What are you preaching for?

January 8, 2008 in Blog, Uncategorized with 0 Comments

I just got done reading a post over at the Center for Church Communication’s blog all about getting what you preach for. Go read it, then come back.

OK, good, you’re back now. What is your ministry preaching? What is its primary focus? Are you really preaching those things, or do you just think you are? Examine your ministry today. Look at what you think is your “big thing”. Maybe your ministry’s big thing is outreach. Or family ministry. Or loving kids. Then go and ask your volunteers and parents what they feel is being communicated. Do they feel that your “big thing” is flashy programs or cheesy 1950′s era picture books?

If your idea of your “big thing” lines up with what you’re actually communicating, great. If it doesn’t, look at where your downfalls are. Then go back, fix those things, then resurvey again in a few months. You may find out it’ll make life a whole lot easier.

Merry Christmas!

January 6, 2008 in Blog with 1 Comment

No, Evan has not lost his mind.  OK, so maybe I have, but that’s beside the point.

Tonight our church had our Christmas program.  On January 6.  Not in December.  What happened, you ask?  Well, we had to cancel church due to a massive pile of snow that fell from the sky to the ground here in Indiana on the week (Dec. 16) we had intended to have it.  So we had a Christmas program in January.

I’ll admit, it was a little weird singing Christmas songs and looking at Christmas decorations in January.  There was just something about it, though, that made it special.  Like our pastor said at the end of the service, “Christmas is not about December 16.  Christmas is not about December 24.  Christmas is not about December 25.  Christmas is about the love of God.” Continue Reading…

The Cost of Being Unremarkable

December 30, 2007 in Blog, Uncategorized with 3 Comments

This morning I was reading an article over at Church Relevance, in which he gives this quote from Robert Stephens, founder of Geek Squad:
“Marketing is a tax you pay for being unremarkable.”

To understand the quote, you must realize that by marketing he’s talking about promotion: the ads, flyers, radio spots, etc.

This quote gave me a catalyst to begin thinking about something else.  Recently, Starbucks launched their first TV advertisements here in the US.  But consider what Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks and idol of caffeine addicts everywhere, said just a decade ago:
“By its very nature, national advertising fuels fears about ubiquity.”

Starbucks themselves have said that national ads state ubiquity.  In choosing to run these ads, Starbucks has established themselves as the McDonalds of the coffee industry.  They’ve gone back on their ideals, what made them remarkable.  Starbucks was held up as the poster child that word-of-mouth is better than any TV ad or billboard, especially if you get your words into the right mouths.  They can’t claim that title anymore.  Their rapid growth has caused a decline in quality.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d still choose Starbucks over any other coffee place, and it’s still a very awesome, remarkable coffee shop.  But they’ve fallen below what caused them to be remarkable: being better than everyone else at what they do.  So now they have to pay the “marketing tax” to maintain the hold they have.  They’ve gotten too ubiquitous, and feel comfortable where they are, a dangerous place for any business to be.

A ministry that is remarkable will get people talking, no doubt.  A one time remarkable thing won’t cut it though.  You’ve got to provide a consistent pattern of remarkability, or you’ll get a word-of-mouth blitz, then see a sharp decline.  Find out what works.  What works in LA (Los Angeles) may not work in LA (Louisiana).  What works at the church next door may not work for you.  Don’t become ubiquitous.  Allow yourself to push boundaries, go beyond, and find out your potential.  Do something uncomfortable.  Because the way I see it, remarkable is the only way to keep your ministry alive.

I’ve got K!

December 21, 2007 in Blog, Uncategorized with 9 Comments

Yes, that’s right.  I’ve got a copy of the January/February issue of K! in my hands right now.  This thing is so completely awesome in so many ways, I can’t even begin to express it in words.  You’ll just have to subscribe to the magazine to find out.

The magazine has so many great articles in it from tons of great ministry leaders (including, but not limited to, Roger Fields of Kidz Blitz, Jim Wideman, and of course,  yours truly, ha ha).  We can’t wait to hear from you as to what you think about it.  You should be getting it in the mail very soon.  It’s our Christmas gift to you

Just looking back over the last few months is crazy.  In July, Ryan came to me with another one of his crazy ideas.  He has a lot of those.  However, I felt like this one was especially insane.  We knew nothing about publishing a magazine.  Even important stuff, like writers, editors, designers, printer, postal laws (which are quite an adventure, as I’m told), and lots of other exciting stuff like that.  By September, we had held our first editorial meeting.  Now, we hold the very first issue in our hands and are about to send it to you.  That’s exciting, and nothing short of amazing.

Look ahead to see more about the next issue, as well as more exciting things coming down the pipe from KidzMatter and The Way We See It.   Have a wonderful Christmas and happy new year!

The. Best. Popcorn. EVER.

December 17, 2007 in Blog, Uncategorized with 2 Comments

Last night I experienced the most amazing thing I think has ever graced my taste buds.  Better than a nice home-cooked cheeseburger.  Better than any gourmet meal.  It was popcorn.  But not just any popcorn.  This was Cinnamon Creme DrizzleCorn from Dale and Thomas Popcorn.  The second it hits your mouth, you’re engulfed in an ocean of sumptuous cinnamon-white chocolately goodness.  This is popcorn so good, you just have to share some, but desperately don’t want to do so.  And what do you know, Dale and Thomas’s tagline is even “Share Some”.

But let’s back up a bit.  Let’s hop into our handy-dandy time machine, and go back about two months.  Dale and Thomas (hereafter D&T) was giving away free $20 gift cards.  Little bells were going off somewhere in my head that I had heard D&T was good popcorn, so I signed up and got my code in a matter of seconds in my email inbox.  So it sat there until two weeks ago I got a genius idea.  Wouldn’t popcorn make a great Christmas gift?  I proceeded to buy the 12-pack sampler, with all twelve of D&T’s current flavors.  I then divvied them up and made gifts out of them, while keeping four bags for my family.

Now, back to last night.  I was craving a snack, so I pulled out the case (yes, case) of popcorn.  One bag of D&T is 12-inches long, and serves 2-4 people.  We decided on the Cinnamon Creme.  I do not know that I could ever go back to regular movie theatre-style popcorn again.  It almost seems like a sin.

D&T has not spread by multi-million dollar TV ads, magazine ads, full-page ads in the New York Times, or all-out web blitzes.  No, they’ve spread simply by word of mouth.  It just so happens, their popcorn happened to hit some very famous mouths.  They’ve included Oprah (as one of her “Favorite Things”), People Magazine, the Today Show, CNN, and many others.  D&T has a product so spectacular, so awesome, you can’t help but “Share Some”, just like I’m doing right now.

What do you do or what can you do in your ministry that will simply make it so that people can’t help but sharing it with their friends?  What game can you play, element can you add, media component can you slip in to make your ministry so totally remarkable that no one can stop telling others?  Do your kids tell their friends?  Do your parents tell their friends?

As Ryan has mentioned here before, the power of a personal invitation is paramount to any number of mail flyers, door hangers, or take-home sheets.  What is really effective in spreading the message of hope we have to offer is someone saying, “My church has this really awesome thing we do in Kids’ Church.  You should ask if you can come this Sunday.”  Getting kids (and even adults) to a point at which they can’t help but sharing it is simply remarkable.  And that’s the way I see it.

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