Archive for the 'Community' Category

Community: Can you Belong before you Believe?

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on March 9, 2010
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Community and Street to the Seat
. 0 Comments

Well, I thought I’d step off in this one early by saying I think you can belong before you believe and certainly before you behave and/or become.  I haven’t always had this perspective.  For years I was trained to teach persons to believe, behave, and then they could belong and become.  I even wrote about it when I wrote B.E.L.O.N.G. only a few short years ago.  I now let B.E.L.O.N.G. grow as I grow.

Become a learner of Jesus - over time I think you’ll fall in love with Him as I did.
Embrace a life of purpose
Live life in the context of groups
Offer your time and resources
Nurture relationships within the community
Grow in biblical maturity

I once wrote that “Become” meant you had to become a believer in Christ to belong.  I genuinely believe now that if we will allow someone to walk along side us as a part of belonging, they will over time “believe”.

So where did we get off track?  Didn’t Jesus say that we are to come to Him as a child.  It is interesting that we in the North American church built a structure that tells a persons they can only belong once they have met a certain set of criteria.  Our western mindset once again at work… Oh no it isn’t, the spiritual leaders of Jesus’ day did the exact same thing… laws, rules, rituals, regulations, etc… This isn’t new. We’ve just repackaged it to fit our western culture making it permissible.

Jesus modeled for us even with His disciples that we are to allow persons to belong with us…  Think about it… Judas and Peter were “belongers” and then they turned on Jesus.  Thomas was on the inside and still had questions, right up until he stuck his hands in Jesus’ nails scars.  If 120 or so people can sit in the upper room with Jesus - belonging - and still have questions, surely we can allow persons to belong as they search out believing.

Doesn’t mean we turn people lose to run the church or even give them leadership roles without spiritual maturity in Jesus.  But we can let them walk along side us and learn as they go.  There is always a place of service in the local church regardless of where you are on the journey.

Therefore, I submit that while we are loving Jesus, I bet you He’d like to see us:

love others - belong in a community
love God - believe in Jesus
leave a legacy - become the hands and feet of Jesus

Just a thought…

Invest Wisely in the First Impressions of the Church

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on February 24, 2010
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Communication, Community, Connection, Contribution and Street to the Seat
. 1 Comment

I posted on my twitter (@kerrymackey) last week the following,

“Pastors, invest wisely in first impressions or no one will be in the seats to hear you.”

Seriously, if we would invest the same amount of resources helping people bridge the gap between what they think church is and what we genuinely desire it to be don’t you think more people might consider at least trying it once.

For the past 15 years I’ve spent a good majority of my time evaluating how the church invests it’s resources within the walls.

I must say we have not done a good job of wisely investing the resources God has entrusted to us.  What if we were to reinvest the same amount of funds the the following ways: communicating about us effectively in the community (oral, print, broadcast, & digital), making someones connection first rate when they arrive at the church (street to the seat), helping persons assimilate easily (clear next steps), and help them choose to be a part of belonging to the community of faith (fellowship/serving/small groups).

Pastors, just a thought to consider… What if you spent as much on your first impressions ministry as you did on your worship experience & your facilities?

Just a thought!

“Figures” to “Faith” - a 10 year journey… the short story

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on February 5, 2010
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Communication, Community, Connection, Contribution, Street to the Seat and Top 10 Things
. 0 Comments

A journey of living the past 10 years at or above 6 figures ($$) to living by faith.  God woke me during the night last night and began to have me write.  What you see here are my ramblings from last night.

I have been needing to write this post for several months now; however, I just wasn’t ready.  I think I need it as much for myself to flesh out in words my feelings.  I hope you’ll find a nugget or two within my ramblings that will give you a word of faith for your own life.

LESSONS IN FIGURES

Over the past 10 years I have had the great privilege of serving at some of the greatest and most well known churches in the world.  I was fortunate enough to have gone to one of the most well known seminaries in the country in Fort Worth, Texas and began my ministry at a church of 255 in attendance to serving at the executive level of churches of 3000, and two churches over 20,000 in weekly attendance with multiple campuses.

During those times over the past ten years I was honored to have a very nice salary, health, life, dental, vision insurance, church supported HSA’s, retirement, and spending accounts.  Not to mention access to up to 3 & 4 weeks of paid vacations and plenty of time to travel and conduct conferences, revivals, training events, etc…

To tell you the truth over these years I truly haven’t worried about anything.  During that time my bride and I have lived in 3 different states, had 4 boys, and my bride has been able to be a work at home mother and home school our boys.  We have been completely taken care of financially.  Never really worrying about bills, car payments, mortgage, etc…  In fact, we purchased an investment property in Texas and held it for several years.  On other occasions we considered purchasing additional investment properties in Texas just in case we ever considered going back, but never followed through.

LESSONS IN FAITH

In the last 6 months God led us from that life of security in “figures” to join our dear friends Pat & Gina Giraldin in “faith” here in southern California to be church planters.  On Christmas Eve we started, “Hope Crossing Community Church” in San Juan Capistrano California (92675)

These past 6 months have been the greatest lesson in faith my bride and I have ever encountered.  Placing our home in Florida on the market in late August 2009… (still hasn’t sold - potentially will short sale) to moving our family to southern California completely on faith (several people came together to cover the cost of the move), not having a place to live (literally) until after driving into town the second week of December 2009.  Finding a place to rent within days and once again having several families help cover our 1st months rent.

Did I mention that at the time we rolled into town we didn’t have a place to start the church for Christmas Eve.. once again God showed up and gave us San Juan Hills High School Gym on December 14th and hundreds of folks came together to make the start a wonderful success.  In the past 5 weeks we have been gathering as a church, God has been impacting and changing lives of the folks in south Orange County… cities like San Juan Capistrano, San Clemente, Dana Point, Ladera Ranch, Laguna Niguel, Las Flores, Rancho Santa Margarita, Mission Viejo, and Aliso Viejo.

We have never lived an extravagant life; however, God has taught us what we can live without.  For the first time since we’ve been married we are renting a house and not owning.  We haven’t had TV, Cable, Satellite, house phone, or Internet for 6 months - no biggie - Thank you (Panera Bread) for the use of your free Wi-Fi.  We are turning back our lease car this month.  I have started riding my street bike full time.  We don’t have membership dues to golf or sport clubs so nothing lost there.

God has also stepped Stephanie and I through steps of faith in showing us daily provision.  Never in our lives have we been so dependent on daily provisions from God.  We have seen God use the gifts/resources of others to pay our rent, cover utility bills, make insurance payments, cover costs of registering our vehicles, provide groceries, and the list goes on.  It has been a very humbling experience as for the first time in our lives we have started going to the local food bank once a month.  Thank you to every person who has ever given to a local food bank… your generosity is providing for my family… Thank You!

God has shown us that we are so blessed! In light of the world’s problems we are blessed.  We live is a free country protected by the wonderful men/women of the armed forces.  We are all healthy. We have a great family, great children, loving parents/grandparents, awesome friends, and a church home in Hope Crossing that just blows our minds with love.

God has also shown us that the vision of reaching this community for Christ… Is to die for.  It is causing us to die to self and long for their eternal security in a relationship with Jesus.  I was reminded just last night that I have no pride left… For those of you who have known me most of my life you know that is a HUGE step for me.  From my earlier years I was in it for me… It was about what I could do, what I could prove, and who I was going to become in corporate America and in the American church.  I have truly been broken in the past 6 months.  Stephanie and I are both looking for part-time jobs to supplement expenses while getting the church off the ground with the ministry team.

The vision God has given us for south Orange County is crystal clear.  We (Hope Crossing Community Church) are a Church relieved of imposed boundaries created by religion, rising up from a generation that desires hope and community, gathering together to grow as disciples, loving God, loving others, and leaving a legacy of love in the world.

The communities we are desiring to love here in south Orange County are in dyer need of hope, love, and a legacy.  Our vision is to be the Church in our communities, not to them.  We want to be serving in our communities through local Government, Schools, Community Organizations, Youth Organizations, and in the lives of individual families.  We are committed to the cities of south Orange County for the health of our families and our faith.

Check out these stats: (10 mile ring around Hope Crossing - 9 cities)

  • 500,000 people
  • 182,000 households
  • 24.4% - say it is important to attend a religious service
  • 50.5% - consider themselves spiritual
  • 18.0% - enjoy watching religious TV
  • 35.4% - considering themselves to have conservative Christian values
  • 17.3% - say their faith is really important to them
  • 25.0% - say they contribute more than $200 a year to a religious organization

I’d like to ask you to consider partnering with us to carry out the vision God has given us at Hope Crossing Community Church.  Please consider joining the vision.  Your support will change a life, a family, and our community.

Make contributions payable to:

Hope Crossing Community Church

Mail contributions to:

Hope Crossing Community Church
PO Box 4170
Mission Viejo, Ca 92690
Thank you for allowing me to share my journey.  I hope that you have seen from my thoughts that my faith is stronger now than ever… on so much less.  Being a church planter has shown me a missional-life is a faith-life.  Living by faith…

Last night during our bible study and prayer time we studied Galatians 6:9 in the Bible which says, “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.”

We will not give up…

Blessings!

Pastor Kerry

Hope Crossing Web
Hope Crossing Facebook Fan Page

Intentional or Natural Assimilation through the eyes of a Church Planter

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on January 13, 2010
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Communication, Community, Connection, Contribution and Street to the Seat
. 0 Comments

Well, these past several months have been off the hook as we’ve planted  Hope Crossing Community Church in southern California with some dear friends.  Coming from the world of serving on staff with two giga churches over the past 5 years to planting a church from ground up has it’s own assimilation intricacies.

My students at Rockbridge Seminary (an online seminary where I teach) reminded me through their postings this week of our longing for … biblical community.

I am also reminded of a brief discussion I had with Joseph Myers author of “A Search to Belong” back in February 2009.  Joe said, “Why do we work so hard to create something God created us for in the first place?”  Joe was referring to the time/energy the church puts into “creating community”.  Joe said to me, “Kerry, shouldn’t something that God created us to be, come easier?  Why do we try to artificially created something…?”

Just a thought?  It made me think…

Listening to God for Our Next Steps

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on September 23, 2009
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Communication, Community, Connection, Contribution, Street to the Seat and Top 10 Things
. 1 Comment

This past week I spent several days in southern California with friends praying and talking about mine and Stephanie’s journey and listening for discerning words about our next steps in ministry.  You know that this isn’t always a comfortable place for me.  Being the tactical, church business administrator, developer that I have become to be over the years sometimes hinders my ability to hear God.  However, in the past week God has brought our friends, family, coaches, and mentors around us to hear from God.

Here is a run down of 6 days of God speaking … listening to God for our next steps… what do you hear?

Day 1: (September 18, 2009)

God wakes me up at 6:38 a.m. California time

Day 2: (September 19,2009)

God wakes me up at 6:38 a.m. again

Day 3: (September 20, 2009)

God once again wakes me at 6:38 a.m.

Day 4: (September 21, 2009)

Ok, this is crazy… four days in a row God wakes me at 6:38 a.m.  The reason I know it was 6:38 is when He woke me is because I immediately looked at my iPhone to see what time it was… The time 6:38 kept looking back at me.  On this day I immediately called Stephanie and the boys in Texas to make sure everything was OK.  Things were great with her, so I asked Stephanie what it might mean.  She had no idea, but knew God was revealing another sign to us about our next steps in ministry.

I thought for a minute… hmmm… 4 days in a row…. bible…. 4 gospels… Let’s go to the gospels and see what is there.

Book of Matthew - there is not a chapter 6 verse 38.  It ends at verse 34.

Book of Mark - now this is another story. Mark 6:38 reads:

How many loaves do you have?  Go look!”

May not be a sign for you, but it was for me.  I had just been praying over a financial need from the day before that will change the course of our life and ministry.

Book of Luke - chapter 6 verse 38

Give and it will be given to you.  They will pour into your lap a good measure–press down, shaken together, and running over.  For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”

Do you see where this is going?  God is calling us out to be so generous in our daily lives that He, with reckless abandonment will provide for our every need.

Book of John - chapter 6 verse 38

For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent me.”

Hello… God is speaking… He is saying don’t get in My way… I have a plan for you and Stephanie, and it is to do His will, not ours.  We must get out of His way so that He can do what He does best…  “Oh, God don’t let us screw this up.  Whatever “this” is?”

Day 5: (September 22, 2009)

God wakes me at 6:33 a.m.  - Go figure… He missed the book of Matthew and need to take me back.

Book of Matthew - chapter 6 verse 33

But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

I can not fathom that God would wake me up five days in a row at specific times that had meaning… but then again He is God.

Day 6: (September 23, 2009)

Now if 5 days wasn’t enough God woke me up this morning… now back in Florida at 9:23 a.m. and this time I felt like I needed to go to the Book of Luke, so that is where I went.

Book of Luke - chapter 9 verse 23

If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”

Call it what you will, but I believe this is a prophetic and defining moment in mine and Stephanie’s ministry.  In all my years of being a pastor God has never chosen to reveal Himself to me in such a fashion.  I am beside myself in how He is choosing to speak to me in these days.

Wonder if He’ll rest on the 7th day???

Just a Thought…

Relationships before Rules

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on September 17, 2009
in Community
. 0 Comments

Ok… hang with me on this one.  It is 2:00 a.m. California time and 5:00 a.m. Florida time… on the 17th of September 2009 and I haven’t been to bed. My body is on Florida time, but I just had to share this thought with you.

For the past 5 hours a friend of mine and I have been talking life, church, first impressions, discipleship, small groups, Francis Chan, Crazy Love… you name it, we’ve covered it.

And in the middle of our discussion I mentioned that I thought that over the past 14 years of ministry I am sure I’ve create tools, resources, etc… that although good for the church organization (local church) they may have not been good for “the church”… In fact, I am sure I’ve posted blogs here on STTS that although good for moving persons in/out, through processes, into this and that, they might have missed the need of the person…

Have I created rules for first impressions or have I created relationships for first impressions?  Hmmm… something to ponder.  Where do you find yourself?

Case in point…

Over the past several years of doing church we have for the most part limited the recommended age of a child in worship services or we’ve shared with the parent as they walked in that we have a great children’s ministry and/or parents room available for them.  At one church we posted in the bulletin, “please no children under 5 in the worship center”.

Now why is that?  I’ve gone through it over and over in my head, but I just haven’t come to a resolve as to where we find that from the scriptures.  Where is it from scripture that we limit children from gathering to worship with their parents, as part of the larger fellowship?

I am seriously questioning my own design of first impressions around children in the worship gathering.

Matthew 18:5 “And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me…”

Wonder how it makes a non-believer feel when he/she comes to church for the first time and brings their children only to find that upon arrival they can’t enter because their child doesn’t meet the age requirement.  Hmmm…. wonder what Jesus thinks about that?

Mark 10: 13-16 just rips my heart out.  Look at what it says…

And they were bringing the children to Him so that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked them.  But when Jesus saw this, He was indignant and said to them, Permit the Children to come to Me; do not hinder them; for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.  And He took them in His arms and began blessing them, laying His hands on them.

WOW…

  • disciples seemed to be holding up “no child under 5 signs”
  • Jesus became indignant
  • Jesus commands - permit… do not hinder
  • Jesus scorns - whoever does not receive…..will not enter it at all.

Ok… so I’ve said my peace.

Just a Thought!

Journeying with Jesus often takes the road less traveled.

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on September 1, 2009
in B.E.L.O.N.G., Communication, Community, Connection, Contribution, Street to the Seat and Top 10 Things
. 0 Comments

Over the summer months Stephanie and I have been on a ministry growth journey with the Christ Fellowship team, our mentors, our coaches, and family about life and ministry.

We have come to a place in resent days where we believe God is leading us to transition from our position as Director of Adult Ministries at Christ Fellowship Church in Palm Beach Gardens Florida.

As we pray through our next steps in ministry we ask that you join us for an adventure with Jesus.  We are so excited about our next steps… even when we can’t see them clearly.  Dependency is a great place to live.

Street to the Seat (STS) has been close to our hearts for the past several years so we will continue this ministry as we move forward. Please click on the Services tab to see how we can better serve you, your denomination, association, and/or church.

Please CONTACT US to begin a conversation.

Street to the Seat
17172 Brian Way
Jupiter, Florida 33478
561-972-4316
kerry@streettotheseat.com

A week in review while vacationing at the Hyatt Coconut Plantation

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on June 15, 2009
in Communication, Community, Connection and Contribution
. 0 Comments

This past week Stephanie, the boys and I, as well as Stephanie’s parents spent 5 days relaxing near Fort Myers, Florida.  I am continually impressed by how important Customer Relations are in the resort community.  It seems they do not miss a thing from the time you step on the premises until the moment you leave or at least they try.

Makes me ask the question why we do not take first impressions and customer relations more seriously in the local church.

Over the past 13 years in the local church several questions continue to surface in my mind, especially with my recent experience.

  • How can we help the church take a more significant role in customer relations with those who are our guests? (concierge at the condo)
  • What communication tools are we using and are they the correct ones to help meet their perceived needs? (oral, print, broadcast, digital media tools - quick reference guide at the condo)
  • What are we providing guests that creates connection within minutes of their arrival? (guest dessert with staff on evening of arrival, free breakfast in the foyer, etc…)
  • How do we help persons feel like they are making a contribution? (all guests were asked to hang their towels for multiple days to assist with being ‘green’, also asked to keep the grounds clean, etc…)
  • How are we helping persons feel like they are part of the community as quickly as possible? (the resort shared a listing of all the benefits available.)

Just a couple of thoughts I was having this week.

Thank you Hyatt Coconut Plantation for a GREAT experience while being your guest.  You made a GREAT first impression and provided GREAT customer relations.

The backside of Easter

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on April 25, 2009
in Communication and Community
. 0 Comments

long time… no talk…

The backside of Easter is always a busy time for us first impression and assimilation guys/gals.  All the hard work that is put into making the experience one that will break down all the barriers of someone who only attends a church once to twice a year is crucial.

The back end of the experience is just as crucial.  This year was a great year where I serve.  We saw 1275 families engage one of our campuses with 312 persons choosing to follow Jesus and 204 persons saying they desire to return to the teachings of Jesus.  Wow… Praise God for such a wonderful Easter experience…27,000 on one of our 5 campuses and 16,000 joining us online.

We have spent the the past two weeks being very intentional about how we follow up with our guests.

Here are a few things we’ve done that you might find helpful:

NewComer:

  • FREE CD at the Welcome Centers with a coupon for a FREE coffee and/or meal on us.
  • Email response w/n 24 hours of them completing a response card
  • Automated phone call from our executive pastor w/n 48 hours
  • Personal phone call from a ministry partner and/or pastor from the campus they attended w/n 72 hours
  • Letter in the mail from Senior Pastor w/n 3 days - specifically asking them to join us for the next weekends launch of a new series

New to Jesus

  • Email w/n 24 hours
  • Personal phone call from a ministry partner and/or pastor from the campus they attended w/n 72 hours
  • Letter in the mail from Director of Adult Ministries w/n 3 days - specifically asking them to join us for the next weekends launch of a new series AND to invite them to “New Beginnings” a class specifically designed for them to answer their questions and give them next steps.

Coming back to Jesus

  • Email w/n 24 hours
  • Personal phone call from a ministry partner and/or pastor from the campus they attended w/n 72 hours
  • Letter in the mail from Director of Adult Ministries w/n 3 days - specifically asking them to join us for the next weekends launch of a new series AND to invite them to “Foundations” a class specifically designed for them address the basics doctrines of the faith and give them next steps.

In addition, we have asked each of our campus teams to personally call these folks weekly for the first month just to check on them, see how they are doing, answer any questions, they may have, and encourage them to connect with us each week on some level… weekend service, life group, life study, etc…

Hope these few suggestions are helpful…

iMAX tool launches at Christ Fellowship this weekend. GREAT next step tool for assimilating new folks into small group community leveraging the weekend experience and teaching time as a springboard for community/belonging.

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on March 15, 2009
in Community
. 0 Comments

You want to talk about tools for building Community.  Check out the new tool we launched this weekend at Christ Fellowship.  The iMAX Guide is a great next step tool.

__________

Maximize the Message (iMax)

The IMAX Guide is designed to bring your faith to life! You can use it individually, as a family devotional, or in a group with your friends. It’s up to you! These guides will help you take the message to the max so you can Grow to Go!

Each week, there will be a new guide based on the most recent weekend message. You can download your copy or pick it up at Life Group Central right after the service you attend.

Ways you can use this tool:

  • Meet with friends after the service you attend to unpack the message together
  • Gather with a friend or family at a local café to talk about how the message impacted you
  • Use during your personal devotional times throughout the week • Initiate spiritual conversations with your family about the message
  • Use the guides as the curriculum in your life group
  • Ask a couple friends to go through a message series with you so you can discover, develop, and deploy God’s Word in your lives
  • Tips for Life Group Discussion

Share Your Story

How has God touched your life during your time spent using these guides? We’d love to know so that we can pray for you and encourage others in their faith. Let us know how has helped you in your group by using our online contact form.