One of the reasons why Elevation has the ability to help church planters who are just getting started is simple- we still remember when we did it. Now Elevation Church is known as a powerful move of God. But two years ago we were, by most accounts, just a good idea.

Two years ago, we had fifty people just checking us out to make sure we weren’t crazy. Two years ago we were just finishing our information meetings. We met in a room that would only hold seventy-five people with a floral carpet pattern. Our Pastor led worship, preached a vision sermon, took up the offering, and prayed to close us out. We feared every Sunday night that nobody would show up. We did childcare in one room- with two volunteers. We could count the offering in our heads. We still only had half of our staff even living in Charlotte.

A lot has changed in two years but one thing but there is one thing that has remained the same. There is one thing that I would say is the number one factor in how God has allowed us to sustain momentum. At every stage of Elevation’s life we have always felt like that what we were doing was the best thing ever.

My point is simple. When I look back at some of the things we used to do I sometimes laugh. But at the time we thought it was the best thing going. “Why wouldn’t someone want to be a part of this?��? we would ask. “This is the greatest church in the world��?.

Now whether that is true or not is debatable but what you couldn’t argue with was how we felt about what God wanted to do through this church. That enthusiasm was contagious and more people wanted to be a part. We have and continue to feel like each and every Sunday we provide an experience for people to have an encounter with God that is the best thing ever.

It’s not a competition for who has the best service on Sunday in town. It’s about giving God our best and creating an experience that is worth inviting people to. The key to marketing is delivering when people show up.

If your people aren’t excited about what you’re doing then that is a problem. If they don’t think that what you are doing is the best thing going then why would anyone else. Every Sunday is the SuperBowl and there are people who don’t know Jesus entering those doors every week. They know when the church (the people) are excited about what God is doing in their midst. They also can tell when people are going through the motions. Which of those is more attractive?

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor
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When I was in college taking marketing classes, this warning is one of the things I remember most – and it has been one of the things I try to remember most when designing – don’t settle for second best if it’s what comes first.

What does that mean? Simply put - don’t be completely pleased with your first try. Take a break and come back to it later, then see where you can improve on it or make a variation. Then, for a third effort, try something completely different than the previous two. Give yourself at least three options to choose from and look around for a few first impressions. Handle criticism even-tempered and do your best to garner useful help from outside opinions.Â

Due to tight timelines in the past, we’ve had to work with the first try and simply hope that it was the best. But with some new timelines, guidelines and processes we’re beginning to set in place, we’re allowing more lead-time for the creative process. And often it’s not until you have more time to work up more than one version, that you realize the project’s true potential.Â

Sometimes quick and dirty projects are a last minute necessity, but the more you allow your designer time for the creative process and watch them take their work to the next level.

Ryan Hollingsworth, Graphic Designer
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I can’t believe it, but it all came together. Our Dominate Sunday under the “big topâ€? was a huge success. For those of you who have kids, you’ll understand this analogy. It was like the delivery room. When you’re in the room, there’s action and commotion going on all around. It’s a much different perspective than when the nurse cleans up the baby and brings it to you in the waiting room. When you’re in the delivery room it seems like organized chaos and you’re not quite sure how it’s going to turn out. It’s intense but at least you’re a part of what’s going on. Outside the room there’s an anxious anticipation because updates are infrequent and sketchy. It’s not until you see the baby that you know for sure that everything is fine.Â

November 11th was definitely a “delivery roomâ€? experience. On paper a 100’ long and 300’ wide by 34’ tall tent sounds huge but I didn’t have a point of reference because I’ve need been in a tent close to that size. The tent company started work Thursday. It took them a full day to pound in the stakes that would hold this thing in place. It was tough going up; water restrictions and lack of rain left the ground as hard as cement. Friday was the day the actual tent top was assembled. It came in very large sections that had to be laid out across the field. Once they had the alignment the individual sections were cinched and velcroed the together. If you ever rent a tent, make sure you get a “black outâ€? top. It prevents all light from coming in through the top and is essential for anything during the day. At this point it looks like an entire football field covered with a tarp.Â

Now the fun begins as they start on one end putting the 34’ long poles in place and standing the tent up. Friday night, when the last pole was put up and you could see from one end to other I had an almost sick feeling come over me. I remember thinking “can we fill this thingâ€? and “are there this many people who come to Elevation.â€?Â

Saturday started early. The stage and lighting trusses were the first things to go in place. The main stage was 40×28 with a smaller stage flanking each side. The right side had 4 sections at different heights for the gospel choir. On the left was a 12×16 foot stage where the baptistery was placed. This 4 hour process finished around noon when the sound and video guys were able to begin putting in their gear, our goal was to start band rehearsal at 3:00 but that started an hour later because of production delays. That delay carried through the night pushing our production run through later than anticipated. We maximized the entire day, brining in all of our guest services and utilizing that time for re-training was a major reason that Sunday was a seamless process. Saturday night ended in a special way… we had a wedding. We have a great young couple attending Elevation that Pastor Steven blogged about a few weeks ago. It was only fitting to end a long day with a celebration of God’s faithfulness.Â

Sunday was a cold morning and I was hoping the heaters we rented had the tent nice and toasty, but that was wishful thinking. The tanks that were supposed to run through the night fueling the heaters didn’t make it, so needless to say it was a chilly rehearsal. An unexpected visit from the police department at 8:30am brought additional excitement to the morning. It seems that by 8:30 there were multiple complaints from neighbors about the volume and even a few angry folks showing up at the tent. After deliberation, mainly through one of our key volunteers who works as a police officer himself, we weren’t shut down for the morning. An acoustic set under a tent would not have gone over well. It seems there is such a thing as an “amplified noise permitâ€?.  We’ll make sure we have one of those in the future for any outdoor events. The police were ready to shut everything down for the day, but thank goodness God was in control.Â

The event kicked off at 10:00am and we a complete success. The tent was filled to capacity and everyone walked away with a huge “wow� experience. A huge amount of credit goes to our amazing volunteers. I am continually blown away by their level of commitment and pursuit to excellence. It’s an incredible thing watching over 100 greeters pick up every piece of trash in the parking lot on Saturday and stand out in the cold welcoming people on Sunday. I don’t know how our parking guys did it, but they found spaces for cars where there were none. One of our biggest worries was about parking, but the parking leaders looked at me on Saturday and said, “we’ll handle it, you don’t have to worry about it�. That’s leadership from an incredible team of guys whose hearts are connected to the vision of Elevation Church.

As I reflect upon the entire Dominate season and the past weekend’s culminating event under the tent, I am filled with an overwhelming sense of thankfulness. Thankfulness to God for blessing us in our first 21 months of ministry, without His anointing this whole thing would fall apart. I’m so thankful for the leadership that Pastor Furtick has given through this process. His relentless pursuit of excellence and commitment to the gospel are inspiring. Lastly, I’m so thankful for our volunteers. Without their hearts and hands serving, it wouldn’t have happened.Larry Brey, Leadership Development Pastor
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The great database debate will likely always exist for churches. Despite being a young church we have been back and forth several times between databases. After some recent deliberation we have come to our final decision on what will best serve the needs of Elevation Church. And Fellowshipone it is.

A quick background that many of you church plants may understand all too well. We began with F1 as a church plant which I would highly recommend to planters. Our first location had wireless internet and we were able to get children’s check-in working pretty smoothly.

Then we grew and moved to a location that would absolutely not allow us to access their internet and there was no wireless option that was fast enough to meet our needs. Since checking kids in was very important to us, we made a shift to a true server based database, ACS. The goal was to take our data from the office on Saturday, use it on Sunday while adding new people, and then upload the data back at the office on Monday.

Sounds brilliant, right? Well, it worked for a few weeks and then we decided to add a second site which eliminated our little data transfer scenario. So we have basically, for the last several months, been running three separate datasets. We’ve had one at each campus for check-in purposes only and the main database at the office. All three have been ACS and we have been forced to add all new entries from Sunday on Mondays back at the office to maintain an accurate database.

With this scenario, we decided that if we can’t have one central database do everything we need to have the central database that we felt would accommodate us the best. We choose F1 for several reasons. The top three would be the reporting capabilities, no server issues in the office, and their understanding for how we do church.

We will continue to use the ACS check-in systems at the schools until the internet technology catches up or we have a permanent facility. We’ve been very happy with the ACS check-in system but will eventually move to the F1 version to centralize data.

So my conclusion is that being portable affects everything- even the database. But our conclusion was that we need to have the best and most functional database in the office as our source of information. The obvious pick for us was Fellowshipone.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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