Bill Easums Observations

I go to a lot of churches and see a lot of different worship services both contemporary and traditional. I’m constantly amazed at how many of these services seldom consider the presence of non-believers in the audience. Let me give you some examples.

• I was in a church the other day that said it was contemporary but it used the registration pad for visitors to sign in- you know the one you fill out and pass down the isle.  Well, in this case the pastor said, “After you’ve signed in, pass the pad down the isle and take note of anyone new on the isle and welcome them after the service.” I thought to myself, if I were trying out a church for the first time and I thought someone was going to approach me I would never come back. If you’re using the registration pad, get rid of it and use a confidential Connection Card. Remember, unchurched people today are some of the most skeptic people ever when it comes to organized religion. Let them be anonymous as long as they wish to.
• A couple of years ago I was worshiping in a mainline church on Easter (I was traveling from one point to another and just stopped in). Guess what? They did Communion on Easter Sunday. Now of all Sundays I wouldn’t do communion, it’s Easter. If you want to make an unchurched person or non-believer uncomfortable just serve Communion. First,they don’t know what to do. Second, they shouldn’t take Communion in the first place. Third, if they don’t go forward they stick out like a sore thumb.
• I think the one that takes the cake happened several years ago. I was consulting in a church that had grown from 0 to 300 in two years and now was on a plateau.  They thought they were on a plateau because they had lost the home grown personal feeling.  So guess what they began doing around 280 in worship.  They began asking the visitors to stand up and tell the congregation their name. Can’t you hear the unchurched ducking for cover and running for the door?
• Not long ago I sat through 14 minutes (I always count sections of the service) of announcements at the beginning of the service before anything else happened. By the time the guy finished I had surfed to another channel and was emailing a friend and couldn’t wait for the right time to exit.

Folks, it’s imperative that when you are planning worship you have the unchurched and the non-believer in mind. Try to avoid making them uncomfortable with anything but the Gospel.  I like to put it this way- your job is to provide a safe place to hear a dangerous Gospel not a dangerous place to hear a safe Gospel.

Next time your planning worship ask yourself -”Will this draw the visitor into the service or make them uncomfortable.

It’s been almost two weeks since the Exponential Conference, arguably one of the most important gatherings of the year. The more I reflect on it the more excited I get.

I just began reading Alan and Dave’s book “The Verge” in which they say we are on the verge of something big- a movement of gigantic potential for the Church in the West.  What I like about this book is the blending of a systematic dreamer (Alan Hirsch)  and an effective practioner (Dave Ferguson). I’ve known both of these guys for more than a decade and I have to say I’ve never been disappointed by either. In fact it is their coming together that excites me.

I first met Dave in 2000 when one of the stops on our tour was held at his church.  I was impressed with  his passion for transformation and the development of the Big Idea which has become the backbone of their multisite and church planting efforts.

I first met Alan in 2002 when he attended an event I pulled together on our island with twenty or so people who were probing the edges of what has become a push for an apostolic movement.  Among the group were such notables as Len Sweet, Ed Stetzer, Mark DeYmaz, Carl George, George Hunter, Bob Roberts, Dave Travis, and a host of other folks you would recognize.  I remember talking with Alan during the event and it was clear he had little use for all forms of institutional Christianity.

Now, Alan has moved to accepting the both/And of the 21st Century and Dave has become one of the leading voices in the apostolic movement taking shape under our noses. You never know where God is going to lead us.

What disturbs me the most is that the vast majority of my mainline friends don’t seem to have a clue of this movement.  They still cling to the belief that dead churches can be revitalized when anyone honest knows they must be resurrected. I wonder what it will take for mainliners (no pun intended….much) to realize that they are not the center of God’s universe and that we are on the verge of a whole new way of doing church that doens’t include throwing out institutional church.  But it does require a recognition that God can do his thing through many expressions of the church.  In fact, we have entered a day in which no one form of the church will reign supreme.  It will take a both/and approach to the future.

My biggest regret at Exponential was that my wife became so ill I almost had to return home before finishing my workshops. And I also had to miss the Future Travelers meeting which I really wanted to attend. Maybe next year.

Bill Easum
www.effectiveChurch.com
easum@aol.com

One of the most valued pieces of church planting is often lost in the hustle and bustle of setting up and taking down, but when its discovered it’s like heaven on earth. I’m talking about visibility.  Nothing takes the place of visibility for a church planter’s success. A planter lives and dies on visibility.

Visibility is acheived in at least four different ways.

• A good location provides visibility.  Even if you are in a school you need to find ways to use the location to create visibility like talking the school into letting you put out your sign on Friday evening rather than waiting till early Sunday morning when there is little traffic. Another way is tag teaming with the school to provide tutoring or big brother opportunities, or cleaning or painting the school. The word gets out- the church is investing in our school.
• The pastor spending 70% of his or her time in the community pressing the flesh creates visibility.  If a planter is effectively meeting 50 or more new people every week the odds are some of them are going to show up at worship. When I replanted I made it a point to meet at least 75 people a week.  So have church business cards to put in the hands of everyone you meet.  Make mental notes about those who show interest and get back to them anyway you can. Set aside regular time each day to be out among the public. 
• The congregation out among the public inviting anyone they meet, especially their networks, creates visibility. They should have church business cards to give to everyone they feel comfortable with. Encourage your core team to do a backyard bar b que every month and invite the neighborhood and have literature available about the church. Schedule taste and see events where your core team connects with unchurched people on a regular basis.1  Do weekly Servant Evangelism events in the community. And never forget- new converts are more likely to have connections with unchurched people than all ready converted church members. So the more people you actually lead to Christ the more likely your plant is to explode with growth.
• Advertizing creates visibility .If you are renting an office get rid of it and use the money for advertizing of all kinds.  It’s rare you will meet new people in your office. Advertizing comes in many packages- direct mail, billboards, website, door hangers, getting the press to cover any of the off-the-wall events servant programs you’re doing, just to name a few.

You have to create visibility or your plant never gets off the ground.

So how are you creating visibility?  The moment you stop worrying about this is the moement your decline begins.

1. you can go to our website www.effectivechurch.com and search for “taste and see” and find a long list of possibilities.

Bill Easum
www.effectivechurch.com
easum@aol.com

If your church is not growing there is one thing you must do to get it growing.  You must ask yourself this question every time you are about to something or spend money – “If I do this today will it result in more people in worship tomorrow?  If not, I better have a good reason to do it.”

What would be a good reason- a good saint dies and its time for the funeral. Otherwise don’t do it or spend it if it wont result in more people in worship.

Increasing the number of first time visitors is the number one priority of any church much less those that are declining.  The Great Commission was the last will and testament of our Lord so it should weigh heavy on our thoughts.