Elevation Church is a church with several locations. In fact we will be adding a 3rd in the fall and I’m hopeful to add a 4th by Easter 09.

But having multiple locations (especially if they are portable) is not glamorous. Here are a few questions that I would think through before adding campuses:

Are we at capacity at our current location?

1. Would adding another location open seats up at our current location? (Would it cannibalize our current site?)
2. Is God leading our church toward a strategy of having multiple locations?
3. Will we use video or live preaching?
4. Not all Pastors are right for video, is ours?
5. What is the density of our current campus related to where we want to add another campus?
6. Can we add another service where we are and get the same effect?
7. Do we have the leadership to pull off another campus?
8. Will another site be a step of faith or foolishness?
9. What would you define as success for another campus? Define this by using metrics for attendance, salvations, giving, etc.
10. Will another site make us more effective at reaching people for Christ?

Those are just a few. Multiple locations is very effective but also trendy. Asking the right questions beforehand may keep you from making a mistake or confirm the direction God is leading his church.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

Filed under: Being Portable, Growth | Comments Off

The following are a few brief bullets that we use at Elevation when developing reports. � The goal with all reporting is to be able to measure the success of something. We use these basic points when analyzing any numerical data or systems that exist throughout Elevation Church. These guidelines determine how we gather data, analyze data and develop actions steps on improving systems.

• The purpose of all reports is to give data that will allow us to see weaknesses in areas that need improvement.
• All detailed reports should contain a cover sheet that gives a “flash” of the primary takeaways from the full report.
• Most reports that are done on an ad hoc basis should not paint a positive picture of a ministry area. The report is done in an effort to improve that area of ministry.
• Ongoing weekly reports will be done in an effort to keep a pulse on the health of the church.� Any fluctuations in these numbers will indicate there may need to be more of an investigation or there may be something that was incorrect.� These reports are to be done, always factoring out any abnormal Sundays or abnormal numbers that would paint the averages in a more positive light.
• Reporting and survey type data that is performed to investigate a system is to be done in a manner that would allow the responsibility to be felt by the church and not the individual.
• Any action steps for improvement that are extracted from a report are to be translated into goals that are monitored by supervisors.

Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

Filed under: Growth, Leadership | Comments Off

I think most people would agree it’s not anyone’s goal to simply stay the same for as long as possible. It’s not very many people’s goal to maintain the status quo; that’s not inspiring, that’s nothing to get excited about long-term.

Something to get excited about is breaking new ground in your ministry areas. Something to get excited about is discovering people are falling in love with Jesus in a deeper way. Something to get excited about is people becoming the church they were intended to be.

One of the greatest challenges we face is trying to figure out how to make progress in the midst of just trying to stay afloat. Unfortunately, things don’t really ever change. When we were a church of 500, now that we’re a church of well over 3,000 and even churches we talk to with sizes closer to 20,000 all experience the same challenge. We all feel like there is so much to do, but we all feel the pressure of trying to push everything we do to new levels at the same time.

We’re either all crazy, or we’re facing the million-dollar question…together. I believe it’s the latter, and here’s my answer.

The only way to consistently innovate in the midst of all the maintenance is to expect what’s coming. We have to know that we’re going to feel overwhelmed, but we also need to believe that there may be no greater thing we can do than to stop in the middle of the chaos to evaluate processes, details, results.

The evaluation process typically gets pushed to the backburner because it just doesn’t produce the results we all love quickly enough. But, the truth is, without evaluation, we’ll never push ourselves to those next levels we’re longing for. Simply because we’ll never have a point of reference to start with.

Evaluate everything. Make the time. We can’t afford not to.

Then, when the evaluation is done, go do something about it. When you realize your camera shots aren’t communicating the moment very well, change them. When the lobby doesn’t get anyone excited, do something different. When the production team is getting burned out, find a way to bring new people and inspiration into the mix.

Don’t aspire for the status quo, it’s way too small for what God wants to do through you.

Larry Hubatka, Creative Pastor

Filed under: Creative Elements, Growth | Comments Off

About a week ago I wrote a blog entry that centered on our new believer follow up process.� My purpose for the blog was to introduce our philosophy; you can read about it here.

At Elevation we have decided that we are going to cast the net as wide as we can in order to catch as many fish as possible.� Jesus teaches a parable about this topic in Matthew 13:24-30 that has guided our decision.� He suggests that the risk of trying to ‘pluck the weeds’ is far too great, you might unintentionally ‘harm the wheat’.� It’s better to leave the ‘weeds’ alone and let God separate them out at the end of the age.�

We have applied this basic principle to how we call people to salvation in our worship experiences.� On occasion we may get some people who for the wrong reasons, or without a complete understanding ‘check the box’, but isn’t that risk worth it in order to make sure that everyone has the opportunity to genuinely receive Christ’s eternal gift of salvation.� There will always be time to separate the wheat from the weeds later on, but frankly, God didn’t ask us to separate his harvest, he told us to sow the seed!

So, with all that said, here’s what we are working on to provide as many touch points as possible after someone ‘checks the box’.�

• We have put together a Nextlevel packet (this consists of a Bible, a letter from Pastor Steven, a book mark with the plan of salvation on one side and the table of contents for their new Bible on the other, and a copy of our most recent worship CD).�
• Also the people who ‘check the box’ will receive an email from Pastor that afternoon.� This email invites them to share their story with us.
• Immediately, following the service a team of people begin plugging people’s information into a spreadsheet that is loaded on Google Documents and by 6:00pm many of the people who ‘checked the box’ that morning are receiving a phone call from us.�
• Following that phone call people can choose to take any number of ‘next steps’ including a class about our church called 4G’s, a group devoted to New Believers called Starting Point (thanks North Point), a regular small group and/or a volunteer opportunity.

We don’t have a perfect system.� But we have a clear vision: people far from God being filled with life in Christ.� To that end we are casting, to that end we are sowing seeds, and to that end we are tending the harvest that has been brought in!!!

John Bishop, Community Groups Pastor
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Filed under: Assimilation, Growth, Worship | Comments Off