by Rich Birch: Welcome to the unSeminary podcast. So glad you’re tuning in because today we have Justin Dosch from Grace Community Church in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. Grace was built with the intention of looking like a community center that happened to have services on the weekend so that it would feel less like a church in order to bring in people who aren’t comfortable with the typical church atmosphere.

Justin is the family pastor at Grace and is here today to talk about how they are reaching unchurched people and how you can adapt their strategies in your own church.

Care for people when they mess up. // When someone comes through their doors, whether for the first time or whether they’ve been coming for ten years, it’s very important to Grace Community Church to care physically, emotionally, and spiritually for them. At Grace they have a counselor and different levels of care via small groups or one-on-one care through volunteers. People who have gotten burned at churches may feel that it’s not really a safe place. If they mess up, we point fingers. While Justin explains we should all recognize our sin and grow from it, we also need care along our spiritual journey. Because Grace Community Church tries to care for people the way that Jesus cared for those around him, their culture is heavy on the side of grace without neglecting to share the truth of the gospel. As a result they’ve seen many lives changed as people feel safe to be works-in-progress on their spiritual journey.
Hospital for the hurt. // It can seem to be a difficult thing to communicate care within a large church without overlooking people. At Grace they do this through consistency and clarity. They proclaim this value not only from the stage, telling the congregation, “Hey, this is a hospital for hurting people,” but also down through the staff. Grace works to make sure people know that no matter what they’re struggling with, it’s a safe place to come where they can find someone to help them work through things.
Go back to the drawing board to do more. // Many churches do a Trunk-or-Treat type outreach for Halloween and while Grace Community had too, they felt that it had become stale and repetitive. So they went back to the drawing board and began to reimagine a fall outreach for the community. This led to the development of Fall Frenzy three years ago, which Justin describes as “basically a fall festival on steroids.” It is a free festival with food trucks, games, and inflatables, with the main attraction being theme rooms, for example Star Wars Jedi training, in the church. A lot of people comment that they can’t believe this is a church and many come back to services another day, with the Fall Frenzy outreach as their first interaction with the church.
Encourage working within the church early. // At Grace Community, being a part of the church starts early. They have a youth program like other churches do, but they try to keep it simple to engage kids in what the gospel is about. Once a month they have a big youth night that’s fun and encourage students to invite their friends. On another night during the week, the youth group meets to talk about what the lesson was during the monthly youth event, and delves into scripture more deeply. The students are encouraged to get involved in the church and serve in a capacity such as an usher or working in the café, as the adults would.

You can email Justin at Justin@mygcc.org or learn more about Grace Community Church at https://mygcc.org/.

Thank You for Tuning In!

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Lightning Round

Ministries Following // Northpoint

Influential Book // Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World by Bob Goff

Inspiring Leader // Andy Stanley or Craig Groeschel

What you do for fun // Play guitar, exercise, time with wife

Contact // website mygcc.org or email justin@mygcc.org

Source: Being a Church that Unchurched People Love to Attend with Justin Dosch – unSeminary

The post Being a Church that Unchurched People Love to Attend with Justin Dosch appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by NewChurches.com: Does the type of venue you meet in contribute to its growth?

In Episode 254 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss the best venues for portable churches to experience optimal growth. Here’s Kevin with today’s question:

If a school or other building is better than most, would it be beneficial to move from a community center to a school?

In this episode, you’ll discover:

Financial ramifications of relocating your portable church.
Helpful questions to ask yourself if you’re considering changing venues.

le Quotes (#NewChurches):

“Sometimes moving locations is an opportunity for growth, but it can also be a hindrance.”–@ToddAdkins
“Where you meet heavily affects the ethos and culture of your church.”–@danielsangi
“When you move into a new location you can gather momentum that comes from relaunching and rethink what has been accustomed.”–@danielsangi
“The last thing you want to do is get comfortable in a location and neglect multiplication.”–@danielsangi

Additional Resources:

Listen to Episode 243: Finding the Right Venue
Read this post about Finding Facilities for Multisite Campuses
Check out Episode 235: Benefits of Being Portable

Help us Multiply the Mission:

Please subscribe
Leave a rating and review on iTunes
Ask a question by clicking Send Voicemail on the right hand side of NewChurches.com
If you’re on a phone or a tablet, then go to www.speakpipe.com/newchurches to download the app and record your message
When you’re recording, introduce yourself and your context in about 15 seconds and then record your question for 30 seconds

The post Episode 254: Relocating to a Different Venue appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 254: Relocating to a Different Venue

The post Episode 254: Relocating to a Different Venue appeared first on Passion for Planting.