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sandbox church

The other day while leading a collaboration meeting with our ministry leads, I mentioned that we needed to create a sandbox where people could experiment with new ideas without a fear of failing.  The idea of a sandbox is familiar to those with a technology background — it’s when users are allowed to go in and put new software (or systems) through the paces.  Users become comfortable with features, bugs are found, and the product gets better (hopefully!).

The beauty of a sandbox is that you can test and experiment without the pressure of producing results.  Users are typically forgiving of beta releases; not so much with final versions.

What if your church had a sandbox budget that allowed ministry folks to test and experiment ideas — gaining input, confidence, and creativity along the way.  From my experience, the usual way a new ministry gets rolled out is in “final” form.  It’s launched on a large scale, as the new children’s program or worship service.  Without the benefit of a sandbox, ministries are launched and bugs are found … in real time and in a very public way.

Just something to think about …