WILLOW Magazine, Issue 3, 2007 15 Innovations the Church Should Embrace Now! 1 Chronicles 12 contains a listing of the 12 tribes that helped David establish his rule as King of Israel. All the tribes are described as warriors except for the tribe of Isaachar. They are referred to as leaders. And it says they understood the temper of the times and knew the best course for Israel to take. Innovators are part of the tribe of Isaachar. They are trend spotters and trendsetters. They refuse to do ministry the way it has always been done. They don’t repeat the past. Innovators create the future. They don’t do ministry out of memory. They do ministry out of Imagination. We asked several “Isaachar” leaders to give us their views on what innovations the Church should be immersed in. Here are their responses. Podcasting - circuit riding at the speed of light In addition to your weekly messages, how about spicing it up with special editions? Try doing interviews with church neighbors, the mayor, volunteers, staff intros., etc. If it’s worth preaching it’s worth podcasting. Any church of any size can exponentially increase its impact via MP3 technology. Blogging - digital discipleship Don’t blog for an audience, blog for you. The more you write about what’s on your head and heart, the more people will respond. Blogging increases your bandwidth and allows you to digitally disciple just about anybody, anywhere, anytime. Video Technologies - postmodern stained glass The medieval church used stained glass to tell the gospel story in pictures. We’re using screens to tell the gospel story in moving pictures. Jesus isn’t just the Word of God. He is also the Image of God. The Church needs to communicate in images! Viral Video - get contagious quickly Use YouTube to spread the love. There’s even a first-time visitor orientation. Use it creatively for things like behind-the-scenes sermon prep, church staff meetings, or videos created by the congregation. There’s a reason why this is one of the top visual communication sites on the Web. Multi-Purpose Church Buildings - doing ministry in the marketplace Jesus didn’t hang out at synagogues. He hung out at wells. Wells were natural gathering places in ancient culture. Coffeehouses are postmodern wells. That’s why National Community Church, in Washington, D.C., built a coffeehouse on Capitol Hill instead of a church building — to create a marketplace environment where the church and community could cross paths. Less than a year after it opened, “Ebenezers” was rated the #2 coffeehouse in the metro DC area by AOL CityGuide 2007. They serve 600+ customers seven days a week. Instead of asking people to come to them, the church is going to the people. Multi-Site Churches - one church, multiple locations Once thought to be a mere fad, satellite campuses are here to stay. This is one of the most effective ways to plant strategic, intentional churches … and bring economies of scale to boot! Web Site - your church portal Guests can watch a Webcast, read your history, and get as much information on your church as they want. And they can do it from the comfortable confines of their computer. Most people will visit your Web site long before they visit a service. Your Web site is your first impression. FREE BONUS TIP: Ruthlessly eliminate lame Web sites (you know who you are!) E-Mail - word of mouse Churches should avoid spam at all costs, but an e-letter is an easy and affordable way to keep the church connected. An e-mail is a simple way to keep a ministry team on the same page or evite a friend to church. Think of it as word of mouse. Many pastors preach to more people via e-mail than they do via voice. It’s a form of e-vangelism. Branding - the greatest message deserves the greatest marketing In the last decade, branding has become the marketing rage. And there is a reason. The opposite of brand is bland. The most important truths ought to be communicated in the most unforgettable ways. Churches need to be intentional about branding themselves and branding their messages. Branding isn’t dumbing-down or watering-down the message. It’s putting the creative energy into marketing the message that it deserves. Social Networking - church as a tag-team sport Create a MySpace page and build an online congregation. The way we network has radically changed with the advent of myspace.com, facebook.com, and even eHarmony.com. The Church needs to piggy-back off of the networking trend for Kingdom purposes. Get a [Second] Life! - “Go into all the [virtual] nations…” Check out LifeChurch.tv’s campus at SecondLife.com (an Internet-based virtual world). It may be more real world than this world. Get Joost - the magic of television meets the power of the internet The guys behind Kazaa and Skype are shaking it up again with Joost (Joost.com). Imagine watching your service (or other content) online and chatting with viewers at the same time on the same screen. Text Message - get instant feedback Instant audience polls. Text to vote during the service for immediate results posted live on the sidescreens. Or text to donate to a cause, building campaign, etc. RSS - the feeds that matter most Use RSS feeds to get your info fed fast (weekly bulletin, small group announcements, daily devotionals, blog entries, etc.) Live! Missionaries - bridging the geographic distance Link up around the world with missionaries your church sends and/or supports. Put them on the big screen and have Q&A with the pastor as everyone sees in real time. Top