In the last blog I wrote for Access Elevation titled Details Matter I emphasized the importance of tracking everything that you could reasonably track to help you make improvements. One of the areas that I have tracked extensively that has produced useful information has been our Next Level Process – the process for following up with New Believers.

You can read about that process here.

Here’s what we’ve discovered:
1)     About 50% of the people who raise their hands actually check the box – this is the number we report.
2)Â Â Â Â Â About 70% of the people who check the box actually get the gift.
3)     When Pastor spends about 2-3 minutes highlighting the gift and encouraging people to visit the table we get between 10 – 20% more people visiting the table and picking up the gift.
4)Â Â Â Â Â The longer we wait to make the calls the more likely it will be that we have to leave a message.
5)     Calling and not leaving a message is a mistake because most people have caller id and they wonder who’s harassing them.
6)     Driving people to a one-size-fits-all class doesn’t work for us.
7)Â Â Â Â Â About 50% of the people we get phone numbers are engaged in a conversation.
8)Â Â Â Â Â About 50% of the people who give us their email address respond to and email from us.
9)Â Â Â Â Â About 70% of the people we get information for will respond to us by either phone or email.

Tracking the information is easier then knowing what to do with it. So even though I can show you these details and many others I’m still struggling and praying through how to proceed most effectively to reach more people. I don’t know what your current decisions are, but I can tell you from my experience that if you have a report filled with the right details it’s sometimes easier to know which direction to go as you take the first step!

John Bishop, Community Groups Pastor

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Pastor Furtick asked us to read a book together called Emyth by Michael Gerber. One of the things that Gerber highlights in his book is the importance of tracking everything. He points out that in retail the words you say or the colors you wear can significantly increase your sales. In other words, if you wear navy and ask customers “what would you like me to show you today?” you will sell more clothes then you would if you wore yellow and said, “can I help you?”Â

In my opinion, if people who sell clothes think at this level of detail to sell a tee shirt why would we shun these principles in the church. It is infinitely more important (literally) that people see the sign labeled “information” in the atrium of your building then it is that they notice that the pants are on sale in Old Navy - after all, your “information” will impact their eternity, Old Navy’s pants will be out of style in a year! Â

In every area that I lead I have tried to take this principle to heart. If there is something that I can reasonably track, I track it! Some of that information is helpful and I keep tracking it to look for trends. Some of that information is not helpful and I trash it. The point is, you’ll never know until you collect the information and test it. Â

If you could make more money by wearing blue instead of yellow you would wear blue most of the time, right? So if you could make more disciples by re-branding your information area and adding lights then add some lights! We are selling the most precious commodity, we’re representing the greatest brand, we’ve got an eternal investment in our portfolio, and it’s worth our best effort even to the smallest detail!Â

John Bishop, Community Groups PastorÂ

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In review, we are answering the question how does the “every Sunday is the Superbowl��? theory hold up when real life hits and the key staff are faced with issues that require their attention (ie sickness and family issues).The question was followed with some potential answers:

1. Does everyone that is available just buckle down and spend whatever time it takes to make sure Sunday still gets the normal amount of attention?
2. Or do other people handle the little things (I’m assuming the details to Sunday Morning) so the people most necessary to Sundays can stay out of the fray?

We addressed potential solution #1 here.

This brings me to solution #2. Do other people handle the little things to free those most necessary on Sundays from the fray? I really don’t like the words “most necessary��? describing anyone that has duties on Sundays. We have physicians, attorneys, CFO’s, and pilots that do the “little things��? on Sundays and their role is having a sizeable impact on the Kingdom of God.

Building a team and leading a large group of people requires leadership. This is one of the most significant shifts we have had to make at Elevation to continue to allow God to grow our church. In the early days it was all about how much can each staff member do and how many gates can they “ram down��?. But now it’s more about how much can you empower and how many people can you lead.

Empowering is a key leadership principle but let me give you a practical application of what it looks like for us. One new thing that we have just implemented that may be helpful is our “replace yourself��? staff policy. Once a quarter, each staff member is not allowed to do their normal Sunday activities. Logic makes you think that you can’t get by without everybody doing their part. But practical leadership is the ability to replace oneself. By forcing our staff to replace themselves, we hope to see others step up into leadership roles.

Replacing oneself once a quarter is great to expose people to other roles. But the next level of leadership is completely replacing oneself for specific roles. Pastor has been an excellent model to the staff in this practice. By not micromanaging Sunday morning, he has allowed others to step up and develop their gifts. He has also allowed a system to develop that is not dependent on him.

There are so many layers to this answer but the principle is simple. We are all willing to “ram down gates��? for Sunday if we need to. But nowadays we are focused more on replacing ourselves and leading than on how much we can do by ourselves.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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Pastor has been flooded with blog ideas from his recent post and he wanted me to tackle a few. Jeff wanted to know how the “every Sunday is the Superbowl��? theory holds up when real life hits and the key staff are faced with issues that require their attention (ie sickness and family issues).

The question was followed with some potential answers:

1.      Does everyone that is available just buckle down and spend whatever time it takes to make sure Sunday still gets the normal amount of attention?
2.      Or do other people handle the little things (I’m assuming the details to Sunday Morning) so the people most necessary to Sundays can stay out of the fray?

Well, both solutions are correct in our case here at Elevation. Let me tackle #1 today and follow up with #2 tomorrow. We have tried to hire leaders who can build and lead departments. But we have also hired people that won’t take no for an answer, will stay up all night to get it done, and will literally “Ram down the Gate��? if we have to for Sundays to be great.

We have a running list of qualities of an Elevation employee (and key volunteers). We use actual stories that have shaped who we are as a church as “tests��? to see if someone is a fit for our organization. The “Ram down the Gate test��? is just one of many examples but the best way I can explain our philosophy toward how we view Sundays and our work. Prior to hiring someone, we want to know if they are willing to��?ram down the gate��? if that’s what is needed. I’ll give you the short version of the story that goes with the “test��?.

In May of 2006, I got a phone call on Sunday morning at 5:15AM from our Assimilation Pastor, Larry Brey who told me that the gate at the storage unit where we stored all of our equipment for Sunday morning (remember portable church) would not open. Larry wanted to “ram the gate down��? with his truck. So I told him what every Executive Pastor would say, we’d get his truck fixed, buy them a new gate and I’d bail him out of jail because we both knew there was no way we weren’t having church. There was a happy ending. He was able to use some tools and actually remove the gate so no crash actually occurred but he was willing to do anything.

There is not of time to write the deeper spiritual significance behind this but what you don’t get from this story are a few key details. You see Larry and I quit our jobs to move to Charlotte to start this church with Pastor Furtick. To call Sunday the Superbowl is an understatement. We know that every Sunday there are people who need Jesus walking through our doors. That culture of sacrifice and determination to see things done with excellence and without excuse has flowed down to our volunteers and everybody feels that intensity on Sundays.

The key is that we don’t hire people without that motivation and drive. We are willing to buckle down to do what it takes and even “ram down the gate��? to see every Sunday be the best Sunday. We don’t get it right every week but we never go in playing defense giving God our second best with mediocre expectations.

So there is part 1 of how we view Sundays in regards to dealing with any distractions and others stepping up to make things happen. More tomorrow on replacing yourself and solution #2.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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