(This article was first written more than 3 years ago. I thought it was more relevant today than then, so here it is again.)

When All Praise Ministries began in 1998, we not only worked with churches on music, but also spent some time working with pastors on some of the more intangible aspects of the church. From critiquing their sermons, to helping them with the overall marketing of the church. We would delve into nearly every aspect of the inner workings of the organization. Over the next 4 years, we did lots of research, and worked directly with about 20 churches. As a result, we came up with a four-point recipe for successful churches. Branding, Engagement, Commitment and Endurance – all measured by the congregation’s definition of success, which is (1) attendance, and (2) conversions.

BRANDING is essential to any product. And make no mistake about it, churches have a product – the most incredible product ever presented to the World, Jesus Christ.  But we can learn a lot from the worldly masters like Coke and Starbucks, who understand that being top-of-mind is everything. They are the best at selling the brand and tattooing their product’s brand on the consumer’s mind. They are tremendously consistent with how their brand is presented and sold. From print advertising to radio and TV – even the signage at the Point of Sale – is all created and presented with a unified mission to brand the same message over and over.

In church, we often find bulletins, billboards, street signs, hand outs, all using different logos, tag lines, messages, images, etc, creating a confusing and mangled message that, to many people says, “no one here is in charge and we have no clue who we are.” Branding isn’t made up of a single idea, but a single lifestyle. When you go to Disney World, everyone who works there believes in Mickey. Employees are referred to as “Cast Member.” Every cast member believes in the power of “the ears.” Mickey’s ears are everywhere. Employees understand their power over kids and parents. Ask the same question to a hundred Disney employees and you’ll get the exact same answer from every single one of them. From “where’s the bathroom” to “what’s the best ride in the whole park?” Every answer is scripted, rehearsed and required.  Is Mickey Mouse and a dead creator worth more of a branding effort than a church and Jesus Christ?   Do the deacons, ushers, leaders and members know what you stand for? Would they have the same answer to questions like, “what is your church’s mission statement?” Or, “how can my 13 year old get involved?” Chances are Disney is more organized than most churches….and all for the sake of a mouse.

Effective branding also requires a target. The most successful churches in America today know who they are going after. It’s important that you target the most available segment of the population in your area, not just people who look like you, or the low hanging fruit. Does your community have a high black or Hispanic population? If so, do you have someone from those races on your team and in charge of reaching out to them? Are you targeting upper middle class white families because that’s what YOU are, or because that’s the makeup of your community? Targeting and branding go hand in hand. One is useless without the other.

ENGAGEMENT is arguably the most important step in creating long-term success.  Engagement covers a lot of areas, but what does it mean in terms of churches?  We all know that congregants who just show up on Sunday morning to be fed are typically more of a liability than an asset to our mission. We also know that many psychologists agree with The Bible — that the number one desire of a person is companionship.  We were not made to experience life alone, nor were we created to experience God alone. Churches who fail to engage their congregation into active discipleship don’t grow. And as the saying goes, “if you’re not growing, you’re dying.”  Unfortunately, many churches waste time engaging people into meaningless subgroups whose goals may or may not be the same as the church’s overall mission, and do not develop followers of Christ.  Women’s groups, Men’s groups, Wednesday night suppers, bible studies, the declining traditional Sunday school model, and even quilting groups (yes, I said quilting) can be ineffective relics of days gone by and in many churches rarely provide a two-way means of communication and engagement, as people who attend these are typically involved in activity that doesn’t reach the lost in the community, but instead caters to the members of that group. They may even be big monetary givers, but they aren’t reaching out past their sub group to usher in a new generation of sinners and subsequently leading them towards Christ. This needs to change.

In 1999, we helped a church conduct a study of its 27 different ministry groups. By the way, this church had only 400 members.  We asked a lot of questions, found a lot of issues and made a lot of changes. The biggest change was the church cut 27 ministries down to 8. In the six months prior to the change, the church recorded 9 conversions through baptism and had 4 new families who joined the church. The following 8 months after the changes, that same church had 36 baptisms, and 8 new families. The conclusion? If everyone is focusing on ministries that don’t reach out into the community, but only exist to serve the members of the church, the church dies. But those who are willing to kill ineffective ministries, live and grow.  Engagement can not only be between believers. It MUST reach past the four walls of the church and make fully devoted followers of Christ. It is the suggestion of All Praise that your church look at all “programs” and groups, and decide which ones are creating a true two-way engagement between saint and sinner. Keep and nourish those. Kill the others. Immediately.

COMMITMENT.  To accomplish a consistent brand and create active, God-pleasing engagement, it takes total commitment. It starts with the lead pastor and/or the board of men and women who direct him  The leaders of the church must have a clear vision, a consistent brand, a plan to engage the people in Christ-centered activity, but must also be completely sold out to those causes. All Praise preaches that the path towards Excellence starts when we remove obstacles that keep us from our goals, and continues when we add things along our journey that help steer us towards our goals. Until the leaders come together and commit to removing obstacles (i.e. the ineffective sub groups) God’s desired potential for your church may not be realized. By the way, the 19 sub groups that were killed in the church referenced above, were ended on one day, with one statement from the pastor and the other leaders of those groups. It was never up for discussion among the attendees, nor was there “one more meeting to say goodbye.” They died a quick death and the church started growing immediately.

ENDURANCE is required to get through the first three points above. Especially after groups are put to death. We must endure the slow times. There’s a new startup period that begins when a new direction is forged. And we must be committed to getting through the tough times to experience the rewards of a well-focused mission. Through the years, we’ve found churches who were willing to downsize their programs, found a new level of buy in from their remaining members – those who didn’t complain, pout or leave – became more engaged and became leaders in the efforts to reach out past the church walls. More leaders, more saved, more members, more people living for Christ. That’s the purpose of The Church.

All Praise Ministries can help you with the target and the branding of your Church. We can help you engage the members in a unified effort to reach the lost. We can coach you through the process of getting total buy in and commitment from your team, and we want to help you endure the hard times. If your church isn’t creating more salvations today than you were 5 years ago, there’s a reason. And most likely it’s because leadership and members are not on the same page. Lets work together to put Christ in a position above Mickey Mouse.  Let All Praise Ministries help you become the church God wants you to be.

This post is for Worship Leaders who are responsible for the majority of the elements involved in a worship service. Lets face it, the number of churches with a dedicated Technology Director is somewhere around 2% of all churches, and less than half of those have a fulltime Worship Arts/Media staff.  Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re not in that 2%.  But even if you are, there are things you need to pay closer attention to. Here are two of them:

How Your Services Look. At my church, our lead and associate pastors have input into all we do. But at the end of the day, they empower me to determine how our stage, room and presentations look.  Effective Worship Leaders probe and seek out solutions to achieve the feel and the look of a service they want.  What technology or materials do you need in order to pull off an idea with excellence? What do you have in your inventory that you could be using differently to achieve better results? Who, on your staff or in your congregation can help you implement these ideas?  Successful leaders are never satisfied. They constantly anticipate change and lead others through that change. We should constantly look for ways to move our services forward with new or existing equipment and tools. And with today’s plethora of inexpensive gear and material, there is never a good reason for the look or sound of your service to become stagnant. Remember, we do not compete with other churches, but with movies, podcasts, Youtube videos, gaming and creative services suites, which come standard on nearly every computer in the world. Your product is being compared to every form of entertainment they’ve been exposed to throughout the week. Why would we allow THE MOST IMPORTANT MESSAGE IN THE WORLD to fall short of their expectations? Unless you believe the new Pepsi message is more important than the New Testament message, your Sunday service’s production value should be on par with the best commercials, TV shows and movies your congregation is exposed to every day. Lets not allow what we can’t do, get in the way of what God wants us to do. Get creative. Find a way. Don’t settle.

 How Your Services Sound: Even though our church is blessed with a seasoned Tech Director and an awesome FOH guy, the sound that comes off that stage is still under my authority. Every entity has a message. In the church, ours is Jesus. It’s our job to make sure the message of Jesus is heard clearly. But almost as important, is that the message-in-song be presented consistently.  People want to know what to expect in your service. Sure, specific elements of surprise within a service are necessary, such as using a rapper in the middle of a well-known song, but The Three Ms – Music, Mix and Message – need to be consistent from week to week.  Does your band have an identity via their core sound? If I heard a recording of your worship team, could I identify them in the first three notes (think Lincoln Brewster)?  Or do you sound like everyone else? Do you understand audio mixing methods and have a grasp on the processing & effects tools that are currently in your arsenal to pull off the sound you desire? If not, start learning. Pull in experts in your area to give you advice and tips on creating a consistent sound that helps you deliver God’s message in a way that people will accept, respond to and tell their friends about. God’s message deserves to be heard in a relevant and compelling way. Your mix is crucial to the success of that goal.

 Much of this is no-brainer reminders of everything you already know. But many of you will read these two points and realize you need to pay more attention to the look and sound of your service. Below are a few websites you can use to move you ahead and get you out of any rut you may have been stuck in. Of course, if you need some one-on-one consulting, All Praise Ministries can help you with that as well. Hit us up and lets start discussing your specific situation and find a solution that works for you!

 Blessings,

Jimmy Smith

RESOURCES for How You Look:
I like to visit websites and look for thought starters. Here are some sites that have plenty of ideas for staging.
Church Stage Design Ideas
Staging Concepts
Concept Design Productions

There are too many sources for live sound for me to dare list them all here.
We can help you find a qualified sound consultant in your area. Just give us a call.

I get asked all the time, “how do you find such great musicians.” And while my answers have always been straight forward and to-the-point, I’m still disappointed to see their reaction to my answers:

1.  Be Great!  Greatness attracts greatness. If you’re a mediocre leader or musician, chances are the great players will not want to be on your team. Ok, ok. So you’re not great, but still need solid musicians. Fine, call people you know who are great at what they do.  Don’t know anyone like that?  Then hit the social trail and tell everyone in the whole wide world that you have a need and want the best of the best to audition. It’s more time consuming than a great reference, but may be your only shot at this point.
2. Take Care of Your Musicians! This one is a no brainer, yet the second most rejected piece of advice I give on this subject. Musicians are typically “different” than most others on a church staff. And typically the lowest paid as well. The LEAST you can do to help compensate them for their time is to provide three simple  staples: Food, Water, Rest.  You’ll be surprised how eager musicians become to serve with you on a full stomach and a rested body. At every rehearsal, we feed our team. And we feed them WELL!  Not just pizza or sub sandwiches, but Chicken or Steak, Mashed potatoes or Mac and Cheese, green beans or Corn. I’m talking, a Southern heart-attack-on-a-plate meal! We eat for thirty minutes, chat about the music a little and then rehearse. Talk about getting your team there on time? This will help!
3. Pay them!  By the way, THIS is the #1 most-rejected piece of advice I give. But you pay your pastor, your youth director, your janitor! Do you expect more of a commitment from the unrewarded? You get what you give. “Musician” is typically the one position that  requires a high-level, single-minded skill set. Yet, many expect them to offer those skills for free in the name of The Lord.  God wants YOU to be fair to everyone on your ministry team. He also wants you to reach for excellence.

By implementing one or all of these steps, you increase your chances of finding, retaining and multiplying great musicians for your church. Talk about these in your next staff meeting and let me know how it goes! Until then, if you need a leader, musician or singer for a worship service, All Praise Ministries can help. We know a lot of GREAT players and singers for hire. But if you ever want to use them again, you’d better treat them well.

Don Chapman makes a great point in this blog about Churches and Worship music. Read it HERE.

All Praise was never created to force members to devote large amounts of time without compensation. The purpose of All Praise is, and has always been, to use the knowledge base of pastors, worship leaders and teachers to consult churches towards excellence – not to become a stable of worship-leaders-for-hire.

I felt it was an important enough move within the All Praise structure to let all AP Members know about this change. My wife and I feel it’s time to start being compensated for the work that requires so much time and effort from me and my family.

As far as the services received by the church I’m leading, nothing changes. Anything outside of Worship Leading will still be administered by and billed through All Praise Ministries, while the Worship Leading services will be billed by me directly.

As a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, we want to keep any and all financial decisions made about how your money is spent 100% transparent and available for your review.

Thank you for trusting us with your time, money and efforts. And most importantly, thank you for your continued support through prayer.

Blessings,

Jimmy Smith
Founder/Chairman
All Praise Ministries

John 4:23-24

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Those of us who are saved worship God. But how many of us worship Him the way He requires us to worship Him? According the scripture, God clearly wants us to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

To worship in spirit, we must stay connected to The Holy Spirit through prayer and communion with Him. To worship Him in Truth, we must know the truth. To know the truth, we must read His Word and Pray daily so He may reveal to us the truth we need to worship Him.

Wow! Are you showing up on Sundays to sing, praise and worship God after a week of not reading the bible, listening to or talking to God? If so, you are not the kind of worshipper God is looking for.

Today, make a commitment to stay connected to The Holy Spirit through prayer, and to know His truth by reading God’s Word. Otherwise, your worship is worthless and fruitless.

SCRIPTURE: Matt 9:37-38
He said to His disciples, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord Who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”

OBSERVATION:
Jesus was speaking to believers. To men he had chosen to do His work. Today, it would be you and me – pastors and leaders. What He’s telling us is that we need more of US to do His work. We should be praying that God will send more people like us to lead the lost to Him. Yet, I meet with pastors all the time who are reluctant to partner with other local churches. Many of them view other churches as threats to their own success. It’s sad, but it’s real.

APPLICATION:
Today, when I pray for more people to work the fields, I will also pray for the pastors who feel threatened by them.

PRAYER:
Father, you are so great and awesome! I am honored that You would call me to help bring more people to know You. May I never take that task lightly. I also ask that You give me the right words to say to the many pastors I encounter and help them begin seeing other pastors as allies. My prayer is that we can all work together as one to do what You have called us to do; work the fields and bring more people to You! I love You, God. I can’t imagine my life without You in the driver’s seat. Thank you for the many blessings in my life. I am so unworthy and yet so grateful. Amen.

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God has placed in each of us the trait of discontent.  Many of us, however, use that discontent inappropriately by letting off steam towards another person, often causing us to sin in the process. But when God placed that discontent in our DNA, his intention wasn’t for us to use it against others, but rather to use it to help others.

In the 2007 book by Bill Hybels, Holy Discontent – Fueling the Fire That igniters Personal Vision, Bill talks about finding that one thing that grips your heart, soul and mind to the point that you must do something about it. He calls it a “Popeye moment,” referring to the point in the old Popeye cartoons where the sailor man would get so frustrated that he says, “I’ve had all I can stands and I can’t stands no more.” OF course, each cartoon wnet on to Popeye’s defeat of the evil Bruto and always saved his dear girlfriend, Olive Oyl” from the hands of danger.

In the cartoon, it was Popeye that saved the day. In the real world, it’s you and me – the church – entrusted to save the day. But that won’t happen until we find that one thing that gets us to that Popeye moment.

SO HOW DO WE GET TO THE POPEYE MOMENT?

Point #1: Find your Holy Discontent
We all have things we dislike. I dislike spousal abuse. When I hear of a man hitting a woman, I feel like finding that man and throwing a few punches myself. Really. But clearly it isn’t my holy discontent or I’d be out there rescuing women and children instead of leading worship and my two extra bedrooms at my house wouldn’t be empty.

To find your Holy Discontent, pray. Ask Go to show it to you. Don’t get fooled into directing your attention towards something you merely dislike.  A holy discontent goes deeper than that and it may not be obvious. Quite possibly it could require fervent prayer and petitioning of God.

But once God reveals it to you, it will keep you up at night trying to figure out a way to do something about it.  It will become a passion of yours.

• For Moses – it was the misery of God’s people.
• For King David – it was Goliath trash-talking His God and his people.
• For Nehemiah, it was people mocking God.
• For Mother Theresa, it was seeing people in poverty (school teacher.)
• For Martin Luther King Jr, it was seeing injustice and unfairness and cruelty to an entire race of people.
• For Bill Hybels, it was churches who didn’t seem to care about the lost, so he started the “Seeker Sensitive Movement.”
  

MY HOLY DISCONTENT
For me, it’s people who won’t get out of their comfort zone and completely sellout for Christ. That’s why I’m so passionate about contemporary music and modern church services. Because we need to offer music and services that attract the lost, not pander to the saved.

I am discontent with complacency in churches and I’m doing things to change it. All Praise Ministries was formed with the understanding that we would make some people uncomfortable. To me, that’s a small price to pay. It’s not about us! It’s about the lost and bringing them to know Jesus. Period.

Point #2: Endure Your Holy Discontent (don’t give up.)
Once you find that one thing that you can’t stand any longer, you’ll need to expose your heart to it. You’ll need to open your mind to it. And that will most certainly lead to frustration and heart ache.

Someone once told me, “I want to disciple this person but they are too lost and caught up in their sin for me to help them.” Listen, IT IS GOING TO BE HARD!  But don’t give up. Just remember that this is your calling, your passion and one of your purposes from God. And for that reason, you can’t quit. If you did, you’d never feel satisfied again.

Point #3: Feed Your Holy Discontent
Don’t Run From it.  Stay Close to it! Feed that discontent. Most of us flee from frustration. But God gave you your holy discontent for you to run to, not run from. Immerse yourself into the fire God has placed in your heart and do something about it!

God wants you to become Popeye today. He wants you to find that thing that makes you say, “I’ve had all I can stands and I can’t stands no more.”

The most dangerous prayer you can ever pray is this: “God…. Use me!” But when God uses you, he won’t use you half way.  Be prepared to go the distance, and you might just change the world.

Today’s the day you start a new journey. Today’s the day you can look back upon and say, “I took a stand against my discontent and did something about it.”