Are you looking for ways to maximize the growth and participation of your Launch Team? Consider these 2 ingenious church plant launch team ideas:

Relive the Moment

HD video recording technology is now in most of our smart phones. Use a mobile device or video camera to record your Launch Team meetings! Then you can post them as private videos on Vimeo or Youtube.

This is a 2-edged sword, though: this could be a great way to include people that really wanted to be at the meeting but couldn’t because of an unavoidable conflict. “Man, I’m so sorry I missed last week!” he says. “It was so great! We worked on a strategy to learn about the real needs of our community. I’ll send you a link. You should totally watch it!” you say.

You could also use it as a recruiting tool. “I can see you’re on the fence. I’ll send you a link to a recording of our last meeting and you can check it out. There’s no animal sacrifice involved.”

But used carelessly, this could become an excuse for people not coming to the Launch Team meetings: “I can skip tonight and just watch the video next week…”

Thanks, Community Christian Church Downers Grove, for this idea!

Conference Two-fer

Getting everyone sold out to the vision is your primary task with your Launch Team. Another thing that’s important is getting everyone trained for their various roles when the worship gatherings start.

One way to do that is take team members to a ministry-based conference. A great option is the regional Exponential Conferences happening throughout the year.

And when you go, plan to arrive early or stay late for a Sunday morning. You’re not committed to weekly sermons and worship gatherings for this season, so seize the opportunity take your team to visit a church you respect. Let them experience firsthand the thing(s) that congregation does really well.

Many congregations will be gracious hosts if you let them know in advance that you’re coming. I’ve seen Launch Teams get special back stage access and brief training sessions from experts.

Or you could just show up sort of like ‘mystery shoppers’ so your team members can truly experience what a guest would. That will help them empathize with the guests who will eventually come to your church. And they’ll probably come home with some great ideas about how to do (or not do) things on their ministry team.

Thank you, the Strategic Church, for this idea!

What other ingenious church plant Launch Team ideas have you seen take a team to another level?