Greg Atkinson

Yeah, I said it. When you get that knock on your door and look up to see someone standing in your doorway saying, “Do you have a moment?” – they’re not interrupting your work. They ARE your work. Ministry is about people;  it always has been and always will be.

One thing that bugs me is hanging out with pastors that say (not jokingly), “Ministry would be great if it weren’t for the people.” It pains my heart that pastors and Church leaders don’t get this simple truth. We are the Body of Christ and every member is important and special. We are called to shepherd God’s people and that involves getting our hands dirty and yes, being bothered and interrupted.

IMPORTANT: This isn’t about being an introvert or extrovert. This is about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, Who is always at work around us. As ministers, we should seek the opportunities to show and express Christ’s love to those we lead and serve.

Speaking of seeking opportunities: You have to be intentional. What does your weekly schedule look like? How many breakfasts, coffees and lunches do you schedule each week? I fill my calendar with people meetings and have for 16 years. If you go from administrative meeting to meeting and never schedule any time with your volunteers and staff, you’re missing a crucial part of leadership and the opportunity to be God in the flesh to someone in need.

So where do you go from here? Here’s an action item: When you notice someone down, frustrated, hurt or just not themselves, you should take the initiative to ask if they need someone to talk to or how you can pray for them. When you’re in the midst of busy/office work and someone calls, texts, emails, IMs, or drops by your office – take the time to listen and serve. Be the hands and feet of Christ to those you come in contact with – it’s what we’re called to do and you’ll be a better and more trusted, respected and loved leader because of it.

So – confession time: Have you ever been in the midst of busy/office work and had someone drop by un-announced? How did you handle it? Do you have the presence of mind to be sensitive to the Spirit?

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.

I’m always on the lookout for creative and innovative videos that can challenge and stretch us all to reflect our Creator. I try to post them on here when I come across them. Yesterday I came across David Crowder’s new video for his song “Shine”. I think it’s pretty cool. What do you think about it?

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.

We’re chatting with Steve Lacy, founder and president of StreamingChurch.TV.

Q- Steve, what exactly is StreamingChurch.TV and how did it get started?

StreamingChurch.tv provides the ability for churches to broadcast their services live on the internet.  StreamingChurch.tv actually grew out of our original ministry product, MyFlock.com.  MyFlock.com began as a social networking tool within a church body created to connect church members with each other.  MyFlock.com was introduced 5 years before Facebook or MySpace, although with a slightly different purpose.  While Facebook was designed to keep you connected with friends you already have, MyFlock’s purpose is to foster new relationships within the church body by providing profile matching tools and other tools designed to connect you with other members within your church.  To accomplish this goal, we created several interactivity tools designed to get members interacting with each other.  When we launched StreamingChurch.tv, we leveraged some of these interactivity tools (chat room, private messaging, interactive maps, etc.) into the StreamingChurch.tv platform.

Q- What makes you guys different from other companies providing streaming services to churches?

Interactivity.  Rather than providing just a live video feed online, we try to replicate the interactive experience a guest would have when attending the service at your physical facility.  For example when visiting a new church in person, you’ll most likely be greeted by someone as you approach the service.  You’ll find a similar experience with an online greeter when attending a StreamingChurch.tv service online.

You’ll be logged into the chat room as you arrive and the system will automatically announce your arrival and there’s a good chance an online greeter from the church will give you a “virtual handshake” and welcome you to the service.  The system is designed to provide both the guest and the church volunteers/members the ability to connect while attending the service.  My church’s web pastor likes to point out that the online church service is a safe place where you can actually “talk in church” and have it add to the experience and ministry opportunities.  Obviously guests can interact as much or as little as they wish online.  Some arrive to the online service and just say “hi” and then retreat to just watch the service, while others actively engage.

We also provide tools that allow attenders to bring their identity and social network to the service.  For example, they can login using the Facebook Connect option and their Facebook profile pic appears in the chat and “who’s attending” area.  The online invitation tools also automatically provide the opportunity to invite their Facebook friends as well as “tweet” the service to their followers via an automated Twitter integration.

Another key distinction of our service is the ability for ministries and churches to seamlessly integrate their StreamingChurch.tv’s “online campus” into their existing church website so that it appears as a natural part (or extension) of their existing church web site.

Q- How long have you been helping churches?

We got started with MyFlock.com in 2001 and have been serving thousands of ministries for almost 10 years now.  In the summer of 2008, my home church (AliveChurch.com) launched a multi-site campus where we began broadcasting our services live to a remote facility.  As my church leadership looked at it, we saw that they could create an online web campus that everyone could attend with very little additional effort.  That was the beginning of StreamingChurch.tv.  Our developers were able to quickly leverage several of the interactivity tools into StreamingChurch.tv and we began offering the service to other ministries in late 2008.

Q- Do you believe every church should stream their services live?

Absolutely!  Many churches don’t realize how little additional effort is required to broadcast their services.  Most ministries already video tape or record their services now for viewing at a later time.  That means most ministries already have the infrastructure in place necessary to broadcast; cameras, computers and an internet connection.  To broadcast live, you just need to connect these parts together, connect with a streaming provider and you’re broadcasting online.

Another key reason to broadcast live is that it’s an integral ingredient to your church growth.  Attending services online is the easiest, lowest barrier way for new people to experience your church and determine if it’s a fit for them.  Also once you start broadcasting, you’ve now equipped your members with a great low intimidation tool to invite their friends to church.  Members can say “yeah, check out my church this weekend.  We broadcast our services online at mychurchwebsite.com”.

My home church has quadrupled our regular attendance (to over 1000 attenders a weekend) in less than 2 years since we began broadcasting live.

Q – What’s the biggest challenge for churches desiring to stream?

There really aren’t any big challenges to streaming your services live.  Although I believe there are challenges to effectively creating a vibrant online ministry that leads to church growth (both online and in-person).  Pastors and church leaders need to treat their online broadcast as another campus (rather than just a video presence online).  This means investing their vision, thoughts and energy into some of the same things they invest in their physical campus.  Do I have a skilled greeter at the front doors?  What about my online campus?  Does my church look inviting to a first time visitor?  What about my online campus?  Are there lay leaders in place to minister to attenders?  Who’s in place for those needing private prayer in the online campus?

Getting your members and lay leadership involved online with your web campus is essential for the care and feeding of those first time visitors checking out your church online.  If the experience isn’t good online, chances are they will not bother giving your ministry a chance in person.  We’ve found at my home church that the majority of those that become new members at our church (AliveChurch.com), first attended a service online.

Q- What the future look like for the “streaming” age and technology in general for churches?

Wow.  I believe that the future is really bright for streaming and technology in general for ministries.  The church has been leveraging technology in ministry dating back to the time when the Romans first built roads to connect their cities.  This equipped those of that day a technology that led to an explosion of spreading the gospel.  As time has progressed, so has the technology of the day.

Think of some of the technology over the ages and it’s incredible affect on evangelism; the Gutenberg press, television, the internet… Wow!  What’s next?  As you know, technology is accelerating and its capability for ministry is growing exponentially.  I believe the internet and broadcasting your services live is still in the early phases of it’s maturity.  As television viewing continues to wane and consuming your media via the internet continues to increase, I believe the church is in a unique position to reach the world for Christ using streaming technology.

I had a blast at the Catalyst Conference this past week. If you’ve never been, you’ve got to check it out – they’re coming to a region near you with Catalyst West, Catalyst Central and Catalyst East all slated for 2011. Check out this video they showed at the conference by Tripp and Tyler, featuring Chris Tomlin.

What are you doing November 3-5? How about joining me in beautiful San Diego? I’ll be speaking again this year at the National Outreach Convention and enjoying the worship, fellowship, networking and learning from various gifted speakers.

I’ll also be teaching THIS class where you can learn about what I (and visitors) look for when they come to your church. I’ve attended and taught at #NOC10 before and can assure you this is one of the premier conferences in the country. The focus is outreach, but the takeaways are numerous.

Just look at THIS lineup and all the quality speakers. The hard part is choosing which breakout to attend. Each one is taught by speakers that could give a keynote – they’re truly gifted and insightful. The general sessions are powerful, too and will fill your tank.

If all you heard was Christine Caine in a breakout and Mark Batterson’s and Matt Chandler’s main session, it would be worth the price of admission, but there’s 3 days full of programming. This conference is packed full of great content, challenging topics and even discussion groups.

The discussion groups (which are in addition to the breakouts and main sessions) are led by friends of mine like Charles, Hill, Carlos Whittaker, Phil Cooke, Shawn Wood, John Bishop, Dino Rizzo – plus even more led by homerun hitters like Dan Kimball and Christine Caine, to name a few.

Act now and get $50 off ALL tickets right now. People should use NOCOCT as a coupon code to get early bird pricing. I hope to see you in beautiful San Diego – where you can rest assured it will be 72 degrees.

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.

Ever since I witnessed the launch of the new Apple TV for $99, I’ve been planning on getting one. Then I started hearing a lot of hype and buzz about Roku. Have you heard of Roku? I first heard about them thanks to Twitter. I then saw it compared to the Apple TV on a TV show.

If you want more info, read THIS article that share’s one guy’s opinion on why you should buy the Roku instead of the new Apple TV and read THIS article that gives a good comparison of the two products.

I’ve mentioned before that I think there are a number of uses for products like these at churches. I know my church has an Apple TV and uses it often. I also remember Terry Storch of LifeChurch.tv saying that it was an essential piece of gear that all churches should possess.

What about you? Any of you have the new Apple TV? Any of you have the Roku? Have you compared the two? What’s your verdict? Or are you waiting for something else (like Google TV or the new Sony product)? What are your thoughts?