Last night was an incredible evening for 21 young men and women. 20 Winona State University students along with our church planter's daughter were baptised in water. It was extremely inspiring to listen to each individual share their testimony of the transforming power that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ. Their testimonies were so compelling that six other people made a decision to adjust their relationship with Jesus Christ. I was reminded again why we plant churches. I saw 21 reasons last night!
More committed than ever.
Roger Stacy
Monday, April 27, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
church Planting Fellowship
Well sorry we didn't have more time to pick apart what Amy, TJ and Bryce were saying a little more, hopefully we will be able to work through some of the topics over the next couple of months. I will be starting a resource page on our mnaog.org page that we will link to from here as well that we will have the resources available to you. I wanted to recap a little what was said some of which will be on the twitter update that we did.
Some big take-aways from Amy Clausen was to evaluate whether or not your public presence ie. website, mailer or any promotional materials portrays effectively who the church is. Always ask yourself who what where when and why. Amy briefly touched on this why point but I think it bears further discussion. You need to communicate to your "audience" why they need to come to your event, or ministry. Really try to think of your advertisement the same way your target community would. This is where the contextualism comes into play. What are you trying to say in the context of your community.
As a side note, you have to be very selective about what you are going to put on your mailer especially because it will quickly go in the trash if you don't grab their attention and when you overload you flier with all of your information then people will get bored with it faster and throw it out. A helpful idea for a mailer is to get them interested by designing it to communicate effectively but be simple with the necessary information but then you can point them to a website that they can interact with. Remember you want to give them the necessary info in the mailer the who, what ,where, why.
Bryce gave us a lot of jargon pertaining to web development along with a handout that explains most of it. I would suggest you use that as a cheat sheet when you need it. I will break some of that down in another post and where those terms come into play as you develop your web presence.
Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time for TJ to talk to us, but one thing that he tried to be clear about is that this really is important. You really need to set aside some budget to develop your web presence and marketing materials. Here is what I got. First get some people together and write the "end users" story think about who you are trying to reach and write their story, what do they need, what are they looking for and create your strategy around that. Then find someone, if possible to help you develop your web site or marketing materials. As a pastor keep a handle on the big picture, but allow the designer to design and don't try to do everything yourself.
Those are some of the take aways that I got from our presenters. Let me know what you came away with.
Some big take-aways from Amy Clausen was to evaluate whether or not your public presence ie. website, mailer or any promotional materials portrays effectively who the church is. Always ask yourself who what where when and why. Amy briefly touched on this why point but I think it bears further discussion. You need to communicate to your "audience" why they need to come to your event, or ministry. Really try to think of your advertisement the same way your target community would. This is where the contextualism comes into play. What are you trying to say in the context of your community.
As a side note, you have to be very selective about what you are going to put on your mailer especially because it will quickly go in the trash if you don't grab their attention and when you overload you flier with all of your information then people will get bored with it faster and throw it out. A helpful idea for a mailer is to get them interested by designing it to communicate effectively but be simple with the necessary information but then you can point them to a website that they can interact with. Remember you want to give them the necessary info in the mailer the who, what ,where, why.
Bryce gave us a lot of jargon pertaining to web development along with a handout that explains most of it. I would suggest you use that as a cheat sheet when you need it. I will break some of that down in another post and where those terms come into play as you develop your web presence.
Unfortunately we didn't have a lot of time for TJ to talk to us, but one thing that he tried to be clear about is that this really is important. You really need to set aside some budget to develop your web presence and marketing materials. Here is what I got. First get some people together and write the "end users" story think about who you are trying to reach and write their story, what do they need, what are they looking for and create your strategy around that. Then find someone, if possible to help you develop your web site or marketing materials. As a pastor keep a handle on the big picture, but allow the designer to design and don't try to do everything yourself.
Those are some of the take aways that I got from our presenters. Let me know what you came away with.
Church Planter Meeting
We are having a Church Planter's Fellowship meeting today and we will be talking about web development and marketing. One of our web developers gave me some files that he wanted you to have so here they are.
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Church Planter Fellowship Meeting
Church Planters!
We will be having a Church Planter's meeting on Tuesday April 21, 2009 at Cedar Valley. The meeting will begin at 12:00 and lunch will be provided.
We know that getting ready for your sermons, developing the leaders in your church, and connecting with people can take up a lot of your time who has time to deal with web presence or marketing. But the reality is that many people will make conclusions regarding your church by the look and feel of the materials they see on the web or in their mailbox. However, developing these tools that can grab their attention can be a little intimidating. At our meeting we will be joined by some web and graphic designers to talk about marketing, web development and developing continuity between your print materials and web presence and throughout your organization. They will be discussing tools that are available and how to leverage them to grab the attention of the people in your community. There will be a lot of practical information that will help break down the process. We will also have a time of Q&A.
We will also be joined by Steve Pike the National Director of the Church Multiplication Network who will be giving an update on developing resources that will be available to you through CMN.
You won't want to miss this!
Please RSVP as soon as possible to reserve your spot by calling the Home Missions Office at 612.332.2400 or by emailing mdwyer@mnaog.org
We will also be handing our a free copy of "The Up The Middle Church" by Matt Keller
We will be having a Church Planter's meeting on Tuesday April 21, 2009 at Cedar Valley. The meeting will begin at 12:00 and lunch will be provided.
We know that getting ready for your sermons, developing the leaders in your church, and connecting with people can take up a lot of your time who has time to deal with web presence or marketing. But the reality is that many people will make conclusions regarding your church by the look and feel of the materials they see on the web or in their mailbox. However, developing these tools that can grab their attention can be a little intimidating. At our meeting we will be joined by some web and graphic designers to talk about marketing, web development and developing continuity between your print materials and web presence and throughout your organization. They will be discussing tools that are available and how to leverage them to grab the attention of the people in your community. There will be a lot of practical information that will help break down the process. We will also have a time of Q&A.
We will also be joined by Steve Pike the National Director of the Church Multiplication Network who will be giving an update on developing resources that will be available to you through CMN.
You won't want to miss this!
Please RSVP as soon as possible to reserve your spot by calling the Home Missions Office at 612.332.2400 or by emailing mdwyer@mnaog.org
We will also be handing our a free copy of "The Up The Middle Church" by Matt Keller
Cohort Meeting
Hey everyone,
I wanted to remind all of our Cohort Members that we will be having a meeting on Monday April 20th at Cedar Valley Church. The meeting will begin at 11:00 and lunch will be provided.
We will be hosting a team from Eagle Brook Church who will be discussing their video venue satellite campuses. We know that this has been a topic of interest for many of you so RSVP as soon as possible because space is limited. They will talk about their decision to use video venues and the journey they went through as they developed their process. They will also talk about the technology that is available at different levels and what is realistic as you look into the possibility of establishing your own video venue. Their will also be a time of Q&A.
We will also be handing out a free copy of a new book by Scott McConnell
Multi-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement's Next Generation
I wanted to remind all of our Cohort Members that we will be having a meeting on Monday April 20th at Cedar Valley Church. The meeting will begin at 11:00 and lunch will be provided.
We will be hosting a team from Eagle Brook Church who will be discussing their video venue satellite campuses. We know that this has been a topic of interest for many of you so RSVP as soon as possible because space is limited. They will talk about their decision to use video venues and the journey they went through as they developed their process. They will also talk about the technology that is available at different levels and what is realistic as you look into the possibility of establishing your own video venue. Their will also be a time of Q&A.
We will also be handing out a free copy of a new book by Scott McConnell
Multi-Site Churches: Guidance for the Movement's Next Generation
It's gonna be alright
Psalm 37:1-9
"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."
In staff devotions Eunice Djerf spoke from this passage of scripture and I was reminded how many times I forget about God's faithfulness and I concentrate on all the things that aren't happening in the ways that I want in the timing that I have set. But the psalmist reminds us that when things aren't going the way that we would have them to go it is the perfect time to be still before the Lord and wait patiently before Him. Church Planting is a great adventure but it can also challenge our faith. We can find ourselves doubting our ability to serve and sometimes doubting whether or not we heard His voice correctly telling us to do what we are doing. But be encouraged that when you delight in the Lord He will give you the desires of your heart. It may seem like nothing is happening and no one is listening. But trust in Him remember what it says in Isaiah 55:11 "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
Blessings to all of you.
Mac
"Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun. Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; do not fret when men succeed in their ways, when they carry out their wicked schemes. Refrain from anger and turn from wrath; do not fret—it leads only to evil. For evil men will be cut off, but those who hope in the LORD will inherit the land."
In staff devotions Eunice Djerf spoke from this passage of scripture and I was reminded how many times I forget about God's faithfulness and I concentrate on all the things that aren't happening in the ways that I want in the timing that I have set. But the psalmist reminds us that when things aren't going the way that we would have them to go it is the perfect time to be still before the Lord and wait patiently before Him. Church Planting is a great adventure but it can also challenge our faith. We can find ourselves doubting our ability to serve and sometimes doubting whether or not we heard His voice correctly telling us to do what we are doing. But be encouraged that when you delight in the Lord He will give you the desires of your heart. It may seem like nothing is happening and no one is listening. But trust in Him remember what it says in Isaiah 55:11 "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."
Blessings to all of you.
Mac
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