If you're going to leading a growing church, one of the most important factors is to become a student of the calendar. You need to maximize the days that are naturally high attendance Sundays and plan your off weeks on low attended Sundays.  We know the big ones: Easter, Mother's Day, Christmas Eve, etc… But there are several Sundays that can be "Easter-like" if we will identify and maximize them.  Here's one simple way to become a student of the calendar: download your county school board's calendar and post vacations, days off and teacher planning days (anything that lets kids … Read More

– Great day today! – We finished the book of Revelation. We were in this series for 30 weeks!  – I know it's in vogue to do 4-6 series, but I believe that we need to teach longer series as well because not every subject can be covered in a month.  – The band was amazing! They introduced "Tear Down these Walls". Great song! – One of the things I love about our band is that they make the songs they do better than the original. Sometimes I hear the original version and I'm disappointed! – Next Sunday we celebrate … Read More

#2 – Disney Goes the Extra Mile On Monday, when Carey and I were heading home, we changed the diapers on both our kids at the car before leaving. With 2 soiled diapers in my hand, I walked up to the sidewalk in search of a trash can. I didn't see one close by, so I asked a cast member if he could direct me to one. The cast member grabbed one of the long "grabber" devices people use to pick up trash and said, "Here, give it to me. I'll take care of it."  Wow! From everything I've read … Read More

I spend the long weekend at Disney World (One of my favorite places) and I learned a tone about leadership, creating an experience, and keeping excellence a high value that I wanted to share this week.  #1 – Disney is committed to keep creating and recreating their environments  I was amazed when I got to the Magic Kingdom and I saw that Main Street had gotten a new coat of paint. I also saw that Space Mountain was closed as they completely overhaul that area that had the out of date arcade. The truth is, Disney did just raise their … Read More

Every few weeks I get questions about doing consulting with churches. The short answer is yes, I do consult with churches from time to time. But because my first priority is to be the Senior Pastor of Calvary Fellowship, I am very selective as to whom I consult with and when I consult.  1. It has to be a church that is serious about the issue they're bringing me about. If they just want me to "tell them what I think" and "take it under advisement", I turn it down.   2. I accept less than 10 consulting opportunities a … Read More

Too many times, churches promote their services or an event and they fail to see results for one reason: they were unclear as to what they wanted the recipient to do.  People reject things are unclear or irrelevant. So above all, we must be clear.  Here's what I recommend: Ask yourself, "What do I want this person to do: visit our website? Attend our church? Call our office?" Whatever it is, start there and work your way backwards.  Build you case in your copy so they feel they're missing out if they miss the opportunity you're providing.  It's great to … Read More

I recently got a church direct mail piece delivered to my office. . It said the name of the church, the service times, the directions and the phone number. There was only one thing missing: they never asked me to attend.  Sometimes we expect the people who get what we send to them to decipher what we send to them. If you're going to take the time to buy a billboard, do direct mail, or get the church to invite friends using invite cards – tell the recipient exactly what you want to them to do.  Do you want to … Read More

I mentioned yesterday that as leaders, sometimes we can forget the importance of writing good copy in our promotional pieces.   Today I want to talk about another factor that we can miss and can kill the effectiveness of our church promotions – that's forgetting to speak the language of the people who will read our marketing pieces.  If you're a younger leader, I know what you're thinking – "I don't write terms like 'washed in the blood' or 'sanctification' in my direct mail."  Maybe not, but do you use terms like "worship" in your promotions? Guess what?  An unchurched … Read More