Will Mancini

Today I spoke to 25 stewardship strategists with Generis, a group that I consider to be the leading player among folks who want to help you raise money for your church. What I appreciate most about them is their desire to add value beyond the typical campaign approach that has been around for 40 years. At their annual training event they spent time learning about how to be thought leaders, and how to leverage the message of Church Unique- casting missional vision and creating redemptive movement.

It’s an exciting time to think about renewing and reinventing our approach to capital campaigns. What can you look for? Savvy leaders are moving beyond campaign language and even stewardship language to the ideas of transformation and creating a culture of generosity. The movement is away from an event orientation to an ongoing process with unique approaches for each local context.

One of the characteristics of great brands is delivering an experience that is consistently consistent. Today, an answered prayer was met with an inconsistency for my 14-year old Jacob. Our church leaders have trained Jacob to utilize the weekend services to invite unchurched friends. Finally, and with much anticipation, a lost friend named Juan came with Jacob to The Matrix, a seeker service targeted to the junior high crowd.

After the service, my 14-year old critiqued the ministry he loves and is committed too:

–”Dad, Juan loves X-box and I told him that we can play in the Matrix gameroom before the services starts. Today all of the games remained unplugged.”
–”They always have great videos or some creative element. Today was the first time I can remember when they didn’t do anything like that.”
–”The singer during worship was off vocally. During the worship, it killed me when Juan asked, “what are they saying?”"

Today was a helpful reminder that God’s sovereign goodness and love for Juan are infinite whether our X-boxes are plugged in or not. Yet while the battle belongs to the Lord, we must still prepare our horses.

On my recent visit to San Francisco to meet with my publisher (Sheryl Fullerton at Jossey-Bass) I made a last minute change in hotels. The Whitcomb Hotel on Market Street was the best rate I could find, but the experience of a beautiful and historic lobby (how the website sold me!) was sandwiched between the worst drive up experience and smelliest hallways I have ever encountered. Before the door to my room could close behind me, I made a b-line for the front desk to execute an exit strategy.

Thirty minutes later I entered the promised land- Hotel Vitale. One of the few Hotels in the city built completely new in the last three years, the environment was pristine, elegant and inspiring- even refreshing. As I departed it was no surprise to discover that crystal clear sense of mission guides the company. Founder Chip Conley shares in a letter to guests, that their mission is to “create opportunities to celebrate the joy of life.” What’s their vision? It’s connected to their name which means “vitality” in Italian. “We want to create a few lasting memories, or little vignettes that contribute to your vitality. Vitality means the abundant physical and mental energy usually combined with a wholehearted and and joyous approach to situations and activities.”