3 Easy Steps To Ruin A Watch Party
One of the things I’m most excited about these days is something we’re calling Watch Parties. For weeks we’ve hosted Watch Parties online and now we’re hosting them IN PERSON. Church has left the building and is now taking place in driveways, back patio’s and garages. Yes, I said “church”. This counts.
“where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them”. Matthew 18:20
Since day one of Mission back in 2011, we’ve done just about anything short of sin to reach our friends with the good news of Jesus. We follow the Jesus model of instead of waiting for our friends to come to us, we go to them and right now, errrrr body is at home. What an amazing opportunity to bring “church” to the people…at home in neighborhoods, apartment complexes and retirement communities.
I thought I’d have some fun with this post on sharing with you 3 easy steps to ruining a perfectly good watch party. Here goes:
1. Don’t Prepare
There’s nothing like showing up to a party when it seems as though the host forgot they were hosting. Now, these parties are super easy to host, as I’ve said many times “just add friends”. I meant that. You don’t need to prepare much but you do need to make sure the weekend service is downloaded, the tv is working and your guests feel as if you’ve anticipated their arrival. Last but not least, make sure the guest of honor is invited, that being the Holy Spirit. I gotta tell you it’s a pretty awesome feeling praying over your driveway before your friends arrive.
2. Force Awkwardness
When the music starts, if you choose to download that version of the service, make sure you stand up, arms raised toward heaven doing your best Tommy Bowman impersonation. This will really help your neighbors feel at home. If that doesn’t scare them off, I recommend taking an offering half way through the service. If those two things don’t successfully cause your neighbors to never want to return, I’d finish the watch party with what I’d call “over sharing”. Share about parts of your life that you haven’t told anyone, including your spouse or best friend. When the awkwardness can be cut with a knife, you know that you’ve successfully accomplished step #2.
3. Use Insider Language
This step is a guarantee watch party crusher. If things are going well at your watch party and you want to bring it to a crashing halt, all you need to do is start using “insider language”. Let’s say you have 5 friends who attend Mission and 5 who have never stepped foot in our building. If you want to ruin your watch party, just start using phrases like “Never the Same” or at any point in the message, blurt out “We Are Not Done”. This will go over super well. If those two phases don’t make your friends feel alienated, your fall back can be high fives with your Mission buddies while saying “For The 10” or “Make Room For More”. When I’ve been a guest at someone’s house, I’ve always felt so welcome when I had no idea what they were talking about.
Not sure about you, but I’ve had fun with this…I hope this post made you laugh or at least smirk. For more info on Volunteering by hosting a Watch Party this summer, click this link. To the 60+ who have gone first in hosting over the past two weeks, well done!! Super proud of you…thank you for helping pioneer a new way of Gathering Differently.
-Jon