Tuesday through Thursday, November 13-15, 2007
We are now referred to as BCI Alums. As of Thursday afternoon, at a celebration banquet hosted by Bill and Kathy Butterworth, with Lee Stroble bringing the closing challenge, ten of us received our Certificates of Completion.
I remember when, at a lunch with Bill, he invited me to participate in the upcoming BCI. I’d considered it in the past. Now, my calendar’s open. No excuses. But I learned by experience why some hesitate. Bill has organized this thing as a participatory workshop. Attendees don’t simply sit passively, nod and take copious notes… though we do a considerable amount of just that. No, we also make speeches. And then we are evaluated – by Bill, a skilled colleague and then the other fellow participants.
So this week, I found myself in the Irvine Oaks conference room at the Hyatt with ten others. Bill asked us to introduce ourselves. We should add a remark or two that would inform the group about something that would otherwise not be known.
I took a deep breath, introduced myself to the group including our home town and then said something like this -
“Well, in the past few years, I jumped out of an airplane and then on another occasion jumped off a platform about seventy five feet off the ground. In the first instance, I was strapped to an instructor who had a parachute strapped to himself – we did a heart stopping free fall from some ten thousand feet to four when at the proper moment, I yanked the rip cord and we gently floated the remaining distance to a smooth landing and unbridled screams of relief. In the second scenario, I jumped off the precipice with a bungee cord fastened to my waist – the length of which, thankfully, was something less than seventy five feet. It may surprise you to know that the bungee jump was more terrifying than the free fall.”
Nervous courtesy laugh.
I continued, “But I must tell you that neither of the two exercises in fear control was as terrifying as the prospect of standing before you tomorrow for ten full minutes making a speech.”
Belly laughs all around. It appeared that my fellow students shared my dread.
All that to say this – the three days were an enormous and timely gift. Bill’s skill as a communicator and coach brought us through a process that encouraged us all, and challenged us to new levels of effectiveness. (I’m now an enthusiastic BCI advocate for anyone willing to take a serious step toward developing their speaking skills.)
One of the benefits of the BCI course is, as you might guess, the new circle of friends. We met a terrific collection of people from the corporate world to the world of ministry. A highlight for us was to meet a close personal friend of Bill’s, Lee Strobel. Another BCI student is Lee’s delightful daughter, married and as of this week, about a month away from delivering her second child, Alison Strobel Morrow, who is an accomplished speaker and published author.
In addition, we met two staff pastors from Bethany Bible Church. Bill tipped them off. I had a very positive conversation with Dave Grudgel, Senior Pastor, about their search for an adult ministries pastor for their growing church in Phoenix.
We’ll continue the conversation and see how God leads.
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