My high school basketball coach used to get so frustrated with our team. We were a bunch of jokesters, always trying to make each other laugh, and we had a tendency to not take practice seriously. My coach used to say to us on a weekly basis, “How you practice is how you’ll play,” and it turns out he was right! The way we practiced during the week showed up on the court every Friday night. This principle applies to ministry also.
Our Pilot, or practice, session of Rooted is such an important step towards a healthy launch of Rooted. How we pilot will directly affect our launch and the long-term success of Rooted.
Here are three avoidable mistakes churches make during their Pilot session of Rooted:
1. Not Inviting the Right People to Participate
Your Pilot session is about more than testing out content. It’s about building alignment and ownership. For our Pilot session, we want to make sure we are inviting the right people to participate in order to get the best feedback, buy-in, and alignment from this experience.
We want to invite:
- The entire staff
- Leadership teams
- Elder boards
- Key volunteers who have a passion for discipleship and groups
Not only does this help us spread the burden of casting vision as we launch, give leaders a clear understanding of why we are implementing Rooted as a church, and prepare people to help us lead Rooted when we launch, but it also brings alignment to those going through this experience. I have heard from numerous churches, including my own, that the team grew deeper in connection with each other during the PIlot session of Rooted than any other environment.
2. Not Capturing Stories
Don’t miss the opportunity to capture stories during your pilot. We want to capture stories to share when promoting our launch session of Rooted.
It’s easy to assume, “People expect staff and leaders to grow spiritually, these stories won’t resonate.” But the opposite is true.
When a worship pastor shares how their prayer life grew, or a student pastor talks about a breakthrough during the repentance experience, it builds credibility and expectation among our people.
People begin to think, “If Rooted is impacting them, it can impact me.”
Take good notes, pictures, and even consider capturing a video testimonial speaking to the growth that was experienced during the Pilot session of Rooted. Our people are wired for transformation more than information, so be sure to put our transformation on display while promoting Rooted!
3. Not Debriefing After the Pilot
Before you begin your PIlot session of Rooted, you will want to schedule a debriefing meeting to take place soon after. You will also want to get the people you want there invited before your pilot begins. By doing this, you are letting your leaders know, “Yes, I want your feedback, and here is when”. We want everyone in our pilot to experience all of Rooted before giving feedback. This will lead to better informed feedback, and save you from keeping track of everyone’s feedback throughout the experience.
During your debriefing meeting, be sure to include the following questions:
- What was the most impactful week of Rooted for you and why? By asking this question, we are listening for stories we can use during promotion.
- What was confusing or unclear about this experience? This helps us lead our church with confidence and clarity. This is where we learn from the mistakes we made during the Pilot session, so we don’t repeat those mistakes when we launch Rooted to our church.
- How can we help Rooted sound and feel more like us? Context matters. We want to use language that our people would be used to hearing during our weekend services. The easiest way to do this is by contextualizing the presentation portion of the three gatherings that take place during the Rooted experience.
One Final Thought
How we practice is how we play. Your pilot is your practice, and your launch is gameday. We want to take our pilot seriously and get the most out of this incredible experience!
For more best practices and tips, connect with the Rooted coach in your region, or reach out to us if you have any questions. Our coaches are here to help each step of the way.
