10 Things to Learn From Chick-Fil-A - Pt. 1

I love me some Chick-Fil-A. In fact, I think if you don't then you should really question your salvation. Ok, not really, but dang its good. I was thinking about my experiences (nearing a billion maybe?) at "The Chick" and was evaluating what the church could learn from this fine dining establishment. Hear are the first 5 of 10 that I thought of:

1. A Great Product. Been eating there for 2 decades and can count on no fingers the times I didn't like it. The Church has the BEST PRODUCT on earth in Jesus! Treat it as such! (No I am not belittling Jesus to a product....I hope you know where I am coming from...sheesh)
2. Consistency. No matter where I go, there is a consistent feel about the experience. As more churches go Multi-site, and even those that aren't, are you consistent with your attenders or confusing?
3. Leadership Development. I went to Clemson, which is apparently a pre-requisite for operating a CFA (kidding....sort of). But the thing I love hearing is the development that takes place, from the stores to the Corporation. The church should be doing the same thing. By the way, if you want to learn DIRECTLY from Dan Cathy go to BackstageLeadership.com and you can learn from a ton of people.
4. Community Involvement. I feel like I am always hearing or seeing something that is Sponsored by CFA. Golf Tournaments to Food drives, it seems they are ALWAYS involved. The Church should be the same. ACTIVE in the community in which it is located, evaluating needs and attempting to meet them.
5. Honesty. For me this is a big one. I can honestly say that in my years of experiences, I have had MAYBE three experiences that were less that outstanding, and it was never because the food was bad...it was perhaps in incorrect order. But never did they get upset. They just admitting the mistake and corrected it, even giving me coupons for MORE CFA. Makes me wish they'd mess up more often :). The Church is run by people, therefor it will make mistakes. The best we can do as a church is admit that and correct it when we do - and have the GRACE to share with people when THEY mess up.

More to come....what are your thoughts? What other places are doing things we can learn from?

Building Effective Communication - Part 2

**This is a continuation of a post I wrote for Casey Graham at GivingRocket.com. To read Part 1, click here.

2. Reverse Your Perspective

This can be huge and is probably the most important. Many times (more often than not) we evaluate and develop strategies based on our own perspective. In other words, we make decisions based on what we "think" that our audience/church/family/friends needs or wants. "Hey let's go do ‘this’ because it’s what they need/want". But how do you really know? You have to reverse your perspective. Get away from an insider mentality and actually get into the minds and hearts of the "end users". You do this by doing one thing. Asking. Embrace the awkward moment for a second a get over it. Get input from those IN your church (non-staff) and especially those OUTSIDE your church (Believers and Non-believers). You NEED to ask those outside your walls "What do you think about us, honestly?" and "What are we as a church saying to you as a community right now?"  If the responses are honest, they will startle you I'm sure. And better yet, they will challenge you on the way you communicate your message. Who do they say you are?

3. Stay Fluid.

This one is pretty simple. Culture changes and so will your communication strategy. It will change because your audience will change. You will change. Your church will change. People will come and go and the city and town that you are in will change - hopefully largely due to the fact that you were part of the change. But you have to be attuned to your audience and be in a constant state of evaluation. Be open to risk and reward will be open to you. The only thing that you can't change is the Truth of the Gospel.

These are just a few things that I have learned over the years and have been able to be a part of in ministry and in mainstream. If you aren't sure what you are communicating, let me know and I will try to get you in touch with those that can help. I know architecture, branding, and design, so I may be able to help as well - but if not, I'll help you get in touch with the right people along the way. Just email me at sandygibbes@ls3p.com or hit me up on Twitter @sandygibbes.

Athens Church Open House

Come Join us for the Open House at the home of North Point Community Church’s latest venue. If you are heading to Catalyst, come early and check it out, so you can hear:

• Dave Benham, Sandy Gibbes and the architectural team from LS3P talk you through the power of an effective master plan.
• Brad Leeper from www.GENERIS.com tell you how to prepare your church for a season of passionate funding.
• The team from Cogun will teach you how to avoid the 7 Deadly Sins of Church Construction.
• Because Sean Seay, Lead Pastor at Athens Church, will coach you on how to prepare your team for expansion

 WHEN: Tuesday October 4th from 10-2:30 

 WHERE: 10 Huntington Rd, Athens GA 30606

There is a $25 charge to cover materials and lunch. 

No matter where you are with church facilities, you DO NOT WANT TO MISS THIS!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

Athens Church: OPENING DAY

Below are some images from opening day at Athens Church, a church I designed and our most recent project completion. I was a GREAT day to say the least and the church loves the facility. We have really enjoyed working with the North Point community and are excited about the next one.....

Front Entry. It's hard to imaging that this was an old Wal-Mart. A little creativity and implementation can go a long way:

Lobby area. "The Foundry" is the student ministry area. In Phase 2 this will become part of the cafe (as of now):

Worship. AC now has a 1260 seat auditorium that they can call their own:

View from the back row prior to worship starting:

Guest services area:

And there was an Andy Stanley and his crew. They liked it too.

There are more images if you care to see them over on our Facebook page.

If you are a church and would like to tour the facility or if you have questions in general, hit me up and I'll try to help.

Building Effective Communication - Part 1

I design buildings. Specifically, buildings for churches. However, the more I work at this I realize that there are many churches that begin the facility design and construction process missing one key element. Eventually in our process, I will ask the question on the idea of what this building needs to communicate and many times that question leads to the deeper issue: Communication Strategy. And many churches (large and small) have no idea where to begin.

What you need to realize as a church is that EVERYTHING you do communicates SOMETHING, from web to bulletins, from signage to facilities – a message is being communicated. Having a focused, clear and specific strategy will help change the culture of your church in a healthy way, from everything to involvement, to mission, brand implementation and definitely in GIVING. So here are three things that may help out with developing a strategy:

1. Identify Your Audience.

I don’t speak French. And I sure as heck don’t understand it. So trying to communicate a message to me in French would probably be a bad idea, right? The same thing goes for your church. The first step to effective communication is identifying who you are speaking to before you even develop what you are going to say and how you are going to say it. This is VITAL when you are sharing something as profound and life-changing as the GOSPEL. You can have the best theological sermon with an abundance of cross references to Spurgeon and even to someone as relational Andy Stanley, but if you don’t know your audience it may not be the most effective way to communicate. If I asked you who you were trying to reach, you would probably say “The people that don’t know Jesus”. Yes, that is great. So is (hopefully) every other church. We know this and we get it. But SPECIFICALLY, who are you reaching? Is it a 35 year old male with 2.5 kids, a dog and a hell-bound cat? Know WHO you are trying to reach and it will help you find effective ways to communicate TO them.

** This is a re-post from a guest blog post I wrote for my good friend Casey Graham with GivingRocket.com. If you are a church and you are not partnering with GivingRocket, you need to do so NOW.