Are you a youth pastor or children’s minister that is looking to stir up a crowd?

Gadget-Box is selling the T-Qualizer, a t-shirt with a sound sensitive graphic equalizer panel embedded into the cotton fabric. Simply make some noise and watch the green, yellow, and red lights respond. It only comes in one color (black) and three sizes (small, medium, and large). Gadget-Box is based out of England, but they ship globally at reasonable prices.

Without a doubt, this is sure to get crowd participation from any student ministry. Let me know if any of you buy a T-Qualizer for a ministry prop and how effective it is.

Special thanks to Trend Hunter for highlighting the t-shirt.

Christianity Today highlighted a fascinating article from Outreach magazine that presents seven startling facts facing attendance in America’s churches. Want to know what they were?

1. Less than 20% of Americans regularly attend church—half of what the pollsters report.
2. American church attendance is steadily declining.
3. Only one state (Hawaii) is outpacing its population growth.
4. Mid-sized churches are shrinking; the smallest and largest churches are growing.
5. Established churches—40 to 190 years old—are, on average, declining.
6. The increase in churches is only 1/4 of what’s needed to keep up with population growth. It is estimated that 10,000 more churches are needed to keep up with the U.S. population growth.
7. In 2050, the percentage of the U.S. population attending church will be almost half of what it was in 1990.

It is a very well-written article that discusses each fact in depth and even presents contradicting research. You can read the full text at ChristianityToday.com. The article also gives some interesting insights from prominent church leaders.

• “I believe churches that are seeing a decline in attendance need a new vision—one that is clear and purposeful.” - Bill Hybels
• “But for any local church, the real competition today is television, the Internet, shopping malls and other social options. The culture offers so many alternatives. Culture—not the ‘church across town’—is the local church’s primary competitor.” - Kirbyjon Caldwell
• “We must intentionally identify, predict and meet the needs of people—or else decline.” - Kirbyjon Caldwell
• “We’re living in a time where spirituality and faith are hot. But it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re deep.” - George Barna
• “I believe we have to get serious about what God has called us to do—and be seen as a place that’s doing, not just saying.” - Bob Coy
• “Unfortunately, most American churches today don’t know how to reach outside one culture. We really haven’t taught people in our congregations how to do multicultural evangelism.” - David Anderson

There are plenty of more great insights throughout the article. Times have changed. What are you doing to reach the lost?

Every lasting success is the result of a plan.
Every successful church is the result of a vision.

Without a vision, people perish. They run wild and have no restraint according to Proverbs 29:18. Your vision is God’s plan for you. It is divine guidance that enables you to fulfill your part in the body of Christ.

But it is also important to write your vision down. Keep it simple and easy to remember. In Habakkuk 2:2, God told Habakkuk to write the vision down and keep it so simple that someone could read it while running by.

Capture your church’s vision in a mission statement and keep it simple. Ministry is a fast-paced and demanding career. It can be full of distractions, but a well-written mission statement will keep you focused on the vision even if you must run to take care of everything.

I like what History Church has done with their mission statement. Pastor Ben Arment shares:

History’s mission statement is to make disciples who can make disciples of Jesus Christ. The phrase is repeated over and over again in print and spoken word. But every mission is made up of tiny little steps that must be well-crafted and well executed in order to be successful. So here it is in bite-size pieces…

To turn prospects into visitors
To turn visitors into regulars
To turn regulars into participants
To turn participants into partners
To turn partners into apprentices
To turn apprentices into leaders

Take it one step further and do what History Church does. Create sub-mission statements. It is a simple concept, but mission statements help you stay focused on God’s purpose for your ministry.

Gifts can be a very powerful thing. They are a great way to show your staff and volunteers that you care about them. They also add important significance to the relationship you have with your workers. The other day, Guy Kawasaki highlighted an excellent post by Whirled Events on 10 steps to giving gifts. Some steps that I particularly enjoyed were:

• Take Notes - Pay attention to your staff and volunteers. Their comments can provide valuable clues to being able to get them a meaningful gift.
• Present Your Gift Well - A great gift is no longer great with poor packaging.
• Include a Handwritten Note - In this digital world, handwriting speaks volumes.

If you appreciate the people who make your ministry possible, learn how to give a gift.

The Christian Science Monitor posted an interesting article on Monday about why emails are so easily misunderstood. In essence, it comes down to three main reasons:

1. Email lacks cues like facial expression and tone of voice.
2. Instantaneous communication creates an urgency that pressures emailers to think and write quickly, which can lead to carelessness.
3. The inability to develop personal rapport over e-mail makes relationships fragile in the face of conflict.

Obviously, miscommunication can lead to an endless amount of problems, which is why it is extremely important that ministers are careful in choosing their words when writing an email. Strive to clearly communicate but also be mindful that your words will not be misinterpreted as a negative or sarcastic tone.

Special thanks to Lifehacker for highlighting the article.

James Ziemer, Harley Davidson’s CEO, has three constants that help fuel Harley’s success:

1. Our passion for this business, for riding, and for relating to and being one with our customers.
2. Our sense of purpose — in other words, our focus on growing demand by offering great products and unique experiences.
3. Operational Excellence — which is the continuous, relentless drive to eliminate waste in all aspects of our operations and to run Harley-Davidson better and more efficiently with each passing day.

Although these are the three constants that help run Harley-Davidson, I believe these principles may also be effectively applied to running a church.

1. Passion - You must be passionate about your calling, for ministering, and for understanding and interacting with those who you are called to reach. Be like Paul and become as much like the people you are trying to reach without discarding the law of God (1 Corinthians 9:20-23).
2. Purpose - To effectively fulfill your calling and maximize your potential, offer great ministries and unique church experiences.
3. Excellence - Eliminate waste. Is there anything your church should stop doing? Is there anything important that could be replaced with something more important? Create an efficient ministry.

Special thanks to Return Customer for highlighting James Ziemer’s three constants.

Candy has been used for outreach before. In fact, it is a staple of children’s ministry.

However, M&M’s has created a whole new opportunity for creative pastors. You can now have a custom message printed on your choice of 17 different colors of M&M’s. Before you fall out of your chair with brainstorming excitement, realize that there are some restrictions:

• The message must fit on two lines of eight characters each.
• Keep your messages fun and positive; refrain from using objectionable words and phrases. No obscenities…we don’t want to leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth.
• Custom printed M&M’S® Candies are for personal use only. No business names, product names, celebrity names, specific sports teams, major events, landmarks, names of schools or institutions. You’re smart…use your creativity and work around these specifics.

I like that they encourage bending their rules in the last sentence. Perhaps you could use a phrase like “Visit Us Sun 9 AM” but highlight your church with a small card that could be attached to the packaging. It would take some creativity, but it is sure to make your church memorable. Also, it is a great way to ensure potential guests won’t forget what time to show up. It is a little expensive; the most cost effective option is 16 2oz bags for $60.

Let me know if you use this to promote your church. I would like to hear about its effectiveness.

Special thanks to Three Minds for highlighting the resource earlier this month.

Wow!
$3 for a logo!

Yes, it is true. Gabe George is offering a CD of 10 ministry logos for $29. It includes a JPEG, PDF, Illustrator File, and Photoshop EPS for each logo. Each one would make a great logo for one of your church’s special events, programs, or even the youth group. Gabe created them as a youth ministry resource, but they could easily be tweaked to fit whatever need you might have.

If interested, email info@gabrielgeorge.com to place an order or get more information.