All posts tagged Park Community Church

So, What’s Next?

A little over a month ago I announced the news that I had made the decision to leave my position as the Director of Communications at Park Community Church. It was an enormous step of faith on my part because, at the time of my resignation, I didn’t have another job. I felt like the time was right and even though the “what’s next” part was still an empty fill-in-the-blank, I knew it was a risk God was leading me to take.

I’m really excited to say that God came through [and I’m learning that God really does honor obedience].

I had begun having nightmares of having to go back to Starbucks or going back to square one to look for a job, but within hours of my announcement I had emails and calls from some amazing people and organizations. I was truly humbled and in awe of God’s faithfulness. I ended up having four very different but promising leads that absolutely blew my mind.

I didn’t want to work for a church but wanted to work for the Church, helping churches communicate and tell their story more effectively, whether that be through consulting or by going free agent. 

Well, about a week to the day of my blog post I was offered and accepted a job!

Beginning in January 2011, I will be joining the team at Church Solutions Group.

I know what you’re thinking… “don’t they just do buildings?”

That’s what I thought, too.

Church Solutions Group is primarily known for church building, architecture, and A/V. They built Willow Creek’s auditorium and did Park’s new worship space, but they do so much more than buildings!

 CSG is aiming to be a true solution for churches offering a variety of services from helping churches think through strategic planning and implementation, assisting with capital campaigns and even helping with the people side of things from helping churches with staffing, volunteers, and more.

There’s a lot taking shape and it’s still very much in the start-up phase, which is exciting, and something that will be a blast to be a part of.  And, my former creative counterpart at Park, Jason Widney is working with CSG too, so “the band” will be back together again!

In my role I’ll be functioning as a communications consultant, helping churches think through their communications and branding, as well as helping CSG  brand and develop their new initiatives and services to churches.

I’m equally excited to share that I will continue to be an active church communications practitioner, as I’ll be joining a volunteer team to help run communications at what will be my new church home, Soul City Church.

I’ve been following the unfolding story of Soul City and have become good friends with Jarrett and Jeanne Stevens as they’ve moved into the city. I was able to be a part of their first service last month and that pretty much sealed the deal for me, knowing I’d need to find a new church home, as I’d be transitioning off the team at Park.

I’m so excited about this next chapter, both in working with Church Solutions Group to help serve the Church, and plugging in to help volunteer and be a part of a new church that’s been planted in Chicago.

As for everything else,  I will continue to be speaking, writing, and sharing my thoughts on church communications from a new perspective, both as a consultant and volunteer! Next year already has some big things in store: the release of OUTSPOKEN, Cultivate, and Story!

For those who were wondering, my role at Park has been transitioned to my good friend and soon-to-be former assistant, Josh Burns. I met Josh for the first time a couple of years ago at the ECHO Church Media Conference. He had been attending and volunteering at Park while going to Moody Bible Institute and joined our staff team at Park over a year ago helping with media arts.

Josh began working with me in communications over the summer and showed that he was passionate and more than qualified to lead communications at Park. He’s young, insightful, and years beyond his age when it comes to thinking through the role of communications in the Church. He’s already proven to be a valuable part of our team and I am thrilled that he’ll be taking over the reigns. Follow him, subscribe to his blog, and watch as he takes it to another level!

Many thanks to all of you who have sent notes or DM’s of encouragement and for your prayers over the past month. It’s been such a humbling journey and I’m so amazed at how God has provided and written the beginnings of this next chapter.

I’m so excited to see what’s next!

New Christmas Tunes from Park

Charlie Brown, Mariah Carey, and the “Rat Pack” make up a majority of the artists in my Christmas playlist. This Christmas I’m adding a new CD to the mix, Christmas Songs Vol I, a collection of songs from the bands at Park.

Park has a unique approach when it comes to music… we don’t have a traditional “worship team,” we have bands. Under the leadership of Joseph Tenney and Matt Marron [formerly of Pomeroy], we have a number of bands who each have their own unique style and genre that create original music as well as updating hymns. Instead of having a short list of musicians and singers and plugging them in where they fit, we put band leaders through extensive training, host auditions of musicians and singers and form bands that not only create great music but do life together in community.  It’s a different way of approaching worship but one that is resonating well with our congregation.

Christmas Songs Vol I is a collection of classic Christmas carols as well as original songs performed by nine of Park’s bands. It released at our church over the weekend and is now available for purchase on iTunes. It’s all over the place musically [in a good way] and captures the creative approach Park is taking with our band model.

I think it will make a great addition to your Christmas playlist so much so that I’m going to give away 5 copies! Just comment below and let me know your favorite Christmas carol. I’ll be picking the winners randomly now through tomorrow at Noon.

Either way, check it out and get yourself a copy… all proceeds from the purchase of the sale of the CD will go to benefit Renew Chicago, Park’s outreach arm that partners with other ministries around the city to make a difference!

We Recycled Our Old Website

Last fall, in partnership with MonkDev/Ekkelsia360, Park Community Church donated our old website design to a church plant that needed a solid web presence.

Our old site design was great but we had outgrown it. You can read more about the backstory here.


Instead of letting our old site go, we wanted to do something with it that could help build another church’s web presence and that’s where the idea for giving it away was born. After talking with Drew Goodmanson and his team at MonkDev we agreed to find a church plant that was in its final stages of being launched and bless them with the gift of a website. Park donated our old site design and MonkDev donated their time to help make the site customized to the church as well as donating a free year of service on CMS.

Over 30 different churches applied and in the end we selected 2 Pillars Church in Lincoln, Nebraska, to receive our website. They had been using WordPress very effectively, but definitely needed to get a solid web presence as they began to spread the word to their community about their church.

2 Pillars will be holding their first public service this weekend and with it have officially launched their new website!

Huge thanks to MonkDev/Ekklesia360 for making this possible! To 2 Pillars, we pray for God to continue to bless your ministry and hope this website helps you effectively communicate and spread the word about what God is doing in Lincoln.

In all of this, let me say this: sometimes it’s OK to recycle. Recycling is different than copying. Recycling maintains some original properties but recycled material can take on new forms. In this case, you can see echoes of Park’s old site, but it’s now something completely different that better suits the needs of 2 Pillars Church.

If you’ve seen something work somewhere else or are inspired by something you’ve seen… don’t copy, recycle. Reshape and reform what you see to fit the needs of your unique context.

Monday Morning Mind Dump