the blog

Photo courtesy of Kenny Grill

In attempt to get back into blogging, I’m just gonna tell you all about a cool new addition to Rancho Community Church. It’s our “Coffee Shoppe”.

We opened it up two weeks ago and it was a HUGE hit. Apparently we’ve been planning on a coffee shop for years, it just never got traction until now. But we’ve got it open now and it’s amazing what is happening: People are connecting. There’s just something about having food or drink and a place to sit, an area to hang out that attracts people.

Photo courtesy of Kenny Grill

One of the strangest things that we noticed when we first came to Rancho Community was that the place seemed to “empty out” when the worship services ended. People just disappeared. At first, Jen and I thought maybe it was a fluke, or maybe we were weird, but after talking with people and staff members, we realized that this was really an issue. There was really nothing “to do” after church – nowhere to go or hang out. So people naturally filed out, picked up their kids and drove away.

Photo courtesy of Kenny Grill

This brings me to the point: I believe that people need a “place” to congregate, to connect. And I also believe that “if you build it, they will come”. Creating space designed for people to connect is crucial. I mean, it’s not as important as say, preaching the Gospel, or baptism – but it is an important piece of the puzzle when building a church and making connections, at least in our culture. We have this desire to connect, but we also have this thing about space and comfort levels – especially in Southern California where we don’t even talk to our neighbors. But…

When we create space for casual connections, such as a coffee shop, people are naturally drawn to it. Connections happen, which turn into conversations, which are the building blocks of relationships.

I’m excited to see that Rancho Community is embracing this idea, and I’m excited to see this little idea grow and be an anchor for connections at our church.

On a more technical level, here’s some of strategy behind the launch:

• I used this amazing graphic as inspiration
• I also used the “Coffee with a Cause” (great concept!) from that graphic. It was a last minute idea to help keep the “Global Impact / Missions” project in front of our congregation throughout the year.
• We basically cut our outdoor “Info Center” in half using printed backdrops with the logo, color, and photos of our Peru missionaries.
• The Coffee Shoppe proceeds go to support the work in Peru (church planting, missionary training, micro-businesses).
• The shop serves Seattle’s Best Coffee (a Starbucks product), along with muffins & donuts.
• Right now it’s open before and after all Sunday morning worship services (8, 9:10, and 10:45am) – with plans to open during many other services & events throughout the week and on the weekend.
• Follow the Coffee Shoppe on Twitter @coffee_shoppe for updates and coupons
• Join the Fan Page on Facebook

Special thanks to @Kenny_Grill of Kenny Grill Photography for some awesome photos (there’s more on Facebook).

Not a lot of time to write… Click on the thumbnails for more.

From Twitter:

Stuff I didn’t send to Twitter:

That’s all for now.

It’s Spring Break, which hasn’t meant too much to me in a while. I’m not really a “Spring Break-er”, never was and for the past 10+ years, I can’t even remember ever talking about it. But, times have changed and (1) we have a first-grader, and (2) I work primarily for his school, all of which means: (1) a week off of homework and school for Miles, and (2) a week of of work for me = awesome.

Here’s some snapshot thoughts from Spring Break:

• Started with plans to camp at South Carlsbad
• RV needed new tires and had a water leak = we had to change our plans last minute
• Headed out to the Avi in Laughlin (cuz it’s cheap and has a good pool for the kids)
• Plus about the Avi = free wifi so I was able to do some catching up on google reader, technology, and basically check out some cool un-work-related stuff…
• Anyone mess around with Firefox’s new “Personas“? It’s pretty cool.
• All of the sudden, I am glad I don’t have an iPhone and that my Sprint renewal is coming up in Summer.
• We had a doppleganger of Dexter in the Spa with us the other night = a little freaky.
• The waiter from Birdcage, Agador, works at the Avi Cafe.
• Trying to finish this book, and reading this one for fun.
• I found this lobby display that I’m using as inspiration for a new lobby display at Rancho Community.
• Found a really good article on which online company to use for Photo Books here.
• Does anyone else go to Barnes & Noble and read magazines for hours and take pages of notes? I do; I read Layers Magazine, Photoshop Creative, Mac World, CMYK, etc…
• Excited about heading to Catalyst West Coast next week – who’s going? Will there be a Tweetup #Catwest?
• Easter was awesome! My second Easter not “working”, so we celebrated by volunteering @ranchocommunity. After church we headed over to the Marcelino’s for a great afternoon. Photos are here.
• Macy turned four on April 9th. We celebrated by going to the Original Pancake House with family & friends – thanks everyone who came & made it special! Photos are here.

Lastly (since I’m not regularly blogging), Jen’s Grandpa, Mel Green passed on on Sunday, April 11. I’ll do a post soon with more info on his life, in the mean time, please keep Jen’s family in your prayers.

Thanks for reading!

I haven’t been reading too many blogs lately, but there are a few recent articles that are worth sharing. Here they are:

If you don’t read Seth Godin’s blog every once in a while, you are missing out. Here are a few of his latest & greatest (in my opinion):

• It’s easier to teach compliance than initiative
• Genius is misunderstood as a bolt of lighting
• The best reason for a big event
• Frightened, clueless, and uninformed

Another great thing about Seth’s blog is that these are bite-size and easy to digest.

Here’s one from Ed Setzer:

• Gospel Definitions

One from Michael Hyatt:

• The Scourge of Cynisism

This is an awesome article from FastCompany.com dealing with Burn Out:

• Do Something: Six Tips to Reinvent Non-Profits

That’s all for now. Have a wonderful day.

Photo courtesy of OopsyDaisy Photography

I used to average at least one post per day, and a lot of my writing was work related. That was when I was a full time “pastor” at a medium size church. I wrote a lot about design, marketing, worship, tech, leadership and my family. Most was just what I was learning or experiencing at the time (which was a lot). Lately I haven’t been blogging at all, and I’m still not sure why. But one thing that has been on my mind as I’ve been considering revving up the blog again is “what do I write about?”.

Family – that’s easy. I know I need to do that – it’s how I kept so many friends and family connected to what we were up to. Gotta get that going again.

Work – hmmmm. That’s an interesting one. I’m learning so much. And I’m using what I’ve learned over the past years now. It’s a strange place to be. As I’m sitting here trying to figure out what to write, I’m thinking… “I just have to start”. So here goes:

I wrote full time “pastor” – that’s what I was, in title for the past five years. I’ve been at Rancho Community Church & Schools for one year now and my title is “Director of Admissions and Family Relations”. I’m a school administrator on the ministry staff of a large church – a little odd, but it works.

And the interesting thing?

I consider what I’m doing now more pastoral than anything I’ve ever done. I get the opportunity to pray with more people than I ever have. I get to encourage & challenge the staff and our families. I get to share vision and put forward initiatives to attract more people to Christ through our school and church. I have to call people into accountability and seek wisdom to solve issues. All while working with and serving some of the most amazing people I have ever worked with.

So I’m going to try and fire this blog up again and share more of what’s going on and ask for insights from this community. See ya again real soon.