This weekend, Dani and I made the trip up to NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC. As we are gearing up to start the church, we are taking time on the weekends to visit other churches and see how God is using them. I am huge believer in learning from others so we’ll be visiting other churches basically until we start our own weekly services on the weekends.
So, what were my impressions of NewSpring? What did I learn? Here goes:
- From the moment I pulled on campus, I felt welcomed. Their parking team was friendly and helpful. I loved their signage for first-time guests. It instructed first-time guests to turn on their hazard lights and included the phrase “please make it easier for us to serve you” or something like that. I really liked that.
- The parking lot was emptying from the early service when we arrived, which was about 20 minutes before the next service. Already, their welcome team was in full swing. Lots of smiling faces, all willing to help if I needed it. Whoever does their first impressions does a GREAT job!
- Entering the lobby, you immediately felt buzz in the air. Like I said, it was 20 minutes before the start of the service and the lobby was already full. People were really excited to be there. You can’t teach that folks, that is just a sign of what God is doing at that place.
- We entered the auditorium and made our way down as close to the front as possible. This was my first time seeing Perry preach in his element (I saw him at a conference this February) and I was going to be as close as possible! There were helpful ushers along the way and we settled in about 8 rows from the front.
- While waiting for the service to start, I noticed a great message on their screens. It read “To ensure a distraction free service, you’ll be asked to remain in the atrium if you leave during the message.” I love it! The core there is that distractions do just that, distract. People getting up and leaving and then coming back can cause people to miss what’s doing on, especially during the message. I also love the verbiage . . . very clear and direct, but also pleasant. That’s one of the MANY things I’ll be copying from this place.
- As we neared the beginning of the service, a 5 minute countdown video started running. They played a man of the street video underneath with interviews concerning the days topic. It was awesome and prepared us for what we coming. Very creative.
- Once the service started, I stopped writing and just enjoyed. It was awesome. Their worship leader, Lee McDerment, has one of the best voices I’ve ever heard in my life. It was remarkable. He also displayed a heart for leading people somewhere that I dug. You could tell this dude wasn’t just a playing, he was leading people . . . his people. Really good stuff.
- Perry then preached a rocking sermon on quite the topic. It’s not up on their site yet, but check back in a few days, it will be worth it.
I have a little history with this church also. One of my good friends growing up, Alden Ellis, is on staff there. I have been reading Tony Morgan’s and Perry Noble’s blogs for as long as I can remember. I’ve talked with several of their staff from time to time while at Keystone and they were always very helpful (in fact, they were MUCH more helpful and accessible than other staffs of churches that size.) All that to say, I had very high expectations for this visit. They were exceeded.
I learned a ton on my visit. God used it to stretch my thinking, give me some ideas and also show me some ways that our church will probably be a little different than theirs.
If you live in the SC/NC/GA area and could recommend one church for me to visit, what would it be and why? Use the comment section to let me know. I’d love your thoughts.
