Sunday, May 04, 2008
COUNTRY ROCK CHURCH UPDATE II
I went to the Country Rock Church its first two weeks. I missed it this evening though. I seem to crash into walls even when I'm sober so I figured I'd better not risk going to a bar. (Just for the record -- that was a joke.)
Last weekend there were about 50 people there, mainly familiar faces. I believe that there is a group of "regulars" at The Pub where our church holds Country Rock Church but most of them aren't there on Sunday evenings. Hopefully the word will get out and some of the folks who are "regulars" at The Pub will stop by on Sunday nights. Hopefully, too, we will be able to invite some others who maybe don't frequent The Pub and its usual environment to check out its Sunday evening transformation.
I heard that ABC News was at our normal church this morning and was to be at Country Rock this evening. I almost regret all the hoopla this has created. Maybe the hoopla will be inspirational to other churches but I almost would have preferred to see the hoopla be delayed until we had a good track record under our belt and some great God stories to share. That time will yet come, I am sure.
I think that, had we not used "Church" in the name, we would not have had near the hoopla nor near the naysaying. We're comfortable using "church" in the name because of the definition that we put on the word. However, most people do not have that definition. And one of the top rules of communication comes into play here -- perception is reality.
I heard there was a rumor going around that we were serving free booze at Country Rock. Wrong. Perception was not reality that time. But it was in the minds of those who believed it.
A very wise friend of mine told me that she had stumbled across some local folks who were contesting whether Country Rock is a good thing. This friend of mine is not a member of our church but her response was great: "Sidney First (our main church) has made it very clear for years that they are all about outreach. They do it very well and they would not have done this had they not felt God's call."
Amen to that.
(Country) Rock On.
Last weekend there were about 50 people there, mainly familiar faces. I believe that there is a group of "regulars" at The Pub where our church holds Country Rock Church but most of them aren't there on Sunday evenings. Hopefully the word will get out and some of the folks who are "regulars" at The Pub will stop by on Sunday nights. Hopefully, too, we will be able to invite some others who maybe don't frequent The Pub and its usual environment to check out its Sunday evening transformation.
I heard that ABC News was at our normal church this morning and was to be at Country Rock this evening. I almost regret all the hoopla this has created. Maybe the hoopla will be inspirational to other churches but I almost would have preferred to see the hoopla be delayed until we had a good track record under our belt and some great God stories to share. That time will yet come, I am sure.
I think that, had we not used "Church" in the name, we would not have had near the hoopla nor near the naysaying. We're comfortable using "church" in the name because of the definition that we put on the word. However, most people do not have that definition. And one of the top rules of communication comes into play here -- perception is reality.
I heard there was a rumor going around that we were serving free booze at Country Rock. Wrong. Perception was not reality that time. But it was in the minds of those who believed it.
A very wise friend of mine told me that she had stumbled across some local folks who were contesting whether Country Rock is a good thing. This friend of mine is not a member of our church but her response was great: "Sidney First (our main church) has made it very clear for years that they are all about outreach. They do it very well and they would not have done this had they not felt God's call."
Amen to that.
(Country) Rock On.
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