I want to talk about the importance of knowing your history.

A few months ago, we were in Orlando, Florida for an Advanced Coaching session (as many of you know, Advanced Coaching is my highest level of coaching).  We met up that morning for a backstage tour at Disney World with a couple of instructors from Disney University.

I asked them, “Tell us about your employee orientation.” They said, “Well, we just added a new element that you might find interesting. We added an element of history of Disney to the employee orientation.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, look at the faces of all these folks. They’re all so young. Most of them don’t even realize that Walt was a real person.”

I was struck by that. That Disney finds the importance of history to be so important that they make it part of their employee orientation. I took that back to our staff. A month later, I was doing a Journey staff meeting, and I looked around the table at our Journey staff.

Some of them had been there for six years, seven years. Some of them had been there for six or seven months, but very few had been there from the beginning.

I began to tell them stories about the early beginning of our church. They just ate it up. People were so enthralled by that, that we’ve added an element to our new employee orientation, where we literally take new employees on a tour around Manhattan, showing them the various places that we met, and telling them the great stories of what God has done in our church.

I really began to see the value of not just 2000 years of history, or 4000 years of church history, but even of six years, or 12 years, or 20 years! When I say church history, I’m talking about needing to know about the life of Moses. That’s important to read that kind of history.

I’m talking about reading history, and literally becoming an expert on that period of time from 1 AD, up to about 40, or 70, or 80 AD. That critical first century of the early church, all of us should be experts on that.

You should also apply this to your church. What’s the history of your church? If your church is 100 years old, it’s worth knowing that history. How was it started? How was it founded? What were the ups and downs throughout that history?

Then, what has God done in more recent times in your church? What is God doing in the world? More recently, I’ve been reminded of that.

That’s why I am excited to present a new Tele-Seminar series on Church Growth Champions (see the P.S. for details on upcoming interviews).

You need to know the history behind key principles and practices of church growth so that you can avoid mistakes in your own church growth strategy by learning from these church growth pioneers!

You will hear first-hand about their stories, examples, insights and perspectives – all of which have made huge contributions in growing the Kingdom.

Don’t miss this one-time opportunity to hear personal stories about these legends. You are in for quite a treat in hearing these personal interviews with me and these champions of church growth!

You’ll be able to attend all 4 Conference Calls LIVE and receive the complete recordings if you’re unable to make it (no need to worry if you can’t attend each one live). A $396.00 value – get all 4 for only $27!

PLUS you will receive TWO FREE MONTHS in my Renegade Pastors Network – an additional $1,011.20 value – yours FREE! I want to not only teach you about church growth in these Conference Calls, but continue to coach you in church growth and church health through this powerful network of growth-oriented pastors.

And remember, these are Conference Calls so all you need is a telephone to participate! (note: long distance rates may apply)

Click here to sign up.  Series starts TODAY at 2pm ET! 

Your partner in ministry,

Nelson

P.S. Upcoming interviews include:

Dr. Elmer Towns –  TODAY – Thursday, September 12 at 2 p.m. ET

Dr. Charles “Chip” Arn on Win Arn – Thursday, September 19 at 2 p.m. ET

Dr. C. Peter Wagner – Thursday, September 26 at 2 p.m. ET

Dr. Gary McIntosh on Donald McGavran – Thursday, October 3 at 2 p.m. ET

I hope that you will be on the call!  Even if you can’t make it, you’ll receive the recordings of all four tele-seminars.

Click here to register today! (Limited spots available!)

© Nelson Searcy. All Rights Reserved.

About Nelson Searcy

Nelson Searcy is an experienced church growth strategist, pastor, church planter and coach, consulting with churches around the world. As founder of Church Leader Insights and the Renegade Pastors Network, he has personally trained more than 3,500 church leaders in over 45 denominations through live events, seminars and monthly coaching. Nelson is also the Founding and Lead Pastor of The Journey Church, with locations across New York City and in Boca Raton, FL. Nelson and his church routinely appear on lists such as “The 50 Most Influential Churches” and “The 25 Most Innovative Leaders.” He is the author of over 100 church growth resources and 18+ books, including The Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Life, Ministry and The Difference Maker: Using Your Everyday Life for Eternal Impact, and At the Cross with the People Who Were There. He and his wife, Kelley, have one son, Alexander.