Finally, Miles began the service by explaining the day’s purpose and what we could all expect. Once again, they planned for my comfort.
Not once did I feel uncertain or confused. I felt comfortable. I felt expected and welcomed from parking lot to parking lot.
Your Potential Question: How can we better organize to ensure everyone feels expected and welcome?
2. Connected
The service was highly organized. In this planning, the ACC team created spaces for connection. They didn’t feel their way through the service, hoping they were reading the room correctly. They planned for the room and for me. From the welcome to the music to Miles’ message and all the baptisms, it was a connected experience that allowed me to feel connected to each person’s baptism, Miles, the band, those around me, and ACC as a church.
ACC knows content is a commodity, so they build services around connection – something better and more emotionally engaging.
Your Potential Question: How can we help people connect to God, each other, and themselves during their church experience?
3. Excited!
I’ll touch on this in a future blog, but it’s apparent that fun, energy, and celebration are valued at ACC.
I imagine part of this is derived from Miles’ passion. I suspect it’s also planned. After all, if “Jesus Wins,” then we should celebrate! Church should celebrate Jesus, life change, and transformational opportunities weekly.
To be fair, I attended a baptism service where 25 people went public with their faith. That’s pretty easy to celebrate! But, and this is important, ACC planned for the celebration by adding energy and enthusiasm to the experience. They didn’t dunk people and golf clap. They selected more celebratory songs for the service. They orchestrated how to give 25 people space to tell their two-minute testimony without losing momentum. Miles planned his message to be much shorter, knowing the day’s purpose was not a message. And they gave all the families confetti canons to add to the baptism moment.
It was a celebration! And it was exciting. Not by accident but by intention.
Your Potential Question: What is worth celebrating in our service this week?
Don’t Be Afraid to Organize the Organism
One of the worst things you can do as a church leader is refuse to organize. The more you plan, the more margin you create to be great. And the more you’ll experience the organic nature of the church organism.
How do I know? Well, I learned this initially from the staff creating our nights of worship. They didn’t walk into an authentic church experience without a plan! They planned the entire thing! But they didn’t just plan what to do; they planned what to feel.
This article on planning an authentic church experience originally appeared here, and is used by permission.
