Blue Ocean Churches

I am getting ready to speak tomorrow at the ChurchPlanters.com conference. Ben Arment will be there, Catalyst's Innovation and Experience Director. I like the way Ben thinks and his recent post on Blue Ocean Churches, reminds me why. But before diving into his snippet let me remind you where the Blue Ocean idea comes from. Red ocean is where the sharks compete for the same prey. Blue ocean is non-competitive space. In fact, this business book is so compelling, that Vince Antonucci, said is was his primary reference to church planters before discovering Church Unique.

Here's Ben's entry:

Occasionally, I get e-mails from people who think Catalyst is part of North Point Community Church. They ask about ourvideo venues, our assimilation process, even how Andy is doing. "Fine," I tell them. "He's in a good mood today."

What's interesting is only three of us attend NP. A few go to 12Stone. And a fairly good number attend All Souls Church down in the city. I've never been, but I hear All Souls is the anti-programming church. Overhead projectors, white sheets of paper with announcements on them, stiff liturgy… A surprising choice for staffers at the most programming-rich organization in ministry.I guess it's like working at an ice-cream parlor. You don't go home after a long day of work, sit down in front of the TV… and eat ice cream.

Got me thinking about Blue Ocean churches. I really believe you can only have so many churches in one community that successfully reach families with 2.5 kids, SUVs and a golf club membership. If your church is #4 or #5 in this genre of church-making, you're better off finding a new sociographic to reach or you'll continue to struggle year after year after year… after year.Do the opposite. Drop the rock band and intelligent lighting. Forget the climbing wall for kids and the KidStuf knock-off. Go with the opposite attributes and set apart your church for a new kind of community.

It will be surprisingly refreshing for a large number of people.