Travis Agnew

Travis Agnew serves as the Lead Pastor of Rocky Creek Church in Greenville, SC. His most recent book is Just (About) Married.

“So, How Did the Change REALLY Go?”

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In the recent weeks, I have learned that there have been 3 people very interested in the changes going on at North Side.

  1. North Siders – This group has been interested in how all of it would look when the dust settled and the new day was here.  What would worship be like?  Where would their families go?
  2. Other Greenwood Churches – We also have heard that it’s been quite the conversation among other churches, and even in some churches, people have attempted to lure people to their congregation because their worship style was something they would enjoy better (that’s on both the contemporary and the traditional side).  I guarantee if someone leaves one church because of music and find refuge in another, those are the type of members who leave the 2nd church one day as well.  It’s like young ladies who feel like they have to advertise to get a man.  Whatever it takes to get him will be what takes him one day.  The same is true with churches.
  3. Other Church Leaders – Along the way, I’ve been contacted through this blog, Facebook, or email with questions how we are going about these changes.  It seems there are a lot of churches who desire unity as well.  Many congregations are tired of the church buffet lines, but we served as the “guinea pig” to many of them.  If it works here, maybe it could work there too was the thought process.

So, I posted on Sunday that Sunday was a great day, and it was.  I believed it was going to be a great day, but I didn’t think it could have gone that smooth.  But many people emailed me on Monday morning and said, “OK, you can tell me, how did the change REALLY go?”  As if Sunday everyone would be all smiles, but then Monday morning, our inboxes would be overflowing with hate mail.

So, how did the change REALLY go?

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Courageous Opening Weekend Showtimes

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I was thrilled to find out the other week that the movie Courageous will be showing on opening weekend in Greenwood!  For those of you who follow my blog, you are aware that I have been blessed to be a part of writing a Bible study to accompany the movie entitled “Honor Begins at Home.” Since so much of the study has critical clips to the movie, it won’t be released until after opening weekend.  You can see an early sample of the curriculum here.

We just got information concerning how churches, ministries, or groups can get bulk tickets at a great rate.  You can purchase Courageous tickets for opening weekend now.  If you buy 20 or more, you can get them at the very low price of $6.50 a ticket.  You can then turn and give them away or sell that at your church or ministry.

Showtimes:

  • Friday, Sept. 30th – 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
  • Saturday, Oct. 1st – 1:00, 4:00, 7:00, 10:00
  • Sunday, Oct. 2nd – 1:00, 4:00, 10:00 (7:00 is already sold out)

We have some tickets at North Side for the Friday night showing at 7:00.  You can pick them up while they last at the bookstore for $6.50 a ticket.  If you are another church leader, find a time that works for your crew, and go pick up some tickets for that time slot.

Here’s the synopsis of the movie:

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College Discipleship Groups

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  What a wonderful weekend with the North Side family!  We were blessed to have a bunch of college students worship with us yesterday from Lander, Erskine, Piedmont Tech, Presbyterian College, and much more.  It was a blessing to connect with so many of them at our lunch yesterday and our dodegeball tournament last night. We want to make all

Cherish Your Marriage Vows

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On July 12, 2004, I spoke some serious wedding vows to my bride.  Unfortunately, those vows are often forgotten once the marriage ceremony is over for many couples. This summer, we have been married 7 years.  For Amanda’s birthday, I decided to get our vows framed, something she always said she would love to have.  I did some research and

Following Jesus

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The day so many of us have been praying for and planning for finally came.  We did something that most church growth experts and consultants say should never be done.  With what we did today, we should have had a church split or people walking out in disapproval.

Instead, we worshiped as one family.

Today, North Side united 3 services into 2.  We got rid of 2 styles and united under the heading of “worship.”  We united families instead of segregating them.  And while I believe that God has been honored with our church before, I think this was another level of obedience and worship that we engaged into today.  I’ve heard plenty of encouraging words from this morning, but even if those weren’t there, God was honored and our church worshiped today in spirit and in truth.

Today, we worshiped to:

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Reminders for Sunday’s New Schedule

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Just a reminder about Sunday’s new schedule at North Side.  We have worship and discipleship groups for all ages at both 9:30 & 11:00.  Get there early to make sure you and your family are in the right spot at the right time.

Here’ some additional notes for you to remember:

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“There’s a Baby in My Tummy!”

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The other morning, I went to get my boys dressed for the day before work, and I found Eli had stuffed his teddy bear into his shirt and was patting it saying, “there’s a baby in my tummy!”

When I saw him there giggling and running around, I couldn’t help but think how far we have come.

Eli’s really been fascinated with this whole baby thing.  His mom is 9 weeks pregnant.  Both of his aunts have been pregnant in recent months, and so he is used to seeing ladies with a tummy and he associates them with being pregnant.  The problem is when he went up to a lady in the story yesterday, patted his belly, and yelled, “Baby!”

She wasn’t pregnant.

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“We Said We Would Never Visit North Side…”

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Yesterday, I talked about how North Side is experiencing incredible growth even during a time of transition.  Normally, you are supposed to lose people when you make changes to your church, and in reality, we are gaining people.  Lives are being transformed by the gospel.  People are being baptized.  All ages are signing up for discipleship groups and service groups.  It’s been amazing to watch!

I wanted to tell you one story that we have heard through this time of change.  A couple recently moved to Greenwood who had been church leaders in another state.  As they began their time of searching for the right church, someone invited them to come to North Side.  They checked out the website, asked some questions about the church, and told this person they wouldn’t come.  They had doctrinal stances they had to ensure which our church met with no problem.  But they had one other criteria as far as looking for a church that was a non-negotiable for them.

Do you know what the one criteria they had that was hindering them from coming to North Side?

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Aren’t Churches Supposed to Lose People When They Change?

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When I was in seminary, I was taught that before you ever make a change in your church, you need to calculate how many people you would lose if you changed.  An honest look at how those departures would affect attendance, volunteers, and especially budget should give you an indication of whether or not you should change.

North Side is in the middle of a change (if you haven’t heard ;)).  We are going from 3 worship services to 2.  2 worship styles to 1.  We are having a simple flip-flop schedule with worship and discipleship groups for all ages at both 9:30 & 11:00.

We decided to change for 2 basic reasons:

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Values of a Disciple-Maker

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Cannot begin to put into words what is happening at North Side in these days.  This morning, I was reminded of how focused, committed, determined, passionate, and sacrificial our church is becoming.  God is on the move, and it is amazing to watch!

We continued in our “Intentional Discipleship” series today as we talked about the values of a disciple-maker.  My notes have that someone who is serious about making disciples is someone who commits to authority (God’s Word), intentionality, maturity, and accountability.  People are stepping up to make disciples – not more programs, but to get into the lives of people and see multiplication rather than just addition.

It was great to surprise Stan Ligon today.  As Jamie Parler and Stan shared a testimony about the power of small groups, we wanted to thank this disciple-maker by allowing some of his guys to say thanks over a secret video.  It was pretty awesome to watch Stan talk about how much he needed these guys then followed by the guys saying how much they appreciated and needed him.  Kingdom living!

Today, we worshiped to:

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