6 Ways to Maximize Stage Announcements

by: Tim Peters

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Inside the church (internally), stage announcements are a constant battle. The people programming services, who are in charge of the flow of services, are constantly asking:

• Do we really have to do announcements?
• When can we do announcements so it doesn’t mess up the flow of worship?
• Is it worth it since people aren’t even listening to the announcements?

Then you have every single ministry leader fighting for stage time. They want their ministry, event or serving opportunity presented from the stage. So now you have the conflict of everybody wanting stage time, and the people who are directing the flow of the service forced to decide what will be communicated and when it will be communicated.

With all the chaos and discord, I’ve often heard the frustrated refrain behind the scenes at churches: We’re not going to do announcements anymore. Yet they all continue to do announcements because it is a great opportunity to speak to your congregation as they are sitting in a seat right before you and you have their attention.

Make no mistake, announcements are extremely hard.

As a communications professional and former communications pastor, I know firsthand the challenges posed by announcements. Yet when I sit in church as a member and somebody says the word announcements (“I have a couple announcements for you this morning…”), my mind automatically checks out. It always leads me to wonder:

• How can we better maximize this stage time when we’re announcing what is going on inside our church?
• What can we possibly do to take full advantage of having the attention of all these people?

In answer to those questions, here are six ways you can capture people’s attention and maximize stage announcements on a Sunday morning.

#1. Follow the 80% rule.

When you’re deciding what you’re going to communicate from stage, unless it’s an abnormal situation, you want to ask yourself: Does this impact 80% of the audience sitting inside our worship center? If the event, ministry, serving opportunity or message does not impact 80% of your audience, then you do not want to dedicate stage time to it.

Remember you only have an hour or so of people’s attention a week. You don’t want to waste a single minute. If a message doesn’t impact 80%, as a communication leader you have to politely say “no” and give them other ways to communicate that message – through the e-newsletter, social media, or the website events page. You have to protect the stage with only messages pertinent to 80% or more of the entire audience.

#2. Lead with “the why”.

I see this all the time with church leaders. They stand on the stage and start rambling about the what, when and how of an event, ministry or message. They throw out words, dates and times, and people turn their ears off because it doesn’t capture them. I say this over and over on this blog because it is so important – you have to lead with why. Capture their heart about the event, serving opportunity or ministry, and then subtly and quickly give them the what, when and how.

You can even give them the what, when and how on a media slide projected behind the stage presenter. That way you don’t even have to state the information and people can still absorb it. Then you can really zone in on the why. The why is also the perfect opportunity for you to tie a life-change story to an event, ministry or serving opportunity. If it’s a teen event you’re promoting and you’re telling them the why, throw in a story of a young person who was changed by this event. That will propel and lift up the message to make it much more effective.

#3. Keep clear and concise.

As the person responsible for picking who will do the announcements, it’s important that you provide the announcer with a script. You are the communication leader. Your team needs to write the script with the why, when, where and how. And you need to help the announcer rehearse and practice – not to be perfect – but to move on and be clear and concise. Youprovide them the script and you encourage them to rehearse, so they can be clear and concise on Sunday (not perfect).

#4. Revitalize your presenters.

Don’t use the same rotation over and over again. Eventually, people will hear that person and begin to tune out. You want to keep things fresh. I recommend that you get really creative in this area. For example, use children and students that you have trained, taught and practiced to do the announcements alongside an adult.

You can even video the child or student doing the announcements. That way you can edit and add music. Another idea is to use Skype and pipe in missionaries from around the world to give the announcements. Do whatever you can to revitalize the presenters, mix it up and catch people’s attention.

#5. Play background music.

I’ve seen music used in church announcements very effectively. It helps keep the flow and energy of the room up – especially if you’re coming out of a song or you’re moving into a song. It keeps things smooth and natural. People are used to listening to individuals speak in movies, shows and YouTube with music in the background. It makes the message more engaging and exciting. The key is not to overwhelm people with the music so they can’t hear the message.

#6. Rotate the way you communicate.

You have this announcement time and you can use it however you choose. It’s not restricted to the normal person standing up there for 5-10 minutes rambling on without anyone actually hearing then. You can use this time and space in countless different ways.

You can use a live person on stage. You can use a prerecorded video to communicate your announcements. You can do it in print, where one Sunday you simply print out the announcements and place them in every seat. The person doing the announcements simply says, “We’re moving on in the service, you can read today’s announcements from your seat.” The options are endless.

While announcements may not seem like a big deal (the common thinking is, “it’s only 5-10 minutes inside a service”), you have to recognize you only have an hour of people’s attention. Even then, you really don’t have their full attention every minute. You want use these 5-10 minutes when you’re communicating ways for people to engage with your church in a very clear, concise and compelling way. Lead with the why, be fresh and creative, and make sure you maximize this time using the tips above.

How do you maximize your church stage announcement time? 

Read more from Tim here.

Tags: Attention, Communication, Tim Peters

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One Way Your Church is Missing It with Twitter

by: Justin Lathrop

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A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to sit down with Social Media Church for a conversation about—you guessed it—social media. I had a great time talking about how I like to use social media as a connector and strategist. I also shared about a recent social media faux pas I made.

After the show, I thought I’d share the one way a lot of churches are missing it with Twitter. And it’s this…

Twitter is just as much of a listening tool as it is a sharing tool. It’s a two way street. If your church isn’t using twitter to engage with your members or people in you’re community, you’re missing out on the fundamental benefit of the social media network.

Here are a few practical steps you can take to use Twitter engage your community instead of simply sharing last week’s sermon or next week’s series:

• Create a Twitter list of everyone you know in your church, responding to them when it’s appropriate.
• Engage with influential Twitter handles in your community. (e.g. – Chamber of Commerce, Events Around Town, Government Entities)
• Set up proximity searches for terms like “prayer” or “church” within a 20-mile radius of your church. Monitor those searches and reach out if an opportunity presents itself.

You can listen to my entire conversation with Social Media Church here.

How has your church used Twitter or another social media channel to engage with your community?

Read more from Justin here.

Tags: Awareness, Justin Lathrop, Social Media

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10 Questions to Diagnose the Evangelistic Health of Your Church

by: Thom Rainer

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Any good physician will make certain your physical exam includes at least three components. First, the doctor will want you to have thorough lab work. Second, all exams include a comprehensive look at your physical body. Third, the physician will ask you a series of questions that would lead him or her to know more about your overall physical and emotional health.

In my work with churches across America, I often ask a series of questions that help me assist the church to become more evangelistically focused. Recently, I took time to write down the questions I ask most often. Look at these ten questions to get at least some hints of the evangelistic health of your own church.

1. Are members more concerned about the lost than their own preferences and comfort? Listen to how church members talk to understand what their true priorities are.
2. Is the church led to pray for lost persons? Most churches are pretty good about praying for those who have physical needs. But do they pray for those who have the greatest spiritual need, a relationship with Jesus Christ?
3. Are the members of the church open to reaching people who don’t look or act like them? The gospel breaks all racial, ethnic, and language barriers. Do the members seek to reach others? Do they rejoice when these people become a part of the church?
4. Do conflicts and critics zap the evangelistic energy of the church? An evangelistic church is a united church. A divided church is rarely evangelistic.
5. Do small groups and Sunday school classes seek to reach lost persons within their groups? Sunday school was once one of the most effective evangelistic tools in the church. Are the groups in your church evangelistic?
6. Is the leadership of the church evangelistic? The congregation will follow and emulate the priorities of the church leadership.
7. Do the sermons regularly communicate the gospel? They may not be evangelistic sermons in the classic sense, but all sermons should point people to Jesus.
8. Are there ministries in the church that encourage members to be involved in evangelistic outreach and lifestyle? You may be surprised to find how many members become evangelistic with a modest amount of training and equipping.
9. Have programs become ends in themselves rather than means to reach people?Perhaps a total ministry and program audit is in order.
10. Is there any process of accountability for members to be more evangelistic? That which is rewarded and expected becomes the priority of the congregation.

After their imprisonment for sharing the gospel with others, Peter and John appeared before the Sanhedrin who demanded their silence. Listen to how the two Apostles, with their lives on the line, responded to their accusers: “But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard’” (Acts 4:19-20, HCSB).

I pray that more and more of our church members have the heart and attitude exemplified by Peter and John. May we be so motivated to share the gospel that we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.

How would you assess the evangelistic health of your church? What questions would you ask for a good diagnosis?

Read more from Thom here.

Tags: Evangelism, Gospel, Thom Rainer

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Disrupt Something and Think the Unthinkable

by: Phil Cooke

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When was the last time you shook up the thinking at your office? If it’s been too long, then maybe it’s time to start thinking the unthinkable, seeing what nobody else can see, and breaking a few rules. We are all creatures of habit, and it usually takes a jolt to shake us out of our rut. I know – I wrote a book on the subject. But climbing outside the rut is exactly where we need to be.  So start tomorrow.  Think of the projects you’re facing at work, and then think of the most outrageous solution.  For once, just forget about budget, schedule, and rules.  Just start asking, “What’s the most elegant and perfect solution?”  Reframe the problem in a new light and see what insight comes from there.

And just for fun, see how many minds you can blow in the process.

Tags: Change, Innovation, Phil Cooke, Structure

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Are You Investing Your Best Resources in the Wrong People?

by: Michael Hyatt

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It is easy to see other people making this mistake. It is more difficult to catch yourself doing it. I’ve been guilty plenty of times.

Leaders often make this same mistake in various areas of their lives.

What can you do if you are in this situation?

Make sure you are investing your best resources—including your time and energy—in your best people. Here’s how:

1. Acknowledge that your resources are limited. Your time, money, and energy are finite resources. It’s easy to forget this and overcommit. But it’s a zero-sum game. Every time you say “yes” to one person, you are saying “no” to others.
2. Become aware of where your resources are going. It’s easy to think the situation is temporary or an exception. But is it? This is the little lie that keeps us stuck if we aren’t careful. Look back over your calendar and make an honest assessment. It will reveal the truth.

Read the rest of the article from Michael here.

Tags: Michael Hyatt, Staff, Structure

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Can Mega Be Missional?, Part 1

by: Ed Stetzer

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Today, I begin a new blog series to continue an ongoing dialogue. And make no mistake this dialogue is important. What I hope we gain together are sound principles of what makes a church missional— anytime, anywhere, any size. Even greater, I hope you see where your church is un- or under-engaged in the mission of God– and make clear plans to take concrete steps forward.

This summer, while not at my church, I’ve preached at a few megachurches– James River Assembly of God (Springfield, MO), Bethlehem Baptist Church (Minneapolis), and will be at Christ Fellowship (Miami) this Sunday. At every place the question was discussion, “How can we live on mission more effectively?” They wanted to live on mission while being a megachurch. Megachurches want to be missional.

Another outcome I’d love to see the end of “class envy” and “class superiority” in all sized churches. Some small churches or anti-megas believe large churches are blight on America. In turn, some mega churches sneer at small churches with a spirit of superiority because any church in America smaller than them “just doesn’t get it.”

We need each other! The enemy is not another church– the enemy is the enemy (Ephesians 6:10-17). And if it takes all kinds of churches to reach all types of people then we all have a unique place in God’s mission. Paul gave a principle that supports our need for each other to the Romans:

For I want very much to see you, that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to strengthen you, that is, to be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. Now I want you to know, brothers, that I often planned to come to you (but was prevented until now) in order that I might have a fruitful ministry among you, just as among the rest of the Gentiles. (Romans 1:11-13 HCSB)

With that being said, let me get to the start of the argument: I think it is harder (in some ways) to be missional when you’re a megachurch because you have a tendency to maintain the monument you’ve created. There’s this self-sustaining structure that has to be continued.

Megachurches face unique challenges in being truly missional— yet they also have the opportunity to rally people for substantive impact. Recent research shows that megachurch attendees are more involved and engaged in many ways, which I will address, but there are issues that distract megachurches from mission as well.

Of course, smaller churches in inner cities and in rural communities do as well. I’ve written on that frequently.

However, I am going to focus on megachurches for a bit. Why? Because a bias against megachurches has emerged that does not always represent reality. At times, some look to people in megachurches as mindless, consumer-encoded automatons who are unable to think for themselves or to live on mission. Lined up like robots sitting in rows each Sunday, they just love the show. And they love the goods and services offered by their Super Wal-Mart that has driven the local “mom and pop” churches to the verge of extinction.

There may be megachurches that have some of those traits. However, I know many megachurch pastors, and it’s not their passion or direction to drive other churches out of business. They are deeply burdened to lead their churches on mission into their community and the world.

Now, to be fair, I also know some megachurches pastors who feel like it is their passion and desire to be the unquestioned leader. I also know some are highly competitive, driven leaders. And so there’s some dysfunction in megachurch world. I get that. But, my point is that there are a lot of megachurches that are asking the right questions and focused on the right issues.

So, let me add that I do think there’s certain arrogance among some anti-megachurchers. Too many of them just refuse to think anything good can come from the megachurch– they’ve already made up their mind, perhaps because they have been burned along the way.

So, full disclosure: I have a great appreciation for what God is doing through many megachurches. To be fair, that is usually my posture– I am not that perpetual contrarian looking for somewhere to point my finger. But, I think that many are just too knee-jerk on their reactions. Megachurches are like all churches– imperfect and flawed– but I want to look at how some are seeking to be more missional.

Every five years or so someone new announces that the era of the megachurch is over. And yet every five years there are more of them. So, my question is, can we engage the mega movement without selling our missional souls?

If you have a group of people who gather together to listen to Bible teaching and that’s the only thing that they do, you’ve created a room full of consumers– whether it has 20 seats or 20,000 seats. But if instead you take that opportunity to help them move from being customers to co-laborers, and you have intentional strategies and processes to do that, I think the end result is that you can have a church that intentionally leads people to be on mission for the gospel. That’s true in a small church or a megachurch.

So can mega be missional? I think that’s like asking can small be missional, or can middle be missional? The right question is “What does the missional church look like?” And “what are your unique obstacles to being missional in your context?” I think all of us live imperfectly in light of the mission of God, but I think megachurches must exhort people to live on that mission, and there are some that are.

Stay tuned.

Read Part 2 of this series here.

For information on what I (and many others) mean by “missional,” click here.

Read more from Ed here.

Tags: Ed Stetzer, Mega-church, Missional, Structure

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You’re Not That Smart: Avoiding the Moses Complex

by: Tony Morgan

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As I was reading the Bible in YouVersion this morning, I was reminded of an article I wrote a few years ago about seeking the counsel of others. I think it’s worth a refresh, so here’s part one of the series.

I’ve always found it fascinating that Solomon, the wisest king to ever rule Israel, understood the value of getting advice from other people. If God had already gifted him with wisdom, why did he pursue advice from others? It seems like it would have been appropriate for Solomon to say, “My wisdom and understanding comes directly from God. I will make decisions about my next steps based on that wisdom alone.”

The Moses Complex

There’s a dangerous trend I’m seeing in churches today that embraces this theology of leadership. I refer to it as the “Moses Complex.” In these environments, only the senior pastor can receive a vision from God and it only happens through a Mount Sinai-type experience.

In churches that embrace this theology, everyone waits for the pastor to receive a vision, and then all the staff “leaders” are responsible for executing the vision God gives the senior pastor. Many times I see this approach in the same churches that function using the “culture of honor” that I’ve written about previously.

The problem with this theology is that it discounts many passages of Scripture that offer contrary perspective on attaining wisdom. It’s based on broken theology and, in practice, it leads to an unhealthy and dysfunctional leadership culture.

Are you seeking advice from others?

Ironically, in the wisdom that God granted Solomon, the wisest man in the world understood the value of receiving advice from others. For example, Solomon offered:

• “Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more” (Proverbs 9:9).
• “Without wise leadership, a nation falls; there is safety in having many advisers” (Proverbs 11:14).
• “Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others” (Proverbs 12:15).
• “Plans go wrong for the lack of advice; many advisers bring success” (Proverbs 15:22).
• “Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life” (Proverbs 19:20).
• “Plans succeed through good counsel; don’t go to war without wise advice” (Proverbs 20:18).

God granted Solomon wisdom, and part of that wisdom from God was that we need to seek wise advice from others. That’s not how I would have handled that if I was God. If I was God, I would say, “Wisdom comes from me alone. Don’t listen to the advice of others.”

Tags: Leadership Development, Structure, Tony Morgan

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Who Does What? 5 Observations on Clarifying Leadership Roles

by: Tony Morgan

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Here’s what is on my whiteboard right now. I’ve been processing this because my sense is that there’s a lack of clarity about roles within the church. When that happens, it can lead to complexity and confusion for all involved. And, as you might guess, it’s one of the key reasons I see churches getting stuck.

Here are some specific observations I’ve had in working with churches through the years:

1. Roles will overlap. Every team will at times need to take on the other roles listed. The problems develop, though, when a team spends the majority of their team assuming a role that belongs to another team.
2. Leadership vacuums develop when a team doesn’t embrace their role. Organizations get out of whack when a team abdicates its responsibility and no one carries out that function. When that happens, people will try to fill the vacuum and it oftentimes pulls the church in an unhealthy direction.
3. Every team is naturally pulled to execution. The comfortable place to live is in “doing” the work. It’s what we know. God’s design for the church is that those of us in leadership would equip God’s people to do the work of God. (See Ephesians 4:12) When we don’t follow God’s design, we won’t experience God’s fruit.
4. The role that’s most commonly neglected is the strategy function.Senior leadership teams get bogged down in the urgent details of day-to-day ministry. They don’t invest enough time in strategic conversations to determine “How will we accomplish the vision?” Because of that, there’s a gap that leaves people guessing what needs to happen next.
5. We tend to invest time and attention in the “task” roles but not the “care” roles. There needs to be a balance of both. We prioritize time and systems to complete the tasks. We also need to prioritize the time and systems to care for people with whom we have influence. This is where discipleship and leadership development happens.

Read more from Tony here.

Tags: Leadership Development, Staff, Structure, Tony Morgan

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Is Your Church “New” Enough?

by: Rich Birch

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When people think about our churches does the word “new” ever come to mind?  We live in a culture that leverages “new” to draw people in . . .how does your church use “new” to point people towards Jesus?

Have you ever noticed how theme parks sell themselves?  Check out this screen capture from the Six Flags Great Adventure website.

Theme parks generally add something new every summer and then use most of their “airtime” to communicate the “new thing” at the park. (Although 98% of the experience is the same . . . the new thing “freshens up” the publics perception of the park.) They are doing something new . . . and then want to seen as doing something new.  The new ride encourages people to return to the park.

Did you catch the launch of Taco Bell’s Dorito’s Loco Taco?

This launch employed a rip, pivot & jam strategy to make an old something new.  Taco Bell ripped another brand (and taste) from a related (but not directly connected) market segment.  Then they pivoted it into a product of theirs. Then jammed big time to the new product and new messaging out.

They talked about it . . . “You love Doritos? You’ll love this new amazing taco too.”  They sold 100 million of these bad boys in the first 10 weeks.  That’s a lot of tacos!  They refreshed an old idea and then declared it new.

What is the appeal of all of these “daily deal” sites?

Frankly . . . I’m surprised that this trend has continued.  I would have thought that they would died off long ago.  But it seems like what is happening is that people are looking for more and more targeted “daily deal” experiences.  There is one for ministry resources or entrepreneurs or a bunch of other submarkets.  Did you catch Coffee Meets Bagel?   Every day at noon it sends singles suggested dates from their “friends of friends” on facebook . . . and gives them a great deal on a date . . . they have 24 hours to ask the “friend” to get the deal.  These “Groupon 2.0″ sites are offering “new deals” every 24 hours and offering it for a limited time only.  People love getting in on something great that they know is going away soon.

But what do theme parks, Taco Bell and Daily Deals have to do with the churches we lead?  They are all leveraging the power of “new” to help attract more people.

I’m wondering what would happen if we found ways to do “new” and highlight “new” wherever possible.  So many churches already do this through our teaching series . . . everything 3-4 weeks we “change the channel” . . . but what if this fall we made a bigger deal of “what’s coming up next” . . . What if we encouraged all of our teams to be on the look out for small and big things we can tweak to “new” to help give the impression of our churches rebirthing themselves.

Why?

Strategically . . . . a big part of what we’re charged with in the communications side of church leadership is to help break the cycle of non-attendance.  We know that there are a lot more people that consider our churches home than attend on any given weekend.  Our communications needs to help raise the value of what is “new and exciting” at our church and why they should come back.

Read more from Rich here.

Tags: Awareness, Brand, Rich Birch

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How to Innovate Like a Shark

by: Simon Sinek

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Tags: Change, Innovation, Simon Sinek

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