The 4 Horsemen of the Outreach Apocalypse

Bob FranquizChurch

I’m watching something really sad happen. It’s churches who aren’t actively trying to reach their community because they’ve believed false information. So instead of reaching their community full throttle, they’re sitting on their hands because the “info” they’ve heard has paralyzed them. So let’s tackle these 4 “outreach killers”… Outreach Killer #1 – “It costs too much to promote our church to the community.” When you’re doing your promotion right, you spend less than what the average church spends and you reach enough people who begin giving so that the investment doesn’t actually “cost” you anything. Outreach Killer #2 – … Read More

What Really Keeps Churches Small

Bob FranquizChurch

I’ve worked with hundreds of churches over the last few years. Some large. Some small. Many somewhere in between. In my travels I’ve learned what keeps many churches small. It’s not theology. It’s not financial resources. Instead, I’ve noticed 3 factors in churches that keep growing (and the opposite in those who don’t): 1. A relentless commitment to reach out to those far from God 2. An ernest desire for leaders to keep learning new skills 3. An effective strategy for evangelism and discipleship I’m not saying every church that does these things grows to 10,000 people, but growing churches … Read More

My Hands Down Favorite Outreach Tool

Bob FranquizChurch

If I could only use one outreach tool to reach my community, I wouldn’t need more than a second to decide. Which one is it? Facebook? Nope. Google? No. Twitter or some new social media tool? No way! It’s direct mail. Hands down, it’s my favorite and IMHO most effective (and cost effective) way to let people know about your church. Why? Simple. Because everyone is still checking the mail. I know what you’re thinking: “But the ‘experts’ say direct mail is really expensive.” My answer: anything is expensive if you don’t know what you’re doing. But if you know the ninja secrets, you can reach your community for nickels compared … Read More

Sunday Stuff

Bob FranquizChurch

– Great day at Calvary! – We continued our “Advent” series. – I taught on the shepherds out of Luke 2:8-20 – My message was about how to have child-like faith. – It went over really well. Lots of great feedback. – I did a show of hands asking how many people spoke Spanish. 85%-90% of the hands went up. Wow! – The band did a great job doing some Christmas songs. – After leading worship last week, I was happy to be back in the pulpit 🙂 – My wife is giving birth in 10 days. Yikes! – I’m … Read More

How Less is Actually More with Facebook Ads

Bob FranquizChurch

I worked with a church a while back that was spending tons of ‘moola’ on Facebook. … and getting poor results. Yikes! They asked if I could consult with them and work some magic to make their ads more effective. After assessing their situation, I told them that for churches, less is more on Facebook Say what? I told them that people search for a church closer to the weekend, so don’t start spending money until the weekend is near. They did that and their ads started working better AND they were spending less in the process. Then I went … Read More

The Cheap Way to Fill Your Church this Christmas

Bob FranquizChurch

I had a Pastor email this last week and asked, “If you were on a shoestring budget and Christmas was 2 weeks away, how would you get the word out about your church?” I responded with one word. Facebook. I love Facebook ads. Why? Because it’s the cheapest way to drive traffic to your website and let people know about your services. Think about it. Facebook lets you… 1. Pick who your want to market to 2. Set a maximum budget 3. Constantly tweak and change your ads 4. Create different ads for different people at no extra cost And … Read More

The Romantic’s Rule for New Believer Follow Up

Bob FranquizChurch

My wife and I have been married for almost 15 years but we almost never went on a first date. How? Sit right back and I’ll tell you the tale…  Carey (my wife) and I met at a mutual friend’s house and we hit it off immediately. As I left the party, I thought, “I want to get to know that girl Carey.” There was just one problem. Total bonehead move. I didn’t ask for her number. Duh! Then I saw Carey again a week later at a concert and I asked her for her number and yada yada yada, … Read More

No New Believer Left Behind

Bob FranquizChurch

My wife is giving birth to our 3rd child at the end of this month. It goes without saying that we’ve been getting out home ready for the arrival of our new daughter. But imagine another scenario with me. It sounds almost unbelievable, but it’s true all too often. A couple knows a baby is coming and they do nothing to prepare for her arrival. In fact, they’re a little caught off guard by this child showing up in their home. This is the story of many churches. They have a big outreach day like Christmas where they preach the … Read More

Sunday Stuff

Bob FranquizChurch

– Awesome day at Calvary! – We kicked our new Christmas series Advent: Rediscover the moment that changed history – The idea behind the series is that we all know the Christmas story, but it becomes new when we look at it through the eyes of someone else – Today I taught on “Christmas through Simeon’s Eyes” – Really happy with how the message turned out – I have been working 2-3 weeks ahead, so I was a little nervous on Saturday to see how much modifying the message needed. – Minor changes was all it needed. – The band … Read More