Features of the Leadership Institute
1) 92% of time is spent working hands-on in a selected area of ministry where the practical applications will take place. These are real projects in real ministries that impact the lives of real people.
2) A customized experience to maximize participant's learning and vocational goals.
3) Each resident is professionally supported by 8 CCV staff. These layers of coaching and mentorship ensure success in all aspects of ministry and spiritual development.
4) Train at the second largest Independent Christian church (8th Largest Church) in the country.
5) Learn from a multi-site model and range of campus sizes (18,000 – 1,200). Residents experience two CCV sites, split between two semesters
6) Enjoy weekly access to top leaders in the church. Upon successful completion and placement in ministry, CCV will be a constant resource to tap into.
7) Travel to the Holy Lands and study the Life of Christ.
8) Make lifelong connections with current and past CCV Residents. Be part of a tightknit peer community.
What Has Justin Accomplished During
The Leadership Institute?
Events and Project Mangement
Justin helped plan an outreach event for the neighborhood group he was involved in at CCV. They decided as a group to assist an elderly woman by painting the exterior of her house. It was his responsibility to create a budget, purchase supplies, and coordinate all materials and volunteers. From this project Justin learned from the experience of formulating and sticking to a budget, working with companies to get materials donated to a project, and coordinating a large group of volunteers.
As well as the project with his neighborhood group, during the Spring semester Justin assisted in coordinating CCV's First Saturday event for Junior High. This involved coordinating supplies across six campuses and multiple departments. This also included pricing and ordering materials, as well as building key elements for the event.
Leadership 600
Justin has spent much of his time at CCV investigating and learning about the leadership skills and experiences of others, not just the practices of CCV. Over the ten month period of the program Justin has been able to meet with and learn from influential pastor's from across the country, some of these pastors included: Bob Russel from Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY, Shawn Williams from Central Christian Church in Las Vegas, NV, Tim Liston from New Hope Church in Houston, TX, Barry Cameron from Crossroads Christian Church in Grand Praerie, TX, and many more.
Along with these interviews and meetings, Justin also created a list of over 30 leadership books that were reccomended to him by pastors and church leaders. He also read at least 3 leadership books a month and also created a list of areas he could improve his leadership and gained input from his coaches on practical ways to accomplish these improvements.
Leadership 500
Justin spent a large part of his residency learning about the leadership practices of CCV that have led to it's success. This included jornaling his interactions with Dr. Don Wilson and commenting on his observations and experiences. He also documented his experiences in monthly "All Staff" meetings, commenting on and critiquing the way that important details, training, goals, and encouragment was passed down from the Executive Team, to the staff as a whole.
On a smaller scale, Justin repeated the same process that he used with "All Staff" meetings in the department meetings that he attended. Commenting on similar concepts but also observing lateral communication and leadership among staff who were peers of each other, rather than employees.
First Impressions
Over the course of his residency, Justin has been able to observe and critique how CCV made key first impressions, and lasting impressions, with guests across different campuses. He spent time researching over 30 church websites across the country and critiqueing the look and feel of the sites, as well as the quality of information; learning that most first-time guests will visit a church's website 12 times before deciding to attend.
One of Justin's take-aways from these projects was understanding how important it is to create a comfortable and inviting environment for first time guests whether online or in person. One of the best ways to do this at a campus is by making sure guests are greeted, smiled to, and have hands shaken multiple times before stepping into the main auditorium.