Here at Elevation, we have always had amazing volunteers! What we have experienced over the last 11 weeks however has been remarkable! We have sent approximately 1/3 of our volunteer base from our Central Campus to our new Union Campus. In that group were many of our most experienced volunteers. Of course, this was a great thing for Union but what would this do to our volunteer base at Central? IT MADE IT STRONGER!

I am not sure why we have been shocked because every time God has turned up the heat and presented a need, our volunteers have met the challenge. The main principal here is volunteers want the opportunity to “BE� the church. If they are witnessing life change in people week in and week out then volunteers have something to serve for. If the atmosphere of your fellowship becomes stagnant or complacent then volunteers will lose sight of the vision. We have several volunteers each week that email asking for us to get creative so we can use them in more ways.

So, we sent out over 150 volunteers to our Union Campus and we have had so much fun watching new volunteers at Central who were timid and shy attendees become vocal and spiritual leaders as volunteers. We have also seen volunteers at Union who were involved at Central at a minimal level, jump in with both feet excited to be on the ground floor of the building of an amazing new fellowship. The testimonies have been coming in rapidly of volunteers that are so excited they are on the “inside� of watching this vision EXPLODE before their eyes. Many of the testimonies are lined with gratitude because their volunteer position has pushed them in their spiritual walk and they are now experiencing more personal/spiritual growth than they ever have.

To create this excitement, we have noticed it is imperative that each volunteer is routinely reminded how their duty/task/position allows lost people to experience life change. Through that connecting of the dots and stretching them beyond themselves, the volunteer experience is truly a spiritual experience! Â

Chris Brown - Union Campus Director

Filed under: Leadership | Comments Off

One thing that God has allowed Elevation Church to do is grow. Structuring for growth has been a key principle in our growth. One of the big questions I’m getting more and more of lately is “what changes does our church need to make to transition from 500 people to 1000 in attendance�.

It’s a question that can have many answers depending on multiple variables at individual churches. Things like what’s the vision of the church, who are you reaching, how many seats do you have, marketing strategies, demographics, etc. All can be factors holding a church back but every church faces different issues.

There is one thing, however, that I see consistently across the board. Churches typically grow as much as their structure will allow. This makes sense to contractors and engineers but there is no building code when it comes to building church staffs. A lot of churches aren’t able to grow because of self limiting structure.

Fortunately, there is a new wave a church leaders in America who have revolutionized the church and structures it more like a Fortune 500 company than a country club. Guys who take the great commission seriously and seek to structure for growth while impacting cities and reaching people for Christ.

They have paved the way for church planting of today. Structuring for growth is commonly heard at conferences, in leadership books, and has become church planting 101. But what does that look like?

Structuring for growth is often uncomfortable and awkward. At Elevation we’ve always looked like the guy in a tux pumping gas at the station on his way to the prom. We’ve often looked bigger than we were, out of place, and “overdressed�. But eventually the guy in the tux gets to the prom and he doesn’t look awkward anymore.

One simple exercise that we got from E-myth Revisited was drawing an organizational chart. We did the org chart based on where we were going and not where we were at the time. The first one we did was the structure we felt would accommodate 2000 attendees when we had around 700. If your church is at point A and you want to get to point C, then structure for it and begin to function like you’re there. It will make the transition much easier.

The other advantage to a completed org chart based on positions needed and not individuals is that you can come back and fill in who is doing what roles. Now you’ve got a chart that will scare you. How many areas are you over? Is the Lead Pastor in charge of marketing and guest services? How can a church grow to 1000 if the Pastor is still doing all of the follow up and not spending much needed time seeking God?

An org chart with 24 roles and only 10 names divided up doing them all is not a problem but a goal. This is structure that can facilitate growth. What better way to explain a key position for someone than to show them the need based on the organizational structure? They see the need and immediately understand the chain of authority.

Finally, don’t let a lack of money for hiring keep you from structuring for growth. Have well defined roles with distinct lines of authority detailed in an org chart. Then present opportunities to high level people in volunteer roles. Structuring for growth in church planting will always be awkward, always involve volunteers, and never be the most comfortable way of doing things.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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Just so you know up front this post is not a solution. It’s just a history of what worship experience times Elevation Church has tried and a few guidelines that have helped us make decisions.

We began with the typical 1 worship experience time of 10:30. This was the first and easiest decision we ever made. We moved to 2 Sunday morning experiences once the capacity of the room got above 80%- another by the book move.

Things got complicated at that point. The goal with 2 services is to attempt to spread the crowd yet not to violate the “optimal service time slots��?. We began with 9:15 and 11:00 times because our worship experiences were around 80-90 minutes. We learned quickly that 9:15 was too early and the 11 was the unanimous choice of our people.

We did all the normal tactics to coax our dedicated people to attend the early service (commitment cards, guilt, and death threats). And they worked …for a week. So we shifted to 9:30 and 11:15 and the fifteen minutes made all the difference.

It turned out to be such a good combination of times for us that we saw both rooms greater than 90% after several months. Adding a third service was some new territory for us. We did what we always do when we’re in over our heads and called several church friends to gain some insight.

Everyone told us that when adding a third service you’re main objective is to create 2 “optimal service times��? and the third service is simply to free up seats for the other 2. It seems simple but really was one of those pieces of information that transitioned our thinking.

Having to move to 3 services is not a problem but a goal. Some fellow church planters don’t have much say in service times when they have to battle Spiderman, Shrek, and a bunch of Pirates. That’s the brief history of our Sunday worship experience times. Because of our facility, we’ve never been able to attempt a Saturday night or even a Sunday evening time slot.

In the end, never be happy if every seat is full at optimal times and never be satisfied with too many open seats. It’s a constant struggle but one that is worth pouring energy and effort into to create an environment that allows God move in people’s lives and seats for people to sit in.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

Filed under: Being Portable, Worship | Comments Off

Elevation Church is a portable church. We get a lot of questions regarding
equipment and facility issues we face being portable. So here is the 1st
installment of Portable Answers:

How many trailers do you have?

We currently use 3 (6X12) single axle enclosed trailers, 1 big ugly yellow
box truck (8X20 box), and 1 (7X16) tandem axle enclosed trailer (sound
equipment is heavy so we put it in the tandem axle). We also have an 8X24
tandem axle enclosed trailer that we have transformed into a production
truck. We do all of our recording here for our other campuses and run Pro
Presenter from here.

We only have 1 (7X14) tandem axle enclosed trailer at our Union campus
because we scored a (20X20) closet that the school lets us use for free (the
Central campus is jealous too).

Where do you store the trailers?

We keep them at a gated storage facility with video cameras. We actually
store the trailers just over the county line in Union County. Due to the
Charlotte crime rate, our insurance is 50% less than it would be if we
parked the trailers in Mecklenburg County. The storage facility is 10-15
minutes from the school.

Who insures your equipment?

We found that most old school insurance companies just don’t get the
portable church thing. Fortunately, we found Church Mutual and they cover
our equipment at the storage unit and at the school where we meet.

What has been the biggest obstacle with being portable?

For all of the planters in the movies I know that the Shrek’s and the
Spiderman’s have messed you guys up but for us it’s been the school plays.
Beauty and the Beast nearly ruined us– for 5 weeks. We dealt with an
orchestra pit, props that we couldn’t move, additional sound equipment, and
changing experience times to get the Sunday matinee in- it was a Beast. The
best advice I can give you is to not let the church know what’s going on
unless you absolutely have to. Make it look like you planned to go to 1 or 2
screens instead of 3 or you’re changing service times. Plan ahead and get
creative.

Who maintains the relationship with the school (rented facility)?

That is part of my role as the Executive Pastor. I would suggest putting
someone on this that is responsible and even a little anal. And that person
should not be the Lead Pastor. He’s got little things like a sermon to worry
about on Sunday. We treat each Sunday like it could be our last if we don’t
leave the school looking like it did when we got there. Also, find out who
makes the decisions and take care of them. Typically, the owner or principal
has final say but leans on the support staff (the guys on site Sunday
morning) to help in the decision. So make sure those guys like you and never
have anything bad to say about your church. Whatever it takes.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

Filed under: Being Portable | Comments Off