things that matter

Here are five things that I think really matter in Church world. Please know I am going with the assumption that people and God matter so please don't send me an email saying That I left them out. HA HA


1. Signs Matter- directional, parking, information, children's signs they all matter. Do not assume that guest will know where things are just because you do. You do not want people to say no before they ever say yes. If the have trouble finding you or parking when they get there their experience will start out on the wrong foot. (especially if you are in a temporary or rented space)

2. Greeters Matter- I do not know how to stress this enough. People want someone to say hello to them. I know I have heard all of the stuff that 20 somethings do not want to be talked to well let me be blunt that is CRAP. Our church is 65-70% single and the average age is 26 and they all like it when people say hello to them. This is one area that we cannot afford to screw up on. Guest already feel like outsiders don't magnify it by not talking to them. (with that said don't have them stand and recognize them in your service either. That is just lame. Just be friendly)

3. Quality not Quantity Matters- Just because you have a 45 minute worship set does not mean that I am going to enjoy it or that God is going to show up more there than in a programed out 2o minute quality worship set. People in our culture care about quality so the church should stop settling for mediocrity.

4. Time Matters- if Jack Bower can only keep our attention for 1 hour maybe we should cut back on the Bored of the Rings length services. In other words people should know how long your services last and we should leave them wanting more while honoring the time people give us each week.

5. Clarity Matters- We have the privilege of sharing the greatest story of all time, however we are sharing it with a culture that did not grow up on our religious verbage so why not share His story in their language. Isn't that what Jesus modeled. ( don't assume that people know what to do in your service or that they know what you mean because 9 times out of 10 they do not) I had a wise businessman once tell me Paul when I run my company I tell everyone what I expect and what they need to do but when I come to church I expect you to tell me what to do and what you expect. He said I need you to clearly tell me what it is that you want me to do.

These five things I really think will either make or break a ministry. I can assure you that at Relevant we screw theses things up all of the time. But our goal is to see these five areas at 100% every week. Let's knock it out of the park for God.