4. A Lame Website
Another sure sign you’ve settled for mediocrity is your website.
Many churches build it and forget it. Sure, hopefully you update it with the current series and a few announcements, but no one has really taken the time to think through it deeply.
Chances are, everyone who visits your church for the first time in person has been to your website first.
After all, that’s exactly how you behave. You never go to a restaurant, hotel or even city without first checking it out online, and any new person is going to check your church out online before they visit.
Act like that’s true. Invest like that’s true. Think like that’s the case.
The home page of your website should be built with your guest in mind.
If you don’t have a First Time, New Here or Plan a Visit option with location and services on your front page, you’re not thinking about your first-time guest.
The most visited pages of your website will almost always be your home page, your message content and (believe it or not), your staff or team page. Making sure those are designed with the guest in mind can make the difference of someone deciding to come or to stay away.
Mediocre churches are reluctant to invest time or money into their website. Smart churches do both.
5. Your Info Isn’t Current
Few things tell you a church is mediocre more than out of date information.
Whether it’s your church sign advertising an event from last month, or still wishing everyone a happy 4th of July in August, or your church website or podcast is three weeks late on uploading the current sermons, having out of date information screams “we don’t really care” to anyone passing by.
And for sure there are reasons. The sign guy was sick. Or that unreliable website volunteer once again needs reminding. But again, all of that screams mediocrity.
You’ll have a hard time recruiting high capacity volunteers (and new people) into a culture that does a lot of shrugging and constantly sighs “oh well.”
6. You’re Resigned to This
Maybe as you’ve read through this post you think there’s no way out. You’ve resigned yourself to this.
Don’t. The surest way to ensure a mediocre future is to resign yourself to a mediocre present.
I started in very small churches with not a lot of top-tier talent. I get what it’s like to have to start with almost nothing.
But if you focus on the best you have at the moment, and bring all of that to your mission, you will create a better future.
Eventually, more and more talented people will emerge from the crowd and new people will join your mission, and soon you’ll be so much further ahead.
Was our band always great? No.
Was every singer always on key? Nope.
Did every volunteer always crush it? Of course not.
But we did the best we could with what we had.
And you’ll soon discover if you do the best you can with what you have, your best keeps getting better.
The path to an excellent future is this: Constantly improve an average present.
I have two full units in my Breaking 200 online course that will show you how to spot, recruit and develop the talent you have in your church that will move you into a far more excellent future.
There are principles I learned as I led our church from small and rather unskilled in most ministry areas to where we are today (larger and with many gifted leaders).
You can learn more and gain instant access to Breaking 200 here.
