This blog is part 2 of a previous post.  See the original post here

EXAMPLES

The Passion
When the Passion of the Christ Movie came out our church rented 4 theaters and had over 1000 people attend the day before it released to the public (a great ‘anchor store’).  The news media was not interested in covering that story.  However, Randy invited a Jewish Rabbi to watch the movie with him at one of the theaters.  Since it was so controversial with Jews, the paper and TV channels were eager to cover the story of the Christian pastor and Jewish Rabbi watching the movie together.

PCD
In 1990, Randy had the ‘anchor store’/God idea to be a nationally known songwriter and recording artist.   He had a lot of talent in both of those categories.  However, when he went to Nashville and met with labels, they said they were not interested in signing a guy to a contract at that point.  He went back and found 2 old friends that just happened to be amazing singers and songer writers (C & D).  The three of them went back to Nashville and the rest is history.

Personal Platform
Your impact as a leader needs an ‘anchor’ and other ‘stores’.  When Randy launched his church in 2004, he had over 500 people show up the first Sunday.  He did not have all the marketing techniques of ‘modern’ day church planters: launch team, demographics, soft launch, direct mail, etc.  Instead, the majority of the attendees were a result of Randy’s influence in Austin.  The people that day were not just your average weird Austinite. (they are proud of that title). He had the mayor of Austin, City Councilmen, DJ from the biggest morning show in Austin, etc.  First, his anchor store was pastoring with his father across town.  A lot of people knew him from that role.  However, he also leveraged his position with Phillips Craig and Dean to make an impact.  He had invested years in spreading his platform to way beyond the local church.  He would hit up local outlets and get on their airspace.  He would buy ad space on the biggest mediums.  Spreading the size and scope of his platform so that when he said something, a lot of people listened and actually cared what he said.

Offering
If you communicate with church members about financial giving with only facts and figures, then you will reach a limited audience.  When you add a personal ‘in person’ testimony from a family that the church has helped financially, a story of salvation, or a story of God being faithful, you reach a completely different level of audience.  Not only does your communication need to include these other ‘stores’, but you also need to include different ways to give.  Your ‘anchor store’ might be passing the plate for cash and checks.  However, if you want to reach a broader audience, then you need to offer card and online giving. These are more angles for more impact.

When have you experienced this? Do you have any examples?