OUTSPOKEN - A little to share. Much to learn.

 About a week ago I learned of an incredibly exciting new resource being launched by Tim Schraeder,the Director of Communications at Park Community Church in downtown Chicago.  Tim, in partnership with the Center for Church Communications will be releasing OUTSPOKEN: Conversations on Church Communications.  Tim shares,

“OUTSPOKEN will be a collection of short essays by each contributor focusing on various areas that encompass church communications. It will offer practical ideas and insights from some of the people who are shaping and changing the way churches communicate. Some faces are familiar, some are new, but they all represent a unique mix of churches and backgrounds that will inspire and challenge you to change the way you do communications.”

Contributors include church communication leaders I know, have met or follow:

• Kem Meyer – Granger Community Church

• Dawn Nicole Baldwin – AspireOn
• Michael Buckingham – Holy Cow! Creative

• Shawn Wood – Seacoast Church
• Leonard Sweet – best-selling author, professor at Drew University
• Tony Morgan – TonyMorganLive.com

• Jon Acuff – Stuff Christians Like

• Will Mancini – auxano, author of Church Unique
• Kerry Bural – The Resonate Group

The growing list is full of many more names unfamiliar to me and I’m excited to learn from them all.  I’m also excited to now be included as one of the voices in the conversation.  The announcement of OUTSPOKEN helped me realize something…while I’m thrilled with the good work our Fishhook team is doing, and I’m amazed every day that God lets us work at a deep, strategic level with church leaders to help them communicate more clearly, I’m a bit isolated from the broader church communicators' community. OK - full transparency - I wasn’t on the first OUTSPOKEN train to leave the station and I was bummed.  My desire to help churches have greater impact collided head-on with my middle-school hope to part of the "in" crowd.  Swallowing my pride, I raised my hand and said, "I'll help." With an email nudge an invitation was extended and I’m thrilled to now be another of the less-familiar names who will share.

My submission will be 400 words or less and I pray God reveals just what He wants me to share.  I hope that somewhere, someday, someone is spurred onto greater impact because of what they read from me and all the others speaking out in OUTSPOKEN.  

Thanks Kem.  Thanks Tim.