The team at Christ’s Church of the Valley began planning for the Easter services about two months out. Because Easter came earlier last year (March 31) than other years, they knew they had to get a jump on it.
Their pastor approached the creative team with a topic he wanted to speak on?challenging men to something greater. Pastor Wilson left most of the packaging and direction from then on in the hands of the creative team.
Multiple times throughout the year they do these types of themed sermon series??inspiring men. Christ?s Church of the Valley has a bit of a unique goal when it comes to who they wish to reach. They intentionally focus on reaching men so they can reach the whole family. One of the reasons behind this is that statistics show when you reach fathers first, 80-90% of the time the rest of the family will follow.
If you reach children first, the likelihood is 30%. If you reach the mother, 40-50% of time the rest of the family will follow.
So their pastor, a long time ago, decided they wanted to reach men. They wanted to raise up men to lead their families well. So everything they do from top to bottom comes from that motivation. The building design, paint colors, print graphics? it?s all geared to appeal to men. And they explain four or five times each year from the stage that it?s a priority for them.
Their three part strategy is: (1) reach men to reach the family, (2) reach the younger generation so they have a future, and (3) reach their neighbors so they can impact their community.
While it might seem that this sort of strategy could turn off women, they?ve actually found it works the exact opposite. The ladies in their congregation quickly see the value when their pastor casts the vision. For them, it?s not about favoring men. But they realize women are naturally more spiritual and prone to shepherding their families toward church. Men are less likely. So by reaching men, they can change that. Wives are into that.
So this series was meant to do just that?to reach men. The creative team, having worked together and with their pastor for a few years knew that their theme, ?Fighter?, would be a great way to accomplish that goal. They planned a five-week series leading up to Easter, with the Easter service acting as the culmination. ?I Am the Greatest?, their title for those services, was all about the great act Jesus performed for us.
The weeks leading up to Easter were titled:
- Get in the Ring
- Eye of the Tiger
- Down But Not Out
- Fighting to Win
Spoken Word Video
One of the first elements they planned, right after Christmas, was the slam poetry reading they opened the service with. They looked online and found a local artist who goes by the name of Foreknown. He didn?t attend their church, but he was a believer who attended a church down the street. He was happy to help.
They met with him, brought the idea, and told him what they were looking for. They wanted to take the boxing theme and flip it out away from what people were expecting to what the reality of greatness is. Then they left him with his thoughts.
The first script and rough performance was exactly what the CCV team was looking for. So they set up a time to shoot at a local boxing gym. There they directed him, knowing where they planned to go with the worship set after the video ended.
Time of Meditation
Every weekend, CCV has communion. It?s something they?ve had since the very beginning of the church. Easter was no different. They combine that with a time of meditation while verses roll on the screens. It?s something they do as a devotion time to get all minds focused on what?s going to happen. Each week this segment lasts from 3-5 minutes and they pass the communion trays with bread in the middle and juice cups surrounding.
Working with Multiple Campuses
Normally, Christ?s Church of the Valley keeps each campus’ service almost exactly identical. The only variation in their service structures are the meditation times?where they allow each campus pastor to tailor the time to their campus. But for Easter, they scripted everything. So each service at each campus, almost down to the second, was doing the exact same thing.
The visuals, the stage design, the worship music?only scaled down a few places for campus size?were exactly the same at all three locations.
