Keep Pointing in Waterloo

multisite mistakes

Pastor Carl and I are in Chicago this weekend at a retreat done by Mark DeYmaz's multiethnic church organization called Mosaix. We did dinner and brainstormed topics tonite with 40 other pastors, professors, and other church leaders from around the country.

And wouldn't you know it: we ended up doing dinner with a former pastor turned professor/church consultant who has observed multisite churches from around the country.

As we were talking to him and listening to him relay some of his findings an observations, it was amazing to hear that he has observed exactly - exactly- the same things that we are discovering on our multisite journey in Waterloo.

He identified 12 big mistakes that churches make when going multisite, and shared a few of them with us. Do any of these sound familiar?

1. Communities need dedicated good doers, not periodic do gooders.

2. Don't think that simply because there are people from an area who are coming to your campus who like what you do means that you can launch a church in that area and it'll be successful. In reality, those people may be coming to your campus because they associate with your area more than their own. Do the demographic study, and form partnerships in the area before you launch. Let the corporate worship venue come from community groups, not vice versa.

3. Don't try to reproduce attractional. You simply can't do it. The people you're trying to reach aren't looking for what you're already doing. Go to the people you're not already reaching.

4. When most of your staff does not work or live in the area, you're missing the boat.

Makes me excited that, even though we've made some (or all!) of those mistakes, that were learning from them and making some great changes. Very excited to see what the rest of this retreat will hold for us. Humbled to see God moving.

We'll keep you updated!

A Better Story - Courage

Take a look at a video recap of where we journeyed with our Better Story series this past weekend:

If you can't see the video, please click here.

hip hop, Waterloo, and a Better Story

Big weekend this weekend.  Here's what happened if you missed it:

This guy opened up our services with our Zach and our band.  Really great crossover of hip hop and rock.  Really great message.  Great to see two followers of Christ, different talents, different cultures, same town, calling our congregation to worship.  You'll be seeing more of that guy from time to time in the future as we seek to create more of a welcoming atmosphere to the diverse group of people in our community.

(By the way: if you want to know more about that guy, hop on to his Facebook page and click "like."  I know he'd appreciate it!)

Then, this guy kicked off our new "Better Story" series.  All of us at Cedar Falls, Waterloo, and Osage are going to be called to play our part in reaching Iowa and creating better stories in communities across the state.  We think God is calling us to expand to more sites, extend our influence, erase our debt, and enhance our current churches.  And that guy said that we need to start by taking steps of faith.

Great to see you all this weekend.  Looking forward to where we're headed next.  Let's all do our best to keep in step.

life together

I am continually surprised at my own surprise. (No typos there... just give yourself some time to do the mental cartwheels in order for that phrase to make sense).  

Surprised at my own surprise.  That's what I am.  About what, you ask?

About how easy it is to miss a really important message or piece of information at PLC Waterloo.

In other words, I probably shouldn't be so surprised at how easy it is to miss something important.  

Why?  Because we all have a lot of noise in our lives.  We are constantly being bombarded with messages and tasks and advertisements and responsibilities and... noise.  It's really easy for something important to somehow get lost in the pile.

And when it comes to church, it's the same.  We're serving a lot, and so we might not be in the service to hear an announcement.  We're sometimes sick, sometimes on vacation, sometimes at a work thing... you get it.

So: here's my attempt to cut through the noise, and to make sure that you don't miss something that is crititcally important for the life of our church, and your journey in it:

Get into a group.

Cut something out of your life to make space for doing life together with other folks at PLC Waterloo.  Talk about it with your spouse.  Sit down with your calendar.  Pray about it.  Don't just settle for showing up and serving on the weekends.  

God transforms our hearts in unique ways as we walk together.  We become more comfortable with his grace in our own lives as we see him work out his grace in the life of another.  We become more focused on his mission when we see him stir up a passion for his mission in the life of another.  And, we gain access to the care of the body of Christ as we build relationships with with doctors, mechanics, electricians, lawyers, mentors, counselors, and a host of other gifted people that may pop up in the group that we have joined.

So: 

Sign up for a small group if that's your next step, and you want to build authentic relationships with other people at Waterloo centered around the Word of God.

Or:

Sign up for a class that is centered around our mission to influence Waterloo.  

Very much looking forward to this fall, and growing the life that we are to be living together.

Paul Dunbar's funeral details

As most of us know, Steve "Sonic" Dunbar's dad, Paul, passed away earlier this week.  I'd like to pass on to you the details of his visitation and funeral.

Visitation will be from 4:00-7:00 p.m. tonite at Richardson Funeral Home on Main Street in Cedar Falls (next to the old First Baptist Church building).  The funeral will be held at the Cedar Falls campus tomorrow, 1:00 p.m. up in the Chapel.

If you're able, Sonic and the rest of us would love to see you make one or both of these times.

Love INC

Hey folks,

Wanted to let you know about an opportunity to impact the bottom line in our community by directly helping those who are in need in a relational, game-changing way.  Love INC is a ministry designed to connect those in need of basic amenities - washers, dryers, refrigerators, etc. - with others in their community who can meet those needs.  I've heard some pretty good things about what they're doing, and love that it involves a tangible action and relationship.

Holly Hartley sent out an email the other day with these needs:

• 2 kitchen/dining room tables; prefer small to medium due to space restrictions
• 2 washers
• 2 dryers (electric)

If you've got something like this sitting in a garage, shed, or basement, don't sell them.  Give them away.  Contact Holly at hhartley138@gmail.com.