Wayne Hedlund

Category: HEALTHY CHURCH

  • Why I Began Offering Web Services

    laptop-supportOver the years I have had the distinct honor of working with some absolutely amazing pastors and ministry teams. As I got to know them more, I became increasingly impressed with all that they were doing to fulfill their respective purposes; each and every one of them making a difference in their communities.

    At the same time, I often noticed a major problem. I found their website to be grossly inadequate and out of date. I am very discouraged when this happens. In today’s culture, the website is usually the first place guests and prospective clients visit. It determines how interested they will be in pursuing the ministry or services they are searching for. In cases like these, people’s first impression of the organization are always way off the mark.

    Attempting to address the issue usually didn’t help. It’s one thing to tell a pastor or leader they should really get their site updated. It’s another thing altogether to expect them to get it done, despite their deep desire to do so. The fact is, websites are often forgotten or neglected because leaders already have too many irons in the fire. It can be very overwhelming to try to figure out what to do to get the website fixed.

    So I decided to offer a solution. I began TL Sites (the TL stands for ‘Transforming Leader‘) to offer web services to churches, ministries & small businesses who are struggling with developing & maintaining their organizational website. I and my team take pride in each website we develop and are committed to ensuring our clients are truly happy with their new website.

    I’d love it if you’d visit the TL Sites website to explore options for you and your ministries website! If you have any questions at all, feel free to let me know.

    THERE ARE ONLY A FEW DAYS LEFT TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF MY SPECIAL OFFER TO TRANSFORMING LEADER READERS! Click here to learn more.

    [su_button url=”http://www.tlsites.com/” background=”#710200″ size=”4″ center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: question”]Visit TL Sites Now[/su_button] [su_button url=”http://www.tlsites.com/contact/” background=”#710200″ size=”4″ center=”yes” radius=”5″ icon=”icon: question”]Have a Question?[/su_button]

          

  • Worship Slides 101

    worship-slideOne of my jobs as a ministry coach is to visit churches and evaluate the experience. In my travels, I’ve observed that churches often break some basic rules of thumb regarding how words are displayed on the screen. Today, I ran across a website that does a pretty decent job of outlining these basic rules of thumb, so I thought I’d share them with you.

    Note: If you are using presentation software like MediaShout or EasyWorship, you should find some standard templates that will take care of most of this stuff (unless you’re using a real old version).

    Also, if you’re church is strong on creativity + technology, then you might break these rules successfully. This post is primarily for those who struggle with creativity within technology.

    There are three posts from this author on the topic. After you’ve looked each of them over, check out my additional thoughts below.

    I have just a couple more pointers I’d like to add.

    • Stay away from orphan words.
      An orphan word is when you have one word all by itself on a line that is completing a sentence. For example:

    Jesus loves me, this I 
    know.

    • Keep line lengths somewhat even.
      It can be distracting and make reading more choppy when the lines in your text are grossly different in length. For example:

    Jesus loves me, this I know.
    For the
    Bible tells me so. Little
    ones to
    Him belong, they are weak…

    This is going to be a lot easier to read:

    Jesus loves me,
    this I know.
    For the Bible
    tells me so.

    Or even:

    Jesus loves me, this I know.
    For the Bible tells me so.

    • Don’t squeeze tons of words on one slide.
      Your congregation will get lost and be forced to focus on reading if you try to squeeze tons of lines onto one slide. Spread them out.
    • Transition before the last line ends.
      There’s nothing more frustrating than not having the next group of words up on the screen in time, especially if you don’t know the song. Make sure your projectionist knows to transition to the next slide a few words prior to the end of the slides grouping of words. Or, about 2 seconds before the words are done being sung on that slide.

     

     

  • Mark Batterson on Church Leadership

    Last year we were privileged to have Mark Batterson speak at our Elim Fellowship Leadership Conference. He did a great job! So I thought I’d share this awesome message where Mark talks about the Power of Testimony, Leadership and a lot more. 

    This would be a great clip to show to your team and hold some discussion over afterwards. Enjoy.

     

     

  • Free Ministry Video Resources

    lift-increaseI’ve recently come across two websites that are successfully making a difference in the world through video. They each boast several great video interviews with both ‘regular’ and ‘famous’ people and they capture great stories of people who have faced difficulties and sinful pasts and have overcome through Jesus Christ.

    What’s even better is the owners of these websites are providing them FREE OF CHARGE. You are welcome to access and utilize them as you see fit.

    Let me say the obvious. Most of us couldn’t pull this off ourselves. But we CAN utilize them to strengthen our current ministry. I can easily envision these videos being used at:

    church services.
    school chapels.
    small groups.
    college ministries.
    classes.
    discipleship programs.
    1 on 1 encouragement.

    Check them out today and be sure you earmark them as a resource for your ministry!    

    The Increase (theincrease.org)I Am Second (iamsecond.com)

  • Trust vs Suspicion, Andy Stanley

    Sometimes there is a teaching that has tremendous potential to be a game-changer for churches & ministries. This is one of them. A healthy, thriving church/ministry has a ‘culture of trust’ among the leaders, the teams and, ultimately, throughout the rest of the organization.

    Here is who should watch this video. Pastors. Staff. Elders. Deacons. Board Members. Volunteer Leaders. Ministry Teams. 

    Rarely do I plead with people to do something. But in this post, I am. Please watch this and ask your teams to watch this. And please make it a launching pad to establish/re-establish/strengthen trust in your ministry. Thanks. 

    [su_youtube url=”https://youtu.be/CI204RLs0XA” width=”320″ height=”200″]

     
     

  • How to Invite People to Church

    mefusYour congregation could use a good laugh and gentle push to invite others to church. Why not show them this video? It’s worth it and it gets the point across without you having to say anything else. Give it a shot!

    [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzrP1DNd0L0#t=82]
    Can’t see this video? Try clicking this link.

     

  • Sunday Announcements: Information Overload

    Dark microphoneSeveral months ago I and my family visited a small church as a ‘mystery guest’. The goal of my visit was to provide some helpful feedback to the Sunday morning experience, especially as viewed through the eyes of a guest.

    I was completely overwhelmed (or maybe the word is underwhelmed) by the morning announcements. They were boring. The person giving them was practically reading them from the bulletin. And perhaps most frustrating, there were way too many. I stopped listening when they got to the special event happening 6 months from now. If it wasn’t my job to listen, I’m not sure I would have ever ‘started’ listening,

    I was recently reading a book summary of a book I read a few years ago entitled, “Less Clutter, Less Noise” and ran across this very poignant paragraph.

    “A Sunday edition of the New York Times carries more information than the average nineteenth century citizen accessed his entire life. Information used to be a rare and precious as gold; now it is so inexpensive and plentiful that most of it ends up being overlooked, ignored, or tossed like garbage. The barrage of data to which we are constantly exposed carries a cost – physically, mentally, and financially – regardless of the generation. People who live in today’s world respond in one of three ways: they become overwhelmed and shut down; they labor over whether they are making the right decisions; or they just ignore you and move on. More isn’t what people are looking for; relief from the pressure of more is what they’re looking for.”

    Well said. My advice is simply this.

    • Keep your announcements to a maximum of 3, preferably 2.
    • Sell what you have to say. Convince people why it’s important to them.
    • Communicate everything else through other means (like a weekly eblast, the Sunday bulletin, the church website & calendar, facebook, word of mouth, etc.)

    photo credit: istockphoto

  • Mark Batterson & Building a Prayer Culture in the Church

    I had the opportunity to interview Mark Batterson last year on ‘reaching the younger generation’ and ‘building a prayer culture in the local church’. If you’re church tends to be ‘prayer challenged’, I believe this interview may inspire and equip you to get started again. Enjoy.

     

  • Nancy Ortberg & the Pastor’s Wife

    Many months ago, now, I had the distinct privilege of interviewing Nancy Ortberg while she was visiting our area. She graciously allowed me to film three separate interviews. You can check out the first two interviews by clicking the respective link below this interview.

    In this interview, we broach the topic of the challenge that pastor’s wives face in being, well, a pastor’s wife. In particular, the huge expectations that people tend to automatically place on wives simply because their husband pastors a church. Enjoy.

  • Bad Website Design

     

    bad-website-titleI ran across this great infographic about “What Makes Someone Leave A Website?” at www.churchm.ag. Since I’m a firm believer that your ministry website is mission critical I want to share it with you as well.

    I recommend you use this very simple tool to evaluate YOUR ministry website. Even the best websites can stand for regular evaluation and feedback.

    Tactical Tip: If you are really busy or overwhelmed right now, at least create THREE “Next Actions” based on this infographic and put them in your calendar/task list. Otherwise, we both know what will happen . . .

    UPDATE: We have just launched a ‘website rebuild’ initiative for local churches. We will rebuild your church website from the ground up, and give you the training you need to update and use it each week. To learn more about cost and details, visit our Website Services page.

    why-people-leave-church-website