Regional Cohort GatheringsWed March 6, 11:00am - 2:30pm| NY/NJ MetroThu March 7, 11:00am - 2:30pm| Greater Boston/New England

Contact & Quick Infolinks are clickable in the post and pdf at www.jasoncondon.comContact & Quick Infolinks are clickable in the post and pdf at www.jasoncondon.com

Jason R. CondonAssociate Superintendent & Director of Church Planting,East Coast Conference of the Evangelical Covenant Church• jasonrcondon@gmail.com• (860) 479-2020• www.jasoncondon.com

(Cohort handouts and resources posted here)• facebook.com/jasoncondon• eastcoastconf.org• covchurch.org

Quick-Start Guide to ECConf Church Planting• "Understanding Church Planting on the East Coast

Conference" (or www.jasoncondon.com/2012/04/handout-understanding-church-planting.html) - seminar handout introducing concepts & strategy

• "What Are We Looking For in A Church Planter?" (or bit.ly/Qfbiue ) - an overview of what we value in a church planter and his or her ministry

• "Church Planter Identification Process" (or bit.ly/TfnyKr) - an overview of how we assess church planters and pursue church planting within the East Coast Conference and the Covenant

Welcome• Open in Prayer

• Super-Quick Intros: name, ministry setting, why you’re here today

• Lunch: we’ll grab lunch whenever it’s ready or convenient

NY/NJ Metro OnlyCovenant Kids Congo - Adam Phillipswww.covchurch.org/covenantkidscongo

Presentation, Q&A, and Discussion:

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Back to BasicsOutreach & EvangelismNormal & Natural Pathways“In your church, what are Normal and Natural Pathways to Evangelize People so they come to a transforming faith in Jesus?”

• What kinds of experiences do people need in order to become fully-devoted followers of Christ?

• How will you use training events, small groups, mentoring, worship, etc as part of an overall strategy?

• What will you do for a call to decision that helps people mark their milestones and allows your church to follow-up? Examples: will you use "altar calls", have people raise their hands, mark an info card, visit a special area in the worship space for prayer, resources, and follow-up, write their name on a "decision wall", or some other tangible response that helps them mark the moment and allows your church to follow-up?

• Note:

• full document for Normal & Natural Pathways at: www.bit.ly/normalnaturalpathways)

• At The Exponential Retreat we’ll go deeper into Discipleship, following up on their theme: Disciple/Shift (yes, it’s all discipleship :)

Easter Season | Purposeful Preparation• How are you preparing as as an entire church (pastor, staff, leaders, members, regulars) for this usually

more receptive window of opportunity for sharing Jesus with friends, family, and neighbors?

• What’s your history of success and setbacks with these efforts?

Discussion & Notes:

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Fruitful MeasuresDebrief & Update | New Monthly Online ReportingPart 1 | Church Planter-Specific: Online Google Form

• First time ever that everyone had their reports in! (and many are already in for this month - Due by the 10th)

• Hugely helpful to me, Howard, & the Dept. of Church Growth & Evangelism

• What was your experience? Questions, concerns, confusion? What can be improved?

Part 2 | Church-Specific: ChurchMetrics.com • Asking for the same exact data and stories as before, though greatly simplified

Current Inputs: (greatly reduced from what was originally launched)• Attendance [all adults at a worship service - guests, ministry volunteers, staff, etc)• Attendance - Kids• Attendance - First-Time Visitors [this is usually an estimate]• Contributions [local tithes and offerings]• Salvations [however you try to track milestones; for your context this may be more of an estimate]• Volunteers [how many people serving in any capacity at a worship service]

Strengths• tangible measures of some of the important fruit, providing insights, encouragement, and accountability

• online and accessible from any browser or mobile device to view or enter data

• Hugely helpful to me, Howard, & the Dept. of Church Growth & Evangelism

• it’s an actual database so the data can easily be moved, preserved, and worked with regardless of tools

Limitations• Current: a bit of a “hack” to make it work for our purposes: We’ve set up the ECConf as the “church”

and each church plant a “campus” so that we can have everything in one place and look at the global data

• Future: I’m in conversation with LifeChurch.tv’s Digerati team to see this upgraded and improved

• Visible Data: everyone with "Staff" level of access can see everything, though only enter for own church

• Already Done: I removed the more “Sensitive” data and kept what’s normally “Public” Data (FWIW, I think it's "best practice" and fairly common to have this level of transparency at the local level, posting these in a bulletin, e-news, public reports, etc.)

Big Question: • Keep as is? Need to know (anonymously) if everyone is ok with each other seeing this if they went to the

trouble of looking. If even one person isn't ok with this, it's no longer an option. (eventually these issues should be resolved as I work with the LifeChurch.tv guys with future upgrades and improvements)

• Switch Entry Method?: • You’d each get a pre-formatted spreadsheet for entry (we probably could use Google Spreadsheets)• This would add some extra work on our end with importing data (not quite as bad as hand-entry)• You would no longer have access to ChurchMetrics.com to see and create your own data, charts, reports

Next Steps and Expectations• Take up to two more months to get weekly rhythm in place for your church’s data entry

(I’ll still need all the actual data, even if you need to email it to me)

• Requirement: by April Reports (Due May 10), up-to-date data required for Appropriation checks

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Stewardship of Time, Attention, and OpportunityTime & Project ManagementDiscussion

• What are the ways you steward your time and projects? (organize, redeem, use effectively, etc.)• What are your “inboxes”? (you probably have more than you think)• Where have you found success? Where have you struggled?

One Approach | Getting Things Done (GTD)Five Stages of Workflow*Collect Things

• whatever commands your attention (anything personal or professional, big or little, that you think should be different than it currently is and that you have any level of internal commitment to changing)

• get it all out of your head• minimize your collection

“buckets”• empty the “buckets” regularly

Process Everything• process what they mean and

what to do about them• see workflow diagram to Left

Organize the resultsReview the optionsDochoosing actions in the moment by:

• context• time available• energy available• priority

* From Matt Vance’s notes & outline

Additional Resources:• Kindle, Physical, Audio: amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Productivity-ebook/dp/B000WH7PKY• Summary Version: www.amazon.com/Getting-Things-Done-Productivity-ebook/dp/B007ZK4YWI• Video: Author David Allen speaking at Google on GTD: youtu.be/Qo7vUdKTlhk• Jason’s GTD Quick Reference: bit.ly/YAtxPu• Great tool (among many): omnigroup.com/products/omnifocus (Mac, iPhone, iPad)

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Renewal, Relationships, Retreat!Exponential 2013 & Church Planter RetreatFull Details: www.jasoncondon.com/2012/09/exponential2013.html (read first before registering)

Finalize Who’s Going - My Current List:

Church Planters (& Families)• Aaron Engler 1

• Kiho Lee 1

• Michael Carrion (& Liz?) 1

• Efrain Alicea (& Erika) 1

• T.C Moore (& Osheta) 1

• Stephen Sharkey (& Kathleen) 1

• Ryan Yi 1

• Andrew Mook 1

• Drew Hyun (& Tina & David) 1

• Dan Sadlier 2

• Brynn Harrington 2

• Derrick Jackson 3

• Kim Wright 3

ECConf Staff & Families• Jason (& Lisa, Jaron, Bryn) 1

• Howard  (& Ann, Terra) 1

• Kreig Gammelgard 1

“Vitality Pathway” Pastors (one big family!)• Fred Elliot-Hart 3

• Scott Jones 3

• Kevin Lester 3

• Brian Estrella 3

• Tim Olson 3

• Nancy & Wally Ebner 3

1 ECConf Pre-Paid Spot2 CG&E Pre-Paid Spot3 Registered On Own

Full Week Flows in Three Parts: (though you can show up as early as 4pm Sat and just hang out)• Part 1 | Pre-Conference Fun & Covenant Connections - Mon Afternoon & Tue Morning• Part 2 | Exponential Conference - Tue Afternoon - Thu Morning (evenings are “free” back at resort)• Part 3 | ECConf Church Planters Retreat - Thu Afternoon - Fri Night (fly out Saturday)

Some Key Details• Costs:

• automatic $400 scholarship from CG&E

• current Covenant Agreements include $200 for this retreat

• many costs subsidized by the East Coast Conference

• $300/planter (spouse included) for lodging and shared groceries (breakfast, lunch dinner, snacks)

• Spouses:• Need definite count (as in you bought the plane tickets) to plan rooming options and food

• Any spouses interested in attending any or all of the Exponential portion?

• Will also be easy for spouses to self-organize for outings, hanging out, etc. We’ll plan for free time as well

Q&A• What questions do you have about this event?

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Mark Your CalendarComing Events | subscribe at eastcoastconf.org/calendarAprilECConf Annual Meeting (Harleysville PA)

• April 11-13 (Thu-Sat)

• www.eastcoastconf.org/annualmeeting

Exponential 2013 & Retreat (Orlando) www.exponentialconference.org

• Full Details: www.jasoncondon.com/2012/09/exponential2013.html (read first before registering)

• April 22-25 (Mon-Thu): Exponential Conference + Covenant Connections

• April 25-27 (Thu-Sat): ECConf Retreat!

• Bonus Dates: Check-in as early as Sat April 20, 4pm (Jason will already be there)

• Very Affordable: automatic $400 scholarship, crazy-cheap resort housing, plus other funding built into newer Church Planter Agreements. Housing and house groceries only $300 (always let Jason know if finances are an issue)

MayAssessment Center (Hartford CT)

• Wed May 15, 8pm - Sat May 18, 12pm

• for invited church planter candidates

Church Planter Cohort Gatherings:• NY/NJ Metro Cohort

Wed May 29, 11:00am-2:30pm (Location TBD)

• Greater Boston/New England CohortThu May 30, 11:00am-2:30pm (Location TBD)

Full Calendar for East Coast Conference• Visit www.eastcoastconf.org/calendar,

subscribe through Google Cal, iCal, or other calendar app

• Entries labeled “Church Planting” specifically for church planters, rest for Covenant pastors in general

JuneNO Cohort Gatherings

Church Planter Training Intensive• Retreat center in St. Paul MN

• Tue June 4, 6:00pm – Sun June 9, 12:00pm

• for new Covenant Church Planters (recommended at pre-Launch)

Covenant Annual Meeting (Detroit)• Thu, June 27, 2013 – Sun, June 30, 2013

www.covchurch.org/am

JulyIDEA: All-Day, All-Planters Get-Together

• Where: Jason & Lisa’s, Columbia CT (halfway between NYC & Boston)

• When: TDB

• Who: All current and “recommended” planters and spouses (possibly kids, let’s discuss)

• Options: much food, BBQ, Covenant Approved Beverages™, bonfire, paintball, backyard volleyball, frisbee, whiffleball, whatever. Private lake beach. Casino (checking if you’re reading). Mostly just hanging out.

AugCohort Gatherings - best dates & locations?

SeptCohort Gatherings - best dates & locations?

Assessment Center (Denver CO)• Wed Sept 18, 8pm - Sat Sept 21, 12pm

• for invited church planter candidates

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