All the InterVarsity Greek Staff
I like going to conferences and being around people, especially when they are helpful. But lets be honest, we have all been to bad meetings, conferences and retreats.
A couple of weeks ago I went to Greek Staff Conference (where all the InterVarsity staff that work with fraternity & sorority students gather) and it reminded me how much I love these meetings.
So it made me think, as an apostolic evangelist, why do I love them so much?
1) Big Vision
I love vision as an apostolic leader. It inspires me and if I am going to commit my life to something, or at least five years of it, I want to be inspired when I am around the people and especially by the leader. Brian Mann, our national director, laid out a ten-year vision the first night that made me and others say to ourselves, “man, I want to see this happen.” It was inspiring, clear and passionate
2) Teams
One of the best things about Greek Staff Con is that every year we get put into teams, and we compete all week long around a theme. This year the theme was Secret Agents, centered on James Bond, and we competed in silly competitions all week. There is even one competition that involves the pool! It is a blast and it brings another dimension of the people you work with out. Furthermore it brings you closer to people you would never get to know as you are on a team and talking together all week!
3) Clear Focus
Because we are all Greek Staff, the focus of the week is clear. No one at the conference is wondering, “why am I here?” or “why does this matter?” The focus is clear and it makes it really easy to be there and fully engage. We know the goals, we know the point and we are happy to be there and make the sacrifice of a weeklong conference.
4) Lots of Space
We never pack out the schedule. Contrary to many InterVarsity conferences, we have a lot of space. We start at 9am, take a break for three hours at 12:30, have a lengthy dinner and then are done at 9pm. There are not many side meetings so we hang out. A LOT. We hang at the pool, in each other’s rooms, and talk and play games and have a ton of fun. We also spend the time networking across the nation and sharing vision and ideas on how to plant better, build better and understand each other’s context. Some of these things can only happen in open space and it cannot be planned. This is really important for a great conference that you walk away feeling closer to the people you work with not because you advanced the vision, but because you like them!
5) Holistic Focus
The conference is really balanced with great training on Greek Specific work and caring for the person and their relationship with God. The first hour of the morning is totally committed to helping us grow closer to Jesus and are called “soul care” times. The rest of the day is training but often it is tied to what we talked about in the morning. I always feel like I learned some new skills but also reflected on my life with God too. How often have we gone to conferences that really trained us or motivated us but felt like business meetings? Or the contrary where we talked about God a lot but at the end, you are asking yourself, “what are w doing and what is our purpose?” this conference has a great mix of both.
6) Awards
Nick (r) winning an award for “chapter planting” this year.
On the last night of the conference we have a really nice banquet, dress up, and celebrate the ministry and people by handing out awards. We have really nice Greek Paddles made (its a Greek thing) that say the award name and Greek InterVarsity on it. It is a great time because we really bring attention to the bright spots in the ministry and make it a big deal to celebrate what is going well. We have awards for production/fruit in ministry and for character. Every award has 3-4 nominations and the presenter says really nice things about the 3-4 people and then announces the winner for the year to a bunch of applause. It is really inspiring, brings attention to people that you may not know or hear about and highlights what God has done in our midst. These awards inspire you to be great because you see what kind of great things are happening. I appreciate that Greek IV doesn’t take the stance that “everybody has to win, or get a trophy” and we can celebrate what really is going well unashamedly.
7) Fun Place
We don’t have our meetings in Indiana. No offense to my friends who live there, but half the excitement is about Orlando and meeting there. It is warm and a great place to bring your family with all the great stuff around the area to do. My kid went to Gator Land multiple times! Some of the staff come early and tack on a few days of vacation. But even if you don’t do that, just the fact that after the meetings are done you can hit the hot tub, or grab some sun in the after noon, or play tennis early in the morning is a total plus. The location is cheap, it’s a hit, and we totally love being in Orlando!
Every year I leave Greek Staff Conference missing the people, excited about our vision and ready to get to work on campus. That is a great mix of feelings and as I start to lead more meetings and conferences I want mine to feel this way too.
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