Day 20: What an Experience!

“In doing so, workers become actors, intentionally creating specific effects for their customers. And it's the experiences they stage that create memorable-and lasting-impressions that ultimately create transformations within individuals.”

B. Joseph Pine III and James Gilmore, The Experience Economy

During the First 100 Days of your ministry launch, you need to create moments when the vision jumps off the paper and grabs people – moments when people says, “This is what he’s been talking about!  I get it!  I like it!  I am coming back for more!”

Ministry is not about preaching.  It’s not about singing.  It’s not about programs.  It’s not about budgets or slogans or the numbers of butts in the pew.  Ministry is about experiencing what Jesus called The Kingdom of God!  In fact, this Kingdom is just about the only thing Jesus talked about, and when he talked about it, he didn’t talked about in terms of ideas or strategies.  He didn’t lay out spreadsheets or 5-year plans.  What Jesus did was paint pictures and invite people to follow him in living the pictures out.

Paint the picture:  “The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed - it’s like a wedding party – it’s like a fish net bursting at the seams – it’s like your front yard when it’s full of those pesky, little dandelions (and oh yeah, you’re probably one of those pesky, little dandelions!)”

Invite others to experience the picture:  “Come guys let’s see if we can feed these folks!”   “Seriously, just go from house to house, and you will find good folk, and good food, and good conversation.”  “You want some real fun? Then step out of the boat!”

I don’t think I can overstate this – ministry is not a product.  It is not something we produce.  It not a series of things we can check off our “to-do-lists.”  Ministry is an experience.  And when you are starting something new – you need to create as many new, and transformational, experiences for your people as possible.  And in our hearts, we all ready know this to be true.  At the end of the day it is not new information that leads to changed and transformed lives.  It’s not a program or even a bunch of cool videos during our sermons. It is an experience that changes us – an experience of the Risen Christ and the Kingdom he invites us to live in – this is what changes us.

So, when we deliver cookies to area merchants on the holidays, we are not just doing this to “deliver cookies to area merchants on the holidays.”  No, we are doing this for the experience of seeing the face of unexpected joy when somebody receives a gift for no other reason other than that God loves them and so do we!  We do it for the experience of getting out into our community and meeting our neighbors. We do it to experience of getting lost for a minute in something bigger than ourselves and our problems. 

We do it, because in doing it, we meet Jesus and we experience this Kingdom of which he spoke.

I am writing all this because today we had our first real “experience” of what our One Church in Two Locations is all about.  We had our first West Outer Drive Work Day.   Was there work to be done in and around the West Outer Drive Church?  Absolutely! Lots and lots of work!  But is that why we had the Work Day?  Absolutely not!  We held the Work Day so that we could experience the Kingdom!  And experience it we did!

More than 60 people (from at least 4 different churches) showed up.  People worked hard.  People met new people.  People worked with people of different ages, and races, and backgrounds.  And by the end of the morning, we had laughed together, shared meals together, got a lot done together, and felt like we had made a difference – together!

We had an experience we won’t soon forget.  An experience we can’t help but tell others about.  An experience we will make sure to come back for in hopes of experiencing it again!

How are folks experiencing the Kingdom in your ministry?

Day 13 & 14: Choosing Your Wingman

At the very top of the list of things necessary for a successful multi-site ministry is having the right person to be your lead staff for the new campus. It is a make or break decision. This person, whether they are a campus pastor, program director, or administrator, is the one who will carry the ball most days for the new site. He or she is the one who will do most of the heavy lifting, connect with new people, create the systems, and initiate the changes that will lead to new growth.

 

As the lead pastor of a multi-site ministry, this has got to be your decision. Consult with other church leaders all you want, but at the end of the day,you have to have absolute confidence in the person launching the new ministry. Direct hire if you can. If you are in an appointment system, then do your homework, work with your supervisors, be clear on what you need in a campus pastor, and if it doesn't feel right, then say no!

 

Here are some of the qualities I think are necessary for lead staff at a new site:

• A sold-out commitment to the mission and core values of your ministry. They have to get it, and want it, as much as you do!
• A solid trust that they have your back and will support you in making tough decisions.
• A willingness to challenge your ideas, bring better ideas to the table,and push you to do better, be better, and dig deeper than you would on your own.
• This person has to be someone you can trust to step into the leadership of the whole operation in your absence.
• They must be confident enough to sit in the lead chair and comfortable enough to be in the second.
• You would go to "their church" if you could. Could they be "your pastor?"
• This person must possess a deep love of God, sincere compassion for people, a strong commitment to Christ, and an impeccable integrity of character.
• Chemistry - it has to feel right in your heart and in your gut! (Trust your instincts on this one!)

 

I say all of this because I got to go over and watch "my wingman," The Reverend Dr. Frederick Sampson III, in action this morning. Services at the Redford campus start at 10 a.m., and they begin at the West Outer Drive campus at 11 a.m.; so by 11:30, I was able to sneak into the back and take in the last half of worship. 


All I can say is a peace washed over me this morning. 


Frederick is talented beyond measure. He is throwing his whole self into the opportunity and dealing with everything, and I mean everything, coming his way. He is making ministry happen with little to no resources. He has vision. He loves God and loves the people of the West Outer Drive Community as if he has been their pastor for years. He is good. Very, very good! You should come and check out worship at West Outer Drive and you will see what I mean.

 

There are a lot of things to figure out in this new venture, but who is going to be the leader of the new campus is not one of them! Thank you,God, for bringing Frederick our way....we would not be doing this without him.

Day 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12

We <3 Detroit

One week into our launch, I left for a week with nine teenagers, and two other adults, for a weeklong mission trip. Over the past decade, I have been on more than a dozen mission trips with students, and another eight with adults. I have been to several different states and four different countries on missions. For some of these trips, we drove for upwards of 14 hours to get where we were going. For international trips, we sometimes flew more than 48 hours before arriving. 

But this year we did something totally different - something far more radical than anything we have ever done. 

We loaded the vans Sunday afternoon and drove 20 minutes down the road to the heart of Detroit. That's right; we are staying home for our mission trip. In fact, the neighborhood where we are working is less than 10 minutes from our church in Redford, and five minutes from our new site in Brightmoor.

In some ways, I feel that every trip over the past decade has been leading to this moment, teaching us how to be in mission right here in our own hometown. 


And it has been a great, great week! 


It has been amazing to watch these students fall in love with Detroit. It is especially powerful when you realize most of them have been told their whole lives, by their families, peers, and the media, that Detroit is a place they should avoid, be suspicious of, and just write off as beyond saving. But this week they are experiencing the Motor City up close and personal. They are meeting her people, experiencing her strength, listening to her hope, and getting caught up in her future. For maybe the first time in their lives, they consider themselves "Detroiters!"

I think success in any ministry setting requires "going local" - getting into the place you live, learning its culture and loving its people. Every place has a story you need to learn, and there is only one way to learn it - by "going local." During the past three years I have done everything I could to think of to become a "Redforder," and help Redford Aldersgate become a "local" church. In my first 100 days at Redford Aldersgate, I scheduled four prayer walks throughout the community, so I, and anybody who just showed up to join me, could get out in the streets that surround us. We started delivering cookies every holiday to local merchants.  I have a second office at the corner diner.  We drop off pizzas for the fire station across the street and we make baby blankets for the local pregnancy center.  I could probably spend several posts discussing all things we have done to "go local;" but it begins by recognizing you have to "love" the place where you are doing ministry.

I would even go as far as to argue, that until you have "gone local," you have not begun serious ministry.

Its our setting determines what "going local" is all about.  When I served in Birmingham, "going local" meant country clubs, Shakespeare festivals, The Detroit Symphony Orchestra and a good glass of wine.  In Redford, "going local" means Nascar, Coney Islands, Bob Seger and a cold beer.  And in order for our new launch to work, we will need to "go local." We will need to learn, and re-learn, the story of Detroit and the Brightmoor neighborhood. We will need to love their people, celebrate their culture and get caught up in their futures. And luckily, we have nine newly formed leaders returning home to lead us into this new chapter of our ministry.  


What a great week!  I love Detroit!

Day 5 & 6: When the Hard Drives Crashes

Most of us have probably experienced it.  We go to turn on the machine, having a list of things we need to accomplish, information that needs to be accessed, emails that need to be returned, documents that need to be sent, and there is nothing.  We turn the computer off and then turn it back on and nothing. We unplug it and then plug it back in – and still nothing.  That’s when we begin to panic.  That’s when we say things that should not be put into print.  That’s when we cry and stomp around and call customer service and demand that somebody fix our problem.  That’s when we threaten to throw the whole thing out the window.

Eventually you come to grips with the fact that the hard drive has crashed and it doesn’t matter how much time you spend trying to figure out what happened, what you could have done to avoid it and whose fault it was that it happened in the first place, what you had is gone and it’s not coming back.  Once you come to grips with that, then you can decide what it is going to take, and what it is going to cost, to get back on line. 

Crashed hard drives are a huge pain, a massive distraction and a real momentum killer.  But here is the deal, staring at a broken machine will not fix it – being mad at the machine will not fix it – and blaming everybody you think is at fault” is not going to fix it!  It needs to get fixed and the quicker it gets fixed, the quicker you can get back to business. 

We had our first “hard drive crash” of the new launch.  Some back bills from the new site appeared.  The cost of these bills was extensive and a utility shut of was imminent. Nowhere in our budgeting for this launch was this large of an expense accounted for and there appeared to be little margin in our existing funds to address the situation. 

I admit, for a minute I sat and starred at the “broken machine.”  I cursed at it, tried to assign blame for it, went over and over how I could have prevented it and then was poised to just throw the whole thing out the window.  But then I realized that none of that was going to get us back “on line” and back to doing the work we have been charged to do.

So tomorrow morning I am meeting with key leaders (never try to fix the crashed hard drive on our own….a future blog post I am sure) to figure out what it is going to take, and how much it is going to cost, to get the machine back up and running. 

Here is the deal – at some point in our ministries, the “hard drive” is going to crash.  We are going to walk in one morning to a mess we hadn’t planned on, don’t have the time to address and don’t have the money set aside to fix.  But being mad, assigning blame and waiting for someone else to fix it – won’t get it fixed.  We have to fix it, make the adjustments, figure out the costs and get back to work.

Hard drives can be fixed and they can be replaced – but they won’t fix or replace themselves.  And yes – they will cost time and money – but they can be fixed. 

What problems in your ministry setting are not “fixing themselves” and what can you do to get them fixed and be “online” making disciples for the transformation of the world?

Day 3 & 4 Make No Mistake

This week it's all about the unseen, often unconsidered, factors that create church culture.  Culture is the water in which our ministries swim.

One of the maxims I try to bring to my ministry setting is the idea that we can make no mistakes.  Now, I am not talking about perfection.  In fact, I am talking about the exact opposite.  In our ministry setting, you are allowed to make mistakes, in fact you are encouraged to make them!  Mistakes lead to discoveries, and discoveries are at the heart of every launch. There are no successes without discoveries.  There are no discoveries without mistakes. 

In fact, every successful start-up should have more stories of mistakes then they do of success.  Mistakes are the lifeblood of lasting success.  They are the mark of trying something. 

In my meetings with my team this week, I had to tell them that they weren’t making enough mistakes.  They were playing it safe, doing what they know they can do, doing what they have always done, in the ways they have always done it.  And the problem of doing “the-same-old” – is that it just gets us, “the-same-old.”  I told them, in no uncertain terms, that their job is to provoke, create a ruckus, experiment, fail, repeat, learn, and then succeed.  The only mistake – is not making any mistakes (because the only way to not make any mistakes is to not try anything new.)  And, start-ups and launches are all about trying something new.

Do our teams know we expect them to innovate?

Do they know they are free to deviate from their “work plans” in pursuit something of bigger, better, and more fun?

Do they know we will have their backs when things don’t go as planned?

Being excellent isn't about working extra hard at doing what you're told, it's about making the leap and doing work that is worth doing.  Not starting is far, far worse, than being wrong. If we start, we’ve got a shot at evolving and adjusting; turning our wrong into a right. But if we don’t start, we'll never get the chance.

“You can make no mistakes.  Only discoveries.”

I can’t wait to get up in the morning and make some mistakes!

Day 2 What's in the Water?

When you look at an aquarium, it is easy to get caught up in all the beautiful fish, often with striking colors and interesting designs.  We love to look at the colorful rocks, the cool “sea weed” and even the funny little houses and treasure chests all grab our attention. 

But we seldom notice the water.  The water is virtually invisible, and yet without it, nothing in the tank survives.  It is the unseen that holds everything in the tank together.

Likewise, there is an unseen element in our combined ministry sites that holds everything else together.  And while it is easy to focus on all the visible stuff of ministry - the staff, the programs, the worship, the money - it is this single, unseen element that will determine much of our success (or lack thereof…)

This unseen element is culture.  The culture of a church, the unseen assumptions and beliefs, affects every decision a church makes.  It determines how we handle membership and the kinds of worship we offer.  It determines how we spend money and our approach to missions.  It will determine the staff we hire and those we fire (or help find another place of ministry, as we like to say in the church.)  The culture of the church, often unseen, unarticulated, and unquestioned, is a force we must understand and ultimately direct. If we don't, it will direct us.

While it does take years to change the culture of a church, the first 100 days is the time to plant the seeds for the ministry culture we are going to lead.  In order to begin to shape the culture, we have to have a pretty clear sense of what that culture should be before Day 1. In fact, the central theme of the new culture ought to be at the heart of the first message.

Yesterday was Day 1 for the new launch and we laid it right out there – “Whatever it Takes…”  

That is the heart of this new culture.  We will do whatever it takes to make the love of Christ real in the neighborhood.  It is the rallying cry of a new culture where self-sacrifice, radical hospitality, extravagant generosity, and hands-on, outwardly focused mission are the cornerstones of the church.  It is the catch phrase for the fostering of deep, prayerful compassion, and developing a spirit of innovation.  


“Whatever it takes….” It is the water in which we are going to swim.

Something to think about:  How would you describe the culture at your current ministry site?  What would you like it be? 

Day 1 The Launch

We lit the fuse!  We jumped off the edge into the deep end of the pool!  We cut the safety net and began to walk across the tight rope!

We started!

Worship Team praying before service

It exceeded all expectations. The people just kept on coming.  By 11:00 the place was full.

And talk about a team effort!  It was an all hands on deck Sunday.  The parking lot team was amazing (complete with golf cart rides from your car to the front door!)  The hospitality team had ushers and greeters and made sure everybody had a nametag.  The reception team had tents and tables and had organized more desserts then we could ever imagine eating (I didn’t have any….just fruit!)  The front office had organized all the bulletins and the carpools.  And the worship team – well, let me just say it was the best I have ever heard them….

“For greater things have yet to come …


And greater things are still to be done in this City…”

Children's Moment

Heaven's Rain Dance Team

The GATE Youth Group was well represented

Gail Birch, "You'll Never Walk Alone"

Praise Team

Blessing of Rev Frederick and Pamela Sampson

Chancel Choir and Pamela Sampson

Pastor Frederick

fellowship outside after service

It was just the burst of energy we needed to get the ball rolling and I am sure the memories of this past Sunday will carry over the weeks and months to come.

Thanks for coming along for this ride.   We cannot do this without you!


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