Beyond Self-Centered Church Greetings

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 19, 2007 in Church, Ministry Design | 7 comments

Our church has been rethinking our hospitality ministry.  One of the things we asked our people was, what questions do you typically ask new guests to our church?  It was amazing, upon reflection many of the questions asked, were more centered on us (the church).  Eg. What did you think about our service?  How did you find out about our church?  These setup an air of, I want to ask you questions to find out more about us.  The second question in particular was common to ask where people heard about us from.  It can come across as a form of market research to see what are effective ways we target new people.  I could just see a drop down box to select: Website, Direct Mail, etc.  Now, I know this isn't the heart of our people when they ask.  Typically, it could be they want to know if a friend invited them or if they read about us on the internet as a point of conversation.  Are there better questions to ask?  Here is a new question that may do a better job:

What brought you to church today?

The point of the question is to listen to the guest, learn about them and possibly discern ministry opportunity.  If we are to minister to and love guests, it is good to know what brought them.  Did they return to church after many years?  Did they find out a family member passed away?  Are they looking for a new church because they came to a place of conviction about their last church?  Did they just move to the area?  Did they just become a Christian?  It seems like this is a more effective way to really listen to our guests and begin a conversation where we can love and pray for them based on where they are at.

Transforming Cities with the Gospel

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 15, 2007 in Church, Church Planting, Culture, Ministry Design | 6 comments

There is a lot of talk among churches as being 'relevant'.  I urge you to go beyond being 'relevant to our culture' to seeking to transform the city you live in.   At Kaleo Church we see the gospel story as a salvational message, means for ongoing grace renewal by God and the announcement of God's Kingdom on earth.  We must see the good news as a call to bring shalom in our cities and be a city within a city that is a foretaste of the eternal Kingdom to come.   Here are a few resources that have been suggested to us: 

The Missional Leader: Equipping Your Church to Reach a Changing World

To Live in Peace: Biblical Faith and the Changing Inner City

Communities First (including a theology of development) 

Asset Based Community Development (pdf)  ABCD Institute website

2007 Multi-Site Church Conference

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 15, 2007 in Church, Church Planting, Leadership, Ministry Design | 7 comments

The 2007 Multi-Site Church Conference just wrapped up.  The conference looked at why do multi-site, different models of multi-site and specifically the Redeemer NY (multi-site) and the Harbor Presbyterian (multi-congregational & multi-site) models.  (No video venues)  Here are some ideas from the conference:

Launching a second site only increases a church costs 35-45% (with a pastor preaching these two locations each Sunday).

If you are going to launch a second service you must provide an equal level of excellence in these four areas or people may return to the first site: worship, preaching, fellowship, children.  Fellowship will take a hit, in terms of splitting people but they must see this as being on mission. 

To go multi-site you must have a movement leader who provides (1) integrity to vision, (2) vitality to mission and (3) unity in the sites.  

[Generis a sponsor led this session but I thought it was interesting] If you conduct a campaign to raise money in your church, their are three types of people who will give Major, Leadership & Congregation gifts.  I wont' go into too many details but typically the congregational represent 56-85% of the total givers yet only 15-25% of the total raised.  Just preaching on tithing isn't enough, stewardship needs to be a ministry in your church.  Many Major donors feel it unwise to tithe what they could, because the church could become dependent on it.  They are willing to donate for one-time events or projects.

Six Key Questions to ask to determine if you should go multi-site or not

1. Does multi-site ministry fit with your vision & values?  (For example, if you are bridging  together different cultures into one multi-cultural service, to go multi-site can actually harm your vision.)

2. Would the multi-site model best fit your context & gifts?

3. Is your leadership enthusiastic to do this?  (Going multi-site can cause some people to feel overwhelmed or even feel threatened by their loss of influence and power.)

4. Is your key leadership in place to support this goal & vision?

5. Have you effectively communicated your vision?

6. Is the pastor and his wife ready/willing/able to do this?  (Multi-site will have a big impact on your ministry style and patterns.) 

Kaleo Church San Diego Reader Review

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 14, 2007 in Church, Culture, Sheep&Goats | 4 comments

It was bound to happen.  I spent a season as a columnist writing a weekly column called the Sheep & Goats for the San Diego Reader, which 'reviews' churches and other places of worship.  This last Sunday, Matthew Lickona came (the new columnist and much better writer than I ever was!) and reviewed Kaleo Church.  It could of gone a lot of ways, but Lickona focused on the experience one may have visiting Kaleo, particularly the sermon and the centrality of the gospel & grace:

But preaching the Gospel, he said, was essential and more important than telling stories and teasing out meanings and lessons. "The Gospel is news about what Jesus has done; it is not advice about how to live. Why? Because we are saved by grace. News is about something that is done; teaching is about something you do. If my role is to teach you about what to do, then what I'm saying is that you can be saved by following my teaching." Christianity, argued Fairchild, is unique among world religions in that it is not about following a teaching, but about believing in particular historical events concerning Jesus. "We're saved by grace, by something that's been done for you." If not, "that puts you on the hook: earn your own salvation. If Jesus Christ did not live, then we are in grave, grave trouble."

Full Article: Kaleo Church @ the San Diego Reader 

2007 Church Planting Survivability & Health Study

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 11, 2007 in Church, Church Planting | 1 comment

Ed Stetzer's full 47-page 2007 Church Planting Survivability & Health Study (pdf) is now available. See previous post for summaries: Church Planting and Survivability, How Many Church Plants Really Survive—and Why?, 10 Factors for Higher Attendance in Church Plants

Including the fourth major portion dealing with baptism. Higher Baptisms in Church Plants

Buildings, baptisms, and budgets—the benchmarks most people use to evaluate church health. But are these the best measures? There are many who question which is most appropriate, but we wanted to see church plants that are reaching the lost through conversions. In most cases for denominations in our study, that was measured in baptisms.

Thanks Ed for the work on this! 

Ed Stetzer & Mark Driscoll Interview

Posted by D. Goodmanson on Mar 11, 2007 in Church, Church Planting | 0 comments

Many of you may have seen this, but you can check out a podcast of Ed Stetzer & Mark Driscoll in preparation for the National New Churches Conference. Also, Acts 29's blog got pimped , so you can see the new digs & read more about Mark Driscoll in an interview there.