Access Church

So, I’m very close to finishing reading The 22 Immutable Laws of Branding. I’m on the 21st law, actually—and for those of you who know how much I don’t really care for reading, you understand how much of a feat it is that I am so close to finishing a book.

Now, stick with me on this.

Every law, so far, has been very encouraging and thought-provoking. They've been quite helpful in the start of building the Access brand. But then I get to this 21st law—The Law of Mortality. This chapter has a bit of a different ring to it—a different timbre, if you will. In the authors’ words, “No brand will live forever." Unfortunately, this law seems to contradict our plans for Access Church.

Authors Al and Laura Ries go on to say,

“It’s like life itself. A new generation appears on the scene and goes off in exciting new directions. Careers are born and blossom. Meanwhile, the old generation withers and dies.

"Don’t fight it. For brands, like people, there is a time to live and a time to die. There is a time to invest in a brand and there is a time to harvest a brand. And, unfortunately, there is a time to put the brand to sleep.”

This was quite the pick-me-up. Nothing gets me in a better mood than some good conversation on euthanasia.

But don’t worry; I quickly reached the same conclusion that you probably already have. We are at the front end of that 21st law. We are the new generation that appears on the scene and goes off in exciting new directions.

During my years of performing at the theme parks in Orlando, I sometimes wished I’d been there for the grand opening—the fun of seeing the scaffolding come down from around the completed castle or the day the very first parade came down Main Street. I simply wasn’t there when it all started. It wasn’t “my time.” But I did get to experience the fun of opening a brand new show in the park and the excitement of participating in a first-time parade. And now that I’ve moved on, I somehow bet they are still working on new stuff that the current cast is pretty excited about.

None of us can say we were there when God started The Church; only the people from the book of Acts get to say that. But a couple thousand years later, God is giving you and me an opportunity to be on the edge of something big. We’ll watch this thing take off from the beginning! And we can all say we were there on opening day of “our time” in the long history of what God is doing in this world.

This brand we are building is designed for the long haul. It is part of Access’s DNA to continue looking for new ways to spark the attention of outsiders and bring them into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. With this value as part of our brand, I feel rather strongly that we’ll be able to rip this 21st law out of the book. See, there’s another book that says we really can make something last—forever.

We’re gonna shake things up a bit on March 4. Make sure you’ve got a good seat for the action.