From the start of Church of the Suncoast I have prayed, strived, and cast vision for a church that ANYONE could go to and feel "safe" as they investigate the Gospel. We don't need more churches in most parts of the country, what we need are safe environments for people to experience the grace Jesus has to offer them.
For the most part, we are not perfect, but for the most part we have that kind of church today. BUT, that also causes a lot of conflict from a leadership standpoint. What do you do about the girl whose boobs are hanging out each week? Do you let non-believers in the band? When someone is dealing with a moral issue do you pull them? What "lifestyles" are accepted as Christian? What do you do when it doesn't seem like a believers behavior is matching what they are telling others they believe? What about divorce? The list could go on but you get the idea.
The natural tendency of any organization is to meet and craft a bunch of policies so that the issue is settled and you don't have to have the conflict when it comes up. You just point to a policy and say, "Sorry, this is OUR policy." BUT, here is something I heard Andy Stanley talk about recently and it was so right on! Don't have policies, have conversations. This is how Jesus did things. From tax-collectors to adulterers He would have conversations not policies and categories. Maybe if we could learn from that we could not just strike a balance between grace and truth, but a powerful merger of the two that Jesus seemed to embody.
Showing posts with label Rethinking Church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rethinking Church. Show all posts
Marketing Conference Call
Last week I did a conference call with Michael at Oak Leaf Church in GA. Here are my notes from that call. Some good stuff to chew on:
Marketing Conference Call
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
1. Don’t do what you can’t measure.
Don’t spend a lot of money on something you can’t measure. Measure your marketing. Ask people what got you here, survey twice a year. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Connection card for guests. SurveyMonkey.com
2. Don’t do what everyone else is doing.
Meaning people in your area. Find what no one else is doing.
3. Do something worth talking about.
You can’t market something that is not marketable. Is your service good? Will people stay, will they stick? If it is good people will talk about it. Build up a loyalty.
4. Create buzz.
You want people to talk about your stuff. The things that get noticed… taboo, unusual, outrages, hilarious, remarkable, secrets.
IDEAS:
1. Show up at things that are already happening in the community.
2. Do a traditional advertising campaigns. “Jay-Z loves your church”
3. Sponsor high school rivalry game… create a trophy and scholarship.
4. Get your people involved in activities, ways to serve the community.
5. Take out facebook adds! Can be targeted.
6. Invite cards all the time! Different styles each week.
7. Series planning. Big days like Easter, Fall, Christmas… have weeks leading up to it all about the big day.
If this was helpful give Michael some love on his blog:
www.HereToLead.com
Marketing Conference Call
FOUR PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING
1. Don’t do what you can’t measure.
Don’t spend a lot of money on something you can’t measure. Measure your marketing. Ask people what got you here, survey twice a year. Doesn’t have to be fancy. Connection card for guests. SurveyMonkey.com
2. Don’t do what everyone else is doing.
Meaning people in your area. Find what no one else is doing.
3. Do something worth talking about.
You can’t market something that is not marketable. Is your service good? Will people stay, will they stick? If it is good people will talk about it. Build up a loyalty.
4. Create buzz.
You want people to talk about your stuff. The things that get noticed… taboo, unusual, outrages, hilarious, remarkable, secrets.
IDEAS:
1. Show up at things that are already happening in the community.
2. Do a traditional advertising campaigns. “Jay-Z loves your church”
3. Sponsor high school rivalry game… create a trophy and scholarship.
4. Get your people involved in activities, ways to serve the community.
5. Take out facebook adds! Can be targeted.
6. Invite cards all the time! Different styles each week.
7. Series planning. Big days like Easter, Fall, Christmas… have weeks leading up to it all about the big day.
If this was helpful give Michael some love on his blog:
www.HereToLead.com
NEXT Groups (Start This Week)
If you have been reading my blog for the past 8 months or you have been at Church of the Suncoast for the past 8 months then you know we have been wrestling with the small groups question. Our church is just over 4 years old and we have had groups for 3 of those 4 years. We have not cracked the code and have had a lot of false starts and mixed results. We have also seen some amazing life-change which is why we wrestle with how do we do groups, are they still working in our community, and what does discipleship look like at the Suncoast.
In the spring we rolled out a medium sized gathering once a month called NEXT. We talked about some spiritual growth topics and 2 out of the 4 gatherings were well attended and 2 fell flat, one due to weather. So, this summer we talked some more as a staff and I had my familiar conversation with God about groups and what to do.
Here is what we are rolling out THIS WEEK:
We are calling them NEXT Groups because our purpose is to help people take their next steps with God, so the name fit, we used to call them Community Groups but community didn't always happen. This fits the goal of taking a next step on your faith journey.
The fall semester of groups will run for just 10-weeks. We don't want groups to turn into a burden for people and I think giving people a break from them is great too. It gives people a light at the end of the tunnel.
We also wanted our groups to reflect our church and who we are, not some other church. So our groups will be open, meaning anyone can jump in at any time, and we will be asking people to invite someone to group for the second weeks big party. Take a look:
We will also be asking the groups to serve two out of the 10-weeks and every group will be asked to find a cause and give towards it. Again, stressing some of who we are as a church. The other six weeks will be deeper study from that Sunday's message. Again, to focus the whole church on who we are and what is going on with our church at that time, not some canned small group book.
Finally, we have taken all the expectations and "rules" off the groups. The problem with expectations and "rules" is someone has to police those and no one wants to be the small group ministry rules police. The only thing we ask is that the groups take a Next STEP:
Study the Bible Together. Each week we’ll come together, share some snacks or maybe a meal, and then circle up to talk about Sunday’s message. Bring a Bible! Each week we’ll be challenged take a next step on our journey with Jesus.
Take Care of Each Other. We all need someone to lean on. We were not designed by God to be lone rangers. Our group will be there for each other in good times and bad.
Embrace Serving Together. This fall we’ll get the opportunity to serve together in the community. We’re going to come up with a place to serve twice by the end of the 10-weeks.
Practice Generosity Together. We will also get the opportunity to be generous with our finances together. In the next 10-weeks we will pick a cause (personal, local or global) and combine our money to make a difference.
So hope that helps someone else out there wrestling with the groups question and if you are at the Suncoast click HERE to find out where and when groups meet this first week. We have one Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
In the spring we rolled out a medium sized gathering once a month called NEXT. We talked about some spiritual growth topics and 2 out of the 4 gatherings were well attended and 2 fell flat, one due to weather. So, this summer we talked some more as a staff and I had my familiar conversation with God about groups and what to do.
Here is what we are rolling out THIS WEEK:
We are calling them NEXT Groups because our purpose is to help people take their next steps with God, so the name fit, we used to call them Community Groups but community didn't always happen. This fits the goal of taking a next step on your faith journey.
The fall semester of groups will run for just 10-weeks. We don't want groups to turn into a burden for people and I think giving people a break from them is great too. It gives people a light at the end of the tunnel.
We also wanted our groups to reflect our church and who we are, not some other church. So our groups will be open, meaning anyone can jump in at any time, and we will be asking people to invite someone to group for the second weeks big party. Take a look:
We will also be asking the groups to serve two out of the 10-weeks and every group will be asked to find a cause and give towards it. Again, stressing some of who we are as a church. The other six weeks will be deeper study from that Sunday's message. Again, to focus the whole church on who we are and what is going on with our church at that time, not some canned small group book.
Finally, we have taken all the expectations and "rules" off the groups. The problem with expectations and "rules" is someone has to police those and no one wants to be the small group ministry rules police. The only thing we ask is that the groups take a Next STEP:
Study the Bible Together. Each week we’ll come together, share some snacks or maybe a meal, and then circle up to talk about Sunday’s message. Bring a Bible! Each week we’ll be challenged take a next step on our journey with Jesus.
Take Care of Each Other. We all need someone to lean on. We were not designed by God to be lone rangers. Our group will be there for each other in good times and bad.
Embrace Serving Together. This fall we’ll get the opportunity to serve together in the community. We’re going to come up with a place to serve twice by the end of the 10-weeks.
Practice Generosity Together. We will also get the opportunity to be generous with our finances together. In the next 10-weeks we will pick a cause (personal, local or global) and combine our money to make a difference.
So hope that helps someone else out there wrestling with the groups question and if you are at the Suncoast click HERE to find out where and when groups meet this first week. We have one Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday.
Volunteer Community
THIS Saturday night we have our next Volunteer Community, 7pm at the Warehouse. Volunteer Community is something we did for the first year or so of our church in 2006 - 2007 then we took a break for a while and tried some other stuff, but this year we rolled it out again with one purpose. To show our volunteers a good time! We are not trying to attract people and hopefully get them to volunteer. We are not trying to cast big vision and bore them with church stuff. We simply want to throw them a party, feed them some awesome food, have some crazy fun together, give away some stuff, and get to know each other better.
We have the gatherings catered, we play some kind of game to get people going, we eat, and then we break up into our teams for about 10 minutes. This is a time volunteers can bring things up and feel like we are listening to them.
This quater we are doing just one more thing and that is giving everyone a copy of our new Sunday playbook. We have been working on this for 6-months and it contains everything in words and pictures that needs to be done for Sunday to work and work well. It has step by step parts and expectation parts all in one document.
So that is Volunteer Community. If you are a volunteer at the Suncoast right now don't miss it, bring the kids if you want! RSVP, just so we know how much food, with Rita rita@canthisbechurch.com
If you are a church leader and want more info just shoot me an e-mail: brian@canthisbechurch.com
We have the gatherings catered, we play some kind of game to get people going, we eat, and then we break up into our teams for about 10 minutes. This is a time volunteers can bring things up and feel like we are listening to them.
This quater we are doing just one more thing and that is giving everyone a copy of our new Sunday playbook. We have been working on this for 6-months and it contains everything in words and pictures that needs to be done for Sunday to work and work well. It has step by step parts and expectation parts all in one document.
So that is Volunteer Community. If you are a volunteer at the Suncoast right now don't miss it, bring the kids if you want! RSVP, just so we know how much food, with Rita rita@canthisbechurch.com
If you are a church leader and want more info just shoot me an e-mail: brian@canthisbechurch.com
Singing Bee
Two weeks ago at the Suncoast we had a little fun and did our version of the "Singing Bee". The band was teaching us a new song called "Rise and Sing" by Fee and we had the idea that we could get a bunch of copies of the Northpoint Awake CD that the song is on and give those out as prizes if people would sing along into a mic. We really had no idea how it would go over but it was a hit. We even had some people do it for free. Here is what we did:
- Opened the song as usual.
- Then at the end of the chorus Steve gave everyone some heads up while the band played in the background.
- Then he went out into the audience with a mic and as the band did the "Whoa, oh, o whoa oh o" the person would do the echo part and get a free CD as everyone clapped for them.
- That was it, they finished up the rest of the song and it rocked.
If you have not tried a "Singing Bee" to intro a new song, try it! People will remember that song the next time we do it I guarantee you.
NO Show Sunday
This past Sunday at Church of the Suncoast we took a risk and tried something very different to make a point. We actually told our volunteers they didn't have to show up to serve!!! About 3 months ago we were talking at a staff meeting and someone said, "I wonder if our people know all that goes into a Sunday morning at the Suncoast?" As we thought about that we decided to do a "No Show Sunday". A day we show everyone what it would be like without volunteers. Here is a quick run down of what we did. If you are a church planter meeting in rented space I would say do this!!! I don't think our people will ever forget 5.30.10.The School.
We basically left the school the way we found it on Sunday morning at 6am. I asked our awesome plant manager to take out some of the cafeteria tables but 1/2 of them were left set up the way they are Mon-Fri. When you walked in it was still a cafeteria. Everyone sat at the tables instead of the normal seats in rows. We even left the trash cans out and everything! (See the video below)
Signs.
We had a local sign shop make us 36 x 24 signs to put on the walkway poles where a volunteer normally would be. We had signs for greeters, children's ministry and the coffee and donuts! Yes no coffee and donuts! (See the video below)
Children.
We actually had the kids come into the service but when the parents went to where they normally check their kids in we gave them a goodie bag with crayons, coloring pages, some candy and a little American flag for Memorial Day. For the most part the kids we well behaved, it was a distraction, but that was the point!
Cardboard Cut Outs.
We also bought some cardboard cut outs to be a fake greeter and tech team. For the tech team they found the 3 Stooges... no comment :-) (See the video to see Mia and the tech team)
Programs.
We made up some really nasty programs that people had to fold themselves... take a look:
Gifts.
Our staff had little gifts and treats for our current volunteers to show a little love. Some even had a drawing for a $25 gift card. Others gave out food. I had a cooler of drinks and donuts for the set up guys back stage. Little things that made them feel like they were in the know.
Other Creative Stuff.
We tossed out some beach balls during the first song just for fun. I did a posterboard countdown from 10 - 1. We put the offering baskets so the people in the seats had to be their own usher. And, I used a giant notepad for my message notes.
As we have looked back over a couple days now it was a huge win I think. We got new people to volunteer and everyone now knows what we are willing to do each week to make sure our guests feel welcome and like a VIP. To see my message just use the message player at the top of my blog here.
If you are thinking about doing a "No Show Sunday" send me an e-mail. I would love to share what we learned and learn from you as you do it even better! Here is the re-cap video of how it looked:
FUN!
Over the past 3 weeks at the Suncoast we have been trying to crank the fun factor up! Now, I know you might read that and think, "Well that doesn't sound very spiritual!" You are right, Jesus never had fun. He never smiled. And, when He gathered people together He never wanted them to enjoy being in His presence. OK, sorry for the sarcasm.
The reason we are trying to crank up the fun factor is because of the last post on the new tool we are using to plan the flow of a service. We have such a wide range of people walking in the front door of our church every week that you have to do something to get everyone on the same playing field and fun is a great way to do that. From sinner to saint everyone likes to have fun. Fun breaks down barriers and in a lot of ways opens your heart for what God wants to say. So, we have been trying to open our services with some fun stuff.
I will give you two examples. One from our Coastal Kids ministry and one from "Big church". First our children's director Crystal bought a bounce house and put it out by the children's check in kiosk. So while the parents are checking in their kids they can be going nuts on the bounce house. It is fun and a "Wow" factor. This past Sunday they also slimed kids. They took them out back of the school we meet in and slimed them (with parents permission ONLY). Take a look:
Looks like fun! Great job to all the Coastal Kids volunteers and to Crystal for pulling it all together at a portable facility!
The second fun thing we did was I basically made a fool of myself all in the name of fun. We just got done doing a series called "Girls Gone Wild" and to open the service we showed this:
Don't get me wrong. We are not just about fun. But, it is a helpful tool to welcome people and break down some of the barriers we walk into church with. So try something fun this Sunday!!! Get creative. Who says you can't do that in church?
I would love to hear some of the fun things you have done if you are doing stuff like this.
The reason we are trying to crank up the fun factor is because of the last post on the new tool we are using to plan the flow of a service. We have such a wide range of people walking in the front door of our church every week that you have to do something to get everyone on the same playing field and fun is a great way to do that. From sinner to saint everyone likes to have fun. Fun breaks down barriers and in a lot of ways opens your heart for what God wants to say. So, we have been trying to open our services with some fun stuff.
I will give you two examples. One from our Coastal Kids ministry and one from "Big church". First our children's director Crystal bought a bounce house and put it out by the children's check in kiosk. So while the parents are checking in their kids they can be going nuts on the bounce house. It is fun and a "Wow" factor. This past Sunday they also slimed kids. They took them out back of the school we meet in and slimed them (with parents permission ONLY). Take a look:
Looks like fun! Great job to all the Coastal Kids volunteers and to Crystal for pulling it all together at a portable facility!
The second fun thing we did was I basically made a fool of myself all in the name of fun. We just got done doing a series called "Girls Gone Wild" and to open the service we showed this:
Don't get me wrong. We are not just about fun. But, it is a helpful tool to welcome people and break down some of the barriers we walk into church with. So try something fun this Sunday!!! Get creative. Who says you can't do that in church?
I would love to hear some of the fun things you have done if you are doing stuff like this.
New Tool for Planning the Flow of a Service
(Click on the image to enlarge)
The order can be changed within each shaded area but not into another color area because you are trying to take people from the wide end (from sinners to saints) all to the same place. But you have to be strategic about how you do that. This tool might help in that process as you ENGAGE, INVOLVE, and then finally CHALLENGE.
How Long
One of the things we had to consider back in the beginning of our church was how long should each service be? In my opinion a church service is like a skirt... you want it to be long enough to cover the subject but short enough to keep it interesting. So we came in at one hour. Although we have gone over the past couple of weeks by about 10 minutes. I think out website says our services "Usually last about an hour".
Other churches I know of have:
1 hour and 15 minutes
1 hour and 30 minutes
And others just end when they feel like it. My thought is we need to honor our guests time. That is who Church of the Suncoast is designed for, our guests. We who buy into this deal sacrifice some of our wants and desires for our guests. So I think a service needs to have a predicatable end zone of about 5 minutes.
Some people think an hour is too short but if you plan and work on your transitions an hour is a lot more than you think. It also forces me as a communicator to get to the point!
What do you think? How long is your service? Why? Leave a comment, would love to hear what you think.
Other churches I know of have:
1 hour and 15 minutes
1 hour and 30 minutes
And others just end when they feel like it. My thought is we need to honor our guests time. That is who Church of the Suncoast is designed for, our guests. We who buy into this deal sacrifice some of our wants and desires for our guests. So I think a service needs to have a predicatable end zone of about 5 minutes.
Some people think an hour is too short but if you plan and work on your transitions an hour is a lot more than you think. It also forces me as a communicator to get to the point!
What do you think? How long is your service? Why? Leave a comment, would love to hear what you think.
Sign Wars
So when the Suncoast start just under 4 years ago there were not any churches close to us. Every week we would put out our signs along SR 54 and every week we would take them down. In the past year we have had 3 churches pop up within less than a mile of our school we use on Sundays.
First, I have no issue with churches being near each other. We are supposed to be on the same team. AND, it will increase traffic just like Walgreens and CVS being across the street from each other all over Florida. I hope everyone reaches tons of people with the Good News about Jesus.
BUT, what bugs me is the sign wars! This week I had to laugh! A church that you can't even see from our entrance put out a sign right across the street from all our signs. AND, another church just went in the school that shares our parking lot and they have their signs right next to ours. I mean side by side. Again I laugh.
But I wonder what the world sees as they pass by? Competition... typical Christians?
I don't want a single person from their churches to come to ours, really! The reason we do signs is for a lost and hurting community to see there is a church right in their backyard. If someone goes to another church then they are not our target. Our target is the couple who doesn't go to church and their marriage is about to fall apart. The guy who has been out of work for months and is about to give up and sees a sign to try God one last time.
I don't know what the answer is and I am not mad about this... the sign wars just make me wonder how non-church people see us???
First, I have no issue with churches being near each other. We are supposed to be on the same team. AND, it will increase traffic just like Walgreens and CVS being across the street from each other all over Florida. I hope everyone reaches tons of people with the Good News about Jesus.
BUT, what bugs me is the sign wars! This week I had to laugh! A church that you can't even see from our entrance put out a sign right across the street from all our signs. AND, another church just went in the school that shares our parking lot and they have their signs right next to ours. I mean side by side. Again I laugh.
But I wonder what the world sees as they pass by? Competition... typical Christians?
I don't want a single person from their churches to come to ours, really! The reason we do signs is for a lost and hurting community to see there is a church right in their backyard. If someone goes to another church then they are not our target. Our target is the couple who doesn't go to church and their marriage is about to fall apart. The guy who has been out of work for months and is about to give up and sees a sign to try God one last time.
I don't know what the answer is and I am not mad about this... the sign wars just make me wonder how non-church people see us???
Nuts and Bolts
A friend of mine is doing their first church conference called Nuts and Bolts. Mike is a friend from back in the West Palm student ministry days and we both planted churches about the same time. In fact we financially helped them a little bit back in the early days. So check out his conference and learn some practical stuff, no fluff!
What is it? Nuts and Bolts is a one-day conference for church planters, church leaders and their teams. There will be two main sessions and one breakout session (you’ll choose from about six of them)
When is it? Saturday, June 26. We chose to do this on a Saturday so bi-vocational pastors or church planters with day jobs can come and can bring people. It starts at 9am and it will end with an early-edition of our weekend service.
How much does it cost? $10 a person. We wanted to keep the cost extremely low because we’re not trying to make money…we’re trying to equip church planters. And 100% of the registration fee goes to church planting.
NEXT (Update)
Recently at the Suncoast we have taken a break from our community/small groups and trying a medium sized gathering called NEXT instead. You can read more about it in the previous posts but Sunday night was NEXT #1 and here is a quick update:
- We spent about 15 - 20 minutes just hanging out as people showed up. Great to be able to chat with people I don't always get a chance to chat with.
- We started with a little ice-breaker where I had everyone in the room get up and find the person with the birthday closest to theirs and then share one thing people might be surprised to know about themselves.
- We studied how to read the Bible for a topic and I created a few page booklet with some info and fill in the blank style notes.
- Part of each NEXT will be a time for people to "try it" right there so we took about 10 minutes where everyone read the same passage of Scripture and then did a little study on that by asking a few questions of the text. For many it was the first time they had ever studied the Bible.
- Then we broke up into some "huddle" groups and asked four very simple questions about the nights experience.
- We also had people sign up for a serving deal where we will feed the homeless of Tampa in the next few weeks before the next NEXT on March 28th.
- I think everyone had a positive experience and we connected some people who had not been to anything other than a Sunday BUT dang... there just were not the numbers we had thought would show (or even everyone that signed up???). So we will promote the fool out of the next one and see. I like the larger format and allowing community to happen naturally so one down, we learn and do it again. I will keep ya posted as we journey through this.
Relational Environments
Recently at the Suncoast we have done away with our community/small groups, at least for a season. If our goal is to create relational environments for people to connect then for us groups were only connecting a small number of people. So here are two things we are doing... again at least for now:
NEXT
Next is a medium sized gathering at our Warehouse (church office and gathering spot) for people who want to get to know some other people from the Suncoast and get to know God better. The format will have plenty of time for people just to hang out and snack, then I will interactively teach on a spiritual growth topic for about 20 minutes, and finally we will have people "huddle up" in groups of 15 or so for some quick questions and prayer. We will also be encouraging people to sign up for a once a month service deal in the community to reach out and also to connect people once again. Our goal for NEXT is not to force people into relationships but simply create the environment for them to happen naturally.
Cafe Tables
Another thing we just did was buy some fold up cafe tables (think bar height) and put them around the coffee and donuts. There are not any chairs with them so it is just a place we hope people will stand and use as a safe place to have a conversation. There is something about having a table and a cup of coffee in between you that creates a safe zone to talk to "strangers". We will see.
The bottom line is we are stepping back and just trying to create relational environments instead of forcing people into relationships. We don't want to force people into a "one size fits all" mold as the only way to connect here. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
The first NEXT is Sunday night, 7pm @ the Warehouse!
NEXT
Next is a medium sized gathering at our Warehouse (church office and gathering spot) for people who want to get to know some other people from the Suncoast and get to know God better. The format will have plenty of time for people just to hang out and snack, then I will interactively teach on a spiritual growth topic for about 20 minutes, and finally we will have people "huddle up" in groups of 15 or so for some quick questions and prayer. We will also be encouraging people to sign up for a once a month service deal in the community to reach out and also to connect people once again. Our goal for NEXT is not to force people into relationships but simply create the environment for them to happen naturally.
Cafe Tables
Another thing we just did was buy some fold up cafe tables (think bar height) and put them around the coffee and donuts. There are not any chairs with them so it is just a place we hope people will stand and use as a safe place to have a conversation. There is something about having a table and a cup of coffee in between you that creates a safe zone to talk to "strangers". We will see.
The bottom line is we are stepping back and just trying to create relational environments instead of forcing people into relationships. We don't want to force people into a "one size fits all" mold as the only way to connect here. I will keep you posted on how it goes.
The first NEXT is Sunday night, 7pm @ the Warehouse!
NEW Website
Church of the Suncoast has an ALL NEW website. Check out the all new:
www.CanThisBeChurch.com
We were going for a clean look, something like apple. Simple seems to be the trend in web design these days, free from tons of flash and content overload. People's lives are so overloaded these days so we wanted to give off a message that our church and even our website is simple, uncluttered, easy to dive into. So what message does your website give off??? Does it match the message of your church?
(BTW... you don't have to spend a lot either. We paid $800 for this site and we control everything. No monthly payments to a web guy!!!)
Tell me what you think. Leave a comment.
www.CanThisBeChurch.com
We were going for a clean look, something like apple. Simple seems to be the trend in web design these days, free from tons of flash and content overload. People's lives are so overloaded these days so we wanted to give off a message that our church and even our website is simple, uncluttered, easy to dive into. So what message does your website give off??? Does it match the message of your church?
(BTW... you don't have to spend a lot either. We paid $800 for this site and we control everything. No monthly payments to a web guy!!!)
Tell me what you think. Leave a comment.
NEXT
On Sunday at the Suncoast we announced something new for the spring. We are creating a new medium sized gathering called NEXT. Next will be for anyone looking to meet some people and get to know God better. This was birthed out of this post:
After a lot of prayer, and listening to people, and reading about how people connect, and asking ourselves what is the best environment for people to take their next step with God, we landed on this... A medium sized gathering of 25 - 50 people meeting at our Warehouse (think 1,200sqft of living room type stuff in a warehouse). It is a neutral location and it will only be once a month on Sunday nights for about an hour or so.
Here is what we see happening. We will give people plenty of time to just hang out around some food and conversation. I will talk about a spiritual growth topic for about 15 minutes. Then we will give people a chance to try it, and then we will "huddle" up for 10 minutes to share and pray. We will also be having people sign up for a community service project that will happen before the next "NEXT".
Right now we have four of these set for the spring and then we will take a look at how they went and see where to go from there. Our hope is:
- To connect more new people from Sunday mornings.
- Create the opportunity for relationships to be born and hopefully from there they get together as the choose.
- Give people a practical tool for growing their own faith.
- Reach out to the community more since there is not a weekly community group commitment.
The first NEXT is on Sunday night, Feb. 28th. Stay tuned for more info as we get everything together. I would not be surprised though if we are going to see more churches move away from small groups like they did Sunday School in the 80's and 90's. The principles are what matters, community, growth, service... the methods will always change as the culture does. We still might do community groups in the summer or fall, but we will first see how NEXT goes. Everything is an experiment at the Suncoast :-)
Survey RESULTS
We recently did our first church wide survey at Church of the Suncoast. You can see what we did here:
Survey Sunday
After compiling the data here were a few of the results that we found interesting. Note that we broke up the results into two categories. Regulars and Guests.
Survey Sunday
After compiling the data here were a few of the results that we found interesting. Note that we broke up the results into two categories. Regulars and Guests.
- 16% of our regulars said they were "Someone seeking about God / Jesus
- 22% of our guests said they were "Someone seeking about God / Jesus
- 11% of our regulars also said they were a "New Christ-follower"
- 19% of our regulars said their church background was "None"
- 22% of our guests said their church background was "None"
One surprise from the first section was the number of ex-Baptist we had for both regulars and guests.
One that kind of caused us to take a look at how do things was 77% of the guests felt they were "Welcomed and it felt positive" with the rest feeling over-welcomed or under welcomed.
Most people, guests and regulars, first impressions were about it being warm, comfortable, friendly people and a cool atmosphere.
82% of regulars and guests thought the music at the Suncoast was well done even if they don't always like the style.
One that hit me personally is 9% of our regulars and 22% of our guests thought my messages were "Average, sometimes they are good". Still digesting how to make that better.
74% of our regulars have taken a "Next step" at the Suncoast in the past 6-months AND 94% said the Suncoast helps them "Know God better and that is why they keep coming back". "Serving" was also most people's next step.
89% of our regulars knew what was going on and said our communication was good.
The majority of our regulars and guests said our Coastal Kids Ministry is "Awesome, and helps my kids".
Most people came to the Suncoast from: Invites / Sunday Road Signs / Billboards (when we had them in 2008)
The overall church rating given by regulars was: 8.7 (1-10)
The overall church rating given by guests was 7.6 (1-10)
That was interesting to me. Seems we are an acquired taste??? But all in all the first survey was a positive experience I think. It gave people a chance to be heard and gave us some feedback to let us know if we are helping people take their next steps with God.
Survey Sunday
This Sunday at Church of the Suncoast we had our first ever Survey Sunday. Really didn't know what to look for or expect. Can I be that honest? But here is the survey we had everyone do. This week I will be sharing some of the results and what we learned.
(Click on the link for a full size view)
Community Groups (Small Groups)
Right now at Church of the Suncoast we are looking at our Community Groups (small groups) and seeing if they are really hitting the mark. I have been frustrated with the groups process this past year. We have not seen huge numbers of "new" people get plugged into a group. We get a few groups going for a semester (we do semester groups) and then they dwindle down and it usually becomes the same people over and over again. Not saying that good things have not happened with them. Some real friendships have been made and some life change has taken place. But it is a huge effort (mainly on my part) and it seems like we are fighting the wind instead of throwing up a sail and harnessing it.
As I was praying through this yesterday here were some of my thoughts:
People's Need's (as they see them)
> Someone to hear them
> Someone to encourage them
> A break from "life"
> Some direction
> To laugh
> A place to belong
> A "3rd place"
Spiritual Needs Met in Community
> Learning how to pray
> Learning how to read the Bible
> Praying for each other
> Sharing burdens
> Care
Obstacles Between These
As I was praying through this yesterday here were some of my thoughts:
People's Need's (as they see them)
> Someone to hear them
> Someone to encourage them
> A break from "life"
> Some direction
> To laugh
> A place to belong
> A "3rd place"
Spiritual Needs Met in Community
> Learning how to pray
> Learning how to read the Bible
> Praying for each other
> Sharing burdens
> Care
Obstacles Between These
- People are BUSY
- People are skeptical of opening up and going to a "strangers" home
- Child care (we are portable and do vouchers for people to get their own care but still an obstacle)
- People already have friends and don't see the need for community
I also want to get our groups or whatever we do more focused on the community and the mission of the church overall. We need to be serving the community more I think.
So there is where I am at as I plan for 2010. I know people need community. I know we need to connect more "new" people into community if we are going to close the backdoor we have. Praying for guidance.
Would love to hear from you too! Leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail at brian@canthisbechurch.com
Sacred Cows
Recently, I was a part of a conversation about how churches were doing with the economy in the tank and with so many of our people looking for work when the comment was made:
"Shoot the sacred cow in the face and then feast on it"
That got me thinking... there are so many sacred cows in the church world. It used to be Sunday School. Or, it might be a women's or men's ministry. It might be a building. It might be some favorite project of the lead pastor. Maybe VBS or some Christmas production. But most churches have a sacred cow. The thing no one ever talks about getting rid of, BUT that is also an area that is sucking up money like it grows on trees.
Imagine the resources in time, in talent and treasure that could be freed up if you shot the sacred cow in the face and then feasted on it. Maybe you are a church in a building that is killing you. Sell the building and go portable. Maybe you need to kill Sunday School. Maybe you need to kill your women's and men's ministries and feast on the freed up money and people power. I don't know what it is for your church, but I do know this:
"Scarcity brings clarity"
"Shoot the sacred cow in the face and then feast on it"
That got me thinking... there are so many sacred cows in the church world. It used to be Sunday School. Or, it might be a women's or men's ministry. It might be a building. It might be some favorite project of the lead pastor. Maybe VBS or some Christmas production. But most churches have a sacred cow. The thing no one ever talks about getting rid of, BUT that is also an area that is sucking up money like it grows on trees.
Imagine the resources in time, in talent and treasure that could be freed up if you shot the sacred cow in the face and then feasted on it. Maybe you are a church in a building that is killing you. Sell the building and go portable. Maybe you need to kill Sunday School. Maybe you need to kill your women's and men's ministries and feast on the freed up money and people power. I don't know what it is for your church, but I do know this:
"Scarcity brings clarity"
Thundersticks & Halloweenie
Two great ideas. One new, one old.
Thundersticks.
This past Sunday if you were to walk by the doors of the school we meet in you would have heard the bass thumping and guitars wailing but you also would have heard the sound of thunder sticks. Yes, Church of the Suncoast now has our very own thundersticks. We ordered these online (several places sale them) and gave them out for free this week before the service. It was awesome to hear after the worship set the sound of thundersticks ringing out to heaven. It also was a way for people who do not normally clap or outwardly participate in worship to do something less threatening.
Halloweenie.
Another idea we started 3 years ago now is Halloweenie. This is where you get the people in your church to have a free cookout in their driveway on Halloween night. We printed up some posters and gave out stacks of invite cards so they could get the word out and then connect people to the Suncoast. Props to Rita for getting a grill and some fake dogs to also dress up the table we gave out the posters on. Last year we had several people show up the next Sunday because they got a free hot dog, a drink and an invite to the Suncoast. We gave out over 150 dogs at my house alone!
Thundersticks.This past Sunday if you were to walk by the doors of the school we meet in you would have heard the bass thumping and guitars wailing but you also would have heard the sound of thunder sticks. Yes, Church of the Suncoast now has our very own thundersticks. We ordered these online (several places sale them) and gave them out for free this week before the service. It was awesome to hear after the worship set the sound of thundersticks ringing out to heaven. It also was a way for people who do not normally clap or outwardly participate in worship to do something less threatening.
Halloweenie.Another idea we started 3 years ago now is Halloweenie. This is where you get the people in your church to have a free cookout in their driveway on Halloween night. We printed up some posters and gave out stacks of invite cards so they could get the word out and then connect people to the Suncoast. Props to Rita for getting a grill and some fake dogs to also dress up the table we gave out the posters on. Last year we had several people show up the next Sunday because they got a free hot dog, a drink and an invite to the Suncoast. We gave out over 150 dogs at my house alone!
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