I was surprised to see that he was what we call a second-generation client. That means, Rodney is familiar with us because a fellow planter sold him their gear once they were ready to move into a building. Rodney purchased a 2 year old PCI System in 2009, and from all reports, the system is still going strong in Knoxville.
I thought Rodney's win was interesting because it reminded me that, when we are church planters portable churches, there is generational value in everything we do - meaning - there is always someone who will come to the field after us.
Even with a system like ours, being a portable church, is dedicated work with a big learning curve. We do our best to think about everything from material flow to sound quality. Think, however, about everything else you go through on a given Sunday - assimilation, new comer follow-up, resource allocation and distribution, volunteer recruitment, etc.
Chances are you learned more about people, finances and your community in your first year as a portable church than you thought possible. Chances are there were as many "surprise" learnings as there were intentional ones. Make sure you're sharing your "surprise" learnings with others who will follow in your footsteps. Launching a ministry, whether it is a multi-site, brand new church or relaunch, is a lot easier when you know you're part of a larger community - when you know you can rely on the wisdom of those who have gone before you.
By far, the most interesting and effective thing about our Twitter promotion was watching the conversation start and continue with "tips" on Portable Church-ing. Let's continue to think about the next generation of planters - and keep that conversation going.
