The new website is up and running. I have quite a bit of work to do on it still, but for now you can reach the Teamnet Ministries page by going to www.akrana.com and clicking on the Teamnet Ministries tab at the top of the page. While you are there, you might want to take a look at some of the other pages i.e. Akrana Music.
I'm really pleased with the progress at this point. Hope to see the site develop as time goes on.
Showing posts with label Teamnet Ministries. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Teamnet Ministries. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
New Website Coming
I'm working on some new things for the Teamnet Ministries website. Lot's to learn yet, but eventually I'm sure it will all get put together.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Natural Church Development (NCD)
A few years ago at Canyonville Church we began using the NCD tools to measure our overall church health. It was after the initial survey results that we decided to begin using Teamnet Ministries for the organizational system for the congregation. The results have been evident as follow-up surveys have indicated from year-to-year. In the 3+ years we have been using Teamnet Ministries, our composite percentile score has moved from 37.125 to 54.375. I'll post individual scores for the eight elements later, but I am really happy about these results. It is quite obvious that Canyonville is making great progress in the right direction.
If you would like more information about NCD, click on this link: http://www.ncd-international.org/
If you would like more information about NCD, click on this link: http://www.ncd-international.org/
Thursday, January 10, 2008
The Flat Church Society
There is a great article on the December 27, 2007 issue of the Adventist Review by Richard Osborn, President of Pacific Union College. "Is the Church Flat?" In this piece Dr. Osborn cites a best-selling book The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century
by Thomas Friedman, in which Friedman shows how recent developments in the world of technology have "flattened" the world as we know it, making instant communication possible with just about anyone at any time, and Internet access to information available to anyone anywhere with a computer connection.
What struck me about Osborn's article is the inevitable and obvious "flattening" of effective church organizational relationships. As society moves ever more towards empowering every common man and woman with vast resources of information available at their fingertips, the church also must move away from the heirarchical, top-down command and control structure to structures that foster effective communication and ministry in every dusty corner. Teamnet Ministries is an attempt to move in that direction. It is not without problems, but the fundamental principles are sound. Teamnet Ministries (or something like it) is the future of effective church life.
by Thomas Friedman, in which Friedman shows how recent developments in the world of technology have "flattened" the world as we know it, making instant communication possible with just about anyone at any time, and Internet access to information available to anyone anywhere with a computer connection.What struck me about Osborn's article is the inevitable and obvious "flattening" of effective church organizational relationships. As society moves ever more towards empowering every common man and woman with vast resources of information available at their fingertips, the church also must move away from the heirarchical, top-down command and control structure to structures that foster effective communication and ministry in every dusty corner. Teamnet Ministries is an attempt to move in that direction. It is not without problems, but the fundamental principles are sound. Teamnet Ministries (or something like it) is the future of effective church life.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Leadership Coaching
A book I recently finished reading -- Leadership Coaching: The Disciplines, Skills and Heart of a Christian Coach, by Tony Stoltzful -- has to be one of the best I've read in a long time. Teamnet Ministries lives or dies with leadership -- but not just any kind or style of leadership. Teamnet Ministries is about empowering leadership, in which leaders are focused on guiding their people into success through the A-R-K (Authority, Resources, Knowledge) of empowerment. The new discipline of coaching is tailor-made as a model for leadership and leader development in the Teamnet Ministries system. For more about Tony Stoltzful and Transformational Coaching you can visit http://www.coach22.com/ or http://www.transformationalcoaching.com/. The book is also available at http://www.amazon.com/. Kewords: Leadership Coaching.
I'll be talking more about the coaching model in future posts. I'd welcome your thoughts.
I'll be talking more about the coaching model in future posts. I'd welcome your thoughts.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Eleven Months!!
Ok, so it's been eleven months since I posted anything here! I've probably long since lost two-thirds of the three readers I had back then (myself plus two family members!) but my guess is that I can pick them back up without too much trouble. Dare I fantasize that someone else might actually still have the Teamnet Ministries blog on an RSS feed? If that's you, and you are reading this, blessings on you! May your tribe increase!
Now, there are some things I really want to share with you that I've experienced during these intervening months, some to do with Teamnet Ministries directly, and some things about organization health, leadership, coaching, and the like. I do want to do that in a separate post, however. So, watch for some more feeds from Teamnet Ministries blog coming soon. And, as always, your comments are coveted.
Loren
Now, there are some things I really want to share with you that I've experienced during these intervening months, some to do with Teamnet Ministries directly, and some things about organization health, leadership, coaching, and the like. I do want to do that in a separate post, however. So, watch for some more feeds from Teamnet Ministries blog coming soon. And, as always, your comments are coveted.
Loren
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Networking Teams
I first discovered the idea of networking teams while on a long train journey from Portland, Oregon to Cincinnati, Ohio during Christmas week, 1994. To pass the time I bought a book I thought looked interesting. The contents of that book revolutionized my understanding of effective organizations in today's world. The core concepts formed the structure on which we would eventually develop Teamnet Ministries. The book was The Age of the Network: Organizing Principles for the 21st Century by Jessica Lipnack and Jeffrey Stamps, Oliver Wight Publications, Inc., 1994.
In The Age of the Network, Lipnack and Stamps proposed a new type of organization, what they called a "teamnet." The idea is that while teams are the best way to get anything done, a network of teams working together creates a nearly unstopable force. They coined the term "teamnet" to capsulize their idea.
As I read the book, I got more and more excited. I could see a church organized around this principle, coupled with the biblical doctrine of spiritual gifts, and administered by visionary leaders rather than status quo managers. Old-fashioned committees that normally talk more than act could be replaced by lean, focused teams composed of dedicated, passionate church members driven Holy Spirit inspiration. At the next Nominating Committee season in the church I was then pastoring (Hamlet, Ohio) I presented some of the ideas that had been rattling around in my mind since reading Lipnack and Stamps' book. One thing led to another, and eventually the intial organizational structure of Teamnet Ministries began to take shape. In time, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the project, which I defended in 1998, and graduated in June of that year from Andrews University with my D.Min. degree.
Since then, five churches that I have pastored have decided to try the Teamnet Ministries experiment, with varying degrees of success. Some have continued, while others have gone back to a more traditional method of filling church offices. Teamnet Ministries continues to be a work in progress as needed refinements are recognized and corrections are made.
This blog is open for input from people who have experienced working with Teamnet Ministries, for those who want to learn about it, and for those who believe in the potential of a church organized as a network of ministry teams working together for the purpose of God in the earth. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
In The Age of the Network, Lipnack and Stamps proposed a new type of organization, what they called a "teamnet." The idea is that while teams are the best way to get anything done, a network of teams working together creates a nearly unstopable force. They coined the term "teamnet" to capsulize their idea.
As I read the book, I got more and more excited. I could see a church organized around this principle, coupled with the biblical doctrine of spiritual gifts, and administered by visionary leaders rather than status quo managers. Old-fashioned committees that normally talk more than act could be replaced by lean, focused teams composed of dedicated, passionate church members driven Holy Spirit inspiration. At the next Nominating Committee season in the church I was then pastoring (Hamlet, Ohio) I presented some of the ideas that had been rattling around in my mind since reading Lipnack and Stamps' book. One thing led to another, and eventually the intial organizational structure of Teamnet Ministries began to take shape. In time, I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the project, which I defended in 1998, and graduated in June of that year from Andrews University with my D.Min. degree.
Since then, five churches that I have pastored have decided to try the Teamnet Ministries experiment, with varying degrees of success. Some have continued, while others have gone back to a more traditional method of filling church offices. Teamnet Ministries continues to be a work in progress as needed refinements are recognized and corrections are made.
This blog is open for input from people who have experienced working with Teamnet Ministries, for those who want to learn about it, and for those who believe in the potential of a church organized as a network of ministry teams working together for the purpose of God in the earth. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
A New Beginning
Ok. Here we go again. I tried to get a Teamnet Ministries blog going a while back and got discouraged with it. Now I've got inspired to give it a try again. I would welcome suggestions for future posts dealing with any aspect of Teamnet Ministries. I'd also be glad to get your emails with questions, frustrations, success stories, or whatever. Let's see if we can develop an online community for mutual support, encouragement, and active promotion of Teamnet Ministries. Anyone care to join me? Let me hear from you! God bless.
If you are reading this and wondering what Teamnet Ministries is about, you may find the material at www.teamnetministries.com helpful. After you have browsed around there for a bit, I'd be pleased to hear from you. You can email me at loren@akrana.com.
If you are reading this and wondering what Teamnet Ministries is about, you may find the material at www.teamnetministries.com helpful. After you have browsed around there for a bit, I'd be pleased to hear from you. You can email me at loren@akrana.com.
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