Got the very fast high speed internet connection installed at church today. That is a good thing. Here is what we are working on. We have been test running several ways of web casting our services. Working on different cameras and connections. We think (ok I think) we have that part down so the next step was we needed a fast connection so we can stream out. We are targeting the first Sunday in July as our go date for being live. So, people will be able to worship with us live via the web from anywhere in the world at 10:45 Sunday mornings. We are also going to work on an archive system so people will be able to go to past messages in the even they were not in church or should they want to send it to a friend.
It's going to be sweet!
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marketing. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
The New Building
I have been out to the new building we have been checking out three times in the last four days. The last tow times I have taken tape measures and last night I took a couple of guys from our team and we have been trying to figure out a way to make the building work for us. We've been measuring and taping off where we'd put classrooms, the stage, and chairs. The hard part about this decision is that every way we have tried it's really borderline as to us actually being able to make it work and even if we can make it work would it work well enough to allow us to grow in a healthy manner attracting new people.
The more I look at this the more I believe the answer is no. The space is just too small. It would work well for the amount of people that we currently had but wouldn't allow for us to grow beyond five or six new families.
There are some other issues that need to be considered as well. Going to this location would have been a huge change in our outreach. As of now we'd been targeting people in the Holland Maumee, and South Toledo areas. Those days would have been over and we'd have had to start reaching out to Swanton and Monclova townships. That's not a bad thing, but no one from our core group lives out that way so we are asking a group of people from one community to minister to a group of people in another community. It can be done, but at times there can be a mismatch.
It would have also been a lot to ask people to drive out there more than once a week for church functions like band practice, small groups, and youth group.
At the end of the day on this one we have to look at the evidence and be confident knowing that as God closes one door he begins the process of opening another one. For now we are going to learn to be content with the YMCA and we are thankful that we have a great temporary home for holding our worship services until God provides the next location.
The more I look at this the more I believe the answer is no. The space is just too small. It would work well for the amount of people that we currently had but wouldn't allow for us to grow beyond five or six new families.
There are some other issues that need to be considered as well. Going to this location would have been a huge change in our outreach. As of now we'd been targeting people in the Holland Maumee, and South Toledo areas. Those days would have been over and we'd have had to start reaching out to Swanton and Monclova townships. That's not a bad thing, but no one from our core group lives out that way so we are asking a group of people from one community to minister to a group of people in another community. It can be done, but at times there can be a mismatch.
It would have also been a lot to ask people to drive out there more than once a week for church functions like band practice, small groups, and youth group.
At the end of the day on this one we have to look at the evidence and be confident knowing that as God closes one door he begins the process of opening another one. For now we are going to learn to be content with the YMCA and we are thankful that we have a great temporary home for holding our worship services until God provides the next location.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
New toys New Series
Our new mixer came in the other day and it is pretty sweet! We can do so many more things wtih this mixer that we could never do with our old one. There's really only 1 big downside to buying a new mixer, well two downsides. First, you have to pay for it. Second, the first few times you use it can be a little tricky because you have to get all the signals and sounds going in the right direction. That might sound easy but it's kind of a pain in the butt!
Once we got the board dialed in the practice went pretty well and we should be ready for today's service. I have mentioned repeatedly how excited I am about not just this week but the next month and a half. Today's message is really good and something most every person, let alone, Christian needs to hear. For our next service in two weeks, we are starting our My Secrets series. April has been working on the song "Dirty Little Secret" by the All American Rejects. We are going to be using that as an intro all five weeks of the series. We don't use secular tunes that often so it will get people's attention when they hear it. The promo stuff is going out today and I am really excited to see how it will be received!!
We also dropped out last shipment of direct mailers this week so we should hopefully see some folks from those plus a few new folks from personal invites.
I have been sensing for the last few weeks like something big is going to happen and it starts today!! How cool is that!!
Once we got the board dialed in the practice went pretty well and we should be ready for today's service. I have mentioned repeatedly how excited I am about not just this week but the next month and a half. Today's message is really good and something most every person, let alone, Christian needs to hear. For our next service in two weeks, we are starting our My Secrets series. April has been working on the song "Dirty Little Secret" by the All American Rejects. We are going to be using that as an intro all five weeks of the series. We don't use secular tunes that often so it will get people's attention when they hear it. The promo stuff is going out today and I am really excited to see how it will be received!!
We also dropped out last shipment of direct mailers this week so we should hopefully see some folks from those plus a few new folks from personal invites.
I have been sensing for the last few weeks like something big is going to happen and it starts today!! How cool is that!!
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Band practice and critics
April and I just got back from band practice tonight and I am pretty dog gone impressed. Tim's lead guitar stuff sounded awesome. John's drumming was spot on, and Tony is coming along really well on the bass. The band sounded great tonight. I can't wait for this weekend something just tells me this is going to be a great weekend at Real Life.
You know it's going to be a great day in a church when people complain. You know something is going right. In fact, we have had a couple of complaint phone calls today from people who recieved one of our flyers in the mail which tells me that something must be working to get people all upset over a picture of a turtle with the words "stuck" on it! I was actually waiting on the calls. I've kind of learned that anytime you do something like that people get upset that you made contact with them.
The funny thing is, it's usually other Christians who get offended at you mailing them something. The last time we did direct mailings we actually had another pastor call the church upset that one of his people got a direct mail card. He accused us of trying to build a church at the expense of his congregation. How sad!
I actually felt sorry for the guy. I reassured him that, in fact, we were trying to reach those without a church home and the only way we can do direct mail (effectively) is to get a card to everyone in a neighborhood. As I was talking to the guy I was thinking, if your not in the market for a new car it doesn't matter how many times a car dealer sends you an ad, you're not going to buy. If his people were not in the market for a new church, it shouldn't matter what his people were sent because they were not in the market.
I love church planting. What a ride!
You know it's going to be a great day in a church when people complain. You know something is going right. In fact, we have had a couple of complaint phone calls today from people who recieved one of our flyers in the mail which tells me that something must be working to get people all upset over a picture of a turtle with the words "stuck" on it! I was actually waiting on the calls. I've kind of learned that anytime you do something like that people get upset that you made contact with them.
The funny thing is, it's usually other Christians who get offended at you mailing them something. The last time we did direct mailings we actually had another pastor call the church upset that one of his people got a direct mail card. He accused us of trying to build a church at the expense of his congregation. How sad!
I actually felt sorry for the guy. I reassured him that, in fact, we were trying to reach those without a church home and the only way we can do direct mail (effectively) is to get a card to everyone in a neighborhood. As I was talking to the guy I was thinking, if your not in the market for a new car it doesn't matter how many times a car dealer sends you an ad, you're not going to buy. If his people were not in the market for a new church, it shouldn't matter what his people were sent because they were not in the market.
I love church planting. What a ride!
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Getting really excited
I have to admit I am getting really excited about the next few months at Real Life. We are getting ready to start the new series (My Secret) and I am just pumped about it. More than ever people are checking us out and wanting to come. We are getting ready to run some radio ads that will promo the church....This is an exciting time!
Friday, September 21, 2007
Excitement!! Excitement!!
I have to say I am a bit stoked for the weekends church service. We had our music pratice on Weds and the band was pretty darn tight. We are doing some great music this weekend. On top of that, we are in the middle of a large marketing campain. The stuff went out this week and we are seeing a respectible spike in our web traffice which means that people are checking us out. To be honest I can't wait to see what God is going to do. The great and scary thing abour marketing a church is that...and I know this is a rough analogy but it's kind of like fishing. You throw a pole in the water and you really never know what is going to bite on your line. As in fishing you taylor your bait for what you'd like to catch. In our case we are trying to reach younger familes (and what church isn't!)
Real Life is starting to take shape as a church and it's really neat to see. Many of the things I daydreamed about years ago are starting to come to pass and it is pretty sweet how God has begun putting this whole thing together.
Real Life is starting to take shape as a church and it's really neat to see. Many of the things I daydreamed about years ago are starting to come to pass and it is pretty sweet how God has begun putting this whole thing together.
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