VISION
Your vision will be different for each church but all churches should be out to reach the unchurched.
Vision determines everything from music style to structure to sermon style. What does the culture need in a church? What would attract them? What will keep them? Doesn’t mean you can’t be challenging. BUT it means your worship will be foreign to them and the offerings will be small. You have to structure for that. Also, means you might have to unlearn a lot of the “church” leadership stuff you have learned and stop going to conferences and all that. Don’t fall in love with someone else’s vision. Take a break and hear from God and remind yourself of YOUR vision. You are not every other church. You won’t look like every other church. What does the internal data tell you not just the numbers? Don’t compare yourself to everyone else!!!
Talk to people that don’t go to church and ask them about church? Why don’t you go? How often do you go? What did you think about the last church you went to? KNOW your community! KNOW yourself!
Q: How do you lead with passion and pain but let people see the passion? Have to spend a lot of time with God and His word. Have to have some close friends who you can be honest with. Hard to be friends with the people you lead.
Q: How do you measure it? If you go by feelings you will go crazy. You have to go by the gauges; have to have some gauges to measure things.
Q: How do you keep passing the vision on? Mentoring. Showing “it” to people. It is slow. If you do something take people with you. Show the stories on video. Tell people how your vision is accomplishing its goal. What is rewarded get’s repeated! Be the bamboo: roots deeply for 3 years without much growth but then one of the fastest growing.
Showing posts with label Innovative Network of Churches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Innovative Network of Churches. Show all posts
INC Tampa Random Thoughts
Next Year Planning
Has to come from the lead pastor and His time alone with God.
Don’t plan out of fear, plan out of vision.
God where do you want us to be in 6-months?
What do you plan around? Sermon Series, Calendar / Current Events, Easter & Christmas, Attendance Patterns, Vacations, What Are People Dealing With?
Does your planning fit your vision; filter EVERYTHING through your vision.
In planning, is it burning inside you first?
When it is time to market the planning:
OAIcorp.com – Billboard and signs
BigDaddySigns.com – Yard Signs $2 & $5
Infopkg.com – Sleeves for Invite Cards
Has to come from the lead pastor and His time alone with God.
Don’t plan out of fear, plan out of vision.
God where do you want us to be in 6-months?
What do you plan around? Sermon Series, Calendar / Current Events, Easter & Christmas, Attendance Patterns, Vacations, What Are People Dealing With?
Does your planning fit your vision; filter EVERYTHING through your vision.
In planning, is it burning inside you first?
When it is time to market the planning:
OAIcorp.com – Billboard and signs
BigDaddySigns.com – Yard Signs $2 & $5
Infopkg.com – Sleeves for Invite Cards
Random Thoughts from INC Today
On Money and the Church:
- Scarcity brings clarity.
- You have to know what is coming in and what is going out financially.
- 1/4ly giving statements. Celebrate what has happened!
- The more ways to give the better.
- Start talking about the budget in the fall not January.
- Teaching series once a year.
- Know your theology on money.
- Challenge your staff!!!
- If your staff is not tithing then they are living in sin.
- Give away your financial message series.
On Small Groups:
- Stories from the stage.
- Get your key leaders to bring or get people to sign up.
- Will not fill groups from the stage... leaders have to find them.
- Sell the benefits like pastoral care.
- Video teaching works.
On Volunteers:
- Give away stuff at the end of the e-mail for volunteers.
- Send note or gift to first time volunteers.
"On an Island Out Here..."
Yesterday I talked to a church planter that is struggling. I don't know all the ends and outs of his deal, but he said this to me, "I feel like I am on an island out here all alone." I have been there and could relate to him. He told me that they had been having about 30 people on the weekend and that he was having to work full time somewhere else and do the church thing part time. That's tough! My heart goes out to guys that are in that spot.
When we started Church of the Suncoast back in April of 2006 we were in a little day care. We had 67 at our first service and grew that to the 30's during that first summer. It felt terrible! It felt like if God was in this then it would look very different. But, we held onto the vision. Here are a couple things that came to mind as we talked:
If you are in that spot you have to turn everyone there into a launch team. You throw a date on the wall and tell everyone this is the day we are going to re-launch this church. You cast a big vision, go for the big ask... you ask them to step up and give and serve. You spend some money on marketing and new equiptment, maybe a new location... and you go public with your church once again. We have done this three times now and you will constanly be doing this no matter how big you get. You are always re-launching your church! Some say every six months you need to do this!!!
The second thing that came to mind was you have to get plugged in with other like-minded church leaders in your area. Here in the Tampa Bay area we have the Innovative Network of Churches. It is a group of mostly church planters that know the ups and the downs of starting a church from nothing. You have to get plugged in or you will die on the vine.
I also told this guy that I had one of these moments in Jan. of this year. We were nearing the end of our time at a bad location we got forced into. We were getting ready for our current school, and there was a Sunday I was just done. It just sucked. Since then we have doubled our numbers and have seen a 1/2 dozen people give their lives to Christ. It turns around that fast! That is why you need other people to keep you going!
Tell me what you think? Leave a comment:
When we started Church of the Suncoast back in April of 2006 we were in a little day care. We had 67 at our first service and grew that to the 30's during that first summer. It felt terrible! It felt like if God was in this then it would look very different. But, we held onto the vision. Here are a couple things that came to mind as we talked:
If you are in that spot you have to turn everyone there into a launch team. You throw a date on the wall and tell everyone this is the day we are going to re-launch this church. You cast a big vision, go for the big ask... you ask them to step up and give and serve. You spend some money on marketing and new equiptment, maybe a new location... and you go public with your church once again. We have done this three times now and you will constanly be doing this no matter how big you get. You are always re-launching your church! Some say every six months you need to do this!!!
The second thing that came to mind was you have to get plugged in with other like-minded church leaders in your area. Here in the Tampa Bay area we have the Innovative Network of Churches. It is a group of mostly church planters that know the ups and the downs of starting a church from nothing. You have to get plugged in or you will die on the vine.
I also told this guy that I had one of these moments in Jan. of this year. We were nearing the end of our time at a bad location we got forced into. We were getting ready for our current school, and there was a Sunday I was just done. It just sucked. Since then we have doubled our numbers and have seen a 1/2 dozen people give their lives to Christ. It turns around that fast! That is why you need other people to keep you going!
Tell me what you think? Leave a comment:
INC Gathering 1 - 2.11.08
From the Innovative Network of Churches Tampa Gathering:
Devotional thought (Danny)
Reorientating your life – Mark 12:30
Love God – pursue him with all our being. Not just strength or mind or heart, but our full being. Or else you will follow him through relationships. Or through legalism or being a workaholic. If we are not balanced our church won’t be.
Relevant Environments on a Shoestring (Hal)
Main Service__________
Physical environments are painted in earth tones for a multicultural church. The people on stage, greeters are painted as well. Black, white, Latino, male, female…
Movie theater church uses what they have, the screen!
Black curtains everywhere! Can create a totally new environment.
Playing with chairs and partitioning off the room can help with smaller crowds.
Younger age church keeps things dark. Also changes the lobby based on the service they are doing. They also use a full stage set.
“Jet set” fabric from JoAnn’s fabric for stage dress.
Church uses large printed materials for each series on stage.
OAI in Tampa will print banners of any size 10x20
Children’s Ministry_________
Can use black curtains with strong magnets in classrooms with drop sealing
Can also get a bounce house from Wal-Mart for $125
White PVC fence from Home Depot to break up a nursery room.
Sam’s Club for kids room furniture.
PRESSURE POINTS (Paul)
Musicians – How do you get better ones?
You have to get into the stream of musicians. If your main person is talented then they will follow. If they are not then you might need to change lead person.
Search for some musicians:
Garageband.com
music.podshow.com
podsafeaudio.com
How do you transition from level one people to second level people?
Give current person a chance to step up. If they can’t you need to help them move on. They might hinder the new person from doing their job.
Plateauing – How do you get going?
Start looking at your systems? Are you really as bad off as you think? Look back at the numbers. What is your percentage of growth? What is your growth engine going to be? What motivated people in the beginning / before?
Devotional thought (Danny)
Reorientating your life – Mark 12:30
Love God – pursue him with all our being. Not just strength or mind or heart, but our full being. Or else you will follow him through relationships. Or through legalism or being a workaholic. If we are not balanced our church won’t be.
Relevant Environments on a Shoestring (Hal)
Main Service__________
Physical environments are painted in earth tones for a multicultural church. The people on stage, greeters are painted as well. Black, white, Latino, male, female…
Movie theater church uses what they have, the screen!
Black curtains everywhere! Can create a totally new environment.
Playing with chairs and partitioning off the room can help with smaller crowds.
Younger age church keeps things dark. Also changes the lobby based on the service they are doing. They also use a full stage set.
“Jet set” fabric from JoAnn’s fabric for stage dress.
Church uses large printed materials for each series on stage.
OAI in Tampa will print banners of any size 10x20
Children’s Ministry_________
Can use black curtains with strong magnets in classrooms with drop sealing
Can also get a bounce house from Wal-Mart for $125
White PVC fence from Home Depot to break up a nursery room.
Sam’s Club for kids room furniture.
PRESSURE POINTS (Paul)
Musicians – How do you get better ones?
You have to get into the stream of musicians. If your main person is talented then they will follow. If they are not then you might need to change lead person.
Search for some musicians:
Garageband.com
music.podshow.com
podsafeaudio.com
How do you transition from level one people to second level people?
Give current person a chance to step up. If they can’t you need to help them move on. They might hinder the new person from doing their job.
Plateauing – How do you get going?
Start looking at your systems? Are you really as bad off as you think? Look back at the numbers. What is your percentage of growth? What is your growth engine going to be? What motivated people in the beginning / before?
INC - Innovative Network of Churches
Growing Healthy Churches Tampa Network is now:
Our next gathering is this Monday
Our next gathering is this MondayFeb. 11th
@ the Italian Club in Ybor City, FL
We will be talking about your pressure points
&
How to create engaging environments on a shoestring budget
(Bring some ideas)
Lunch will follow at the Green Iguana
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