Source: The Moment We’re In and the Mission We’re On

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Source: Set Your Priorities for the New Year

The post Set Your Priorities for the New Year appeared first on Passion for Planting.

Source: PODCAST 114: Jay Kranda and the Constant Evolution of an Online Church

The post PODCAST 114: Jay Kranda and the Constant Evolution of an Online Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By unSeminary: Thanks for tuning in to this week’s unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking to Mark Jobe, senior pastor at New Life Community Church (NLCC) in Chicago area and president of Moody Bible institute. New Life Community Church meets primarily in the city and has 28 locations with 40+ worship services. It’s a very multi-ethnic church with 60-70% of the attendees non-white, and most being first generation Christians.

Within cities the stress of this year has been more intense than anywhere else. The pandemic, racial tensions, social unrest, and the polarizing election created a very violent summer in terms of homicides and crime in Chicago. In the midst of everything, however, there have been amazing opportunities to minister to hurting people in the city. Mark is with us to share about how God is moving and how you can take advantage of these windows of opportunity in your area when a crisis hits.

Dreams are fulfilled in unlikely ways. // When God gives a church a dream or a vision for something, we can’t know what He will use to bring about its fulfillment. God gives Joseph a dream, but he doesn’t know how to handle the dream. And when Joseph is sold as a slave to Egypt and eventually throne in prison, it seems like his God-given dream is put on hold, or has disappeared entirely. But in reality, God leads Joseph into crisis to prepare him for the fulfillment of that dream. The same can be true for us. Ask God what the crises of this year could be preparing your church for.Identify the biggest need. // When the pandemic hit, New Life Community Church wanted to do more than have online services because of the need they saw in their community. In Chicago the biggest need was that people were food-deprived and without jobs, particularly in Mexican immigrant communities. This led to seven of the NLCC locations connecting with a secular organization to distribute food. At the height of the pandemic in the spring, they were distributing food to 25,000-30,000 people a week – about 1% of the city of Chicago! In the middle of COVID through their facility parking lots, NLCC was actually serving double the number of people that they would normally be ministering to on a Sunday morning. And the great majority of those people were unchurched. Think about the greatest needs in your community. How can your church touch people in a way that doesn’t involve your regular Sunday service?Don’t miss the window of opportunity. // National and local crises will come around again and again over the course of your lifetime. Whatever crisis your community might be facing now or in the future, there is a window of opportunity where people will be hurting. Once that experience of pain plateaus, people will get back to life as normal. Pay attention to the season where people are more open to spiritual things because their lives are shaken. When crisis comes our orientation as leaders should be: How can we help? What can we do?Build partnerships. // In order to be able to pivot and respond to crisis opportunities, churches need to partner with organizations where they could be mutual benefits. During the pandemic, the need for food has been so great that New Life Community Church approached the Greater Chicago Food Depository (GCFD) to offer their help. GCFD had food but didn’t know how to get it to people. Meanwhile New Life had a wealth of volunteers to offer. The partnership allowed GCFD to change their whole approach to distributing food in Chicago. See how you can reach out to secular organizations and city officials in your area to create mutually beneficial partnerships. Be clear that you are an organization of faith, but recognize that what you have in common with secular organizations is desiring the good of your community.Use crisis and disruption. // Crisis and disruption can be an incredible gift to accelerate needed change if we embrace it that way. At Moody Bible Institute they had often talked of doing virtual classes, but they were slow to take action. When the pandemic hit, it became the impetus to make this change. Within three weeks all of their classes were moved online. In the midst of a shake-up in your own life, ask God what lessons He’s teaching you and what He’s accelerating that needs to change. Healthy transition. // Disruption can help us move into our next chapter, but we need to do it in a healthy way. Mark has written a book called “What Now? How to Move Into Your Next Season” which is for people in the middle of transition. It walks you through how to process your transition in a healthy, God-centered and spiritual way while discerning the voice of God.

Learn more about New Life Community Church at newlifecommunity.church and about Mark Jobe and his ministry at pastormarkjobe.com.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Industries

Doing Church in a Rented Facility can be a Challenge.

Questions about Multisiting or Portability?Click here to connect with our Multisite Specialist for a free evaluation.

Source: Inspiring Reflections on 2020 from Chicago with Mark Jobe

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By NewChurches.com: In Episode 554 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss how the church should multiply in the midst of a culture continuing to grapple with COVID.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Some of the challenges the church will continue to face in 2021
How you grow in micro-ways and a macro-way

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“How in the midst of all of that should we multiply as a church?” – @danielsangi
“Jesus never said to go and make disciples until you have COVID.”  – @danielsangi
“Part of being a disciple is making other disciples.” – @toddadkins
“Perhaps in 2021, your vision for multiplication is actually a downward sort of root-focused based multiplication.” – @danielsangi
“Perhaps you need to grow in depth before you can be sent out and send others out.” – @danielsangi
“What does it look like for you as a church to be on the offense as it relates to multiplying and being a blessing?” – @danielsangi
“Your church is strategically positioned to bring the gospel to that subdivision, to that community through where people live, work, and play.” – @toddadkins

Recommended Resources:

Read Multiplication Today, Movements Tomorrow
Read 1,000 Churches

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 554: A 2021 Vision for Multiplication appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 554: A 2021 Vision for Multiplication

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By unSeminary: Thanks for joining us for this week’s unSeminary podcast. Today we’re talking with Drew Sherman, lead pastor of Compass Christian Church in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Compass has four physical locations as well as an online campus and is one of the fastest growing churches in the country.

The most fruitful seasons of our lives are usually not the easiest seasons. For many people 2020 may have been one of the hardest years they experienced, but it may also be the year they learned the most. Listen in as Drew Sherman shares how to take hold of teachable moments for your congregation, move forward to thrive, and cast vision for the future.

Foster connection. // Churches today must be a “both/and” church, not “either/or.” Online services aren’t any less important than in-person services and the church needs to invest heavily in both. Connect with the online crowd too and bring attendees from both types of services together into one congregation through programs and events, such as outreach in your community. Cast vision for the future. // Compass Christian Church currently has a generosity initiative underway called “Unstoppable”. This initiative was planned before the pandemic and they knew they couldn’t let the coronavirus stop it from moving forward! Right now is the time to cast vision for the future. People are stuck in neutral, just trying to survive, so it’s important to give them a vision for what your church is going to be doing next. Even if some activities may be on hold right now, you don’t have to pause everything. Keep moving forward and your church can thrive.Grow in the hard times. // Generally the most fruitful seasons of a person’s life are not the easiest seasons. 2020 was the hardest year of many people’s lives, but in some ways it might be the year they learn the most. Don’t let the pain of this season be wasted. What is your church, staff, and congregation learning during this time? Rather than looking at 2020 as a throwaway year, think about the many teachable moments for your people and lean into them.Pay attention to your team. // Some of your staff may be better than ever during this season while others may be drained and need coaching and counseling. A lot of this depletion can point back to how over the years we’ve ignored the value of soul-care. Provide pastoral care for your staff, listen to them, and teach and encourage them to care for their souls. Remember that hurry and love are not compatible.Reevaluate and shift. // There’s never been a better time to reevaluate staff and programs and do some shifting. You may have the right people on the bus, but they need to be moved to different seats. If you had a ministry, strategy or event that wasn’t working well prior to COVID, don’t restart it. It’s time to kill those sacred cows. Transition to more of a simple church model that is focused on mission. Eliminate things that don’t support your mission and remember that complexity is the enemy of clarity.Enhance online services. // Don’t become overly focused on getting your pre-COVID in-person congregation back. A certain percentage of people may never return and if you have a solid online ministry, others may stay online. Rather than fighting this trend, explore creating house churches or micro-sites. Ask what a digital disciple looks like. Can you become a fully devoted follower if you’re just committed to online church? Don’t just broadcast your in-person service to serve people online, but create an online experience. Lastly, remember that all the oppression, trials, and obstacles in the book of Acts led to the early church growing and enlarging their circle. Churches today need to think similarly.

You can learn more about Compass Christian Church at www.compass.church.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

Lastly, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live!

Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Carey Nieuwhof

Leadership has felt pretty uncertain and divisive this past year. How do you make decisions when the future isn’t predictable and your team has different opinions?Download the FREE Pivot Ready Cheat Sheet to get help making progress and gaining clarity through rapid change and disruption. It will give you a framework that effective and resilient leaders use to make decisions and take action.

Source: Lessons From Casting Vision & Pushing Forward During the Pandemic with Drew Sherman

The post Lessons From Casting Vision & Pushing Forward During the Pandemic with Drew Sherman appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By NewChurches.com: In Episode 551 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Ed continue to discuss how COVID-19 has affected church planting.

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why now may be the time to empower volunteers
How much caution is needed for staffing decisions

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“For all the new church plants, the question is should we staff differently?” – @danielsangi
“We are seeing a hesitation among many to step into a new hire experience.” – @edstetzer
“Let’s not rush to a higher level of staffing, let’s see how long we can go without adding additional staff.” – @edstetzer
“Times like this, you are going to find more and more people are going to be not even staffing themselves as a staff member.” – @edstetzer
“This is an opportunity to see just how much of an equipping leader you really are.” – @edstetzer
“If you don’t have a leadership pipeline, now is the best time to develop one.” – @danielsangi
“Right now the advice I am giving churches is to be a little more cautious about how they are staffing.” – @edstetzer

Recommended Resources:

Listen to Episode 547: What It Means to Be the Church in a COVID-19 Era, Part 1
Listen to Episode 549: What It Means to Be the Church in a COVID-19 Era, Part 2
Read Planting Missional Churches by Ed Stetzer and Daniel Im
Take the Breaking the 200 Barrier course by Ed Stetzer

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 551: How to Staff for a New Church Plant in a COVID-19 Era appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 551: How to Staff for a New Church Plant in a COVID-19 Era

The post Episode 551: How to Staff for a New Church Plant in a COVID-19 Era appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By TheChurch.Digital: For some reason I couldn’t sleep tonight. Thought I’d binge some more Friends Episodes on HBO Max. The Hero Image stopped me cold. Wonder Woman 1984 is going to released phygitally in 2020. COVID has struck once again.

Wonder Woman 1984 will be released in Physical Theaters as well as released digitally on HBO Max, Love the move on DC Comics/Warner Brothers here to release a valued asset like a blockbuster movie through physical & digital channels. And I think there’s some observations here with implications for the church.

1) 2021: People Want Phygital

People are not looking for physical-only solutions. As I’m writing this post November 2020 COVID numbers continue to soar, and many are predicting a brutal COVID winter. In this season, we’re seeing this even effect our churches, where just 30-40% of pre-COVID attendance has made it back to the building. Warner Brothers plan for Wonder Woman 1984 is a great blueprint for the church. Let’s release the movie physically, like we normally would. We’ll get some people in the physical space, but we need to release it digitally to maximize exposure. Church, 2021 is not the time to back off your digital strategy. It’s time to amplify it.

2) Future of Church Buildings? Look to the Theater!

Like it or not… Church in America in recent years has been settled around experiences. Cue the haze machine! We need moving lights! Let’s fix that audio mix. (I’m a Live Production guy at heart). Theaters, similarly, have based their success off of creating experiences.in their buildings. IMAX Video. Dolby Surround Sound. THX. Subwoofer attached to each chair. Theaters provide a powerful environment to show these motion pictures.

People who’s lives have been impacted by Christ, and who are loyal to your church, will stay involved in the building (mostly). But our ones? The people our Churches are called to reach for Christ? Simply put, are people cold to Christ (and your church) interested in coming to a building for a Sunday morning experience to learn about Christ? Are these same people interested in going to a physical building to watch a movie on Saturday night? Time will tell. How unchurched culture will recognize church buildings I believe can be foreshadowed in how culture supports movie theaters.

3) Connecting with People Christmas Day

As a church staffer, I would hate it when Christmas Day fell on Sunday. Odds are the church I worked at would feel social pressure to do a church service Christmas Day, which meant we would try to line up staff and volunteer coverage for services, separating people from their families Christmas day. All that for minimal attendance. Truth is, at least in my experiences, few people actually want to come to church Christmas Day. The call of family on the holiday is strong, especially when Christmas Eve traditionally has such a strong draw in Churches.

This is the beauty of digital, though. Instead of breaking family tradition asking people to come to physical church on Christmas Day, what if we created digital content Christmas Day. I’m not even thinking a “service format.” Maybe it’s a video where you’re reading the Christmas story, accompanied with creative elements. Or it’s a 5 minute sermonette digitally distributed. Maybe it’s a super-cut of all the worship songs from your December services on a YouTube playlist. A testimony video of someone who’s struggled on Christmas Day… so many creative options! Notice, I’m not say “engaging” with people. I’m not sure you do chat and all that. But utilize the spiritual nature of Christmas Day to connect with people via content, and give people a clear action step to connect back with you. Find ways to work this content into people’s Family Christmas Traditions.

If Warner Brothers/HBO Max think people have time on Christmas Day to watch a two hour movie digitally, then you have an opportunity to connect with people digitally. Don’t sleep on paid ads. Create content that truly is aimed at your institutional ones, or create shareable content that you can empower your 99 to share with their ones.

4) Don’t Be Afraid to Partner w/Others. Shared Exposure Win.

I admit, this one is half-baked. Maybe you can fully bake it for me?

Warner Brothers needed to distribute their DC Comics content. They created a digital channel several years ago called DC Universe. It was impressive (and I’m not a DC guy). Lots of assets. TV Shows. Movies. Cartoons. I tried a demo for a week. Gave up. Watched the stuff I wanted to. Rumor is, DC Universe isn’t financially successful, and Warner Brothers (in addition to DC Universe) has moved their old and new content over to HBO Max.

HBO Max is a relatively new player in the digital channel space. They need subscribers at their $15.99/mo rate. It makes sense (and hopefully cents) for Warner Brothers/DC and HBO Max to partner together. HBO Max needs content that will attract viewers and Warner Brothers/DC needs an audience.

Who in your physical or digital community is looking for Christmas content? How can you serve them with digital Christmas content? Or even ongoing relationships centered around providing content? How can you connect with audiences you’ve never connected with before because they’re not your audience… they’re someone else’s. Maybe it’s not as important for us to build our audience as it is to connect and disciple people/organizations who have audiences. (Like I said, half-baked.)

5) Redefining Success

I had to dig in on Google to really find the strategy in this. Essentially, Wonder Woman 1984 will only be on HBO Max for one month before HBO loses exclusive rights and the digital asset moves over to iTunes, Prime Video, etc to sell. Here’s the plan:

Dec 25: WonderWoman 1984 debuts in theaters. Warner Brothers gets Physical Box Office Receipts.
Dec 25: Put Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max for a month to maximize exposure and HBO will pay Warner Brothers a licensing fee.
January 25, Warner Brothers will start selling Wonder Woman 1984 on normal channels, iTunes, Prime Video, etc.
At some point, Wonder Woman 1984 will likely go back to HBO Max for a while.
Of course, DC has their own digital network “DC Universe” that Wonder Woman 1984 will release on at some point to their subscribers.

20 years ago, Warner Brothers defined success based on Box Office Sales. Nickels & Noses. 20 years ago that was the only way to succeed. Observe here, it’s a business… all those nickels are still important. But the methods are changing. Instead of a centralized “one way” to measure success, an intentional strategy is needed and the metrics vary.

Church, the same challenges we face on counting attenders? Well, that’s happening with Wonder Woman 1984. I would have paid $50 probably to take my family of four to see the movie in a theater (pre-COVID). But now, I’ll watch it for free in my house with those four people. Truthfully, I don’t even pay for my HBO Max account as I get it for free from AT&T. Point is that we need to find new metrics to celebrate because butts in seats makes little sense in 2020.

Bet you didn’t think you’d be reading a blog paralleling Wonder Woman to your church today? So, what’s your takeaway?

Source: Five Things The Church Can Learn From Wonder Woman 1984

The post Five Things The Church Can Learn From Wonder Woman 1984 appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By New Churches: In Episode 542 of the NewChurches Q&A Podcast, Daniel and Todd discuss how a young church plant can rebuild after COVID.

“Should a struggling church plant go back to core team phase if COVID has affected it in such a way where it has not grown?”

In This Episode, You’ll Discover:

Why focusing on local ministry is important during this time
How to use this time to adjust your church culture

 Shareable Quotes (#NewChurches):

“How can you be incredibly local? That is what I would want to start with.” – @danielsangi
“My recommendation would be, whether you go back to core team or not, to focus on relationships and going smaller.” – @danielsangi
“Look at it from a perspective of, trajectory wise and momentum wise, which direction are we going?” – @danielsangi
“I don’t think making a big relaunch is going to make a difference because people are afraid of large gatherings.” – @danielsangi
“If you want to reach locals, and you aren’t one, show an amazing amount of insight and understanding of what it is to be a local there.” – @toddadkins
“Focus on the people aspect, because the people are stickier than your Sunday morning service anyway.” – @toddadkins
“Take this time to adjust the culture in your church.” – @toddadkins

Recommended Resources:

Read The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch

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 542: Current Strategy for a Young Church Plant appeared first on NewChurches.com – Church Planting, Multisite, and Multiplication.

Source: Episode 542: Current Strategy for a Young Church Plant

The post Episode 542: Current Strategy for a Young Church Plant appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By The Church.Digital: David Kinnaman of Barna quoted the stat, and he’s way smarter than me. 30% of people will leave the church during this COVID season. Mathematically, a Christian research company is claiming your church will potentially lose 30% of your pre-COVID attendance in the coming months.

Most churches, in this COVID season, are rushing back to the building.Our buildings are where we could worship by singing.It’s where we could preach our forty minute sermon.It’s where our audience was captive.It was easier to create moments of spiritual emotionalism.Let’s get back to the building.

Many of you are getting back to the building. Those of you who have opened, congratulations. On average, it seems that 30% of your attendance is returning to the building. Now, smaller churches (sub 100) seem to have more than 50% attendance, as I guess people feel safer coming back to the smaller building. But on average, very few larger churches are reporting attendance 50% or greater at this point. Why? For those not coming to your building, at least those that still care…  they don’t want to risk exposure.

Church, you should try to get back to the building.

Communicate the cleanliness of the facility. Hold to high standards. Your building ministry needs to come back strong. But realize expectations. Medium to Large Churches will not see 100% attendance in 2020. So, while you’re longing to get people back to the building, realize that the 30% you’re likely to lose as a result of this COVID mess are the ones you won’t get back to the building, because they’re afraid. Rightfully so, by the way.

Unfortunately, you can’t control this fear. You can tell them you hold guidelines and standards. You can tell them to wear a mask, and wash hands. You can tell them everything is under control. Reality is, people are still getting sick. And while we live in this questionable environment realize that some people don’t want to come to your building, or any building for that matter.

Every large gathering is a calculated risk, and Church is often on the losing side of that equation.

(photo credit: Ben Stapley: Christ Fellowship Miami)

Note: these people are not bad Christians. This has nothing to do with the Lordship of Christ in their lives. This has nothing to do with the presence of the fruits of the spirit among their relationships. This solely means that these people don’t want to risk getting sick.

Church, the challenge for you is to realize that YOU STILL NEED TO BE A PHYGITAL CHURCH. You still need that digital component. I’ve seen time and time again where Churches are now putting 100% of their effort into the physical space, thinking that the effort will bring 100% of their people back into the physical space (or at least 100% of what local capacity is). Whatever the reason, it’s not happening.

The Battle for Your Church is Not in the Physical Building, But in Digital Space

No matter how much hype you bring, there’s a large percentage of people that aren’t coming back to your buildings yet. Hype, in this situation, isn’t getting people into the building. Could be, actually, that the hype is misperceived as guilt for not coming back to the building, and could actually do more harm than good. If we truly want to connect with the disconnected, disengaged, disenfranchised of our church… we really should be looking at increasing our digital presence, not closing it down. Engage and build relationships through online methods, and connect them to your church’s digital presence. Your disenfranchised 30%, well, don’t think you care about them because they’re not in your building. Prove to them that you do care. Take time, energy, and resources… not to guilt them into attending physically but that you are there to serve them phygitally – either physically or digitally.

While You’re At It, Let’s Reimagine What a Community Church Looks Like

Maybe, just maybe, there’s an opportunity to reimagine how you do church? Digitally and/or physically? Instead of large gatherings, maybe smaller gatherings are still a better idea to stair step people back to large gatherings? I’ve recently talked with Ed Love, Director of Multiplication for the Wesleyan Church. Even before COVID, the Wesleyan Church revisited their biblical ecclesiology… how they defined Church biblically… recognizing that some of their perceived biblical structure was actually preventing multiplication. In a recent The Church Digital Podcast Episode, Ed talks in great detail about how the Wesleyan Church redefines community to better allow for multiplication. Microchurch? Digital Church? Some incredible options available right now for your church to disconnect with the disenfranchised 30%, and may even help your church multiply in the future. Check out Ed Love in the clip below.

Church, lets celebrate what’s happening in physical space. God is being glorified in a big way. But if you want your church to thrive, remember, you need to think PHYGITALLY. Stadia wants to help. For more information on how Stadia can help your church thrive, grow and multiply phygitally, check out http://stadiachurchplanting.org/phygital.

Source: The Battle to Save Our Disenfranchised Church? It’s Not in Our Buildings. It’s Online.

The post The Battle to Save Our Disenfranchised Church? It's Not in Our Buildings. It's Online. appeared first on Passion for Planting.