MONDAY...best day of the week (for evaluation & planning)

I know, people hate Mondays. The weekend is over. People are dragging into work. But if you serve on a church staff Monday is one of the most important days of the week. Think about it...Sunday is our first day of the week. Sunday is the biggest day to carry out ministry. Sunday is the beginning, not Monday. Monday is day 2 for our team at Grace Community's week. Monday is so important because of 2 things...

1. Evaluating / more evaluation happens on Monday morning than any other day of the week at our office. It is informal, it is relational, it is fresh, and it is GREAT evaluation time. What worked, what didn't and what do we need to talk about in staff meeting gets processed on Mondays. For those of us who lead mid-week gatherings this same process happens on Thursday also. Evaluation happens best close to the event we are evaluating! We care so much about the Sunday morning experience we are evaluating every week. It matters that much and Monday is a great day to make it happen.
2. Planning / Monday is the best day for planning because it leaves the rest of the week for execution. The best idea talked about on Thursday is terrible. When you wait till mid week to plan you leave no time for execution. For our team, Friday and Saturday are days off and we work hard to protect that freedom. If our team works on Friday it is a choice or there is a major project due that week. We get more done creatively when all creative meetings are finished on Monday. Monday planning leads to amazing experiences later in the week.

For all of you who dread Monday you may need to rethink your Monday strategy. RETHINK MONDAY, it might end up being one of the best days of the week!

Do you invest in kids at Grace Community? this is for you...

This week the family ministry team at Grace Community is getting ready for the Revolution Conference. We have partnered with the team at Cross Point Church in Nashville to create a one day experience to renew and inspire our volunteers. Yea...we wish we could take you to some of the conferences we go to. We wish you could hear some of the speakers we learn from. We wish we could take you to visit some of the churches we learn from. We may not be able to take you all of these places but we can work hard to bring the experience to you and we have made sure it is FREE for you. This conference is one way we can invest in you. Many of you see yourself and a person who fills a slot on Sundays. YOU ARE WAY MORE THAN THAT, YOU ARE A PART OF A TEAM. You are an important influence in the life of a child. You matter. Because of that we want to invest in you. Please do everything you can to carve out ONE SATURDAY to get out of your routine and join the revolution that is taking place in our churches. Go to www.revolutionconference.tv to register today. We can't wait to spend Saturday with you!

new staff at RELEVANT...

I am so excited that we have added Brandon and Kara Reed to our family ministry team at Grace Community as our High School & College Pastor. This past year we knew that we had to add student ministry staff. We had grown beyond our capacity to equip our volunteers and continue to engage students. Growth is great, but growth without leadership will only last for so long. So...I had the chance to interview, email, call, visit, and pray with several incredible leaders across the country as we looked for the right person to join our team. At the same time we were watching Brandon launched our first ever college ministry at GCC while at the same time finishing grad school. We finally approached Brandon and Kara about moving their role here to full time and moving into a high school/college role. God took care of the rest and we brought Brandon on full time this month. What I am most excited about with Brandon is our partnership in ministry. We are friends...we are passionate about reaching students and families...we think alike...our strengths compliment each others weakness...we have worked together before. Brandon and I are going to be able to lead the student ministry here together as I focus on middle school relationships and he does the same with high school students and leaders. We both really believe in a team model when it comes to student ministry, our true heroes at Relevant are our small group leaders. Our staff and volunteers function as one team as we lead together. That is what teens need to see in leadership. We can't wait to see what God does next at Relevant Student Ministry and Grace Community Church!

THE MIX (6:30) and REMIX(7:30) launch AUGUST 11

We have been hoping this day would come for over three years and now as we begin the 4th year of Relevant Student Ministry we are about to experience our first Middle School and High School gathering. This Wednesday at 6:30 The Mix will welcome a room full of middle schoolers at our St. B Venue and at 7:30 that same room will be packed with high schoolers. We are nervous and excited all at the same time. Our team is trusting God and we are anticipating great things this fall. We have small group leaders stoked about launching small groups. The REMIX band is ready to lead 2 services every week. The plan is set. Now we are just asking God to show up and do great things. For all the info about REMIX and THE MIX check out www.relevantstudents.com.

upcoming EXPERIENCE for our preschool and children's volunteers!

Training, equipping, and encouraging our volunteer leaders is a challenge. Our volunteers are busy! They face work and family demands that leave them spinning. They are passionate about kids and families so they serve here at Grace Community Church in Grace Acres or Cross Street, but when you talk about training it can be difficult to find the perfect time. What we have discovered is that there is no perfect time for training so whenever you plan to invest in your leaders make sure it is excellent. We think we have an amazing experience planned for our volunteers at our first Revolution Conference. We are asking all our volunteers in children and preschool environments to get away on Saturday, August 21 for a day of inspiration and renewal. When we talk about all our volunteers we mean all...check-in, small group, large group, worship leader, storyteller, every week, every other week, once a month, veteran or new volunteer...whatever you do to serve here at GCC with kids we have thought about you and how to help you take the next step forward as you serve! We know you wonder why you should sign up so here are a few reasons...

1. Our staff wants to spend a day INVESTING IN YOU! You are our greatest asset in ministry and we want to say thank you!
2. The conference is FREE and this is an experience people would pay to attend! This is our gift to you as a leader.
3. We are going to have fun. We work with kids, we know how to have fun!
4. We are going to help you be a better leader.
5. Carey Nieuwhof is our speaker, you need to check out his book and blog at www.orangeparents.org.
6. You will get to meet tons of other volunteers who work with kids and have the chance learn from each other.
7. We are gonna give away FREE STUFF.

We want you to sign up today, just hit www.revolutionconference.tv and let us know you are coming!

the intersection (me & God & ministry)

15 But despite Jesus’ instructions, the report of his power spread even faster, and vast crowds came to hear him preach and to be healed of their diseases. 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer. Luke 5:15-16 (NLT)

This passage is such a great reminder for me. Jesus had launched his ministry, He was making a difference, He had a mission, and still he took time to get away and pray. Jesus understood His need to continually communicate and spend time with his Father. His closest followers just wanted Him to press on and do more, heal more people, establish His Kingdom. That desire sounds familiar. Sounds like me every fall when I have all of these great plans and ideas and I want those plans and ideas to WORK. My passion for my ideas and overcome my passion to know, love, and serve Christ. I have to remember in the middle of going after the mission God has given me I have to stop, slow down, and know that God cares way more about advancing His Kingdom than I do. God is at work...we (our lives, our ministries, our everything) are just one small part of what He is doing. I love to plan, dream, and create but in the end I need God's hand to move in my heart, family, and ministry more than anything else.

In the middle of our desire to create environments, accomplish our goals, reach people for Christ we have to take time to simply rest and be fully present with God. God cares way more about reaching students than any of us ever will. Jesus...that was His idea. The Church...His idea also. New life...yep you guessed it His idea. Your ministry...God gets the credit also. Striving on your own just leads to worry and fear. Take some time...get alone with God and start serving in and through his strength.

first time guest EXPERIENCE

Every year the first time guest experience in your environment should be evaluated. When a student walks into The Mix or Remix for the first time we want the experience to be great and we want them to know we are pumped they are with us. Most of the time teens come with a friend but often they come alone. The stakes get higher and higher when the student does not know other people. I have never met a teen who likes being uncomfortable. The quicker we can help our guests connect with other leaders and students the better. We have an intentional plan for greeting students and helping them enter our environment. Have you thought through that experience? Do your adult and student leaders know what to do when a new student arrives? Thinking and planning for guests helps remind me that we still have thousands of teens to reach in Clarksville. God makes a big deal out of people discovering Him...maybe teens will have a better chance of discovering who God is if they have a great experience when they come to our environment! Maybe? Make sure you have a plan for those new teens that are going to show up.

TEACH...with a plan

Want to take the communication in your student environment to the next level? Get a plan. Something happened when we finally discovered the power of planning and partnership at Relevant Student Ministry...our communication with students and parents got so much better. Parents understood our communication goal and students left week after week knowing our bottom line. How did we get there? We partnered with the team at xp3 students and began the process of collaboration. I am amazed by how many student ministries are trying to create all their curriculum on their own. With xp3 we are able to choose our sequence of teaching but have so many creative, small group, and teaching elements ready for us to use in our environment. I don't have to create series graphics. I don't have to write small group questions. I don't have to create a video bump. Those things are done for me and I get to focus on making the message work for the students who come every week. I am a better leader and communicator because of this partnership. I hope you will check out xp3 students, just click on the graphic above. Teach...with a plan!

new year, new songs, new plan for your environment

Over the past few years Nate Edmondson and I have tried so many different things when worship planning for fall. Picking songs and planning the worship flow helps set the tone for the rest of the year. In our city fall sets the tone for the rest of the year so it is so important to teach our new stuff early and YES new songs are such a huge deal. When it comes to the worship planning here is what we try to do the first four weeks of the year...

• Plan 8-10 new songs we will add right off the bat at the beginning of the year. // Why this many? We want to add them in slowly over the first 2 months mixed in with other songs our students know. At the beggining of the year everything is new, why not push new songs and new ideas. We also bring in new songs we learned at summer camp...it really works. When it comes to new songs make sure and get input from teens! We are getting old, "How Great is our God" might be your fave but it might not be the best song for teens...if you are planning for a teen environment you better listen to teens.
• Prep the band // practice is a big deal, we work in several huge practice days and make sure to get the band the material so they can be practicing. We also try to get new players we will be rotating in during the year all the new material also.
• Get 4 weeks ahead // we go ahead and plan out our worship sets for four weeks. Planning helps us make sure we are balancing the new and the old. Planning also gives us a chance to really craft the worship set to support the bottom line being communicated by our communicators.

Change it Up, Rewire, Add, and Test

I am a production fanatic. I love creating environments where people can connect with God. An environment that helps people move past their present circumstances and toward God never happens by accident. This week our team is prepping to launch our fall gathering for teens so my mind is focused on production...SO...that is what I am going to focus on this week. Every fall we work through the process of changing it up, rewiring, adding, and testing...

• CHANGE IT UP > one simple way to keep things fresh in your environments is to simply move things on stage around. Before both fall and spring semesters we change up our stage layout. We rent the same facility all year so we are blessed to be able to leave our stuff set BUT change is good and does make a difference as teens come in for that first week and GUESS WHAT...it is free!
• REWIRE> this is hard work but it is worth it. At the beginning of fall we unplug everything and rewire it all. Rewiring keeps the stage clean and helps us to make sure everything is working right. Today we tossed several jacked up mic chords. If they don't work they get trashed! Nothing looks better than a clean stage! (I said I was a production freak)
• ADD> we try to add some new stuff each year to our arsenal. You will never be able to have every toy you want for sound or lighting so you have to add as you go. This year we have been able to save thousands of dollars by being patient and looking for used deals (we are moving to in-ear monitors) We are also adding some stage elements that we are going to use for the Sunday morning gathering in August (we get them after this series!) When it comes to ADDING, think ahead and add a little every year.
• TEST> if you want to have a good first night you better take time and test every system. LEAVE NOTHING UNTESTED! Today we were able to get a hum out of some of our speakers...we got it worked out by a simple fix but that fix came by testing over several days.