Case Studies
We’ve all heard the old saw that “the proof is in the pudding.” This section of our site is aimed at telling a few stories of how products and services have been developed. This is done not only to “toot our own horn” (which we’re more than willing to do), but to inspire you—as someone interested in resources and resource development—to see how you might become a contributor, yourself. You may not find in these stories one that precisely parallels your circumstances, but you should see various paths products have followed in their development, and pick up a few ideas.
Online Church Resource Center
If you’re reading this content, you are already taking advantage of the new digital Resource Center. This is one of the most ambitious projects we have ever undertaken at the NAD Church Resource Center. It emerged from a growing awareness that the digital age was pressing into the life of the church and that we had to find a way to embrace it as church leaders, utilizing all the available synergies. Many believed it couldn’t be done—and it was certainly true that a project of this magnitude was challenging in an organization with as many “stakeholders” as ours. “Challenging,” however, doesn’t mean it can’t be done if sufficient tenacity and commitment to mission can be generated. A meeting was called in Chicago, where all the key “players” in responding to this need assembled. Ministry leaders, Division and Conference leaders, representatives from the Media Center, AdventSource and other vendors were all there, along with many other interested parties. An aggressive agenda was covered and specific assignments were handed out to AdventSource and the NAD Church Resource Center. An internet committee at the North American Division was established to serve as a manager for the process. A partnership had to be forged with the IT department, which managed Adventist Church Connect––the project to put websites in every church in North America.
And that was just the beginning. The tasks that had to be accomplished to make it possible for a wide and growing flow of digital resources to be made available on the local church website were both numerous and daunting. Months and months of effort were invested, including long conversations of a highly technical nature. Battles were fought. Compromises were hashed out. Budgets were stretched and re-stretched in many departments. At some points it seemed that the “prophets of doom” had the right of it—there were too many conflicting interests and agendas, and the final product was just not “do-able.” During the summer and fall of 2008 extensive programming and interactive design began. Finally, at the 2009 Ministries Convention, the beta version of the new product and service was introduced.
In The Beginning
One of the most important things we do is to carry out continuing research on the “felt needs” in the local church setting. When we identify a need that should be met, we realize there are several paths we can follow in attempting to address it. One way is that we can make the need available and then invite contractors to bid on the job. Another way is to search available resources to discover if any match the need or might match the need with some new effort. Or, we can meet with those who are “experts” on the topic and work with them to develop and fund a project. Because the need for innovative means of enabling Bible teachers and youth leaders to begin conversations with young people about the origins of life on this earth was at the very top of the requests from churches, we chose to put our own award-winning team of videographers and story-tellers on the job. Over the course of more than a year, a couple of young people were engaged in a “road trip” to all the sights in North America which had significance for origins—and their reactions and interactions were recorded. We also interviewed scientists and theologians for “expert commentary.” Then the entire content was woven by a key member of our creative staff, award-winning producer, Paul B. Kim, into a video series of 13 editions that was broadcast on the Hope Channel. We also created a website and study guides to enable Bible teachers and youth leaders to take full advantage of the new resource. It took nearly a full year to go from initial planning to the roll out of the finished product—and there were a number of vendors or contractors involved in the various stages.
Best Practices
Some ideas don’t jump at you, but emerge out of a growing consensus. For some time pastors across North America had been asking for a way that the latest ideas on ministry could be presented, along with a way to comment on those ideas in some kind of interactive forum. The Pastor’s DVD was one answer to this. The development of pastoral leadership conferences was another. Ultimately, the Church Resource Center—this site, with its resource finder and its forums—was the designed response. However, as we discussed how we could address this concern with various of our partners in ministry—with the goal of getting some sort of vehicle in place quickly––one pastor/writer suggested that we create an e-mail newsletter that he would be willing to edit. That was Loren Siebel, who pastors in Ohio. Loren also happened to have a conference president who was very supportive of innovative ministry ideas, Raj Attiken. We discussed the idea internally, and then worked out a plan for making it possible—including having conversations with NAD administration and the ministerial department—into whose “turf” we would be moving (or so some might argue). Everyone thought this was a great idea, so long as we could create a sustainable effort (you don’t want to start something like this and then have to abandon the effort). After this, we worked out all the details, including designing a format, establishing a mailing list and determining criteria for process. Like any innovation, there have been challenges along the way, particularly in terms of introducing content that was both relevant and “acceptable” to all the stakeholders, and finding a pattern for expanding awareness of the new product. However, as each hurdle has been passed, Best Practices has been growing in appreciation among pastors and administrators, who see it as a useful tool to keep them abreast of new ideas in ministry. Currently, a number of “assistant editors” are bringing to the publication fresh new content.
Word on Campus
Not all the projects we fund are generated as a result of research we’ve done or initiatives we’ve launched. Indeed, many of the projects we support are what we term : “subsidized projects.” Some of them are projects developed by contractors––or ministries working with contractors—who have come to us with an idea, seeking funding for pilot programs or to fund fully-realized programs. Word on Campus is of this latter sort. It is a direct result of a group of youth leaders who had an idea for developing a set of tools to help the local congregation minister more effectively to the Adventist young people who are attending secular campuses in their areas. In specific, Adventist Christian Fellowship approached us with a proposal asking for significant funding to develop and introduce a “turn-key” program for use at the local church level. Almost immediately, we endorsed the idea, in concept, but required those requesting the funding to supply extensive additional information on the character of the end product, time tables and implementation targets. This information was provided us in a timely manner and we were excited to fund the project. ACF hired a contractor to develop much of the material, whose personal interest in the project made it possible for him to complete the materials on an aggressive schedule. In this case, the project did not emerge from “felt needs” we had identified, but which had been identified from those working within the ministry.