:: Cre8vE [creative] chaos ::

Catalyst Vists Park

Last week we had the chance to welcome LV from Catalyst to Park to share a bit about what's going on here and our vision to reach the city of Chicago.

Pretty random, LV connected to us via Twitter and came to meet me, Jason and our lead pastor Jackson.

It was a phenomenal opportunity and so humbling to be amongst some of the great churches and leaders LV met with while he was in Chicago.

Check out the blog post as well as an interview with Jackson about the difference between being a citizen and a tourist. Pretty cool stuff!




 

Catalyst Voices - Jackson Crum from Catalyst on Vimeo.

So What Else Has Been Going On?

Well besides my little Twabbatical, I’ve been busy the past month or so… here’s a quick rundown on things I would have Twittered or blogged about...

A Month in 10 Points... 

1 – Our website was stolen. Park’s website was stolen by another church. Like for real. It was a valuable experience in learning that imitation can be the most sincerest form of flattery.

2 – I joined an amazing gym. Already said that in my previous post but for real, it’s awesome. I love it… the staff… the vibe. I don’t feel like I’m going to gym, I feel like I’m going to a club.  Me and the elliptical are BFF.

3 – Story was announced. So excited to be a part of it. You need to go. I think this is going to be an incredible opportunity for all of us to learn to tell our Story and to re-imagine how we do ministry.

4 – Cultivate registration went live. Thrilled to be hosting it at Park and so excited about what God is going to do through that event. If you are in communications, ministry, social media, whatever… you need to come. It’s the day before Story and it will be phenom… you need to check it out.

5 – MinistryCOM Workshop. I’ll be doing a workshop at MinistryCOM called DIY Church Communications. It pulls some material from my future book and will focus on how to effectively do church communications with a staff of 1… yourself.

6 – The new Whole Foods. Ok, seriously. I already loved Whole Foods. Then they went and opened the third largest one in the WORLD within walking distance from me. I think I’m going to rename it “Whole Paycheck” because I’ve been there nearly everyday. I’m taking any out of town visitor there to check it out. It’s crazy.

7 – Park website 2.0 is in the works. We’re sticking with Ekklesia360 and partnering with CHANGEffect for the design. So excited about it. It’s going to be sick.

8  - Park was in Collide magazine. Park was featured in an article in the most recent issue of Collide on an article about texting in church. Check it.

9 – Hillsong United’s new CD is phenom. So it’s still in the top 100 charts on iTunes. If you haven’t yet, get a copy of it. Seriously.

10 – Resident Ragamuffin. Jason Widney, Park’s Media Arts Director made the cut and will be a part of Carlos Whittaker’s Creative Coaching, Round 1. So stoked for him! 

So What's Your Story?

It would be hypocritical for me to say I don't think there needs to be "another conference" for people to attend... (I'm part of the brains behind the newly-announced Cultivate Conference)... but that aside, I think that what we don't need is "just another conference" but a NEW kind of conference. A new idea, a new thought... something radically different and unique.

I'm thrilled to let you guys be some of the first to know about a new conference that's being put on by Ben Arment (of Catalyst fame)... called Story, taking place in Chicago October 28-29... and yes, Cultivate will be happening at Park the day before on October 27.

Here's a quick rundown on STORY... 

STORY is a first-of-its-kind experience for communicators of the Gospel - the greatest story ever told. It will be held on Wednesday, October 28 at the Paramount Theater in Aurora, Illinois. Speakers include Donald Miller, Nancy Beach, Dave Gibbons, Ed Young, Stacy Spencer, Chris Seay and Mike Foster. A day of workshops will follow on October 29 at nearby Orchard Valley Community Church, featuring illustrators, designers, scholars, authors and communications experts. Register for the conference and enter to win 2 free trips to the Kilns - CS Lewis' home in Oxford, England - at www.StoryChicago.com.

So, not only am I totally excited for this conference, I'm also humbled to have been asked to be a part of it. Me and my friend Matt Knisely (Twitter addict, Emmy-award winning, visual storyteller extraordinaire) will be tag-teaming a workshop together for the 2nd day of Story. More details on that soon.

Seriously, there's no shortage of good conferences for you to check out, but I think Story is going to do something significant and for all you church communications people, Cultivate the day before will round out the whole week making it something you DO NOT want to miss. 

Visit the Story website for details and stay tuned for more details about Cultivate coming soon!

2

 

On May 7, 2007, I had nervous jitters like it was my first day at school. It was sort of like that in a weird way... it was my first day on staff at Park Community Church.

I honestly can’t believe it’s been 2 years. There are moments it seems just like yesterday and other times that it seems like it’s been forever, but regardless, I’ve been humbled to be a part of the journey that God has had me on personally, and to have had the opportunity to be a part of two significant years in Park's history.

When I started on staff, Park's offices were in rented space in Old Town and we held our church services in a rented gym, ballroom, or wherever we could find space. Our staff had maybe 20 people. Our average weekly attendance was around 900. And from a communications perspective, we were a bit behind.

I have to be honest, my first year wasn’t easy.

Besides learning the ropes of living in a new city and everything comes with it (trains, bus schedules, parking tickets, high taxes), I had to also learn the values and culture of a new church.

But I think the hardest part was that I needed to earn trust.

There was a lot I knew needed to be done differently and a lot I wanted to change, but before I launched into it, I knew I needed to take it slow… get to know people, get to know the church and to allow people the opportunity to get to know me.

I basically spent my first year in maintenance mode… just maintaining what was already in place, and only making changes if they were absolutely necessary.

After about a year, after I had a good grasp of a year of ministry in the life of Park was like, and after I had earned trust from the staff and key players I was able to launch into my “communications revolution” as I’ve dubbed it… changing the logo, overhauling the website, introducing texting, establishing an active presence on Facebook and Twitter, killing the weekly program, and even learned to be creative on a budget.

In that time a lot has changed for Park... we moved into a building in the heart of downtown Chicago (the first building Park has owned in it's 20 year history), we've grown to nearly 2,000, our staff has grown... and I think we're really beginning to see momentum as we are expanding our reach into the city.

Aside from work, I’ve been completely blown away by the community and friendships I’ve developed. Between the staff and friends, I am surrounded by some incredible people. And personally, God has done a tremendous work in my life as I’ve learned so much about Him, His love and faithfulness through the community of people He's surrounded me with.

Thanks to all who have been with me on this journey so far... as year 3 begins, I’m pretty stoked to see what God has in store.

2 Conferences, 2 Unique Experiences

The first church communications conference I ever attended when I was starting out my journey was MinistryCOM. 

At the time I was working for a church of under 1,000 in a small town trying to figure out how to take what I was seeing and learning from other, larger churches and develop a way to apply those ideas and thoughts to my context.

MinistryCOM was like therapy. For the first time I felt like I was understood and in the company of people who “got” what I was thinking. It fueled me with ideas and inspiration and connected me with a number of people who have remained great friends and colleagues in the communications world.

It’s jam packed with ideas, information, workshops and keynotes that will charge you up and empower you to take new ideas and thoughts and implement them in your churches. 

If you are just starting out, need some place to go to get some direction, or if you feel like you could use some fresh insights to enhance your church communications, MinistryCOM is the place to go.

MinistryCOM 09 is coming up September 10-11 at The Chapel in the Chicago suburbs. Park was originally supposed to host the conference, but due to some financial challenges as a result of the current economic situation, we had to back out from hosting. But, moving it from the city to the suburbs has its perks… cheaper hotels and free parking! So for churches that might have been concerned about the costs of staying downtown, this new location is idea and affordable.

And I’ll be there doing a workshop at MinistryCOM on Do-it-Yourself Church Communications!

Learn more about MinistryCOM + register here

So, Cultivate.

Cultivate is going to be a conversation. It’s going to be less presentations, more engagement. No talking heads or dog & pony shows. The details are still being shaped, but I’ll just say this: take Idea Camp, Q, and TED, throw in lots of brilliant leaders in ministry communications and from the marketplace with time to connect and collaborate & you’ll get Cultivate. 

Cultivate isn’t for everyone. If your church is just beginning to think about web design, believe Papyrus or Comic Sans are acceptable church wide fonts or wondering what Twitter is, this is probably not the place for you. 

BUT, if you are leveraging things like social media, find yourself quoting Seth Godin, using Facebook ads, texting and still want push ideas to the next level by stretching yourself and others, then maybe Cultivate is where you need to be. 

Cultivate is not a replacement or competitor of MinistryCOM, it’s just taking that conversation to a more advanced level. All profits will be supporting Center for Church Communications and Blood Water Mission. Facilitators are coming pro bono and the date coincides with another opportunity we’ve partnered with that’ll be announced later this month.

More details will be coming soon… but here’s the website so you can bookmark it. It will be hosted at Park on October 27. 

Both events are unique experiences that will add value to churches across the board and I'm excited to be able to participate in both -- hope to see you at ministryCOM or Cultivate!