Central Media Group

One of the big honkin' projects we've been doing is reorganizing the way we work. About a year ago, my team moved over to the worship department. that department consist of worship, production, video, and prayer. since we have moved, it has been a long, but good process. we've learned much about the world of production and it has made what we do a lot easier. We now work very well integrating the stage sets, video, bumpers, print, etc. for each series we do.

something i've learned is that change, when it happens, will produce an outcome that is both tough and good issues. The good is a bonus, you never know when to expect it. The tough, sometimes seen as bad, however, can be a blessing. It helps you navigate and learn from mistakes. I have actaully come to really like the tough spots we have been through.

I think you have to go through lots of bumps, curves, turns, and sometimes spins outs to get to a point you feel back in control of your world. I'm getting to that place.

We have more work to do, but I feel really good about the progress.

ask question, or get in touch with me to dialog more about the experience and what i would do different. Maybe I'll post this sometime. 

Been a while

too long since my last post. Hee is an update to what has been going on.

What a month!
Reflecting over the past month and looking to what is coming, this church is a busy place! I’m continue to be amazed at all that going on and how God is working and doing what He does best—transform lives!
On Easter weekend, we had more than 14,000 people come to worship and hear the Good News. It was a special weekend that is still causing people to reflect on. We followed that weekend with a special night of worship with Aaron Keyes where more than 500 came to lift praises. Right after that was the Girlfriends event that brought 900 women together to a concert by Nicole C. Mullen and guest speakers that helped women to develop more into the person God desires for them. We also had an evening that brought married couple to watch the movie Fireproof, and begin to get involved in a community where mentors can help married couples learn and grow their marriage. This new, exciting ministry is just launching and they have some exciting things developing.
This past month has been a blur, and right around the corner, we have with us William Young, author of The Shack, speaking at the services this coming weekend. You just do not want to miss this weekend. His book has sold more than 6 million copies and it is currently in five languages, with plans to translate it into more than 15. Then Sunday night, a thousand people will be splashing and soaking up rays at Big Surf, for Central’s annual picnic. What is really cool about this event, other than families hanging out and enjoying time together, are the baptisms that will happen in one of the pools. Many people will be “getting dunked” in the waters at Big Surf. What a memory that will be! Then on May 20, we host John Eldredge, who is speaking on the Mesa campus. We anticipate a big crowd to hear what John has to say to men and the women who love them. He has been on a 20-city tour the past month and we’re the spot for his Valley stop. People from all over will be on the Mesa campus. Plan to come to this event. Tickets are just $15.
We enjoy the opportunity to host events for this community and watch as people get involved at Central. But I have to tell you that none of that matters more to us than witnessing God work in the lives of the people He brings. Do you know that since September 2009, we have had almost 1,000 baptisms? Unbelievable! That is something to celebrate. Did you also know that more and more people are experiencing God move in their lives and that story after story is told in our staff meetings about the incredible change that takes place in someone after Jesus touches them? It is happening in record numbers and it is so fun to watch God take the lead on this.
Recently in our bookstore, a young women came in and asked for a Bible. This teenager has never owned a Bible before. Her parents are divorced, but she tells us she is following Jesus and her dad sees this life change that only Christ can do for her, and he wants in on what she’s got!
In Acts 2, it tells us the early believers “…devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” These early believers did life together and gave to anyone who had a need. The Lord added to their number every day those who were being saved. I look at what God is doing at Central and I can’t help but be in awe. God is Good! Are in on the ride yet?

Big Prayer conference this week

With more than 900 people coming to Elevate, Central's annual prayer conference, we're excited to be hosting this. It should be good. Really good.
We tried a few new methods to promoting the event this year. I believe they helped a great deal.
We kept promoting the event in our weekly e-newsletter that goes out to about 12,500 email addresses.
We also did a new video email. It was a cool test and worked great. I can blog about that more.
There were other tools used, but in about three weeks, we added almost 800 people to the event.
And what is really cool, we're trying something new by promoting next years event. I've attached the graphic for this.

Super Bowl Sunday

We officially cancelled services on Sunday afternoon.
It's a good move.
We still have 7 other services to choose from.
And amazingly, we still got flack for this move.

Go Cardinals!

Here We Go

Our teaching team at Central met yesterday.
We laid out the sermon series from March through October.
Me liking it!
We've got some killer series that will be ideal for marketing.
It will be fun to design promotions, graphics, stage, video.

What we've been doing the past year is meeting twice to figure out the series.
Our next time will be may to plan out October through March.
I like the concept as we don't plan out so far that we lose interest by the time we get there.

The way we do it here is this team comes up with the topics and nail down a title.
Then my team takes it from there for graphics.
Is that how your church goes about the process of building the image for series? I'd love feedback on what works and what doesn't.

Under Construction

We're working on developing a new Web site for Central.
I'm excited.
Here is a glimpse.
Definitely a new look and feel.
More aligned with the direction we're headed.
What I'm excited about is giving the staff more direction on how to appropriately communicate.
Some features we will have...tweeter, flickr, new media site, new newsletter, blogs...
Rollin' out soon...
Mark Miller is a champion!

Repulsed

Repulsed—Confronting the sins of the church. We launched a new series last weekend. It went well. We had almost 9,000 people on campus for this kick-off. We are covering nine sins of the church.

This is an interesting series for me to promote. Months back, when this series was laid out, I was excited about the potential of advertising this to the public. Before I knew it, a little thing called Christmas happened, and time flew by. Right after Christmas, I began the campaign to promote this series. It has gone over very well. If you're interested in all we did, just ask.

But what I've been pondering is how close do you put two really powerful series? I mean, we just came from Christmas, had a one week break (and by the way, that one week break was the "state of the union" and an open baptism with 260 plus people getting in the water) and then launch into another killer series. It puts pressure on the promotions team, the stage, video, production, etc. I'm hoping we learn to give a little breathing room so we can be prepared.

The good news is the start of the series was a hit and it's NINE weeks long! Plenty of time to prepare for Easter.