What does it look like to pastor people who share your passions?

One of my absolute favorite events every fall is when the giant IAAPA conference happens in Orlando. This is literally the biggest event of the year for anyone involved in designing, building, or servicing theme parks, themed entertainment, or any sort of themed attractions. Think everything from Disney World on down to your local Pirate’s Cove mini-golf or family entertainment center. It’s really kind of staggering just how massive this conference is. For almost a decade now, I’ve functioned in a sort of chaplain role for a prayer breakfast that brings together Christ-Followers and a few seekers for breakfast, some networking, and a guest speaker. (This year, we had Joe Pine, author of “The Experience Economy”).

My first year serving this group of creatives and executives involved about a dozen of us in a little conference room at the Orange Country Convention Center. This past year, we had nearly 300 people present. It’s been so fun to see this event become an encouragement to so many.

I heard someone say once to “Pastor your city and your city will become your church”. Our city here in Orlando is all about the theme park industry. So, pastoring this group of people has been a high calling and honor. I also happen to be a huge theme park nerd. So, getting to hang out with a lot of the people responsible for making the magic happen is kind of a dream come true.

Also, a few years ago I shifted from working directly at a church as a pastor, to working with churches all over the country in helping them tell their story through buildings and brands. Most people in the church world know the company I work for under the name- PlainJoe Studios. But actually, PlainJoe is under the larger umbrella of Storyland Studios which happens to be a big name in the theme entertainment industry. So, in a weird convergence of work and fun, I now find myself working for a company that designs churches . . . and theme parks. You would’nt think those two things would go together, but actually, when you realize that it’s all about good storytelling, it makes perfect sense. While PlainJoe almost exclusively focuses on churches, non-profits and Christian Schools, Storyland works with some of the biggest names in themed entertainment. But here’s the cool little secret-once you get through either of our front doors (PlainJoe or Storyland), it’s the same team. Which means you’ve got some really amazing talent designing a theme park one day, and a church the next day.

I generally keep to the PlainJoe side of the business since I have more experience working with pastors and churches. But since I live in Orlando, I jump in and help with the Storyland experience on the floor of IAAPA. And I continue to serve in a pastor/chaplain type role for the annual Themed Entertainment and Attractions Prayer Network event.

I want to encourage any pastors reading this to find ways to pastor the people who are passionate about the things you are passionate about. Are you into Disc Golf, or Harley’s, or pickleball, or crossfit, or video games, or bourbon tasting? Don’t just play with these people, flex those pastoral muscles when appropriate. Look for opportunities to be a normal person who happens to be a pastor, and you will find that when those people you have fun with need a pastor, they will turn to you because you are already in their lives.

And if you ever find yourself in Orlando in the third week of November, you are welcome to come see what we are up to at this annual prayer breakfast that has grown from a few dozen to a few hundred.

I love my friends in the Harbor Network, so I was excited to get a chance to go back for the second year in a row to this amazing conference in Louisville, KY. If you in the Harbor group, or just live in the Louisville area, I’d love to connect with you! Hope to see you there!

10 years in the making, you can now buy the newly updated “Defining The Executive Pastor Role” on Amazon.com. I’m calling this the “ten year anniversary edition”. I’ve added several new chapters including one about the Soul of the Executive Pastor. Other new chapters focus on the new or aspiring executive pastor, and how to approach your first year in a new church.

It’s available in paperback, kindle and audiobook.

I’ve had the privilege of serving several churches in the Foundry Network through my work at PlainJoe Studios. Foundry is a small network of larger churches in Weslyan/Methodist tradition. I’m excited to be at their annual conference this year representing for PlainJoe Studios and helping pastors understand how to tell their story more effectively through buildings and brands. If you’ll be there in April, let’s grab coffee!

10 years ago, I had the privilege of writing a book called “Defining The Executive Pastor Role”. It’s hard to believe that much time has gone by since I wrote it! Way back in 2014 when the book came out, I had the intention of following it up with a second book, also for Executive Pastors, and possibly a third. But life got in the way. Our church was growing at a very fast clip. We needed more staff, more space, more everything. And that second book stopped short after I’d written a couple chapters.

Then, I started getting questions about a teaching I’d done on Elder Development at a couple conferences. Those questions turned into phone calls and those phone calls turned into a book that you’ll find on Amazon called “Eldership Development: From Application To Affirmation”. As it turned out, both of these books did really well and found their way around the globe without much effort. Along the way, I started doing a lot more coaching with pastors and consulting with churches. In 2022, I shifted into serving other churches full-time (instead of my own church), and that was bit of a learning curve in and of itself.

As 2023 began, I realized that 1. I wanted to update the XP book. 2. I had good content hidden in evernote files that needed to be at least added to the original. 3. I had gotten great feedback on what was missing from the original book and I wanted to add it.

So I set a goal.

Publish the new version of Defining The Executive Pastor Role in 2023! I worked diligently on the update (if not somewhat sporadically) and as fall 2023 came on, I was within striking distance of finishing the project. Unfortunately, I also realized that my work for PlainJoe Studios with churches across the nation and internationally had me entering a season that would create travel 10 out of 12 weeks straight through mid-december.

So I did what anyone would do. I altered my goal. I would at least get the updated manuscript to an editor by the end of the year. It’s ok if publishing it happened in 2024.

With this new goal in mind, I worked hard to finish things up on the weekend and on planes. As Christmas approached I decided to take the time between Christmas and New Years off completely from my day job with PlainJoe Studios. (No pastors were working anyway, so it was fine). I put a solid three days into one final push and on New Years Eve, 2023, I sent the newly updated manuscript off to my editor and rested in knowing that I had met my goal! (Even if it was altered a bit from earlier in the year).

The book is now with my editor. After that, it goes to my formatter. Cover design update is in the works with my graphic designer. My hope is that the updated version will be live on Amazon by the middle to end of February 2024. Stay tuned! I’m really pleased with how it turned out.

UPDATE:: Due to a death in the family, the release of this book will move to April, 2024.

Church Planting is hard work. Really hard work. Perhaps one of the of most tiring aspects of planting a church is the set up and tear down involved each week in having a rented worship space. It’s understandable then that many church planters are happy just to pull off a basic set up each week. Chairs, sound system, kids min, welcome table — done. What we at PlainJoe call Spatial Storytelling is often not on your radar when time is tight and volunteers are lacking. And yet, with a bit of planning and a small investment, you can really make a space your own. If you do this right, people might not even notice that you are a renter, not an owner. Here are five simple ideas that won’t break the bank:

1. Get creative with your signage—Really think through your temp signage and if possible, cover up existing signage for the venue where you meet. The standard church planter signage involves a lot of sandwich board signs and teardrops blowing in the wind. They are cost effective and available everywhere. But you can be more creative.  Look for ways to cover up existing signage with banner type materials. If you have onsite storage, you have options for having nicer signs made that can easily hang over the venues signage. Perforated signs go great on chain link fences around public schools. Branded tents can double as a welcome space and signage, and they give you something to use at community events that you take part in. Car magnet signs can be cut in any shape and stuck on metal doors and window frames. And don’t let anyone get lost. Really think through the user journey from street to seat. Give them a clear directional sign right about the time that they are wondering where to turn next. 
2. Consider the atmosphere you create— Owning your own building gives you options with furniture and decor that is harder to pull off in a set up/tear down situation. But don’t give up! Think through what 15 minutes of set up time could accomplish in the lobby at the welcome table or on a communion table at the front of the worship space. Give someone with a good sense of design that really gets your churches style a two-hundred dollar budget per qtr. and tell them to keep the look and feel fresh and consistent with the style of your church and the season you are in. Maybe that means you skip the stretch fabric table cloth with your churches name on it and go with an artsy look that might fit well in a trendy restaurant. If the same person does this job consistently, you’ll build up a bit of a library of tablecloths, candles, baskets, etc. that can be readily re-used over the years and also help with special events. Ask someone to build you a good rolling cabinet for storage and pad the inside to prevent glass things from breaking. 
3. Stage design still matters in a temp space— Again, it’s easy to feel like just having a complete band is a big enough win in a church plant and that stage design is too hard to pull off each week. I’ve been there. I get it. But a creative thinker can figure out stage design that is easily set up and torn down. Work with what you’ve got. Are you in a school theatre environment? Utilize the stage rigging to do a cool floor to ceiling banner with some seasonal and on-brand colors. Get an AVL person to figure what could be done easily with gobo lights. Even old school candles can be cool if used well. Work with the building owners to come up with something that will benefit you both. People are going to stare at your stage for 60-90 minutes. It’s worth some thought. 
4. Invest in the building— Sometimes you find yourself renting a less than great building that really needs some TLC, but the owner doesn’t want to make the investment, or can’t afford to. This is especially true when you are renting from an older dying church. You can offer to pay for some upgrades and along the way, you can guide the choices made. A new paint scheme and flooring can really help an old church lobby and doesn’t cost much. Fresh modern furniture from IKEA or Wayfair will really put it over the top (the trick is to make sure you get rid of the old stuff or it will find it’s way back into the lobby:) You might even be able to make a deal on the rent by covering the cost of these upgrades. Install flip frame sign holders with your images on the front and the building owners images on the back. It only takes a minute to flip them around after church. 
5. Work with what you’ve got — The most important thing to keep in mind in all of this is to work with what you’ve got. Is there a giant horrible bulletin board right when you walk in the front door? Don’t set up pipe and drape. Get something on-brand printed on fabric that can be easily pinned over it all in 10 seconds. Customize signage and atmosphere to the building you are renting. Move ugly outdated furniture into an unused room to tell the right story. If you are doing an evening service, you have a lot of lighting options to to change the vibe. 

It takes some thought and a small investment, but it can be done even on a church planters budget and volunteer base. Don’t wait to get your own building before engaging in telling a connected story with everything you do. If your church is large enough to really think through branding and spatial needs, let’s grab a zoom call and see if it might be time to work with me at PlainJoe Studios! Email me HERE and mention this article.

From time to time, I am asked for examples of my teaching or communication style. Here are couple of examples.

Belief Within Community – A sermon on three categories of belief.

Expectancy – A reflective sermon at the outset of a new year.

Recently, my good friend and fellow author, John Stange, asked me to contribute a chapter to a book he was editing called “My First Years In Ministry”. It was fun to take some time to think back on those early years post seminary around 2002-2005. If you know someone who is new in ministry, you’ll find the book on Amazon!

Have you ever tried to read the Bible in a year? How’d that work out for you? I tried it once. I got behind after a few weeks, got discouraged, and stopped. Then I found a two-year plan. I stuck with that one a little longer, but still found that it left little time to wander into other passages that were not in the plan. Finally, I decided to look for a three-year plan and I’ve been doing it for almost ten years!

Recently, I had the opportunity to preach the sermon in between Christmas and New Years. One of our pastors refers to this as “Youth Pastor Sunday” and there is some truth to the fact that it is rarely the Lead Pastor preaching that week. At Mosaic, we tend to take turns doing it and let’s be honest, nobody really wants to do it. While everyone else is enjoying some extra time with their families at the holidays, the person who draws the short straw has to be prepping a sermon. So, since I knew that I’d be doing this particular Sunday a couple months in advance, I started my prep early and I did something really different. I attempted to practice silence and solitude in a room full of people. And it actually worked rather well!

We recently finished a four week series at Mosaic called “Only Jesus”. In the early planning stages, it was a catch all for a few different things we wanted to unpack with our church. But then it morphed into an incredibly succinct look at what our church is all about. As the communications team joined together with the teaching team to hear from our Lead Pastor on his heart for the series and discuss the felt needs of a congregation whose collective head was spinning from rapid growth, we began to brainstorm on the story that threaded it all together. Pretty soon,

I know I am a geek for new products or processes that help me do my job with more energy or more effectiveness. But this one is really working well for me and so I wanted to throw it out to you as my readers.

I recently got me a standup desk.

I recall 30-35 years ago when I was a teen and my dad worked in the concrete construction business. He was a foreman and would travel from job to job to check in on his guys and the progress of their work. I worked a couple of summers and got to ride around with him.

The crews loved him. Beyond his care for them as people, he was super organized in his work. He knew details, remembered conversations, and made things happen. These were also the days before smartphones and task management apps. 

So what did he use? I distinctly remember. 

Routine is nice, but routine can make me too settled in my thinking at times. I am a linear thinker and I enjoy processes. I appreciate practices that help move me to successful thinking or profitable action.

I like systems that work once and then keep working thereafter.

But I never want my thinking to go stale. Regardless of your vocation, stale thinking does not promote God-glorifying action. I believe that is one reason that God gave us creativity – to push the fences of typical thinking to new possibilities and fresh outcomes.