One of my side project is something we’re calling “The Invite Project.” (In other words, it doesn’t have a fancy name.) Basically, the church leadership is trying to learn how the people who attend our church feel our outreach efforts are going. Are we doing too much? Are we not doing enough? Are we trying to hard in one area and missing something obvious? Are people inviting people to church? Why do some invites work and others don’t?
I don’t think Romeo is alone in our desire to grow and reach people. Simply put, bringing new people into the kingdom of God is one of the two primary things a church should be doing. (Equip the saints, reach the lost. Both are related.) As I taught over the summer… for the people who attend the church our primary life’s mission is to reach the community we live in with the life-saving message of a relationship with Jesus. The Romeo community, our neighbors, are the mission field of our lives.
What I think makes Romeo semi-unique is that we’re trying our hardest to use innovative ways to reach people since the “old ways” a lot of us grew up on just don’t work. I’ve been around enough churches to know that “freedom to innovate” and “church staff” are usually oxymorons. (It’s easier to copy than to innovate.) What we need to know now is which of these methods work, which don’t, which need more training, which need improvements, and which should we kill. The thing about innovating new ways to do things is that there is always a failure rate. You go into an innovation mode needing to know if an experiment works or if it fails. When you are inventing a better light bulb, failure is obvious. But when you are trying to invent a system to invite people to church… you need feedback!
So, without further delay. If you currently attend Romeo… please take this survey. The target for this step is at least 75 attenders. As of this moment, 12 have taken it. (Pretty good for the first 24 hours!)
Jimmy and I are off to shoot 2 more elf videos for services this weekend. If we have time there will even be some bonus commercials available online only.
Apparently the people of Romeo have never seen grown men dressed like elves before. Until today. As Jimmy and I were stopping to take pictures and waving in their cars and generally enjoying the sight.