If you want to increase the chances that pastors will listen to your message you have to resist the temptation to try to do it all. It's interesting…when times get tough and the things you've always done in the past are no longer working, the first tempation is to try to do more.
Christian school? Yeah, we can do that. Outdoor education? Sure, we can do that. Corporate groups? Bring 'em on! Start a church? Oh yeah baby!
The problem is, you aren't called to do those things. And when you are trapped doing those things your are not called to do…they will eat you alive. And once you start adding programs to try to earn more revenue you begin to water down your core competencies. Instead of increasing your value to the church (or the public) you actually decrease your value. People lose track of who you are. And instead of doing one thing great, you end up doing a lot of things average.
Take a look at this bell curve. When times are good, it makes sense to shoot for the big middle of the curve. Go after the big numbers. Get the right staff and the right facilities and aim for the middle. The problem, of course, is that means you are making average products (programs) for average people. And people don't talk, or blog, about average, boring stuff. They don't tell their friends. Plus, you must know, these are not good times. And being "good enough" stopped being good enough a long time ago.
Now you need to be smarter. You need to be leaner. You need to get out on the edges. You need to find that micro market you can dominate. How about Go4th Camps in Arkansa, which only does programming for 4th graders? Or how about the Nazarene camp that has found a niche in hosting scrapbookers? These camps haven't gotten a broader focus…they've gotten a sharper focus.
It's a cliche, but you really can't be all things to all people–not these days. The successful camps and conference centers are going to be those who are able to go the edges, find a tribe and serve them with excellence. Do one thing well.
Tomorrow: Take your eyes off growth.
Wow Mike. This is good. I feel like you just read your brothers mind. That is exactly what we have been talking about out here. Just because you build a program doesn’t mean that they will come. You have to look at what you have and build those things up.
Christina…stay tuned. I’m continuing the series tomorrow with a post on growth. Too many camps/conferences focus on growth when they should be focusing on their tribe.
True this Mike
We have a saying – no but yes.
No we don’t offer a pool pass for locals at $8 (because we wanted some extra $ and to be nice neighbors, but it crowding out our core overnight guests) but YES you can swim FREE on Fridays between 1-5. (because that’s our turn over day.
Have you seen Rob Bell’s Nooma called Shells? It speaks to doing the one thing well. We just watched it as a team here…and had great post viewing discussions.
I love Bell and Nooma. I’ll look up “Shells” ASAP. I’d love to get his take.
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