Blog

At Granger Community Church the goal is that every guest who walks in the door will get this above all: You matter to God. Of course it’s much easier to share when those guests first realize that they matter to Granger Community Church—right where they are.

Executive Pastor Mark Waltz shares insights gleaned from his ministry experience, from his “previous life” in retail management and from his observations of the churches he has visited over the years. He notes that the first impression philosophy of Granger Community Church brings with it a lofty, but not unattainable, goal: “If our guests can’t say, ‘Wow! I’m impressed!’ within their first 10 minutes on campus, then we have failed.” Somewhere between parking the car and checking their kids into the Children’s Center, says Waltz, those 10 minutes pass. “Ten minutes of opportunity for us to make an impact, to create a reason for our guests to at least think to themselves, ‘This is not what I expected’—in a good way, of course.”

They may discover their “wow” moment in the restroom. (Seriously, when was the last time you visited a public restroom you could describe as pristine?) They may find it in the fact that they are neither pounced on nor left to flounder when they walk through the lobby, not knowing exactly where to go or how to get there. They may smell it in the aroma of their favorite cappuccino wafting through an inviting café area. No matter how your guests find that “wow” experience—before the music starts, before the “real message” of the service is delivered—they will have received a clear message already. They are valued.

Excerpt taken from Mark Waltz’s Blog.

Craft a user experience that eliminates barriers.

Whether you’re in charge of getting volunteers to sign up at your table for your ministry fair or taking baptism registration forms, whether you’re dealing with paper forms or online forms, the end goal is the same. And user experience is key. Make sure that when people sign up for stuff, what you have to offer is quick, clean and easy to read. Unnecessary extra steps or extra clutter in a sign-up process can cause frustration and do the very thing we don’t want to do—hinder people from taking their next step.

As a sample, take a look at the Communications Volunteer Sign-Up Form Granger uses to introduce people to first-time volunteer opportunities, as well as the volunteer section of GCCwired.com.

Looking to up your game or freshen things up a bit? Or is your task list turning into an epic novel? We hear you. We all could use a little help once in a while. No matter which camp you’re in, we want to help you get back on track and revitalize your ministry. Check out these top five resources, which have already helped dozens of people in churches just like yours, and get back on top of things:

  1. Guest Services | Creating “WOW” Experiences Training Videos. These videos will help your staff and volunteer teams deliver great experiences for your guests, from the parking lot to the auditorium.
  2. Communications Playbook. This “playbook” helps Granger Community Church have consistent, professional and effective communications. It includes a review of branding, Granger’s vision, how staff should work together with communication vehicles and the filters Granger uses to decide what gets promoted when and where.
  3. A Christmas Carol Total Resource Package. This package includes the resources Granger Community Church used to promote the weekend message series A Christmas Carol, including: Audio MP3s, Message Transcripts, Sample Bulletins, Granger Notes, Graphics, Service Orders, Message Intro Videos and the script for the musical element Christmas Carol (of the Bells) and the script for the production Granger did on Christmas Eve of A Christmas Carol.
  4. The Feed Video Announcement Bumper. Take your weekly announcements to a new level. This product includes the opener video, the ending video, the videos you see in the background and a few little videos of the Feed logo that you can use to create your own video announcements called The Feed.
  5. Guest Services Manual. This manual helps develop first impressions teams through forms such as: roles and responsibilities, scheduling, volunteer training, emergency response, usher assignments and more. It includes summaries of all volunteer team roles at Granger, as well as a copy of the Emergency Response Manual for Guest Services teams.