Yesterday, my friend Rob Thomas of Igniter Video posted this video on Facebook. I checked it out and was blown away. This moves me on so many levels. From the old, old story told in new, relevant, contemporary ways to the creativity, innovation and hard work that went into creating something like this. I’m absolutely amazed and encourage you to purchase it HERE and use it at your church this Christmas season. You can check it out below:
You know that I’ve blasted “Pastor” Steven Anderson on here several times in the past. Now he’s in the news for hating homosexuals and wishing they were dead.
I’ve tried to have an open and grace-filled conversation about homosexuality on here many times and even asked a gay friend to do a guest post. In his guest post, he referred to the Church as what a lot of people blame for the suicides of gay teens.
Steven Anderson, his church and his big mouth are not helping this situation at all. It makes me furious. Watch for yourself.
To all homosexuals that see this video and hear his association with Christianity: PLEASE know that we don’t all feel this way and he is a small part of a tiny vocal minority. What are your thoughts on Steven’s defense of his beliefs being based on the Bible? I shutter to think of the people that are attracted to his church and listen to his teaching every week.
A little while back I blogged about Apple TV and Roku. I gave you some feedback on both and encouraged you to check them both out closely. You can read about HERE if you missed it. Yesterday, LifeChurch.tv announced their presence on Roku. Here is what they blogged:
Now in addition to your computer and mobile phone, you can stream LifeChurch.tv content directly to your TV. The LifeChurch.tv channel is now available on the Roku streaming player.What is Roku? Roku is a little box that allows you to instantly stream content from many sources including Netflix, Hulu, Amazon.com, and now LifeChurch.tv.
Version 1.0 of the LifeChurch.tv channel offers the current and recent message series in up to HD 720P resolution. Additionally, the current Talk It Over video (featuring discussion questions about the messages) is available for small groups. Future releases will offer even more content.
LifeChurch.tv is excited to be able to offer content to the more than 1 million Roku users completely free of charge. To learn more about Roku visit Roku.com. To add the LifeChurch.tv channel, visit the channel store on your Roku streaming player. Not a Roku user? No worries. You can always access our messages at http://www.lifechurch.tv/watch or download from OPEN.LifeChurch.tv to use them at your church.
*** So what do you think of a church taking a step like this? Do you think this is innovative? Effective? Do you think it’s a waste of time and effort? Would your church ever consider something like this? What are your thoughts?
Yesterday was a happy day for me (a huge Cowboys fan). I had been campaigning for years to get Wade Phillips fired. Actually, I never wanted him to get hired (there’s a lesson there – make sure you hire the right people), but I had spent the last 3 years calling for his firing.
Bottomline: If you can’t do your job and do it well, you don’t deserve a job. We are living in a tough economic time right now where people are hungry (literally) for work and would give anything to have your secure job. There’s no place for laziness or lack of leadership and initiative in any industry – including the Church.
As someone who consults with churches and organizations, having spent a lot of time with senior pastors and executive pastors, I know that there comes a time when it is no longer wise or healthy to keep someone on your staff. Please know that I don’t take this lightly and I know the sting of what it’s like being on the other end (having been laid off due to a church’s financial situation). I know that the employee has a family and this will be extremely difficult to cope with, but if an employee has been warned before and encouraged to change their attitude, work ethic or make progress in their given ministry area – it is something that is warranted and a leadership call that senior leaders need to make.
Am I just talking about paid staff members? Absolutely not. If you remember, 2 years ago I blogged about firing a volunteer. You can and should read it HERE. By the way, the Part Two of that story is after months of not serving and several meetings with the volunteer (including asking him to read “The Heart of the Artist”), he came back on the team with a great attitude, humbleness and we’re still friends to this day. When I’m back in Dallas, I can still see this volunteer and hang out with him (go out to eat, catch some live music, or go see a movie). We’re really friends – even after having to fire him for a season.
Do I believe in grace? BIG TIME. It’s my favorite word. Do I believe in second and third chances? Yes. Do I believe in coaching and leading someone to a better place in their career? Yes – if they’re willing, able, humble and teachable. I also write and teach on innovative organizations allowing and sometimes encouraging failure as they take strides towards new approaches to ministry and innovative breakthroughs. What I’m talking about here is one’s heart, attitude, work ethic and what they bring to your team or organization as a whole – also how they impact those around or under them. All this must be taken into account.
How do you handle unhealthy situations on your team? Have you had to fire a staff member or volunteer? Have you ever been fired and learned a hard lesson? What’s your thoughts on this?
I’ve had some interesting conversations and some frustrating experiences lately and it led me to this series of blog posts. Basically, after 16 years of local church ministry combined with consulting with churches around the country (and running my own business), I have formed some leadership philosophies and best practices, and would like to share them with you on here.
Please understand my heart and intent is to sincerely help you be better at what you do and help you be a better, more effective, more understanding and stronger leader. I encourage you to tune in each day as we delve into a number of topics (in no particular order). I also encourage you to share this with your staff/team.
I know some of you are my peers. Many of you have been at this longer and have much to offer. Some of you are new to ministry or are still hungry and wanting to grow in your given ministry. What I’m wanting to discuss is born out of life experience – not really book knowledge. It’ll be a combination of common sense mixed with wisdom that I’ve learned along the way. Whatever your situation, I think you’ll be able to learn or re-learn something useful as well as contribute to the conversation via comments.
For this introductory post, I’d like you to leave (as a comment) your best tips for church leadership. What have you learned the hard way? What do you consider to be essential? What one thing do you think every other pastor, staff member and volunteer should know?
Catalyst just posted this great article by my friend, Carlos Whittaker. You know I love talking innovation. See what Carlos has to say here:
ThinkSimpleNow.com has a VERY important post for people in ALL areas of life. Not just “creative teams” and such. If entire organizations begin to develop habits of innovation their end product is that much more effective. And for my organization, that product is eternal relationships with a living God.
I have taken their seven habits and graded myself on them.
1. Persistence - “Invention is 1% inspiration, 99% perspiration.” -Thomas A. Edison
I would say that this has always been a huge struggle for me. I have ALWAYS been a big picture guy. This is where my former time at Sandals Church has had a MAJOR impact on my life. It was J-rocka ,Nathan, Matt, and I for a LOOOOOOOONG time – and a countless number of volunteers giving their time to make ideas happen with little man power. At Sandals, ideas were more like .005% of the innovation. And without a team stronger than myself here, I fail miserably.
2. Remove Self-Limiting Inhibitions - Remember, innovation is more about psychology than intellect.
I think I am batting pretty high here. Again. Sandals. Meeting in a “borrowed space” for the last 9 years will do that for you. How can we make Pastor Matt do this…in a gym?
3. Take Risks, Make Mistakes - “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
An hourly choice for me. Maybe even more often. When people have told you that you will not accomplish something because of A, B, or C, you have an automatic reaction to try and bunt, be semi-successful, just make contact. Every decision I make has to be the best decision for the person walking in on Sunday morning. And not everyone agrees with those decisions. So I can’t be afraid to take risks. Many times at Buckhead Church we did this. It could have bombed. But we did it anyways.
4. Escape - Our environment can and does effect how we feel.
On the money. Although I had an AMAZING facility at Buckhead Church, I found that when I walked out onto the streets of Piedmont Ave. and Lenox Rd. I was suddenly surrounded by the very people I was trying to be creative for. And so I walked. I walked all the time. I walked to Starbucks, to the MARTA Station – wherever my feet would take me. I’ve even had a creative meeting on a MARTA train just so our team could be in the hustle of the world we are trying to reach.
5. Writing Things Down - Many innovators and creative people keep a journal to jot down ideas and thoughts.
Nails. Go buy a moleskine. Then go buy this. If someone on our team doesn’t write something down while we are talking about it, I can pretty much bank on it not getting done or barely getting done. Write down everything that comes to mind. If anything, it makes you more consistent.
6. Find Patterns & Create Combinations - Ideas come from other ideas.
Doing OK. The blogging world has given us a great opportunity for this. When I started the idea of a worship confessional it was with this in mind – people sharing their sets, videos, ideas, and hiccups together. Blogging is just one step in this viral communication world we are living in. Find patterns and ideas that are working and rip them off. It’s ok.
7. Curiosity - Practice seeing things differently.
Horrible. I get a solid D here. Why? Because even being part of what I consider to be 2 of the most innovative churches in America, Sandals Church and Buckhead Church, I find myself creating nothing more than the next traditional service. If we do not question everything, then it remains the same thing. And I ALWAYS want to be part of a church that is moving forward. Not standing still. So I surround myself with curious people who don’t settle. This is essential.
I know this community is spilling over with creative people. What areas are you exceeding in and which ones could you work on?
Carlos Whittaker is the former Service Programming Director Genius for Buckhead Church – a satellite campus of North Point Community Church in Alpharetta, GA. His blog - ragamuffinsoul.com – is (approximately) the most popular blog in the world. And he’s recently started the premier creative coaching network.
A few weeks ago we talked about the beauty of multi-site churches and the unique role of campus pastor. I’m still wanting to keep this discussion alive on this blog and will eventually build up to a new series of posts on this theme.
The Gospel Coalition recently released this fascinating conversation with Mark Dever, Mark Driscoll, and James MacDonald regarding multi-site church. Both Driscoll and MacDonald are proponents of multi-site churches utilizing video preaching. Dever is not.
Check out the video and share your thoughts.
Multiple Sites: Yea or Nay? Dever, Driscoll, and MacDonald Vote from Ben Peays on Vimeo.
I post my blogs in advance and was gone last week to the Catalyst Conference, but before I left town, I watched Glee on Tuesday night – which was about spirituality, Christianity, God not answering prayers and how Christians treat homosexuals. I was messed up. I think it was one of the best episodes (powerful and thought-provoking) I’ve ever seen on television.
In what I think was one of the best vocal performances I’ve ever heard, Kurt (who is the gay teen on Glee) sang a very moving rendition of “I Want to Hold Your Hand” by the Beatles. You can download the song HERE. Watch this video and tell me what you think.
Pretty powerful, huh? What disturbed me and pulled on my heart was the two characters (Kurt, the gay teen and Sue, the mean coach) that had very negative feelings toward God, Christianity and the cast of Glee singing spiritual songs and talking about going to church. Both had very real and valid reasons for their opinion. I was moved by both of their stories.
Kurt’s story moved me because I know there are gay teens sitting in the congregation of every church and the suicides of gay teenagers is on the rise – that disturbs me greatly. We’re going to be discussing this issue more on my blog in the next week. Please have your pastors read and interact with the discussion. My heart is to make pastors aware of this real issue that every church faces and urge them to be sensitive and choose their words carefully from the pulpit.
Sue’s story moved me because she has an older sister that is mentally handicapped and I have a heart for special needs persons. Glee, in a genius way, showed you a peek under the hood of what makes Sue tick, that she does have a heart and that she feels she was let down by God as a child. They drew me in with her backstory and made me even more compassionate toward her.
The last time I was moved like that was when I watched the movie “Rent” and heard the song “Will I?”. You can watch that below.
Let me hear from you, friends? Did you see Glee this past week? If not go watch it on Fox.com. Did you see “Rent”? What are your thoughts? Were you disturbed at all? Do you even care? Why or why not?
Last week, I noticed Will Mancini blog about some of the things we’ve been discussing on my blog the past week. I’ve got 2 new articles on what guests look for that I’m anxious for you to read, but they’ll appear first in Outreach magazine. In the meantime, I thought it would be helpful for you to read Will’s thoughts.
This goes back to why a church would want to hire a secret shopper. Will shares 7 checkpoints. I look for close to 100 different things when I do a secret shopper visit (resulting in a 16 page report). If you’re interested in bringing me in for a secret shopper visit, go HERE for more information. Read what Will had to say:
When a first time guest drives onto your campus, they will decide within 11 minutes whether or not they are coming back.
Yes, the decision is made before your guests experience worship and the content of the sermon- the two elements that demand most, if not all, of our time and attention in preparation.
What would it look like if you extended the same level of intention to the 11 minutes prior to walking in the sanctuary or worship center? Maybe the better question is “What would it feel like for your guests?”
It’s hard to overstate the wow factor a church body creates by serve generously through a system of hospitality. For the last 10 years I have observed and analyzed over 200 churches while conducting a “secret worshipper” experience. It is a service at Auxano we call the “Guest Perspective Evaluation.” One of my greatest thrills in ministry is tasting the variety of size, location, and spiritual heritage of these churches. But the most important observation is that any church can take small steps to make a dramatic difference in welcoming guests.
This post is the first time I have shared any of our tools or learnings. And the first place to start is to imagine seven checkpoints for your guest. Think of the checkpoints as “gates” or even “hurdles” that any first time guest must navigate to get from their comfy family room to your worship service. With every gate comes a simple question: Has the church removed the inherent difficulty of navigating the gate for the first time?
More specifically I look for every opportunity to make each gate simple, easy and obvious to navigate. Any particular difficulties created by your location or facility should be viewed as hospitality opportunities. By providing a great solution to an obvious barrier, you enhance the wow-factor of the hospitality.
THE SEVEN CHECKPOINTS
#1 Before Departure: Are directions and service times immediately accessible to guests from your church website, phone recording and yellow pages?
#2 Travel to Location: Do guests know where to turn into your church location?
#3 Parking Lot: Do guests know where to park?
#4 Building Entrance: Do guests know which door to enter?
#5 Children’s Ministry: Do guests know where to take their kids?
#6 Welcome Center: Do guest know where to go for more information?
#7 Worship: Do guests know which door to enter?
*** Do you have these 7 checkpoints covered at your church?
Continuing on with the theme from my last blog post (go HERE if you haven’t read it), I’d like to get straight to the heart of the matter. What all these “fastest-growing churches” have in common is an external focus. The reason that most churches in the United States are plateaued or dying is that they have an inward focus.
This inward focus affects everything they do from their leadership and decisions that they make to their style of worship and marketing strategy (or lack of one). In contrast, churches that are externally-focused make decisions based on the people that are not already there. I actually was just discussing this very thing with my mentor last week in our weekly meeting.
The reason that I made the connection to fast-growing churches using consultants and services like secret shopping is to point out that they are passionate about reaching lost people and will do whatever it takes to grow and make an impact in their community.
When you make decisions as an organization, do you make them based on pleasing your existing congregation or doing whatever it takes to reach the people that are not already there? I know pastors and church leaders in fast-growing churches that will unapologetically say they make decisions based on their community and the people they’re trying to reach. They make it clear to their congregation that they are focused on reaching the lost and constantly cast that vision to their people.
To be honest, the difference between the internally-focused church and the externally-focused church is a vision leak. Churches that don’t intentionally, strategically, purposefully and consistently cast a vision for reaching the lost will inevitably turn inward. How do you address this constant struggle in your church? What tough decisions have you made to be an externally-focused church?
