Church of the Suncoast
PODCAST
Mail House Hell...
I found out today that the new mail house we used for a small direct mail piece messed up yet again. This is the 5th, that's right the 5th!!! place we have used. All of them have messed up at least once and as a result the postcards were late. This time I am cautiously optimistic that it will still get out by the weekend. Ugh!
There has to be a better way??? Does anyone out there have a Central Florida company that is good?
There has to be a better way??? Does anyone out there have a Central Florida company that is good?
Weekend Re-Cap 2.24.08
This past weekend at Church of the Suncoast we wrapped up our “How Wise People Build Wealth” series with Baptisms and Child Dedications. It was a great time as always. I love the hope and promise of new life baptism represents and it was obvious as you listened to the stories of those men and women that took the plunge. This time we did things a little different by asking them to share a quick word or two about why they were doing this. It was great to hear them tell a little piece if their story. I think it will motivate others who are on the baptismal fence to jump into the water. It is hard to believe it but we have now baptized 26 people in our short 22 month history! Go God!!!
We also dedicated two little guys that I can’t wait to see how they will grow up into mighty men of God at the Suncoast. We also had 25 kids on Sunday between the Mangroves and the Beach. Rita is doing an awesome job leading those two environments.
The music on Sunday rocked!!! The band was really hitting on all cylinders this time. They always blow me away at what they can do in one 45 minute practice a week!
For the first time in a long time I goofed up big time on the order of the service. I threw it to the offering before we did the communication card time. Oops. We still got a lot of cards, but I’m sure we missed a few first time guests from my mistake. The tech team was on the ball though and made things seem on track and the ushers were right there ready to go. Other than that we had a great service.
We also wrapped up the month of February with a 19% increase in attendance over this same month last year. God has been faithful to grow us as we have been faithful to create the environment for Him to work.
We also dedicated two little guys that I can’t wait to see how they will grow up into mighty men of God at the Suncoast. We also had 25 kids on Sunday between the Mangroves and the Beach. Rita is doing an awesome job leading those two environments.
The music on Sunday rocked!!! The band was really hitting on all cylinders this time. They always blow me away at what they can do in one 45 minute practice a week!
For the first time in a long time I goofed up big time on the order of the service. I threw it to the offering before we did the communication card time. Oops. We still got a lot of cards, but I’m sure we missed a few first time guests from my mistake. The tech team was on the ball though and made things seem on track and the ushers were right there ready to go. Other than that we had a great service.
We also wrapped up the month of February with a 19% increase in attendance over this same month last year. God has been faithful to grow us as we have been faithful to create the environment for Him to work.
"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:
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