Greg Atkinson

Tomorrow I leave for San Diego. I’ll be speaking for the first time at the National Outreach Convention. I’m really looking forward to it as I’ll be able to see many great friends, leaders I respect and hopefully meet some people for the first time. I’ll be speaking four times. Here’s where you can catch me if you’re attending:

• Innovation in the Church – Wed. at 3pm
• Church Next: A Panel of Innovators – Thurs. at 10:30 am featuring: Greg Ligon, Greg Surratt, Larry Osborne, Dave Ferguson, Dino Rizzo, Hugh Halter and myself.
• Church Planting – Fri. at 1pm (with Charles Hill)
• The Birth of Innovation – Fri. at 2:30pm

In the last couple of months I’ve talked with several churches that are interested in bringing me in for a secret shopper/mystery worshiper visit, but don’t have it in this year’s budget. They are setting aside money in their 2010 budget to bring me in.

I bring this up for you to consider. Maybe you’d like to arrange a secret shopper visit. I’d encourage you to budget/plan for it now and you’re working on next year’s budget. Plan on $2000 or less for the visit (that includes all my travel expenses).

If you’d like to schedule a 2010 visit, contact me and let’s begin to look at the calendar. It’s a wise investment. You can go here for more information and to read endorsements of my ministry.

In the last 4 visits of doing my secret shopper/mystery worshiper service for churches I’ve done it for:

• A new church plant of 60 people
• A small town church that reaches 1600 people on a Sunday
• A church that reaches 3000 on a Sunday
• A church that reaches over 13,000 on a weekend

From 60 people to 13,000, there are similarities and huge differences. One thing remains the same: the people I help care about reaching more people for Christ. They know that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression and they take action steps to improve their first impression.

People will determine whether or not they will return to your church within the first 10 minutes of arriving. What are you doing to reach them?

The other day I wrote about what magazines I had read lately. I mentioned that I wanted to come back and talk about Outreach Magazine. This issue was their 100 Largest and Fastest-Growing Churches in America edition.

There is a great interview in the magazine with pastors Rick Bezet and Chris Hodges – pastors of the fastest growing church in America (‘09 & ‘08). It’s a great interview and knowing how humble and sincere both pastors are, I thought it gave glory where glory is due – to God.

An interesting thing though that many may not realize is that not only are Rick and Chris (and their churches) ARC churches, they both serve on the board of ARC (Association of Related Churches). Not only that, Rick and Chris’ churches were the first 2 churches that ARC planted 8 years ago when ARC was birthed.

So ARC launched 8 years ago with Church of the Highlands (Chris Hodges) and New Life Church (Rick Bezet) and then fast-forward: Church of the Highlands is the fastest growing church in the US in 2008 and New Life Church is the fastest growing church in 2009.

I point this out because I believe in ARC and think they do a good job planting churches. It’s worth noting that this year’s and last year’s fastest growing churches are both ARC churches. I wrote THIS blog post a while back and mentioned all the great churches that you may not realize are ARC churches. If you didn’t read it, it’s worth checking out. You’d be amazed at how many great churches and pastors you’ve heard of are ARC churches.

Why do I do a blog post on “ARC and Church Growth”? Because as an ARC coach of church planters, I can personally tell you how much I talk about the importance of prayer in leading and growing/strengthening your church. I’ve met with church planters and pastors and begged them to make prayer a priority. I’ve begged them to gather on Saturday to pray for Sunday (like Chris Hodges has always done). I’ve begged pastors to begin an intercessory prayer ministry that prays throughout their morning worship services.

Fortunately, I’ve had the privilege of hearing both Rick and Chris teach on the importance and power of prayer. The very first thing ARC teaches at their CPR’s (Church Planters Roundtable) is that you must “win the war in the spiritual”. As Billy Hornsby says, “Prayer is a non-negotiable”. I heard Chris Hodges once say, “You can’t delegate prayer.”

I write this blog post because every “fastest-growing” list that comes out has a story behind the names on the list. There are some amazing churches listed on this year’s list. I know most of the churches. My word to you is that knowing these leaders, I know they wouldn’t point to a cool technology or church growth fad, but to the power and presence of our Almighty God.

God is using ARC in a mighty way and I’m thrilled to be a small part of it and not only contribute and consult, but I grow and learn all the time by hanging out and talking with the ARC team. Billy Hornsby is a new mentor in my life and I appreciate the investment he’s making in my life.

My encouragement to you is for YOU to get to know the ARC as well. If you’re a future church planter, look into planting through ARC. Contact me and I’ll get you started down the path. If you’re an already existing church, you can join ARC (like Craig Groeschel and LifeChurch.tv and Mark Batterson and National Community Church) and begin to see your missions budget go straight to planting churches here in the United States. I’d be glad to talk with you about how your church can join the ARC and begin actively supporting church planting.

All Glory to God!

I blogged about the known internet campuses last week and received emails from many people that are beginning or considering starting an internet campus. I’m afraid by listing the churches that have taken the leap that it appears that I’m suggesting that all churches should move in this direction.

I want to be very clear about my personal opinion on this. I’ve shared this with friends in person, but never written publically about it. My two cents: just like there are bad Christian movies and bad Christian television, I think there are and can be bad internet campuses.

Just because you have a video camera and use uStream or LiveStream doesn’t mean you’re called to launch an internet campus. There are numerous things to consider including staff, volunteers, budget, philosophy of ministry, equipment, etc. Here’s the thing about the internet – it’s Global! Once you broadcast (good, bad or ugly), you are out there for the world to see.

Honestly, if I started a church plant and I wanted to offer an online campus experience, I would just link to LifeChurch.tv’s or Seacoast’s internet campus from my church’s homepage –  UNLESS I absolutely felt called by God to start our own internet campus experience and I thought we had something special, unique and life-giving to offer the world.

Another thing to consider is timing. The best internet campuses worked long and hard on their Sunday live experience. It was years before they considered reaching out beyond their live worship times. Unfortunately, what I see lately are churches that haven’t put enough time, effort, innovation, creativity and life into their main Sunday services and now want to take on another huge undertaking like an internet campus. I’ve always been a voice for less is more and I think this applies here, too.

Please don’t take on something new until you’ve got your live services jumping with life and excellence. Again, if you need a second opinion on this and want an outside set of eyes to give you feedback on your worship service, talk to me about coming as a secret shopper. Read HERE for more info on that.

Wrapping up: if you feel God is absolutely calling you to start an internet campus then forget what I said and be obedient to God. IF you’re just getting caught up in the craze and buzz of all the chatter in Church leadership circles, please put your plans on hold and don’t consider it until you feel truly led by God and know you can do it with excellence. We don’t need anymore bad Christian examples for people to point to. Your thoughts?

Below is a blog post from my friend, DJ Chuang of Leadership Network:

As the multi-site church revolution continues to grow and mushroom (cf. the Leadership Network book, Multi-Site Revolution: Being One Church in Many Locations) — over 1,500 multi-site churches in the United States (2005 stat, per MondayMorningInsight.com) — not only are churches going to multiple locations geographically into other cities and states, a few are connecting people via Internet campuses! Here’s the ones I’ve found so far [add a comment to keep this list updated]:

• LifeChurch.tv (Edmond OK) has its Church Online (launched February 2006) and also a campus in Second Life. Live worship experiences on Saturdays @ 6:30pm + 8:00pm, Sundays @ 10:00am (GMT) + 10:00am + 11:30am + 1:00pm (Central), Mondays 8:00pm (GMT) + 8:00pm, Tuesdays @ 12:00pm + 8:00pm (Central).
• Seacoast Church (Charleston SC) has Church Online (launched January 2007) with live worship times on Sundays @ 9:30am + 11:15am (Eastern).
• Flamingo Road Church (Cooper City FL) has its Internet campus with live worship times on Saturdays @ 5:00pm + 6:30pm and Sundays @ 9:30am + 11:00am + 12:30pm + 5:00pm (Eastern).
• McLean Bible Church (metro Washington DC) has its Internet campus with live worship times on Sundays @ 9:00am + 10:45am + 5:30pm (Eastern).
• New Hope Christian Fellowship’s internet campus is called an Online Community. Live worship times are Saturdays @ 5:00pm + 7:00pm and Sundays @ 7:00am, 9:00am, 11:00am (Hawaiian Time).
• The Church Group (Jacksonville FL) calls its internet campus called I-Church, with worship times at Wednesdays @ 7:00pm and Sunday @ 10:30am (Eastern).
• Christ Fellowship (Palm Beach Gardens FL) has an Online Campus, Saturdays @ 6:00p and Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:00am (Eastern), having provided live-streaming of worship services since 2005.
• Richmond Community Church (Virginia) has an Internet Campus called HighImpactChurch.tv live on Sundays @ 11:00am (Eastern).
• Northland, A Church Distributed (Orlando FL) has live online worship on Saturdays @ 5:00pm, Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:00am + 6:00pm, Mondays @ 7:00pm (Eastern).
• Victory Life Family Worship Center (Durant, OK) has a Virtual Church where you can watch Duane Sheriff messages 24/7 and Live on Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:00am, Thursdays @ 7:00pm (Central).
• Gracepoint Church (Wichita, KS) has an Internet Campus with live-streamed videos on Sundays @ 9:30am + 11:00am (Central). [ht: Terry Johnson]
• Brand New Church (Harrison, AR) has an iCampus with worship on Sundays @ 11:00am + 5:00pm and Wednesdays @ 12:00 Noon (Central).
• Central Christian Church (Las Vegas) launched its Online Campus in September 2008. Service times on Sundays @ 4:30am + 7:00am + 9:00am + 10:20am + 11:45am + 4:30pm (Pacific) .
• Mecklenburg Community Church (Charlotte) has its Internet campusexperiences on Sundays @ 10:15am (Eastern).
• Pine Ridge Church (Graham NC) has an Internet campus with worship on Sundays @ 10:30am (Eastern).
• Celebration Church (Jacksonville FL) has an Internet campus with worship on Sundays @ 11:30am + Tuesdays @ 9:00pm (Eastern).
• NewSong Church (Irvine CA) has its NewSong Global in beta with worship on Sundays @ 9:00am + 10:30am + 11:49am (Pacific).
• Alive Church (Tucson AZ) has a Web campus with services on Saturdays @ 5:00pm + 6:30pm and Sundays @ 9:30am + 11:00am (Arizona time).
• Liquid Church (Morristown, NJ) launched its internet campus in January 2009, with worship times on Saturdays @ 6:00pm and Sundays @ 11:00am + 6:00pm and Wednesdays 1:00pm (Eastern).
• NewSpring Church (Anderson SC) launched its Web Campus in February 2009, with worship times on Sundays @ 11:15am + 6:00pm (Eastern).
• Voice to the Nations (Griffin GA) launched its internet campus in February 2009, with worship times on Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:15am (Eastern).
• The Ridge Community Church (Oak Ridge TN) has a Ridge iCampus, with worship time on Sundays @ 10:00am (Eastern). Church launch date is April 19th.
• Barefoot Church (Myrtle Beach SC) has its Internet Campus with worship times on Saturdays @ 6:00pm and Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:00am (Eastern).
• Saddleback Church (Lake Forest CA) has an Internet Campus with worship times on Saturdays @ 4:30pm + 6:30 pm and Sundays @ 9:00am + 11:15 am + 4:30pm + 6:30pm  (Pacific).
• Forefront Church (Denver) has an online campus with worship times on Sundays 6:00pm (Mountain).
• Real Life Fellowship (Corpus Christi TX) has a web page to watch live worship with worship time on Sundays 11:30am (Central).
• Zyxter Church (Parker CO) has a web page where you can watch online on Sundays at 11:00am (Mountain). [formerly known as Afterlife.tv with itsCyberchurch.]
• Manmin Central Church (Seoul, South Korea) has Internet Live Webcasting on Sundays 10:00am + 11:30am + 3:00pm, Wednesdays @ 7:00pm, Fridays @ 11:00pm (GMT+9).
• The Church at South Las Vegas (Las Vegas NV) has an online campus — live on Saturdays @ 6:00pm and Sundays @ 10:00am + 11:45am (Pacific).
• Church of the Resurrection (Kansas City) launched its internet campus,Resurrection Live, on July 1st, 2009. Worship times on Sundays 10:45am and 5:00pm (Central).
• Faith Promise Church (Knoxville TN) has an iCampus with worship times on Sundays @ 10:00am + 11:45am (Eastern).
• Buckhead Church (Atlanta) is launching its internet campus, North Point Online, onAugust 16th, 2009. Worship time is Sundays 6:00pm (Eastern).
• Healing Place Church (Baton Rouge LA) has an online community with weekly Bible study and weekly prayer gathering. Live video of worship services are online on Saturdays 5:00pm + Sundays 10:00am (Central). Could a full-fledge Internet campus be just around the corner?

[ count = 33; last updated: 07/13/09 ]

Granted, a video podcast feed allows people to view a sermon message from the archives on-demand, or you could watch a worship service via streaming live video or Cable TV broadcast, e.g. Tenth Presbyterian Church’s live webcast or Bell Shoals Baptist Church’slive webcast or watch live service from C3 Church in Sydney, Australia(!).

But an Internet campus is more than having a live streaming video — it’s adding live interactive features like lobby chat room, message notes, communication card, raise a hand, say a prayer, and even online giving. Some have on-going ministry during the week with attenders by forming small groups or service projects. I’d imagine more features will be added as these campuses grow and technologies mature. (I’ve already participated at 2 of the above Internet campuses — once when I was homebound during a snow storm, and we had family worship at home with my wife and son online!)

These Internet campuses are reaching hundreds and thousands already! One prediction projects that 10% of Americans will rely exclusively on the Internet for their religious experience by 2010.

So, what do you think? What would it take to launch an Internet campus at your church?

[update] Other churches preparing to launch internet campuses:  Liberty Church(Pensacola FL) has what it calls its internet campus using Ustream.TV, C3 Church(Clayton NC) has a live feed, and Manna Church (Fayetteville NC) planning to launch one cf. link; Gateway Church (Austin) has an internet campus pastor who will be preparing the way for their internet campus. Discovery Church (Orlando FL) has live video from its Orange Avenue campus services and has an Internet campus pastor in place. Discovery Church (Voorhees NJ) offers Discovery LIVE for live-stream video. New Hope Family Church (Sioux Falls SD) has a live-streamed video of its worship service. Church of the Redeemer (Gaithersburg MD) has live webcast of its services in English and Spanish. The River (Little Rock AR) has live webcast on Sundays 11am (Central).

Today is my first official work day with ARC (Association of Related Churches). I’m thrilled to begin working with this great, Kingdom-minded organization. My heart is strong for the Big “C” Church, as you know, and I’m pumped about working with a number of churches, church planters and leaders around the world.

What will I be doing? A number of things. My first project is to take their existing CPR (Church Planters Roundtable) – which meets at various churches throughout the country and build an online version of it, so that a potential church planter can stay at the comfort of his home and log in to take the CPR – which is one of the big 3 of the ARC process.

I’ll also be serving as a coach for church planters. Both pre-launch and post-launch, I’ll be helping, supporting, encouraging and challenging church planters as they are on their journey. I’ll also be involved in a number of other smaller projects, events and functions of ARC.

I’ll also start back doing some consulting with churches and organizations on the side, as well as writing and working on a couple of book projects I have on-deck.

Again, I’m honored to join Billy Hornsby and the ARC team and I hope you’ll get to know us. Whether you’re a potential church planter that is interested in planting through ARC or whether you’re an existing church that would like to partner with ARC to plant churches (that covers just about all of you) – I look forward to speaking with you and seeing what we can do together to build the Big “C” Church.

Just to recap: I’m no longer at Bent Tree. I’m beginning on staff with ARC. If you’re not familiar with ARC, read HERE. We’ll be eventually leaving Dallas, TX. This is big news. Please comment/respond and let me know you read this and know what’s going on in my life.

Below is a post from my friend, DJ Chuang and the Leadership Network Digital Blog that I thought was worth repeating:

What the church looks and feels like is changing right before our eyes, and on our computer screens.

This article from The Gadsden Times (Alabama), “Now on your computer screen: Sunday services,” tells the story of how the Church Online of LifeChurch.tv is reaching people around the world:

And, Beliefnet blog entry “How Facebook, Twitter, and Google Might Affect the Church” links over to Mark Brown’s thoughts, How the Digital Revolution Might Affect the Church.

Mark also explores other issues affected by the digital revolution, namely, church governance, church leadership, and the institutional church as we know it. Read the full article.

From my vantage point, I’m guessing that changes to how we live out our faith as the church is only beginning. More changes are yet to come. Technology is only a part of what’s ushering in the change. (Aside: there are at least 27 churches with Internet campuses offering church online) What do you think?

// DJ Chuang, Director at Leadership Network //

I just returned from spending the weekend at LifeChurch.tv in Oklahoma City and got to witness this first-hand. It’s amazing what God is doing through them.

I’ve blogged about this before, but the time-sensitive huge discount for Q runs out Dec. 31st!!!! You have 1 week to act on this opportunity. You can register later, but it will cost over $150 more. 

I’ll be hosting a Church 2.0 Tribe this year at Q. Q was held in New York last year and I couldn’t make it – I really wanted to . This April 27-29 it will be in Austin, TX. I and many other friends will be there. I’d love for you to join us. 

Q is a unique conference for leaders that “get it” and are interested in highly relevant and missional things. Q does cost more than a lot of conferences, but if you register with my coupon code (Church20) – you can register for $525 until 12/31.

More about Q: Q is a gathering where church leaders and cultural influencers from the fields of business, politics, media, education, entertainment and the arts are exposed to the future of culture and the church’s responsibility to advance the common good in society.

Q TALKS are 18 minute presentations given annually at the Q gathering by thought leaders and practitioners on the topics of the future, the church, the culture and the gospel. Be inspired by their big ideas and find ways to discuss and process them with your closest friends and inner circle (the Church 2.0 tribe).

I hope to see some of you in the wonderful city of Austin!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS to all you!!!