Church Launch
Opennings
08/20/09 09
Several of our Church Plants recently experienced their Grand Openings. Here’s a report:
Steve Bentley, The Bridge--Flint, Michigan
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
The Grand Opening was awesome! It went very well. The key was getting the people motivated to bring others - once that happened we had about 400 invited and over 200 showed up. We did a regular service - we did not want to do something different and special that would not normally happen so if a guest showed up again it was not the same. We told the crowd that also - this is a regular service, this is what we do here. I believe that is why many returned the next week and more said they would be coming back. 2. What was the best thing?
Hard to pin down. Hurting people coming in afraid to be judged and finding love instead. 3. What was the toughest thing?
Getting the people motivated to invite others. There is often a "if you build it they will come" attitude, but it really takes many people drawing people in. We solved this with some creative motivation - a challenge if they brought over 150 I would get a mohawk right there on stage, but more than that with time we have solved this because people are finding healing and are motivated to invite others to find it also. If there is no change in the attendees’ lives there is no reason to invite others - it feels like you are asking a favor for someone to visit. If there is change in their life they feel like they are doing a favor inviting others.
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN has helped with training, confidence-building and knowing there is someone out there that believes in me and what we are doing. The coaching is a great benefit.
Richard Reynolds, New Revelation Christian Church--Indianapolis, IN
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
Our first worship experience was wonderful. Our core leaders worked hard with set up and serving our guest from the parking lot to our worship space. We have had some great feedback in response to electronic invitations and letters thanking our guest for worshipping with us. People are excited about coming back next week. I will be making phone calls today to new members and guest to encourage them to return. We had over 220 worshippers. Six people came to the altar and four joined New Revelation.
2. What was the best thing?
The best thing about our worship experience and the day was seeing the ownership that our core leaders have in New Revelation, demonstrated in hard work and humble service. The only problem we had was with the sound system when trying to play a CD for a liturgical dance.
It was great to see the new souls come to Christ and unite with our new church family.
3. What was the toughest thing?
The toughest thing for me was not having more people come forward to accept Christ and/or unite with our church. I had hoped for many more on our first day, however I am motivated to continue to dig deeper and push even harder with outreach efforts.
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN has helped by providing support and practical advice. GHCN has helped to motivate me and my family and provide confirmation about the call on our lives for church planting. It is so valuable to be able to connect with other church planters and learn from their successes and challenges. The informal atmosphere that allows for conversation and relationship building is great. I am more equipped to do church planting because of my relationship with GHCN.
Shane Craven, Origin Church--Ringgold, GA-Chattanooga, TN
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
Grand Opening was great for us. We had great services, solid numbers of people, and saw life-change in a family, once again. It was a new beginning for Origin since we started going weekly as of Sept. 13.
2. What was the best thing?
The best thing was a family that came that had not been in church in 20 years due to getting hurt in a small church years ago. After years of people inviting them to church around the country, they finally came to ours, with one exception. The dad was not with them. However, the mom listened intently and I could tell she was engaged. She said later to one of our team, "I am bringing my husband back next week." That was a win for us!
3. What was the toughest thing?
The toughest thing for us was setup and take-down. We were introducing some new upgrades to our ministry areas and it was fast-paced, tiring, tough, and challenging. We made it but we could tell it was not an "easy yoke."
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN helped by being there as friends, financiers, and confidence-builders. GHCN is so filled with real, transparent, and authentic people, and we are attracted to that in detail. GHCN allows us to know that it's ok to be down, up, or just plain on an even keel. Nobody is a superstar and everybody is made to feel a part. Love this network! It's the best thing I've ever been a part of!
Here’s a report from a couple of our plants headed into their launches:
Rusty Gerhart, Rennovate Church--Parker, CO
1. How is the launch preparation going?
Prep is going well. Because of the previews we were able to work most of the kinks. Tech is still an issue, so we’ll have to get that completely dialed in.
2. What is the best thing?
The best thing has been the percentage of people that we’ve been able to assimilate. We’ve been averaging double digit visitor counts each week, and we’ve only seen 2 families not return. The rest have begun to plug into: Setup/teardown…Tech…Children’s…and the midweek ‘printing team.’
3. What is the toughest thing?
Butts in seats. We’ve had a difficult time in getting people to service. This last service the room felt full…which was nice…but we’re hoping for a larger turnout on Launch.
How has GHCN helped?
The biggest help from GHC…bar none….is definitely the support and encouragement. Not only have I had multiple chances to talk to JD, but I’ve also had a few phone calls with some of the other guys. It’s been great to get their perspective, and encouragement. (The upfront money was nice too. ;-)
Randy Balling, The Well--Modesto, CA
1. How is the launch preparation going?
Prep for Launch is going "well" at the Well Community Fellowship. We've been asking the launch team, "What do you get at a church's launch when you mail 33,000 invitations, send out 25,000 newspaper inserts, place 200 signs around the community, personally invite every person you can think of and pray like crazy?" The answer, "Only God knows." What we know is that 6 months ago, we were a hand full of people meeting in a living room. Today, over 50 people are pumped up, prayed up and positioned to pack out our sanctuary with people coming to meet Jesus at The Well.
2. What is the best thing?
The best thing is having the best seat in the house to see how God is going to build His church. Every time we began to fear that we would run short on people and provisions, we prayed and God answered in amazing ways. For instance, each week, for the past 12 weeks, we have had at least one new person come to our pre-launch gatherings. In addition, equipment that we did not think we could afford, was donated or lent to us. In 6 months time, God has raised up volunteers for every single vital ministry team. From children's ministry to ushering and greeting, God has stirred the hearts of people to trade time, talents and treasure for being agents of life transformation for Jesus. As the Pastor, I am humbled by how God does this, mystified and amazed.
3. What is the toughest thing?
The toughest part is maintaining a healthy and balanced walk with Christ. Two weeks ago, I decided to create a large organization chart to see how many critical roles needed to be filled to launch our weekly services. I took the answer to our launch team and asked them to guess. "Fifty," someone said. "Higher," I replied. "Seventy-five." "Try again," I said. The answer? There are 101 vital positions that need to be filled (at least for The Well). Even more concerning than the number of tasks was the fact that we only have about half that number in our launch team! I took our launch team to the story of Moses and Jethro where, in Exodus 18:18, Jethro is a catalyst for bringing balance to Moses' life by saying, "You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone." After reading this to my launch team, I simply said, "I can not do this alone. I need you all to serve on two teams until these 101 spaces are filled." Thankfully, they did.
4. How has GHCN helped?
In a broader sense, Jethro's words apply to my experience with the GHCN. I have felt a tremendous amount of support from JD and the other planters in the Network. They have encouraged and equipped me, but equally as important to me is that I have a sense that I am not alone. I have brothers in Christ who are in the trenches of ministry with me. I know I'm not going to the front lines of spiritual warfare alone. I know I have wisdom on call to help navigate me through church planting land mines. No matter what the outcome of our launch, I know that I have faith-filled friends there to meet me on the peaks and in the pits of this journey called church planting and I am grateful that I do not have to "handle it alone."
Steve Bentley, The Bridge--Flint, Michigan
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
The Grand Opening was awesome! It went very well. The key was getting the people motivated to bring others - once that happened we had about 400 invited and over 200 showed up. We did a regular service - we did not want to do something different and special that would not normally happen so if a guest showed up again it was not the same. We told the crowd that also - this is a regular service, this is what we do here. I believe that is why many returned the next week and more said they would be coming back. 2. What was the best thing?
Hard to pin down. Hurting people coming in afraid to be judged and finding love instead. 3. What was the toughest thing?
Getting the people motivated to invite others. There is often a "if you build it they will come" attitude, but it really takes many people drawing people in. We solved this with some creative motivation - a challenge if they brought over 150 I would get a mohawk right there on stage, but more than that with time we have solved this because people are finding healing and are motivated to invite others to find it also. If there is no change in the attendees’ lives there is no reason to invite others - it feels like you are asking a favor for someone to visit. If there is change in their life they feel like they are doing a favor inviting others.
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN has helped with training, confidence-building and knowing there is someone out there that believes in me and what we are doing. The coaching is a great benefit.
Richard Reynolds, New Revelation Christian Church--Indianapolis, IN
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
Our first worship experience was wonderful. Our core leaders worked hard with set up and serving our guest from the parking lot to our worship space. We have had some great feedback in response to electronic invitations and letters thanking our guest for worshipping with us. People are excited about coming back next week. I will be making phone calls today to new members and guest to encourage them to return. We had over 220 worshippers. Six people came to the altar and four joined New Revelation.
2. What was the best thing?
The best thing about our worship experience and the day was seeing the ownership that our core leaders have in New Revelation, demonstrated in hard work and humble service. The only problem we had was with the sound system when trying to play a CD for a liturgical dance.
It was great to see the new souls come to Christ and unite with our new church family.
3. What was the toughest thing?
The toughest thing for me was not having more people come forward to accept Christ and/or unite with our church. I had hoped for many more on our first day, however I am motivated to continue to dig deeper and push even harder with outreach efforts.
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN has helped by providing support and practical advice. GHCN has helped to motivate me and my family and provide confirmation about the call on our lives for church planting. It is so valuable to be able to connect with other church planters and learn from their successes and challenges. The informal atmosphere that allows for conversation and relationship building is great. I am more equipped to do church planting because of my relationship with GHCN.
Shane Craven, Origin Church--Ringgold, GA-Chattanooga, TN
1. How did the Grand Opening go?
Grand Opening was great for us. We had great services, solid numbers of people, and saw life-change in a family, once again. It was a new beginning for Origin since we started going weekly as of Sept. 13.
2. What was the best thing?
The best thing was a family that came that had not been in church in 20 years due to getting hurt in a small church years ago. After years of people inviting them to church around the country, they finally came to ours, with one exception. The dad was not with them. However, the mom listened intently and I could tell she was engaged. She said later to one of our team, "I am bringing my husband back next week." That was a win for us!
3. What was the toughest thing?
The toughest thing for us was setup and take-down. We were introducing some new upgrades to our ministry areas and it was fast-paced, tiring, tough, and challenging. We made it but we could tell it was not an "easy yoke."
4. How has GHCN helped?
GHCN helped by being there as friends, financiers, and confidence-builders. GHCN is so filled with real, transparent, and authentic people, and we are attracted to that in detail. GHCN allows us to know that it's ok to be down, up, or just plain on an even keel. Nobody is a superstar and everybody is made to feel a part. Love this network! It's the best thing I've ever been a part of!
Here’s a report from a couple of our plants headed into their launches:
Rusty Gerhart, Rennovate Church--Parker, CO
1. How is the launch preparation going?
Prep is going well. Because of the previews we were able to work most of the kinks. Tech is still an issue, so we’ll have to get that completely dialed in.
2. What is the best thing?
The best thing has been the percentage of people that we’ve been able to assimilate. We’ve been averaging double digit visitor counts each week, and we’ve only seen 2 families not return. The rest have begun to plug into: Setup/teardown…Tech…Children’s…and the midweek ‘printing team.’
3. What is the toughest thing?
Butts in seats. We’ve had a difficult time in getting people to service. This last service the room felt full…which was nice…but we’re hoping for a larger turnout on Launch.
How has GHCN helped?
The biggest help from GHC…bar none….is definitely the support and encouragement. Not only have I had multiple chances to talk to JD, but I’ve also had a few phone calls with some of the other guys. It’s been great to get their perspective, and encouragement. (The upfront money was nice too. ;-)
Randy Balling, The Well--Modesto, CA
1. How is the launch preparation going?
Prep for Launch is going "well" at the Well Community Fellowship. We've been asking the launch team, "What do you get at a church's launch when you mail 33,000 invitations, send out 25,000 newspaper inserts, place 200 signs around the community, personally invite every person you can think of and pray like crazy?" The answer, "Only God knows." What we know is that 6 months ago, we were a hand full of people meeting in a living room. Today, over 50 people are pumped up, prayed up and positioned to pack out our sanctuary with people coming to meet Jesus at The Well.
2. What is the best thing?
The best thing is having the best seat in the house to see how God is going to build His church. Every time we began to fear that we would run short on people and provisions, we prayed and God answered in amazing ways. For instance, each week, for the past 12 weeks, we have had at least one new person come to our pre-launch gatherings. In addition, equipment that we did not think we could afford, was donated or lent to us. In 6 months time, God has raised up volunteers for every single vital ministry team. From children's ministry to ushering and greeting, God has stirred the hearts of people to trade time, talents and treasure for being agents of life transformation for Jesus. As the Pastor, I am humbled by how God does this, mystified and amazed.
3. What is the toughest thing?
The toughest part is maintaining a healthy and balanced walk with Christ. Two weeks ago, I decided to create a large organization chart to see how many critical roles needed to be filled to launch our weekly services. I took the answer to our launch team and asked them to guess. "Fifty," someone said. "Higher," I replied. "Seventy-five." "Try again," I said. The answer? There are 101 vital positions that need to be filled (at least for The Well). Even more concerning than the number of tasks was the fact that we only have about half that number in our launch team! I took our launch team to the story of Moses and Jethro where, in Exodus 18:18, Jethro is a catalyst for bringing balance to Moses' life by saying, "You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone." After reading this to my launch team, I simply said, "I can not do this alone. I need you all to serve on two teams until these 101 spaces are filled." Thankfully, they did.
4. How has GHCN helped?
In a broader sense, Jethro's words apply to my experience with the GHCN. I have felt a tremendous amount of support from JD and the other planters in the Network. They have encouraged and equipped me, but equally as important to me is that I have a sense that I am not alone. I have brothers in Christ who are in the trenches of ministry with me. I know I'm not going to the front lines of spiritual warfare alone. I know I have wisdom on call to help navigate me through church planting land mines. No matter what the outcome of our launch, I know that I have faith-filled friends there to meet me on the peaks and in the pits of this journey called church planting and I am grateful that I do not have to "handle it alone."
READY TO LAUNCH
03/20/09 09
From time to time we’ve heard from Church Planters just after their launch Sunday.
Here are two updates from two Growing Healthy Churches Network Church Planters just prior to their launch Sundays:
Scott Canady: Flipside People: Rockwall/Fate, Texas
Launching March 29, 2009
I hope everyone is doing well. We had two practice runs on March 15th and 22nd at May Vernon Elementary and this Sunday is the beginning of our Big Gathering. We launch our Sunday morning Big Gathering at 10:00 am this Sunday, March 29th.
The Rockwall/Fate area will not ever be same after the last few weeks because we have went door to door and hit parking lots with thousands of flyers, over 50 yard signs are popping up every weekend, we have articles in local newspapers, advertised in 2 HOA newsletters reaching over 3000 homes, we are averaging over 50 weekly visitors on our site, and I have been challenging everyone to invite over 20 people per week to the launch.
This is definitely the scariest thing I have ever done but it is also the most exciting. There is just no way of knowing who or how many is going to come. We are really trying to do all the things possible to gather a big crowd on the March 29th and hopefully have them back the next week. Please pray for us and thank you for being our partners in this mission. I will let you know how this Sunday went next week.
Flipside People thanks you and I thank you for our friendship.
Blessings,
Scott Canady
www.flipsidepeople.com
Shane Craven: Origin Church Chattanooga, TN/Ringgold, GA
Launching April 5, 2009
We are coming down the stretch to launch on April 5. We have events planned leading up to that day. We have spent almost 20 months in preparation. Our launch team started coming together back in August and we are all excited. We have met at least twice each month since then and God has welded us together in a unique way. We have spent a lot of time building relationships in the community, serving the community, and building a network of new friends in our area on Facebook. We have put on yellow vests to do crowd control at the Christmas parade, we have handed out balloons at the Haunted Depot at Halloween, and we are co-sponsoring, now, a 20,000 piece Easter Egg Drop out of a helicopter with the city business partners the day before Easter. It's one of those things that kind of dropped in our laps. It was not, initially, a part of our strategy, but something we felt God say, "Wait, listen, watch; I'll do some things you didn't expect." This was one of them. Facebook ads have been good for us. We constantly communicate with our Origin Facebook group and generate as much buzz as we can. One thing we have tried is an RSVP on Facebook and our own version of an RSVP that we send to all of our friends' personal email addresses. We thus far have seen over 100 people RSVP. It's been a neat thing. This week launched our first out-go of 300,000 emails through a company called InBox Promotions. Can't wait to see how that works. We are using Mint Magazine's direct mail department for 30,000 pieces to go out on March 31 to two areas near us. We also begin putting out 100 road signs next week around our area. Additionally, we threw out press releases to all area media and the local paper is doing a feature story this next week.
We show up next Friday to begin the set-up process for our launch day. We have volunteer trainings planned for most of the day on Saturday, the 4th.
No doubt, an exhilarating ride it has been; tough, yes, but worth it, yes! You can literally feel the sacrifice in your life as you plant a church....not sure if that's good or bad. Certainly nothing like the sacrifice our God made for us. So, that's perspective for me. You know, everything is summed up like this for us: If it were for one family, and we only stayed here one month, we feel that God would have us give it the extra effort we are giving to make this a reality. We trust in HIM, and trust He knows what He is doing. Our value is determined one way: In "Who" we are, not "What" we do. We covet your love, concern, and prayers. God is faithful!
Shane Craven
shanecraven.com
Origin Church
Here are two updates from two Growing Healthy Churches Network Church Planters just prior to their launch Sundays:
Scott Canady: Flipside People: Rockwall/Fate, Texas
Launching March 29, 2009
I hope everyone is doing well. We had two practice runs on March 15th and 22nd at May Vernon Elementary and this Sunday is the beginning of our Big Gathering. We launch our Sunday morning Big Gathering at 10:00 am this Sunday, March 29th.
The Rockwall/Fate area will not ever be same after the last few weeks because we have went door to door and hit parking lots with thousands of flyers, over 50 yard signs are popping up every weekend, we have articles in local newspapers, advertised in 2 HOA newsletters reaching over 3000 homes, we are averaging over 50 weekly visitors on our site, and I have been challenging everyone to invite over 20 people per week to the launch.
This is definitely the scariest thing I have ever done but it is also the most exciting. There is just no way of knowing who or how many is going to come. We are really trying to do all the things possible to gather a big crowd on the March 29th and hopefully have them back the next week. Please pray for us and thank you for being our partners in this mission. I will let you know how this Sunday went next week.
Flipside People thanks you and I thank you for our friendship.
Blessings,
Scott Canady
www.flipsidepeople.com
Shane Craven: Origin Church Chattanooga, TN/Ringgold, GA
Launching April 5, 2009
We are coming down the stretch to launch on April 5. We have events planned leading up to that day. We have spent almost 20 months in preparation. Our launch team started coming together back in August and we are all excited. We have met at least twice each month since then and God has welded us together in a unique way. We have spent a lot of time building relationships in the community, serving the community, and building a network of new friends in our area on Facebook. We have put on yellow vests to do crowd control at the Christmas parade, we have handed out balloons at the Haunted Depot at Halloween, and we are co-sponsoring, now, a 20,000 piece Easter Egg Drop out of a helicopter with the city business partners the day before Easter. It's one of those things that kind of dropped in our laps. It was not, initially, a part of our strategy, but something we felt God say, "Wait, listen, watch; I'll do some things you didn't expect." This was one of them. Facebook ads have been good for us. We constantly communicate with our Origin Facebook group and generate as much buzz as we can. One thing we have tried is an RSVP on Facebook and our own version of an RSVP that we send to all of our friends' personal email addresses. We thus far have seen over 100 people RSVP. It's been a neat thing. This week launched our first out-go of 300,000 emails through a company called InBox Promotions. Can't wait to see how that works. We are using Mint Magazine's direct mail department for 30,000 pieces to go out on March 31 to two areas near us. We also begin putting out 100 road signs next week around our area. Additionally, we threw out press releases to all area media and the local paper is doing a feature story this next week.
We show up next Friday to begin the set-up process for our launch day. We have volunteer trainings planned for most of the day on Saturday, the 4th.
No doubt, an exhilarating ride it has been; tough, yes, but worth it, yes! You can literally feel the sacrifice in your life as you plant a church....not sure if that's good or bad. Certainly nothing like the sacrifice our God made for us. So, that's perspective for me. You know, everything is summed up like this for us: If it were for one family, and we only stayed here one month, we feel that God would have us give it the extra effort we are giving to make this a reality. We trust in HIM, and trust He knows what He is doing. Our value is determined one way: In "Who" we are, not "What" we do. We covet your love, concern, and prayers. God is faithful!
Shane Craven
shanecraven.com
Origin Church
TWO NEW CHURCHES LAUNCH!
02/20/09 09
On Sunday, February 1, two new GHC Churches officially started their services. Here are the brief reports:
The Vibe--Fullerton, California
Church Planter, Steve Brown
Houston, We Have Liftoff!
Hey All! I just wanted to check in and tell you that from all viewpoints we have a successful launch. We were praying for 200 people in attendance and that’s what we got. Holy smokes. Not sure what to expect next week but that’s up to God anyway.
If you’d like to check out our off the hook worship band and choir here’s the link: http://www.surfthevibe.com/worship.htm
If you want to see the launch day message here’s the link:
http://www.surfthevibe.com/our_teachings.htm
Now, off to recover…
Blessings,
--Steve
Sojourn Community Church--Greensboro, North Carolina
Church Planter, Jeff Weber
Just a note to thank you all for prayer—I really mean that. We had over 200 at our launch, many of whom have no relationship with God. We truly are in awe with what God did.
I can not say enough about the launch team either. We are having to guard people from overextending themselves! My message was taken from Matthew 11:28-30 and Amy Castor, an individual antagonistic toward the gospel shared about her new relationship with Jesus. The stories are very cool. One touched my heart of a 15 year old troubled youth hanging out with gang types who asked if he could serve in the children’s drama ministry—something touched his heart.
I was also touched by the calls and notes from people around the country that were praying for this work including leaving prayers on my voice mail during our service. Indeed the power of what transpired yesterday.
My heart is filled and I hope yours is as well at the privilege of being used and watching others finding a connection in serving our broken world.
With much wind in my sails,
Jeff
The Vibe--Fullerton, California
Church Planter, Steve Brown
Houston, We Have Liftoff!
Hey All! I just wanted to check in and tell you that from all viewpoints we have a successful launch. We were praying for 200 people in attendance and that’s what we got. Holy smokes. Not sure what to expect next week but that’s up to God anyway.
If you’d like to check out our off the hook worship band and choir here’s the link: http://www.surfthevibe.com/worship.htm
If you want to see the launch day message here’s the link:
http://www.surfthevibe.com/our_teachings.htm
Now, off to recover…
Blessings,
--Steve
Sojourn Community Church--Greensboro, North Carolina
Church Planter, Jeff Weber
Just a note to thank you all for prayer—I really mean that. We had over 200 at our launch, many of whom have no relationship with God. We truly are in awe with what God did.
I can not say enough about the launch team either. We are having to guard people from overextending themselves! My message was taken from Matthew 11:28-30 and Amy Castor, an individual antagonistic toward the gospel shared about her new relationship with Jesus. The stories are very cool. One touched my heart of a 15 year old troubled youth hanging out with gang types who asked if he could serve in the children’s drama ministry—something touched his heart.
I was also touched by the calls and notes from people around the country that were praying for this work including leaving prayers on my voice mail during our service. Indeed the power of what transpired yesterday.
My heart is filled and I hope yours is as well at the privilege of being used and watching others finding a connection in serving our broken world.
With much wind in my sails,
Jeff