This morning Jeanne and I had the joy of waking up to our little Gigi covered in some sort of Allergic Reaction all over her cute little body.  Jeanne and I had the exact same thought at the exact same moment – “How do we avoid having to go to the Hospital over this one?” Don’t get me wrong – We love our baby, we just hate our Health Care Plan.  And to be honest, I break out in an allergic reaction to Hospitals in general.

After embracing the inevitable, we packed Gigi up and took her to Children’s Memorial Hospital here in the city.  Here’s what we experienced in our first few moments there:

1. We found great parking right outside the entrance.
2. Easy to spot Signage that told us exactly which entrance to take.
3. Three people in the first 60 seconds asked us if it was our first time and if we needed any help finding anything.
4. An amazingly engaging and surprisingly calm environment.
5. Someone walked us from the entrance down the hall in the direction we were heading.
6. We got to keep our coffee!

Within 45 minutes we were signing out with the brilliant medical advice of “Just ride it out” (which was actually my advice from the very beginning, although not as welcomed by Jeanne).

We left that hospital wondering, Why can’t people’s First Impression of Church be more like ours at the Hospital (minus the bill)?  Why do we make it so hard and so confusing for so many people who already have a million little battles of resistance running through their morning?  What does a City Hospital know that the Church doesn’t?  I know that not all visits to the Hospital are like this.  But it brings up a great tension.

A great exercise for you and your team to do as often as possible is to go another church and see how they do it.  See what your First Impression is – from when you park your car until you park your rear in a seat.  Or better yet, survey your own experience:

• Where are you setting up unnecessary speed bumps or road blocks to people having a great First Impression?
• What do you assume that people know?  What don’t they know?
• How are you anticipating and and eliminating unnecessary resistance?
• How can you get every single “insider” in your church involved as an owner of your church’s First Impression?

It really would be a shame if people had a better experience at a HOSPITAL than they do at our church.  We could learn a lot.

1)   You don’t need to worry about money…but you won’t ever think you have “enough”.

2)   You will not only believe in the power of prayer…you’ll depend on it.

3)   A Clear Mission goes a lot further than a Cool Logo.

4)   The craving for Comfort will be stronger than crack.

5)   You will be on the adventure of a lifetime with people you haven’t even met yet.

6)    You’ll be raising money for as long as you lead this church, you might as well get used to it and you might as well get good at it.

7)   Don’t ever out clever things like the Bible, Prayer, and the Gospel.

8)   The longer you go without an incredible team exercising their spiritual gifts, the shorter you’ll last.

9)   You simply don’t have all that it takes to do this, but you are far more ready than you realize.

However, I’ve noticed that for every 1 FAN of Lost there are 784,593 people who are not into it.  Several friends this week have told me that they would love to watch, but it’s just too complicated, too confusing, or they missed too many episodes.  They reiterate the fact that there is no such thing as a Casual Lost Fan.

I think the same could be said of our Churches.  Without even realizing it, we’ve created Churches that are more complicated than Lost.  There’s too much Insider Language.  Too many Complicated and Confusing Linear Strategies.  Too many Detours that make it difficult if not impossible for an “outsider” to get it.  While there is no such thing as a Casual Lost Fan, there are 100,000’s Causal Church Goers in your community.

The question is – How are you making it SIMPLE for people to Get It, Get Started, and actually Grow.

Here’s Four Ideas for how you can make your church Simpler

1) Change Your Language.  Listen to what you’re saying.  Listen for what you’re not saying.  From Worship Leaders, to Teachers, to Printed Materials.  Think first of the First Time Person who hasn’t been here as long as you and don’t have a clue what things like Connexxus or Axiom are or even mean.

2) Change Your Website.  This is your Virtual Front Door and if someone has to walk around the house two or three times before they can find the front door, they’re not coming back. I love the simplicity of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley.  Clear and to the point.

3) Have a SIMPLE Strategy and stick to it. I know that you’re a Linchpin and you love changing, tweaking, and tinkering, but you have to remember – They Are Not.  They weren’t here when you used to call it Area Home Groups.  They weren’t here when you used to do it Tuesday Nights.  They don’t care.  They need to be able to get within the first 2 minutes WHAT you about and WHERE they can START.

4) Go to another Church.  Learn from their simplicity.  Learn from their complexity.  Listen to their Language.  Better yet, go to the Apple Store (which you probably have in the last 7 days).  Within 60 seconds you can find what you need and figure out what to do with it.  And in the case that you can’t – there’s always an Apple Cult Member Employee within 5 feet to help.

Following Jesus is hard. Finding him shouldn’t be.  Let’s fight for Simplicity!

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(btw – if you know what the picture is at the top of this post…than you truly are as much of a nerd as me.  I’m praying for us now.)

• This post was written by Jarrett Stevens
• Co-Leader of Soul City Church,
• who believes that Nikki and Paulo are the key to it all!
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While listening to an over-excited Vaynerchuk on a recent podcast, he passionately pontificated on the new “THANK YOU ECONOMY” that we are now a part of.  In his words, we are living in a day when it’s no longer ok to push your “product” on people, tell them to buy it, and be done with them.  We are here to SERVE those who are somehow engaged and connected to us, and when we do that well, we won’t have to push or sell anything to them.

He’s right. But this is not one of Gary’s crazy ideas, or even a new idea.  This has been / should be the posture of the Church from day one.  We are created and called to Love and Serve in and especially Outside our walls.  It is precisely our forgetfulness and neglectfulness of this posture that has led to Overt Evangelism Campaigns and Strategies, and Bring A Friend Weekends.

When we love and serve, first and foremost, we position ourselves to be heard, respected, and followed.  In other words, “…let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:16 NLT)

So, HOW are you “Thanking” the community that your church serves?  Do they even know you exist other than the traffic hassle you cause on Sundays?  What do they “get” from your church that is above and beyond Attending one of your services?

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WHO do you personally need to “Thank” this week?  Who and How can you extend the Gospel in your neighborhood with no expectation in return?

And yet there are those who are not willing to let go of the past.  They are deeply rooted in the meaning that these things once held.  They are stuck in the systems that these former “innovations” have created, unable to embrace what is now.  Here are FOUR examples (of many) from our Culutre and ONE Question that each of us must wrestle with.

The Encyclopedia.

A brilliant breakthrough of the Modern Era.  Knowledge for the masses!  Everyone can own…26 Giant Books with Tiny Print.  We had a set in our house growing up – grossly outdated and too expensive and complicated to update, they became fantastic door stoppers and forts for my G.I. Joes.

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The Phonebook.

Eclipsing the wisdom of a centralized Operator, now anyone could find a litany of phone numbers for 24 hour plumbers.  They represent a centralized collection of localized limitedness that had to be updated every year with a new 18 pound 1384 page waste of paper.  Not sustainable.

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The Home Phone.

The Cordless Phone simply was not enough to save the icon of a bygone era of simplicity and boundaries.  ”Call me sometime…when I’m home…not on another call…and am willing to stand still long enough for our conversation.”

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The Newspaper.

An inky papery connection to the world around you…that the editors saw fit to represent.  The world continues to move too fast, too far, and too wide for this iconic connection to the Greatest Generation.  While the Newspaper may not die, it most certainly will not thrive in it’s current atomic state.

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Right or Wrong.  Good or Bad.  These are FOUR things that matter(ed) to our parents.  But they simply DON’T to us anymore. They have been replaced by innovation that itself will be replaced in a matter of time.

The Question is – WHAT IS YOUR CHURCH STILL DOING THAT MATTERED TO OUR PARENTS, BUT SIMPLY DOES NOT MATTER TO THE WORLD WE CURRENTLY LIVE IN?

What are we still holding on to because of it’s unorthodox and uncritical “history” and meaning to us?  What is it that we are still doing because we are too entrenched in the systems we’ve created around it?  AND…WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO ABOUT IT?

I think many of us would say that as we look around culture we easily recognize a society that is obsessed with all sorts of idols. The idol of money and material possessions. The idol of relationships.  The idol of power and control. The idol of food, alcohol, and drugs. The idol of narcissism – wanting to do life according to your desires on your clock.  I think you get the point.

Idol worship is not just an Old Testament problem. It is very much a problem of today, but I think those of us that work in full time ministry or volunteer at the church we try to escape with a free pass on this one, but I (Jeanne) believe that Idol worship is running rampant throughout our lives and throughout the church and over the next few days I am going to talk about some of the most popular idols in the church today.

The first idol is BUSYNESS – and yes I will begin by saying I am guilty of bowing down to this idol far too often.

• Have you ever had weeks where it seems like every moment is a moment of hurry?  Off to the next meeting, always 5 minutes behind, trying to juggle a bunch of tasks that you know you should have said no too, disappointing people that are important to you, and consistently injecting your self with caffeine just so you have enough energy to make it through the day.
• Have you ever had those moments when you leave your cell phone or calendar at home and you feel as though you don’t know how to function.
• Do people regularly start their conversations with you by saying, “I know that you’re so busy…”

Could it be that you have made busyness more important than the actual ministry you have been called to do?

Maybe BUSYNESS has become your idol.

What if today you denied the power that BUSYNESS has taken in your life?  What would it look like for you to slow down and choose to Worship the One True God that is never too BUSY for you?

Skateboards are Small, Fast, can make Turns on a dime, and are incredibly risky.  A few small pushes and you’re off!  They also tend to have only 1 rider at a time (I’ve tried to fit more, it never ended well).  When ridden well they are exhilarating to watch.  When they are not, they can be quite painful.

Ocean Liners on the other had are Big, Slow, and follow carefully plotted Courses.  They are methodical because they have to be.  They demand MANY people doing precise jobs, giving lots of small pushes (often unseen) to make everything work.  When it works it is amazing though not as exhilerating.  When they don’t…well I think Kate and Leo taught us a thing or two about that.

I have had the privilege of working for Two Very Large and Wonderful Churches (Willow Creek and North Point).  They are Ocean Liners.  While no one there would like to think of themselves as a deck mate, the truth is, in many ways they are.  They are a small but significant part of a massive thing that makes tremedous impact on the Kingdom of God.  While the impact is undeniably huge, it doesn’t always feel that way from the cargo deck.

I now ride a Skateboard.  Soul City Church is a New, Young, Fast Moving, Nimble Church.  We can make Big Decisions in a Short Time because there’s only a few of us making those decisions.  It is wonderfully terrifying faith filled ride.  It’s just us at this point.  It all falls on us.  If we don’t know or we can’t do, we run the risk of getting stuck or falling flat on our face.  But, while the Impact is not as massive yet.  We see it all.  We experience it all.  Firsthand.

• So, what are you riding on right now?
• A Skateboard or (at the risk of evoking T-Pain) an Ocean Liner?
• What’s One Benefit?
• What’s One Drawback?
• How can you, whatever you’re riding, do what only you can do, to make a difference in the direction you’re heading?

It has been so cool to be a part the NINES today – an innovative FREE conference hosted by Leadership Network and Catalyst.  Around 10,000 people are “attending” from all over the world.  It is my hunch that conferences Will and SHOULD look like this more in the future.

The NINES gives Pastors and Thought Leaders the opportunity to share ONE thought for Church Leaders in just NINE minutes.  There’s a TON of great stuff, all of which will be available free for download later this week.

So, our question for you is this :: If you had NINE minutes to share ONE thought to Church Leaders – What would it be?

go ahead…the clock is ticking…

Forbes sites that over crowding, poor air quality, a high 11% unemployment rate and free-falling home values have created a cocktail of constant worry affecting many in the Windy City.  Again…awesome.

So, the question is – What can a church do to love and serve the Stressful Realities of people in their city.  We all know that Chicago isn’t the only stressed out place on the planet.  As our lives grow ever complex, Stress seems to be a given.  So what do we do?  How do we live?  How do we serve?  How do we create a City of Peace in the midst of so much Stress?

We’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas…

Let’s face it - Churchin’ aint easy, and it ain’t cheap either.  Especially if you are a young start up where the only reality you know is “bootstrap” (not sure we should ever loose that kind of creativity and dependence).  We want to do Church on the Cheap.  We are finding that limited resources = Higher Innovation!

Cheap, however, does not mean Low Quality.  It means Low Cost in every sense of the word.  In other words - How do we do the Absolute Best we can with the seemingly little we have.

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Here are a few things that we have found or done along the way to keep Soul City Church a Church on the Cheap:

1) Ask God to give you stuff

• I know this seems like the right thing to say when talking about church, but I can’t tell you how few times in the 14 years I’ve spent in established churches NOT asking God to provide.  We just sorta knew it would be there one way or the other.  Those days are done and we ask God for the things he already knows we need By Name and To The Penny.

2) Ask People to give you stuff

• This is sometimes harder than asking God, mostly because people can look you in the face and say “no”.  They might, but they also may say “yes”.  We’ve asked for Videos, Graphic Design, a Blog, Photography, Adobe Creative Suite, a Warehouse, people’s time, people’s help, and people’s prayers.  We have been amazed at people’s generosity and willingness to give to God (not us).  Don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask people to partner with what God is doing through your church.  If you believe in the vision of what God’s doing, you shouldn’t hesitate to ask.

3) Do what only you can do best, outsource the rest

• We have been amazed at how many resources there are out there to accomplish huge tasks simply, professionally, and cheaply! Here’s a few of the things / places we outsource

1. PS20 – ALL (and I mean all) of our accounting is done though PS20 (a business set up to do this FOR churches at an incredible rate).  Instead of us paying “someone” a full time salary to do our books, we pay PS20. We’re not that good at math (which is why we use PS20) and they are passionate about partnering with churches to be their accounting department.
2. Wordpress Blog – This blog is our most active and effective source of communication about the church.  More people have heard about the church through this blog than any ad or announcement or mailer ever could and it cost us $0.00.
3. Clover Sites – Instead of paying $4000 for a website that you don’t know how to work, Clover sets people up with a beautiful website that is incredibly easy to use and is only getting better later this year all for $1000 (+ $20 month).
4. Free Web Services such as Mail Chimp, Jotform, and Picnik have saved us $1000’s in software and have changed the way a Start Up can get a Leg Up.  I can’t say enough about how much we use them and how much we love them.

4) Staff Creatively

• Big Dreams don’t always require Big Teams.  We’re exploring ways to Staff ONLY the positions that demand full time work.  The rest comes from a combination of Part Time, Contract, and Volunteer.  We’re exploring ways we ask companies we know to hire out members of our team on a contract or part time basis.  We’re exploring creative ways to cover the high cost of Health Insurance.  We are encouraging some of our staff to work Part Time in the community and Part Time for Soul City – this way we are engaged in the day to day life of the neighborhood.

5) Say NO

• This is an everyday battle.  Some of our best ideas we’ve had to push back or shut down simply because they did not have the absolute highest ROI (Return on Investment).  This demands of us clear Vision, great Wisdom, and deep Dependence on God that he will lead us through sifting out all of our Cool Ideas for the very Best Ideas.

These are just a few of our thoughts and some of things we’re working on right now.  We’d love to hear what you’re learning or doing to keep you church a Church on the Cheap.