Launch Conference, Part 7B: Planning My First Service From Scratch
Ok, here’s the second part of Planning My First Service From Scratch.
3. Secure my Meeting Location.
- Hotel ballrooms (various sizes)
- Movie theaters (various sizes)
- Comedy clubs (approximately 150 seats)
- Public school auditoriums
- Performing arts theaters
- Available church meeting spaces
- College auditoriums
- Corporate conference space
- As much as possible, match your space to your target audience. (You wouldn’t want the people of a rural, farming community meeting in a downtown art gallery.)
- Make sure your space is easily accessible to your target audience. (You don’t want downtown businesspeople traveling to the countryside–or anywhere else not easily accessed by public transportation.)
- Make sure your space has a reasonable number of seats.
- Don’t sign a long-term lease.
4. Plan Comeback Events between my Monthly Services.
- “Comeback Events” are those events you schedule between your monthly services to invite those who attended a service to come back for a non-threatening, fellowship-based event.
- Continue to cast the vision of the new church at Comeback Events.
Examples of Comeback Events:
- BBQ at the pastor’s house
- Picnic in the park
- City events
- Dinner in the back room of a restaurant
- Ice skating
- Swimming
06 Feb 2007 markus
Markus Watson
Okay, so as I’m looking over your notes, I have a few questions and observations. I hope I don’t sound too contrarian… :0)
1. It seems like the conference was essentially about marketing rather than the nature of Christian mission: all of the advice is based on a purpose-driven, seeker-attractive model.
2. I’ve not seen any posts in which you talk about what kind of church you want to plant, and where. You’re in northern Kentucky, right? There’s no shortage of churches. Why does there need to be one more?
3. I’ve believed for some time now - it’s why I do what I do, instead of other things - that if you have a church that seeks to appeal to the felt needs of strangers so they’ll come to a particular “service” to “get something” they think is missing from their lives, there will be a different kind of Church and a different kind of spirituality compared to one in which evangelism organic and incarnational rather than attractional. What if one’s “launch team” where not a staff, but a core community of Christians that committed themselves to sharing their lives with nonChristians in a particular place and sharing the blessing of friendship and the presence of Christ in a relational rather than a consumer space?
Fight the Man, Markus. :0)
Great thoughts, Kyle. In fact, I really felt like your questions deserved more than just a quick comment in response, so I’ve shared my thoughts as a separate post.
amen Kyle! Amen! and now on to the post that Markus wrote in response to leave another comment!