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When Fishhook started 20 years ago, the world was a very different place! In 2003, a gallon of gas was less than $1.50, the Nokia 1100 was the top-selling cell phone (5 years before the first iPhone) and according to a quick Google search, the national home value average was around $189k compared to $385k today!

In 2003, the motion picture musical Chicago won best picture, 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” was the Billboard top song of the year and Michael Jordan finally retired! And, in case you were wondering, “Here I Am to Worship” was the top worship song.

Needless to say, our world is changing at an unrelenting pace, impacting every facet of our lives. Churches and ministries face many challenges and opportunities as a result. Fewer people are connected to a faith community than ever before, overall younger generations are looking for more relational, less produced church experiences and distrust of spiritual leaders is at an all-time high.

So the question is, how are you adapting to serve your community more effectively?

For years at Fishhook, we thought of the Fishhook vibe as a lakehouse. We worked out of a big, old, cozy farmhouse that was a destination for our team and clients alike. We had a big creative space that facilitated many great creative sessions, we had couches and a kitchen, and we loved hosting!

Many of those values still remain, but we recognized that the world and church were changing and we needed to adapt our approach to meet these needs effectively. Our churches are moving boldly to engage with their leaders, congregations and communities. They are working to bring people together (a significant endeavor after COVID), communicate creatively, and add value and encouragement to people in person and online 24/7.

So, what did that mean for us to connect with and serve our churches? We took on a new mindset moving from lakehouse to food truck!

A food truck is strategic. It goes where the people are; it’s nimble and engaging. A food truck offers a unique, encouraging experience for those it serves. A food truck is agile, active and adaptive providing great outcomes and striving to bring value. This metaphor fits who we are today, where we’re headed and how we want to serve. 

For us, we have named these brand traits that we consistently revisit that drive how we work together as a team.

We strive to be:

Creative

Innovative, purposeful, strategic

Curious

Discerning, adventurous, agile, insightful, thoughtful, strategic, perceptive, thoughtful, hungry

Playful

Buffoonery, joyful, fun with a purpose, goofy, snarky, witty

Encouraging

Strategic, empathetic, cheerleaders, optimistic

Trustworthy

Genuine

Ultimately, understanding how we want to work and who we are is what drives us to constantly adapt to the changing world around us. Knowing these traits about ourselves became foundational in making this philosophical and practical shift from lakehouse to food truck. 

In the midst of this growth and evolution for our team, we also did move our physical office space. We traded the farmhouse for an office suite in a coworking space (called Nexus Impact Center) that is filled with people, nonprofits and companies who are focused on social good and making an impact through their work. This change has supported us well to encourage an energetic, collaborative team culture ready to equip and encourage our clients.

So, what opportunities are you uniquely positioned to pursue because of who you are? Are there ways you may need to adapt to meet those needs? We'd be happy to talk more strategy with you.

We’re praying for you, ministry leader, that you would receive wisdom from God to see the new things he is doing around you and to be able to adjust and evolve so that more people will be served, engage and come to know Jesus!