Church on the Move originally earned a reputation for practical yet creative children’s ministry then did the same in youth ministry and now is turning a lot of heads with their creative arts department.
To get an idea of the type of transformation that Church on the Move has undergone, look at the stark contrast between their worship services in 2002 versus today.
To learn about the principles and practical how-to’s behind Church on the Move’s approach to ministry, stay tuned for my live blogging notes from the Seeds Conference over the next few days.
How can churches make the most of Christmas this year, knowing that it’s only days away and there’s only so much they can now implement?
Here are my thoughts:
Christmas is almost here. And if you are a church looking to make the most of Christmas this year, start shifting your mindset now. Odds are you’ve been planning something big for Christmas, and you will be busy preparing for it throughout the week. But start shifting now. Begin shifting your mindset from obsessive details and performance perfection to loving on people. Who cares if you Christmas festivities are worthy of Broadway if your entire church staff is cold, tense and irritable because of an unhealthy hyperfocus on performance?
Church leadership sets the tone and atmosphere for the rest of the congregation, so start relaxing and having some fun while you wrap up the final details. People want to be loved, so focus on exuding joy and inclusiveness. You can’t fake that (people can tell), so you need to start preparing now. Happiness is contagious. Enjoy your Christmas.
Kevin and I also discuss church marketing, stats, LifeChurch.tv, and organizational culture. To read those questions and answers, check out the original interview at Church Marketing Sucks.
This is the 4th edition of the list, and it has been interesting to watch it evolve. Each update adds new blogs that have recommended or discovered. And each update has some surprise ranking shifts as various blogs change their url, change their RSS link, or even lose Google PageRank. This fall 2010 edition saw a considerable number of blogs lose Google PageRank since the spring 2010 update (I’m not sure why).
As I’ve said before, the list is far from perfect. I try to pick metrics that are stable, high in integrity, and difficult to artificially inflate. But even still, the list is flawed.
Don’t get too hung up on the psychology of rankings. I encourage you to use this list as a resource to scientifically see what others find worth reading.
The Top 100 Church Blogs list is a great starting point to find great church blogs to read. But also be sure you look elsewhere for good blogs to read. Personally, some of my favorite church blogs do not make the rankings.
For Discussion: >> What blogs not on the list do you recommend checking out for the next update?
>> Should the Top 100 Church Blogs list be an annual fall update or a twice a year spring and fall update? Currently, it updates twice a year.
Outreach magazine just released their 2010 lists of the Top 100 Largest Churches in America and the Top 100 Fastest-Growing Churches in America. These annual lists have been around for awhile. An annual top 100 largest U.S. churches list has been publically available since 2006. And an annual top 100 fastest-growing churches list has been publically available since 2004.
What is most interesting about these lists is no longer the data itself but rather how many churches are choosing to no longer take part in these studies.
From a research perspective, this nonparticipation is sad. But theologically speaking, the reasons many churches choose to not broadcast their numbers are quite noble. Many nonparticipating churches just don’t want to negatively affect other churches. And, of course others, just forget to report their numbers to the researchers.
Over the last 7 years, there have been 18 top churches lists published. Combined they make a great directory of churches worth studying, but the constant stream of lists can also occasionally become overbearing, nurture unhealthy competition, and create an imbalanced perspective of which ministry metrics are most important.
Personally, I see no right or wrong answer as to whether a church should participate (as long as they have the right heart attitude).
In the 5 years of measuring gigachurches (10,000+ weekly attendance), 64 gigachurches have been listed. However, on the new 2010 list, only 35 of these 64 gigachurches reported their numbers. What happened to the other 29 gigachurches?
I call them the “Invisible Gigachurches.”
TOP LARGEST U.S. GIGACHURCHES (including invisible gigachurches) Only the first 15 churches from 2010’s list are named out of respect to Outreach magazine. Outreach is selling the full list here. All invisible gigachurches from 2006-2009 are named.
For Discussion: >> Are churches not participating in these lists just sitting a few rounds out?
>> Or do you think it is a growing trend stemming from list fatigue or unhealthy collateral damage?
>> Why do you think churches should or should not participate?
Every July, LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) hosts a sermon series called “At the Movies” that uses movie clips to illustrate spiritual truths. And every year LifeChurch.tv sets new attendance records.
To add some extra fun to the sermon series, each campus decorates their facility with a movie theme. This year Stillwater’s campus did Field of Dreams and created a baseball diamond in their lobby complete with dirt. However, my favorite theme from this year is the Tulsa campus’ Toy Story theme. Here are some highlights:
OUTSIDE
Before you even enter the church, you are greeted by a Toy Story “At the Movies” wall mural and Pizza Planet golf carts to shuttle you to the door.
ENTRANCE
As you enter the building, you pass through a tunnel of Legos and pop out from under a giant bed into a lobby child’s room full of larger than life toys.
INSIDE
The lobby features Buzz Lightyear himself greeting guests in front of an over-sized Etch-A-Sketch (his packaging is off to the side). Toys sit atop a giant furniture. Aliens sit inside a toy rocket. And the church refreshment stand is now a Pizza Planet franchise.
Also, watch out for the giant electrical cord!
To experience an “At the Movies” sermon, visit one of LifeChurch.tv’s many campuses or attend online at one of 48 weekly service times. Due to movie licensing rights, these sermons will not be available to watch online after the sermon series, so be sure to catch “At the Moves” while it is still going on.
Special thanks to @johnadavis (LifeChurch.tv Logistcs Director) and @derrickhenslee (LifeChurch.tv Tulsa Campus Pastor) for taking the photos.
Recently the Barna Group and the reThink Group teamed up to explore how having a child influences a parent’s connection to a church or faith community. Here are some highlights:
How parents say having kids affects their connection to a faith community:
50% did not change involvement
>> Most common among Northeast and West USA, atheists/agnostics (90%), non-Christian religions (70%), and among college graduates
20% increased already active involvement
>> Most common among lower income homes and Hispanics
17% began attending after a long period of not going
>> Most common among Republicans and political conservatives
5% became active in a faith community for the first time >> Most common among Midwest USA, Catholics, and Hispanics
4% became less active >> Most common among single parents, never married parents, and Asians
What I love about this study is it is a great example of why we can’t assume all people are alike or even that all subcultures are alike. Not every parent is affected the same way by having kids. And what is probable for college-educated atheist parents in the Northeast isn’t necessarily probable for a lower-income Hispanic parent in the Midwest.
Statistics like these are incredibly useful in letting us compare our sociological observations with scientific trends. They are a sounding board. However, one of the most important things you can do is learn the unique probability of the community that you are called to reach. Rather than surveys and polls, the best way to do this is listen, ask questions, get out into your community’s different cultures, and listen some more.
If you can understand the microstatistics of your community’s niche, then you can better understand how you can turn the bad statistics into good statistics.
For Discussion: - Describe the types of cultures that your ministry reaches.
- What do you do to better understand these cultures?
Church on the Move (Tulsa, OK) has a reputation for experimenting with creative arts to tell the story of Christ. I like the simple execution but powerful imagery of the backdrop for their Easter weekend worship.
As worship leaders led the congregation in song, three painters began writing bright red-pixeled letters in the background.
It spelled “Amazing Grace.”
At this point, they began singing the song Amazing Grace, and the red letters became a crown of thorns as an image of Christ on the cross appeared behind the letters.
Viruses can teach us a lot of things. You can be infected by an idea.
In 11 iterations of a U.S. Christian discipling 3 people then them doing the same, you’d pretty much cover all of America. What if each church committed to plant 3 churches in its lifetime?
If we want to reproduce, we need to have something that is reproducible. If it can’t be easily passed on to another, then you shouldn’t do it.
Big budgeted churches are clunky and not easily reproduced. Paul planted a church in 9 days. If your concept of leadership takes 7 years of seminary, it is too complicated.
