Here’s the case study in PDF form:
Or, you can read it below (without the pictures of the PDF)
Lightning in a Bottle
Capturing something powerful and elusive and then being able to hold it and show it to the world.
Performing a rare feat. A moment of creative brilliance.
This article outlines the thought processes that I went through in March, 2013 as I was interviewing for the position of Executive Pastor at EvFree Fullerton. May it help you think through the various items to consider when determining fit for an Executive Pastor position. ~David
The following are initial thoughts based on a week of meetings with some of the key leaders at EvFree Fullerton. There are many other elders and staff who would round out this report and, in time, they could also be interviewed.
Mike Erre, aged 41, came to the church as the Senior Pastor in September, 2012. In those five months, the church has grown by more than 1,400 people in the worship services.
Based on initial guesses, I estimated that there were 4,000 people in worship on Sunday, February 10, 2013. The actual number was 4,600 (this includes some duplication of people because that Sunday launched the evening service). In July 2012 there were 3,000 people in worship. In January 2013, there were 4,400 people in worship. In September 2013, there could be 5,500 people in worship.
Children’s ministry has grown from 300 to 800 kids. Youth have about 500 teenagers.
A $1.5 million remodel of the worship center is planned and now being funded. High definition video screens are needed, as well as new chairs (already purchased). The new seating layout looks interesting, as well as the design of the room. Current seating capacity is 1,600 in pews. The new seating capacity will be 1,600 in theater seating, which gives greater real-time seating capacity than pews.
This service was pretty full of older people; 65% full is a guess. The worship leader was involved in most of the elements that day. The people are engaged in the blended worship. The worship was more blended than traditional that day; no hymns were sung. The announcements by video were well watched.
The people were mostly Anglo, with a few African-Americans and Asians—we saw a very few Latinos in that service. Few men were in coats and even fewer were in ties. Most of the people seemed to be well-educated and upper middle class, yet none seemed to put on airs of superiority.
The congregation was engaged with Mike and visibly loved the preaching.
One 80-year-old woman shared about at a midweek group with friends. At the event, another lady complained about Mike preaching in jeans and a black shirt. A companion said, “Who cares what he is wearing. Listen to what he says.” Gentle confrontation among friends is sign of great spiritual health.
One grandmother said about Mike, “His preaching is so good. Why didn’t we hear this before? Didn’t the others go to seminary?”
The service was very full with under 10% of the seats available. There was a clear sense of the 80% rule: church growth slows and then stops when attendance reaches 80% of the room capacity. For example, if a couple comes in late, there will be few seats available for them to sit together. Expansion will be difficult to impossible at this hour unless other measures are taken.
The worship was led by a band and featured a mandolin on that day (sweet addition!) The worship leader connected with the audience but it was not a personality-driven service.
The demographics had a broad range of ages—there was a goodly amount of younger kids in the service, dancing and getting into the lively worship songs. While the congregation was mostly Anglo, there were more Asians in the service than at 8:00 am. There also was a broader range of educational and economic levels in the attenders.
Few Latinos were observed. Pero 35% de las personas cerca la iglesia se hablan espanol en casa (35% of people near the church speak Spanish at home).
We did not observe this service but Mike Erre reports that it has more young people than other morning services.
February 10 was the first night for the new evening worship service, held in the amphitheater. At 15 minutes before the service we thought about leaving, only so that we could give our seats to the people streaming into the more intimate worship space. Ushers repeatedly brought in more chairs, even moving the speaker’s podium back 10 feet. Capacity reached and exceeded 100%; there were absolutely no seats available.
There was great diversity in ages and economic levels—perhaps because it was the first week. It also seemed to have even more young people.
Antonio, a second or third generation Hispanic, sat behind us and awkwardly greeted us at the welcome time. He was not shy in worship, vibrantly singing the songs (many of which he clearly knew).
I had hoped to speak to Antonio after the service but was unable. He was wearing a University of California Fullerton sweatshirt. I don’t know how engaged he was in the sermon, as he was behind me. Yet, it should be noted that as a fluent English speaker, he was comfortable in the service.
It is unknown if the service will have 100% capacity the second week, as many from the morning came to support the opening night.
In the fall, Mike moved the contemporary service into the main worship center from another room. They moved the traditional service to the first hour and empowered that service to be as traditional as the people needed. Thus, there seems to be good signs of “worship health” at the church. Since the practice of worship is defined in the Bible along culturally conditioned lines, there is enormous freedom to worship in culturally significant ways. In other words, let there be a multiplicity of styles to worship God.
The enormous challenge is the numerical growth. At current trends, the church will be out of worship space in 6 months. The Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from the city of Fullerton only allows for temporary video venues on campus. This is due to parking concerns. Although the church recently spent $10 million on a three-level parking structure, those spaces are now fully used. The church cannot revert to street-level parking in the neighborhoods, which caused an odious reaction from the neighbors.
Work needs to be done to understand where these attenders are coming from. Are they transfer growth? Are they new believers?
The following chart shows the actual growth to January 2013. With the existing trend line, it could be possible for the church to grow to 5,500 in worship by September 2013 (see pdf for chart)
Immediate planning must be made for September 2013. Options include:
Other areas of need at the church include:
Mike is genuine in the pulpit and in person. He is very perceptive and spontaneous. Mike brings:
Mike is a compelling communicator who is greatly gifted by God for public proclamation of Christ’s Kingdom. He gives solid exegesis from the Scriptures, which engages the audience. Having brought people to see the reality of Christ in the Bible, Mike then engages the heart of the listener. He calls each person to a personal confrontation with Truth and calls each on to personal change. As an authentic and transparent communicator, he has broad appeal to people who are “de-churched, dead churched and un-churched.”
My initial term for Mike is “lightning in a bottle.” The Urban Dictionary defines lightning in a bottle as:
Capturing something powerful and elusive and then being able to hold it and show it to the world.
Performing a rare feat.
A moment of creative brilliance.
Mike is a uniquely gifted leader. He is an innately, highly-gifted communicator. Mike knows that God has given him this gift. Because of knowing God’s gracious gift, Mike values the giftedness of others. He is not an insecure leader.
In the fall of 2012, Mike brought in a handful of potential XPs. Some were too focused on finances, others only saw the ministry role in the position. Mike has values and standards in the search:
Among other things, David could bring:
Structure—he has a rich history of working with Boards, governance and church structure. EvFree is intensely looking at simplifying its board structure and working through an excellent book on it. David helped the board at Northwest Bible Church in Dallas work through conflict, find harmony, develop an educational agenda, set a leadership path for new elders, etc. Interestingly, Mike asked his security guy about the first impression that David gave. The security guy said, “David has a command presence with the smile of a pastor.” Those were some nice words!
Conflict is not a negative thing, unless it is not dealt with. Knowing potential limitations can be healthy and freeing. It shows that teamwork is necessary and that no individual has “all the gifts.”
We are just ending our week here in California. EvFree Fullerton is an amazing church. Mike Erre is “lightning in a bottle.” He is 41 and wants an “older” and “experienced” XP.
Mike is a compelling speaker to the older folks, who have fallen in love with him. His preaching attracts many new people. Most of the 1,600 new people are under 40. That is an enormous amount of people to absorb in 5 months. Just staggering!