Monthly Archive for January, 2007

Core Concept: Consistency

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on January 28, 2007
in Contribution
. 0 Comments

I left you with the thirty thousand foot of “consistency” when I said, “Having ministry partners (volunteers) who provide a consistent face for traffic personnel, greeters, ushers, first aid, ministry connections, information centers and other areas are vital. It can make you or break you.” Well this could never be more true.

Side note: you’ll hear me refer to volunteers as “ministry partners”. That is because they are the life blood of the local church, they are ministers! I have the great privilege of seeing some 10,000 ministry partners be involved on a weekly basis where I serve and it is AMAZING.

Back to “consistency”. The reason this is one of the four core concepts of Street to the Seat is because it is vital to the “belonging” of everyone on the campus. Let’s break this into to three areas of learning: Reason, Relationships, and Retention for our discussion.

1. Reason

They are three significant reasons for consistency and they are
(1) Flexibility (2) Fellowship (3) Follow through. That seems simple enough, but lets look at this more closely.

Flexibility is huge in the area of ministry partners as they will most likely not give you more than one to two hours a week. That is significant to know, because if you are asking them to serve 3 - 4 hours per week and they are only have 1 to give, you need to be prepared to supplement their area. Case in point, I’ve had persons who would tell me they were going to serve all six services that we offer every weekend. I know that isn’t true. There is no way someone is going to attend all six of our services every week. Shoot, I don’t even attend all six. O.K. well maybe I do, but I’m a pastor. But for the average person to commit to more than 1 or 2 hours a week or potentially 3 - 4 hours on a weekend is probably all you are going to get. So when you are enlisting, training, and positioning ministry partners, do it in such a way that it provides flexibility, not only to the ministry but them the person. Think through alternating weekends, multiple persons serving in the same area, allowing persons to shift their service times with others on their team, etc… Creating an environment of flexibility among your ministry partners is huge. They will love you for it and it will be healthy for them and the ministry.

Fellowship is another huge part of consistency and on two fronts. One being the fellowship they have with persons attending your church…where a person parks, what sidewalk they usually walk up on, what door they enter the building, who greets them at the usual location with each visit, etc… and the other front having fellowship among themselves as ministry partners. Some of our greatest fellowship (on & off the campus) come from our ministry partners who fellowship together. Right off hand I can think of our Traffic Team. They gather before every service, share prayer requests, pray for one another, get the latest updates on everyone, and just hang together before they ever hit the streets to serve. Not only that but they party together. Every chance they get they party. In fact, you can bet that next weekend they’ll be throwing a Super Bowl party and most everyone on their team will be there. They celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, Easter, Christmas, and every other event you can think of together. And the great part is…they plan it and pay for it themselves. It is truly the church being the church.

Follow through is something that is not too often discussed when it comes to consistency especially when viewed through the eyes of first impressions, but it is an important distinction to be made. Think with me if you will about someone who attends your church for the first time and as they approach a greeter you hear he/she say, “Good morning, how are you today?” with a reply that comes back something like, “I’m horrible, life sucks, and my wife made me come.” Now, that needs follow through. You just can’t let someone like that walk. If you do, then you just let ministry pass you by. So we must train and equip every person on the front lines of our church campus to be prepared to follow through or at the very least have a plan ready for your ministry partners so they know what to do when it does happen. Believe me, it happens every service, they just don’t tell you it’s happening. Teach your team to stop the person if appropriate, ask them to share more, ask if you can pray with them, ask if they would like to speak with someone about their concerns. Make an effort… it is the reason we are there in the first place, to make a difference in someones life for Christ.

Now, it doesn’t always have to be a comment as I used in the example. It could be a frown, a person who looks distressed, someone who is crying, a noticeable blank look, anything can be a sign of need. I’m a firm believer that we miss quite a bit of ministry on the front lines, because we haven’t taught our ministry partners how to follow through.

That goes for us too, Pastor. We all walk by minister. Just a thought!

2. Relationships

You know as well as I do that most everything hinges on relationships whether it is at work, home, or your “third place”. The same is true when it comes to being consistent with street to the seat. We need relational consistency in our communication to the public and the congregation. Don’t send mixed messages. You know what sending mixed messages in your personal life does for relationships. It does the same with your church. We also need to be consistent in our relationships with our ministry partner teams; phone calls with encouragement, birthday cards, letters, emails, etc… Take the time to build relationships with your ministry partners. Celebrate their ministries with them, through parties for their teams, activities in the community, etc… If you do they will do it too.

What this means is that pastors and church leaders must model relationships. Don’t think they aren’t looking…they are! They are watching us to get their cues. So, if we will model for them building relationship with everyone we see it will become a part of the DNA of your church.

Trust me! I see it work every week. People come up to me weekly telling about someone they met for the first time just by, shaking hands, saying hello, welcoming them to the church even if they’ve been an attender/member for years. Why is this? Because I challenge them to build some type of relationship with everyone they make eye contact with for their first 30 days of ministry as a new member of the church. That may be as simple as saying hello every time you see each other on the campus. It might be, “Now give me your name again. Sorry for forgetting it, but I see you all the time and want to call you by your first name. I just keep forgetting to ask.”

Relationships happen when you make the effort.

3. Retention

You may be asking, “retention”? What’s that all about. What it’s about is making sure that you have the right person in the right place on the “ministry bus”. And nothing more clearly communicates this than a book by a great friend of mine, Pastor Erik Rees entitled, “S.H.A.P.E. Finding & Fulfilling Your Unique Purpose for Life“. Link to Book.

If you want persons to stay in ministry, make sure they are wired to do what you are asking them to do. If so and you care and equip them, they will serve alongside of you for years to come.

More on retention in future blogs. Let me encourage you to get a copy of Pastor Erik’s book. It will change you and your church. He also makes available a Small Group curriculum to go along with the book. Now that is a two run homer if you ask me.

© Kerry R. Mackey, All Rights Reserved

Core Concept: Connection

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on January 26, 2007
in Connection
. 0 Comments

As you will recall in an earlier post I hung the hat of “Connection” on what keeps them coming back. If you are a pastor or church leader, please don’t take offense, but most people don’t come or keep coming for your sermon/message. Nor do they always come back because of the worship music or style. I would suggest that music and style play a more significant role than who is teaching or what is being taught especially for a non-believer who is new to the whole church experience. My suggestion, not fact, nor supported by industry research standards. Just my opinion.

People come and keep coming for the relationships that are built while they are on your campus. There is a connection, good or bad, it is there.In Joseph Michelli’s book, “The Starbuck Experience” he interviews Howard Schultz, the founder of Starbucks where Mr. Schultz clearly says, “we don’t sell coffee, we sell relationships”. Now that is something we can learn from in the Christian community. If anyone should be in the relationship business it should be the church. It burdens me that we didn’t think of this first. Why is it that Starbucks has become the, “third place” in American culture. For that matter, when adding 5 new Starbucks a day world wide they are a phenomenon.

What are the things we the church can learn in this area of 1st impressions that will help people experience belonging even when they don’t know what it is. I submit there are a couple of areas that will greatly impact a person’s first impression once they arrive on your campus.

Let me give you the thirty thousand foot view and then I’ll unpack each area later.

Three areas, “touch points“, “target audience“, and “take aways“.

Touch Points:
Can you name every touch point between the time someone enters your campus until they leave? Here are a few to get you started. I’m sure you’ll think of more.

  • Signage and Kiosks - how do they know where they are and that where they are is where they want to really be.
  • Traffic personnel - that’s right, having a volunteer assisting persons with entrance, access, and egress. These persons need to come with a “coke and a smile” if you know what I mean. They are on the very front line of the experience.
  • Greeters - persons in the parking lots as well as long walkways up to your buildings, in the halls of your build right up to the worship center doors.
  • Ushers - these come easy for most churches. I’ve found very few churches that do not have someone inside the worship center assisting persons to find a seat. Just make sure it’s not the “wrong” seat. You know what I mean. Would hate to run into one of those, “You got my seat” folks. Ushers are also, “the dudes that take my money,” but seriously you need the right people ushering.
  • Health care Personnel - you heard me. Who takes care of those in need of first aid assistance while on your campus. Don’t rely on outside sources. Be prepared.
  • Information Center Personnel - this persons have a great responsibility as they speak on behalf of the church and their communication can make or break a guests experience.
  • Campus Cleaning - what your campus, buildings, and restrooms look like are a huge touch point. Cleanliness and up to date amenities required.
  • Bulletins - the communication piece that you put in someones hands when they enter a worship experience speaks volumes to the person receiving the piece. It speaks to what is important to your church that week as well as what they are going to do in this room they just walked into (worships center) that looks nothing like what they have ever been in before.
  • Response Cards - what you ask or don’t ask a person with the dreaded, “response card” is very important. This is a great tool, but can easily turn a seeker off if not used with extreme caution.

Target Audience:

I was raised in the south where our idea of target audience was all 6700 people who called our town home. I never could understand why they didn’t show up. The reason for that was we didn’t really know who our audience was.

What does your campus communicate to community. Does it communicate 20 years old and single, 35 married with kids, or a 65 year old retirement center.

Although not a popular discussion for most churches, understanding your audience does matter when it comes to helping someone connect with you and your church.

Take Aways:

What do you want them to remember? and What is important?

These two questions are crucial for connection. I would encourage you to take a look at your church and determine how you might answer these two questions. Once answered, I guarantee you will take another look at your Touch Points, and Target Audience.

© Kerry R. Mackey, All Rights Reserved

Core Concept: Communication

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on January 25, 2007
in Communication
. 0 Comments

I told you I’d be right back. Well here I am.

When I think of all that is wrapped up in communication to the community and the congregation I think of Rex Miller’s book, “Millennium Matrix“.

So here it is. Buy it! Read it! Learn from it! Implement it!

I know Rex, he would love your input. So check him out at www.millenniummatrix.com

Check you later!

© Kerry R. Mackey, All Rights Reserved

Street to the Seat

Published
by
Kerry Mackey
on January 24, 2007
in Street to the Seat
. 0 Comments

Have you ever thought what it must be like for a non-believer in the Christain faith to make the decision to attend a church facility/campus. I’ve been thinking about it for over 15 years and have decided to do something about it. I’ve created, “Street to the Seat“TM to help pastors and church leaders address the needs of persons on a faith journey in taking their next steps.

To tell you the truth I’ve been on hundreds of church facilities /campuses around the world and for the most part there wasn’t anything that drew me there other than the fact that I am a pastor. If the church facility/campus doesn’t draw a “man of the cloth” what makes us think it will draw the community. But there is more to Street to the Seat than the look/feel of a facility. Much More!

Let me wet your appetite for what this tool will do in helping you bridge the gap between the community and the congregation. Areas of interest such as the disconnect between messaging and the message, the divide between acquaintance and relationship, and the inconsistency of familiarity with the need to belong.

There are four core concepts for Street to the Seat that will help you bridge the gap.

1. Communication

It is crucial to develp a plan for the community and the congregation so we will address the balance of oral, print, broadcast, and digital media.

2. Connection

What draws a person to the church and what keeps them coming back! This one will surprise you. Starbucks has made the “third place” famous in their industry. Why shouldn’t the church be the third place?

3. Consistency

Having ministry partners (volunteers) who provide a consistent face for traffic personnel, greeters, ushers, first aid, ministry connections, information centers and other areas are vital. It can make you or break you.

4. Classification

Everyone wants to “belong” to something. They want to have the classification even when they don’t know what it is. People tell me all they time they “belong” to my church when they can’t even tell me the name of my senior pastor and he’s huge in the Christian faith. Why should they belong to your church? What’s the big deal.

Stay Tuned! I’ll be right back.

© Kerry R. Mackey, All Rights Reserved