Upcoming Fusion Series

Hey people,

Sorry it has been so long since I wrote- things have been pretty busy lately, but most of all, I've just been negligent. We are getting ready to start a series that will take Catalyst to the next level of reaching new people- a series about the church.

Back in the 90's, when I was in seminary, I was thoroughly schooled in the "seeker sensitive" church thing- you know, where churches needed to tailor messages and worship to people who were clueless about Christianity. A few years ago, Willow Creek Community Church, which was the most prominent proclaimer of this philosophy, publicly stated that the seeker sensitive movement was a failure. They had failed to create disciples.

First of all, what guts. That's pretty impressive to admit that. Second, I don't think it was a total failure. They did a great job of getting the church's focus off of itself and onto the people we need to be reaching. They just did it in the wrong way.

The reason why the seeker sensitive movement didn't work is they put the emphasis in the wrong place. They tailored the sermon and worship and everything else IN THE SERVICE towards new folks. The problem is- the new folks had already decided if they were coming back BEFORE they ever heard a word preached or song sung.

The part of church that needs to be seeker sensitive is the first seven minutes of the guest's experience at your church. Research has shown that the ease of finding parking, the ease of finding their way around the church, the friendliness of the first people they meet, the atmosphere BEFORE the service, hospitality such as donuts and coffee, and overall "feel" of the time before the service determines whether a person will return after a first visit. This is also the part of church that ministers neglect the most.

Most ministers spend hours and hours on a sermon. Worship teams practice throughout the week to be ready for Sunday morning. Tech teams rehearse sound, lighting, and presentation software for excellence in their areas. All of that is great. However, the church needs to be as focused on the pre-service greeting and warmth and the post-service follow-up as it is on the service itself.

That's what the Fusion series is going to be about. We are going to train our people to open their eyes to the first seven minutes of a guest's experience. What happens in the first seven minutes forms the lens through which they will view everything. If the sermon is on love and community, but the new folks were ignored in the first seven minutes, they will figure the minister is full of it.

I am excited about this series- I am excited about unleashing the power of hospitality at Catalyst. I think we do a decent job, but we haven't been intentional about it. Catalyst's hospitality has a great deal more to do with the wonderful laypeople living their Christian faith than it does with anything from the leadership. Looking forward to it!