January 8, 2008 | 1 Comments | Design, Marketing, News
Pantone has published the top 10 fashion colors for spring 2008. As a designer, it is a convenient reference for me for knowing the latest color trends. So this spring, as you begin to design your church’s bulletin or postcard, give it a touch of spring and add some PANTONE 14-0852 or one of the other great 9 colors.
[via Trend Hunter]
January 7, 2008 | No Comments | 10Q Interviews, Church, Leadership, Ministry
Kerry Shook is the senior pastor of Fellowship of The Woodlands, a Texas multi-site church with 2 campuses located in The Woodlands and Atascocita. Kerry and his wife, Chris, are also the authors of One Month To Live.
ABOUT FELLOWSHIP OF THE WOODLANDS
Year Began: 1993
Locations: 2
Weekend Services: 8 (5 contemporary, 1 emergent, 1 traditional, & 1 Spanish)
Attendance: 15,600
Staff: 140 (100 full-time & 40 part-time) :: 1/111 attendees
Volunteers: 4,000+ :: 1/4 attendees
Primary Audiences/Lifestyles Reached: A consistent message is delivered in all services with the praise and worship varying to attract different age/cultural groups. Contemporary services are creative and seeker sensitive to reach all ages. The emergent venue is aimed at those in their 20’s. The traditional venue includes choir-based hymns that appeal to those middle-aged and older.
10Q WITH KERRY SHOOK
1Q = What values and beliefs unify Fellowship of The Woodlands’ staff and drive their performance?
Our mission statement is to help people experience Christ – rather than man’s creation of religion – so they can take the Christ Experience back to the community and the world. Our staff and church is driven by “life change.”
2Q = What is Fellowship of The Woodlands’ chain of command from the senior pastor to the church volunteers?
Senior Pastor shares his vision with our Pastoral Management Team (PMT), which is led by our Senior Executive Pastor. Members of the PMT work through associate pastors to enlist Volunteer Leaders and Volunteers. Small Groups are very important to our church — these are organized into Divisions with a Small Group Division Leader, who directs Small Group Leaders.
3Q = For big decisions, what is Fellowship of The Woodlands’ decision making process?
Senior Pastor and PMT pray and come to a consensus regarding how God is leading the church.
4Q = How does Fellowship of The Woodlands market itself?
TV commercials, direct mail, newspaper ads, Internet, websites, and word of mouth.
5Q = What is the most effective thing Fellowship of The Woodlands has done to reach people?
We provide an atmosphere of acceptance and recognize the difference between acceptance and approval. Based on this, regardless of who a person is or what they may have done, they feel the love of God and experience Christ from the moment they step on campus.
The Christ Experience is huge for us in all we do from the worship experience to the parking lot. Creative elements in each service communicate the truths of God’s Word in a fun way to penetrate the hearts and minds of those who attend or view.
6Q = What is your leadership style?
Purposeful and compassionate.
7Q = Who has influenced you the most as a leader?
My dad, Damon Shook, who has been a pastor all my life, has had the greatest influence. In addition, I have learned a great deal from Rick Warren and Bill Hybels.
8Q = What resources have had the biggest impact on how you do ministry?
Many years ago, Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Church Conference helped me envision how church could be done differently and effectively to reach the unchurched. Based on this, Chris and I formed the initial vision for Fellowship of The Woodlands. Since then, we have refined the vision through a lot of reading and studying and most of all through continued prayer.
9Q = What is the greatest ministry lesson you have learned?
To always give away the ministry but never give away the leadership God has called me to.
10Q = What is the best advice you have for church leaders?
Paul’s advice to the Ephesians Elders in Acts 20:28 issues a constant challenge for me to balance my personal life, family life and church life with all the demands of ministry.
“Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers…” The priority, as self-serving as it sounds, is to focus on my heart first, to guard my heart for out of it flows all the issues of life. If I do this daily, most of the other things take care of themselves without too much stress.
Be sure to check out Church Relevance’s “10Q” category to read previous 10Q interviews.
January 4, 2008 | 8 Comments | Church, Ministry, News
Outreach magazine has published the list of the 25 Most Innovative Churches in America for 2008 in their January/February ‘08 issue. As usual, they also publish an in-depth article exploring some of the most innovative things these 25 churches have done over the past year.
While the 25 Most Innovative Churches list is fascinating by itself, I find it equally fascinating to see which previous “church lists” these 25 churches have also been included on. Most of them have been featured on lists of the “fastest-growing,” “the largest,” and “the most influential churches.” So is their “innovation” the key to their success? I’m sure it is a big factor. At the same time, their inclusion on previous lists (as well as other factors) often brings these churches’ innovative methods into the limelight.
Some of the most innovative churches in America may not be on this list because it is impossible to be aware of what all the churches in America are doing. But despite this challenge, Outreach magazine did a pretty good job. Here are the top 15, as well as which previous lists they have made:
America’s Top 15 Most Innovative Churches of 2008
and the previous lists they have made (see end for legend)
Legend
January 2, 2008 | 1 Comments | Church, Ministry
Usually the congregation gives the church money, but what happens when the roles are reversed?
In December 2005, Watermark Community Church (Dallas, TX) found out when they gave each attendee an envelope with $5 to $1,000 and told them:
You are to use that money to further the fame of who Jesus Christ is.
All together, $30,000 was distributed. Senior Pastor Todd Wagner described it as a way to live out the Parable of the Talents from Matthew 25:14-30. Some of the money helped build a well in Africa. Some bought Christmas presents for the suffering and needy. Each attendee was entrusted with the responsibility to be a good steward of what they were given.
It is a great way to get people to practice in the streets what is preached from the pulpit. And it is a lesson and experience that is not easily forgotten.
[via The Dallas Morning News]
