today kind of leaders
Today at staff meeting one of the sharpest young men in the area addressed our staff. Michael Lukaszewski, Lead Pastor of Oakleaf Church in Cartersville, GA spoke on team leadership. Michael interned with WRC about 4 years ago, went out to start Oakleaf and until last weekend was holding (and preaching) at 4 services on Sunday Morning at a local movie theater between the hours of 9 a.m. and Noon. Think about that preaching 4 times in 3 hours. The guy is a machine. He is also an excellent leader. The church in a little over 2.5 years has over 1200 attenders! Oakleaf recently purchased an old bar in town and remodeled it. Oakleaf Church now meets in the House of Rock, what was once a den of iniquity is now just a den. 
If you run across this blog and live in Cartersville, GA or surrounding check out Oakleaf.
Michael talked about effective teams and I can’t write the entire talk down but this hit me:
· Low level effectiveness of your team can cause you to do really stupid things
· High level effectiveness of your team can cause you to do really superior things.
Surround yourself with Highly Effective People, you’ll be amazed at what God will do.
My second meeting of the day was with Anthony Murray. A young African American pastor at Oasis Church in Dallas, GA. I wish I could claim Oasis as one of WRC’s church plants but he was just a sharp guy that started on his own. Athony started with 12 people 3 years ago and now has 1200 in attendance. His church is by itself reaching 1% of the African American population of our county! On top of that he bought the most unlikely of buildings (something as a consultant I would have warned against) and has made it work. The building was an old steel fabricating business near a railroad, out of the way. All the mistakes the experts tell you not to do, but he’s done it and made it work.
Our conversation led us to talk about the Kingdom. Anthony told me he has been a little leery of white pastors because some have mistreated him in the past. So he has been slow to come around but we are going to partner. I have asked him to address the topic of leadership at our next church planting class in June.
If you happen to read this and you run a big church planting conference and you received some criticism for not having an African American speaker and you said it was because you didn’t have an example of a church planter, let me recommend Anthony. You will not be disappointed. And he has even bigger dreams. He believes God is going to bring 10,000 people to his church. that would be almost 100% of the African Americans in the county. (btw Oasis does have people of other races)
Love young leaders. I have the privilege of knowing a few. The future church is in good hands with men like Michael and Anthony to lead it. (and he even paid for lunch)
