I am Jamaica's husband, Foursquare's comm director, Personality's founder, and a catalyst for CFCC.
I'm also blogging at:
Personality™
Church Marketing Sucks
November 2006 Archives
« October 2006 | | December 2006 »
November 30, 2006
Foursquare NextGen Summit '07
Filed under: Brad Works
I flew up to Oakland this morning (got back tonight) to have lunch with James Craft, the national youth director for Foursquare. James is also the next gen pastor for East Bay Fellowship in Danville, California (just outside of San Francisco). They have a five million dollar facility -- just for youth -- that is way cool. We spent a couple hours getting to know each other, as well as going over the communications strategy for an event next year called Foursquare NextGen Summit '07. The theme is "imagine" and, if the event looks anything close to what is being imagined, I can't wait.
I love being a part of the planning teams for things like this. It's where my heart really starts pumping. I presented James with a 12-month communications/marketing plan that left both of us feeling about six months behind, and at the same time more pumped than ever.
Imagine 8,000 students converging over New Year's 2007 right next door to Disney Land in Anaheim...
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
November 29, 2006
Rev. Brad Abare
Filed under: Abare News
It was four years ago this month (November 1 to be exact) that I started working as the director of communications for the Foursquare denomination in Los Angeles. It's been quite rewarding to experience so many of the changes that have taken place since then, not the least of which has been my own view toward the very existence of denominations.
Growing up somewhat of a pastor/minister's kid, I was never a part of any "deominational" churches. Having come to Foursquare as somewhat of an import (so many denominations grow from within), being grafted into the Foursquare family has been both frustrating and exciting.
Five months ago I started the journey toward becoming a licensed and credentialed Foursquare minister. Working with a coach (one of the Foursquare vice presidents), we met each week to discuss doctrine, polity and pastoring. I wanted to become a licensed minister not because I feel a great call to be a church pastor, but because I wanted to get closer to the unfolding story -- the story that is being told through the lives of 50,000 other Foursquare licensed ministers around the world.
Today was the day I took my oral interview with a licensing committee. Two hours later, I passed. Say hello to Reverend Brad Abare.
Comments (2) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
November 20, 2006
MinistryCOM, Willow
Filed under: Brad Works
I flew to Chicago last night after spending Friday night through Sunday morning at a church retreat with three hundred other young adults this weekend up in the mountains (Lake Arrowhead).
I met this afternoon in Chicago with the planning committee for the 2007 MinistryCOM, an annual event for church communication junkies. Next year's event in Nashville (September 13-14), should be another winner.
The highlight of my trip was having lunch with Paul Braoudakis, director of communications for the Willow Creek Association. I met Paul a couple of years ago at Catalyst. Today we got to spend some time talking about a few upcoming projects for the Center for Church Communication. I can't wait to share them with the world!
I am back home in Los Angeles tonight. Whew.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink
November 9, 2006
Participitory Reading
Filed under: God, Faith & Spirituality
For the past few weeks, I've been reading Eat This Book by Eugene Peterson. In one of the chapters, Peterson tells of his appetite for running. From the "smooth rhythms of long-distance running" to "the quietness, the solitude, the heightened senses," it is clear that running is very personal and very much a participatory experience for Peterson. In his prime, he subscribed to three running magazines and regularly checked out books from the library on running and runners.
Until the day when Peterson pulled a muscle, and couldn't run for a couple months. He noticed that when he was not running, he was no longer engaged in his regular rhythm of ingesting running books, magazines, and conversation.
"I was reading about running not primarily to find out something, not to learn something, but for companionship and validation and confirmation of the experience of running. Yes, I did learn a few things along the way, but mostly it was to extend and deepen and populate the world of running that I loved so much. But if I wasn't running, there was nothing to deepen."
The parallels to my own life are significant. My how easy it is to replace the word "running" with "marketing," "business," "cause," even "church." My consumption of related fodder only feeds my appetite for more. The affirmation is helpful as is the motivation to do more, be more, and experience more.
The parallel for Peterson is that Scripture must be ingested the same way. If we're not living it, we have no motivation to read it, discuss it, and experience it.
I shudder to think what would happen if I used the same obedience and discipline applied to my other love interests, and actually did the same with Scripture.
Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) | Permalink