Einstein was a scientific genius. What set him apart from many other scientific geniuses was that he was a creative scientific genius. He understood that science, essentially the art of problem solving, required that problems be solved through creative thinking. Few churches grasp this concept today. But many will during the next few years out of necessity.

I just read a story about a church that is growing in membership at the exponentially high annual rate of 20%. Using the rule of 72, this means that they will double in size every three and a half years or so. To make a long story short, they need a larger facility to accommodate their rapid growth. Unfortunately, the city in which the church is located is not permitting them to move to a larger facility. The city would rather see a business move into the available facilities and generate tax revenue. Read the full story if you have time. It is absurd and quite disturbing.

In light of this, I wonder if this church has explored all options available to them. I wonder if they have determined that their “problems cannot be resolved by the same level of thinking that created them.” I’d say it is no coincidence that this story was also published today. In case you don’t have time to click through and read it, the story talks about churches that have Internet Campuses. Church growth is probably the best problem a church can have. I’d be willing to bet that many of the churches referenced in this list created an Internet Campus at least partially out of the need to expand. I know face-to-face relationships will never be replaced by online communities, but they will forever be enhanced by them. Imagine what a trump card an Internet Campus could be for the church that is dealing with these selfish city officials.

Here are just a few benefits of an Internet Campus for any church:

1. Unlimited seating
2. No boundaries
3. Staying connected with members
4. Fulfilling the Great Commission
5. No brick and mortar expense
6. No dust, dirt, and construction debris when its time to remodel, renovate, and expand
7. No need to battle selfish city officials, they are completely out of play here

I’ll close with this. I think the act of church, as we know it, is on the verge of a dramatic change. I think church membership, as we know it, is on the verge of a dramatic change. Churches that offer many different connecting points and options will gain huge ground and those that stay with an exclusively brick and mortar connecting point will struggle. The church of the future has multiple connecting points and is willing to invest whatever it takes to stay connected with its members and accommodate its rapid growth.

What do you think?

Whether your church falls into the “Average” category or not, nearly every church experiences a summer slow-down in areas like attendance, giving, and getting enough volunteer help. Given that we just completed the first official holiday weekend of this summer, I thought it appropriate to publish a few ideas that will help any church beat the summer slow-down.

1. Start Podcasting – Many church members will miss multiple church services during the summer months. Most of those members would benefit greatly by being able to subscribe to a sermon podcast published by the church. This is a great way for church members to stay in the loop and not miss Part (#) of (##) in the latest sermon series. Let’s face it too, if your church isn’t podcasting you are already way behind the curve. The sermon podcast is almost “old hat” at this point in time. If your church is already podcasting the sermon then you should think about getting creative and doing something out of the ordinary in the form of a podcast. How about a “Weekly Announcements” podcast? Or what about a “1 minute devotional” or “Word of encouragement” from the Pastor as a podcast? These types of podcasts are very easily created and published with today’s technology. Podcasting is really about two things. First, its about delivering a message to people in a manner that is very easy for them to get. Second, its about staying in front of your audience with regularly published content. Which leads me to idea number 2…

2. Set up Online Giving – If your church hasn’t enabled some form of online giving at this point, now is the time. Here’s the deal, statistically, most church members don’t give at all. Those that do, many times, need a nudge, poke, or memory jog to do so. I agree, this shouldn’t be the case but let’s face it, it is. Online giving is very easy to set up, its secure, and many church members like the idea of being able to pay their tithe online. Consider doing the following things after you set up online giving. First, make sure to announce this in your Sunday morning announcement video roll. Make it big, bold, and simple. Second, make sure that you include a link to your church’s online giving portal on every page of your church website and in every podcast that you publish. (If you don’t know how to embed a link to your online giving portal into a podcast, ask us for help). If you utilize a message-on-hold system at your church, include an announcement about online giving there as well. In each of these instances you have a captive audience. Take advantage of that.

3. Set up Online Community and Groups – Many churches are scared of setting up an online community but this is a great way for folks to stay in touch and stay connected with one another during the summer slow down. Whether you use something free like FaceBook, or have your Web Presence firm create something that is customized for your church, relationships and community will flourish when online community is implemented effectively. Consider this too; more and more people are embracing mobile computing and technology. The reason for this is because it makes it easier for them to stay connected to the people and things that are important to them. This includes church and the relationships that started there. To steal a line from one of my favorite movies…”If you build it, they will come.” I’ll clarify that by saying this; it must be supported from the top down and your Pastor can’t be a control freak.

4. Reward your volunteers – I know, I know, giving is already down. I’ve suggested that you implement podcasting, online giving, and online community and now I want you to reward your volunteers. Am I crazy? Absolutely. Reward them, they deserve it. Here are a couple of ideas that I have seen work really well. First, how about a “Volunteer of the Month” award. Sounds kooky I know, but put together a thank you package for each department in the church. Include things like an American Express gift card, a nice devotional book, and maybe some formal public recognition. Choose one volunteer from each church department and show them how much you appreciate their hard work with a care package like this. Second, solicit some prizes from local sponsors or business people in the church. Our church has given away an iPod on several occasions and you’d be amazed at how competitive people will get over a $150 item. In fact, you could make it a competition. Set some parameters for qualification and observe how people behave. You just might implement this strategy year round. Most importantly, express your sincere appreciation to every volunteer. Without them, most churches would whiter up and die.

Anyone else have any ideas for beating the summer slow-down?

UPDATE: 2008.05.17 – 10:00 AM – Please note that the website we referenced here was hacked and apparently vandalized overnight on May 16, 2008. This is very disappointing. In an effort to prevent any negative feelings or connotations to this site we have removed the link to it in this blog post. Once the site is restored and its security beefed up we will restore the link.

Microblogging seems to be all the rage. For those who may not yet know, microblogging is the near real-time, short message bursts that alert you to exactly what those you’ve decided to follow are doing at any given moment. The service maintains a timeline so that you can look back over a period of time to get a feel for someone’s day, or night, as the case may be for some, in the event that you missed some of the dozens to hundreds of entries that might accumulate for an individual in a given day. There are quite a few services dedicated to this new-found real-time digital voyeurism. Several are Twitter, Jaiku (recently purchased by Google), and Pownce, to name a few. While they all provide essentially the same service, allowing you to “follow”, and be “followed” by, anyone, Twitter seems to be gaining momentum as the preferred microblogging service of those in the know.

I know, you may be wondering already about the title of this entry and where it comes into play. What’s the connection between microblogging and WeTheChurch.org?

First, I’d like to credit Bobby Gruenwald of LifeChurch.tv for the heads-up on this one. In a post on the Swerve Blog today, Bobby told about this new site, WeTheChurch.org. The premise is that much like a microblog, except without having to establish an account, people can submit prayer requests and praises through the website and they get placed on the timeline, for anyone to see, but mostly for others to pray for. So far, not much more than a prayer and praise bulletin board. Very Web 1.0-ish. The power, and I mean power comes in the attachment of the site to the WeTheChurch.org Twitter feed. For those that choose to follow the feed, they will receive real-time notifications of real prayer requests and real praises. Very Web 2.0-ish!

Think for a moment about Matthew 18:19. It says:

When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. – The Message

Wow! I get goosebumps thinking of countless stories of people being awakened in the middle of the night, for no other reason than they felt that God was calling them to pray for someone right then at that moment. God certainly can, and will continue to, stir our hearts to pray at specific times, for specific people, in specific situations. That is still very much part of the wonder and mystery of God and how He works. How cool to now also have an endless source of praises and petitions to join together with others in bringing before him. In Matthew 26:41 Jesus commanded His disciples to:

Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire. – The Message

I think this may be, for many, a great way to be reminded to “Stay alert; be in prayer…”

What do you think?