So Eddie, how does someone become a “video church” pastor? (My Story: Part 1)

Part 1:  It all started for me with a visit to North Coast

My journey to becoming a “video church” pastor began in the fall of 2001 while I was serving as the Young Adults Minister at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY.  I was invited to be part of a research team, by my boss and good friend Eugene DePorter, to visit other cutting edge churches across the United States to help us at Southeast discover how we could do two things better: (1) do a better job of connecting people from the weekend service to a next step.  Believe it or not, we had over 8,000 adults that came to our weekend services that had yet to take a committed next step into a Bible study, small group or team of some sort.  We had to find a better “hook” than our current mid-week service. (2) We were looking for new and creative methods through which we could better attract and reach the emerging “20-something” crowd.   We felt like we were just starting to scratch the surface with some of our own initiatives but wanted to keep looking and researching for even better ones.  I was honored (and really out of my league) to be a part of this team.

So with those goals in mind, we decided to become researchers and students of other successful church models to see what we could learn.  One of our first trips took us to visit some really cool and happenin’ churches in southern California.  Nice gig, huh!?  We visited Saddleback, Mariner’s Church, Coast Hills Community Church and a few others that were truly getting it done - and done the right way.  But it was one church in particular that got my attention.   This one church was the craziest, and at the same time, coolest thing I had ever seen or experienced.  They met in a warehouse storage area and used the warehouse garages for 4 different types of worship service environments, which they called “video venues”.  The church was North Coast Church in Vista, California led by their innovative leader and Senior Pastor, Larry Osborne.

What was so unique about North Coast Church was the fact that while the worship styles were all so different, the teaching was exactly the same. Their teaching pastor was either in the live venue or being watched simultaneously in the other venues via video.  It was an amazing concept and it was truly engaging!  It was so cool to watch these families come into their outdoor “atrium” area and then split up according to their church service of choice.  North Coast’s four venues of choice at that time were: the live teaching worship service with a contemporary band, a “Traditions” service with piano led worship, an “Unplugged” acoustic set and lastly a rockin’, Mountain Dew sippin’, candlelit service called “The Edge”.  North Coast had amazingly taken the dreaded “church worship wars” and turned them into a “win” instead of a church split. 

A year later, I was able to visit North Coast again and it was then and there that I knew…THIS is the future of church planting and the church growth movement.  It was crystal clear to me.  Those two Sundays at North Coast gave me a new, exciting vision for church and how I could use my primary spiritual gifts of leadership and encouragement to their maximum (I would say teaching is my third).  I could see the potential in all of this and I could also see my future in it as well.  I was convinced that this model would work even beyond southern California.  I was hooked on the concept… and felt a passion and a conviction that someday, somehow, I would be leading an environment somewhere using this technology.  The only question left for me was…how would I use this?  Where?  And when?

While this concept now seems so normal and mainstream, a few years ago this was unthinkable.  North Coast was the true pioneer of “video venues” and using video as a means to create other live worship service environments.  Their experiment has now become a model for starting new churches and for church growth for all different kinds of churches across the country and the world.  It has revolutionized church as we know it.   In fact, according to Todd Rhoads of Monday Morning Insight, there are currently over 1,500 multi-site churches in the U.S. today.  I forever will be indebted to North Coast and Larry Osborne for taking the risk and initiative to experiment and implement such an amazing, effective concept for the local church.  Thank you Larry!  Can’t imagine where I’d be and what I’d be doing without your vision.  Also, another cool side note to share is that Southeast Christian is preparing to launch the first of two regional video campuses next year.   How cool is that!?!   (I would love to tell you that my input and research had something to do with that…but I’m sorry, Eugene tells me it didn’t. :>)  To read more about Southeast's new video campus coming soon to southern Indiana, you can click here.

So… how did I make the jump to video church?  How did I get connected with North Point?  Why did I go from a “teaching” pastor to leading a church that shows Andy Stanley videos each week? 

Stay tuned for Part 2 later this week.

Comments

[Eddie Johnson]

Dave,

Could never imagine being here and doing what I'm doing without you. Thanks for giving me that first shot in ministry when I had NOTHING to back it up with. Your passion for doing "church for the unchurched" gave me a vision for ministry that still drives me today. Thank you for your investment!

Eddie

[David Foster]

Thanks for including me in your blog.

Great insights. We are glad to have you back here in Nashville.

Love what your doing and all of us at the Gathering will watch you grow and bless.

David Foster

[Jeremy]

Great post, Eddie! Looking forward to reading more of what you have to share. I fixed the glitch you were asking about - have a great Sunday!