This was year 8 (or 9…I am losing track) for hosting The Leadership Summit in partnership with the Willow Creek Association.  It is a real privilege to be a host, and I was reminded of how great an opportunity it is by one Grace attendee who came this year.

Lucy (I don’t know her real name, so we will call her Lucy) is a sales person at a local retail store.  She lives a simple life, attends Grace Community Church, works her job and cares for her elderly Mom.  When she heard about the opportunity to attend the Summit, and heard about the world-class line-up of speakers, perhaps even nudged by the Holy Spirit a bit, she knew she had to be here.  This was no small commitment to take on, as there were numerous obstacles standing in her way.

The Leadership Summit at GCC during one of the worship sets before a session

For starters, Grace set up registration on-line.  Lucy doesn’t own a computer in her modest apartment .  A quick stop by our kiosk in Towne Square and arrangements were made to overcome this obstacle.  Then there was the request to take off days at work.  She was early enough with her request to her employer, so two days off was granted.  Then there were the arrangements that needed to be made for her mother.  Someone else would have to check in on her while she was away at the conference.  Once these arrangements were settled, there was still the registration fee.  $75 dollars may not be a lot of money to many in our county, but it would require some diligent saving on Lucy’s part for the Summit.

In my opinion, Lucy was not disappointed in this year’s Summit.  Whether it was Wes Stafford’s radical honesty and testimony of God healing some of the deepest abuses and personal tragedy for His glory, or it was Harvey Carey inspiring us all to take radical steps of faith, or Tim Keller challenging us to consider the radical extravagance of the Prodigal God and the risks of being really good and missing Him, this years Summit was a God-inspiring event.

I still need to call and find out what the best part of the Summit was for Lucy and find out it all her effort was truly worth it.  I think it was.  I hope and pray God met her here these two days for all the effort she put into being here.

For those who did not attend this year, make plans to join us on August 5 and 6 of 2010.  God seems to show up and speak every year.  For those who attended, what was your favorite part?

So you have been invited to the Leadership Summit by Dave in a previous post, you have been introduced to the speakers, you have read some of my top memorable talks, and of course there is Bono…now let me give you one last bit of perspective and show you where to register for the event.

The 2009 Leadership Summit, August 6 and 7.

1 Event

140 Cities in North America

75,000 people

Many, many more cities worldwide (Check it out here)

Here at Grace we expect:

600 people

Over 80 churches and organizations

This is one amazing event.  It is worth the time, effort, registaration fee, energy, vacation day at work…whatever it may be that stands in the way of you coming.

If you attend Grace, you can REGISTER HERE.

If you do not attend Grace, you can REGISTER HERE.

The faculty of speakers at the Leadership Summit is truly world class.  They get experts in their respective fields.  Probably the biggest name, and most recently added, for the faculty this year is Tony Blair.  Mr. Blair was the Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from1997 to 2007.

Here is a link.  Check out the video introduction of Tony, and also explore all the other speakers.

http://www.willowcreek.com/events/leadership/2009/tony-blair.asp

Tony Blair

I have been attending the Leadership Summit since we began to host the event in 2002.  This will be my 8^th Summit…and every year there is at least one memorable moment.  At least one moment that makes the entire two days worth it.  Sometimes it is in a conversation during one of the breaks, sometimes it is in the drama or in the worship, often it is through God using one of the messages from one of the speakers.  What I have learned over the years is that…If you come…I promise…God will Speak.  He just does.

So I decided to quickly write down my top Summit memories.  I think when I really learn something, it sticks in my head and heart…so without consulting notes…simply off the top of my head…here are the Top 8 Summit Memorable Talks.

8. Bill Hybels – Holy Discontent.  Bill talked about that one thing, that passion, that burden, that you just can’t let go.  That discontent in your heart.  He has a book published by the same name that was a good read…but I will not forget how catchy “Holy Discontent” is and how is caused my heart to ask, what is mine?

7. John Ortberg – “Shadow Mission” John is a pastor in California, and he gave an inspiring message from Esther and challenged us to think about what our shadow mission is…that temptation that is 10 degrees off the center of what we are really supposed to be about, but is NOT our mission.  It is that thing that sounds good, looks good, maybe feels good, but takes us off center from what we are called to be.  It spurred amazing conversations among my community.

6. Wayne Cordiero – The principle of the fulcrum.  Wayne’s talk was titled Dead Leader Running where he shared how he ended up completely burning out in ministry.  He shared tons of wisdom on how to live a life that is sustainable, but I remember the principle of the fulcrum most distinctly…the idea that ministry ebbs and flows and we can shift our time towards various aspects of life depending on how the Spirit is moving.

5. Andy Stanley – The Best Leadership Decision Ever Made. When a leader of Andy’s caliber steps up to share a talk with a title like this, he gets everyone’s attention.  And for half the talk, he built that tension until he revealed the answer as the decision to cheat the church.  This talk spurred quite the conversation at the next staff meeting!

4. Richard Curtis. Richard Curtis is a filmmaker.  I am not convinced he is a man of faith, but his work in the area of poverty and justice is nearly unmatched.  What stands out from this talk is an image…Richard has started capturing the images of poverty without commentary.  So he showed a clip of a young girl on the streets of India…the girl was maybe 3 years old, dirty yellow dress…making her bed on the street.  She gently laid out a blanket on the cold concrete in front of some store front, laid down, and pulled another blanket over her.  The clip was maybe a minute and a half or two minutes…but the image still haunts me to this day.  If you saw it, you know what I am talking about.

They say a picture is worth 1000 words…not sure what a video is worth…but I can’t forget this image.

3. Jack Groppel – Manage Energy, Not Time. Jack was not only hilarious, but revolutionized how I think about my physical life and how I manage myself.  Combined with Henry Cloud who was part B of this talk, it is the best talk I have heard on self-care and the change process.

2. Erwin McManus – The Barbarian Way.  Erwin actually gave two messages on year because another speaker was ill.  Both messages were outstanding, but the Barbarian way (also later turned into a book) served as a prophetic call to believer God for great things and to act on my faith in ways that were brave, not safe.

1. Bono.  I spoke about Bono a bit in yesterday’s post and look forward to hearing him again.  Bono has a powerful voice for the least of these in this world.  His last message was challenging and inspiring and I can’t wait to hear him again.

I wonder what God will do this year?  If you have a favorite memory, please share it in the comments.

For those of you who were at the Leadership Summit in 2006, you may remember the rock star Bono from the band U2 literally knocking our socks off with his call to the church to get involved with issues of poverty and aids.  It was a deeply impactful message to all of us who heard it.

Well, Bono is back!  Watch as Bill Hybels and Jim Mellado talk about Bono and the final session that is planned for the Leadership Summit this year.

This week we are going to post different videos and stories related to the Leadership Summit we are hosting on August 6 and 7.  We thought we would kick off the week with some highlights from last years Leadership Summit and a personal invitation from Dave Rod.  It is good to see Dave as he is in the middle of his sabbitical.  We miss you Dave and look forward to your return!!

Dave Invitation to the Leadership Summit from Aaron Elliott on Vimeo.