couple of On The Ridge Campus photos

Here are a couple of photos (compliments of Nick – Ridge Campus Pastor) of the worship center at Cedar Creek On the Ridge in Ridge Spring.  For those that don’t know, this is our second multi-site campus about to launch within the next few weeks.  It was very cool to see the reaction of those who had not seen the set completed (for the most part) this past week.  Tomorrow we’re having small worship gathering for the volunteers at the campus.  Just a few notes and comments from the production side of things.

• As you can see, the house lights are on full…as we found out from our electricians on Wednesday, these particular lights have to be on (per the manufacturer) for 100 hours straight before dimming them.  They actually use a fluorescent bulb (not a fan) vs an incandescent bulb but are dimmable.  Not ideal for tomorrow morning but should be good to go for the first public worship service.  Once that 100 hours is up, we can really set the lighting the way we want.
• Table at the front in the photos is for communion tomorrow.  Normally that is where Nick will be to greet, announce, speak, pray, etc.
• We utilized a combination of LED washes, par cans and ellipsoidals in our theatrical lighting.  We also have a large spot mounted in the back (not pictured).
• Ceiling was blacked out.  I was hoping that the back wall would be as well, but that was a no go.  I’m thinking perhaps some black fabric/curtain may be a good call to go behind the transformants and trusses on the back wall down the road.
• Lighting is controlled by some free Chauvet computer-based software.  It actually is pretty cool in that you can setup 2d and 3d renderings of your stage setup, create scenes on your computer anywhere, bring them in and load them up..nice for volunteers.
• Total of 4 screens, 2 on the sides, one on the rear wall (not pictured) and then the motorized screen that drops down from the center for the message.
• 2 analog way switcher/scalers for the screens.  One for the side and rear screens, one for the center screen.
• Imac using propresenter for media.
• Small behringer board for media mix before sending it to house sound.
• Right now we’re going week delay and using dvd’s for the ridge campus.  Quality is okay on the dvd, but we may quickly change over to using captured video from either p2 cards or from dvcpro deck.  We’ll see…still a work in progress.

to reach people that no one is reaching….

…you have to do things that no one is doing.  The message doesn’t change but the methods MUST.  Check out this clip from Craig Groeschel.

its former glory…..

I had a meeting with the Augusta Symphony about a website so I met with them a few weeks ago.  They are housed at Sacred Heart Cultural center in downtown Augusta.  Sacred Heart was a church that closed in 1971 and was renovated and restored in 1987 as a cultural center for the community to rent.  It also houses several organizations.  I have looked at this building a lot in my days as it is right beside Curtis Baptist Church and School, two places where I spend A LOT of time growing up.  My older brothers use to sneak across the street during church into the old abandoned building and would often explore through it.

I wasn’t sure where exactly their offices were located so I slipped in through a door I saw open.  Straight ahead of me I saw a sign that said “Auditorium Entrance”.  I hadn’t been in Sacred Heart since shortly after it reopened in the late 80’s and just had to see it.  So, I snuck in through the auditorium door and when I walked through a small corridor, there I was on the stage at Sacred Heart.  If you have never been inside this building, you must see it (here’s a photographer’s site that I came across that had some great shots of the interior – Shawna Herring & here is a photo gallery on the sacred heart site).  As I looked around, it literally took my breath away…I was just blown away!  Just an incredible sight.  The summer sun was pouring in through the stain glass windows and the architecture, paint, the craftsmanship…just unbelievable.  I just stood there for a while taking it in.

As I stood there, all of the sudden this thought hit me:

This use to be a place where people came expecting God to move, expecting to worship, encountering Jesus.

My mood changed.  I felt crushed as I began to think about that.  I was reminded that this church was like so many others that I’ve seen and know: Churches that at one time were thriving with life and were impacting the community around them.  Over time they had lost that focus on Jesus, lost what it meant to present and be the Gospel in the context of their community at that time.  So many churches are just dying…just empty buildings.  Now, don’t get me wrong.  I am thrilled that this beautiful building is being used so effectively in the community.  But as I was driving back to Aiken I thought a lot about those two extremes of emotion that I had just experienced.  It made me wonder about Cedar Creek, and other churches that right now are making an impact in their community and the world.  Here are some questions:

• What will our church/churches look like in 40 years?  In 5 years?  Will these churches keep their focus on Jesus or will they cease to exist?
• Will we hold to our styles and methodologies as sacred and become culturally irrelevant?
• As the “contemporary churches” become the new traditional churches (by the way, that is happening all over in churches that were birthed out of the Saddleback and Willow Creek models), will they be willing to ask the hard questions and make the even tougher decisions that it takes to change their methods (not the message) as needed over time?

CCC Baptism Video

http://www.vimeo.com/5902288

multi-site church or a church with multi-sites

When it comes to doing small groups in churches, there are two paradigms that exist: Churches OF Small Groups and Churches WITH Small Groups.  Churches WITH small groups see small groups as another ministry that their church does.  Churches OF small groups view them as core essential of who they are. It plays out in all phases of that church (everything from children, student ministry and beyond).  Cedar Creek is a church OF  small groups.  That’s been a reality that was in our DNA from day one.  In fact, it would be easier to count the messages that don’t have any mention of being plugged into a small group vs the ones that do.  The pastor of a church of small groups doesn’t see it as a burden or non essential but rather champions the importance of getting plugged into one.

Now, take that same idea of “With” vs “Of” and apply that to multi sites.  Whether a video venue, web campus or a campus that has in-person teaching, it seems that churches are falling into one of those two camps:  Churches WITH multi-sites and Churches OF multi-sites.  We are now about 6 months into our first multi-site campus with our second multi site campus about to launch sometime this summer.  The staff here at CCC have been living it for over a year as it took much time and effort to prepare.  It is the newest phase (some say “fad” but I don’t think that is accurate…to most anyway) in church growth.  It allows churches really of any size to consider expansion and growth without having to necessarily depend on a new building.

I would say that Cedar Creek right now is somewhere in between a church WITH and a church OF multi-sites.  I think we’re probably leaning more toward the OF side.  I don’t think we’re fully there yet, however.  Consistent vision, communication and leadership is critical to change any culture within a church.  I think while most of our staff are getting there to where we are thinking “multi-site”, I would say that it takes a little bit longer for the church as a whole to think in that mindset.  I think that is the natural progression where you have to constantly and consistently communicate vision over and over again.  Here are some of my observations of the multi-site movement, both here at CCC and abroad.

• Multi-Site is leadership critical.  If you don’t have the right leader in place as a campus pastor and in key leadership areas, I believe you have already begun at a HUGE disadvantage.
• Multi-site does change everything.  You no longer just create a video piece for example.  You first have to filter a lot of elements through “Will this work on every campus?”
• I think a church must wrestle with the question of why would they do multi-site?  Is it because it sounds like a really good idea or is it because we believe that is where God is leading us?  Have we exhausted all of the worship possibilities on this campus yet?
• I don’t know if “freeing up seats” should be the main reason for doing multi-site.  From what I’ve observed, I’m not sure how many seats you will really free up.
• Multi-site is A LOT of work.  Let me say that again. Multi-site is A LOT of work.  It will stretch your staff and your volunteers.
• Constantly communicating vision is critical….over and over.  Just when you think people are getting tired of hearing about it, that’ probably the point where it is just starting to connect with them.  From the sermon series, to web and printed pieces, “one church in multiple locations” has to become a part of the everyday lingo of the staff and the church alike.

Here’s a book I would recommend as a primer for multi-site strategy: The Multi-Site Church Revolution

EasterAtCedarCreek.com

Our Easter site is now up and redesigned for 2009.  Except for an E-vite, it is pretty much complete.  As far as our marketing, we’ll be using this along with an invite card and a 40,000 piece mailer that will be going out the Tuesday/Wednesday before Easter.  We’re also working on our facebook page and getting some integration going on with this site, our main site and our twitter.  You can see the site at http://www.EasterAtCedarCreek.com

hardware & software non-profit pricing

Wanted to pass along a way that your church or non-profit can save some serious dough when it comes to buying software or hardware.  Someone tipped me off to this a few months ago, and it has meant big savings for my ministry area at cedar creek.  We have setup a non-profit pricing account with CDW.com.  I bought the Adobe CS4 Web suite and After Effects CS4 and saved over a grand…..that’s for the full version, not just an upgrade.

The way it works is that you complete a credit application (financial person can do that for you) and submit a copy of the letter/form stating your non profit status.  Once approved, you go to their website, look for what you want, send over the cdw product number(s) that you want a quote for.  Your sales rep. sends back the quote at non profit pricing, you sign/approve, items are shipped, they bill you.  They sell Apple products too.  Any kind of electronic you can imagine, they can usually get their hands on unless it is higher profile items like high end projectors or something.  Here’s the link to the non-profit section or you can call them at 800.750.4239

The Church and Marketing

Today I was taking the kids to school, and the local Christian radio station was on.  I heard a commercial that really took me back.  It was for a new church plant that was about to launch over in Augusta in the next week or so.  The voiceover for the commercial was inviting people who were disconnected to church or had been turned off to/by church to come to their launch service.  The thought hit me “that commercial totally missed the mark.”  Think about it, how many people do you know that have been burned by church or are disconnected to church and are riding around listening to Christian radio.  I guess it is possible that some may listen to Christian radio…..but not the majority for sure.  Granted, it didn’t cost that church any money as the commercials are free there, but it did cost, time, resources and possibly attract some “lookie lou’s” that are just taking up seats to check out the new show in town; seats that could be open for people that need Jesus, the unchurched/dechurched.  It’s the same broken concept of advertising a big outreach event on Christian radio.  It misses the target.

I think one of the reasons why so many churches miss the target in marketing is that they don’t understand who and where the competition is.  If you’re a restaurant, your competition is other restaurants.  If you own a dry cleaning business, your competitor is….other dry cleaners.  For the local church, the competition is….other churches….right?  Wrong.  The competition for a local church is every thing that vies for the attention, time and commitment of people in our community – NOT other churches.  That may seem like a no brainer, but it is huge if you take it to its logical conclusion.  It means that every church, instead of trying to think through the framework of “how can I fill my church with more church people?”, we began to seriously ask the question “What can we do to help create a worship environment that someone who doesn’t know Jesus would want to come to?”

A final word on marketing in the church.

At Cedar Creek when we ask people, 95% of first time guests come because of a personal invitation.

That has been true since day one back in 1993.  The best marketing practice is to encourage people to invite a friend (it helps them to come back if they’re not bored out of their mind when they get there, but that’s a different post for a different day).  That’s not to say that marketing using mailers, facebook, invite cards, billboards and the like aren’t important.  They are.  What those marketing pieces do is equip your people with name recognition and branding so that when they do invite someone, Cedar Creek will possibly be familiar to that person: “Oh yeah, I’ve heard of that church” or “I saw that billboard the other day on the way to work”.

UNLEASH 2009 Wrapup

Just some thoughts to wrap up the day at UNLEASH yesterday.  You can view my notes below by clicking on the replay buttons for each of the sessions/breakouts.  I love UNLEASH b/c it is a one day conference and gives pastors and volunteers the chance to get away for one day, experience an incredible ministry, expand their vision, grow in passion and get some encouragement.  Plus it’s close to us which is nice.  Here are some highlights and overall thoughts.

• Great questions from first and second main sessions from Perry
• To build HIS church: Are we willing to embrace change? Are we willing to work? Are we willing to reach the world? In ministry/leadership: Who is with me? Am I pleasing YOU, God? Will we see YOU, God? What’s next?
• The main sessions were the highlight for me.  There is just SO much to chew on there for the next several months.  Worship, video elements, and just the presence of God in the place was palpable.
• Was stoked that Kim was able to go.
• 3rd time that I’ve been and always leave with several “takeaways”
• Wished that our lead team from CCC could have made it to UNLEASH.  Bummer that they missed out on that.  A few made it.
• Production quality was stellar as usual.
• Perry said that a lot of churches are still stuck in the 80’s….some still in the 50’s.  I would tend to agree and add that ALOT of churches that consider themselves as “contemporary” are stuck in the 90’s.  The gospel doesn’t change, but our methods MUST.
• Got to meet up with several friends from all over, including some fellow tweets.
• Some good stuff in Shane Duffy’s breakout on service programming.  Love the details and the practical stuff.  Some good follow up questions, too.  One of the takeaways from that: Excellence is taking away any distraction (bad singer, tech glitches, even service elements, etc.) that obscure people’s view of Christ and the message.
• Newspring volunteers and staff did an incredible job as usual in making it happen.
• I’m glad that so many people got to experience UNLEASH, but honestly, I thought their facilities were inadequate for that size of crowd.  Don’t get me wrong…their facilities ROCK.  For the main/general sessions they were able to fit everyone in by using the student ministry facility.  The breakouts?  totally different story. Dunno…maybe limit the registrations to 2500?  Or, maybe get some more larger tents to use outside for breakouts if there is some space on the property to accomodate.
• You can watch the main sessions now online at the UNLEASH website here.  Click on the power icon, click menu, on demand library and then UNLEASH 09.

Kidz Creek Promo

Here’s a promo that we used during the Phillip’s message this past Sunday.

http://www.vimeo.com/3556507