Ever noticed how the best restaurants always have the shortest menus? Yet everyone can always find something they like? The founder picked a few items she knew she could prepare excellently and made them as appealing as possible to a wide audience. She didn’t overcrowd the menu with three other kinds of pasta and five cuts of beef. Those items would just distract from her best offerings. [Contrast that with the restaurants that try to offer more to reach more.]
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Any growing church makes one of two decisions regarding its programming:
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The decision to do more things.
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The decision to do the same things better.
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Organizations making the first decision reason that they must create more to reach more; current programs may not be applicable, available, and/or attractive to a larger audience and so more must be offered. The problem here is that original, proven programs become crowded out by new, unproven offerings, losing their momentum and attention as the organization broadens its resources and focus. In most cases, this type of growing church eventually finds itself pursuing a few, similar objectives in numerous and conflicting ways through a large number of programs. Like an all-you-can-eat buffet, these organizations offer plenty of variety, little of quality, and nothing that stands out.
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The opposing decision (to do the same things better) allows growing churches to maintain focus on those programs that have proved themselves successful through the growth of the church. Instead of creating more to reach more, they improve to reach more. Instead of offering many programs with shared objectives, they maintain simplicity with one program for each objective. Regarding current programs, they ask, how can we make these more applicable, more available, and more attractive to a larger audience? Here, momentum is maintained as proven activities remain primary activities, not crowded out by competing programs. More similar to a five-star restaurant, these organizations know the few things they do well, focus entirely on making them better, and offer nothing else that could get in the way.
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Take a few minutes to discuss the following with your team:
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1. Do we tend to create more to reach more or improve to reach more?
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2. Which of our programs are most successful? Which demographic(s) do they best reach?
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3. How can we improve our most successful programs to reach more?
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4. How can we make our best programs/strategies more applicable to other demographics? (consider felt needs of those demographics)
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5. How can we make our best programs/strategies more available to other demographics? (consider day, time, and location)
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6. How can we make our best programs/strategies more attractive to other demographics? (consider branding, promotion, vision-casting, etc.)
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7. Which of our current programs overcrowd or compete with our most successful programs?
