Creative Scribble

The most obvious system at any church is the Sunday morning worship experience. Think about it: even in the most traditional church somebody has to plan the bulletin, print and fold the bulletin, rehearse the music and choir, pick the hymns, plan a sermon, make sure the offering is collected, clean the sanctuary, practice the “special music,” get those flowers on the offering table, and on and on the list goes.

But what I’ve learned over the past two years is that most of these churches – in fact most all churches – operate in a “put out the fire closest to the tent” mode when it comes to preparing for what really is our most influential hour of the week. Afterall, this is the hour that our target, the lost and unchurched, are most likely to attend.

So what is OneLife’s plan?

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To put it simply we must plan, implement, and evaluate the worship services each week. The planning process has already begun. I spent a weekend in the mountains in April praying and mapping out what our sermon series will be from the preview services in July and August through our Easter series in spring 2010. From there we will get specific and plan each series. With our creative director, worship leader, and others, we will brainstorm songs, videos, graphics, give aways, and any creative element that will help the main idea for the series and specific sermons influence each person in attendance on that given day. Our services will be planned and designed to take a simple truth from Scripture and creatively communicate it in a way that will encourage transformation, not simply information, and reach those who would otherwise dread going to church. Planning for a service will start about 8 weeks out with a “big picture” plan and then each service plan will be double-checked the week of.

The implementation stage will only be as successful as the planning stage. This is where the excellence factor comes in. Recently I’ve been reading about the Temple in 1 Kings. Two things stand out. First, the details in the planning are down to the nitty gritty. Second, the excellence and cultural relevance of their worship is astounding; every inch of the place was covered in gold! Times have changed and we won’t be pouring gold anywhere at Powell High School. But our dedication to plan with intentionality and be absolutely excellent should not change. God deserves nothing less.

Finally, evaluation is key. If it’s not honestly evaluated, it won’t improve and eventually we won’t remember our goal. So each week the same group that meets to plan both 8-weeks out and that week’s service will start with an honest evaluation and celebration of the week before.

For our launch teamers and others who may consider coming on board, we need those of you with a creative mind and passion for seeing our message communicated well on Sundays to help with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of our worship experience. The same is true for our children’s ministries! That’s the next system we’ll explore.