8 Bad Habits that Keep Your Church Communications Stuck in a Rut

by: Rich Birch

1

Tweet

We can get stuck in a rut when it comes to our leadership and church communications. Even in the most “progressive” churches we can just do things the way that they have always been done. Here are a few areas that I think we can suffer from our past habits sneaking up on us …

• Too Much Reliance on the Bulletin // The church bulletin is still a staple communications tool in church’s today. But if you think that getting your “ad” in the program will move people to action in your church you may be delusional.  Try this … put an ad in this weekend’s bulletin offering $10 for the first 10 people that contact you via email … you’ll be surprised how few people contact you. If it’s important to communicate to your church than you need to use many channels to get the message out!
• Using the Senior Pastor as the Magic Bullet // We all know that if the lead pastor at your church gets up and communicates whatever the need is your people will be moved to action. But the more that person leverages their influence in this way the less effective it is. Choose wisely how you manage the finite amount of trust your senior leaders have with people … don’t waste it on secondary issues at your church.
• Too Many Messages // How many things are you “asking” your people to be involved with? Cut it in half … and then next year cut it in half again. Narrow the focus on what you communicate about to get traction in your church. The more you talk about the less likely any of it will make an impact.
• Way Too Much Asking … Not Enough Celebrating // We suffer from talking too much about the future in our churches … asking people to come to events, join small groups, volunteer for upcoming outreaches. We need to spend more time celebrating what has happened in the life our churches! Thank donors. Take time out to declare isn’t it great to be a part of us?!
• Complex Response Systems // We want to make it easier for “us” so we make our people jump through more hoops than is necessary to sign up for stuff. We should be finding ways to reduce friction for our people … simplify, simplify simplify! Typically that means it’s going to be more work for “us” … but that’s ok … that’s what being in leadership is all about!
• Lousy Visuals // We live in a post-literate society. Your people need you to communicate with them in a visual manner. Your messages need compelling images (and video?) to move people to action. Most church leaders think in words and concepts while the people we lead are visual learners … we need to close that gap!
• Acronyms // This is a serious pet peeve of mine … acronyms are total “insider language”. They aren’t friendly to the people we are trying to lead. They are used by the “in” people to have a “code language” that can’t be understood by outsiders … acronyms make us feel great but make new people feel left out. (Similar … “cool” program names that aren’t self evident. It’s cool that your kids program is called Nirmātā Land … but the fact that you need to constantly explain that it means Creator Land in Nepalese is sideways energy and confuses outsiders.)
• You’re Passionate … They’re Not // We’re called to shepherd and lead the people that we serve. By definition the shepherd is more passionate and knowledgeable than the sheep. Stop assuming that your people care about what is happening at your church. Don’t whine that people aren’t joining your ministry approach … it’s our job to raise our programs up in their priorities. They don’t come to it passionate … our role is to lead them there … to shepherd them.

Each one of those I’ve suffered from in my leadership in church communications! What am I missing from this list?

>> Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Rich Birch, church communications

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

8 Charts Depicting Cultural Change: How Will Your Church React?

by: Rich Birch

0

Tweet

One of our roles as church leaders is to have our pulse on the shifting cultural around us so we can serve our community better. We need understand the times so we can have clarity on what actions we should be taking as a church. Below are some “signs of the times” and some quick thoughts on what impact I believe these will have on us in the coming years.

>> Your community is more culturally diverse than it has ever been.

There are more people who don’t “look like you” than ever before. Our churches need to learn how to move beyond trying to reach one monolithic stereotype cultural group and figure out how to ensure our ministries can reach a wide variety of cultures. Still doubt this reality?“Minority babies” are now “majority” in our culture. Some impacts of this shifting reality in your church might be:

• Spanish Translation // What are you doing to make your services available in spanish?
• Leadership Makeup //  When was the last time you asked why your staff doesn’t reflect the community you are trying to reach?
• Music & Parties // There isn’t one type of musical expression or celebration that is enjoyed in your community anymore … what does that mean for your services?

>> People are getting older.

The Baby Boomers have defined so many cultural trends of the last 100 years and they are just starting to define “retirement” and “the older years”. Life expectancy is set to continue to rise for the next 20-30 years to point where a larger percentage of the population will be living past 80 years of age than ever before. Some potential impacts of this trend might be …

• Boomer Pastors // All those boomer pastors that now in their 60s … might very well be serving well into their 70s. What impact will that have on passing leadership to the next generation?
• Half Time // People will be looking at the “second half” of their lives and wondering how they can move from success to significance. How can the church provide a place for these leaders looking to invest their abilities into reaching the next generation?
• Senior Targeted Churches? // When is someone going to come out and launch a church targeted at people over 60 and their families?

>> Marrying Older, But Sooner?

If you have been involved in helping people get married you’ve noticed that median age of people getting married has risen over time. This is somewhat true … In reality the trend was that in the 50s & 60s people where getting married at a younger age than was typical. Even more intriguing to me is that as life expectancy has grown longer and longer the percentage of their lives that they are married has grown significantly. Almost 3x what it was 100 years ago! [Click here to see the female version of the above chart.] Some impacts of this trend might be …

• What are young adults? // Some ministries go pretty negative on the “non-married” young people attending their church … labeling this period between the end of college and marriage as a “second adolescence”. Our churches need to embrace this reality and not alienate this group from our church!
• Release This People! // Paul was pretty clear in 1 Corinthians 7 that there are some distinct advantages for the gospel to not being married. How can we cast vision for this group to leverage this unique time for the mission of Jesus?
• New Pressures? // People are married for a long time … “until death do us part” means 3x as long as it did for people 100 years ago. What pressures does this place on marriages that didn’t exist back then?

>> We’re not delaying having kids.

In the late 1980s a new cultural trend took hold that has continued until today … as a culture we started having babies before we were married. Today, almost half of all babies are born to unmarried mothers, and the median first birth happens around one year earlier in a woman’s life than her median age of first marriage. Some questions this trend has generated in me are:

• Where are the single moms? // Why aren’t there more single moms in my church? What does that say about our ability to reach the community?
• What is “Family Ministry”? // Parenthood has changed. Have our assumptions to what “family ministry” is changed?
• How can we support? // We know that kids born into a strong social network have a better shot at life. Marriage provides one of those social networks … since that is a fraying institution how does the church need to step in and support these families?

>> Our community is more politically divided.

Okay … before you jump all over me to fusing politics and church life … I believe that politics is just one way to get a sense of what is happening in the broader culture. I’m not making a values judgement on this divide … but the reality is that there is a growing gulf between the “left” and the “right” in our communities. As an example … Tony Campolo hasn’t changed his political views but in the last few years he’s caught flack from the “Christian right” on a regular basis. (I remember as a young person our church showing a Tony Campolo film at our evening service … I’m not sure that same church would do that today.) For my Canadian friends … Would former Baptist Pastor, Tommy Douglas be welcomed in your church today? Some questions on this polarization for church leaders:

• Withdraw to the Mountains? // “When Jesus saw that they were ready to force him to be their king, he slipped away into the hills by himself.” –John 6:15
• A Faith of Our Own // One of the clearest thinkers on this topic I’ve run into is Jonathan Merrit. Read his book … or watch this video of him at our church a few years ago. What do you think about what he’s saying?
• Fox News Faith? // We all have political leanings as church leaders.Admit it. How do your political views shape your leadership and view of the world around you? Lead from a self aware point of view. Jesus rejected political answers to conditions of the heart … so should we.

>> Welcome to the Age of the Nones.

It’s official … the fastest growing religious group in our culture are people who identify their religious affiliation as “none”. The acceleration rate of people identifying themselves in this category is breath taking. In the coming years you will increasingly bump into people who don’t identify themselves as having any “faith tradition” at all. Some potential issues for church leaders to think about on this are …

• Cool Alternatives Aren’t Enough // Offering a church service that is “better” than what people experienced when they were kids (and last attended church) isn’t enough to reach “nones”. Put it this way … if you’ve never been (and aren’t interested in) horseback riding the fact that there is a really cool stable in your town means nothing to you … you’re never going to check it out. We have to start our conversation with people in a totally different manner.
• Huge Opportunity // I see this as a massive evangelism and discipleship opportunity. The idea of not having to “unprogram” people negative past approaches to faith is exciting.
• Learn From Others // We need to stop looking to the south to learn from churches reaching people in communities with less “nones” than in the rest of the country. We should be looking to Canada, Europe and other cultures to find churches reaching those communities with the message of Jesus despite this cultural reality.

>> People are More Educated

People have more formal post-secondary education than ever before. On top of this people have wide spread access to information at their finger tips really for the first time in history. At one point in history church leaders where amongst the most educated people in a community but that just isn’t the case anymore. [As a side note … females are far more educated than males in our culture. What does that do to your cultural understanding of 1 Timothy 2?] Here are some impacts this trend might have on your church:

• 3 Points & Joke Doesn’t Work Anymore // You can’t just wing your messages on the weekend. Sermons need to be rigorously prepared and assume people have a level of education that whoever taught you about preaching didn’t assume.
• Work With the Internet // In a world where people have access to unlimited knowledge we need wisdom even more! Help people learn how to learn not just what they need to know.
• Present Different Points of View // The Kingdom of God is a rich and diverse community with people that have very different theological points of view. Be okay with that. Educated people know that not everyone shares the same point of view as them … and they are okay with that. Don’t be so dogmatic with your gray area theological intricacies. It turns educated people off.

>> People Drive Less

Stay with me for this last one … as a kid who grew up with a dad who worked in the automotive industry I’ve seen the impact that the car has had on our culture. In some ways … the history of the last one hundred years can be seen as a story that the car has had on our culture. Something has shifted in the last few years where people are driving less than they used to. (Gas prices, home offices, cocooning, etc.) This is bound to have an impact on our churches …

• Average Drive Time // The “church growth movement” was largely driven be “destination churches” where people would drove past their local parish and drive to a church that met their needs more. People are going to be less likely to drive long distances to come to your church. This reality is driving the growth of the multisite church movement today.
• Your Actual Neighbors // How are we reaching people who are within a reasonable walking (or biking?) distance of our church buildings? Do we need to double down on that? Maybe the parish wasn’t such a bad idea after all …
• House Churches // This reality will drive the growth of people meeting in homes to have a fully functional “church” experience … rather than driving to some religious building. How is your church leveraging that opportunity?

What trends do you see happening the broader culture that are impacting your church?

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Change leadership, Cultural Change, Rich Birch

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

9 Reasons What You Say About Giving Goes Unheard

by: Rich Birch

0

Tweet

At some point every church leader needs to get in front of their community and ask them to give to the mission. These moments can be some of the most awkward moments ever in your services. As a leader you feel like a slimy used car salesmen … while your people look down at their shoes and just hope you will just stop!

It doesn’t have to be that way! Asking people to join the mission through giving to your church can be as vibrant as any other part of your services. Here are some things you need to avoid to make the “giving talk” less awkward.

• The why is unclear. // Make sure that every time you talk about the finances at your church you start with the vision behind what you do with the money. Go out of your way to connect the dots between the finances of your ministry and difference it’s making in people’s lives.
• You’re being too cold. // People make decisions about giving to any cause based on emotions. When you focus too much on charts, data and statistics and not connect with the heart people get turned off. Engage people’s emotions with giving to your mission.
• It’s not personal enough. // People want to help individuals not the mass. Tell stories about individuals that are being impacted by your ministry … don’t just talk about what the “youth group” is doing … personalize it down to an individual being impacted by the mission.
• Giving doesn’t make you smile. // God loves a cheerful giver … so why are you so solemn every time you talk about giving to the mission of your church? People love being generous … it literally makes them feel good. It should make you happy to talk about it!
• You’re telling not asking. // People want to join a team … they want to be a part of the solution … they want to offer what they have to accomplish the mission. Our language needs to be inclusive and inviting people to be a part of the solution not telling them what “we” are doing and need “you” to give towards. Giving to your church is a tangible way that your community expresses it’s communal self. People want in on that … they don’t want to just pay your bills.
• You’re not bought in! // Do you sacrificially give to the mission? People can sense if you aren’t bought in … just sayin’
• Detail people aren’t getting the details. // There are people in your church that want the details on exactly how the money is being spent and if you don’t make those available they won’t give. They’re not “being nosey” or “asking too many questions” … they are wired towards the details and you can draw these people in to help your ministry. Make your financial records as open and accessible as possible.
• No Pictures. // About 65% of your church are visual learners … just talking about why people should give to your church without showing a compelling picture or two is missing a large percentage of your audience. (Pie charts aren’t pictures … these need to be images that show the mission of the church in action.)
• You’re always talking about money. // You have to earn the right to talk about money with your people. Every time you craft an experience where you are asking people to join you financially in the mission … you need to ask yourself if you earn the right for the next time to talk about money. Don’t use pressure in any form … cast the vision and ask people to join and then leave the response up to them and God.

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Giving, Rich Birch

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

8 Habits of a Highly Effective Campus Pastor

by: Rich Birch

1

Tweet

I’ve had the privilege of seeing a lot of multisite campuses over the last 10+ years of leading in multisite churches. During that time I’ve had the opportunity to see dozens of Campus Pastors up close as they lead their locations.

Over the last few months we’ve been launching our most recent Campus at Liquid Church and I’ve had a front row seat to see Mike Leahy lead as a Campus Pastor. I think Campus Pastors from any multisite church should learn their craft from Mike.

This is the fourth campus that Mike has lead and it shows … the guy is a real professional! Here are a few habits I’ve seen him repeat time and time again that I think drive his effectiveness.

• Replication Focused // Mike is incredibly focused on raising up the next round of leaders to take over the ministry. Not only is he modeling that with his own associate campus pastor but he pushes to see training happening in every area of the campus. Effective long term multisite churches unlock the ability to replicate leaders and Mike pushes our campuses to always be raising up the next level of leaders.
• Sweat the Small Stuff // There are thousands of details that make the launch of a new campus great and Mike does an amazing job of digging into the details and making them work for our guests. From the layout of our main auditorium to the flow of parking to how our team fill out name tags … each of those details is sorted through and then documented so it can be replicated at this new location.
• Pocket Briefcase // If you followed Mike for any time on Sunday you’d notice that he’s constantly pulling out a small note pad and making notes about every interaction he has with people. Each note represents a follow up item for someone from our church … prayer items to loop back on, important milestones coming up, connections to be make. He uses a notepad rather than his phone because he doesn’t want to give the impression that he’s goofing around on his smart phone. This small tactic gives Mike the ability to turn every Sunday into a follow up treasure trove for the rest of the week.
• “Pollinating” the Audience // At the front end of our service you’ll notice Mike meeting and greeting people through out the audience during the musical worship part of the service. He’s attempting to make as many personal connections as possible with people … during the service! I love the site of our band cranking on stage and Mike is focusing on individuals in the room. This sort of personal care to connect draws people into our community.
• Embedding the Vision // Mike is constantly looking for ways to reinforce the vision of our church. Although he’s not the “main communicator” he doesn’t miss an opportunity to explain the “why” to our team. Listen in on a voicemail he sent out to our campus team on launch Sunday recently. It’s classic Mike … “pastoring” our people at where they are at on a “big day” like that while helping them understand the vision one more time!
• Central vs. Campuses // Mike understands that the central support team’s role is to generate content and lead the development of the church while the campus teams’ responsibility is to deliver the content and craft community connecting experiences. He consistently comes back to that fact with his teams and articulates the “division of labor” and works to ensure the lines don’t get fuzzy in this approach to doing church.
• Ombudsman // A part of the role of a campus pastor is keeping an eye on a wide variety of areas and ensuring that they are functioning at a healthy level. Mike does this in an elegant manner and is always working to draw in other members of our team to improve the ministry of his campus. He resists the urge to solve the issues directly while focusing on leveraging the skills of other members on our team to help make his campus great!
• Connection Triage Machine! // Above all else Mike is amazing at constantly helping our people get connected to the community of our church. He is always moving people onto their “next steps” … helping them find a place on a team or in a small group. Every conversation with people in his campus points towards how can we see this person get closer to being fully connected to our church.

Mike is a gift to our church … he’s a big part of what God is using at Liquid to see people get connected to Jesus! I’m thankful for his leadership and friendship!

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Campus Pastors, Multisite, Rich Birch, Staff Leadership Roles

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

8 Tips for Better Church Announcements

by: Rich Birch

1

Tweet

When “announcements” are done well they help move the community to be more engaged in the vision your church. When they are done poorly they drag on the service and make everyone wish they would just stop! The difference between these two extremes is often really simple things. Here are a handful of quick tips to consider next time you (or someone at your church) is getting ready to lead this part of the service.

• Narrow the Focus // As the person actually standing up and “giving announcements” your job should be to focus in on the 1 (or maybe 2) things that are most important at this point in your life of church. Reduce don’t expand. Avoid the temptation to add to the list!
• Rehearse It! // Michael Jordan threw 500 free-throw balls every morning. U2 still practices daily. You can rehearse your announcements for this weekend a few times before you get up there! Bonus points if you rehearse in front of someone who will give you critical feedback!
• It’s About Connecting. // The goal of this time in the service is to draw people into your community not to “advertise stuff”. What does your “audience” need at this point? Think about that … not what the ministry leaders want advertised. How can you help people take the next steps into community?
• Check the Mic // Test every piece of technology that you will be relying on. Make sure the batteries are changed in that snappy wireless mic. Ensure that whoever is running the video stuff (if you’re using it) is in the room with you at some point before the service to make sure it all works.
• Take a Deep Breath // People need you to be relaxed … take a deep breath before you go onto stage. Don’t worry if you fumble over a few words … smile and move on. If you get stressed … your audience will be stressed. Relax … you’re among friends.
• It’s not about You. (or Your Stuff.) // How can I say this nicely? You aren’t the main deal. What you are doing is important but it’s not the reason people came to church. Set the stage for what’s happening in your community and then get out of the way. Don’t try to make it about you.
• Be Visual // Show and tell was interesting when you were a kid because we’re visual thinkers. That’s even more the case now. If you don’t have some sort of visual to back up your points … don’t talk about it. (Really.)
• Thank Before Ask // You should be publicly thanking at least as much as your are publicly asking. Make sure to thank people for financially giving to your church … thank them for volunteering … be a thanking machine! Keep this ratio right and people will gladly listen to you.

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Rich Birch

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

7 Alternatives to Sunday Morning Announcements

by: Rich Birch

1

Tweet

Ministry leaders think if they just get their event or program “promoted from the stage” people will flood into it. Church communications people are peppered with requests all the time for people wanting to get “their deal” in the announcements. The urgency from those leaders leans towards desperate. However, the more you talk about on a Sunday morning the less effective the messaging for everything is. You need some solid ways to say “no” to other ministry leaders by providing alternative communication channels.

• Direct Emails // Each of your ministry areas needs to cultivate an email list of people who are interested in their area. This is a critical skill for communication today. We recently sent three emails (over three weeks) to a targeted list to promote an event before we “went public” through Sunday morning … we have 200 people sign up through the pre-registration emails and only 50 through Sunday morning.
• Cause Foyer Chaos // Church is fun … right? How could you bring a little piece of the event you are promoting to the foyer on the weekend? Taking the students on a Camping Trip? What if you figured out how to serve smores to guests? (And then hand them an info sheet on the event.) Is your small group ministry launching off for the fall? What if you brought a living room into the middle of the foyer?
• Social Media // How can you engage your people to get “talking” about the ministry program through social media channels? The goal here isn’t just to “call to action” but to create content that spreads dialogue about the ministry initiative.  Ask some questions related to the topic on Facebook. Take some pictures of your team prepping and post them on Instagram. Think conversations not signups.
• Information Cards // As people are leaving the service have your ushers hand out a small printed piece that has all the information you are attempting to communicate as well as a compelling ask to join. Make sure to train your ushers to be friendly and to ask your people if they would like the cards.
• Call People // Have you seen this new technology called “the telephone”?  It’s amazing … it’s kinda like Twitter but with audio. You can speak into it and then people on the other end can respond right away. It’s quick, basically free and ubiquitous. Why not order some pizza and pull together a group of volunteers to call people from the church to ask them about your upcoming event?
• Snail Mail // People just get bills and junk mail in their mailbox at home. What if your ministry area came up with a clever piece to send to people? It will stand out in the desert of people’s inbox.
• Kill It // If the ministry specific area is unwilling to put in the work to promote the event … then you should probably kill it. If the leadership is looking for someone else to “market” the event but they don’t do some work to generate a crowd than that is an indicator of a program that needs to go away. Less is more.

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Rich Birch, Sunday morning announcements

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

Hype, Hope, or Help: Writing Sermon Series Promotions

by: Rich Birch

0

Tweet

When promoting an upcoming series of messages at your church you need to think carefully about the language you use to promote it. The right promotional copy can encourage your people invite friends while if you get it wrong it can actually repel people from your church. Here is a simple three part test I use when I think about the copy we use to promote upcoming messages:

• Hype? // Does the promotion of this series over-promise on what you plan on delivering? Are you using cultural references just to draw people in but you know you aren’t going to actually deal with them during the series? Does the copy of the promotional material sound like it was written by the guy who advertises Monster Truck shows on the radio?? It’s tempting to use hype when promoting an upcoming series … don’t do it! First time guests will see through it … and your people will lose trust with you!
• Hope? // When you promote an upcoming series do you offer hope for a preferred future? Would you describe this series as inspirational and aspirational in nature?Do you use language that gives people a sense that the series will give a path to follow towards something better for them? Hope is at the core of the message of Jesus. Often we get into ministry because we want to offer hope to this generation. My caution from a communications point of view is use it sparingly. If all your series sound like you are “selling hope” people may lose trust that you are connected to the here and now.
• Help? // When people read your promotional material do they get a clear sense of how this series will make their life better? Is the copy written with obvious statements of what’s in the series for them? Can you clearly articulate the outcome for your people at the end of the series? People are drawn to solving the problems they perceive they have. Start with understanding the issues your people have and build your series around those. The Bible is a treasure of resources to help people … it’s ancient wisdom for today! Helping people is a great model of ministry.

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Rich Birch

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >

4 Frameworks with 20 Questions for a Weekend Worship Review

by: Rich Birch

0

Tweet

Regular evaluation of your weekend services should be a normal pattern for your leadership team. For us it happens during a Monday morning meeting were we look at what happened the day before and we also settle on the services for the coming weekend. This is an important system that we have in place because it allows us to stay on the same page and helps us catch quality improvements at an early stage. If there is a tough Sunday we know that we’re going to be taking time on Monday to talk it through. Regular service review also keeps us focused on improving the experience for our guests … we want to honor God by bringing our best to the table for them!

Here are four different approaches to worship review and evaluation. As the needs of your church and leadership shift you’ll need to move around from one type of evaluation to another. Find one that seems to fit the needs of your church and make it happen!

• Autopsy Method // This approach attempts to diagnose what exactly happened during the service so everyone can understand it clearly. This can be particularly helpful when you are looking to address a number of issues that need to change. This approach requires a high level of trust among the team because it can naturally focuses on the negative of what took place.
  • Good // The team lists the things that went well during the service … it’s sometimes helpful to walk through the service order to make sure you are commenting on a wide variety of items.
  • Bad // Let’s get the junk out on the table! Remember to clearly articulate the problem with what happened and avoid attacking people.
  • Missing // Where in the service did we miss something that would have made it a better experience? In my experience this is the least used category but can often provide some stunning insights into where our services should go in the future.
  • Confusing // What happened during the service that didn’t make sense? How can we simplify an ask for the future? Did the language of a musical worship leader muddy up what we were attempting to communicate?
• Future Focused // This method attempts to extract learning from a service to apply to the future. This approach can be particularly helpful when you are coaching new teams of leaders because it helps translate what did happened into what should happen in the future.
  • Keep // What happened yesterday that we want to repeat again and again? What are the positives that we can see doing in future services?
  • Stop // What happened that we want to make sure never happens again? What actions took away from what we were doing through the service?
  • Start // What did we miss doing that could have made the service even better? What should we add into these experiences in the future to take them to the next level?
• Process Oriented // This approach attempts to focus on the systems behind services. These questions attempt to get at the “why behind the whats”. Because these questions don’t just focus on actions it requires a team that has been working together for a while.
  • Victories // Where were we “winning” during the service? The goal of this section is for the team to articulate what was happening in the lives of the people they were serving … not the actions taken during the service. This focuses the team on the impact the ministry is having in the lives of people.
  • Metrics // Balancing out the stories of individual life change … the metrics section is attempting to capture the overarching story of what is happening in the life of the church. The goal here is to move beyond just “numbers and noses” to metrics that articulate the spiritual dynamics of the church. (% of people moving into groups, % of first time guests attending)
  • Stucks // In this section each ministry area articulates areas that they are stuck in achieving their growth or development. Using the service as an illustration … the teams talk about the areas they need assistance or resources to get “unstuck.”
• Appreciative Inquiry // This approach attempts to focus the leadership only on what was positive about the experience. Over the last year I’ve become more acquainted with this school of thought in change management and I see it’s deep value for us in church leadership. Here are some potential questions you could ask using this approach.
  • What made the service an exciting experience?  What gave it energy?
  • What moments during the service where the best we could offer to Jesus and our guests?
  • What was it about each team member that made it great? How did you uniquely contribute? How did you see God use other people?
  • What is the common mission or purpose that united everyone on the leadership during the service?  How can this continue to be nurtured?
  • In your opinion, what is the most important aspect of your services that you can recall that best illustrates this spirit of “being the best? How can we build on that?

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Evaluation, Rich Birch, Worship, Worship Leader

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Environments >

10 Differences Between Starting and Launching Ministry Initiatives

by: Rich Birch

1

Tweet

I’ve been involved in a lot of “new things” in my church leadership life over the years.  In fact, I’ve seem to have a track record of being on the front end of new projects all the time. New campuses, leadership development programs, outreach initiatives, digital engagement strategies, follow up systems … the list goes on!

When I approach something new I often try to think about whether this project needs be launched or simply started. Although I prefer to launch new things … sometimes just starting them is called for. Here is a list that I’ve used to help understand the nuanced difference between these two approaches. Knowing the difference between whether this ministry initiative needs to be started or launched makes a difference in the energy and focus you and your team will put into it.

Are you launching or starting a project right now? I’d love to hear about it!

Tags: Launching, Leadership Engine, Ministry Initiative, Rich Birch, Starting

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Leadership >

9 Secrets of Dynamic Weekly Team Emails for Ministry Leaders

by: Rich Birch

0

Tweet

Sending out a weekly email to your team is an effective way to make sure that your people are focused on the same thing going into the weekend. A good weekly email is part logistics reminder part talking points and part motivational propaganda. If you don’t currently send out weekly emails to your teams it would be a great practice to start getting into! Here are some critical factors to consider when sending out weekly team emails to people at your church:

• Predictable Time. // Pick a time during the week and try to stick to sending it then. For me, I think sending these emails out on Thursday mornings fit well into the rhythm of our work flow. Everything is (generally) settled for this coming weekend and it gives people time to digest it before the weekend.
• Lead With Vision. // Make sure a piece of the email points back to why we are doing this work. Remind people about the reason for the church’s existence. Share a quick “win” from the weekend before. The more you can draw direct lines to what is happening this weekend to the “big picture” the better.
• Use Pictures. // We live in a post literate world … communicate with pictures.  😉
• High Information Density. // People are going to be receiving this email every week and so you need to make it worth their while to open it up.  Avoid lots of fluff but rather attempt to pack it full with as much helpful information as possible. Write it and then edit it to find ways to say the same thing but with less words.
• No Surprises! // Make sure to focus on things that might be different or out of the ordinary for the team so they aren’t caught off guard. Look for “variance” in your weekend experiences and take extra time explaining those details to your team.
• Skimable & Deep Dive. // Format the email in such a way that people can quickly skim over the topics and then pause to dive deep into those areas that impact them the most. Provide links and attachments for people who want to go even deeper with more information. The team should be able to quickly gather the “big ideas” for the weekend but those people who want more details can access those as well.
• Track the Usage. // Find a way to track if people are opening your email and clicking on the links provided.  For me I use Boomerang for Gmail to do this … it let’s me “secretly” track how many opens each email gets and what people are clicking on. (Email systems like Constant Contact, Emma or Aweber do this as well.) Keep an eye on the usage patterns of your emails and adjust what you are doing so more people open and use it.
• Leave Some Gifts. // Occasionally leave some development resources for your team as a “P.S.” to your email. Even if your team doesn’t download them and use them it’s a simple way to show appreciation to your team. The keeners on your team will download those resources and will love checking your emails to see what new goodies you have every week!
• Mix it Up. // There is a balance making your emails predictable so your people know “how to use” them and also making sure they don’t get stuck in a rut. If every email was so different it would make it harder for your people to find the information they are looking for but it’s also fun to add some different elements every once and a while. Put in a cartoon from something that made you smile about church leadership. Shoot a “selfie video” talking about what’s coming up on that big weekend. Include a free MP3 with a song that inspired you about what your church is talking about.

Here some examples of weekly emails that I’ve sent to my team: [This one was from a month ago.] [Here is the one I sent the week after Easter … always a tough weekend to keep people motivated!]

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Attention, Awareness, Rich Birch, Team, Volunteer Culture

| What is MyVisionRoom? > | Back to Communication >