It’s hard to believe, but we’re only three weeks away from launching our next campus of West Ridge Church. The new West Paulding Campus will be meeting in Poole Elementary school. This morning, over 100 volunteers gathered at the school to practice set up and tear down for the first time. Next Sunday will be a dress rehearsal. I was over there this morning and took some pictures. Brian Brunke contributed some of these as well. Enjoy the highlight film.

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“I am responsible. We had to admit to ourselves and to the people of this company that we owned the mistakes that were made. Once we did, it was a powerful turning point. It’s like when you have a secret and get it out: The burden is off your shoulders.”

Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO of Starbucks, as quoted in the Harvard Business Review (July-August 2010)

For the last several summers, Craig Groeschel and the LifeChurch team have been offering a fun outreach series called “At The Movies.” As soon as the weather gets toasty, LifeChurch sends out promotional materials in local neighborhoods in the form of doorhangers with a bag of popcorn attached. Meanwhile, each campus participates in a movie-themed, decorating contest. Imagine walking into church and finding yourself in Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, Jurassic Park or The Batcave. Volunteers go nuts with the competition and invite their friends and family to see what they’ve been working on.

For each week of the “At The Movies” message series, Craig pre-records his teaching, weaving in clips from a popular movie. Some of the movies they’ve used in the past include We Are Marshall, The Pursuit of Happyness, and The Bucket List. Here’s the catch–they never reveal the movies that they’re going to use in the annual series. Check out the promo.

The result? Every July, the “At The Movies” series generates the highest first-time visitor rates. Who turns down an invitation to see a movie at church? Furthermore, LifeChurch experiences record salvation decisions. It’s become their biggest outreach push of the entire year, and kick-starts the momentum heading into fall. LifeChurch has expanded to 14 campuses in 5 states including their online campus, and it’s one of the fastest growing churches in the country.

This year, LifeChurch has produced the At the Movies @ Home Kit. The kit includes a DVD with movie suggestions for the whole family, activities and biblical truths that you can pull out of each movie. Families can invite the neighborhood gang over for a movie, or use it for a family movie night.

By the way, LifeChurch makes their resources available for free. Here are the various resources that they have available from this summer’s At the Movies series.

That’s what’s worked for LifeChurch during the hot summer months. Yes, it’s possible to gain momentum when most churches experience a dip in attendance. What has worked during the summer for your church?

Well, I at least fixed my small portion of it. The fiasco started when we moved into our new house a couple of months ago. I tried to transfer our AT&T DSL service to our new home. In the process of doing that, AT&T disconnected our service by mistake…twice. Each time they disconnected the service, they had to start a new account. So, you guessed it, I started getting billed for multiple accounts.

That led to some glorious customer support calls with AT&T. They’re in the “communications” business, but apparently their departments are unable to talk with each other and that includes the ability to transfer calls from one department to another. Through a series of events related to AT&T’s horrible service, I ended up losing a couple thousand dollars (and a lot of time). I will never (NEVER!) use AT&T for anything ever (EVER!) again.

That experience forced me to try to find an alternative Internet provider. Currently, the only other option where we live is Comcast cable. I’ve been down this road before. That’s what led to the switch to DSL. When the AT&T service worked, DSL was actually faster.

Last week Comcast installed a new line for Internet service. The service was slow. Browsing was worse than the days of dial-up. I contacted tech support through Twitter. They were very responsive. At the end of the day, though, they indicated it was a problem with the modem. (Yes, the modem I just purchased.)

That led to a second visit from a Comcast technician. The guy that came to the house was very professional. He tested the line. It was working to spec. He concluded the wireless router was just in the wrong location in the house, so he installed a new jack and reconnected the service. I will at least give Comcast credit, they have improved their customer service. The people I’ve worked with have been friendly and compassionate.

Ultimately, though, I was still stuck with an Internet connection that tested at high speeds, but dragged on any sites (including Google Reader as an example) when pictures or video were trying to load. It gets really frustrating when you’re paying a boatload of money for “high speed Internet” and you’re waiting for pages to load…and waiting…and waiting.

Then, last night, I finally did my own investigation. I Googled complaints about slow Comcast Internet service and eventually found the problem. As it turns out, Comcast has a history of having slow DNS servers. That never came up in any of my customer support conversations with Comcast. Fortunately, Google has an answer for that as well. Google provides public DNS for free. I followed the simple Google instructions to switch my DNS settings, and, voila, the Internet connection was finally working.

I know. This post is completely unrelated to the stuff I typically write about here. However, my guess is others have or will end up in a similar situation in the future. I just wanted to share my experience with the hopes that it saves someone else time, money and frustration.

In the mean time, I’m praying that Clear makes it to my neighborhood soon. I’m sure Al Gore didn’t have these challenges in mind when he invented the Internet.

“He’s home! He’s home! He’s home!” My favorite part of each day takes place between 6:30 to 7:00 PM every night. That is when the garage door goes up, the car pulls in, and I walk in the door arriving home from a hard but productive day at work. It has become our family tradition that when I arrive, my wife and daughter shout those six wonderful words in unison. There are then hugs and kisses and a general mini-celebration. I love my job but I also love coming home!

Hollywood experts tell us the initial scene of any movie is critical. The opening scene creates conflict. Man against man; Man against nature; or Man against himself. The opening act sets the stage for the rest of the movie. When a man arrives home, how he is welcomed sets the stage for the rest of the evening.

The following is what I experience and feel because of the way my wife and daughter welcome me home every evening:

1. Confidence – The level of a man’s performance is in direct proportion to his wife’s confidence in him. They make me feel so valued and important that I feel I can accomplish almost anything.
2. Encouragement – Whatever redeemable qualities I have as a husband and father are reinforced and their attitude compels me to build on those qualities and be the best leader that I possibly can.
3. Perspective – This life is joyful but it’s also hard. There are days we all have that we’re simply glad when they’re over. When those days occur, their loving attitude allows proper balance and perspective to return.
4. Positive Attitude – Many times at night, there are issues we have to deal with. Whether it’s a phone call received earlier in the day, unwelcome mail, or the challenges of doing homework with my daughter who would rather watch Hannah Montana, I am now able to address those items with a more positive attitude.
5. Increased Generosity – There is nothing I wouldn’t do for my family. Their response to my efforts simply makes me want to serve them more and give them everything I can. Their response to my leadership moves me from my natural default mode of greed to one of generosity.

I know what many women may be thinking right now. This post is unrealistic because they are not shouting “He’s home” when their husband arrives. They do not view their husband as the man in the picture above. Here’s my advice: don’t let someone else’s performance or character determines yours.

Men are naturally insecure. That’s a big secret about men, but it’s true. Men want to be heroes but are deathly afraid of failure, not measuring up and not providing. This is in our DNA from Adam and the Garden. Treat him like the knight in shining armor he desperately wants to be, and I guarantee that many times he will become one.

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This is a guest blog from Brian Dodd, Director of Market Development at INJOY Stewardship Solutions. Of course, it’s begging for a response from a woman in the crowd who’s willing to write about how a man should value his wife. Any takers?

The flow of culture affects the church, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The way we connect—how we give and receive information, our style and habits of living—is all a part of culture. As ministry leaders, we need to identify cultural movements, discerning which trends will help us have greater impact and which trends are dangerous, self-centered, and hurtful. Here are my observations of three cultural trends influencing ministry leaders today—it’s my list of what’s “in” and what’s “out” in church leadership.

In: Influence  Out: Power  Way Out: Board Meetings (Robert’s Rules of what?)

Our culture values people who make a difference—those who get things done with their creative ideas and powerful personal networks. For better or worse, our culture won’t value a leader for his/her respective position as much as for merit.This means simply holding a leadership position isn’t enough; leaders need to build credibility. There’s a biblical backing to this cultural movement: “You know that the rulers in this world lord it over their people, and officials flaunt their authority over those under them. But among you it will be different…” (Matthew 20:25, 26). Influence is in, and power plays are out.

In: Creativity  Out: Corporate Way Out: Red Power Ties (they don’t go well with graphic Ts, anyway)

Our church is a body, a family, a bride—this is understood by church leaders. But we might even call it something else, especially today as we value start-ups and grassroots movements as much as corporate thinking and institutions. Just check out the rising number of nonprofits and NGOs in the last few years. The NGO sector is now the eighth largest economy in the world. And, dare I say, nonprofits are the new parachurch. Our society wants to be a part of something forward-thinking, creative, and at times, sacrificial. By nature, the mission of Christ is a grassroots effort (fueled by the Holy Spirit), inviting people to be a part of a better story—one they were made for. The rise of creative culture gives us an opportunity to rebrand the church as it was originally designed: as a movement.

In: Networks  Out: E-mail Way Out: Meet-Ups (this includes name badges)

Networks allow us to connect with others seamlessly and—more importantly—on our own terms. In our society, we are hyper-related but under-connected. There are some solid benefits to building strong networks (can you say global ministry?), but many of the connections we make aren’t making us better at relationships or taking us deeper spiritually. Facebook is a prime example: It’s a powerful tool that can enhance deeper connections, or just foster our lust for belonging.

I would love to hear your comments or any additional trends you feel are affecting church leadership today.  Our team is working and praying diligently to make ChurchLeaders.com something of great value for every ministry leader. On the site you’ll find over 3,000 resources—and more added daily—to help you lead better. (Check out our list of freebies).

These are exciting days at West Ridge Church. We have lots to celebrate.

1. In the ministry year that recently concluded, over 750 people accepted Christ through ministries on and off our campus.
2. We baptized almost double the number of people from the previous year.
3. West Ridge partnered with 79 other churches and 7,000 volunteers to complete community projects throughout the metro Atlanta area.
4. We’re continuing to dig wells, plant churches and care for hundreds of children in Burkina Faso.
5. Nearly 60% of our adults have been engaged in a small group and more and more folks are engaged in mentoring relationships. (I love it that folks are initiating mentoring relationships organically without a church program.)
6. We’re taking steps to launch new Bible classes and online spiritual formation tools in the coming months.
7. West Ridge is partnering with other churches to start The Launch Network to equip church planters.
8. We’re experiencing the typical back-to-school attendance bump, but our Sunday services have grown by 15% on top of that. We’re seeing holiday crowds in the middle of August.
9. Our student ministry had over 600 middle and high school students gather last week forcing us to find an answer to space challenges. (Pray for wisdom as we get creative about finding space for students to continue inviting their friends.)
10. We’re less than four weeks away from launching our second campus in West Paulding. (It’s only 25 days, 12 hours and 4 minutes to be exact.)

And, on top of that, we just came out of a series where we heard of one life-change story after another. There’s a lot to be grateful for. At the same time, we continue to desperately seek God for direction concerning next steps. As pastors, I assure you that we have a huge sense of accountability for the people under our spiritual care.

Hope you’ll celebrate with us and pray for us. We’re in the middle of a God story.

I got together with the Ministry Strategies team recently to talk through options for making solutions more affordable for smaller, newer churches. We put our heads together and came up with these three options. Maybe one of them will be a fit for your church.

Strategy Snapshot – $500

• You’ll take our online ministry survey.
• We’ll review a video of your service.
• We’ll deliver a summary with observations and our “Top 3″ recommendations.
We’ll schedule two follow up calls within 60 days.

Strategy Visit – $1,500

Strategy Coaching & Consulting – starting at $1,500 per month

We’d love to serve your church. Interested in learning more? Contact us to start the conversation.

I just had the opportunity to interview Will Mancini, the founder and Clarity Evangelist of Auxano. Will describes his job title as consultant, strategist, and vision architect for churches and ministries across the country. The Auxano team provides churches with consulting about the clarity of their vision, rather than marketing and promotional consulting. In reaction to my recent post on the 5 Attributes of a Church in Decline, here’s what Will had to say about vision and clarity in the modern church.

TONY: From your experience, what does a great vision look like?

WILL: Just like wind, we can describe either the wind itself or the effects of the wind. When most people think about great vision, they think about the effects. Things like enthusiasm for being a part of something big, a real sense of togetherness or freedom to take risks. The list goes for miles.

But in describing what great vision itself looks like, I boil it down to having a clear, concise and compelling answer to five questions:

• What are we doing?
• Why are we doing it?
• How are we doing it?
• When are we successful?
• Where is God taking us?

In the end if individuals on the team don’t  “own” a common response to these questions, than vision clarity work is an urgent need that should be developed before other decisions are made. The “Vision Frame” is a great diagnostic tool to help these five clarity components stick in the daily life and leadership of the team.

Most important, we have created a question that must be answered before developing the Vision Frame. That question is, “What can your church do better than 10,000 others?” This question is important because most leaders tend to photocopy vision without even knowing it.

TONY: Is it possible to have a vision statement without having a strong vision?

WILL: Absolutely. The most common substitute for real vision is words on paper. Paper cages vision, whether it’s a “lofty one liner” or “compelling page dump.”

Furthermore, a lack of vision is a common attribute of most churches whether they are declining or growing. In a growing church we don’t see the gap of vision clarity because leaders tend to substitute the feeling of momentum for vision. (Here is a blog post on that subject.)  In a declining situation you just can’t hide from it. Clarity is one of the deepest systemic growth challenges in the church. That’s why I always remind leaders that vision transfers through people not paper.

TONY: Can you give us a recent example of where you’ve seen vision clarity lead to mission success?

WILL: One church Auxano recently worked with felt stuck at about 500 in attendance for over a decade. For them, developing their Vision Frame, helped re-orient an over-programmed, “all-things-to-all-people” approach to a singular focus on the mission of Jesus through their crown-jewel strength of mentoring.  Soon, every ministry they offered from serving the under-privileged, to children’s ministry, to small groups was focused around the practice of mentoring. The first year after the process they experienced 15% growth in worship. But the most important outcome for me was the electricity in the air with the staff. When I first met them, the ministry atmosphere felt like a dragged out potluck dinner. But by the end, we were on a God-given adventure.

TONY: For an established church, what should the process look like to develop a clear vision?

WILL: The key is spending enough time in discernment, engaging in honest dialogue with the right people and having a good guide. I will work with a church for 6 to 12 months depending on the size, life-stage, and culture and average one day of onsite meetings each month.

TONY: Other than onsite consulting, what are some of the other things you are doing to equip leaders for vision clarity?

WILL: We have a coaching strategy called Vision co::Lab where eight churches can participate at a time. We do them geographically in designated cities or virtually. We have a virtual one along with Houston, Dallas, and Orlando co::Labs starting next month.

Also, we are finishing a Church Unique Vision Kit developed in partnership with Group Publishing. It ships this December. The kit contains workbooks, videos and tools based on the book Church Unique.

Interested in learning more? Feel free to contact Will and the Auxano team directly.

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve been serving at West Ridge Church for a year now. Because I serve part-time at the church and part-time coaching and consulting with other churches across the country, I’m typically working from my home office on Thursdays. That’s a critical part of the story I’m about to share.

Every Thursday I would be sitting at my desk in my home office and an email message would arrive from the church. Typically it said something simple like this: “Ralph is here in the Discovery Room.” That’s it. No other details.

For weeks, I got these messages, but, because I was working from home, there wasn’t any way for me to investigate further on my own. Being the new guy, I didn’t want to come across looking like an idiot. It was obvious that everyone else knew what this was about. It appeared that I was the only one in the dark. I was curious. Who is Ralph, and why is he in the Discovery Room?

Troy was new to the team as well. So, after several weeks of wondering what this cryptic message was all about, I finally got up the nerve to ask him. As a fellow newbie who happens to work at the church on Thursdays, I thought Troy may have discovered additional clues to this mystery. Troy confirmed that he had also been receiving the messages. But, like me, he had not figured out who this Ralph person was. Furthermore, neither of us had any idea where the “Discovery Room” was located, which, upon further reflection, makes it a rather odd name for a room since neither of us had “discovered” it.

At least I wasn’t alone at this point. I now had a cohort who shared the angst of this puzzling situation. Who was Ralph? Why did he consistently show up in the Discovery Room? Who would help me discover the Discovery Room? I began to think I was being hazed as the new guy on the block. I also thought the messages could possibly have been part of one of those Facebook games I always ignore. Maybe this particular game was similar to Clue. Rather than finding Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick, could it be that Ralph was hiding in the Discovery Room with a wrench?

As it turns out, Ralph is a real person. He serves in various outreach ministries at our church. And, regularly on Thursdays, Ralph delivers leftover baked goods to the Discovery Room at the church. He shares these bakery items with the staff. It’s actually quite a kind gesture.

It was a great reminder, though, that ministry can happen week after week, and, if we’re not careful, the way we talk about it could leave new people in the dark. At churches I’ve visited, I’ve experienced these examples of insider language:

• Mentioning specific people by name in messages but not explaining who those people are.
• Encouraging people to go to a particular room for an event after the service, but not having any people or signs to direct people toward that room.
• Using names for ministries that have no meaning to people who don’t attend the church. (We just eliminated one of those at West Ridge. When we were new to the church, we had no idea that “Praiseland” was for pre-schoolers.)
• Telling people to talk to a specific person after the service in order to take a next step, but then not explaining who that person is or where to find them.

Generally, it’s pretty easy to figure out if a church is really outside-focused based on the language they use. This becomes particularly obvious when we start throwing out theological terms without explaining what those words mean. Honestly, though, I think sometimes we subconsciously do that to make ourselves feel more spiritual than someone else who doesn’t know.

Take some time to gain the perspective of people who are new to the church. What great ministry might they be missing because you’re holding on to insider language?