Category: Church Leadership

Man, I hope people don’t come here looking for ideas on everything under the sun.

Here’s what I am working on as one of my mini-projects. I could really use some input. If there are people that have seen very creative and effective answers to some of these project goals I would be happy.

Yeah… greeters ministry. It’s something that is vitally important for a growing church like ours and I have no idea how to make it better.

– Set goals for team
– Create a structure that makes sense
– Sort out the food thing (quality/quantity)
– First time visitors, create a reason for them to go to the Resource Center

I get a lot of blank stares when I talk about the importance of the internet when it comes to a local church ministry. Even some people at our church will openly wonder, "Why are we using the internet so much? Why is it so important?"

Well, USA Today has an excellent article about the connection between people checking out the church and them checking it out online.

Instead, observers say, they’re visiting
church websites and evaluating congregations often without having
actually met anyone at the church. And that has some church people
worried that the practice of faith is getting ever more impersonal
and consequently less powerful in an age driven by efficiency and
impatience.

Church shoppers "used to have to go to the service,
sit in the back row and watch," says Tom Bandy, president of EasumBandy
& Associates, a church consultancy. "The website has just replaced
that. The color schemes, the formatting, the language, the music those things powerfully reveal who they (in the church) want to come
there and who’s going to be accepted there." Story

HT to Church Marketing Sucks

I’m out in the yard and we are having a great turnout! hoping the rain holds off.

The latest marketing trend is to go green. Meaning: Doing things that are good, or pseudo-good, for the environment.

Terms that are popular along these lines…
– Bio-anything
– Renewable
– Carbon Footprint (offset)

Coming soon to a store near you is renewable anything, bio-everything, and stuff that has negative carbon impact.

Even if you don’t buy into the global warming stuff (which I don’t) you can appreciate going away from wasteful sources of energy and resources and towards things that have less waste. Anyone who has traveled to a European country has seen little ways to eliminate packaging excesses or ways to save a little gas or heat a little less of a home. And anyone who has been in a developing country (until recently called a third world country) will see that our garbage becomes their garbage. While the United States is pretty good about hiding our wasted stuff [and Canada’s too] these developing nations simply have no way to hide the junk they produce and the junk they allow to be dumped there by Americans.

Where is the church on this issue?
Most churches are decidedly "anti-green." They simply don’t care about wasting stuff. Even worse, they are late on the bandwagon that "green" isn’t just about tree hugging wackos; it’s about normal people now, Christian and non-Christian alike, who want to make sure we don’t blow it for our kids. I really feel like being a Christian means that we need to be good manager of all that God has given us. I don’t think I want to associate myself with Greenpeace and other leftist nuts… but I am seeing and feeling a strong pull to become less of a corporate waster-of-crap.

Here are a couple of things worth considering… because it’s little things that save a lot of energy.

• Consider zoned heating. Kristen and I are constantly mocked for keeping our home a little cool in the winter, especially at night. We’ve installed (and are buying more of) a little space heater that is safe and runs on almost nothing. Check this out. By running these we can keep the bedrooms nice and warm and basically turn off our forced air heating system at night. What is the point of heating rooms you won’t be in all night? We live in a 135 year old house. The house was designed for zoned heating… it’s not bad, it’s good stewardship.
• Consider driving less. I’m sick of people complaining about gas prices. If it continues to change people’s driving habits I hope a gallon of gas goes up to $5. There are two things attached to your stumps, they are called feet. You can even walk when the weather isn’t perfect and you are allowed to do it for transportation too. It may take a little longer but you’ll feel great. I know I live in Detroit and cars = jobs. But you don’t need 2-3 cars in one house. You don’t need an 8 passenger SUV for your 4 person family. You can carpool to work, school, church, small group, after school stuff. It may not be super convenient or super efficient all the time… but it is a good thing! I say this little phrase all the time and it saves me tons of gas and an extra car, "Can you drop me off at my house?" Most of our driving habits can be broken. It’s not that "you can’t" (which I hear all the time) it’s that "you won’t." If, for some reason, Kristen and I ever get enough money to replace our car… it’s bio-deisel or hybrid. The more of us that force this issue, the more the automakers will make. (Remember economics class?)
• Consider canceling crap. We need to pressure the post office to stop giving us mountains of sale papers we don’t want. We keep a box of "burn pile paper" and you’d be surprised how much goes into it on a weekly basis. Something else that is a waste… the newspaper. I normally read 20-30 news stories a day and I haven’t subscribed to a newspaper in forever. Why? There is this wonderful thing called the internet. It’s better than a newspaper or magazine subscription any day. I can read it when I want to, where I want it delivered, and I don’t even have to throw it away.

I know I’ve kind of gone off a bit here. The simple fact is that Christians need to start thinking about "how can I live a life glorifying to God that is about "less" and not "more." Using more does not equal God’s blessing! It often means we are bad managers of the resources God has given us. More than that… these are things that we are willing to lead the way on.

Got any more things we should consider? Comments are welcome!

I’m sure most of us have felt how Perry Noble felt when he posted this today:

I recently heard of a church in the area taking a stab at NewSpring
DURING a worship service, saying that we allow people to dress any way
they wish and that suits and dresses are not required, even frowned
upon in our church. This comment was made to criticize us…but lets
unpack it for a second. 🙂

I hate this too. There is nothing worse than a church attacking your church. It’s just annoying and funny at the same time. Been a while since we’ve gotten this… but it comes and goes.

I love his response.

It’s time that Christians people that go to church
STOPPED this crap! Dressing up does not make you godly…for many it
simply means they are good looking hypocrites!!! The REAL question is
how is your heart…are you and I doing what Jesus outlined in Matthew 22:36-40?  THAT matters!!!  (Once again please note they asked Jesus about what was most important…and He never mentioned a dress code!)

Preach it Perry-man.