A few months ago, we realized that our Worship Department and Creative Department were not as integrated as they should be. This really became evident after visiting Fellowship Church for C3 and seeing how seamlessly every worship element flowed together to create a very unified experience. In order to improve this at Elevation, we changed both our organizational structure and the way we brainstorm for each series.

We followed the example of many similar churches and placed the Worship Department under the Creative Department in our org chart. Our Creative Pastor is now responsible for everything that happens within the main worship experience. As the Worship Pastor, I report to him. The Creative Pastor is now able to focus on the big picture of the worship experience and how every element works together. This structural change has brought a great sense of unity and cohesiveness to the department.

Practically, this shift has changed the way we brainstorm for each series. Previously, the worship leaders would bring final set lists and performance songs to the table and the creative team would bring video ideas, stage set ideas, etc. There was no effective collaboration and we did our best to reconcile the two plans and make them work as one. Now both teams participate in every brainstorming session together.

In our initial meeting that occurs 50-60 days out from a new series, every idea is put on the white board. No one is allowed to shoot down any suggestion. We cover every element from set design, sermon takeaways and song ideas. We also invite people from other departments to contribute in these meetings. Our graphic designer might suggest a great performance song while one of the worship leaders brings a cool video idea to the table. We then have a follow-up meeting one week later to talk through which ideas are worth pursuing. Tasks and responsibilities are then delegated out to the appropriate people.

The Creative Pastor now has the ability to “land the plane” in these meetings and make decisions when we don’t all agree. As a result of these changes, we have seen new levels of creativity within our worship experience.

Wade Joye, Worship Pastor

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Lately, the Worship Department has taken some simple steps to better invest in our musicians. We have not always done a good job at this, but we have found that a few small changes have made a big impact. Here are a few.

• We have devotions during one of the worship experiences. Since every band member and singer is expected to sit through one sermon, that leaves three other 40 minute blocks of time at Providence and one at Butler that we have decided to use very intentionally. During one of the sermons, we will gather the band and singers together to share some Scripture, pray, cast vision and just see how their walk with God is going. It seems like a no-brainer, but it is so easy to get caught up in the busyness of Sundays that this can be forgotten very easily.
  
• I already mentioned that every musician is expected to watch a sermon. We have taken that one step further and asked that the whole band goes to the same worship experience and sits together. It helps foster a sense of community within the group and prompts some good discussion afterwards.
  
• There is intentional time during the week dedicated to writing thank you notes, commenting on people’s Facebook pages, and just calling to see how things are going. It is amazing how far a simple thank you and genuine encouragement can go.
  
• We have started a meeting that occurs every two months with all of the band and singers in order to cast vision. We want to tie their hearts to the vision of the church, not the Worship Department. We have only done this once so far, but it was a great success.

These few simple practices are reaping huge dividends in our ministry. Take these suggestions and see what works in your context. The key is to be intentional and not let the work of ministry keep us from caring for the ones who are doing it with us.

Wade Joye, Worship Pastor

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Easter Sunday was the most unbelievable thing our church has ever experienced. Over 500 people made a real and personal decision to follow Christ. Any time we experience God’s blessing like this I get asked by many church planters how we count our salvations. This is a valid question because there is no “standardized” way to get a total.

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Most of this post is nuts and bolts but before I get into the how let me comment on the why. We have done “invitations” for people to receive Christ several different ways at Elevation.� I don’t think there are wrong ways to do it but I do think there are better ways. Our goal is to not just get people to raise a hand or stand but to actually get them to take the first step in a lifelong process of being a Christ follower. So, for us, the why is what drives the how. Here is what a Sunday looks like along with our simple counting approach.

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When everyone walks in our auditorium they are handed a worship guide (our version of the “bulletin��?). Inside is a perforated section called the connection card. On that card is a box that can be marked if a person is “praying to receive Christ today”. That is all pretty standard. What makes the difference is how Pastor Furtick drives people to the card.

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Once the invitation is offered in the worship experience Pastor typically asks for a show of hands. From there, he spends several minutes explaining how we want people to let us know of there decision on the Connection Card. This is a time intensive explanation, but has been the key to getting people to take the next step forward in there faith. (If you want to see Easter Sunday’s message, check it out here).

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Once the card is explained, Pastor offers two options:
(1.) Take the completed card to our “Next Level Area��? or
(2.) Place your card in the offering.

The “Next Level Area” is set up in the atrium and manned by a team of people. Here we get contact info and give everyone who made a decision a gift- a great gift.

The gift package contains:

• a new leather Bible (with some Elevation orange)
• a bookmark with scriptures, a card with some scriptures to help someone just getting started reading the Bible from Pastor
• our latest worship CD

The pack costs us almost $14. This Sunday alone cost over $7,000 to do this gift, but it’s worth every dime and then some.

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Our Next Level Team heads up all of our follow up processes. They are responsible for giving away the gifts and following up with a phone call and getting all new believers plugged into a starting point class or another small group. We put our best people on this team because it is so important.

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In the end, we count salvations by the total number of completed cards with a checked salvation box. We always have many more hands that go up in the air than actual cards, but we always go with the lower numbers. We average over 70% of the cards we receive indicating a decision for Christ being turned in at the “Next Level Area��? and getting the gift and bible. The rest come through the offering.

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I’ve heard of churches doing a lot of things to record salvations numbers but this is what has worked the best for us. Our effort and planning are nothing without the supernatural power of God. We know and believe that and take it very serious the responsibility we have at tending His flock at Elevation. And it’s days like Easter Sunday that leave us all in awe of God’s power.

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Chunks Corbett, Executive Pastor

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We often get asked how far we plan in advance at Elevation. At this point in March, Pastor Steven has given us an outline of every series we will do through the end of 2008.This allows us to plan as a worship team and creative department well in advance so that we can give our best to each series and worship experience.

On the worship side of things, we try to plan set lists for the next series and submit these in our Big Picture meeting about a month out.In other words, we will begin a new series called Break Out on Easter. We developed the set lists for this series 4 weeks ago. We will then turn in set list ideas the week after Easter for the next series that begins in late April.

Wade Joye, Worship Pastor

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