Focus
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You measure what matters.
This summer has been one of focus and relaxation for Catalyst. We have visited the churches we serve, knocked out dozens of new websites and branding projects, collaborated with like-minded business to launch churches more effectively, but mostly, we focused.
We focused because we need to get better at doing what God called us to do: serve the local church. Yes, we are creativity that works for you, but things can get off track if we let it. For us that looks like this:
- Working on projects that we are not in our wheelhouse, just because we can.
- Doing things that we are not passionate about, just because people ask us to.
We are called to serve the local church.
We excel at web development, branding, SEO for churches, and marketing strategies (specifically inbound marketing). Anytime we accept something that is not in alignment with our purpose or passion, we lose missional focus.
The only metric we care about is our client’s success.
When we stay focused and in our lane, there is a greater likelihood that our client’s message will be well received by their intended audience, thus leading to a higher rate of conversion (conversion in the analytics sense). But we have to stay in our lane and focused on the end goal: our mission.
Our guess is that you’ve been in this same boat before.
At one point in time, you were told as church leaders to only give people one thing to do, because that is all they could handle. By now, we have all tried and failed at this, because people are complicated and there is no one way for everyone. We have also tried the old spaghetti test and threw absolutely everything at everyone, just to see what sticks. Bu that’s not going to work either.
So … what is going to work?
The answer is actually quite simple, if we can hone in on our purpose and passion. Let’s ask a few questions, in order to help us get there.
- Why is our church in this neighborhood?
- What are we currently excelling at?
- How can we get better at equipping those we have and reaching those we do not?
We ask ourselves the first question, because God has called you to prepare your church in your neighborhood, for such a time as this. You are to be light in a dark place, in order for the Gospel to do its work effectively. Without you, there may not even be a church in the neighborhood. Therefore, define the why and write it down.
Are you in agreement with you why? If so, ask around your church and neighborhood (including those who do not know God), and see what you are good at. There are a lot of churches who think they ought to do something, but absolutely stink at it. God is not calling you to give 100% to something you max out at 50%, so find your sweet spot(s) and make it even better.
Time to trim the fat.
If your why is clearly defined and your high points clearly seen, then you are ready to equip those you have in order to reach those you do not by focusing on what you are good at (what God is currently blessing) and killing off the added fluff. Too harsh? Nah. It’s pretty simple, really. God wants His church to succeed. That is why there are more flavors in the church world than there are ice-cream flavors at Baskin-Robbins. The world needs all kinds of churches, because each church is not called nor equipped to reach all people.
- Define the why.
- Call out the awesome.
- Do it better.
That is your focus.
Like us, you’ve gone off the track from time to time. The summer is the perfect time to evaluate where you are and where God is calling you to be. Join us as we kill the fluff and focus. It’s where God called us to be, and it’s where He needs you to be too.