ARC Meetup Coordinator Playbook by iamalivingstone

ARC Meetup Coordinator Playbook TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. MEETUP BASICS

1.1 - Objectives: Why ARC Meetups? 1.2 - What we Measure: What a win looks like. 1.3 - Preparing For and Leading Your Meetup 2. MEETUP VARIETIES 2.1 - Relational

2.2 - Event Driven 2.3 - Expanded 2.4 - Invitational/Targeted

3. MEETUP FOLLOW UP

4. THE MEETUP COORDINATOR

4.1 - Becoming an ARC Meetup Coordinator 4.2 - Setting the Meetup Coordinator Up for Success

5. HELPFUL TIPS

6. TOOLS & RESOURCES

6.1 - Checklist for Meetups 6.2 - Resource List | Important links, sponsor forms, etc. 6.3 - Annual Sample Calendar for Meetups 6.4 - Meetup Ideas 5

I. MEETUP BASICS 1.1 | Meetup Objectives

Why ARC Meetups? We believe strongly in our advice, “Don’t do ministry alone,” and that’s really what ARC Meetups are all about. They are local gatherings simply designed to connect and build relationships among pastors & leaders – building a family of ARC planters, ARC partners and other pastors in the same city or area.

ARC Meetups... ● Provide a d e-isolation opportunity. ● Provide a s oft landing place for new planters. ● Promote a l ife-giving culture among churches.

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Provide support opportunities. To rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with

those who mourn.

1.2 | A Win for Your City: What We Measure

The GOAL 1 MEETUP within 2 HOURS every 2 MONTHS. ● Frequency of Meetups: The number of opportunities available ● Location of Meetups: Geographical coverage

IMAGINE A CITY where leaders gather on a regular basis with the intention to

encourage, share wins, support through losses, share ideas, pray together and laugh together. A win for your city is a strong spiritual leadership covering. ARC Meetups seek to provide an avenue for this.

1.3 | Preparing For and Leading Your Meetup 1.3.1 SCHEDULING Once you have the details sorted out for a new meetup, visit arcchurches.com/newmeetup and complete the form. This will trigger a chain of events that will get the meetup posted on the ARC website under the “Events” section. You will be automatically notified by email whenever someone RSVPʼs for the meetup. We will also provide you with a link that shows an up-to-the-minute roster for the meetup. 1. If you havenʼt done so yet, make sure youʼre officially in the system as an ARC meetup Coordinator by going to www.arcchurches.com/newmeetupcoordinator and filling out the application. 2. Once weʼve received your info, weʼll get you connected to the other meetup coordinators in your area (if any). This will allow you to sync up and win together. 3. Whenever youʼve gotten a meetup ready go to arcchurches.com/newmeetup and submit the details. After review it will get posted on the ARC website. You will receive a shareable RSVP link and a link to monitor RSVPs people respond.

1.3.2 PROMOTIONS Updating the Roster: W e currently work with a google doc for each city, and youʼll have access to it for several purposes. First, youʼll be able to use it to make invitations to the pastors in your area that are already part of the ARC family or have connected somehow in the past. As you meet more pastors in your area, you can add them to the sheet, and as you invite pastors to meetups you can track who has been invited and any responses or RSVPʼs as well so you know at any time how many to expect. Making Invitations: W e have found that the single-most effective way to invite pastors is to contact them individually and personally, usually via text or a direct personal email. A bulk email or other form of group communication can be helpful, but nothing works like just a simple text message. We encourage you to actually invite all the pastors on the list, but some relational meetups donʼt require inviting everyone personally. Social Media: W hen a new meetup is posted on the ARC website, a social media plan is triggered. The hashtags #ARCmeetup and #ARCChurches are useful to include in your posts before and after the meetup. It is also helpful to tag @arcchurches in your posts.

1.3.3 THE MEETUP Everyone gets to share their story: E veryone should have the opportunity to share their story, except in meetups where there are too many people to do so. It is a great idea to go around the table and have each pastor give a “thirty-second version of their story” early in the meetup. This allows pastors who are new to the group have an idea who is in the gathering. It is important that they get to invest their story to the group - and that it is a safe place to tell it. One very important factor in this “tell your story” part of the meetup is to avoid sharing attendance numbers. That very well may be something for later, but that tends to be the one piece of data that can alienate some pastors. As the coordinator, you are responsible to make sure the conversation is life-giving. Encourage swapping of contact info: R emind the group that this is not a time to be guarded with your contact information. The goal is to develop relationships, so share your information and get others numbers as well. Shoot them a text once in a while on a Saturday evening and encourage them. Take them to lunch and buy them a meal. Send a gift card once in a while. Who wouldnʼt want to be part of a family of pastors that do that kind of thing for one another? Thereʼs hope, joy, life, and love in that kind of environment, and all of that will make a pastor less likely to be isolated. Honor up, down, and over: T his is crucial for any group. Honoring those who are veterans leaders or are a few steps ahead of the rest - demonstrate this and show the group how to honor them. Sometimes, it is the words of a veteran pastor who comes to the meetup that are the most valuable of the whole gathering, and often it is this pastor that a younger, newer pastor may need most in their life. Honor the future planter, too. They are facing some of the greatest challenges theyʼve ever faced but theyʼre here. Honor them and everyone in between. Find something to honor and honor it. Build a culture of honor at the table and diffuse the competition and comparison that so easily entangles pastors. Pray: A t some point in each meetup pray. Pray specifically for any future planters or recent planters that are at the table. Also pray for any needs that were mentioned during the discussion. It isnʼt vital that this prayer time be lengthy, but it is important that we honor God. Take a Picture! T his is not a must-do, but it can be helpful for a couple reasons. First, it can help you recall who all was at the meetup a few days later when you canʼt remember. Second, it can be a very encouraging thing to post on social media. When other pastors see what a meetup looks like they may be more inclined to join the next one in their area. Be an encourager: Make sure to take a second with the group to encourage them. An easy way to do this is simply to let them know from all of us in the ARC family that we honor them and are thankful for what theyʼre doing for the Kingdom. You donʼt have to do a devotional or teaching. The point is to remind them that they arenʼt alone and that this group is proof of that. Listen more than you talk: Youʼll get a lot further relationally if youʼll keep this in focus.

2. MEETUP VARIETIES

2.1 | Relational Meetup Casual environment for initiating and fostering relationships. This is the most basic meetup type. It is simply a gathering opportunity to connect and build relationships over coffee, a meal at a restaurant, or some other neutral and non-intimidating environment. Almost never do we do these at a church, but instead at a local restaurant or coffee shop. You may find that sometimes it is helpful to initiate a discussion about a timely topic (Easter service planning, preparing for summer, etc) but it is not necessary every time, especially in the first few meetups. One of the greatest benefits of this type of meetup is that it is easy for any pastor, regardless of their affiliations, to feel welcome and safe in a time of connection with other pastors. There is really no limit to how often these can happen, and they allow for a hyper-localized environment. The goal is not of these events is connection not large numbers. When 3-4 pastors from the city gather to talk, itʼs a huge win, and we can do these as often as a coordinator wants.

2.2 | Event-Driven Meetup Some pastors may be more inclined to make time to be part of an activity such as an afternoon at Topgolf, riding go karts, skeet shooting, or going to a local baseball game. The goal is to get pastors to build relationships and activities can make this easy to accomplish. One specific Event Driven Meetup is based around gather pastors to pray together. Pray for revival in your city and state. Pray for more churches to be planted. Pray for any future church planters that participate in the prayer meetup. Each January we encourage everyone to be part of what we call “Prayer Day”. We ask as many coordinators as possible to host this special meetup that is aimed at having pastors pray for each other, for revival in their city, and for an awakening in our nation. As with any meetup there should be a high priority on providing time for connecting and relationship-building.

2.2.1 ARC PRAYER DAY FAQ’S: When should we do a prayer meetup? We would prefer that the event be scheduled on a single-day in January, but will most likely have other meetups throughout mid-January. Are there any graphics for screens and social media? Yes. ARC will provide graphics to help in social promotions and on screen. You will want to have your own system for lyrics and other location-specific messaging. Can we promote other things at the meetup? No. Avoid heavy marketing of products/events other than those that directly relate to the ARC and what guests can participate in at no charge. Are there any guidelines for what to pray for? Prayer points to include (you can add more): ● Pray for revival in our nation, your region/city ● Pray for your city’s leaders and civil servants, teachers, and citizens as well ● Pray for pastors and their spouses ● Pray for other churches in your city and those who have joined online. ● Pray for recent (<2 years) or upcoming church planters in the room and those who have joined online. What’s the best time of day to do a prayer meetup? We suggest a 7:00pm-8:00pm gathering, but this is largely dependent on your community, traffic, your church’s normal rhythms, and what day of the week you choose. A few have chosen in the past to do a morning or midday worship-and-prayer gathering. Does it have to be a big production, or can we just get some pastors together to pray? You can definitely choose to host a small prayer meetup that is focused on pastors and their spouses to gather and pray. Most of the time, these are set for a morning or midday time, and can be more casual in feel and flow. ARC Prayer Days started with this style, and is still an incredibly effective way for pastors to connect to pray for their city and for each other. Are there guidelines for the flow of the event? Keep in mind that this isn’t intended to be a time of teaching or preaching, but of worship and prayer. Focused on the Church and its leaders, and your city and its leaders. Can we get the lead pastor couples together for a pre- or post-event connect time? We strongly encourage this! If you have the ability, it can be a great to welcome lead pastor couples to gather before or after the event to build relationships.

Some things to remember if you’re going to live-stream your prayer meetup: ● You’ll need to have your worship team to lead the worship portion of the gathering. This should not be a minimalist set - you’ll want to have a full team like you would a normal Sunday. ● You’ll need to have a full video crew to handle a full presentation of the event via video live-stream. It needs to be a multi-camera, full production - again, like you would for a Sunday service you’d stream live. ● We’ll need to know the direct link users can go to to get to the video feed on your church’s website so we can offer it on the ARC website. ● For lead pastors and spouses who have RSVP’d that they’ll be joining in online, we’d like to plan to call their names out before (or in) the prayer for them.

2.3 | Expanded Meetup Content, Teaching, and spiritual impartation driven generally lasting 2-4 hours. Once there is a measure of positive momentum for meetups in a city, we have found it can be a huge boost for the churches when we do an expanded-format meetup. In some cases, this order can be reversed, an expanded meetup can be strategic in boosting the culture of doing standard meetups. These meetups are a longer format, built around having one or more person of influence teach and do Q&A with the meetup participants. Built into the schedule is plenty of relationship-building time as well. Examples of these are Randy and Amy Bezet hosting a meetup in Sarasota FL where they taught about marriage in ministry, Dino Rizzo teaching pastors and teams in West Covina CA for a couple hours, or Phil Kline teaching about leadership pipeline to pastors from all around Kansas City MO. These meetups require a greater investment of time, energy, and possibly finances. Weʼll work with you to help determine what the best format is for your scenario based on what weʼve learned from other expanded meetups.

2.3.1 B EST PRACTICES FOR EXPANDED MEETUPS We want these meetups to remain unintimidating, competition-free, focused on breaking down walls, and building trust between pastors and various other church leaders. Anything that the host church can do to help create such an environment is helpful. Here are some ideas we have found important: ● At a minimum there should be coffee and water for guests. If the host church chooses to offer additional refreshments it would be a great blessing. ● If possible, itʼs a good idea to have plenty of space in the room around the tables, and by the refreshments to encourage connection during the breaks. ● In the breaks donʼt forget to look for those who are not connecting, and do what you can to pull them in. ● If it is possible to record the sessions and Q&A in the meetup, that would be helpful. If you can, send a copy of the recording once the meetup is over. 13

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Be sure to take a few pictures during the meetup. Pictures that are most helpful are those that show the whole room, pastors engaging with one another, or the speaker(s) with the crowd in the picture as well. Have greeters available to help guests find their way from the parking lot to the room where the meetup is located. Have light music playing in the room before, after, and during breaks. ARC will provide a welcome slide, a few informational slides, and a title slide for each person that will be speaking from the stage.

2.3.2 SAMPLE EXPANDED MEETUP TIMELINE: Start End

Duration Person

Description

9:00

9:30

0:30 Someone MEET & GREET - encourage people to take time to meet each other, grab coffee (and from the refreshments if available) Host Church

9:30

9:40

0:10 Emcee

WELCOME - Welcome everyone, give orientation of the facility, and plan for the morning. Honor any key pastors in the room, ask for a show of hands who is from what area of town/region, and remind everyone the purpose of the meetup is connections and relationship-building. Ask for a who is who show of hands - for example: who is a lead pastor, pastor's spouse, a creative director, worship leader, kids director, student leader, etc. Encourage each group to identify on another and connect during the break. INTRODUCE THE SPEAKER

9:50

10:30

0:40 Speaker

First Session

10:30

10:40

0:10 Speaker /Helper

Q&A - Have a helper with a roaming mic to get to each person with a question. Have question-askers introduce themselves before asking their question.

10:40

10:55

0:15

BREAK (encourage connecting with each other)

10:55

11:35

0:40 Speaker

Second Session

11:35

11:45

0:10 Speaker/ Helper

Q&A - Have a helper with a roaming mic to get to each person with a question. Have question-askers introduce themselves before asking their question.

11:45

11:55

0:10 Emcee

CLOSE - Thank everyone, explain how to become part of ARC if they would like to, remind them about the next ARC meetups in the area, and give them the key links (arcchurches.com/join and arcchurches.com/connect). Close in prayer - praying specifically for future and recent planters. Dismissal should include an encouragement to stick around and connect more with others.

11:30

12:00

0:30

Post-Event - Music playing and links on the screen

2.4 | Invitational/Targeted Meetup Invitational/Targeted meetups are an invite-only event that allows pastors and leaders to connect with influential leaders. You or another church in your area may be hosting a speaker for the weekend and would like to have them speak into a select few leaders in your region

3. MEETUP FOLLOW UP Send an email or text message thanking each attendee and inviting them to the next meetup or event. Don’t group text everyone together! Finding a text-blast app can help with your follow-up. Try to identify what the “next step” is for each pastor in regards to being healthy and connected. Listen for wins and help celebrate them (and let us know so we can help celebrate). Listen for struggles a nd then connect them to other pastors w ho can help them with those weaknesses. It may also be appropriate to point them to an ARC associated partner like Grow, Relate, Next Level Coaching, Team Church, or any of the other great resources ARC has to offer. Look for other pastors who “get it” and may be able to help set up future meetups in other parts of the city or to join your city’s meetup team. Remind them of any upcoming future ARC gatherings: meetups, conferences, and other helpful events in the area are all listed on arcchurches.com under Events. Make sure youʼre up to speed before the meetup so you can help make them aware of more ways to connect. If there is a future church planter at the meetup, make sure they know weʼd love to b e able to help them in any way we can. You can point them to the arcchurches.com site, and give them the email address of Amy Roberie (amy.roberie@arcchurches.com) from our Launch team at ARC. If you planted with ARC you should share your experience as well. If there is a pastor who is not yet part of the ARC family but is interested in knowing more, you can also point them to arcchurches.com/join. And again, share your story with them about becoming part of the ARC family. After the meetup: Send an email or text to your Regional Meetup Coach with a count of pastors (and a count of churches represented). Also let them know about anything that can be celebrated about the meetup, or any other highlight/challenge from the meetup. & Fill Out the PCO Follow Up Form.

4. THE MEETUP COORDINATOR 4.1 | Becoming an ARC Meetup Coordinator Next to planting & pastoring your church, becoming an ARC Meetup Coordinator is one of the greatest ways to make a difference for the Kingdom. You’ll be encouraging leaders, reminding them of their calling, giving them opportunities to build real friendships. Meetups matter because these pastors matter to God. Thank you for beginning the process of becoming an ARC Meetup Coordinator. ● To Get started, fill out the application - .w ww.arcchurches.com/newmeetupcoordinator

4.2 | Setting the Meetup Coordinator Up for Success At ARC, we believe in setting people up for success. Your success as an ARC Meetup Coordinator matters to us! These qualifications seek to do just that. An ARC Meetup Coordinator: ● Is the pastor of their church and is either an ARC Plant or an ARC Partner. ● Has a passion to network pastors & leaders in their city/region. ● Has ample margin in their life to properly execute meetups and care for those attending their meetups. ● Has completed the New Meetup Coordinator Onboarding Process.

5. HELPFUL TIPS 1. Donʼt let someone use the meetup as an opportunity to promote their ministry, book, or services without discussing it with the ARC team ahead of time. 2. Do all you can to connect people to each other. Listen, ask questions, and in general, let people be seen and heard. 3. Make a point of honoring seasoned pastors in attendance, as well as future church planters in the process of planting a church. 4. Your role as the meet-up coordinator is to provide opportunities for pastors to connect. This doesn’t mean you must become every pastors spiritual father, nor their personal coach. 5. Be sure to identify those who have already planted a church with ARC - theyʼll be able to answer questions people may have about ARC. 6. Each meetup will look different but make sure the key elements are present each event: ● Create an environment for pastors to connect. ● Keep it life-giving! ● At some point it is important that someone share about ARC and what it is ARC does. We can prepare you, the meetup coordinator, to handle this segment.

6. TOOLS & RESOURCES 6.1 Checklist for Meet-Ups Pre-Meetup Schedule meet up with the ARC. (arcchurches.com/newmeetup) Communicate clearly with personal texts, calls, emails, and social media promotions. Set room with water, coffee, and any additional refreshments. Assign jobs to the event host, worship team, greeters, hospitality, technology, check-in desk, and photography. ● Display ARC graphics on screens in the room and throughout the building. ● Turn the music on and set refreshments out early to create a hospitable environment. ● ● ● ●

Post-Meetup ● Follow up communication thanking each attendee. ● What is each person’s next step? Invite them to the next meet-up, conference, or other helpful events. ● Connect future church planters with Amy Roberie (amy.roberie@arcchurches.com) from our Launch team at ARC. ● Invite pastors to join the ARC family. (arcchurches.com/join) ● Email or call your Regional Meetup Coach with a count of pastors and the number of churches represented. ● Fill out follow up form on Planning Center Online. ● Schedule your regions next meet up. (arcchurches.com/newmeetup)

6.2 Resource List | Important Links, Sponsor Forms, etc. ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

ARC Events Page - arcchurches.com/events New Meet-Up Coordinator Form - arcchurches.com/newmeetupcoordinator Register a Meet-Up - arcchurches.com/newmeetup Join the ARC Family - arcchurches.com/join PCO Follow-Up Form - (to be added) Sponsor Request - (to be added) New Sponsor Request - (to be added)

6.3 Sample Annual Calendar January

Event-Driven Meet-Up (Prayer Day)

February

Relational Meet-Up: Pastor and spouse Dinner

March

Expanded Meet-Up or Regional event (EX: Relate Conf, Grow Regional, Team Church One Days)

April

Relational Meet-Up: Pastors’ Lunch and Pre or Post Easter encouragement

May

Relational Meet-Up: Lunch

June

Event-Driven Meet-Up: Topgolf, bowling, or another activity-based gathering

July

Relational Meet-Up: Pastors lunch with the incorporation of a topic of interest (example: Serve Day recap/celebration, marketing for fall, re-engaging volunteers after summer, creative series ideas)

August

Event-Driven Meet-Up: Family night activity (example: putt-putt golf, bowling, dinner and family activities)

September

Relational Meet-Up: Pastors Lunch with the incorporation of a topic of interest

October

Expanded Meet-Up or Regional event

November

Relational Meet-Up: Pastors Lunch

December

No meetup events. Instead, simple, relational texts wishing your local pastors a Merry Christmas and a safe new year.

6.4 Meetup Ideas Relational Meet-Up ● Gather for a meal and use the time to get to encourage one another ● Gather to talk about a specific topic. Some options would be; creative sermon series ideas, best practices for guest assimilation, making your marriage ministry proof, or raising healthy pastors kids. ● Ministry spouses often get left out when meet-ups occur during working hours. An evening meet-up, or marriage based meet-up, allows both spouses to participate in building healthy relationships. Event-Driven Meet-Up ● Prayer day is a great event for your annual calendar. ● Many metro areas have great activities designed for larger groups. Bowling alleys, Topgolf, and family activities are all great ideas. Expanded Meet-Up ● Many churches will bring in a speaker for the weekend. When this occurs it is easy to add an expanded meet-up to the schedule. ● Most expanded meet-ups look the same. The biggest difference is the is often who is speaking and the topics that are covered. Invitational or Targeted Meet-Up ● Many churches will bring in a speaker for the weekend. When this occurs it is easy to add an invitational meet-up to the schedule. ● Select a few pastors from the area that will benefit from more intimate and personal interaction with a guest pastor. ● Some invitational meet-ups could be a recurring event that fosters depth of relationship and accountability. Many times this is fostered by an experienced pastor who wants to disciple the next generation of pastors in the area.