Years ago, our team decided to undertake a massive endeavor and recreate and redesign all our brochures. Now, you may think in your mind that this was a simple task. But it was not a simple task. We started from scratch and it took us a little over a year to effectively craft what we felt was the perfect set of brochures and handouts. We worked with a graphic designer, we labored hard to wordsmith our documents, we got feedback, and we made modifications.
When this palette of brochures was finally published and produced, we printed them on high quality and expensive material. I must say, we were quite proud of our brochures.
The Reveal
Time moved on and the brochures were being handed out. One day at a staff meeting I could tell the senior pastor was somewhat sideways. He came in with the characteristic pained look and used the entire staff meeting to systematically lay out all the brochures and paraphernalia that he had found promoting items and events at our church. I saw our set of brochures and I wondered what he might say.
As he went through each piece of literature he found, he criticized and critiqued — noting if it was subpar, it was not clear, it was not consistent with what he wanted. This took about an hour. At the end of this hour, he came to two sets of brochures; the one that our team had created and one that was created based on the ones that we created.
The New Standard
He held up the Children’s Ministry brochures and I swallowed hard. Would this be a positive moment or would this be a negative moment? He was saving this for last. He opened his mouth and shared these words, “Moving forward, every piece of literature that comes from this church must follow this pattern. This is the new standard at our church”.
I was blown away. We had worked so hard for over a year to diligently craft what we hoped would be the perfect set of brochures. After that year we waited a year-and-a-half before they had any acknowledgement or accolade from anyone on staff. Another department wanted to replicate what we had done, but overall, our efforts had gone almost completely unnoticed.
Do an Excellent Job
However, at just the right time, our efforts and labors were recognized. We desired for our excellence to speak for itself. We didn’t stand at a staff meeting and decry the painful atrocities of every other ministry's brochures. It wasn’t our place. Our place was to do an excellent job with that which we had responsibility. And in time, our quiet excellence was noticed and was rewarded.
That’s my encouragement to you. Quietly allow results to speak for themselves.
