evan mcbroom THE OTHER SIDE of the boat

Farrah & Michael: a lesson in irrelevance

1976.  I was 12.  As a teenage boy, I owned the poster.  Farrah was it.  She had it.  (as a teenage boy...I'm sure I wanted it).  I was captivated. Overtime though, she faded for me.  Her appearance in Playboy was not a good thing.  It shattered the mystery she once was. It was disappointing.

1982.  I was graduating from high school and headed for Indiana University.  Over my four years there, I danced away many Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to the tracks on this album.  Again - captivating. Overtime, poor Michael changed and with each new revelation, his persona and his music lost its allure. It just got weird.

Oddly, these icons - once so important to me - became meaningless.  Irrelevant to my life.  And today, for me to feel anything besides a shallow sadness at their passing, I'd have to dig deep into my memories, stirring up something that might border on sorrow. That is unlikely.

Is there perhaps a parallel to draw?  If I consider people who grew up in a church, and think about the captivating hold it may have in childhood or teen years, and then consider that for these people, church became disappointing, distant or weird...it's understandable that church, for them, is meaningless.  Irrelevant. 

The parallel is no more conclusive than my own empty feelings of the day.  Just a thought.  What are yours?

Feeling totally outta place

 

This is my friend Greg.  He has a motorcycle.

 

This is my friend Greg and my friend Dave.  They both have motorcycles.  The three of us were on a project together in Decatur, IL and we had a few minutes to spare.  Dave and Greg really wanted to go to the Harley dealer.  They thought it would be fun.  I don't have a motorcycle. I thought I would feel awkward and outta place.  I did. It made me think about the experience new people must have when they visit a church, especially if they haven't spent much time in a church.  I thought I'd blog about that.  And then I remembered that in January of 2007 I did.  Here it is.

Belly up to the Bar

 

Belly up to the bar … and take a walk in your guests’ shoes.

 

I don’t want to glamorize it, but there was a time in my life when I was more comfortable holding down a bar stool than worshipping in a pew.  In that season, I found most watering holes to be pretty welcoming.  There were new friends and connections to make.  I encountered familiar tastes and smells, and social customs played out in predictable ways.  I knew how to enter the room, how to find a table or seat at the bar, and my drink order rolled off my lips with ease.  I knew just what to do and just how to do it.  This kind of place wasn’t exactly home … but I felt at home. 

 

Interestingly, this is how we want our churches to feel as well.  Welcoming.  Friendly.  A place for connecting where experiences stir our senses.  A place that feels like home.  So why don’t “disconnected” people connect as they visit our churches?  Perhaps it’s because the things we find so familiar are the very things our guests find so foreign.  As my wife started dragging me to church, I can recall not knowing exactly what to do and how to do it. There was a conversation running in my head that went something like this.  “Where do I sit?  When do I stand?  Do I eat the bread yet?  Am I even supposed to take the bread?  ‘Debtors?’  I thought it was ‘trespassers’ or something like that?  Old Testament?  New Testament?  Where is Deuteronomy?  What is Deuteronomy?  Sweaty palms.  Get me outta here!”  Uncertainty and self-consciousness prevailed … and we hadn’t even gotten to the sermon yet.  For me, these were all barriers to my return visit … and Kingdom entry. 

 

I so respect churches that intentionally strive to take down these barriers through improved communications.  On-site hosts to welcome and guide, worship folder information that describes and demystifies service activities, and a sensitivity from the platform to unchurched guests are just the beginnings of what can be done to bring folks along more comfortably. 

 

I challenge you this week to belly up to the bar at your local pub.  I’m not talking Applebees; I’m talking your area’s version of the “Hog Snort Saloon.”  Go ahead and put yourself in this unfamiliar place.  Spend some time assessing the things that are foreign to you.  See how it feels to be outside your comfort zone.  And then return to your church this weekend to discover how you can take these new experiences and walk in your guests’ shoes a bit.  Perhaps you’ll find new ways to be more welcoming, guiding and nurturing. 

My spiritual journey exposed - how ironic

How ironic.  In this month's "Fresh Catch" (Fishhook's 6x year free e-source for church communicators) we were talking about how to develop your volunteer ministry.  This weekend, I got to serve as a volunteer in my own church in a big way.  I delivered the message in all four services.  It was a great experience (for me at least).  At times...outta body.  At others, totally aware of every breath.  The message dives deep into my own spiritual journey.  I'm thankful to be part of a church that really lets people roll up their sleeves in significant ways. Take a listen...and let me know...which face in the crowd are you?

Select 6/21 Faces in the Crowd at this link

My blog needs a swift kick in the...

Go ahead.  Finish the sentence.  For the record, I was thinking "groin."  I would kick it in the backside (dare I say "ass?") but I don't think that would fully get it's attention.  Yes, a swift kick to the groin is what this blog needs. Trust me...kick me in the butt and I'll notice you, kick me in the groin and I'll do whatever you tell me to do.

This week, I'm feeding my brain.  I looked at my calendar and saw a little lighter load than normal and thought, "McBroom, you're stale."  Feed your brain with some fresh insight.  The food for the week is Seth Godin's Tribes (see how stale my thinking is...EVERYBODY has read Tribes already).  At my friend Ed Bahler'smention, I decided to sign up for Alltop.com and I built a MyAlltop pagethat, for now, includes info for small business owners (non church fresh ideas) and blogging.  The first blogging stuff I noodled on Copyblogger and this post by Jonathan Morrow.The post says I should "shoot my blog."  Since I don't own a gun, but I do have a pair of steel-toe work boots, I decided I'd give mine a swift kick.  I hope to fulfill this promise: change is a'comin.  And I hope, change for the good.

What I'm discovering this week (it's only Tuesday, but I officially started this on Saturday) is that I'm not sure after 2 years of blogging that I've found my voice or my focus for my blog, for Twitter, for Facebook, for the Fishhook Facebook fan page...and on and on.

It's my hope that new insight, and the thinking that follows, brings clarity, more fun and more...(whatever else I discover I need more of.)

Faster. Faster. Keep up.

Do you feel like the faster you run, the farther you fall behind?  For me - it's true. I run to keep up with technology, with theology, with philosophy and it seems the faster I run, the farther behind I fall.  We've seen the stats quoted: information used to double at the rate of (something like) once every 50 years.  And now, information is doubling at (something sorta like) every 53 seconds.  OK, an exaggeration, but...information is exploding. And so is my head.  What's a feller to do?

I'm asking your advice.  How do you keep up?  And where do you keep up?  And what expectations do you set for yourself?  And, perhaps most importantly...how do you come down?

I want to know...

Incredible discovery at page 9

I'm finally reading Tribes by Seth Godin. I know. I'm about a year behind everyone else. I believe I'm reading this at the perfect time. There has been a struggle in my head.

Where does my true expertise lie? What to I find at my core to be the niche of my niche. That thing that springs out without a thought?

Since launching Fishhook, I've worked to build upon my experience in corporate communications by paying attention to what I see working (and not working) in church communications and applying what I learn as I work with other congregations. While I think that knowledge base is growing, I'm not sure it is the expertise that is more uniquely me.

On page 9, I wrote the following: my core expertise is not in church communications - it is in listening to church leaders' challenges - and then leading a team of people who do hold deep church communications expertise and I orchestrate their efforts to be part of the solution. And if pressed, I think the thing that is most very "Evan" it's the way I'm wired to lead.

I'm not sure what this means, in terms of Tribes...but it may bring clarity and direction in the focus of this blog. It might. It might not. And now: page 10.
(typed my thumb on iPhone)

My credit card is gonna miss Michigan

The image is burned in my mind. 17 summer vacations in Northern Michigan - first with my wife and later with our family.  An annual retreat that brought creation and recreation together.  I cherish these weeks and anticipate their return...but not this year.

For summer 2009, my family and my credit card are taking a different vaction. Oh, we'll miss days on the lake. Excursions to the marina to fill up the gas tank. All-you-can-eat Walleye dinners. The smell of go-carts and thrill of mini-golf. But come the end of the summer, while my credit card may have missed it's trip, I will not miss the hangover brought by added debt. This summer, my credit card will stay home. If it's good, I'll let it out a little.  Maybe a one day trip for water park fun at Holiday World, or a jaunt to the hardware store.  But this summer, my card and myself...we'll hang at home and if we miss Michigan greatly, we'll look at photos, tell stories and dream sweet dreams. 

How about you? Do you and your credit card have different plans this summer?

2 Job Opportunities in Indy Church Communications

If someone questions the connectedness or the value of Twitter, just try this experiment.  In the current job market, simply tweet about new job openings and ask people to contact you for more details.  WOW!  I had more people contact me than I have details!  But here's what I know about two openings in Indy.

Traders Point Christian Church is looking to fill a full-time video/media spot.  The brilliantly funny Kirsten Anders is your contact.  Shoot her an email to make your interest known.  While you're telling her all about your mad video skilz, say "hi" for me!  If you get an interview, ask her about the "Raccoon Story."

The Church Federation of Greater Indianapolis is about to launch a new Web site and they are looking to add a new person to their team to drive their e-stuff.  Beyond proactively updating the site (gotta be able to write) this part-time gig includes e-newsletters/mailings, and probably helping lead them to use some social networking tools (I don't recall if that's in the official job description, but I'd talk up what you know).  The contact is The Rev. AngeliqueWalker-Smith.  A good understanding of Indy area Church landscape would be uber-helpful.  We have just struck up our conversation with the Federation - so I don't have any stupid stories to help you break the ice here.

Hope this helps.  Go get 'em!

Fail Sign: Just pull really hard?

Found at a DQ near Lafayette Indiana. Positive this isn't a good long-term solution. After my wife and I got done laughing, I wasn't sure it's a good short-term solution either.

So we wondered, could there be other signs?

-Sorry that our bathrooms feature hand dryers.  Please just tear off a little piece of toilet paper to touch the door knob.

-Sorry we got Blizzard on the outside of your cup. Please just do laundry when you get home.

Perhaps you can think of more?  Comment below:

Your best communication style?

When speaking in public, what's your best communication style? Are you a "scripted" speaker or an "outline" speaker.  Both are great.  I'm confident of when I'm at my best.

Be true to you from Evan McBroom on Vimeo.