Ministry Best Practices

Monday, May 5, 2008 by Bill Reichart

This past Sunday we had our monthly event called Taste of Big Creek. Taste of Big Creek (TOBC) is a luncheon that we have every second of the month (May was an exception because of Mother's Day). During this time, guests who have been attending Big Creek can learn and investigate our church. The pastors and the staff of Big Creek are there to showcase their ministry scope and to answer questions.

Our Connecting Ministry Team owns this event and they have done an excellent job of putting together a process of invitation, implementation and follow-up.

Here are a couple of bullet points that give you an overview of the ways we communicate to our guests leading up to the TOBC event:

EVERY week, we strategically showcase TOBC during the worship services/bulletin reminders
2 weeks out from the event invitation postcards go out (we send invitations to those who visited in the last 90 days and who haven't been to a TOBC)
1 week out email reminder/invitation via Google calendar
5 days out we make calls to those we haven't heard from and extend a personal invitation.

Since there is food preparation and childcare provided, we try to get an clear indication of who is going to attend. Even though we are intentional, we nevertheless anticipate a percentage of walk-ins that Sunday morning.

Here is an overview of our assimilation process and how the TOBC fits in. It is a great doorway for a guest who has typically visited about 3 times (although some people will walk in during their first visit). Our desired measurable outcomes from this event are to see people move toward membership (which we call Inquirers) and/or connect in a small group and/or find an opportunity to serve and get involved at Big Creek.

Here is the brochure that we give to our guests at TOBC. They rip off the panel to communicate with us ministry areas and opportunities that they would like us to follow-up and on the other side of the panel it gives us a way to receive feedback and evaluation. The rest of the brochure, which they keep, has contact information and important dates related to our desired outcomes.

Taste of Big Creek brochure - Upload a doc

This event overall has been a big win for us. We are constantly trying to improve and refine it, but it is a significant piece of our assimilation process. How do you help your guests to connect? Please share your ideas and what you do in the comments section.

Labels: Assimilation, Guests, Process

If you enjoyed this content consider SUBSCRIBING to Ministry Best Practices to receive more helpful content in the future or BOOKMARK this post to share it with others.

Layering

Wednesday, January 30, 2008 by Bill Reichart

Here is a great post on a subject that Seth Godin has called Layering. I have always been tempted to follow the first scenario that Seth describes. My personality type always compels me to want to work out the process first. I want it all figured out and buttoned down before I launch any new project or new initiative. But Seth is right about how that practice fails. And I have been for the past two years applying the second scenario and principle of moving forward faster, getting out of the gate all the while continuing to edit and tweak along the way.

Here is Seth's post:

Layering

Here's what we used to do:

Create ---> Edit ---> Launch

Here's what happens now:

Create ---> Launch ---> Edit ---> Launch ---> repeat

Someone asked me which post on this blog represented the turning point of its growth. The 'breakthrough' post. It turns out that there wasn't one. Instead, there were 2,500 posts, one after the other, each building (and I was learning from each) as we went.

Wikipedia is built on a bold idea: launch with a few hundred mediocre articles. Challenge people to add a few more. And then, day after day, layer on top of that, improving each one, improving a hundred thousand of them, improving a million of them. One after another, layer after layer.

Squidoo is a bit different. Let each person layer their own page, instead of a crowd. And then, as time goes by and the crowd gets bigger, the new folks are smarter (and building better pages) because they've watched the results that others have layered up.

Organizations that make the same mistakes every day (hidebound ones, rulebook based ones, airlines) rarely get to layer. They don't grow and improve, because they're not organized to do so.

And thus the challenge. We live in a layered world now. Those that plan and plan and then launch are always going to be at a disadvantage to the layerers.

(HT:Seth's Blog: Layering)

Labels: Planning, Process

If you enjoyed this content consider SUBSCRIBING to Ministry Best Practices to receive more helpful content in the future or BOOKMARK this post to share it with others.

Simplicity is never simple

Friday, January 18, 2008 by Bill Reichart

For the past year, Big Creek has been working through and applying many of the principles from the book, Simple Church. One of the truths about a simple church is that getting there isn't "simple". I just read this fascinating article in Wired Magazine called, The Untold Story: How the iPhone Blew Up the Wireless Industry.

If you have used the iPhone, you have marveled at the phone's simplicity. The interface is easy to use and intuitive. But what was so fascinating about the untold story of the iPhone was that producing such simplicity, wasn't a simple process. In fact it was complex and there were numerous times for the whole thing to get derailed.

The iPhone is a great metaphor for the church. We want a process at Big Creek that is clear and simple for anyone to navigate through. But in order to get that, the staff and ministry leaders have to wrestle through tons of complexity and do a lot of heavy lifting.

Labels: Process

If you enjoyed this content consider SUBSCRIBING to Ministry Best Practices to receive more helpful content in the future or BOOKMARK this post to share it with others.

Creating the Right Environments

Tuesday, August 28, 2007 by Bill Reichart

Behind the Leaf blog has an interesting post about creating a comfortable environment. Here is an excerpt from that post...
"Sometimes, we don’t talk about things that are very comfortable. Jesus said we were to take up our cross (be willing to die). Disciple left behind their nets (quit their jobs). The truth often hurts because the Word of God is sharp and it cuts.

I don’t know who originally said this, but we want to create a safe place for people to hear a dangerous message. So while we may communicate some uncomfortable truths, we want to create a comfortable environment for guests. We want people to come in and feel like they belong there - like they are not an outsider. We design our Sunday morning experience with guests in mind, because we don’t want people to stay guests. Here’s some things we do to help create this environment:
1. We play secular tunes in the lobby and as the preservice.
2. We serve coffee.
3. We explain stuff.
4. We ask people for their information.
5. We prepare for and expect guests."

Read the whole post here: Behind the Leaf

At Big Creek church we are all about creating that WOW experience when a visitor comes on Sunday morning. Now although, we don't and won't play tunes in the lobby, we serve coffee, provide clear and assessable information, we ask people for their information and we anticipate guests. Our goal is to do this well, because we believe that this is sets the table for a visitors Sunday morning experience.

How are you doing in these areas? Would you add to this list or subtract from it in any way?

Labels: First_Impressions, Process

If you enjoyed this content consider SUBSCRIBING to Ministry Best Practices to receive more helpful content in the future or BOOKMARK this post to share it with others.

Taste of Big Creek

Layering

Layering

Simplicity is never simple

Creating the Right Environments

about

recent posts

archives

helpful blogs

links

resources

contact

search