Global Leadership Summit 2008

I’ve just spent the last two days (Friday and Saturday) at the Durham Global Leadership Summit. The GLS is the ‘videocast’ version of the Leadership Summit, an event hosted by Willow Creek Church in Chicago each August. Thousands of church leaders gather for two days of talks and interviews with big-name speakers, church leaders, authors, politicians and business people. The conference is recorded and taken to locations around the world as the ‘Global Leadership Summit’. I went, for the second year, to the ‘Durham’ GLS, hosted by Bethany Christian Centre in Houghton le Spring.

The GLS is a fantastic event and I thoroughly recommend it. Both years I’ve been I’ve come away energised, inspired and encouraged – intellectually, ‘professionally’ and spiritually. Some of it will stay with me for a long time to come and will genuinely impact my life with God.

Particularly challenging and memorable have been some of the interviews with secular leaders who are making an impact in the world. Last year an interview with Richard Curtis challenged leaders to take global poverty seriously; this year Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America (the forerunner of our own ‘Teach First’ programme in the UK) explained why she finds it easy asking people to sacrifice for a cause she believes in utterly.

Highlights of this year’s summit were many. I’m going to blog in more detail about some of the talks but here’s a summary of some of the things that caught my attention:

• Gary Haugen, President of International Justice Mission (“a human rights agency that secures justice for victims of slavery, sexual exploitation and other forms of violent oppression“) talked about leading in the things that matter to God and how we lead when the task seems hopeless, scary and difficult. Read my notes.
• John Burke of Gateway Church in Austin, Texas, challenged us on our willingness to get our hands dirty in engaging with the culture around us, and removing barriers to grace without compromising truth. 
• Craig Groschel of LifeChurch.tv encouraged us to take risks and not be afraid to fail, to see limitations as opportunities and to fall in love with Jesus again. Read my notes
• Catherine Rohr, founder of the Prison Entrepreneurship Programme in Texas completely won everyone over, receiving a standing ovation for her feisty interview, and encouraging us to say ‘bring it on!’ to God. (Read a summary of her interview)
• Finally, at the end of the summit Bill Hybels did what he does best, and knocked our legs out from under us with a profile of Mother Teresa. It was what I call a ‘grown men weeping’ kind of session. Every now and again you hear a talk (or read something in the Bible) and it’s as if you can tangibly feel the sword of the Spirit being stabbed right into you! I actually come away from those kind of sessions feeling kind of bruised in my heart and tender, like someone’s just thumped me right in the chest. But oh, it’s so GOOD.

I’ll write more soon…