Blog

Care for your team.

Whether you’re a Senior Pastor or are leading facility care, you’re part of a team. Maybe you’re paid, maybe you’re a volunteer. Doesn’t matter. Find a way to intentionally care about your team. Those people you work with every day and think you know pretty well? Take one of them out to lunch. Ask one of them how their kids are doing, and really listen. Take time to share prayer requests. Send an encouraging email about something great you watched someone else do. It’s so easy to get caught up in the pace of the work that we’re all trying to do, that we miss the people God has put around us to care for and support. Sometimes your team needs you just as much as the audience you’re working so hard to reach.

Providing learning experiences for your team is another great way to learn and grow and invest in their ministry. It’s not too late, register and bring your team with you to a one-day workshop at Granger, happening May 18 & 19. With workshops geared for First Impressions, Creative & Communication Arts, Groups, Students and Kids Ministry, there’s something for everyone—no matter if they’re volunteer staff or paid staff.

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!

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

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!

by Executive Pastor Mark Waltz

Worst Practice #1:
Don’t go out of your way to pat volunteers on the back. They’re doing exactly what they should be doing—giving their life away. They should be sacrificing. They should be tired. Don’t acknowledge or celebrate them. Last thing you need is puffed up volunteers.

Some would claim this is biblical. I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading. The scriptures teach gratitude, mutual respect and personal value. It’s how Jesus lived his life. It’s how Paul encouraged the Church.

Live by this worst practice and you’ll be looking for volunteers—’cause they’ll be G.O.N.E.

To hear more from Mark and get more practical tips for creating excellent guest experiences come to his First Impressions Workshop, one of the many workshops offered at Granger Community Church on October 13 & 14. Register your team of six or more by September 14 and grab early bird discounted pricing for groups.

 

by Mark Waltz, Pastor of Connections and MultiSite

Don’t go out of your way to pat volunteers on the back. They’re doing exactly what they should be doing—giving their life away. They should be sacrificing. They should be tired. Don’t acknowledge or celebrate them. The last thing you need is puffed up volunteers.

Some would claim this is biblical. I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading. The scriptures teach gratitude, mutual respect and personal value. It’s how Jesus lived his life. It’s how Paul encouraged the Church.

Live by this worst practice and you’ll be looking for volunteers—’cause they’ll be G.O.N.E.

Hear more from Mark about the importance of using volunteers to create great First Impressions in your church at his workshop at Granger on Friday, July 11. Register your team now for this or any of the workshops coming up next week:

Friday, July 11, 2014

Saturday, July 12, 2014

 

Our job as communicators is more about a mindset than a skillset

In our recent Coaching Networks workshop, Kem Meyer led a group of communication leaders through a day filled with rethinking our total interaction strategy. 

We all strive for an effective approach to our announcements, bulletins, and even social media efforts. As Kem points out, nothing is going to make us more effective until we change where we’re coming from.

For instance, consider the words we all use:

OLD APPROACH > BETTER APPROACH

Publicize > Connect

Control > Cultivate

Push > Personalize

Censor > Coach

Capture > Liberate

Interrupt > Interact

Prescribe > Influence

Chaos > Clarity

Corporate copy > User-generated content

Conform > Channel

Broadcast > Share stories

Inform > Sharing inspiration

Get feedback > Tell us what you think

Create more content > Elevate what you already have

Destination > Vehicles

Send a message > Release the right response

Function > Flow

 

If you missed this session, get tuned in from more info on the upcoming Fall Coaching Networks sessions.