Category: Nuts and Bolts

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Your Coffee Shop

Thomas called me last Wednesday: “Hey, how about I meet you at your Starbucks?” Because he knows that is always my jam. I can be found at other coffee shops, but this one is only about four blocks from my office making it easy for me to get to any time of the day.

Now, I am not a guy that can work regularly in a coffee shop. I actually need a quiet work space to be creative. I meet people at coffee shops. Here are a few reasons why:

Your Third Place

Starbucks actually thinks of itself as your third place. You have a home and you have work. Both these are comfortable and personal. Starbucks is the other place you can feel comfortable that isn’t too personal. They want to be that place you can meet people for any reason without it being weird.

Many times I am meeting people who have never had coffee with a pastor. It kinda makes people nervous! They have no idea what awkward questions I might ask or what task I may ask them to do. I might peer into their soul and learn their darkest secret. I can really freak some people out! But, meeting at Starbucks sets the tone. I ask questions like, “How did you get to show up at church on Sunday?” or “How did you get to Chico?” If they want to talk about deeper stuff, they can use those questions to get there.

It is Good to be Known

Maybe it is just my Starbucks, but the manager is an amazing community person and she really takes care of me. I’m not exactly sure how she found out I am a pastor because that is not something I lead with. I found out she knew who I was and what church I am from when she saw on Facebook that we were hosting a traveling winter shelter. She offered free coffee for the overnight monitors! She has also figured out who my wife and kids are, even though we are rarely in there together.

Meeting the Ladies

Everyone is hyper-aware of the problems that can come from hosting a meeting with a lady in your office. No matter what size church, there’s a good chance you two will be lone. Bad news!

So, I always meet at Starbucks or some other coffee shop. I’ve had people actually question my judgement on this. “What if someone sees you out and gets the wrong impression?” I guess it is possible.

I always answer back, “You think someone might get the wrong impression about me meeting a lady at the closest coffee shop to the church in a very public and busy Starbucks and think that I have elicit intentions?! Most people think I am smarter than that.”

This is a lot easier than always trying to make sure the building isn’t empty. And, frankly, I’m not much on the counseling pastor side anyway. If what needs to be said can’t be said over a table in the cafe of a Starbucks, then this lady needs to find a paid therapist or a lady in the church.

I Can Leave

I have been trapped in my own office. People come in, drink my office and sit on my couch as if the only reason I came to the office today is to receive visitors. Actually, I came to work. Anyone sitting on my couch is keeping me from working. So, make an appointment and meet me at Starbucks.

I have had meetings at Starbucks go hours. That works because my refills are free! But, there are times when a meeting is really over in 20 minutes. When the time is right, I can get up and walk away! I don’t have to kick someone out of my office. I don’t have to say, “Lock up on your way out.” I wrap it up and go home!

What if the Guy is a No Show?

I always have a book. I never wait on anyone because I always have stuff to read! I drink drip coffee, so a large one costs me $2.30 to rent a table in a nice establishment for as long as I want to sit there. Or until they close, I guess. Good money spent!

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A Guest Thank You Card

For our church, every first and second time guests get a handwritten thank you card from the person who brought the message that weekend. Yes, handwritten. WE do not send form letters or post cards — we actually sit down with a pen and write! We include in the card a $5 Starbucks gift card (sans the sleeve) and an Invite Card with the service times on it.

A typed form letter used to be the hallmark of good guest communication. Now, it just looks like one more piece of form junk mail. Do not waste the opportunity to make a big impression! Who writes thank you cards by hand beyond the obligatory wedding gift thank yous? That’s right — no one.

That is an exclusive club you can be in for the price of card and a stamp! I cannot tell you how many people come back the next week and rave about how astonished they were to get a hand written card in the mail! Most pastors never find the time to do this, but this is such a basic and simple way to increase your ability to get visitors to come back! Why? Because they know that you do not consider them anonymous and you acknowledged their effort to roll out of bed and try something new. That’s why you should hand write first and second time guest thank you cards at all costs!

Write your guests on Monday. Get that card in the mail as fast as you can! The faster you get it to your guest, the sooner they will think about returning! Really! It works that way! Monday is also a much better day to recall who you met and which cards came from people you didn’t get a chance to chat with.

First Time Guests

I write nearly the same kind of message on every first time guest’s card:

Mark and Margret,

Thank you for joining us for worship on Sunday! I hope you felt at home with us, because we think church should feel like family. Please consider coming back again soon!

Pastor Ron

If I recall meeting them I will include, “It was great to meet you!” If the guest wrote down that someone I know invited them, I will say, “Thanks for letting Kevin drag you along with him to church this weekend.” If I do not recall meeting the person on the card, I will write, “Please come again and hunt me down after the service so I can put a face with your name.” (Almost a direct quote from Fusion, by Nelson Searcy.) It works!

Take a look through your stack. Many times roommates will come to church together and fill out separate Connection Cards. I switch up the language a bit so I don’t send the exact handwritten card to the same address! Also, look for people you don’t know in your stack. Sometimes guests will not tick the box identifying them as first or second time guests. Sometimes it is because they have been coming a few weeks and you have just recently earned the trust to receive their Connection Card. Either way, if it is a first time Connection Card they should get a note from you. If you get a Connection Card from someone and you are uncertain if it is a first time card or not, check the name against your database.

Second Time Guest

If the Connection Card comes from someone who also gave me a first time guest card, then the handwritten note says:

Mark and Margret,

You came back! Thank you for trusting us again with your weekend worship. Please keep it up! Perhaps you will find a church to call home in us.

Pastor Ron

If the Connection Card marked “second time guest” is the first time they trusted me enough to leave the Connection Card, then I combine the two sentiments.

At East Ave Church, we have a Kids Zone check-in system. We use the one with our database. When new parents check in their kids, they often give us information that they wouldn’t leave on the Connection Card. When that happens, our Children’s Director writes the family with much the same idea.

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What to Do with a Connection Card

After the Sunday service, what happens to the Connection Cards? Most of your Connection Cards will be dropped in an offering plate. Some will be handed directly to you and some may even be left on a pew. Your usher team (or whomever is responsible for securing the offering) needs to know just how important those cards are to you! If not, they may be locked away in a safe or stashed some place secure! Let your team know where you will look for those cards on Monday morning!

When you get your hands on this week’s Connection Cards, they should be sorted and reshuffled and resorted a few more times times.

 First and Second Time Guests

Those people that self-identify on a Connection Card as being first or second time guests should get the first priority. These cards may or may not have a complete set of information, but you can use whatever is given to you. If you were given a physical address, you should send a handwritten card in an envelop along with a small token of appreciation for the card. I send out a $5 Starbucks card. These should go in Monday’s post.

If the card contains a phone number call it. If the call is answered or it goes to voicemail, the conversation starter is the same: “Hey, I am Ron — the pastor from East Ave Church. I wanted to personally thank you for attending with us this weekend and for trusting us with your Connection Card. If you have any questions about the church or even the Christian faith, I would love the chance to answer them. And, by the way, this is a good number to reach me.”

If the card contains an email address, you should write on Monday morning. Your email will say much of the same stuff.

Thank you for being our guest on Sunday! We are always honored when someone trusts us with their Sunday morning. I hope you will come join us again soon.

By the way, if you have yet to visit us online, you can find more information about the church at our website, www.EastAveChurch.org. You can see how active we are at our facebook page, www.facebook.com/eastavechurch.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Pastor Ron

I Raised My Hand Checkbox

If someone checks the “I Raised My Hand” box (or a box indicating that they have made a decision to follow Jesus on Sunday) it is imperative that you meet with them right away!

Never let a decision for Jesus linger. These opportunities don’t come up often. Meet them for coffee and learn their story. Find out who he or she is and where he or she is coming from. Then, you can invite this person to make the next step — whatever that may be! The next step you offer will change depending on what is shared.

Prayer Requests

When people use your Connection Cards to give you prayer requests, acknowledge the request in some way. That can be in a phone call, text message or email. It really doesn’t matter. What matters is that they know they were heard and that you care.

If you have a prayer team set up, you should compile all the requests into an email and send it out.

Of course, you should also pray for the requests as well!

Sign Ups

If they are solicited signups through check boxes or written statements, the people should be informed you got the information — again by email text of phone call. It is not enough to stick them on a list.

Everything Else

The last time you sift through the cards look for anything that doesn’t fit in any other category. Make sure everything written on the card gets dealt with early in the week if you can!

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Work Mondays

I know. All pastors are supposed to take Monday off, especially if you are the only full-time paid staff. Your weekends are exhausting. It takes a lot of energy to lead a small army of volunteers to get the campus ready for Sunday: prepare the printed material, write a sermon and coordinate the music, coordinate tech crew, schedule greeters and ushers, hospitality and children’s classroom teachers. You need a day off.

Work Mondays anyway.

All morning on Sunday, people are handing you bits of information, introducing you to guests, opening a window into what is going on in their lives and neighborhoods. A pastor’s job is to act on all of this information. A key leader was missing because his mother fell over the weekend. One of your regular attenders is in the hospital. The toilet handle in the second stall of the women’s room is singing. You’re out of 9 volt batteries.

There are three big reasons for working Mondays:

Memory: You can’t remember everything you will need to do if you walk into the office 48 hours later after a sabbath day of rest. Your brain should dump and take the day off as well! No matter how much you write down, you won’t recall it all. And you will feel like an idiot asking an usher to drive down to the Piggly Wiggly for the most expensive two pack of 9 volt batteries on the planet. The best way to retain as much of your week’s agenda is to get to it right away.

Shipping: Some stuff only comes through the post, so getting that stuff ordered early in the week is imperative — especially since anything you need guaranteed to be here in two days will always take three. If what you ordered also needs to be installed, the earlier in the week you get it the more likely it will be in place and ready for service next Sunday. Sometimes what you order the first time doesn’t work, won’t fit or is already broke. Starting early in the week will give you a chance to order twice if you need it!

Communication: Your new guests need to be contacted as early as possible. Thank you cards for your volunteers that went beyond their regular duties can be a huge boost, especially written on Monday! Those that missed church because they are sick should get a reach out from you. Perhaps they need some hot meals delivered to the family? All of the usefulness of a church body shouldn’t wait until Tuesday.

It may sound a bit aggressive to get an early jump on the week. It is. Your church doesn’t need you to be passive. “Passive leader” is an oxymoron. So, get out there and get a good jump on the week!

Take Tuesday off.

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Visitor vs Guest?

The English language can be ambiguous at times and we tend to use similar words interchangeably. And sometimes the subtle differences can make a huge difference in timbre of the meaning you wish to convey.

Much in the case of “visitor” and “guest”. In our weekend services we found that we were using these to words interchangeably to identify the new faces that show up at church each week. Is there a difference in how we use these two words? Does it matter? This may seem obvious to you, but it was not for us!

This has actually been a staff meeting discussion on many occasions! After much debate we have declared, at least for ourselves, that the people who show up for the first time in weekend worship are often “visitors” to our worship service, but we should always refer to and treat them as “guests”.

“Visitor” is a generic term for someone who does not yet belong. This word can refer to anyone from a diner at Denny’s to an intergalactic alien.

On the other hand, “guest” refers to someone that has been invited — someone that has been long anticipated and wanted! That is a big deal! Referring to someone as a “guest” means that we have been planning for them to join us and that we have been awaiting their arrival. It is another level or two above “visitor”.

That said, everything we do focused on new people attending our worship services has “guest” attached to it. It takes some disciple, but even the words that come out of our mouths need to convey the say idea. We have been anticipating these people walking through our doors, even if they simply wandered in off on the street! So, in print, from a microphone and in our signage we have purposefully changed our nomenclature to bring honor to every guest that walks through the door.

May your church be full of guest that will soon become family!

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The Connection Card Construction

What goes on the Connection Card is as important as how you use it. And as far as I can recall, our Connection Card is a direct result of Nelson Searcy’s book, Fusion. Here is ours. It prints three to a page. We cut off .75 inches from each side so it stacks well with the Loop when it is attached. This is ALWAYS printed on card stock.  Don’t go cheap on paper — ever!

The Front Side:

The Date

We print new Connection Cards every week with the date already printed on the card. Don’t make people think. Some people, may stop filling in the Card altogether if they don’t know the date. And, people won’t get the date right every time anyway. It can be frustrating trying to guess when the Card came in. We also include check boxes at the top so that people can tell us which service they attended that weekend. Sometimes I can recall a person just by knowing which service he or she attended.

If you are just getting started and printing every week is daunting, then don’t put a date box in at all. When you get them on Sunday afternoon or Monday morning you can put the date on them yourself!

What Are You?

People don’t always know how to describe themselves, so we help them out with only four choices: 1st Time Guest, 2nd Time Guest, Occasionally Here, Regular Attender. This is important! Some people will fill a Card out their first or second time. How you use the information will be different accordingly. Some people will hide in plain sight and won’t let you know who they are until they are a regular. Let them self-identify for you!

Also, this answers the question about how long it takes to become one of the family. Answer: three weekends! After the first and second time, people should feel a sense of belonging and possession. For us, you don’t need to to hit certain mile markers before you will be accepted as one of us! We will accept you right were you stand!

Most “occasional” people know who they are. They may be coming to visit family from out of town or are true Christmas and Easter attendees.

The Digits

Give people plenty of room to write addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and the like. The more room you give, the more usable information you will get right off the Card! The more room the easier it will be to read.

How Did You Find Us?

A fabulous question! If a friend invites them, you will know who to thank! You will also know who your ally is in keeping up with the person on the other end of the Card. You may also find that people found you online, on facebook, or simply commute by the church five days a week for work. You might be surprised by what you will find! The best find is when someone you don’t know thinks enough about your church to invite their friends to come. The inviting party might not have let you know who they are yet, their friends just ratted them out!

The Back Side:


Prayer Requests and Comments

We tell everyone that we will pray for their requests each week. Of course, we love to pray for people in need. This is also a great way to find out what is happening in the lives of your congregation.

It is also a great place for comments — some encouraging, some discouraging. Your people need to know that they are being heard, even if it is a complaint. It is best to let poeple just tell you.

My Next Step

The steps in the blue box are constants on the card. They are check boxes corresponding to how to take the next step with us.

“I raised my hand today” comes from how we end every service. We present the gospel and give people a chance to respond to God. Yes, every week!

“Baptism” is an important second step for us. We don’t wait to baptize if we can help it. We baptize any weekend any service! We want to celebrate a new life in Jesus!

“I want to become a member” is a step farther. In our tradition we place a high value on quality membership, not quantity. When someone checks this box we schedule the next membership class to talk about who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.

Participation Box

This is a rotating content box that reflects the kinds of events and opportunities that people can respond to or to let us know they are coming. These match up to what we have published in our Loop.

Our Card

Feel free to steal our Connection Card (right click on the link and choose “save link as”).  We print it with Microsoft Publisher. If you have publisher, feel free to download the source document and make it your own. Have  a Connection Card of your own you want to share? Send it to us!

Why is this a Non-Negotiable?

The Connection Card is how people tell you who they are. This is a piece of how you will make new friends. If you and your church are into that, then you must do this! Download, change the card, and print them for this weekend!

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Connection Card Implementation

If you have not read the why of Connection Cards, start here.

Here is how we use them on the weekends:

  1. Everyone who walks into a weekend service gets a Connection Card. It comes on our Loop (all the printed announcements for the weekend; also functions as a guest information center). Everyone gets an Invite Card. It is clipped together with a Bic Round Stic. The greeters in the lobby attempt to get to everyone with a packet. If someone sneaks by the greeters, we ask early in the service if we missed anyone and walk them around the sanctuary.
  2. At the beginning of the message, the weekend speaker will say in a friendly manner, “If you got a Loop today, you also got a Connection Card. If this is your first time with us, we ask everyone to fill one out every weekend. The front side you let us know who you are. The back side you let us know if you found something in the Loop you want more information about or if you have a prayer request for the church staff. There’s also some check boxes about regular and upcoming stuff. So, check it out. If you happened to be new and you don’t know if you trust us yet, we get that! Fill it out anyway and sit it next to you. If we earn your trust by the end of the service, please drop it in the offering plate when it goes by.”
  3. We take the offering at the end of the service. Someone will step up and say, “We want to continue our worship today by giving His tithes and our offerings. If this is not your church home, this is for our regular attenders. If you are a guest with us, we would love to have your Connection Card if we have earned your trust today.”

Why the pens?

We give away a Bic pen with every Connection Card every weekend. Many people return them after the service, but we don’t really care. We care that when a guest starts to fill out a Connection Card that a pen is available! A guest will not be asking their pew-mates to borrow a pen. We buy them for less than 10 cents a unit.

This is also a great reason to buy pens with your church name and such on it, although they will cost more. Just make sure that the pen you buy is actually functional. You don’t want pens with your church name on them that doesn’t write!

Why all the Connection Cards?

We ask everyone to fill the Connection Card out. The reason is simple: you are giving your guests cover. If they are trying to hide in the crowd, then they will also give you a Connection Card just like everyone else!

When we got started, I straight up told everyone in the congregation in attendance that the cards were important. If we all want guests to let us know who they are so we can build a bridge to them, we are going to have to all modify our behavior. I said that every weekend for a month and about once a month for the next six. When I was quizzed about it I would tell regulars that if they just wrote their names on the card, that would be sufficient enough each week.

Still, not everyone does. That’s alright because we have enough buy-in from the regulars to give cover to the guests!

Why is this a Nonnegotiable?

There is a a lot of room between being creepy and being disinterested. Your church must find your middle ground. Asking up front for personal info before you have earned trust is creepy. Not making it clear that there is a way to connect with your church will give you the appearance of disinterest. I know you aren’t aloof, but still you are letting people walk out without giving people a chance to give you contract information. You may be praying they come back, hoping you remember their names and that they know how welcome and wanted they are. You may even wake up at night wondering if that family will return. But, if you don’t pave the way back to your front door, you will never build a relationship.

Make the change this week!

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Get a Database

Church management systems are all over the web these days. Everyone wants to help you manage your information. And you should let them! A church office handles a ton of sensitive information these days.

Even in small churches all that personal data needs to be shared. It used to be that a church would print a directory every year with home phone numbers and addresses and a stack of them would sit in every church’s foyer. Now that seems like a violation of trust. Anyone can walk into church and pick up mobile numbers, email addresses? I think not!

I called my buddy, Jerry. I asked him, “Do you have a database for your church?”

Jerry says, “Sure. I keep track of everything in an Excel file.”

That’s not a database! Spread sheets and lists on Word documents are certainly valuable, but doing anything with the information is rather challenging. You can find individual email addresses and phone numbers, but you cannot reliably share them across your church leadership. Databases not only help you share information with people who need to know, it does it in a secure way. With any online database you can give tiered permissions for people to access what they need without ringing your cell to get it. It also locks users out of data they don’t need.

That is just the beginning. A good database will help you send group emails, track giving and print giving statements, create groups for communication, share a calendar, track attendance, host a check-in system for your kid’s classrooms, schedule volunteers and so much more!

It may not be apparent now, but no matter how big or small your church is, you need this.

There are several out there right now. We have tried out many of them, but can only recommend one for churches of any size:

http://Planning.center

There are so many reasons to love Planing Center! The first reason is that your worship leader might have already got you started! The site started out focused on the tasks your musicians need, but have moved on to cover every area of ministry. It is broken up into small, sharp tools that all work on the same back end database. Every module starts with a fully functional 30 day free trial and pricing after that is tiered to match your needs. Many of the options may remain free if you are a small church, but will begin to cost money as you grow. Add modules as you find the need!

The People Module

No matter how big your church is, the People Module is always free! Business wise, this is a great move for both you and them! You can take that Excel spread sheet, format it and upload your entire treasure of information into their database. The People Module allows you to make family groups, track birthdays, anniversaries, membership status and the like. You can create lists and easily export these lists to MailChimp.com for quick and visually appealing emails.

The rest of the modules work from this one, so this is a good place to start! Get your current Rolodex into the People Module. Then, start using it to log your first and second time guests! Start sharing this information with the poeple in your church that should know who has visited!

Giving Module

I know you probably are already using QuickBooks to run your treasury system. That is awesome for tracking the bank deposits, your budget and checking account. It lacks the sophistication of the Giving Module. To begin with, every time someone gives and it is recorded by the Giving Module, it sends a thank you email as confirmation of the gift. Folks that give can easily look at what they have given at any time during the year because they can have access to their own information. And at the end of the year, you can easily print out giving statements for your donors tax return without having to have access to your QuickBooks or the bank information.

The best part about the Giving Module is that it pairs up with Stripe.com to give you an awesome online/text-to-give feature at the lowest possible price! If you have ever checked into online giving, the sticker shock might have turned you away. However, it is important to help poeple under 50 years old give as faithfully as they mean to be. Planning Center does just that! There is no monthly fee at all! Each donation will incur a fee of $0.30 and 2.3%. A one time gift of $100 given electronically will cost $2.60. It is an awesome tool for stewardship!

Check out our Text-to-Give instructional video!

Services Module

This module is the beginning of Planning Center! It is designed to help you plan your weekend services. This covers everything from scheduling musicians to disseminating chord charts and set lists. We also use it for scheduling our children’s workers as well.

Everything Else

Yeah, we now use all the top level modules. Groups helps us keep our small groups, affinity groups and project participants straight. We use Registration on the occasion we have something to register for, like our Kids Sports Camp (our version of VBS).  Resources helps us schedule events on our campus, along with assigning assets like tables and coffee pots. We can actually host more than one event a day if we know what is available.

At our rate now, we are saving almost 50% a year over our last database solution. That is money best spent elsewhere on ministry!

Secure

If you have ever looked into free internet resources like Facebook and YouTube, you know that “free” isn’t without cost. Your information is being sold. YOU are being sold by the service provider to pay for the “free” resources. Planning Center is not like that. Your data is yours alone. It will not be shared with anyone else.

 

The Best Part

Did I mention that this is all month-to-month?! You can actually upgrade or downsize any module at any time. You can quit anytime because there is no annual contract. Your stuff is easily exported when the next big thing comes along.

I also did not mention that is beautiful! The graphs, family pages and layout of everything is very pleasing to look at and a pleasure to work with!

You absolutely have no excuse. Get this running before next Sunday! It will take you under an hour to get started!