Category Archives: Church Business
How we did “No Show Sunday”
Before you start thinking we were real creative, we completely ripped this idea from Elevation Church in NC. However, we did STEP it up a HUGE notch.
The idea is to show your congregation what it would be like if no volunteers served at your church. When people arrive at ‘No Show Sunday’ they have no idea what is going on. It was extremely important for us to keep this a big secret. The first clue they get is that there are no folks in the parking lot to help them park. There are no greeters at the door, no greeters anyway. The children’s building was locked with a sign that said, “All kids will be joining us in the service today.” (This is where we differed from Elevation. They offered children’s ministry on their No Show Sunday)
When people arrived into the sanctuary, there were a few lights on the stage (very basic), all the screens were off. I think we had a stack of worship guides on a side table. People could find them if they looked around.
Once church started, our worship leader went to the keyboard and a drummer started playing. They led us in 3 or 4 songs. She even taught a new song (without words on the screens or printed guide with words). After worship, I went to the stage and spoke. I clued everyone in to what was happening. We told everyone, “If you guys can sit nice and tight during the sermon, everyone gets FREE ice cream after church.”
At the end of the service, people filled out a card where they could commit to 4 months of serving in one of our ministries. They gave their offering in baskets at the door as they left.
Here are our conclusions:
- It was a huge success. People loved it.
- Our volunteers were HONORED and felt appreciated.
- Having kids in the service was not as distracting as we thought. We supplied crayons and coloring paper in the pockets of several seats on each row.
- We had a TON of volunteers sign up
- The worship music part of the service was actually awesome. God didn’t need all the hype. People learned words the old fashioned way. People stepped up and engaged in worship. This is not what we were aiming for, but it was a great lesson for us all.
- The chaos was awesome. The confusion on people’s faces was worth it! It was a great palate cleansing for our church. I do recommend making sure volunteers that have to plan during the week (teachers) know early. No need in surprising them at last minute. We did surprise all other volunteers and simply said, “You don’t have to volunteer today.” It was funny to see naturally friendly people being forced to not be friendly and greet people. So awkward.
- I recommend it in Mid-August when crowds haven’t fully returned from summer and it is great prep for the fall.
No Techies!
No Children’s Ministry
FREE Ice Cream
Sign up Table After Church
No one in Green Room
“What We Have Learned” sessions are set!
We are hosting a one day event and there are only a few spots left. What We’ve Learned, on Monday, August 5th – 9am-3pm.
This is a great opportunity see our new facility, hear our story, ask questions, hang out with new and old friends. We will have a lot of fun, and hopefully you will walk away with some new ideas.
This is free and only offered to a limited amount of folks. Please register if you know that you are able to attend!
The folks that signed up early have voted and we have selected the sessions that will be offered. Check them out below. You will get an inside look at everything we do (and the mistakes we have made). You will get our actual documents including: budgets, tracking spreadsheets, web tools, access to google docs, etc.
SESSION ONE
Setting Goals and Taking Risks – Our path of challenge, risk, failure and reward. How we make a decision on change. (adding or subtracting: weekend services, facilities, staff, ministries, tech, etc).
SESSION TWO
Spirit Led vs Well Planned – Our journey as a “Spirit filled” church with solid goals and thought-out plan. How it has been challenging and how it works
BREAKOUT SESSIONS 4 Options (you will pick one the day of the event)
Small Groups – Our history of Small Groups over the last 10 years. Where we are now and where we want to go.
Marketing – Our philosophy and method behind getting our message out those inside and outside of our congregation
Beyond the Budget – How, Why, and When we make financial decisions about staff, facilities, outreach, ministries.
Weekend Worship – Our philosophy and process on designing the weekend worship service on a week by week basis and yearly basis. How we schedule, planning center, 5 star, try outs, etc.
PLUS:
Special Lunch Session Eat a free, delicious lunch with us! Plus, We will be joined by an Israel expert, Munir Sayegh. Munir is a wonderful Christian from Nazareth and can offer up to date information about the Middle East.
Animated Sermon Series plus other Summer ideas
ANIMATED | July 7th, we launch a new sermon series based on modern day parables: Animated Movies. Every year these movies make billions of dollars all over the world because of their amazing ability to communicate humor, love, evil, good, conflict, resolution, etc. Kids and adults love these movies.
We will spend 4 weeks looking at 4 movies and find out how their message compares to the Bible. It will be educational for families to see how they can use this medium not only for a fun/family night, but also for gospel-centered conversations. We will see how they get the gospel message wrong and sometimes right. We will look at Despicable Me, Monsters University, Up, and The Incredibles. (these are subject to change as the Holy Ghost moves. HA)
July 7th is also a tradition we like to call: SHORT SUNDAY. The entire service is only one hour long and everyone is encouraged to dress down a bit. (even wear shorts).
July 7th is also the beginning of our Summer Guest Giveaway where we will give one of our guests away to another church. JUST KIDDING. Just seeing if you are paying attention. Throughout the summer we are INTENTIONAL about inviting guests to church, and we like to make it a little more interesting! With every guest that someone brings, they will be entered into a drawing for a FREE CRUISE FOR TWO. Our church is taking a cruise in 2014 and someone will go for free. We normally see 300-500 guests attend our church in the Summer and that is a HUGE win!
In other words, July 7th is a big day.
Opportunity for Pastors and Church leaders
We are hosting a one day event: What We’ve Learned, on Monday, August 5th – 9am-3pm.
This is a great opportunity see our new facility, hear our story, ask questions, hang out with new and old friends. We are offering some topics and want you to pick the ones we cover. (see options below) We will have a lot of fun, and hopefully you will walk away with some new ideas.
This is free and only offered to a limited amount of folks. Please register if you know that you are able to attend and pick 3 of the topics offered. We will present the 3 most voted on topics at this event.
TOPICS
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Beyond the Budget – How, Why, and When we make financial decisions about staff, facilities, outreach, ministries.
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Weekend Worship – Our philosophy and process on designing the weekend worship service on a week by week basis and yearly basis.
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Spirit Led vs Well Planned – Our journey as a “Spirit filled” church with solid goals and thought-out plan. How it has been challenging and how it works.
-
Theological Journey – What constitutes a non-negotiable doctrine? Our journey through changes.
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Marketing – Our philosophy and method behind getting our message out those inside and outside of our congregation.
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Small Groups – Our history of Small Groups over the last 10 years. Where we are now and where we want to go.
-
Setting Goals and Taking Risks – Our path of challenge, risk, failure and reward. How we make a decision on change. (adding or subtracting: weekend services, facilities, staff, ministries, tech, etc).
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PSM Culture – What makes us unique and how we rest in our differences. (preaching style, music, skin color, attitude, leadership model, etc)
Special Lunch Session Eat a free, delicious lunch with us! Plus, We will be joined by an Israel expert, Munir Sayegh. Munir is a wonderful Christian from Nazareth and can offer up to date information about the Middle East.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
Hotels in the area:
Embassy Suites
Hampton Inn
Church Location: 1650 Lime Kiln Road, San Marcos, TX 78666
Church Phone: 512-392-4357
Church Website: http://www.psmchurch.com
Examples of Randy’s Marketing and PR Philosophy
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.
Robin Steele 