengroup.com or call her at 317.582.5100.   There is no cost to attend, however reservations are required as space is limited.  Reservations must be received by Feb. 5^th.