Blog

by Teaching Pastor Jason Miller

A lot of us have worked hard to figure out how to use art to connect with the unchurched in our weekend services and we can point to lives that have been changed when God used that art to get past defenses, raise honest questions and speak powerfully into lives. Lately I’ve been stewing on the question of where we go from here. I think great art for our events is a great thing, especially when our events are part of the movement of the Kingdom of God. But what does art for the sake of the movement (as opposed to art for the sake of an event that is part of the movement) look like? A couple of brief thoughts:

• People are drawn to a movement by its followers as much as its leader. People don’t emulate leaders. They emulate fellow followers. (See Paul’s line about following him as he follows Christ in 1 Corinthians 11.) If our art will serve the movement, it needs to elevate the stories of the movement’s followers. Old school testimony time might have more wisdom to it than we realize!
• Movements are tied to places, times and people. They’re not static. They’re not floating in the clouds, like Platonic ideals that are detached from the blood and sweat of our everyday lives. And so art for the movement has to have a dynamic relationship with the place and time and people of the movement. It has to be responsive to the community and its needs. This is one of the reasons we’re pushing harder than ever to make original art a benchmark of our work at Granger. Original art can give a voice to the circumstances of the people right here in our neighborhood in a way that reproduced art cannot. If the incarnation is the moment when God wrapped Himself up in the circumstance of the people to whom He was sent, then original art is inherently incarnational.

What about you? Though there’s strength to be leveraged in the hegemony of popular culture, how do you think the Church can leverage art for the sake of a movement that is embedded in a certain place and time? What else needs to be true of our art if it will lend its full force to our mission? Check out an art installation Granger leveraged in a recent series called Before I Die... to capture and promote the heart of the topic being discussed on the weekend.

Bring your staff and volunteer leaders to the Creative & Communication Arts Workshop at Granger Thursday, May 19, to boost your impact with guests.Register by next Monday, April 18 to get the Early Bird rate of just $99 per person, or $89 for groups of 2–5, or $79 for groups of 6+. Attend both days ofworkshops (there’s a second day of additional workshops on Wednesday, May 18) and get a further discount: $20 off per day!

Stop using acronyms and nicknames wherever possible.

We all do it. It’s our insider lingo. “Hey Bob, how’s the WP coming for the 313 team?” The problem is anyone outside your team or inner circle is going to be clueless. Acronyms assume everybody knows, but the truth is most of them just don’t. So on the web and in print communications, as well as on the platform, the golden rule is to avoid using them whenever you can.

If your church name is Granger Community Church, for example, that might get pretty lengthy to keep repeating in body copy. As a good practice then, the first time it appears, use the full name and from there on out, use the abbreviation. But if you don’t give people the full name behind the acronym, they’ll be left in the dark! Find other helpful tips and ideas in the Communications Forms Bundle, a collection of all of Granger’s Communications team documentation.

Craft a user experience that eliminates barriers.

Whether you’re in charge of getting volunteers to sign up at your table for your ministry fair or taking baptism registration forms, whether you’re dealing with paper forms or online forms, the end goal is the same. And user experience is key. Make sure that when people sign up for stuff, what you have to offer is quick, clean and easy to read. Unnecessary extra steps or extra clutter in a sign-up process can cause frustration and do the very thing we don’t want to do—hinder people from taking their next step.

As a sample, take a look at the Communications Volunteer Sign-Up Form Granger uses to introduce people to first-time volunteer opportunities, as well as the volunteer section of GCCwired.com.

You’re probably just about ready for some sun. Have you considered Granger, Indiana, as your next vacation destination? Perhaps you’ve always longed to see the cornfields of Northern Indiana. No?

Hmm. How about considering Granger as a learning destination then? Wednesday and Thursday, May 18 and 19, WiredChurches.com will be hosting a variety of workshops at Granger Community Church, just 90 miles east of Chicago.

It’s easy. Pick one of the following workshops to attend all day. Come for one day or stay for two. Your materials and lunch are included. The experience? It will be packed with real-life examples of what works and what doesn’t, with space for questions and interaction.

The cost? Right now it’s just $99 per person, per day. Or $89 for groups of 2–5, or $79 for groups of 6 or more. Attend both days of workshops and get a further discount: $20 off per day!

Wednesday, May 18

• First Impressions: Keep guests coming back to your church.
• Students: Keep students engaged and growing week after week.

Thursday, May 19

• Creative & Communication Arts: Learn about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series.
• Groups: Facilitate a working strategy to keep people engaged and discipled.
• Kids: Learn about environments, curriculum and utilizing volunteers to help kids meet Jesus.

Make brainstorming fun.

Sometimes our brains get a little tired of looking at the same four walls—especially if you feel like you’re just hitting your head against them, over and over. Take your team outside your normal comfort zone to brainstorm your next worship set or upcoming series. Head to a coffee shop. Go sit outside or take a walk. Ask to borrow a friend’s super-cool living room or man cave for an evening brainstorm session. Sometimes getting everyone on the same page and moving in a new direction is as simple as changing the scenery. Oh, and one more thing—provide brain food. That’s a must.

Want more ideas on building your team? Check out the Creative & Communication Arts workshop coming on Thursday, May 19. Register now and bring your staff along!

Keep it simple, Smartie!

We know. We have the same tendency to wax poetic when we’re talking about our ministry in the bulletin too. But no one needs to have the whole history from A–Z of the Women’s Noteworthy Chorale Bible Study in their announcement. Remember to just give people the basics of what they need to know: 1—Who is this event for? (e.g., women, age 18 and up.) 2—What’s the experience going to be like? (Join the choir director for a six-week breakfast and book discussion.) 3—When and where is it? (Meets March 1 at 6 a.m. in the Great Room.)

In almost every environment now, everyone is inundated with messages (even in church) and people are going to get lost in the minutiae if you can’t give them the basics in a simple, direct way. The goal is to get them to come to your Women’s Noteworthy Chorale Bible Study—and then, once they’re in, you can share all the details. As a helpful tool, check out Granger’s sample Communication Values and Priorities, which helps us decide what gets promoted and where.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

First Impressions
Presenter: Mark Waltz, Executive Pastor
Learn how to make great first impressions with guests (old and new). Discover ways to:

• Gain clarity and get intentional about the experience you desire for your guests.
• Build your team—the right team—from the ground up.
• Cultivate volunteer “wow-makers.”
• Determine the “rules” your church has (even if you don’t know them yet) and learn what to do about them.
• Experience hands-on training that will empower your staff and your volunteers.

Students
Presenter: John Keim, Pastor of Granger Student Ministries
How do you keep students engaged and growing week after week? We’ll talk through planning and executing weekly programs and more! Be ready to collaborate and share ideas about:

• How to build and train leadership teams.
• Creative ways to get your message across.
• How to get students out of their seats and serving in the community.
• Planning life-changing mission trips, camps, retreats and events.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Creative and Communication Arts
Presenters: Sean Bublitz, Creative Arts Pastor, and Jami Ruth, Communications Director
Learn about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series through:

• Timelines and brainstorming creative ideas.
• Executing a series plan.
• Q&A with your Granger staff/volunteer counterpart (in web, production and sound, worship, design, promotions, film and more).
• An optional weekend rehearsal experience Wednesday evening.

Groups
Presenter: Josh King, Director of Discipleship
Life is better in groups. We’ll talk through a working strategy to keep people engaged and discipled through groups. We’ll discuss the challenges and practical framework necessary to:

• Look at the role groups play in discipleship.
• Understand group structure.
• Recruit and train healthy group leaders.
• Organize curriculum and a yearly schedule.
• Oversee group growth (numerically and spiritually).

Kids
Presenter: Ted Bryant, Pastor of Family Ministry
A healthy kids’ ministry has enormous impact. This is for leaders and volunteers who want to learn how to:

• Create environments that inspire kids at their level and encourage learning and relational connection.
• Plan and develop curriculum, music and more to make the Bible and relationships come alive.
• Find, keep and utilize volunteers to make it happen every weekend.
• Incorporate a special needs ministry to help every child take steps toward Christ.

 

Looking to up your game or freshen things up a bit? Or is your task list turning into an epic novel? We hear you. We all could use a little help once in a while. No matter which camp you’re in, we want to help you get back on track and revitalize your ministry. Check out these top five resources, which have already helped dozens of people in churches just like yours, and get back on top of things:

1. Guest Services | Creating “WOW” Experiences Training Videos. These videos will help your staff and volunteer teams deliver great experiences for your guests, from the parking lot to the auditorium.
2. Communications Playbook. This “playbook” helps Granger Community Church have consistent, professional and effective communications. It includes a review of branding, Granger’s vision, how staff should work together with communication vehicles and the filters Granger uses to decide what gets promoted when and where.
3. A Christmas Carol Total Resource Package. This package includes the resources Granger Community Church used to promote the weekend message series A Christmas Carol, including: Audio MP3s, Message Transcripts, Sample Bulletins, Granger Notes, Graphics, Service Orders, Message Intro Videos and the script for the musical element Christmas Carol (of the Bells) and the script for the production Granger did on Christmas Eve of A Christmas Carol.
4. The Feed Video Announcement Bumper. Take your weekly announcements to a new level. This product includes the opener video, the ending video, the videos you see in the background and a few little videos of the Feed logo that you can use to create your own video announcements called The Feed.
5. Guest Services Manual. This manual helps develop first impressions teams through forms such as: roles and responsibilities, scheduling, volunteer training, emergency response, usher assignments and more. It includes summaries of all volunteer team roles at Granger, as well as a copy of the Emergency Response Manual for Guest Services teams.