1. You pastor Connexus Church in Canada, but are also active with Orange, North Point and maintain a very active blog. What steps do you take to manage your time and avoid burnout?

Yes, I juggle a lot of things, but I have a fairly clear sense of how much time each requires and how much I’m willing to give it. Obviously, Connexus is my first priority and gets the lion’s share of my week. The blog is a hobby for me and it fits nicely into the first hour or two a day, three days a week. At the stage of life I’m in, I also have some free time and will use a day off to help serve other church leaders. I also have an incredible assistant who helps me manage things and as much I’d like to say yes, together we end up saying no about 80% of the time.

2. It seems like you are always speaking or posting about leadership in the church. What leaders have influenced you the most in your journey as a Pastor and why?

Biblically speaking, my heroes are (obviously Jesus, but also) Moses, Joseph, David, and the Apostle Paul. I look to them again and again as people who were able to accomplish things in their generation. I find John Calvin’s life very inspiring. These days I’m influenced by leaders like Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, Perry Noble, Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, Steven Furtick and Craig Groeschel, and I have a lot of friends who continue to inspire me.

3. What current trends are you seeing in the modern day Church that get you the most excited about where the Church is headed?

I see churches taking leadership seriously and leadership leads to influence. I think as churches become more influential in their community our potential to reach unchurched people is soaring. I’m also fascinated by the thought of what online ministry could look like 3 or 4 years from now.

4. You are starting your first permanent facility as an adaptive reuse project. What advantages do you see in adaptive reuse vs. a ground-up new build?

An adaptive reuse facility is a fraction of the cost for us than building from scratch. Being able to carry a smaller debt load into the future frees up more resources immediately and for long-term ministry. We still get to design almost from scratch and will have a phenomenal facility as a result of the project.

5. Being in the middle of a building project, I’m sure you have learned a lot about the process. How would you advise a church staff to prepare themselves for a building project?

To me it’s all about the people you have around the table. I think it starts with a great architect, a great project manager, the right engineers/consultants and people who have experience building the kind of ministry you envision. The details of a building campaign are far too great for most pastors or church staff, so for me my confidence rises in just having the best people I can find around our leadership table. That helps me sleep at night and continue to focus on ministry and vision while we build.