Richard Sims

Why Is The Music So Loud?

I haven't been asked this question in a really, really long time, but just in case you're wondering why our music is a little loud, or just in case you invite someone to Tapestry and they ask you, you can give them a great answer.

First of all, keep in mind that our Sunday service is a foyer environment. That means that not only do we want to provide a place for believers to worship and learn, but we also want to provide an environment where someone can attend church for the first time and have such a great experience that they want to come back. Remember, we want to create a church that unchurched people would like to attend, so on Sundays our focus is on making outsiders feel welcome. You can read more about the foyer environment here.

With that as our basis, here are three reasons why our music can be a little loud...

1. We want to create an environment that is familiar to an outsider. When a person attends church for the first time, we want them to recognize the feel of the place. They may have never been to church, but they've been to a concert. And most of the concerts they've been to are even louder than Tapestry! So when they walk in and see drums and guitars, and when they feel the bass thump them in the chest, they immediately get a familiar, welcoming, and positive feeling about the place. A long time ago, after a rather loud service in another church, a woman came up to me and said, in a derogatory tone, "that sounded just like a nightclub!" I said, "Thanks! That's exactly what we were shooting for! Because night clubs are full of people, and our church isn't!" I know, kind of a smart answer, but you get the point. It's for the unchurched!

2. We want to make sure the average person (who is uncomfortable singing) can sing and still feel like no one can hear them. Let's face it, lots of people don't sing in church. Why? Because they don't sing well, and they know people around them can hear them. And usually the lights are up so high that they know everyone can turn and see who is singing so badly. When the music is loud, people tend to sing more and forget about the people around them, because they know no one can hear them. And with the lights low, no one can see them either. Louder music actually encourages people to sing.

3. We want to maintain a volume that makes the band comfortable. OK, this reason is not as important as the first two, but it's still important. We have some of the best worship leaders and musicians anywhere around here coming to Tapestry. We want them to play like they mean it, and that means letting them rock it. Because if the musicians are comfortable, then their music is going to be even higher in quality.

So there you go, three reasons why our music can be a little loud. Now if a friend comes to Tapestry with you and asks you about the volume, you can give them three good reasons. Special thanks to Ryan Fitzgerald for helping me with this a long time ago.

See you Sunday, loud and proud!

What Now?

Last Sunday was a huge day for Tapestry as we formed small groups for both adults and teenagers. That's huge because it means that we now have all 3 environments in place.

We now have the structure to truly lead people into a growing relationship with Christ. Because we think "steps" rather than "programs," we can invite people into the foyer, help them take the next step into the living room, and eventually step into the kitchen, where life change and spiritual growth happens best. (If you're new to TC, you're really not going to understand anything I just said unless you break down and click on that link above.)

So what now? There are still over 20,000 people within 5 miles of where we meet who do not know Christ. 20,000 people who are going through life without knowing their Heavenly Father. They work with you, go to school with you, work in the stores where you shop, live near you. So what now? Continue to invest in their lives and invite them to our gatherings at Tapestry.

You can start by inviting them this Sunday to part 1 of "Text." More on "Text" tomorrow, but your friend will learn more about the Bible than ever before during this series. Plus they'll have the chance to actually read their Bible and interact with others right here on this blog about what they read. You'll have the opportunity to do that too, but you'll just have to come Sunday night to see how it all works!

Invest...and invite!

It's All In The Name...

Dottie Brawner sent me a quote from one of the great heroes of the faith, Corrie Ten Boom, that reminded her of why we chose the name "Tapestry." (If you don't know who Corrie Ten Boom is, go here.)

We call ourselves Tapestry Church based on the design of ancient tapestries, where the visible threads make a beautiful work of art, but the hidden threads tend to be made of basic cotton or wool, and are often broken or frayed.

At Tapestry Church, our desire is to be a place where people who are broken or frayed can be woven together to produce a beautiful work of art, the body of Christ.  When outsiders look at Tapestry, they won’t see the brokenness of the people, they will see the beauty of the Savior.

So here's the quote Dottie sent us from Corrie Ten Boom: "Lord, thank you that your side of the embroidery of our life is always perfect."

Nailed it, didn't she? We have struggles, difficulties and failures. Some of us had given up on church, and even given up on God.

But we started Tapestry to be a church where broken and frayed people would be welcome. Let's ask God to weave us together in such a way that people don't see us, they just see their incredible Heavenly Father.

Standing Still or Charging Forward?

Steven Furtick of Elevation Church says, "Wandering in circles can be just as fatal as charging forward in the wrong direction." Yes! Please, right now, put a pause on reading my post and go read his entire post here.

That's why we at Tapestry looked at where we were at the end of 2008 and were not satisfied. It's why we measure ourselves not by how many attend, but by how many people without Christ are still out there. It's why we are willing to change locations and meeting times. Whatever it takes. Yes, we may make mistakes, but we are not going to be afraid to try something new and different. Not when lives are at stake. Because, after all, "wandering in circles can be just as fatal as charging forward in the wrong direction."

What's This About the Foyer?

Last week we looked at the three environments at Tapestry Church, including the foyer. In your house, the foyer is the welcome area for visitors and new friends. It's where you first meet. It's where you can help them want to come back. Not a whole lot of conversation takes place in the foyer, but it isn't designed for that.

At Tapestry Church, our foyer is the Sunday worship gathering. It's where we welcome visitors and new friends. It's where we first meet. It's where we can help people want to come back. Not a whole lot of conversation takes place here, but it isn't designed for that.  Of course we worship in the foyer, and we learn here, but everything we do in this service is looked at through the eyes of someone who is new, someone who has never been to church.

Here's the bottom line of why Tapestry Church exists...we want to create a church that unchurched people would like to attend. That's it, bottom line. There are people living and dying every day in this community who don't know their Savior. That should break our hearts! That should make our blood boil! That should fire us up to do something! That should fire us up to do something NOW!

Our foyer environment is designed so that unchurched people can attend, find it enjoyable, find it helpful, and want to come back. Simply put, Tapestry Church is here to introduce people to Jesus. And if we don't do that successfully, we are not successful as a church.

The question I am burdened with right now is not "Are we reaching some people?" The question that gnaws at me is, "Are we doing everything we can to create the best foyer environment possible to reach the most people possible for Christ?"

How would you answer that question?

 

Why Are We Here? Part 2

Yesterday we talked about the reason Tapestry Church is here, and we said that we're here to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by creating environments in which people are encouraged and equipped to pursue intimacy with God, community with believers, and influence on those outside the faith.

But what are we talking about when we use the word "environment"?

Well, every ministry, program or event that any church has is an "environment." The location, atmosphere, the type of activity, all kinds of things come together to define a particular event's or ministry's environment.

At Tapestry, we've simplified things so that we only have three basic environments. Everything we do fits into at least one of these three environments.  And the terms we use for our environments are based on the parts of a house, which just helps us to explain them a little easier.

Your foyer is your welcome area for visitors and new friends. It's where you first meet. It's where you can help them want to come back. Not a lot of deep conversation here, but not a lot of pressure either. Our Sunday morning worship time is Tapestry's foyer. We want to be a church that unchurched people like to attend, so in our foyer, folks can come in, experience it, talk to a few people if they want to, and make the decision, hopefully, to come back. Oh, we worship here, and we learn here, but everything we do in this service is looked at through the eyes of someone who has never been to church. Will they find it enjoyable and helpful? And will you have the confidence to invite them in the first place?

In your home, your most intimate conversations often happen around the kitchen table. This is a safe place where you can share your life, open your heart, ask tough questions and have tough conversations. Coming soon to Tapestry, our small groups will be our kitchen table environment, where people meet regularly for Bible study and prayer, and where spiritual growth has the best opportunity to take place. That's quite a jump from the foyer, where you hardly even talk, so there needs to be a step in between...

That's where the living room comes in. There's more interaction than in the foyer, but not as much as in the kitchen. The living room is where you begin friendships. Along our journey as a church, we'll be hosting more and more living room events. The perfect example? Our Christmas Party, Sunday, December 14, 6:30 pm. This will be a great opportunity for us to meet each other and get to know the folks we worship with every Sunday but never get to talk to.

So there you have it. Everything we do fits into at least one of these environments: foyer, living room, kitchen table. And these environments are what help us to lead people into a growing relationship with Christ.

Next week: A closer look at the foyer.

Why Are We Here? Part 1

Why is Tapestry Church here?

The easy answer is to quote our mission statement: our mission is to lead people into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ by creating environments in which people are encouraged and equipped to pursue intimacy with God, community with believers, and influence on those outside the faith.

"Ok, Richard, I get that, but those are just words on paper. So, really, why is Tapestry here?" 

Really and truly, that mission statement is why we're here. Tapestry Church was started because we had a burning desire to see people grow in their relationship with Christ. Period. And that includes people who currently have no knowledge of God (which is why we wanted to create a church that unchurched people would like to attend) and people who have been Christians for years. We're here to help all of them to move forward in their walk toward God or in their walk with God.

We define growth in God by looking at our growth, or lack of growth, in three areas:

• Are we growing, individually, in our knowledge and obedience and faith in our Heavenly Father?
• Are we growing in our relationships with other Christians, or are our relationships filled with problems, arguments, jealousy, you know, all that yucky stuff we don't like to talk about but that we've all seen way too often among church members?
• And are we growing in our influence on those around us who are not believers? Do we even notice them? Do we know who they are? Do we talk to them? Do we love them, or do we just condemn them? Can they see by our actions that our lives are different because of Christ? And if they did have some spiritual questions, would they turn to us for answers?

Tomorrow: What's all this about "environments?"

Here's What's Happening...

Two days this week with the kids out of school, and I'm way behind on blog posts. But we had an absolute blast during our Fall Break.

Sunday we closed out the LO$T series with a most practical message. If you weren't at Tap last Sunday and would like the fill-in-the-blank points, just shoot me an e-mail. And if I say that Danny Dukes led worship, do I even need to tell you that worship was incredible? I will anyway...it was incredible!

On Monday the fam drove to north Georgia for some apples, a petting zoo, our Halloween 2008 pumpkin, and a picnic at Amicalola Falls. Like I said, we had a blast!

Yesterday, well, I now have two lawnmowers that aren't working. Not much else I can say about that.

And here's a heads-up for this Sunday...I'll be sharing Tapestry's philosophy about our ministry to children and teenagers, which I believe is different from most churches around. More on that later in the week...

Intentional Apprenticing

Here's our last weekly look at Tapestry's core values.  This week we look at Intentional Apprenticing.

Here's what we're talking about: We believe that each of us is responsible for passing along to others the knowledge, skills and opportunities that have been entrusted to us.

In our Sunday handout and on our website we have ways for people to let us know they would like to volunteer at Tapestry. And we do need volunteers!

But we believe that over the long run the best method of recruiting volunteers is for our volunteers to recruit and mentor others in order to carry on their ministry. Some churches have a "nominating committee" that's responsible for finding workers for the church. Other churches leave the staff in charge of recruiting. But at Tapestry, we want every volunteer to be actively recruiting and apprenticing all the time.

Imagine a church were every volunteer is scouting, recruiting and training new volunteers. That kind of church can change the world!

Strategic Service

It's Friday, and that means we're once again talking about Tapestry's Core Values. This week we're at number 6, with one more to go!

Today's Core Value is Strategic Service. We believe that every Christian is a strategic member of the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:12-27). That means that every believer has been given talents, abilities, passions, and at least one spiritual gift, all because God has strategically placed each one of us in the body to perform a role in the body. Every member is important. Every member is vital.

You are indispensable to what God wants done in the world. Something that God wants done won’t be done without you.

At Tapestry, many people will serve as volunteers in the church. Our church schedule, however, will deliberately be kept simple so that individuals have more time to serve outside the walls of the church, in the community.

Either way, every believer should have the goal of exercising his or her gifts and abilities in tandem with other members of the body. This is how God wants to change the world!