One of the things that most excites me about our upcoming gift offering at Fusion is our goal to help build a well in Burkina, Faso. Burkina is one of the poorest areas on the planet with a very high mortality rate for young children. The thought of our church helping to provide clean water to an entire group of people there really pumps me up.

It’s been clear to me for quite some time now that we need to institute some sort of new leadership structure at Fusion.  Our team leaders have always been amazing but, even with all their incredible efforts, the need for some broader help has become more and more evident.  The truth is that we could probably continue with our concern structure indefinitely but I feel like God wants to structure us differently to prepare us for the coming seasons and for new growth.  In other words, I believe God wants to take our church to a new level and we need a new structure to help us get there.

With all that in mind, I spent a great deal of time praying about what the new roles would look like and who might fill those roles late last year.  This process wasn’t something I wanted to rush or hurry so I took my time.  I certainly didn’t want it to just be some sort of managerial decision.  As with every important thing at Fusion, I wanted it to be God driven and not just a bunch of man-made plans.

At the start of the year, I decided that we needed to create seven new director positions at the church.  Each director would be responsible for one broad area of the church and report directly to me.  Likewise, all the team leaders and teams would be under the direct care of a director.

After another long season of seeking God, I finally got together a small group of dedicated leaders in our church and shared with them all the God had been laying on my heart.  I defined the new roles for each of them and asked them to prayerfully consider serving as directors.  I’m pleased to say that with God’s help we’ve been able to fill all but two of the directors positions.  (I hope to fill the two remaining positions soon.)

I can’t tell you all how good I feel about all this.  I now think that each area of the church is going to get a lot more attention and care than I could possibly provide just by myself.  What’s most encouraging to me is the people God directed me to ask to fill these roles.  As important as the new structure is, it’s worthless without having the right people in the right roles.  To be clear, I just didn’t want great people in these roles.  We’ve got tons of great people that I could have chosen.  No, I wanted to only put people in those roles that I was confident that God was calling to serve in this new capacity.

I’m pleased to report that this new group of directors is made up of some of the most talented, loving, servant-hearted people I know.  I’ve been meeting with them weekly for a few months now and I couldn’t be more pleased with the team or what God is doing in the lives of the team members.

Now that I’m sure that we’ve got the right team together (and that the team is gelling), I feel like it’s time to announce the new directors to you all.  They are…

• Carla Toth, Director of Operations
• Chad McIlvenna, Director of Production
• Kelly Greer, Director of Communications
• Kimberly Bennett, Co-director of Family Ministries
• Scott Stewart, Director of Guest Services
• Shannon Smith, Co-director of Family Ministries

What does this mean to our existing teams and team leaders?  Well, first and foremost, I believe our directors are going to help us be more effective in our mission to connect the disconnected and bring people closed to Jesus.  Secondly, I think each of our teams is going to have more “hands on” direction and coaching than I was ever able to provide.  We’re also better prepared for growth at our church.  Beyond all that, it means that God is going to be challenging some new people to step up into some of the team leader roles that became vacant as the directors moved into their new positions.  Regardless, I see this as a huge win for our church in every way!

Please join me in thanking these directors for taking on their responsibilities.  Also, please pray for them and for me as we work out all the details.  Above all, please ask the Lord to continue to help us to be the church He wants us to be and to reach everyone He has called us to reach.

I firmly believe that the best is yet to come at Fusion!  I can’t wait to see what God does in the coming weeks and months!

In this Sunday Stuff, I talk about hobo beards, etch-a-sketches, the removal of wisdom teeth and ice cream sandwiches. Check it out.

This is going to be a rather odd Sunday Stuff since I wasn’t actually at Fusion today but here goes…

It’s a very special Monday edition of the Sunday Stuff.