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Your First Live Webcast Setup

Churches that have never live streamed worship before are now realizing that it will be a necessity starting in the near future when we reopen. Not everyone is coming back at the same time. We also will all want folks to stay home if they are under the weather at all. So, live webcasting will become a staple in each of our lives.

Where to Start?

If your church is new to live webcasting for services, you gotta start somewhere.

Actually, the first place to start is simply setting up your phone on a tripod. By now we are all getting proficient at Facebook Live, as it is the easiest to get rolling. If you can manage it, your regular YouTube phone app will also go live, but there are a few more permissions and a few things to think through. All for another post.

What Comes After That?!

It is a big technology jump from a phone to what comes next. The reason is that it is easy to get a video signal out of a computer, but difficult to get one in. To begin with, you will want to get two video signals in and an audio signal. So, that is sound input from your mixer, one camera, a feed from your visuals computer.

But you should ask this question first:

Does your worship space have a strong upload speed? Your upload and download speeds are calculated in Mbps (megabits per second). For nearly everyone, your upload speed is different from your download speed. The only number you need to know here is your upload speed. You can test this using a computer actually wired into your network at https://SpeedOf.Me or https://speedtest.net.

Full HDMI (1920×1080 at 30 frames per second) is usually about 6 Mbps. If you don’t get 6 Mbps up, you can run a smaller signal, but if you don’t have a steady 4 Mbps you need to consider your options on upgrading.

Next, Let’s Talk Hardware

You will need some very specific items. Most of this stuff you won’t find sitting around in a junk drawer in your tech loft.

DISCLAIMER: This is our chosen solution. There are other stand alone hardware solutions to mix video.

The Computer

We use a computer as the video mixer. It does not need to be the bleeding edge of technology kind of price tag, but it should be a solid, modern workstation. And although gaming computers can be quite powerful, what you need for your live webcast is a bit different. You may be able to use a computer you have sitting around, but usually there are reasons why you are not using them to begin with!

Current recommendations for the PC:

  • Full size desktop computer running W10
  • Core i7-8700 processor
  • The main board needs at least 2 empty PCIe expansion slots
  • 16GB RAM
  • 512 PCI-e SSD (Solid State Drive)

Yes, a desktop computer. Laptops are very convenient, but give up power for portability. And this plan also calls for specific PCIe expansion cards you can’t get in a laptop.

Here is a computer that fits these requirements on CDW.com

Then the graphics card:

HP Quadro P620 Graphic Card – 2 GB: This is the workhorse that will do the heavy lifting of encoding your live stream video. The Quadro cards come in all kinds of sized, but this is all you need to get started.

Here it is on CDW.com

Then, you need a way to get video into your computer:

To get consistent quality video into your computer is not easy. The DeckLink Mini Recorder is a PCIe expansion card from BlackMagic Design. It receives an incoming HDMI signal and makes it useful to your video mixing software. We use it to get the signal in from the presentation computer (ProPresenter). You can use it to bring in a signal from a camera.

Here it is on B&HPhotoVideo.com

There’s a cool alternative for getting your sanctuary visuals into your webcast:

If you are using ProPresenter 7 (which is recommended), you can add a virtual screen output via NDI (Network Devise Interface) that is recognizable as a a camera in any of the live video mixing software we will talk about. This is your cleanest way to do it, and it doesn’t cost any more money!

Audio Interface

Yes, your computer will have a way to plug in a 1/8th in stereo jack into the onboard sound card. Don’t use it. There are simple USB audio devices designed for this sort of thing. The Presonus Audiobox USB 96 has been around a long time and will get the job done. If you have an extra monitor send from your sound mixer, you can create a separate sound mix just for the webcast. Just use a send from your mixer to this interface!

Here it is on Amazon.com

Cameras

Okay, you really only need one to get started. You might have a handheld camcorder sitting around you could use. Check to see if the HDMI out will give you a clean live signal. Most video cameras like that do not, but some popular ones can! That would get you started through the BlackMagic DeckLink PCIe card!

When you are ready for your first camera purchase, this is a great place to start: PTZOptics 12x NDI|HX ZCAM 3G-SDI Box Camera. This is a static camera to give you one great view of your platform. It does zoom, but it doesn’t move. the NDI technology means the video comes over your existing network. It is also POE capable (Power Over Ethernet). That means you only have to get your CAT5 to where you want the camera! Brilliant!

Seriously, POE and NDI is a game changer for churches. Without these two features on the camera, you need to install a power outlet and run an HDMI cable, a control cable and a network cable. Now with one normal networking cable you can get video into your computer!

In order to get POE to work, you will need a power injector that won’t come with the camera. You can get a standalone unit or you can upgrade your network switch with one that also provides POE. Just make sure you do the math to match the power needs of the cameras (and whatever else you want POE) with the switch.

This PTZ Optics camera just about purpose built for churches. PTZ stands for pan, tilt and zoom. When installed the camera can use presets to get the shot you want. It spins and zooms in perfectly on the shots you program! Epic! Make sure you get one with NDI for ease of set up. They can also be powered over ethernet. These are so good that they are sold out everywhere. I found a 12x zoom one that isn’t sold out yet!

You should consider at least a two camera rig. One can be stationary and one should move. You can have it on a swivel head and have someone move it around if you like, or use a PTZ camera. If you don’t want to make your audience sick, you need two cameras. That way the broadcast never has to see the camera move and zoom.

Software

There are three major players for live webcasting. Many churches are using OBS (Open Broadcasting Software). It became popular first with the folks that stream their video game play on Twitch.TV. I have only done some trouble shooting on OBS, so I am no expert. The reason churches are using it is because it is the right price. It is free. I did not find it user friendly, but folks are using it everywhere.

We use Wirecast from Telestream.net. It is not free — starting at $599. We like the way it is laid out using a familiar layer setup. They also have great tech support and are based out of Grass Valley, CA.

The third option is vMix. I have never seen it running except in youtube videos of folks who are experts in live webcasting. So it is worth a try before you get too invested in something else! The price depends on what features you want to use. There is a free version and you can spend up to $1200 for the cadillac level.

UPDATE 09/01/2020: We have switched to vMix when Wirecast was having issues. We like the color processing and the feature set. We settled on the 4K version at $700. Not that we are going to stream in 4K, but it has the feature set we want, like the multiple outputs for monitors and PTZ control. We love it!

What’s the Damage!?

Okay, so if you get a static camera and a PTZ camera with all the recommendations here, your budget should be $5,500. Not bad considering more than half of that is just in two cameras!

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Plan a Visit Page

Turning an Internet Search into a First Time Guest

Our church websites are primarily not for your regular attenders. The people who most see your website are people looking online for a church to visit. That makes it your most important foot in the lives of poeple you have yet to meet! You must have information on your website that online church shoppers are looking for.

I came across this idea through a marketing email for Nucleus.Church. It is an idea slathered in good marketing philosophy that helps get people to pull that trigger on a weekend visit to your church.

The ‘Plan A Visit’ Church Framework

The idea is to take all the passive information on your website and turn it into an active invitation to join you for worship! Pack what a visitor needs to know about coming to your church for the first time on to one page and link it other relevant information throughout the rest of your website.

Make it Easy to Find

This should be the easiest link to find on your front page. Since we are looking to attract people searching online for church it ought to grab their attention and direct them into your clear invitation. If people searching for a church can’t navigate your site then your carefully crafted page is worthless.

Start with the Basics

This page should start with service times and location. Don’t put your whole schedule of events there. Probably the place you are most prepared to receive guests is your weekend worship.

Then tell people where you are. An address may be sufficient, but if there is any trick at all to arriving at your place of worship you should put it here. For instance, if crossing traffic to pull into your parking lot is a problem, then help people make a right turn into your place. If you have designated guest parking, then say where to find it.

If you are like us, many times the front parking lot is full by the time first time guests show up. Tell these folks in advance where to find the best parking and how to enter into a door your greeting team is hosting.

Speak Culture

What kind of atmosphere are you building in your church? Is there an expected dress code? Can you bring coffee into the sanctuary? Do you have a monthly event connected to worship? Tell people what to expect!

Directions for Parents

Dragging your kids to a new church can be a horrifying experience. Single parents often visit alone and distracted. No matter how good your signage is there will be questions about when and how to check kids into your classrooms. Concisely tell them the whole procedure.

Call to Action

The “Tell us when we should expect you” part is brilliant! It is a simple contact form and I don’t think anyone will actually use it. What it does is get those online searchers a chance to subconsciously understand that we want them to show up and that we want their first time worshiping with us to be a great experience.

Our Attempt

Here is how we put these ideals to work in our online content. Post yours in the comments!

http://eastavechurch.org/plan-a-visit/
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Church of the Open Sky

“Evangelism/Outreach is like shaving. You can skip it for a while, but it will show, and quicker than think.”

Seems we are in the position of having church buildings but needing people in them to keep them. What if we didn’t have any church buildings. Seems likely this was the case for the early church in Acts 2:42-47.

Can we agree that we would all love to see our people…
…embrace the idea that the church isn’t the church building, it’s the people,
…move from hearing God’s Word only in the building to engagement outside the building,
…measuring the success of an event or ministry by actual spiritual growth, heart change, and movement to the next spiritual step of people outside the building rather than the number of members in the building,
…to get people on mission outside the building, where they live, work, and play,
…to move people beyond consuming ministry in the building to being the ministry outside the building.
We preach it and we pray it.

KEY IDEA: And yet, nearly every penny “Evangelism/Outreach is like shaving. You can skip it for a while, but it will show, and quicker than think.”

Seems we are in the position of having church buildings but needing people in them to keep them. What if we didn’t have any church buildings. Seems likely this was the case for the early church in Acts 2:42-47.

Can we agree that we would all love to see our people…

…embrace the idea that the church isn’t the church building, it’s the people,

…move from hearing God’s Word only in the building to engagement outside the building,

…measuring the success of an event or ministry by actual spiritual growth, heart change, and movement to the next spiritual step of people outside the building rather than the number of members in the building,

…to get people on mission outside the building, where they live, work, and play,

…to move people beyond consuming ministry in the building to being the ministry outside the building.

We preach it and we pray it.

KEY IDEA: And yet, nearly every penny of a churches budget is spent on the building or getting people into the building to experience church with occasional forays outside the building to save someone and bring them back into the building.

There’s nothing wrong with the church building if it isn’t the church because the church isn’t the building, it’s the people. It’s the radical expression of a Holy Spirit-filled and led group of people in love with Jesus and playing their part in the redemption of the world. And yet, the church building remains the focus of all activity and nearly every penny spent.

Again, the church building isn’t the problem. The church building is great for worship services which are an essential part of being a Christian. Worship services are where the newly saved hear practical, biblical teachings, find and develop godly, personal relationships, and receive the encouragement, prayer, edification that every Christian needs to grow.

And therein lies the problem. The church building is a gift but like all good gifts, it’s susceptible to decay. Something happens in the church building at worship services that changes the views of the newly saved on what it means to be a Christian.

KEY IDEA: The worship service in the building slowly replaces service to King Jesus outside the building in the lives of the newly saved. Celebrating the redemption of the world slowly replaces playing our part in the redemption of the world. Folks quickly forget that Jesus redeemed us for a purpose. Playing our part in that purpose becomes the worship service in the building rather than searching for the lost outside the building.

A slowly unfolding chain of events leads to our current dilemma.

First, the newly saved begin to believe that the higher expression of their love for Jesus takes place in a worship service in the building. The building quickly becomes the “House of God,” in the sense that the worship service in the church building is the most appropriate, best, and holiest place to express your love to Jesus. The church building becomes the domain of the sacred rather than the catalyst for God’s rule in every sphere of life.

Second, the newly saved begin to separate themselves from the lost and spend church time with Christians only. It might be a new allergy to the lost diagnosed by the well-meaning church folk or it might simply be a mix of time and proximity. Who you hang out with can determine who you become.

The third and final thing that happens, the nail in the coffin, is when empathy leaves the building.

KEY IDEA: Empathy is lost when the newly saved spend more time in the building with saved people than with the lost and broken people outside the building; they simply stop caring because empathy is the key to saving people. In Pastor Speak: Empathy is the key to evangelism.

When empathy is lost, Christians pray about saving people, talk about how to save people, where to save people, when to save people, and why they should save people, but they seldom save people anymore.

This was the message of Jesus from Matthew 9:36-38, leading to the sending of the 12 in chapter 10. Apparently, before a disciple was much good, they too had to wade into the crowd and feel compassion, just like Jesus modeled at the end of chapter 9. They had to be moved from Law to Grace. From the Pharisees point of view (stay in the building to save yourself) to God’s point of view (get out of the building to save the broken and lost). Teaching in the synagogue simply wasn’t going to cut it; Jesus knew that teaching compassion wasn’t enough. To get to empathy, Jesus had to send them out, to walk in the shoes of broken humanity.

Jesus prayed for workers in the harvest field and we and the disciples going out into the crowd are the direct answers to that pray. While compassion is the ability to feel for another living being, empathy is the ability to not only understand another’s feelings, but also to become one with that person’s distress… to put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they’re going through in that situation. This is exactly what sending out the 12 accomplished. This is how the prayer of Jesus from Matthew 9:38 will be answered in our churches.

KEY IDEA: And here’s the rub for pastors; when empathy leaves the building, it’s very, very hard to get it back into the building. The time, energy, and money needed to change the culture of the church-building centered church is staggering.

Just as Jesus encountered, teaching about a broken world doesn’t necessarily lead to people feeling empathy for a broken world. In the same way, a worship service doesn’t necessarily lead to any desire to save a broken world. Getting a saved person out of the building is like teaching a pig to sing; it’s incredibly frustrating to you and just makes the pig angry!

KEY IDEA: But here’s the strangest and most interesting part of all; empathy is alive and well in people outside the building! And through the empathy of people outside the building, empathy has a way back into the building.

Let me begin explaining by way of a well-known church analogy.

Preaching each week to a “Dead Sea” congregation is difficult. By this I mean a place where water (the newly saved) flows in but seldom flows out again. The water gets stagnant and things die.

When the flow of the newly saved is re-established to a “Dead Sea” church, it becomes a “Sea of Galilee” church, teeming with life! On its own, the Dead Sea could never “be preached into” a healthy, fresh water lake again.

KEY IDEA: Those in the building must be over-whelmed with the fresh empathy of those outside the building, and then be carried outside the building with the wave of fresh empathy now filling the building to overflowing.

What we need is a “pre-church” for lost people outside the building that isn’t dependent on too many people inside the building. Sounds crass but each church needs a minor league or feeder system that focuses solely on those not yet there or ready for “Big Church.” Kind of like Children’s Church. And we certainly don’t have Children’s Church as a program with the goal of quickly getting them into “Big Church.” They will enter “Big Church” when they are developmentally ready.

Welcome the building-less Church of the Open Sky.

A “no frills or operating costs or overhead” church where the worship service is serving in the community, with the community, in the name of Jesus.

KEY IDEA: A time and opportunity for discussion and questions would immediately follow each service. Invitations to your local, traditional worship services, with great music and preaching are welcome and encouraged, but not necessary.

Remember, we’re talking about a permanent “pre-church,” not a stand-alone event or semi-regular servant-evangelism project run and operated by those from the inside the church building.

Conspicuously absent from this “pre-church” (or additional service) would be many of the church building components/ministries/service elements church people have come to expect as non-negotiables but feel radically out of touch and even repelling to the unchurched. The list might include such things as the prepared, “sage-on-the-stage” message (replaced by a guided discussion), a worship team/band, Sunday School, etc., and of course, the building. In bad weather or over the course of time it’s easy to see a gathering such as this moving into a near-by house or larger indoor space owned by someone in the gathering.

Services would be sporadic, at different times, and at different locations. You might even have a 9:00 am, 10:30 am, and a third, TBA service as part of your churches line-up or service options.

A robust online presence & platform would be a must-have. The hub of community life and scheduling might be around a city-specific social media app like Volunteer Match, Calista, Pay it Forward, Reward Volunteers or Tensy, but entirely church-centric in a positive, non-confrontational, incarnational manner.

Other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. used to gather and direct the energies of the lost (but caring) would feed directly into your new church community app which includes options to give to the next weeks service and/or the operations of the sponsoring church.

There can be no whiff of “bait-and-switch” tactics. Even when we say, “we just want to love the neighborhood, local school, community, etc.,” folks are waiting for the other shoe to drop; “oh, by the way, we’d like to invite you to our building on Sunday where we do real church.” HUGE BLACK EYE FOR THE CHURCH!

of a churches budget is spent on the building or getting people into the building to experience church with occasional forays outside the building to save someone and bring them back into the building.

There’s nothing wrong with the church building if it isn’t the church because the church isn’t the building, it’s the people. It’s the radical expression of a Holy Spirit-filled and led group of people in love with Jesus and playing their part in the redemption of the world. And yet, the church building remains the focus of all activity and nearly every penny spent.
Again, the church building isn’t the problem. The church building is great for worship services which are an essential part of being a Christian. Worship services are where the newly saved hear practical, biblical teachings, find and develop godly, personal relationships, and receive the encouragement, prayer, edification that every Christian needs to grow.
And therein lies the problem. The church building is a gift but like all good gifts, it’s susceptible to decay. Something happens in the church building at worship services that changes the views of the newly saved on what it means to be a Christian.

KEY IDEA: The worship service in the building slowly replaces service to King Jesus outside the building in the lives of the newly saved. Celebrating the redemption of the world slowly replaces playing our part in the redemption of the world. Folks quickly forget that Jesus redeemed us for a purpose. Playing our part in that purpose becomes the worship service in the building rather than searching for the lost outside the building.

A slowly unfolding chain of events leads to our current dilemma.
First, the newly saved begin to believe that the higher expression of their love for Jesus takes place in a worship service in the building. The building quickly becomes the “House of God,” in the sense that the worship service in the church building is the most appropriate, best, and holiest place to express your love to Jesus. The church building becomes the domain of the sacred rather than the catalyst for God’s rule in every sphere of life.
Second, the newly saved begin to separate themselves from the lost and spend church time with Christians only. It might be a new allergy to the lost diagnosed by the well-meaning church folk or it might simply be a mix of time and proximity. Who you hang out with can determine who you become.
The third and final thing that happens, the nail in the coffin, is when empathy leaves the building.

KEY IDEA: Empathy is lost when the newly saved spend more time in the building with saved people than with the lost and broken people outside the building; they simply stop caring because empathy is the key to saving people. In Pastor Speak: Empathy is the key to evangelism.

When empathy is lost, Christians pray about saving people, talk about how to save people, where to save people, when to save people, and why they should save people, but they seldom save people anymore.

This was the message of Jesus from Matthew 9:36-38, leading to the sending of the 12 in chapter 10. Apparently, before a disciple was much good, they too had to wade into the crowd and feel compassion, just like Jesus modeled at the end of chapter 9. They had to be moved from Law to Grace. From the Pharisees point of view (stay in the building to save yourself) to God’s point of view (get out of the building to save the broken and lost). Teaching in the synagogue simply wasn’t going to cut it; Jesus knew that teaching compassion wasn’t enough. To get to empathy, Jesus had to send them out, to walk in the shoes of broken humanity.

Jesus prayed for workers in the harvest field and we and the disciples going out into the crowd are the direct answers to that pray. While compassion is the ability to feel for another living being, empathy is the ability to not only understand another’s feelings, but also to become one with that person’s distress… to put yourself in their shoes and imagine what they’re going through in that situation. This is exactly what sending out the 12 accomplished. This is how the prayer of Jesus from Matthew 9:38 will be answered in our churches.
KEY IDEA: And here’s the rub for pastors; when empathy leaves the building, it’s very, very hard to get it back into the building. The time, energy, and money needed to change the culture of the church-building centered church is staggering.

Just as Jesus encountered, teaching about a broken world doesn’t necessarily lead to people feeling empathy for a broken world. In the same way, a worship service doesn’t necessarily lead to any desire to save a broken world. Getting a saved person out of the building is like teaching a pig to sing; it’s incredibly frustrating to you and just makes the pig angry!

KEY IDEA: But here’s the strangest and most interesting part of all; empathy is alive and well in people outside the building! And through the empathy of people outside the building, empathy has a way back into the building.

Let me begin explaining by way of a well-known church analogy.
Preaching each week to a “Dead Sea” congregation is difficult. By this I mean a place where water (the newly saved) flows in but seldom flows out again. The water gets stagnant and things die.
When the flow of the newly saved is re-established to a “Dead Sea” church, it becomes a “Sea of Galilee” church, teeming with life! On its own, the Dead Sea could never “be preached into” a healthy, fresh water lake again.

KEY IDEA: Those in the building must be over-whelmed with the fresh empathy of those outside the building, and then be carried outside the building with the wave of fresh empathy now filling the building to overflowing.

What we need is a “pre-church” for lost people outside the building that isn’t dependent on too many people inside the building. Sounds crass but each church needs a minor league or feeder system that focuses solely on those not yet there or ready for “Big Church.” Kind of like Children’s Church. And we certainly don’t have Children’s Church as a program with the goal of quickly getting them into “Big Church.” They will enter “Big Church” when they are developmentally ready.
Welcome the building-less Church of the Open Sky.

A “no frills or operating costs or overhead” church where the worship service is serving in the community, with the community, in the name of Jesus.

KEY IDEA: A time and opportunity for discussion and questions would immediately follow each service. Invitations to your local, traditional worship services, with great music and preaching are welcome and encouraged, but not necessary.

Remember, we’re talking about a permanent “pre-church,” not a stand-alone event or semi-regular servant-evangelism project run and operated by those from the inside the church building.
Conspicuously absent from this “pre-church” (or additional service) would be many of the church building components/ministries/service elements church people have come to expect as non-negotiables but feel radically out of touch and even repelling to the unchurched. The list might include such things as the prepared, “sage-on-the-stage” message (replaced by a guided discussion), a worship team/band, Sunday School, etc., and of course, the building. In bad weather or over the course of time it’s easy to see a gathering such as this moving into a near-by house or larger indoor space owned by someone in the gathering.
Services would be sporadic, at different times, and at different locations. You might even have a 9:00 am, 10:30 am, and a third, TBA service as part of your churches line-up or service options.

A robust online presence & platform would be a must-have. The hub of community life and scheduling might be around a city-specific social media app like Volunteer Match, Calista, Pay it Forward, Reward Volunteers or Tensy, but entirely church-centric in a positive, non-confrontational, incarnational manner.
Other social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. used to gather and direct the energies of the lost (but caring) would feed directly into your new church community app which includes options to give to the next weeks service and/or the operations of the sponsoring church.

There can be no whiff of “bait-and-switch” tactics. Even when we say, “we just want to love the neighborhood, local school, community, etc.,” folks are waiting for the other shoe to drop; “oh, by the way, we’d like to invite you to our building on Sunday where we do real church.” HUGE BLACK EYE FOR THE CHURCH!

Posted on

Canoe the Mountains

Our reading assignment for January! This recommendation comes from Jerry Carter by way of his district office. It is about how Christian leadership needs to be able match the challenges of the new and changing landscape of our current culture.

Posted on

Your Coffee Shop

Thomas called me last Wednesday: “Hey, how about I meet you at your Starbucks?” Because he knows that is always my jam. I can be found at other coffee shops, but this one is only about four blocks from my office making it easy for me to get to any time of the day.

Now, I am not a guy that can work regularly in a coffee shop. I actually need a quiet work space to be creative. I meet people at coffee shops. Here are a few reasons why:

Your Third Place

Starbucks actually thinks of itself as your third place. You have a home and you have work. Both these are comfortable and personal. Starbucks is the other place you can feel comfortable that isn’t too personal. They want to be that place you can meet people for any reason without it being weird.

Many times I am meeting people who have never had coffee with a pastor. It kinda makes people nervous! They have no idea what awkward questions I might ask or what task I may ask them to do. I might peer into their soul and learn their darkest secret. I can really freak some people out! But, meeting at Starbucks sets the tone. I ask questions like, “How did you get to show up at church on Sunday?” or “How did you get to Chico?” If they want to talk about deeper stuff, they can use those questions to get there.

It is Good to be Known

Maybe it is just my Starbucks, but the manager is an amazing community person and she really takes care of me. I’m not exactly sure how she found out I am a pastor because that is not something I lead with. I found out she knew who I was and what church I am from when she saw on Facebook that we were hosting a traveling winter shelter. She offered free coffee for the overnight monitors! She has also figured out who my wife and kids are, even though we are rarely in there together.

Meeting the Ladies

Everyone is hyper-aware of the problems that can come from hosting a meeting with a lady in your office. No matter what size church, there’s a good chance you two will be lone. Bad news!

So, I always meet at Starbucks or some other coffee shop. I’ve had people actually question my judgement on this. “What if someone sees you out and gets the wrong impression?” I guess it is possible.

I always answer back, “You think someone might get the wrong impression about me meeting a lady at the closest coffee shop to the church in a very public and busy Starbucks and think that I have elicit intentions?! Most people think I am smarter than that.”

This is a lot easier than always trying to make sure the building isn’t empty. And, frankly, I’m not much on the counseling pastor side anyway. If what needs to be said can’t be said over a table in the cafe of a Starbucks, then this lady needs to find a paid therapist or a lady in the church.

I Can Leave

I have been trapped in my own office. People come in, drink my office and sit on my couch as if the only reason I came to the office today is to receive visitors. Actually, I came to work. Anyone sitting on my couch is keeping me from working. So, make an appointment and meet me at Starbucks.

I have had meetings at Starbucks go hours. That works because my refills are free! But, there are times when a meeting is really over in 20 minutes. When the time is right, I can get up and walk away! I don’t have to kick someone out of my office. I don’t have to say, “Lock up on your way out.” I wrap it up and go home!

What if the Guy is a No Show?

I always have a book. I never wait on anyone because I always have stuff to read! I drink drip coffee, so a large one costs me $2.30 to rent a table in a nice establishment for as long as I want to sit there. Or until they close, I guess. Good money spent!

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2018 Nonnegotiable Habits for Pastoral Leadership

In the 15 years since I made the jump from youth ministry to leading a small church, I found that the learning curve was steeper than I though it would be. On top of that, there’s so much technology out there that sifting through all of it takes a team of poeple. I’m not talking about the big stuff like starting and stopping ministries or launching a building campaign. These have little to do with church culture or the missional stance of your congregation. I am talking about my own personal habits that I have picked up and the tools that I use. Here are my recommendations for every pastor of a small church to include in their workflow and personal habits.

  1. Use http://planning.center as a Church Management System. The People Module is free and is quite useful! Add whatever else as needed.
  2. Use the Giving Module in Planning Center. Add online and text-to-give features to help people under 50 give as faithfully as they want to.
  3. Make Invite Cards.
  4. Keep a clean and up-to-date website and post pictures often on your Facebook page.
  5. Work Mondays.
  6. Record yourself preach and watch it every Monday.
  7. Learn to use Connection Cards to help visitors reach out to you.
  8. Write First and Second Time Guest cards on Monday.
  9. Pick a book a month and read it with your team.
  10. Teach through books of the Bible, or use Liturgy to choose your message, or buy them! You don’t have time to be pithy or thoughtful.
  11. Get a regular coffee shop and regularly meet people outside the office — especially new poeple.
  12. Learn to present the gospel every week.

This is not a “grow your church quickly” system. It is not personality or culture driven. These are the winning habits that move the chains. Win a few first downs in a row you start to get touchdowns.

See something you think I missed? Let me know! See something you think is just extra work? I’d take the feedback!

 

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Just Listen to You Talk!

Yeah, just listen. Record your weekend message and listen to yourself. If you can do it by video, that much better!

I know,  it is painful. We are our worst critics, but we stand up on Sundays and speak for a living. We owe it to ourselves to be the best communicator we can be.

Listen, I want others to show up and hear what I have to say. It only makes sense that I should also actually hear the words that are coming out of my mouth! What I think I say and how I think I say it can be very different from the way my congregation experiences it. If I am going to get better I must actually watch and listen to myself.

So spend a year of recording yourself and watching on Monday morning. Listen for your verbal stammers, jingling change in your pocket, monotone inflection, and painful pauses. Watch for the point at which you know you lost some people. Were you as clear as you wanted to be? Did your message make logical sense? Did you take your congregation from Point A to Point B, or did you meander around a bit? How much time do you spend speaking in a passive voice? What was the Big Ask at the end of your message? Did you inspire or beat up your people? What is it you wished you would have said?

Only after you listen to yourself for a year will you begin to see the progress you will make! You will begin to recognize your bad habits as you are speaking and correct them. Your notes will get better and your strong, inspirational voice will begin to come out.

If you want to take it a step further, find a partner to watch with you. Give him or her permission to hurt your feelings. Begin to hear the same things. Get better at your craft!

You don’t have to be the best speaker in town. You have to be the best speaker YOU can be. Take the time to listen. After all, you expect others to do it!

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Special Music isn’t so Special Anymore

20 years ago I was sitting with a bunch of friend that worked as a planning group for an immersive worship service. We were talking about the value of special music in the Sunday worship services. Jim says, “Well, I place a high value on it. Sometimes the message won’t speak to you but the music will. I remember a Sunday about four years ago when that happened. It really moved me. My wife and I still talk about it.” I pointed out that the experience was four years ago and it hasn’t duplicated itself since then. I am a big fan of music, I just not a big fan of what church performance has brought to us week after week.

I am a musician and I grew up singing in church. When I showed up to church on a Wednesday unaware that the youth group went dormant, the pastor picked up another chair and carried it to the choir loft. It was the one and only place I ever qualified as a bass! I sang in choirs and played in bands through college and performed in a boatload of churches. I still play many weekends and on rare occasion I still lead worship.

I am not a hater of music or music in church.

Somewhere along my journey I realized that I could not define the line between worship and performance if I was the only one singing.

Worship is bringing glory and honor to God through our time, attention and talent. Performance is bringing me glory that I can, at times, point towards God. If I am garnering the attention of a congregation or an audience how do I make the distinction? For me, I decided that if I am the only one going to the throne of God and I am inviting other to watch me go there, it must be Christian performance. If I am inviting other people to join me on the journey as part of the team, then it must be worship.

At the beginning of Scooby Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed, Freddy is giving a big press conference after unmasking another caper. Under the big lights with the attention of all the media, Freddy says: “People ask me why Mystery, Inc is so successful. And the answer is: Teamwork. I do a tremendous amount of teamwork….”

I hear the same hollow humility from Christian musicians and vocalists. We want to be honored for our talent and our veneer humility. We are willing to give tacit honor to God because it seems the the thing to do. I think Freddy is honest in his assessment, and still dead wrong. The spotlight can bring out the worst in all of us.

It is difficult to work hard as a musician without a place to perform. It is hard as a worship leader to not save a little piece of the worship for yourself. Music is such an integral part of both ancient and modern worship, yet has so many humility traps in it. How can we navigate out?

For our church, we have decided that we just don’t do “special music”, where people perform Christian music for others to enjoy. We focus on corporate music, where everyone is invited to participate in singing. For us, this means a bunch of new songs (as many as 15 new songs a year) and a few ancient ones. We have songs that every church sings. We have songs that you many only sing with us.

We also look for musicians that don’t need the church for a stage and a spotlight. I love it when we have musicians that play in local bands at local parties, bars and weddings. These guys understand the difference between performance and worship. They have also spent the years to hone their craft. When it comes to leading people to the throne of God they simply have more to offer those that follow them. They do not need to keep any of the worship for themselves because they can get that other places.

That is why, at times, you can find me in a bar on Saturday night listening to live music. If my musician friends invite me to their performance, I go, no matter where it is! But, that is a subject for another time….

We sing a bunch of the KLOVE top 40 because people who are hurting often turn to KLOVE for comfort and find it in the music. Then eventually they decide that trying out church again might be a good idea. These hurting folks should find music that sounds familiar.

What’s the Consequences?

Now, I will admit that all of this is short sighted if it stops there. I became the musician I am today because I was given a chance to learn and perform in front of my home church — poeple that loved me! And that is true. I was in 10th grade when I was given the chance to perform special music at our church. It was a Sunday evening, but it was a Sunday! I can’t imagine it was pretty or that I made it to the parking lot, let alone the throne room of God!  What will happen to music in the church if we never have room for poeple who are learning? How can we encourage people to continue to practice if there is never a stage to perform?

Frankly, this is a point of concern for me. The music budgets in our public schools are squeezed. Private schools are worse. Private lessons are easy to find, but they can be quite expensive. How is it that the church can encourage people to learn instruments and have performance opportunities if the church isn’t encouraging it? Where will the next worship leader learn to sing in front of people?

For our church, we have started two initiatives. First, we have started School of Guitar. Three of us that play guitar have banded together to teach a few students to play guitar. Most are kids, but also some adult are learning. Many of them are building the skill set necessary to lead worship in the future. We are encouraging youth kids to be useful in youth group by learning a few songs so they can lead worship in midweek services. This can be a valuable time learning to hone the musicianship we will need in the future.

Second, we have instituted an open mic night. Right now we have only hosted it on Fat Tuesday as a precursor for our observation of Lent. But, how cool is it that we can give our own musicians and vocalists a chance to perform in front of people that love them! We don’t care if it is specifically Christian or not. We just want people to come and share something musical that is important to them. We also encourage our School of Guitar students to practice something to bring, so it is a kind of recital for them.

Somewhere along the way, we need to take responsibility for the care and nurturing of our musicians so we have musicians in the future. We also must take serious consideration what we consider “worship” and appropriate for a worship service. How we define this will teach the future generations how to define worship for themselves.