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4 Ways to Make Your Environments Attractive

February 11, 2013 — Leave a comment

Environments

“Do you create a compelling place that people want to return to the next week?

The most important thing we can do to create a place people want to come back to is make sure our environment are amazing. It’s numero uno, there isn’t anything bigger, and it’s never 2nd place to anything! The environment is the place people are going. It’s the smells the smell, the sounds they hear, the things they see, and the people they interact with. It’s the parking lot, the front doors, the hallway and the classrooms.

Simply put, the environment is EVERYTHING someone experiences when they visit you. Everything. This isn’t a Children’s Ministry truth, this is a church-wide element. Here are 4 ways to make your environments better!

1. Make it Noisy. Music matters. It’s only bad if it’s missing, too loud, or too quiet. Think of grocery stores, doctors offices, and being on hold with an operator. Music calms, it’s setups something important, and it paints the walls of the mind.

2. Make it Easy. Do we make it easy for parents to get into our spaces, and do we make it quick? I’ve been in some amazingly beautiful hallways that had such an unorganized check-in process that you’d never notice how pretty those walls were. If parents can’t find where to go, and how to get there quickly, then they won’t be happy. Just think of your first time somewhere new. You want in and you want out, and you want to do both of them as fast as possible!

3. Make it Fun. A great environment should include the sound of someone laughing, and I’m not talking the evil Disney movie villain laughing. It should be a fun place to be. For you it may be a play structure, or maybe a fun bus stop bench at check-in, or video games setup somewhere. Fun alone won’t do much good, but fun can be the entry door to get kids to keep dragging their parents back to church.

4. Make it Safe. Would you like every parent to know that you love their child? Then work hard to create a safe and secure environment. Background checks, pick-up receipts, locked doors during service time, and security at every exit are just the basics. If you’re not doing these things, and more, then you’re not speaking a parents love language.

 

I Corinthians 9:22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 

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Friday Bag #24

February 8, 2013 — Leave a comment

The Friday Bag

The 12 Essentials of Church Communications -  “The church is the hope of the world. As church leaders we have the responsibility of communicating the greatest message known to mankind; the only message capable of changing a person’s entire eternity.”

For 40 Years this Russian Family was cutoff from civilization – “In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga.” // This is an absolutely incredible story of survival. Really amazing, really, really.

4 Signs you will Fail as a Leader - “Outwardly, you appear effective, dependable, on top of things. But look closer. Are you in danger of destructive behaviors?”

Budweisers Clydesdale Ad takes a Dark Turn - Via the Conan O’Brien Show

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It’s Hard to Get to Church Sometimes

February 7, 2013 — Leave a comment

Sunday Morning

In the book, Zombies, Football and the Gospel, Reggie Joiner talks of how Sunday’s are now a day to watch football, be with family, and do just about anything else but church. I know that this varies from one city to another, but the reality is that most just don’t feel the need to be at your church every week.

Have you imagined all that happens before someone even arrives at your church for the first time?

  • They have to convince family members to attend. Maybe it’s a cranky teenager, or a detached spouse. Most in a family will not visit a church for the first time by themselves. They’re going to try and get someone to go with them.
  • They have to wake up early, when maybe they don’t usually do so. So you have a Saturday or Sunday night service…that’s not normal for the weekend warrior either. No matter the time or day you meet, you’re still asking someone to do something they wouldn’t normally do at a time that they wouldn’t normally do anything.
  • They have the challenge of getting kids ready before arriving. This isn’t even easy for those of us that attend every weekend.
  • Walked into a place where only a few know their name, and the smaller church the more of a challenge this is for visitors.

But, you know what? That’s allright. It is what it is. The question to ask yourself is a personal, and more self-directed one.

“Do you create a compelling place that people want to return to the next week?

All of those ‘reasons it’s hard to get to church’ above are legitimate  but there is also something bigger at play. The people that visit your church for the first time and press through those reasons have something compelling them to be there. Maybe something has been sparked in their lives that compels them to do what they never thought they’d do.

Don’t lose fact of the truth that many of the people who visit are coming because they need something and do not yet know what that is.

 

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Give a Parent a Break

January 30, 2013 — 2 Comments

TakeItEasy

Many of us that work at churches are guilty of giving parents the hardest time of anyone. Don’t believe me? Well, have you ever had the following thoughts:

Why are they always so late? 

I hate it when they pick their kid up early, right before the good part.

If these parents only knew how messed up their teenager was they’d get them to church more often!

Can you imagine what would happen if all these parents decided to show up on the same Sunday?

If those were my kids I would (insert really smart parenting thing here.)

Why do I even try to send them emails? They never read them.

I’m guilty, you’re guilty, and we’re all guilty together. For just a second we should consider that maybe, just maybe…it’s a HUGE win that they attempted to come. Maybe we could give parents some credit for deciding to be there, even if they decide to leave early. Maybe we could give parents some credit for trying, even if the trying seems half-hearted. Could we please stop complaining when they don’t engage us at every…single…solitary…event?

I’m learning to have enough faith in my church, my God, and myself to know that if they just keep trying; they will find it. If they can find confidence in my smile, then good for them. If they could be inspired by what I don’t say, but they know I’m thinking…then even better.

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Replacing the Great Leader

November 29, 2012 — Leave a comment

Saying Goodbye

We work with some amazing leaders, all of us do. There are dynamic all-stars all around us. They create safe places for kids and students to grow up. They give of their time, willingly by the way. They lean into our kids on the issues that matter. They oftentimes invest hours of their own prayer time for the kids and students we love so dearly. But here is another truth about these people as well that we often don’t want to speak of…they also leave.

It’s true. Good people always leave eventually. You were probably one of these people yourself; you served, grew, and gave yourself to something…and then it was time for you to leave. It’s not a bad thing, really. Living in college towns for years has taught me that I need also be prepared for turnover in my leadership. Our college kids will graduate college, and they will move away to start their lives in new cities and at new churches. There comes a time that I begin to prepare them for leaving. As we are faced with the prospect of leaders leaving (for all the right reasons), we can and should be building some things into these leaders.

Leaders leave, and I don’t have to fear the consequences of them walking away. I can lead with confidence in the moment I live and serve in, and that will bring the necessary boldness for a new day down the road.

1. I have to convince them that what they do is long-term. Even though there will be job moves, relocations, and life changes; there is still a very future oriented impact they have. Reminding them that the kids and students they invest in will keep reaping from their time with them, will encourage them to replace themselves.

2. I want to introduce them to all that the church can be in the world today. Yes, they love our church. But, they also need to love THE church. It’s that love and passion that will help them transition wherever they go. When they know that they are a strong, but small, part of the entire church then they will be encouraged to replace themselves well.

3. I will model apprenticing and mentoring for them. I will be working to replace myself as well, and therefore always keeping the cycle of leaders strong in every organization I lead into. When I model it, they will be encouraged to replace themselves as well.

 

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