Athens Church, a strategic partner of North Point Church, has retained our team at the Vanderbloemen Search Group to help find their next Director of Community. The Director of Community sits on the senior leadership team with Lead Pastor Sean Seay and reports directly to him. This position will oversee all aspects of small groups at Athens Church, which is an integral piece to the life and mission of Athens Church.

Less than six years old, Athens Church is located in Athens, Georgia, and has seen steady, solid growth. It welcomes between 1,000 to 2,000 people every week. Over 1,200 people are actively participating in groups. High growth is both prayed for and expected, particularly as the church prepares to move into its first permanent facility in late spring of 2011.

Interested applicants can upload their resume to our secure site or email William Vanderbloemen or Tammy Kelley directly. Don’t worry. We’ll keep this confidential.

I partner with The Vanderbloemen Search Group, a retained executive search firm, to help churches find their key staff. I’m frequently helping large, fast-growing churches with a focus on reaching the unchurched. If your church needs assistance in this sort of search, feel free to contact me.

My friend, David, sent me a note recently asking about my thoughts on series planning. I know a lot of churches are in the middle of planning for their teaching calendar for the new year. With that in mind, here are some tips to help you have a bigger impact with your series in 2011.

10 Keys to Better Series Planning

1. Leverage the seasons when folks are most likely to attend church. I like to launch new series that have a more outreach focus when people are more likely to attend services and invite their friends. Those seasons are cyclical. They depend on where you are located. Obviously, Christmas and Easter are two common times when people are likely to attend church.
2. Find the right balance between “reach people” series and “grow people” series. There will always be tension here, but the objective is to try to balance out using services to attract a crowd and help people take their next steps in their spiritual journey. At West Ridge, we’ve actually color-coded our teaching calendar to make sure we maintain a healthy balance.
3. Use a variety of approaches to begin your series development. Teach on a topic one series. Teach through a book of the Bible in another series. Teach a series of messages on a specific biblical character. Use a series to teach through a specific doctrine. Mix up your approach.
4. Address questions that people are asking. Our tendency is to only deliver the information we want people to hear. People will not engage our teaching unless we are addressing the issues they are facing in their daily life. A friend of mine routinely reviews the headlines of women’s magazines to get a sense of the topics that people are discussing in today’s culture.
5. Deliver biblical truth and life application. Your teaching will not produce life change unless you also provide life application. Without application people may experience conviction or inspiration, but they won’t know what to do with that. Make it a goal in every message to clearly identify one next step for people to take to apply what they’ve learned.
6. Shoot for 8 to 10 series throughout the year. Your average series should be 4 to 6 weeks. If you’re teaching through a book and it needs to go longer than that, try to break it up into multiple series. Every time you start a series, it creates an opportunity for people to invite their friends. You want more opportunities for people to invite their friends.
7. Plan ahead. You can wait until Saturday to finish your message, but try to at least outline your topics a couple of months in advance. When you do that, you free up creative people to plan series packaging, service elements and creative communications to enhance your teaching. You also provide time for appropriate promotions to occur.
8. Plan with a team. One team may drive the topics that are addressed throughout the year. Another team may drive the series packaging including identifying titles and visual images. Another team may develop the services elements and execution. Whatever the case, the end result will always be better when you have the right people engaged in a team approach.
9. Remember the people who already attend your church are your best promotions vehicle. You can spend a lot of money on advertising or direct mail, but the number one way new people will attend your services is through an invitation from someone who already attends your church. Want more people to show up? Make it easier for people to invite their friends.
10. Pastors should teach, and artists should be creative. The series I’ve experienced with the biggest impact both numerically and in life change have occurred when artists let the pastor drive the teaching and pastors let the artists drive the creative elements. The pastors control this. If they’re willing to empower artists, God can use this creativity to prepare people’s hearts for the message.

From your experience, what would you add or delete from the list? And which of these strategies do you think most churches have the toughest time implementing?

Yesterday Brian shared the third message in the “Picture Perfect Christmas” series at West Ridge. His message was on the journey of the wise men and the parallels that has with our own spiritual journeys. Here are some of the key thoughts that he shared:

You can check out the rest of the messages in this series on WestRidge.com.

When I first started blogging, one of the aspects I most enjoyed was sharing stories from churches and leaders who might be off your radar. I’d like to begin sharing some of those stories again. I think these will be an encouragement to those of us in church leadership. With that, meet Rusty Hutson, Lead Pastor of Cornerstone Church in Auburn, Alabama.

TONY: Tell us a little bit about your call to ministry.

RUSTY: I was in a discipleship group of men who challenged me and caused me to reassess my purpose in life. In 1992, I accepted a call to ministry and my wife and I moved to Wilmore, Kentucky where I attended Asbury Seminary and received a Master of Divinity degree in 1996. I also read the book “Rediscovering Church” by Bill Hybels and it changed my whole idea of doing church. We packed up the kids and headed to Chicago one Friday afternoon just to see what was happening at Willow Creek. I was deeply impacted by the experience of being at this amazing church. I was appointed by the United Methodist Church back to my hometown of Montgomery, Alabama as an associate pastor at First United Methodist Church. After 3 1/2 years, I was then appointed to start a new church in the Auburn, Alabama area.

TONY: When did your church launch?

RUSTY: Cornerstone started as a classic “parachute drop”. I had no people and no buildings. It was just my wife and our three boys. We gathered a small group of people in October 1999 who were committed to seeing a new church happen. We met every week to pray and gain a vision for whatever God wanted to do through us to reach non-believers with the love of Christ. We launched on January 9, 2000 in an Auburn skate center with 235 people in attendance. Ten years later, here we are with 1,000 in attendance and three services accomplishing what God set out for us to do.

TONY: Where are you located?

RUSTY: We are located in southeast Auburn in a growing section of town. We have a 20,000 square foot facility on 20 acres of property right off a main artery that connects Auburn and Opelika.

TONY: Tell us something unique about your church.

RUSTY: One of the most unique things about our church is where we started. When our original core group began to research possible locations to worship, the only place we could find that would suit our space needs was the local skate center. We felt like it was the place God had chosen for us, so we took it (even after experiencing the overwhelming smell of sweaty socks and stale nachos from the snack bar). We became known as the “skate center” church, which ended up being a good brand for us. We didn’t have access to the building during the week, so we had to set it up and take it down every Sunday. It took an army of deeply committed servants to accomplish this each week for five years. However, that spirit of service has stuck with us. In keeping that spirit alive, we decided to buy the disco ball from the skate center and had it put right in the middle of our worship space just before the grand opening of our building in 2005.

TONY: Any ministry highlights from recent months?

RUSTY: We just celebrated our tenth anniversary this January, which was a huge milestone for us. We have also almost completed a vision we have been working on in Uganda since 2006. We partner with a church in a town called Buloba. We have dug a well right near the church where all the people from the area come to get clean drinking water. The people who live within walking distance know that Buloba Community Church provided this for them. It has become an incredible tool for evangelism. We have started a child sponsorship program in the community. This fall we completed our goal of sponsoring over 300 children. We are in the process of completing a church building that will house worship, a school and offices for the pastor and the administrators of the school/child sponsorship program.

TONY: What’s your latest leadership learning?

RUSTY: I guess I am learning how to lead at this level. Every time we grow I feel like I’m having to gain new skills that help me deal with more staff, more leaders and more complexity. Also, as we look toward the future I’m on my knees a lot more. This is good because, honestly, I’m not the leader God needs me to be yet. I think I’m learning to rely on Him more and less on any ability I may think I have. I’m learning how truly inadequate and privileged I am to get to do this.

You may have already seen this. It was new to me. One of the guys in my coaching network shared this today. Here’s a clever video revealing what the birth of Jesus might have looked like if it happened today.

When I got home from my trip to Augusta this afternoon, there was a box waiting on my desk in the home office. Much to my surprise, the box contained a test notebook from Google that runs the new Chrome OS. (This is the first blog post using the test notebook.)

Because I’ve used the Chrome browser for quite a while, navigating the new OS is a breeze. The only challenge I’ve run into so far is trying to capture a picture to include in this post. After some digging, I installed the Aviary app from the Chrome Web Store. Then I learned the shortcut for capturing a screenshot (Ctrl – Next Window). With that, I was able to add the picture of the notebook to this post.

In case you didn’t know, I’m full-in with Google. In addition to the browser, I’m using Google Docs for most of my word processing and spreadsheets. All my email (except for West Ridge) is flowing through Gmail. I have an Android phone. Because of that, I’ve been waiting patiently to test out the Chrome OS. I’ll try to keep you posted on my progress. And, for the time being, I’m going to try to use it as my primary laptop to see what works and what still needs to be improved.

In case you’re interested in learning more, you can visit the Chrome OS website for an overview. There you can also apply for the pilot program.

Let me just add this. For churches who are trying to figure out how to cut operating expenses in lean times, I can’t imagine why you wouldn’t want to consider switching to Google Apps. Eliminate server costs and maintenance. Eliminate software expenses. Never worry about backups. It’s really an ideal solution for organizations running on a lean budget.

Soon, we’ll also be able to purchase much cheaper notebooks running Chrome OS. For the vast majority of users at your church, that will be sufficient to equip them to do their job. At the end of the day, that’ll mean more money for ministry. That’s a good thing.

Thanks Google! You’ve made my day.

The other night, Emily and I went out with friends. Since we love a new adventure, we tried Marlow’s Tavern for the first time. It was a great experience, and the food was very good. (By the way, I want both a unique experience and good food when I pay a premium to eat at a restaurant…mainly because the food Emily serves is typically better and much cheaper.)

When we sat down for dinner, they handed us a menu that included these “Tavern Rules” to shape our experience:

I’m not a rules guy. Generally the fewer the rules, the better. Too many rules slow down momentum. If your objective is to avoid change, the best way to accomplish that vision is to create policy manuals filled with hoops for people to jump through. Over time, the focus of the entire organization will shift from trying to accomplish a big vision to making sure all the rules are followed.

However, as Marlow’s Tavern has learned, having a few rules can really help shape the culture of an organization. They help distinguish who you are from all the other organizations that may be trying to do the same thing you do. At Marlow’s, we can tell from their set of rules that the guest experience is a high priority, and they want it to be unique compared to other restaurants. (By the way, I really appreciate the elimination of singing “Happy Birthday” in their restaurants. There’s nothing more annoying than that.)

As a ministry team exercise, you may want to take your next gathering and decide what the “Tavern Rules” look like for your team or organization. What rules capture the values that make you unique? What rules keep the focus on the vision you’re trying to accomplish? What rules shape your organization’s personality? Keep the list to seven or less.

After you’ve finished the exercise, I’d love to see what you’ve come up with. Either email me your list or post it here in the comments.

What are your tavern rules?

A lot is happening at SoChurch, a project I have been involved with as an advisor for the past several months. Last month they began a staged release to people who pre-registered for the product and have continued rolling it out to other groups of churches.

Their philosophy is “Release Early, Release Often.” This philosophy applies to their product launch, but it also holds value for almost any project in life. There is nothing worse than working like crazy (and for too long) to roll out your newest initiative and have it fall on deaf ears.

Here are five key reasons why releasing early and often are important for just about every organization:

To help SoChurch in their commitment to “keep it coming” and reward my own readers, I have a limited number of special discounts and opportunities to sign up for SoChurch early, before it’s released to the general public. The first 25 people to follow these two easy steps will receive a promo code good for 25% off your first year of SoChurch.

1. Follow @sochurch on Twitter.
2. Tweet: “@tonymorganlive #ineed @sochurch”

The first 25 people to do this will be DM’d by SoChurch with next steps.

To get more ideas and tips relating to the Church, technology, and communication, be sure to also follow the SoChurch Blog.

A couple of weeks ago, I highlighted recent research that confirmed larger churches were more likely to have grown last year. Since then, I’ve launched a series of posts identifying what I believe are the key factors behind that trend. Today I’m going to focus on “The Alignment Factor”.

In churches that have stopped growing or have started to decline, they’re typically just trying to “do church”. They’re just doing what other churches have always done hoping (and praying) that it generates different results.

Typically the larger the church I go into, the more aligned the church is. You’d expect the opposite. You’d expect that smaller churches would be more focused and have less complexity because they have fewer people and resources. Honestly, though, there’s typically an inverse relationship. Larger churches are more focused and more aligned, and smaller churches haven’t clarified their purpose and are typically very complex in both structure and ministry programming.

Here’s a picture of what it looks like to be fully-aligned as a church:

• The primary purpose or mission of the church is established.
• A focused ministry/discipleship strategy has been established to accomplish that vision.
• All of the church’s ministries and programming are intentionally designed to fit into that strategy.
• The church is structured with staff and volunteer leaders and teams around the strategy.
• Resources like money, facilities and space on the master calendar are distributed to maximize impact rather than to maintain fairness.
• There’s a web and communications strategy in place to keep everyone focused in the same direction.
• The teaching includes life application that identifies specific next steps to engage people in a discipleship journey that mirrors the overall strategy of the church.
• Rather than celebrating when lots of people gather, the success of any special events or initiatives are measured by how they help people engage in this journey.
• The church is capturing stories and measuring data to determine if the strategy is working as intended.

This all begins with the end in mind. We have to identify what we ultimately want to accomplish as a church. And, we have to identify what we ultimately want people to look like at the conclusion of our discipleship process. Again, most churches don’t do this. They just do what other churches have always done. Here’s a little secret: What churches have always done isn’t working.

The only way things are going to change is if churches clarify where they’re heading and then make sure they’re fully-aligned to experience the intended results. Most larger churches are willing to engage the difficult and time-consuming process of ensuring full alignment of everything they’re doing behind a big vision.

Critical to alignment in any organization is routinely saying “no” to good ideas. Here’s how Steve Jobs explained this critical piece of the culture at Apple:

“Innovation comes from people meeting up in the hallways or calling each other at 10:30 at night with a new idea, or because they realized something that shoots holes in how we’ve been thinking about a problem. It’s ad hoc meetings of six people called by someone who thinks he has figured out the coolest new thing ever and who wants to know what other people think of his idea. And it comes from saying no to 1,000 things to make sure we don’t get on the wrong track or try to do too much. We’re always thinking about new markets we could enter, but it’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important” (BusinessWeek Online, Oct. 12, 2004).

In order to maintain alignment, many times you have to say no to expanding the vision. Many times you have to say no to adding a new ministry. Many times you have to say no to doing another special event. Many times you have to say no to communicating something to your entire audience. Many times you have to say no to good people with good ideas. Big churches get that. They understand that saying no helps the organization maintain alignment and creates opportunities to say yes to the things that will make a bigger impact.

And that’s another reason why big churches keep getting bigger.

__________

Previous posts in this series:

• Why Big Churches Keep Getting Bigger
• The Adaptability Factor
• The Leadership Factor
• The Reach Factor

One of the responsibilities I have at West Ridge is overseeing our multi-site strategy. Because of that, I’m hoping to catch not one but three Christmas Eve services in a couple of weeks.

First, my family is planning to attend the “Christmas Eve Eve” services at Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville. As you may have heard, Oak Leaf will become a campus of West Ridge in January. Then on December 24, my family will participate in the service at the West Ridge Dallas Campus where they normally attend. And, finally, I plan on scooting over to the West Paulding Campus for the final Christmas Eve service.

All together, there are currently nine different service time options at the three different locations. If you live in the region and plan to attend, you’ll need to grab a free ticket so that we can make sure you have a seat.

• Oak Leaf Church in Cartersville, Georgia at the “House of Rock” (December 23)
• West Ridge Church at the Dallas Campus (December 23 & 24)
• West Ridge Church at the West Paulding Campus (December 24)

These services are open to anyone in the community. Again, you’ll need to order free tickets online, though, for us to insure seats for everyone.

By the way, this was one of my favorite elements of last year’s Christmas Eve services. James Griffin, from our student ministries team, wrote and shared this monologue prior to the message. Check this out: