The Miami Pursuit

Pines Day

Blogger: Janie

Pines Day was just about the best possible event we could have been a part of leading into launch week! Over 10,000 families came out to a local park to celebrate Pembroke Pines 47th birthday.

Francie Novo and the city of Pembroke Pines know how to put on a show. Rides, games, foods from all ethnicities, concerts and, of course, photo opps with everyone's favorite Ogre at The Pursuit booth.

Highlights:

-We connected almost directly with over 1,000 people. We handed out 400 photos of kids and families with Shrek, along with a Pursuit magnetic photo frame.

-All 10,000 people attending saw Pursuit signage and heard our name announced throughout the Pines Day campus. We were the presenting sponsor of the Children's Area.

-We met a lot of people at Snowfest, but it seems like at this event, we met a lot of people who were VERY interested in talking about the church. Many had received our first two postcards and were more familiar with who we are.

-The Launch Team came out in full force. So great to see staff and volunteers own this event and have fun working together.

-Special thanks to John and Becky Bliffen, who brought a team of volunteers from their ministry in south Miami to help with the event.

-My favorite part ... seeing Matt and Paul Smoot take turns playing the role of the Ogre. Green is definitely their color.

1st of Four Postcards Ready to Go

Blogger: Matt

I have heard several points of view from pastors who are very opinionated when it comes to "church marketing." Some say it's the most important aspect in church planting and others say "marketing" and "church" are two words never to be uttered in the same sentence. I fall in the middle on this. As a wise person says, "Marketing is about getting the message out to the masses. We have the most important message on Earth why wouldn't we want to get the word out?"

However, marketing at the expense of being out in the community is just plan idiotic. Church planters can't just hole up inside a coffee house and expect post cards, blogs, websites, and signage to attract people.

Over the past few months, The Pursuit Christian Church has been involved in several different opportunities to "be the church" before our first Weekend Celebration. We also have several more on the calendar before January 27. Can't tell you how often we've talked about how necessary it is for us to start a church that is "good news" for the community around us.

Now that we have been clearly seen out in the community being "good news" we hopefully have built credibility with people when they see our postcards. In case you are interested, we have four postcards going out over the next four weeks. Our very own Klara Estrada (artist & member of The Pursuit) designed the first card and the over all look of all four. I am really excited about the second, third and fourth. I really want to show them to you (but we'll keep you in suspense for just a little longer). =)

Here' a sneak peak of the front and back of the first one going out tomorrow.

The Pursuit T-Shirts Arrived

Blogger: Matt

The UPS man just stopped by and brought us our new shirts just in time for two community impact events this weekend. Uth Stuph is a company in Florida I have used for years in student ministry and they always do a nice job on the shirts they provide. I would highly recommend them for anyone to use.

By the way, you are looking at the back of the shirt. The front has a small, black version of our logo in the upper left area.

Snow is in the Forecast for Pembroke Pines

blogger: Janie

This Saturday, The Pursuit is sponsoring a community event known as SnowFest. The city of Pembroke Pines manufactures 45 TONS OF SNOW for this event, featuring musical entertainment, bounce houses, a play area, and visits with SANTA for almost 5,000 participants.

Kids (and parents) can stop by The Pursuit booth to get their photo taken with "Frosty." Along with their photo, they'll receive a Pursuit magnetic photo frame as a souvenir for the day.

Special thanks to the 7 folks from Indiana University's Christian Student Foundation for coming down to help out with this event and Preview Services. Also, props to my peeps Kathy and Kirsten at Traders Point for getting us the hook up with the photo printer. We'll take good care of it. :)

Check out www.thepursuit.cc

The Pursuit Christian Church is now online. Over the next month, thousands of people in South Florida will receive brochures, postcards, invite cards, etc. all listing this URL. Pray that they'll be intrigued enough to check out the website and provoked to check out a Celebration Service or Community Group.

Outreach Treats - What Are Your Ideas?

Launch team made a quick and simple connect with the community on Halloween night as a few families handed out "trick-or-treat" bags with a greeting from The Pursuit Christian Church.

Following small group last Sunday, everyone rolled up their sleeves to prep the bags (sampling a few candies for freshness along the way). After all the bags were stuffed and tied, we circled around and prayed for them to be tools for reaching out to people in our neighborhoods.

During the next few months, The Pursuit will connect with the community through a variety of service and special events. Some of these include:

-Outdoor movie nights in the park.

-Food and toy collections for families in need. Right now we'll focus specifically on Tropical Storm Noel victims in the Dominican Republic.

-Sponsoring local city events, like Snowfest and Pines Days.

What are your ideas? What are some creative ways we can serve needs and introduce The Pursuit Christian Church to South Florida.

Comment with your creative thoughts!