Leadership
Student Ministry
Tips for the Mobile Church
9:06 PM
A trend that has quickly swept the church community is the
idea of being a mobile church. It has in many ways revolutionized the church
world and caused us to take a second look at what is possible for building the
kingdom in our own community.
At oneChurch.tv we have been Mobile since the beginning.
When they launched (before I came on staff) they met at a movie theatre and now
we meet in a high school and access their space to reach our community. There
are a lot of advantages to being a mobile church. With that also come a lot of
challenges. This is the second church i have gotten to be a part of that has
been mobile and through that time I have picked up on a few key things. So for
those that are processing through possibly planting a church or a multisite
that will be mobile this is for you. Maybe for some, these things can help an
already existing system you have in place as a mobile church.
Here are 6 things we have learned
Honor your Location –
wherever you meet and whatever kind of venue it may be it is so key to
realize that you are a guest! In our situation we are at a school and it for us
we find it extremely important to honor them and realize that it is their
building. So when conflicts with scheduling arise we step aside for the school.
We want to partner with them in the community not become an annoying and
demanding tenant. The difference will make all the difference in the world and
bring a different feel to the relationship!
Constantly grow your
Volunteer Base – like any non-for profit organization we rely heavily on
our volunteer force. But even more that the normal organization what we do is
even more dependant on volunteers because across the board volunteer leaders
have a part in everything we do down to setting up speakers and creating
environments. So we have to be constantly be growing that group and investing
in them. The moment you feel like you can get comfortable and that you
positions are filled then go crazy recruiting and growing your volunteer teams.
Think of it as the calm before the storm. The minute you think you are there
them moment something changes.
K.I.S.S – this is
on of my favorite acronyms. It stands for Keep It Simple Stupid! Something I
have had to learn the hard way is that everything we purchase and implement
needs to be filtered through set up and tear down. In many cases we will
purchase more expensive equipment because it is what we like to call “set up friendly”. We only have limited
volunteers and limited time on a Sunday. So making their lives more complicated
than it has to be is not typically the best idea. Keeping it as simple as
possible without sacrificing programming.
1 day is better than
2 – I hate getting up early. I really do. So in my wisdom I assumed that
other do as well. So for a while we tried to set up on Saturday’s and come in
Sunday ready to go. What I discovered is that people are much more willing to
make Sunday a longer day rather than 2 days out of their weekend. It is more
conducive to their schedule and family time. So unless we have something
special happening Sunday morning early is how we like to do it.
Create teachable
systems – knowledge is power for adults. The more knowledgeable and adult
feels in what they are doing the more success they will experience. For us part
of ensuring that happens is making sure to create easy to understand and easy
to teach systems. Clear concise steps to make set up happen. If you want to
communicate effectively with your environment this is incredibly important.
Everyone doing something is not near as efficient as a few doing several things
consistently and effectively.
It creates more
opportunities to serve – when used correctly the opportunity creates a
place for people to serve who might not want to normally. Everyone has a gift
and can contribute to something. This can be that for some people who question
where their place in the volunteer structure may be. All they need is to see
the power of their contribution to understand that God wants to use them to
impact lives. In many ways the set up and tear down team at oneChurch.tv is the
lifeblood of what we do on Sunday mornings. Without them our day would be
sustainably different and more complicated!
Ok! I know there are a lot of you making the mobile church
happen. What would you add to this list?
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