How do you check-in kids on Sunday morning?

Electronic check-in is very important to us. In fact, it’s so important that
we changed our entire people database to allow electronic check in. We began
with Fellowshipone (F1) and had no complaints. Their check in system,
however, is a web-based program that requires a high speed internet
connection that we were unable to get in the high school we currently meet
in (we tried everything). They do have plans that will allow you to take a
snapshot of your data and serve it to yourself (avoiding the internet need)
but it has yet to be developed. I will say that F1 has led the way in the
children’s check-in. But some of the other companies have stepped up and
either copied F1 or “emulated” them depending on how you look at it.
Nevertheless, with no internet we were forced to make the shift to a true,
oldschool database and we chose ACS. We’ve been very happy with the check-in
portion of ACS but the database itself has seemed to be a little Fred
Flintstone. But to their credit, they have a large development staff working
hard to transition ACS into a portable church friendly system. But the jury
is still out.

How many check-in stations do you use?

We currently use 3 laptops as stations that are networked at our central
campus and 2 at our Union campus. We dedicate 1 laptop at each campus for
first time guests since their check-in process takes about 30 seconds
longer.

Do you have security for the kids?

In addition to the security guard that prevents people from going backstage
we recently added an off duty officer in our children’s area. Fortunately, a
problem didn’t prompt this. We just wanted parents to feel safe dropping
their kids off and it is worth the expense. The officer is typically dressed
in civilian clothes with their badge and sometimes gun visible.

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

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Do I have a story for you!!

We have traveled and spoke with almost every multi-site church in the Southeast and we have heard a wide variety of horror stories concerning video mishaps and issues associated with video campuses. We left every meeting saying, “That will not happen to us!!�

Well…….we launched our first video campus on 4/8 and the very first Sunday we experienced the nightmare of all nightmares with our technology. Our video preacher got tired and decided to quit preaching 18 minutes into his Easter Sermon. He didn’t actually quit but he did decide to freeze. The room is silent. Nobody is moving. Then from the back of the room, our Production Manager grabs a microphone and desperately saves the situation. Of course, the band came up and played another song and video preacher was “resurrected,� and was able to finish his sermon.

10 minutes go by and every volunteer in the auditorium is thinking the same thing; did we just completely ruin the harvest God has placed in our hands?

As we were nearing the invitation, we were all begging the Lord for at least 1 hand to go up to minimize the guilt surrounding the mess up. Well – the Lord slapped us right across the face and said “I don’t need you.�

OVER 50 PEOPLE ACCEPTED CHRIST!!!! VIDEO WORKS!!!

Did I also mention nobody left during the “FREEZE�!!! Half of the 500 people that were there on our launch day were first time guests and they all stayed engaged!! God has placed us in this day and time to harness the video technology of the day and reach more people with the love of Jesus.

One last thought, Can a Video Preacher really get Tired?

Chris Brown - Union Campus Director

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