A couple of weeks ago I introduced you to one of my new partners, The Change Group. Here’s a video from Jeff Murphy, senior pastor of mychurch in Columbus, Georgia, talking about The Change Group:

Here’s a list of the services included in the solution The Change Group provides churches:

• Deposit management
• Accounts payable
• Budget management
• Financial reporting
• Bank reconciliation
• Monday through Friday full-time financial support

The team at The Change Group can get your church started from the first phone conversation to implementation within 24 hours
. And, between now and October 21, churches can take advantage of their “Starter Package” that allows ministries to get their bookkeeping starting at $49.95 per week. Do the math. You’re getting accounting help for less than the cost of a part-time staff person. (Or, don’t do the math and hire them instead.)

If you’d like to learn more, contact The Change Group directly to get your questions answered. Their team can take care of the finances, so you can focus on the ministry.

You can’t get a better team of sponsors than the folks that are hanging out around here. I’d put them up against any other website. In fact, I’m convinced my sponsors could beat up your sponsors any day of the week…with one hand tied behind their back. That’s how good they are.

Here are the folks that are making things happen in October:

Collision Media – the main sponsor of TonyMorganLive.com is a creative design studio that provides web design and other media related services for churches and businesses

The Change Group – offer a web-based system that allows churches to outsource all aspects of day-to-day financial management

Clover – provides websites for growing churches and ministries

Desperation Band – watch the video from their new album, “Light Up the World”

faithHighway –  develops cost-effective, cutting-edge websites to reach the unchurched including strategies to increase giving with your website

Puffy Shirt – an online magazine about faith, technology, and life

Rockbridge Seminary – 100% online program for earning your seminary degree without leaving your current ministry assignment

Story Chicago – a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel on October 28-29

If you’re interested, we still have advertising spots available for your organization. Email me for more details. I’d love to have you join our team!

I had the distinct privilege of chatting for about 15 minutes yesterday with David Crowder. Among other things, we talked about:

• “Church Music“
• DC*B tour
• Dr. Pepper’s house
• University Baptist Church
• @crowderband
• “sloppy wet kiss”
• vocoder

Listen to the entire interview by clicking the link below:

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David is a fun guy, and the new album is killer. Hope you enjoyed the conversation.

I had lunch with a few of my West Ridge teammates a couple of days ago in a no-name restaurant. It was quite the surreal experience. Everything about the restaurant screamed 1970s…including the waitresses. One of them reprimanded me for trying to pour tea for someone else. (I’ll never do that again.) Oddly enough, they were playing Madonna music over the sound system. Like I said, it was very surreal.

As we were walking out, we noticed this display of business cards:

There have to be over 50 business cards on that shelf. Everyone is vying for the attention of the restaurant patrons. You can buy a house, get your hair cut and catch a taxi among other things. I guess we could call Sheila’s Beauty Salon to see how effective this advertising is for her business. Looks like she got the prime real estate on the front row.

I guess we can’t fault these businesses for taking advantage of some free advertising. And, honestly, I guess we can’t fault ministries in our churches for doing the same thing. At some point, though, someone in leadership probably needs to ask the question: what’s the priority message?

Here’s the reality though, it’s just easier to say “yes” to everyone. It’s easier to treat everyone the same. Only problem is that when you try to make everyone equal and attempt to treat everyone fairly, you end up with this cluttered display of business cards.

Regrettably, this crowded shelf of business cards is reminiscent of what I see in too many churches. In an attempt to be fair, churches are willing to be less effective.

• When we promote every ministry equally, nothing gets prioritized.
• When every ministry is treated the same, it creates confusion for people trying to figure out their next step.
• When we give everyone the same platform, it’s difficult for any of the messages to be heard.

The only answer to this is for leaders to be unfair. You have to determine your priorities, and give those ministries the focus in your messaging. You have to be willing to say “no” to many requests for platform time and bulletin space and email blasts. You have to keep the important stuff important.

It’s one thing when you’re in a 70s restaurant in northern Georgia and someone is trying to get you to find a new beautician. It’s a completely different deal when you’re trying to help people take their next steps in their spiritual journey. If your objective is to help people become more like Jesus…

Stop trying to be fair.