We had a surprise visit this weekend from a couple of Pastors/leaders from this church, who came to check out how we do church in a theatre. I didn’t get to talk to them afterwards, but we were able to connect through e-mail.
Visits like these (especially when they are unannounced) create a great opportunity for feedback. These guys were doing some R & D of their own, but I wanted to hear the good, the bad, and ugly about what we’re doing and their experience. Even if you change up your routine and come in through a different door at a different time, nothing can replace a fresh pair of eyes. I’ve learned this in writing. You read what you meant to write, not what you actually wrote.
They gave us some great feedback and it has caused us to step up a couple of things, and they paid us some really nice compliments. They compared us and our style to Life Church in Oklahoma. I was blown away by that! But the day we stop asking questions about how we’re doing, it’s over. I remember having dinner with a Pastor from Saddleback a few years ago and he asked me what our experience was like. From the message to the parking lot attendants, he wanted to know. It instilled in me that we need to keep learning.