Dear Lecture Series Coordinator:

It is with great anticipation that I look forward to my visit to your ministry. I pray that God will use our team effort to expose thousands of people to the gospel! My hope is that many will come to know Christ and eventually become strong disciples as a result of these evangelistic meetings.

In John 4:38, Jesus told His disciples, "Others have labored and you have entered into their labor." That's how I feel: I will be entering into your labor. I want to be a servant to you, to help you accomplish your personal and ministry objectives, to help you grow in your faith.

Your responsibility is an important one – to give leadership to the entire Lecture Series. The Series has the potential of seeing many people come to know Christ and of raising up many disciples. The fruitfulness of this venture will be largely proportional to the quality of the direction and influence you give.

This material has been carefully prepared to help your ministry gain the most from my visit. It includes ideas that have worked well at other locations. As you plan and prepare, please read and follow these guidelines carefully. (Please read through the whole manual before beginning to plan or take action.) If you have additional ideas that will help maximize the impact of this outreach, please feel free to incorporate them.

I am thankful to God for you! Be confident of my love and prayers for you as we labor together in the Lord's harvest. To God be the glory!

Because He lives,


Rusty Wright
Chapter I

Lecture Series Coordinator


A. Motivation: Benefits of Using these Guidelines

    1. You will help in reaching many people for Christ and in building multiplying
        disciplers to reach the world.

    2. You will be able to give leadership to all phases of the lecture series and will receive
        valuable experience for future responsibilities.

    3. You will see growth in the lives of those who participate (including yourself!).

    4. You will help establish a positive public image for the Christian movement in your area.

    5. You will help to fulfill the Great Commission

B. Overview of Your Materials and Responsibilities

    1. The next several pages contain three main items that are designed to help you accomplish
        your objectives. (Remember: This is your Lecture Series.)

        a. Responsibility description that highlights the main aspects of your job.

        b. An organizational chart to show lines of communication between the believers working on
            the project.

        c. Helpful guidelines with specific details and ideas for doing the best job possible.

        These items contain ideas that have been used with success around the globe. Many have
        come from the ministries of Josh McDowell, Andre' Kole and the Paragon Experience, as well
        as from Rusty's own speaking ministry. We hope they will help you to glorify our Lord though
         this outreach.

    2. Paul wrote, "Let all things be done properly and in an orderly manner" (I Corinthians 14:40).

        a. The Responsibility Description (RD) shows the purpose and scope of your job and lists
            your main responsibilities. It may seem somewhat cold and impersonal at first glance; but
            remember that its purpose is to briefly explain your job. Please understand that we
            (and, we hope, all involved in this ministry) love you and care for you as a person. We
            merely use this written material as a simple and accurate means of communication.

        Most of the RD is self-explanatory. One aspect that is sometimes new to some is the
        "Authority"  line under each item. This is a simple way of communicating how you should act
        on a given task.
       
             There are three main types of authority for our purposes:

            1) "Act" – This means you can act on the item without checking with your "supervisor" first.

            2) "Act and inform" – This means you can act without checking with your supervisor, but
                you should inform him/her of the action after you have done it.

            3) "Act after approval" – This means you should submit your plan of action to your supervisor
                and wait for his/her approval before acting on that item.

        b. The Organizational Chart shows how those involved relate to and communicate with each other.
            Most of your communication regarding the work of the lecture series should be with the person
            immediately above you or those immediately below you on the chart. This can help keep
            confusion to a minimum.

            1) The chart is not intended to convey positions of superiority or inferiority but simply working
                relationships. Everyone's job is significant. This is a team effort!

            2) Remember that the best leader is a servant. If ever anyone qualified to be the "man at the top"
                it was Jesus. Yet He turned the organizational chart upside down when He said, "Whoever
                wishes to become first among you shall be your servant; and whoever wishes to be first
                among you shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to
                serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:43-45).

        c. The Guidelines are intended to help you carry out your responsibilities You will want to use
            them to develop a strategy for your area of responsibility that is personalized to your ministry
            location. Go over your strategy with your supervisor to get his or her input and feedback.

        d. You probably will not be able to do your job without helpers. Consult your supervisor and
            the Lecture Series Personnel Coordinator for assistants. Once you have your helpers,
            consider them as teammates. Practice "Growth Delegation": Delegate responsibility not just to
            get the job done, but to help that person grow and develop in their job skills and their walk with
            God.

        e. Continue to emphasize "Relational Thinking" rather than "Terminal Thinking." Relational Thinking
            considers every activity in light of how it contributes to the overall objective. Terminal Thinking
            sees activities only as ends in themselves.

        f. Our overall objective is to glorify God by reaching people for Christ and building committed
            multiplying disciplers to help reach the world. If you can evaluate everything you do in light of your
            objectives, your motivation and effectiveness will most often increase. Your committee members
            need you to help remind them of this.

        g. Besides your encouragement, several items will help your team members see how they fit into the
            overall team. You should give them each:

            1) A copy of Rusty's letter, so they can see his heart-desire to be a co-laborer with them.

            2) A list of the benefits for their tasks.

            3) A copy of this "Overview of Your Material" (Section B).

            4) A written responsibility description.

            5) A copy of the organizational chart.

            6) A clear statement of your committee's objectives, their individual objectives and how both
                help accomplish the overall objective.

If copies of these are not provided for you, photocopy them. In some cases, you may need to write them yourself, which will be a good learning experience. It is best to assemble the material in some sort of binder cover before you give it to the committee member. This conveys your desire to be sharp and do a good job as well as your concern for them.

Special note on distributing sections of the manual: You may find it best simply to print out sections of the lecture series manual and distribute hard copies to the appropriate workers. Or you may wish to distribute the material in digital form, so each worker can read and use their material on a computer. (There are many sample letters and charts that workers can adapt to their needs, so having digital versions may make their jobs easier.)

    3. In order for you and your co-workers to be really motivated in your work, it is important to have a
        vision for how Rusty can be used on your campus. One of the best ways to do this is to circulate
        copies of his evangelistic articles among your volunteers. The Lecture Series Coordinator should have
        access to these. Take the initiative to get them and expose your committee members to them, perhaps
        at a committee meeting. Consider it your responsibility to "keep the vision before them."

    4. Be sure that individually and as a group, you bathe everything you do in prayer.
        A well-organized effort without constant dependence upon the Lord can have greatly diminished
        effectiveness.

    5. A priority for you and everyone involved in this project should be to continue to develop your
        personal relationship with God. Never let activity keep you from seeking the Lord often through
        prayer and Bible  study. Our desire is that this be a growing experience for you that you are built up
        (not burned out) through your involvement. Strive mightily to keep this perspective in your personal
        life and to impart it to those with whom you work.

Lecture Series Coordinator Responsibility Description

"Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." (Colossians 3:23-24)

"Serve the Lord with gladness." (Psalm 100:2)

    I. Purpose: To give leadership to the entire Lecture Series.

    II. Scope: The Lecture Series at your location

    III. Responsibilities:

        A. To determine Rusty's schedule while he is at your location.

            Authority: Act after approval.

        B. To direct and coordinate all operations involving the Lecture Series.

            Authority: Act and inform.

        C. To determine and raise the budget for the Lecture Series.

            Authority: Act and inform.

        D. To schedule classroom lectures for Rusty

            Authority: Act and inform.

        E. To manage personnel for the Lecture Series.

            Authority: Act.

        F. To secure accommodations and ground transportation for Rusty.

            Authority: Act.

        G. To submit to your supervisor upon completion a written report and evaluation of your job. Use the
                reports of your committee heads as guidelines.

            Authority: Act.

    IV. Working Relationships

        A. Report to local director.

        B. Reporting to you are the committee heads whom you recruit.
 

Organizational Chart and Lines of Communication

        C. Guidelines and Responsibilities

        As the Director of Operations, your primary responsibility is to select qualified people to coordinate
        the  major areas of prayer,     publicity, physical arrangements and follow-up. In addition, you must
        select personal  assistants to handle the areas of finance, classroom scheduling and personnel (see
        organizational chart). You must determine that all responsibilities are being carried out effectively and
        on schedule (see individual job descriptions for specific detail). Your direct responsibilities are as
        follows:

        1. Scheduling Rusty:

            a. Review "Utilizing Rusty on Your Campus or in Your Community" in the introduction.

            b. List ways of utilizing Rusty that best serve your ministry in reaching its goals.

            c. Formulate a schedule according to the following parameters:

                1) Do not schedule more than three meetings per day

                2) Generally, keep Rusty's daytime speaking between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m.

                3) Do not schedule a meeting before 9:00 a.m. without Rusty's personal approval.

                4) Do not schedule a meeting unless it definitely serves you in reaching your ministry objectives.

                5) Nighttime lectures should begin at the most convenient time for the audience. Try your best
                    not to schedule large “Classics” on the same nights or times as competing events, such as
                    sporting events, other popular lectures, Greek chapter meetings, etc. Check the university or
                    community calendar long in advance.

                6) For open-air meetings, lunchtime is usually best.

                7) For evening Classics and other large meetings, it is usually best not to schedule Rusty for
                    other events during the 3-4 hours before the evening meeting so that he can be properly
                    rested.

        2. Direct and Coordinate All Operations:

            You are ultimately responsible for all aspects of Rusty's ministry at your location. Consequently,
            you must select qualified volunteers to work with you.

            a. Read the entire manual by at least 13 weeks before the lecture series begins.

            b. Reserve necessary main meeting room(s) and/or lecture hall(s) at least 13 weeks before the
                lecture series  begins. Deciding on and obtaining the right room(s) for the main lectures is an
                extremely significant part of lecture series preparation. Do not put this off; rooms you want might
                not be available if you wait too long.

            c. Read the individual job descriptions and pray before selecting your four main coordinators
            (prayer, publicity, physical arrangements and follow-up). Your four main coordinators will be
            responsible for selecting their committee heads. Select your main coordinators with input from and
            approval of your director. Make sure they pray about their jobs before accepting and that they
            have enough time to perform their jobs effectively.

            d. Have these four people selected and invited to participate by at least 12 weeks before the
                lecture series begins and confirmed at least 10 weeks before Rusty arrives.

            e. Meet with each of the four main coordinators to orient them to their jobs. Give them the
                appropriate  responsibility description and material and review their responsibilities with them at
                least 10 weeks before the lecture series begins.

                1) You should have a thorough knowledge of what needs to be done in each major area.

                2) Note that this manual is divided into several "mini-manuals" so that each coordinator can have
                    a unit that is nearly complete in itself.

                    a) We wanted each worker to have as much of the written material he/she needs as possible,
                        to help save you much work in getting it to them. Thus, several items (organizational charts,
                        Section B on Overview, etc.) are repeated under many of the sections. This makes your
                        manual seem larger than it really is.

                    b) You can simply give digital or hard copies of the various sections to your coordinators and
                        they, in turn, can give the appropriate sections to their committee heads.

                3) Motivate the coordinators to select their committee heads promptly. Have the coordinators
                    enlist  prospective committee heads after receiving your approval (or that of the Lecture
                    Series Personnel Coordinator). All committee heads should be in place by the kickoff meeting
                    8 weeks before the lecture series.

                4) Determine a date to have each coordinator report back with a detailed strategy for their area
                    of  responsibility. Details should include when, where, how, who, what, how much, etc. You
                    will then be  able to formulate a master plan.

                5) The two-week period from 10 weeks to 8 weeks before the lecture series is very important
                    for the four main coordinators. Their focus should be on recruiting committee heads and
                    planning their strategy. Make these two points very clear to these four coordinators and keep
                    in close communication with them during this time.

    f. Working with your coordinators, determine a master strategy and schedule.

        1) Most major details should be in writing. The brain has no foolproof retrieval system.

        2) As you write down details, you free up your mind for more creative thinking.

        3) With the main details in front of you, you will be able to effectively supervise the operations.

        4) Do not begin your implementation until the details are down on paper.

        5) Have this master plan in place by 8 weeks before the lecture series.

    g. Supervise your coordinators:

        1) Maintain honest, open communication.

        2) Commit yourselves to one another.

        3) Meet with each coordinator individually.

        4) Meet together as a group.

        5) Make absolutely sure that everyone understand their assignment and is prepared to carry it
            through.

        6) Remember, your job is to coordinate, not to do. Do not get bogged down in implementation details
            yourself.

    h. Maintain an ongoing ministry in the lives of your coordinators.

        1) Pray with and for them.

        2) Witness and fellowship together.

        3) Be sensitive to their spirit.

        4) Nip problems in the bud.

    i. The following are some helpful suggestions on working with your coordinators:

        1) Share your goals.

        2) Share some of the background and your thinking behind assignments, projects, decisions, etc.

        3) Ask for their suggestions.

        4) Show genuine appreciation for their efforts.

        5) Desire and expect excellence.

        6) Establish specific deadlines.

        7) Encourage creativity.

        8) Appointments:

            a) Schedule an ending time for an appointment as well as a beginning time. One good way to do
                this is to schedule one appointment right after another. Your appointment will go more efficiently
                with a firm deadline.

            b) Avoid scheduling 20 to 30 minutes between appointments. It is difficult to start something major
                in that period of time.

            c) Always have something with you to do in case someone is late or for other reasons you have a
                few minutes free.

            d) During your appointment, give the person with you your undivided attention.

        9) Meetings

            a) Five minutes of preparation for the meeting may save one hour in the meeting.

            b) Determine the objectives of the meeting (i.e., to make decisions or recommendations,
                inform people, impart vision, have fellowship, etc.).

            c) Schedule enough time for the meeting to accomplish the objectives, but no more.

            d) Work toward the objectives! Don't ever find yourself saying, "Since we are here, we
                probably ought to discuss….”

        10) The following are some problem areas of which you need to be aware:

            a) Breakdown in communications occurs from time to time. For instance, the media chairperson
                comes to you with a question for decision instead of their own coordinator. Do not give them a
                decision; channel them back into the proper line of communication.

            b) Emphasis on serving the Lord is needed constantly. Because of the nature of the organization,
                people can get sidetracked into thinking that they are serving people rather than God. Be
                spiritually sensitive to everyone.

            c) The ongoing ministry may suffer. Be careful not to abandon your ongoing ministry. Ideally, the
                only abnormal week should be the week Rusty is at your location. You may want to organize
                committees by discipleship groups, to help keep the groups together. However, your talent
                distribution may not be the same as your group distribution.

    3. Budget: (See Section on Finance.)

        a. You may assume responsibility in this area or delegate it to an assistant.

    4. Classroom Scheduling: (See Section on Classroom Scheduling.)

        a. You may assume responsibility in this area or delegate it to an assistant.


    5. Personnel: (See Section on Personnel.)

        a. You may assume responsibility in this area or delegate it to an assistant.

    6. General Preparation

        a. Impart a vision to the Christian students/volunteers for the potential impact for evangelism and
            discipleship that Rusty can have on your ministry. Keep the vision before them! Have a kick-off
            meeting at least eight weeks before Rusty arrives.

        b. Set a goal for attendance at the lectures. Make it larger than you feel you could do on your own.
            Then pray and work toward it. (Remember, though, we are not out to build our egos, but to glorify
            God. Be sure your motives are right -- James 4:3.)

        c. Explain that there is a lot of challenging preparatory work ahead.

        d. You should personally invite the President of the university and/or other local leaders to hear Rusty.

        e. Trust the Lord and seek to be Spirit-filled at all times.

    7. Additional Insights

        a. Since 90 percent of your job will be to coordinate all the operations of Rusty's ministry at your
            location (Prayer, Publicity, Physical Arrangements and Follow-Up), it is vital that you display
            capable and sensitive leadership to the individuals who coordinate those areas.

        b. In addition, 90 percent of your coordinators' responsibilities involve supervising the people with
            whom they are working. In order to know how to lead others, they need to see you as an example.
            You cannot expect your coordinators to have people following them if they are not following you.

        c. Below are some suggestions that you will find helpful in the area of leadership. Remember, if
            God has called you to the position as Lecture Series Coordinator, He will enable you to do the job
            to which He has called you!

            1) Have a positive attitude; be neat in appearance.

            2) Be team oriented! Delegate responsibilities.

            3) Work through your coordinators. Keep lines of communication open.

            4) Take initiative in solving problems.

            5) Welcome suggestions, comments and ideas.

            6) Think before acting.

            7) Encourage all who work with you.

            8) Be creative.

    8. Special Note on Wrap up and Evaluation

        a. At the end of each worker’s material is a Lecture Series Job Report and Evaluation Form.
            Within the first week after the end of the lecture series, each worker should complete the form and
            give it to their supervisor. Supervisors in turn should use these reports to prepare and submit their
            own reports to the LSC, who then does the same for the local director.

        b. These reports are intended to foster communication and learning. They need not be lengthy unless
            desired and/or necessary.

        c. We suggest you keep a copy of your reports in the local ministry files for use for future outreaches,
            public relations, etc. After all, everyone did all that work – why not make use of the lessons learned
            for future projects?


Lecture Series Job Report and Evaluation Form

(Please complete this and give to your supervisor soon after the Lecture Series is over. Your input can be
very valuable to your fellow believers and your local ministry.)



Your Name                                                                                 Job Title


Today's Date                                                                                 Campus


Description of Your Job

1. Briefly describe your responsibilities.




Evaluation

2. What things went well with your job?




3. What things did not go well?




Recommendations

4. Any suggestions for improvement?