MAG Weekly Video Update from our CEO, Shannon Miles – 01.31.2011
You can also follow Shannon on Twitter @shannonkmiles
Archive - January, 2011
Church Staff Efficiency NOT Tied to Proximity
Work Efficiency is NOT a Result of Proximity.
Consistently, as we connect with churches and organizations around the US … and share with them our MAG Church Outsourcing services … the number one question about church outsourcing or a virtual workforce for churches … is …
How can you do this job remotely?
Well … the best way to see for yourself … is to try it. But, if you are on-the-fence with believing in a growing wave of workforce possibilities for churches & organizations … here are some things for you to consider.
- Do you work from home … at least some of the time?
- Do you get caught up in office talk … whether you like it or not?
- Do you eMail or text with people 2 or 3 time zones away from you?
- Do you leverage eMail and digital voicemail?
- Do you use software to manage your tasks, calendar, and eMail?
- Do you take work home with you … to be closer to home and the kids?
- Do you ever take work with you on vacation? Sick days at home?
- Do you collaborate with your team(s) via web chat or conference calls?
The greatest example of how this works … is by most commonly looking at YOU! See where we are going with this? YOU are far more “virtual” than even you realize! Our workforce is becoming more agile, versatile, and remote … and church leaders are taking note!
We have very happy clients at MAG that understand this. Sure you could speak with them to learn more … but the real answer is with you.
Sean Seay – Athens Church – MAG Endorsement
Sean Seay, Lead Pastor of Athens Church endorses MAG! Athens Church is a very successful North Point Community Church strategic partner based in Athens, GA. Check them out!
An Observation of Two Thugs
Often times, in our churches, the hustle and bustle of the immediate requiring attention … keep us from daily stories that are unfolding right in front of us … tied to people placing their faith in our God. At MAG, we offer Church Outsourcing solutions for churches … so they can stay focused on their ministries … more specifically … people and their life change.
It’s just often the way life is … the tyranny of the urgent … hijacks precious scenes that unfold right before our eyes, our church staff’s eyes, and the congregation as a whole. We have things we must do … but … we must also celebrate the Lord’s ways in the midst of our busy days.
Life change … scripted by God.
Consider an old story of two thugs. These two thugs and their story … play out every day in front of us … but often times we are too busy with eMails, doing meeting, planning next week’s service, designing our next phase, answering voicemails, reading blogs, & etc.
From creation in Genesis to the trumpets in Revelations, one universal theme resounds louder than any other. Redemption in some form, aspect, person, and/or parable seems to infuse and span 66 books that make up the Word of God.
What tragically took place in Eden was appropriately and entirely corrected by God through His Son Jesus on the cross. In the bookends of a few short hours, during Jesus’ crucifixion, Luke captures a moment rarely reflected on outside of Easter (Luke 23: 39-43). In this chapter of Luke we find Jesus now hung on a cross between two thugs. Not only was our Savior Jesus beaten beyond recognition and nailed to the cross, the accusatory parties involved had the audacity to place our God between two criminals not fit to be in his sight. Here’s where Jesus steps up and holds a class in graduate-level redemption; mercy beyond definition.
In just five short verses, we catch a glimpse of what God has been up to since the beginning of our beginning. He is redeeming men who place their faith completely in Him. See it with me. One criminal irreverently scoffs at Jesus in a desperate plea for his own life. The other criminal humbly acknowledges Jesus and reverently fears who He is. Their actions demonstrated their decisions.
There’s a reason for this story in midst of the bigger account of Jesus’ death and resurrection. The free will of man and redemption of God intersected in a big way. Yet, free will and redemption remained unchanged. Free will fully presented itself on the literal left and right of Jesus. There on each side of Jesus … hung two men that symbolically played out what happens here on the earth on a larger stage … every single day. Through free will their choice was made and Jesus dealt accordingly. Jesus granted them both what they decided. Redemption rang loud and clear in that moment for the one criminal who placed his faith in Jesus.
Very little did that humbled criminal know that he was witnessing the death of the One who would stand in the chasm of life eternal for him as well as all of us. There are not enough adjectives in the world to describe what Jesus must have been physically, emotionally, and spiritually going through when He was on the cross. However, isn’t wonderful to know that our God was bent towards our redemption, through His only Son Jesus, even in the midst of the darkest, tense-filled, awe-inspiring hours this world has ever known.
I know you have a lot to do today … you’re slammed with tasks and meetings and calls and eMails and voice mails … but are you observing life change in your church? What’s unfolding right in front of you? Are you distracted by “things” that keep you away from what God called you to do? Is there a better way to stay focused?
Church Planters Can Learn from Wal-Mart
My Dad & Mom … a long time ago … owned a handful of little, rural retail stores (U-Save Marts) in Southwest Missouri … in the land of the Ozarks. They did good for a while … then, some guy named Sam Walton rolled into the little city square in his old pickup truck … charging ahead with a pretty amazing idea for retail … and the game changed for my parents.
Why didn’t Wal-Mart roll into the bigger markets first? Why small towns? Why not the metropolitan cities first? There were more people in the bigger cities right? Wal-Mart, in the early days, focused on small markets in Arkansas & Missouri before branching out to bigger markets. Wal-Mart realized that a couple of things … done really well … could create loyalty and growth. And small towns are highly receptive to this notion.
Church Planters … where is God calling you?
Don’t dismiss the holy nudge from God … if you sense He is calling you to a town of 5,000 people. Maybe it’s a town of 15,000 that is desperately needing a church like the one you want to bring to it. There may be people there in that small town begging God for the Church you’re feeling called to start and lead. Your passion may just blossom in that “small town” in a BIG way!
Big towns and big cities don’t spot you & your efforts right away. Small towns do. A small town “buzz” happens fast. God may be calling you to big things in a small town. Big numbers of lives changed can happen in small towns. Lasting churches with BIG results do exist in small towns.
MAG Weekly Video Update – 01.24.2011
MAG Weekly Video Update from our CEO, Shannon Miles – 01.24.2011
You can also follow Shannon on Twitter @shannonkmiles
Protecting the Potluck
Mmmmm MMMMMMMMM!
In Church World … “We gots to have us some potluck!”
There’s nothing wrong with the Potluck. Right?
There IS something wrong with what it has done to our churches.
The Potluck can symbolize many things in our churches often tied to an “insider” mindset. Baseball fields, hand bells, big thermometers on the wall, outdated curriculum, slow-acting committees that have no real purpose, and etc can all be possible ways of focusing on everyone who knows Jesus … and at the same time … alienating those who are not in your church. I know that may seem crazy … but often the good things that draw you together inside your church can often be deterrents to a first-time guest or those in your community who desire to know more about your church.
Does your church protect something(s) that are likely alienating people outside your church? Are you a country club of internal, exclusive activities? Only you would know. If there is … what will you do about it? Will you say something to your church’s leadership?
Virtual Bookkeeping – Video – by MAG
Here’s our most recent video on MAG: Bookkeeping …
Virtual Bookkeeping for Churches
Created by Mark Clement at Big Picture Media Group
7 Deadly Sins of a Church Website
Much like your facilities … your website is OFTEN the first image/impression a potential attendee will have about your church. Don’t miss this … just like when they buy a car or try out a new restaurant … a lot of people look at church website(s) before they attempt to attend.
We’ve all seen bad websites! They are so bad they hurt your eyes! They practically YELL at you to GO AWAY! Here are 7 Deadly Sins of a Church Website to avoid at all costs!
- Being cluttered. Make it intuitive for people to roam around your site. If your site is too cluttered they’ll just give up … when all they wanted to know … was your service times or if you had a ministry for their teens.
- Making things difficult. If people need to drill-down on a million links to get to the content … they will just move on. Or, if you have a contact form don’t make their blood type a required field just to get on your eMail list.
- Staying static. Nothing says “we are boring” than a church website that never looks any different. Change it up. Freshen the main page design or images every quarter or more … to keep people coming back to a fresh & new site. It drives me nuts when churches don’t do this! Would you go back to FoxNews.com if the content and design always remained the same?
- Ignoring the audience’s needs. Do your best to think in terms of WHO is coming to your site and not how YOU would navigate it for content. Why are people coming to your site? Looking for services times? Ministries offered? Location(s)? Your “type” of church? Don’t just put a bunch of stuff up on your site that totally alienates the people who are not part of your church.
- Understand thy traffic. Gain a clue on where and why people are coming to your site. Does your pastor blog? Does your church leverage social media? The more you know about where people come from the more you can be relevant to them and their lives.
- Refuse to get help. I love this one. When you do not have the wherewithal to create a solid website … stop sucking … and start asking or paying for help. What you communicate to the world and your community matters … and, increasingly on-line.
- Not having a website. If you do not have a website for your church … it’s just a matter of time before your church is extinct. Thanks for playing.
Roadside $5 Survey for Your Church
Wonder what people who drive by your church everyday think of it?
Really? You do! That’s great!
Here’s a bold and yet time-tested way to get a clear opinion of your church from the people who are NOT within it. Conduct a “$5 for 5 Questions” survey at the main entrance to your church. Simply, take about $200 or $100 and break into cold, hard cash of $5s each. Place obvious, clear, welcoming signs that direct drivers into your lot. Have a couple of volunteers direct traffic. Keep it right by the road so you don’t freak people out. Have an obvious exit sign. Be ready with your 5 questions for the person taking the survey. Try to do this on a good day of weather. I highly recommend reading the question(s) to the person vs. making them fill anything out.
Keep the survey anonymous! Let people shoot you straight without the fear of your pending Tuesday night visitation rounds. I beg you, get NO contact info from them. Ask the painful questions that you REALLY want to know about your church. Engage with the person and invite them to come back on Sunday. Leave them with a cool leave-behind that has your church website on it with more info.
Don’t have a permanent campus? That’s OK … go to a popular area in your town and toss up a sign advertising $5 for 5 Questions about your church.
It’s easy to have an opinion about your church when you are so close to it each day. Get a new, fresh perspective from people who have nothing to lose by shooting you straight. They don’t care about your pastor or your elders. They don’t care about you committees. They’re just giving your opinion in hopes you will make your church more relevant.
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