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.

Comments are closed.