Gearing up to launch a church is like packing snow on a snowball. If you launch too soon, you might experience a little bit of a roll down the mountain before the momentum fizzles out. But if you continue to pack on as much momentum as you can, the minute you launch and release the momentum, your greatest challenge will be staying in front of the snowball that's rolling down the mountain picking up speed and size.
That is what we are experiencing right now. We had an incredible launch 2 weeks ago! God showed up in such a mighty way. We give Him all of the glory. It truly is miraculous every time we open our doors and people walk through!! We are running in front of the momentum that is building and trying to stay ahead of the snowball that is catching speed and size. It's our job as the leaders to navigate our church around any obstacles that would cause this snowball to explode into pieces.
If you've experienced a launch Sunday, you know the "buzz" and excitement that is in the air. God's presence is electric and there is such a sense that something new is happening.
Here are some of the things we are doing to keep momentum going and obstacles we are navigating around in an effort to stay ahead of the snowball and keep the excitement going:
1.) GETTING THE WORD OUT
We live in a world that is driven by technology, and especially social media. We have been amazed at just how powerful a tool social media has proven to be for us. The week of launch, we saturated Facebook with posts on our church page, our personal pages and encouraged everyone we knew to do the same. We created a graphic for launch and encouraged people to change their profile picture to our promotional graphic. We created an event page for launch and invited everyone we could think of. Before we knew it, 5000 people had been invited to Northpoint through our event page. If you aren't using Facebook - learn it and use it!! It's free and it's one of the best tools out there.
2.) FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP, FOLLOW UP
At launch there will be a lot of people walking through the doors. They are excited and expecting a number of things. One of the things they are expecting is connection. Don't underestimate the value of personal contact. Set up a system that gets information into your hands with people's name and contact info. Every week we have what we call "Connection Cards" on the seats as people walk in. They literally have to pick them up to sit down. During our morning experience, we have everyone (not just 1st time guests) fill out the connection card. On the front there's a place for them to check what ministries they'd like more information on and a place for them to indicate if they are a 1st time or 2nd time guest or a regular attender. We have a place on the back for them to share prayer requests. Before Wednesday we send out a hand written letter to 1st and 2nd time guests and Thursday or Friday we personally call our 1st time guests to invite them back the following Sunday. SIDE NOTE - Lead pastors - people need to hear from you on a personal level. A phone call doesn't take long, but it means a great deal to people when the leader of a church takes the time to genuinely connect with them. That's why we are here - to build relationships and connect with people!! We can get so caught up in the "business" of planting a church that we neglect to connect with the very people God is calling us to shepherd.
3.) CLEARLY COMMUNICATE
We have an information center in our front lobby with information on every ministry at Northpoint, our vision and beliefs, bio's on our pastors and upcoming events. Don't miss the opportunity on launch Sunday to get information into people's hands!! They are coming to launch excited about something new, but don't forget that they also want to know what's next. What ministries do you have for their kids, youth? Do you have things going on mid-week? Do you have small groups? Do you have information on what you believe? Who are your pastors? These are all questions that someone will ask. We have staffed our information center with volunteers that are excited about what's happening at Northpoint and are equipped to answer questions. "We're not sure yet" is not a great answer to a question. Anticipate what people are going to ask and have an answer ready to clearly communicate.
4.) HAVE A CLEAR PURPOSE
When you are launching a church, you will hear a multitude of ideas and suggestions. These are great! Listen to them - hear what your community is saying. Notice we said listen to them, we didn't say follow every idea and suggestion. This is where we as leaders must pray up!! You don't want to create programs and ministries for the sake of filling up your information center with a plethora of options. Hear what people are asking for, pray for God's guidance and then jump.
Before launch, people in our community were asking about mid-week services. In our city, this is part of the church culture. We didn't want to offer something mid-week simply because it's what's done; and yet, our community seemed hungry to connect to Northpoint mid-week. We knew we were going to need a very clear purpose for this mid-week experience for it to be successful.
After launch, we jumped into a mid-week experience and momentum is building. We have a very specific purpose for our mid-week experiences. For our kids and youth it is discipleship. For adults, our mid-week experience is an opportunity for us to cast vision as we share what Northpoint's purpose is in the community. Our devotionals and break out discussion times are focused on discipling people on what outreach and servanthood looks like. By focusing on this topic, it isn't a jump for people when we ask them to give up a Saturday to help serve in our community, because they've been hearing about servanthood and outreach at our mid-week experiences.
5.) DON'T UNDERESTIMATE
When God shows up - He shows off!! We heard a pastor say this statement recently, and it's so true. When you have prayed up and prepared, don't be surprised when God shows up and shows off. Don't underestimate what might happen. Be prepared for more than you expect and then let God do His thing.
We have learned through this journey that God's timing is perfect. Seek wise counsel, pray as if your church depends on it (because it does), and get ready to run in front of the snowball. Just don't let it catch you!!
