People People are the Best Welcome People

by: Mark Waltz

This isn’t rocket science. It’s not brain surgery. It’s not even pastorally profound. It’s pretty common sense stuff. I want people on our guest services teams who are:

  • People-people: People who love people

There was a time in our church when greeters just needed to be able to brush their teeth and smile. Those days are long gone. They must bathe, too.

Oh, yes, and they must like people. No, they must love people.

Our guests and the guests in your church (or business) will intuitively know when our teams don’t care. You know it when you experience it.

You’ve experienced the super market clerk who gives you no eye contact, doesn’t speak to you until she tells you the total amount of cast you owe, and scowls to her associate in the next lane about how long she’s been at work. You’ve bumped into the church greeter who brushed his teeth, but hadn’t smiled since 1952. And today he can’t remember why. We know when people really love, really care.

If your teams aren’t people-people, your guests will know. They’ll know when your team…

  • frowns
  • complains about what’s wrong
  • can’t leave soon enough
  • rigidly performs the tasks of their role without connecting relationally
  • shows signs of fatigue
  • is indifferent or even rude.

But, when you team is made up of people-people, your guests will engage. They will know they matter. And when they know they matter to us, they’ll be more open to hearing and accepting that they matter to God.

And isn’t that the point?

> Read more from Mark.

 

“People” should be the default when it comes to your church’s Guest Experience.Check out Auxano’s Guest Experience Boot Camp in Cincinnati, OH on August 7-8.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mark Waltz

Mark has spent the past 25 years serving and leading people. While many of those years were focused within the local church, he brings marketplace experience from retail management, as well as career development and training. Regardless of his work or ministry context, he is about investing in people, because he believes people really matter. Think of him as a "people advocate." A sought after consultant and trainer, Mark has helped local churches of all sizes improve their guest services experience. Today Mark serves as executive pastor at Granger Community Church where for the past fourteen years he has been a unifying force, overseeing adult relational connections, including groups, guest services and volunteer strategies. As Granger’s chief guest services practitioner he still inspires teams of volunteers who make Granger Community Church a relaxed, rejuvenating and relevant experience for members and guests. Mark also oversees Granger’s multisite campuses.

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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you Ed for sharing your insights into the Church Growth Movement. I have my reservations with Church Growth models because it has done more damage than good in the Body of Christ. Over the years, western churches are more focused on results, formulas and processes with little or no emphasis on membership and church discipline. Pastors and vocational leaders are burnt out because they're overworked. I do believe that the Church Growth model is a catalyst to two destructive groups: The New Apostolic Reformation and the Emerging Church. Both groups overlap and have a very loose definition. They're both focus on contemporary worship, expansion of church brand (franchising), and mobilizing volunteering members as 'leaders' to grow their ministry. Little focus on biblical study, apologetics and genuine missional work with no agenda besides preaching of the gospel.
 
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comment_post_ID); ?> Thank you for sharing such a good article. It is a great lesson I learned from this article. I am one of the leaders in Emmanuel united church of Ethiopia (A denomination with more-than 780 local churches through out the country). I am preparing a presentation on succession planning for local church leaders. It will help me for preparation If you send me more resources and recommend me books to read on the topic. I hope we may collaborate in advancing leadership capacity of our church. God Bless You and Your Ministry.
 
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