The line below was thrown out in a meeting that had very little to do with community outreach, but it was so sticky that I have incorporated it into every part of our community outreach strategy.

“At Elevation Church, when it comes to community outreach, we want to partner with mission not create it!� - Pastor Steven Furtick

           Why is this line so significant?

It is significant because it captures the very essence of Elevation Church’s community outreach strategy. A lot of churches have people who are passionate about feeding the hungry in their city and they feel the need to start a food pantry – so they do. At the same time there is a guy who wants to serve the homeless, so he goes off with the church’s blessing and starts a homeless ministry. The youth group adopts a neighborhood, the seniors read to the kids at the school, the women’s ministry serves food at thanksgiving, and the men start a remodeling ministry and on and on it goes. All of these things are wonderful but here is the problem: spreading out the leaders, resources and man power will exert maximum effort while achieving minimal impact.
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At Elevation we have decided to flip this on its head. Rather than spread everything out, we’re focusing! We are concentrating all our efforts on four strategic community outreach partners that are already knocking it out of the park in our city:
1)     Communities in Schools – Safe Journey
2)Â Â Â Â Â Crisis Assistance Ministries
3)Â Â Â Â Â Friendship Trays
4)Â Â Â Â Â Charlotte Reads

By partnering with these ministries we are able to piggy-back on the organizational infrastructure that they already have in place. We benefit from their partnerships in the city. Most importantly, we are able to rapidly identify the people, and communities in our city that have the greatest need. We have partnered with the mission of these organizations and joined in where they are already making an impact and by doing so we have accelerated what we have been able to accomplish in our city.  Â

John Bishop, Community Groups Pastor

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We’ve seen God do so many amazing things over the past 20 months. And, one of the reasons we’ve been able to follow God’s lead so effectively is because we’ve got such an incredible volunteer staff force. We require nearly 300 volunteers every week to bring Elevation Church to life.

You’re wondering why the Creative Pastor is talking about volunteers? Because they are critical to just about every operation in the church. If you’ve never approached what you do this way, let me be the first to regurgitate a Mavericks at Work line for you, “no one is as smart as everyone.��? Meaning, if we don’t figure out how to bring in more people, minds, hands and bodies to make a significant contribution, we’re leaving great results on the table.

I would say we’re strong when it comes to identifying and qualifying volunteers. The retention rate is higher than average too. But, at some point, volunteers decide to move on for a variety of reasons. Here’s my take on why that happens:

Volunteers are no different than any of us. They are looking for a sense of purpose and belonging. And if they show up on a Sunday morning and feel unclear about how their effort makes a difference in the big picture or how their contribution even makes a difference at all, good luck at trying to make it last.
If I were building the ideal situation for a thriving volunteer it would be an environment where…

1. …every volunteer had more than just a knowledge of the biggest picture, but an intimate working knowledge of how their specific role impacts the big picture
2. …point 1 got creatively revisited as much as possible
3. …volunteers felt valued–they need to know we recognize and care about their sacrifice
4. …volunteers would be challenged to stretch themselves. If someone has one hour to give, do they have two? Not because milking volunteers for all their worth is the way we approach it, but because challenging them to become greater men and women of God sometimes starts with their willingness to sacrifice and surrender certain things in their lives. Our job is to create and present an opportunity, a volunteers job is to let God use the opportunities to grow them.
5. …volunteers didn’t feel ashamed for not knowing what to do or how to do something well. We have to build processes that allow for the development of new people.

Larry Hubatka, Creative Pastor

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One of the guiding principles at Elevation Church is that when we do something it has to be big and bold. “Over the topâ€? would be an accurate way to describe it. On a side note, “Over the topâ€? might also be Sylvester’s Stallone’s best movie. We are always looking for the “WOWâ€? experience, something that exceeds a person’s expectations. As we were planning the culminating event of Dominate season we wanted to have one massive worship experience that combines both of our campuses and our five worship experiences. Great idea, but difficult to execute when there isn’t a building in South Charlotte that could accommodate our size. It could have been easy to settle for “we can’t do itâ€?, but we don’t go down without a fight.Â

This coming weekend, November 11^th, we’re putting up a tent. It’s not a small tent. The company we’re working with is saying this is the largest pole tent they have ever put up on the east coast. It’s so large that it’s actually the size of a football field, that’s right its 300 feet long and 100 feet wide. It comes with side walls which will allow us to have a climate controlled environment which is great because it’s looking like it will be in the 30’s Sunday morning. At the peaks it will soar 34 feet off the ground. It will definitely be the “WOW� experience we are looking to create.

If you’re at a church that is ever in the need to have one massive worship experience consider a tent. It’s not only about the “wowâ€? factor of the day, but there’s the buzz factor leading up to the day. The people of Elevation have such a sense of excitement going into this weekend that it’s almost uncontainable.Â

To help you prepare for you own tent event, here’s a list of the vendor’s were working with. When planning the event you’ll need to figure in how best to utilize your volunteers. We decided to outsource several areas because it allowed to us to spend a little more time training the hearts for Sunday morning.

Tent               Â
There are only a few companies on the east coast that actually have tent’s the size of what we needed. We settled on Classic Party Rentals. Their service was impeccable and wonderful to work with. If you get the opportunity to work with Christine, you’ve hit the jackpot. We also rented the staging and chairs from them as well. As part of the agreement, they will set up the tent, stage and chairs.

Lighting           Â
Nascar Images is doing our lighting. They are a great company to work with.

Sound             Â
The majority of the equipment we are using is our own, a few ancillary items are needed to supplement our system.

Video              Â
We are using all our gear.

The tent will be delivered Thursday and put up on Friday. Saturday will be the day all the staging, sound, video, lighting and chairs will be set-up. We are leveraging all day Saturday as a chance to train all guest services volunteers specific for Sunday.

Stay tuned because next week I’ll write another blog letting you know how it all came together………

Larry Brey, Leadership Development Pastor

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There aren’t many people who take risks. I mean true risks. Firemen, Policemen, Soldiers, Missionaries and other professions similar to those are understood as risky jobs. There is no argument about that other than the brave men and women who actually serve in those areas. They would tell you they are simply doing what they were made to do.Â

Some people have told me that leaving my current church and joining the staff at Elevation Church would be risky. As you can tell by my above statement, I don’t believe there is much risk in my decision to come to Charlotte. The ones who were risky were the men and women who came two years ago to start this church. As for me, I’m one of the many people who will experience God’s blessing for their faithfulness.Â

As I prepare to become the Family Pastor of Elevation Church God continually reminds me of the value of humility. The responsibility of leading and managing all areas of the Family Ministry is an intimidating prospect if I rely on my own abilities and gifts. However, if I will “humble myself and pray,� God has promised to intervene on behalf of His people.

One of the most important things for me right now is to take practical steps to become a part of the culture of Elevation. Possibly the most practical step I can take to ease the transition of a new person on staff is to make sure that I value the individuals who have been creating and maintaining the Family Ministries for the last 21 months. I’ve seen student ministries suffer because the new Youth Minister was too eager to get “hisâ€? agenda and “hisâ€? kind of people in place.Â

I want to meet the volunteers, staff and parents who have given me this opportunity. I want to thank them for the way their tireless work will impact my family. Most of all, I want to learn from them. Only then can I truly lead them on to the next phase of Family Ministry at Elevation Church. We must be on the same page. They must believe in me and I must believe in them.  Â

Phillip McCart, Family Pastor

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