Church Development

Counter Culture

Pastor Bryan has referred to "Counter Culture" or how Christian's behavior should seem weird to the world. Couple quick thoughts: the marketing world has viewed deviant behavior as an advantage when it can be harnessed to change the mainstream. Many a sociological papers have been written on the process of "outcast" behavior becoming mainstream. From music to art, this is not an unfamiliar trend.

One, there is the challenge of encouraging Christian's to live out virtous and "counter cultural" lives, and then there's the challenge of that behavior translating into mainstream acceptance. Some might argue the latter can't be engineered. I would disagree, and point to the following resources.

Two documentries I'd recommend: Dogtown and Z-Boys, and Bones Brigade. Seen in progression, they're about skateboarding going from on the fringe to the mainstream.

Dogtown and Z-Boys

http://imdb.to/GSiFE9

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Bones Brigade

http://bit.ly/GTkSCO
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Finally, althought somewhat flawed, I'd recommend "The Deviant's Advantage - How Fringe Ideas Create Mass Markets": http://amzn.to/GORMQj

Yes, it has a marketing bent, but there are some nuggets.

Expressing Issues of Faith in New Ways

It was a blessing to me to participate in Exponential 2:2 for as long as I did. I had a lot of fun leading a session discussing a section of The Discipline of Grace by Jerry Bridges.

Professionally, I have utilized the projective technique of collaging with consumers and executives to explore the core of a brand. Instead of asking direct questions of participants (i.e. What do you think about X brand?), you ask them to describe collages they constructed of images and words pulled from random magazines. Collaging can help move past the superficial as visual representations more easily trigger associations and emotions.

Examples of collaging for commercial use are found below:

Similar to utilizing art to express oneself and one's faith, I felt collaging could be used to express deeply held beliefs.

Please see Exponential 2:2 gentlemen's  collages exploring the discipline of grace below.

Discipline of Grace from Ed Reilly on Vimeo.

 

Walker Art inspired binder (UPDATE)

I've been remiss in sharing this news, but I was so excited a couple months ago when the Walker Art inspired binders idea became a reality for Fusion! See mine below, plus the original post.

The Walker Art Center recently introduced a binder of sorts they're calling a card catalogue. After visiting an exhibit, you can pick up a hole punched card with a brief description and photos of pieces from the exhibit, and then insert it into the provided binder for you to keep. The collection of cards is a living reminder of everything you've seen at the Walker, and something you may even look forward to adding to as new exhibitions open.

This idea could be useful in any upcoming sermon series at Fusion. I wish I had this idea when we started I Corinthians, because it lends itself very well to a series of sermons. As we're encouraging members to take notes on the new larger bulletins, what if we provided binders to regular attenders and a hole punch in the back of the room for anyone who wanted to keep their custom made, sermon based study of a particular book of the Bible?

To expand on this idea, we could also provide bulletin size pages of the sermon scripture text double or triple spaced where members could feel free to write and unpack the text as we go. This page could be kept with the bulletin in the binder as well.

Not to stretch the idea too far, but it may also be possible to include a page for prayer concerns or even incorporate the systematized listing of individuals members are focusing on inviting from their personal network (that I've talked about in earlier posts).

The sermon based binder could provide an important collection of notes that can be referred to as the series continues and long after. We spend valuable time studying God's Word each Sunday, so why lose such a valuable resource with bulletins scattered around everyone's houses, eventually discarded, and lost forever to the recesses of our memories?

Growing the Fusion Community

I found last week's message to be very convicting, and I've given some thought on how to grow the Fusion community in numbers as well as in depth of relationships.

I humbly present these ideas to you and the Fusion Leadership Council. Also, I hate suggesting things that someone else has to implement. Everything I mention, I am willing to take on and coordinate.

The ideas that follow fall into the following buckets: personal evangelism, outreach, and prayer.

Personal evangelism:

The flier for the recent corner cookout was spot on. Making a list of personal connections, praying over a few names, and approaching some is the most effective approach to outreach. Let's systematize the approach for the Fusion Community.

Create a one page document that allows Fusion members to list all their friends and family in a systematic manner. Have a column for their Facebook friends who don't attend Fusion already, Twitter, cell phone, LinkedIn connections, e-mail address book, not to mention other friends, family, and coworkers. Encourage them to write down their connections on this form, pray over the list, and be deliberate about inviting others to Fusion.

Outreach:

From Pew Research, we know many 20-30 somethings who are unchurched value volunteering and will attend service projects before a church service. With Fusion's involvement in the community such as through Feed My Starving Children and other service projects, we have an opportunity to invite others to serve along side us and understand why we serve others. But, how do we promote opportunities to serve to those outside our community?

One option is to add more service projects to the Fusion Community page on Facebook and ask Fusion members to post those events on their Facebook page and Twitter accounts to expose their network to these events. The other possibility is to utilize Fusion volunteers to stuff mailboxes in their neighborhoods and slip fliers under doors in their apartment complexes.

Prayer:

I saw a beautiful thing tonight after Fusion. If you don't mind a piece of good gossip, I saw Zach with his hand on the shoulder of a young woman praying for her right then and there in the middle of the entrance. That's the love of Christ in action. My dad used to say, "We may not be the biggest church, but we can be the prayingest church." He developed a prayer chain that a substantial portion of the church actively participated in.

I miss the worship services where we spend a substantial portion of the evening in small groups praying for one another, others we may not know before that night. I've felt the benefit of a community of prayer within my small group, but what experience will guests or visitors have who are not yet in a small group? 

For those who are attending, what about the possibility of a modern day prayer chain utilizing Twitter, texting, and possibly Facebook? 1) Create a Twitter account for Fusion: @NHC_Fusion. Ask members who want prayer to Tweet their prayer adding @NHC_Fusion and #prayer to their message. By tracking Twitter mentions and then retweeting to followers within the Fusion community, we could be praying for one another's specific requests. 2) Utilize Tantango on-line texting service. Add Fusion members who opt in through a sign up sheet to a prayer texting chain. Mass texts could be sent out to phones as prayers are requested. Also, the upcoming week's scripture verses could be sent as well as reminders for upcoming Fusion Community events. I wish I had the funds to provide Tantango as a form of offering to the church, but the plan we may need could be out of my reach financially.

Again, I don't like when suggestions are made expecting others to implement them. After your and the Fusion Leadership Council's consideration, I'm happy to implement any or all of these ideas.

Preface

The posts below contain a range from specific tactics to resources to guide strategic conversations.

I've tried to indicate where I believe I could be helpful and volunteer my time and efforts. However, I don't want to limit my service to my own ideas. If there are areas you or the council would like to use me or explore, I'll give them my best shot too.

My passion lies in marketing and business strategy. Hence, many of my ideas contained in posts below reside in that realm. I recognize the health of a congregation should be measured in Spiritual areas as well, but I cannot yet advise in those areas intelligently. It's interesting to note though that the quantitative survey I recommend below contains subjective measurements of spiritual vitality and habits in relation to other congregations.

Lessons from a Conference Today

I attended Augsburg Fortress Publishing's Faith Formation Clinic in Eden Prairie today, and I learned a lot about improving Biblical literacy within a congregation, the use of social media in the church, and received confirmation that we're doing a lot right.

For example, consider these facts. Churches that provide programming for:

• 15-19 year olds: 53%
• young adults/college students: 37%

These numbers are far below the percentage providing programming for families with young children. New Hope Church is providing valuable ministries to an underserved population through Powerhouse and Fusion among other ministries.

It was also interesting to learn that the "Millennials" generation (those 24 years of age or younger) value having relationships with older generations and welcome intergenerational opportunities for fellowship. Wow, talk about the Spirit leading us into this ministry that is equally valued and important.

They also advised that Millennials need to be trained to become future leaders of the church, and I know this is a refrain I hear within the Fusion Community.

They've offered to share today's presentations electronically, and I'll pass them along as soon as I have them.

Creating a Social Media Marketing Strategy for New Hope Church

I learned a ton today about using social media tools for the good of the church.

Social media can be a valuable component of a larger marketing plan and strategy.

Lessons I came away with fell into the following categories:

1. Website enhancements
2. Facebook and Twitter presences
3. Online advertising
4. Ideas for coordination

Website enhancements:

• Provide an opportunity to sign up for a church newsletter online
• Prominently display a link to your Facebook page. This assumes you have a Facebook page, and the church and its various ministries can have separate pages that people can "like" and share with their friends.
• Display a link to a Flickr account where photos from events can be uploaded. However, they recommend these photos not include individual's names and that you inform everyone that photos will be uploaded to a public place.
• Create a RSS feed for your website that people can follow to get updated on church related news frequently.
• Upload standard forms to be used by the congregation for the sake of efficiency.
• Create a YouTube Channel and upload content, such as videos of sermons, and then embed those videos on your website.

I'll talk more about using Twitter in a post below.

However, there's an opportunity to use Twitter and various online services that monitor social media to join conversations taking place online locally about matters of faith. For example, I used the advanced search option for Twitter found here with the following search string: the keyword "God" used within 25 miles of Minneapolis by someone who is asking a question. Below, is one of tweets I found.

If we decided to, we could respond to this young ladies question about God.

Advertising online:

Read this article. It will blow your mind. It's about a church purchasing ads on Facebook to publicize a Christmas event, and the church sold an additional 175 tickets online to people and families who had never attended. Personally, I've used Google AdWords, and you only pay per click, meaning you only pay when someone clicks on your ad on Google and the cost is usually less than a postage stamp. You could experiment with various keywords, such as "Church New Hope" or "Vacation Bible School" or "Young Adult Ministry", etc. You can begin a Google AdWords campaign for as little as $10, and you set the limit of how much you want to spend. It will never exceed that amount.

One idea I heard today doesn't fit into a category easily. One pastor encourages their youth group members to download a Bible App onto their phone so that they will always have it with them. Wow.

Finally, how do we go about coordinating all these pieces?

Some churches have utilized local colleges to find interns or to have students redo their website as part of a class project. They also recommended that many congregations have silent enthusiasts who are on the cutting edge of technology and who may not be involved in other areas but could serve well volunteering in this capacity.

Tweens and Texting

Prior to today, I had not considered using texting to reach teens and twenty somethings.

Consider these statistics:

• 69% of 11-14 year olds have cell phones
• 85% of 15-18 year olds have cell phones

This age group responds faster to texts than any other communication tool, faster than e-mail and faster than to Twitter.

Some pastors are using online services, such as one that can be found here, to mass text all members of their youth group and keep them informed about upcoming events.

Others are using text messages to send out once a week short devotionals or words of encouragement.

I could also envision encouraging Powerhouse and Fusion attendees to text in prayer requests.

Consider what Obama did with text messaging during his campaign. At mass rallies, they would tell attendees who wanted to be kept informed about future events to text a certain number to be automatically added to Obama's mobile network. You can see Obama's efforts here. Why couldn't a similar effort be incorporated into a Fusion service or Powerhouse event?

Unlikely Avenues for Outreach

One thing I heard today that reminded me of a recent story on Minnesota Public Radio was "Bible studies on tap" where Bible studies are increasingly being held in bars and coffee shops that are open to the public. Unlike typical small group activities where its current attendees who join the groups, these public Bible studies have an opportunity to expose the Gospel to another usually less church going audience.

It reminds me of a local Twin Cities book club I am a member of. "Books and Bars" meets once a month at Bryant Lake Bowl and individuals discuss a preselected novel over a beer. Books and Bars has been drawing a crowd well over 50 people consistently.

You can listen to the story about one local effort of hosting a service in a bar on NPR here.

Service as Outreach

I learned another interesting tidbit today. Pew Research has found service opportunities to be one of the most effective forms of outreach for churches. Churches who publicize their efforts in serving the needs of their community will have non-church attending volunteers join them in those efforts in greater quantities than will ever walk in cold off the street to a service.

I'm looking for the specific Pew Research report this fact is pulled from, but on face value, this is a compelling insight to use service opportunities as a form of outreach to the unchurched and dechurched in the community.