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!

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!

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.

• Switching things up on the ol blog, I upgraded to the Standard Theme and love its simplicity.
• I’ll be kicking off a new blog series this week on Church Communications Essentials. If you’re in church communications or thinking about it, these posts are for you.
• Park launched a new campus this weekend in the South Loop… nearly 250 people were there. So excited to be reaching a new part of the city. Check out pictures here.
• STOKED to read Scott Belsky’s new book.
• Heading to NYC on Wednesday to hang out and be a part of the New York Conversation Gathering featuring Tim Keller, Louie Giglio, Gabe Lyons and others. If you are in NYC, check it out.
• Follow @BenArment for the launch of the Story website sometime this week. It’s going to be EPIC. I said it… it’s an appropriate use of the word.
• Jason Widney rocked Easter at Park… check out his blog for some behind-the-scenes views of our set design and videos. He’s a legend.
• Hillsong United is going to rock the Sears Centre in the Chicago suburbs this Saturday. Tickets are still available, you don’t want to miss it!
• Thinking about Mercy + Justice … watch for this week’s interview with Nathan Albert from The Marin Foundation.
• The ’10 Things That Drive Me Crazy About Working for a Church’ post has made some rounds on the interwebs… Catalyst Blog, The Christian Post and even garnered a counter post from Granger Community Church’s Tim Stevens.
• Jonsi, from Sigur Ros, came out with his first solo project, Go. It’s beautiful… you must download it.

Park was featured in COLLIDE’s Church Spotlight in their latest issue and the article features an interview with yours truly, our lead pastor Jackson, and Jason Widney our Media Arts Director.

Don’t have a subscription? Get one. But then check out the article for yourself, they were kind enough to post it online.

Thanks to Scott, Daniel and the whole team at COLLIDE… we’re honored to share the spotlight and tell about what God is doing at Park!

A former staff member of Big Idea Productions [creators of VeggieTales] and Willow Creek, Dawn Nicole frequently contributes to today’s leading-edge thinking of integrating Christianity and culture but is best known as a change agent who is intent on stretching imaginations, connecting people and making a difference.

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How Texting Works

• Think of your phone as a tool for connecting with your audience in an intentional and controlled way.
• Texting is permission based.
• We have to think differently about texting than we do any other communication channel (i.e. direct marketing, email, etc).
• We need to be intentional and keep the special privilege and relationship we have with people.
• Some people say texting began in 1989 with a Motorola beeper.
• Japan first adopted text messaging; America is a bit behind.
• Texting the Great Debate. Texters in all countries use “lol”, “u”, “brb” and “gr8.”
• ~(_8^(\)   – Homer Simpson
• When American Idol used texting for voting, we got it.
• In the 3rd quarter of 2006, over 12 billion texts were passed through AT&T’s network.
• 87% of the US population has mobile phones.
• Over 110 billion text messages are sent every month (up 1,000% from a few years ago).
• Adults send/receive 357 text messages per month on average; compared to 204 phone calls.
• Teens/young adults send 1,742 text messages per month.
• Texting is a communication channel of the future.
• 87% of 13-27 yos send text messages… 73% of 15-37 year olds… 44% of 28-39 year olds; 18% of 40-49 year olds.

Textology Terms

• SMS – Short Message Service
• Shortcode – Your “address” … hard to create/approve with all carriers.
• Keywords – tell the system what to do. There’s more flexibility with keywords.

Applications of Texting in Church

• Text-to-Screen – user initiates contact. (asking questions to the pastor, etc); allows church.

1. Granger Community Church did a whole weekend called “Ask Anything” where people could text in their questions to the pastor.
2. Park Community Church does Q&A in every service. (that’s me!)

• Surveys & Polls – allows people to share their opinion and gets people engaged so they can participate, not just listen.
• Text Alerts – church initiates conversation with their church. Churches set up texting groups to alert them about upcoming events and news.
• Promos - an opportunity for an audience to engage and win something… think radio content.
• Bouncebacks – get people specific information about events/opportunities. (Example, you have a BBQ… you can have people text the word BBQ to your shortcode and a message bounces back to them with info about the BBQ).
• Two-Way Messaging – think ChaCha. Example: During church service times, you could allow people to text questions and have someone respond to them personally. (Mental note: We need to do this at Park!) It’s a great way to give them next steps… can change the way you communicate.

Bottom line… you need to check out Jarbyco!