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- FT Delivery Team

Student Ministries - Name Tags - Are they worth it? 3 of 3

                                                           

I hope eveyone had a safe and fun holiday weekend!  The last blog entry was all about making the name tags cool for the youth.  This week, we’re going to talk about how to implement Self Check-In for Student Ministries.  This last cool factor of name tags will help you tremendously as you won’t have to have as many volunteers manning Check-In Stations.

There are four important things that are needed for Self Check-In to work properly:

1.       The student must be in the system.

2.       The student must have a barcode number assigned to them.

3.       They must have a Participant Assignment (be on the roster) in the Youth Activity.

4.       They must have a barcode key fob to be scanned at the Self Check-In Station.

·         As mentioned, each individual needs a barcode key fob.  This is very similar to the grocery store super saver key fob that you probably have on your key chain.  However, these key fobs will definitely need to be on the cool side with the youth graphics along with service times, address, phone info, etc to promote the youth activities.

·         Any student not driving yet should also receive a lanyard to clip the key fob so they won’t lose it.  The lanyard could be as simple as a dog tag chain with key fob hanging on it.  The student will wear it around their neck at service and then hang it on a door knob at home.

If any of the above are not met, the student must go to the Assisted Check-In Station.  Going to the Assisted Check-In will help in welcoming new students.  It will also help in placing individuals on the roster and issuing the barcodes.  For youth that have lost their barcode, standing in line while their friends are hanging out will encourage them to remember it and not lose it.

The best practice for issuing the barcodes for the very first time is to issue them at the Check-In Station.  You have the capability to edit the individual’s information while at the Check-In Station.   It’s very easy to scan the barcode at that time and provide the key fob to the student.

If you have a Kick-Off Night just for issuing the barcodes, you can do as shown above and then have the students try it immediately.  This can be done by checking them into the normal Youth Activities for the night using the Assisted Check-In Station.  Then, have the student try checking in using one of the Self Check-In Stations.  The key here is that the students must be on the roster for the Kick-Off Night activity via a Participant Assignment. 

To illustrate this process… they’ll get their usual name tag at the Assisted Check-In Station.  As well, they’ll be issued their barcode.  They’ll then be instructed to check-in at the Self Check-In station which will give them another name tag.  This name tag should be used for some type of drawing. I know, another drawing, however, by having the student check-in immediately, they’ll see immediately how the Self Check-In application works.  This will reinforce how easy it is.

I trust that after the last three weeks that you have learned the benefits of having students check-in and how easy it is to have it acceptable by our coolest congregants.  It is definitely cool to have name tags and it’s even cooler knowing who’s present and who’s not.  This great tool ensures that you are providing the best possible care for each student.

Student Ministries - Name Tags - Are they worth it? 2 of 3

                                 

Last week we talked about the importance of Name Tags.  The top 3 reasons for having the youth wear name tags were

1. Name – Face Recognition 
2. Approachability 
3. 100% Attendance Reporting.

Now, how do we get those cool congregants to wear name tags?  We make it cool to wear name tags. 

It first starts with the messaging from the youth leadership and the enforcement (encouragement) of wearing the name tags.  The messaging from the Youth Pastor and other Youth Leaders has to show that everyone sees the importance of wearing the name tags.  If the Youth Pastor is negative, then the youth will easily and quickly catch on to this vibe and not wear the name tags.  Also, everyone needs to wear the name tags including the Youth Pastor and Youth Leaders.

Secondly, condition the youth to wear the name tags.  If they’re not already wearing name tags, they might rebel just at the thought of wearing them.  You can condition them to wear name tags, by having a drawing for everyone that checks in and gets a name tag.  This drawing can be done over the first few weeks.  You can have a weekly drawing or one big drawing after the first few weeks.  To help facilitate the drawing, just print out an Asset Tag at the Check-In Review screen.  The Asset Tag is used normally for nursery-aged children to ensure that their belongings (diaper bag, bottles, etc.) are returned to them.  In this case, the Asset Tag would be used for the drawing.  It works great, because it has the church logo, date, and the student’s name on the Asset Tag.

The drawing can also be used as an outreach tool.  For every friend that the student brings, print another Asset Tag.  Thus, if they brought 3 friends, they now have 3 more entries into the drawing.

Allow the youth to add “flair” to their name tag.  Flair was made popular by waiters and waitresses at T.G.I.F. restaurants.  It refers to the buttons, sunglasses, etc., that they’d wear.  Using the same concept, once a month or weekly, allow them to add stickers (flair) to their name tag.  It’s best for you to create the flair beforehand.  Some fun ideas for the flair stickers:  sports stickers, sport teams stickers (college and pro), skate boarding sticker, shopping sticker, etc.   Fellowship Technologies actually used this flair idea at the 2007 Dynamic Church User Conference.  It was a great fun way to get to know each other.  Shameless plug... please make sure to mark your calendar for May 15th-17th for the next Dynamic Church User Conference in 2008.  It's never too early to budget for this great event!

Back to the name tags...  Make the wearing of name tags necessary to participate in Youth Activities (Xbox, pool, foosball, etc.) or enter the Youth Service.  As mentioned last week, the wearing of name tags will ensure that the attendance is at 100%.  As well, it allows everyone that checked in the privilege of participating.

Lastly, for the cool factor, use Fellowship One Self Check-In.  This allows the youth to check themselves in.  In their own minds, they don’t need you to be doing this for them. 

Next week, we’ll talk about the best way to roll out Self Check-In for Student Ministries.

Student Ministries - Name Tags - Are they worth it? 1 of 3

Hello!  Mark Lindsley, here, from the Delivery Services Team.  As a Delivery Manager, I’ve met with several churches over the last couple of years.  I just love getting to see how God is working in all of the different churches and communities.  Of course, it’s always fun to meet with the Student Ministries, also known as the Youth Ministry.  These are the pastors that have cool hair styles and dress way cooler than I do.  They have to… they are building relationships with the truly cool congregants – the Jr. & Sr. High Students.

We always have great conversations about how they want to stay connected with their youth.  They want to keep track of attendance to ensure that they know when someone drops off the radar.  Inevitably, the conversation will always come around to name tags.  Some are receptive and others react as if I just told them they’d have to wear a three piece suit to the Youth Activities.  It’s as if, name tags will never work, be accepted, or serve as a valuable tool in their ministry.

First of all, why should you want to use name tags? 

1.       They help the Adult Leaders get to know the youth through Name – Face recognition.  This is really important for us seasoned types that don’t always remember names.  Students feel better when addressed by their name.   Actually, everyone likes to be called by their name.  It makes them feel special.

2.       It creates approachability.  To learn more about this cool concept, check out www.hellomynameisscott.com.   Scott Ginsberg has dedicated his time educating others about the importance of name tags.  Of course, a majority of his teachings are for the business world, but it still applies to our youth.   This 27 Year Old, Scott Ginsberg, also known as the Name Tag Guy wears a name tag 24/7.  A little too much on the cool side for my taste, he actually had the name tag tattooed on his chest.

3.       Wearing name tags ensure close to 100% attendance reporting for your youth activities.  It’s as simple as seeing the name tag on the student and knowing that their attendance has been posted.  The attendance posting was performed at the time they received the name tag.  If a student does not have a name tag on, they should be asked to check in.

Of course, this all sounds simple, but we are talking about teenagers, aren’t we?  I know that challenging feeling, I’ve got a 13 year old daughter of my own and at times, I feel like we’re talking two different languages.  I’m speaking English and she’s speaking IM.  However, when I start talking IM or start texting her, I reach her at her level.  We connect!  I believe the same thing can be done with name tags.

Next week, we’ll talk about the How… How to make name tags cool!

Working With the Opposite Sex

This has been something I have struggled with my entire life.  You might think that it gets easier as you get older which in some respects it has.  Mostly because due to the number of mistakes I have made in the past I would have to be a complete idiot not to learn from some of them.  (no comments please) My general rule of thumb is that I treat women co-workers like they are sensitive men.  I actually try and think of them as men so as not to treat them differently.  As you can imagine this does not always work.  Traveling for business also puts me in bad situations.  I travel alone with my current job but my last job was more team based travel and implementations.  This put me in a sticky situation with a female co-worker when I booked the trip and I realized that it would be just me and one female co-worker traveling alone.  I spoke with my manager and asked if we could bring a third party to keep things on the up and up.  Another female co-worker was invited as a technical resource and the trip went forward.  We were traveling to Sacramento and could save $400 per ticket to fly into Oakland and drive up.  This put us traveling through Napa Valley so of course if you have read my previous blogs this called for a side trip to a vineyard or two.  If you have ever been (and if you haven't I highly recommend it) Napa it is very romantic and fun.  Since I was traveling with the "guys" romance was out of the question but it was still very fun.  We stopped at the Coppala vineyard where I purchased a $10 wine glass that included as many tastings as I wanted.  One of my travel partners was also sampling the wine out of this glass.  When I got home and showed my wife Beckie the glass that I purchased she of course noticed that there was red lipstick on the glass.  Boy that was fun to explain.  The good news was that I was never alone with anyone.  This protected me as well as my female co-workers. 

With my current job I run into a similar situation when the churches project manager is a woman.  If we need to run to grab a bite to eat or meet for coffee in the morning I always make sure there is a 3rd person with us.  I do this by telling them casually “I have a personal policy in place that requires me to never be alone in a car or at dinner with a member of the opposite sex.”  The important part is that I get to use this as an excuse so that they are not offended or wondering if they gave me the wrong impression.  It isn't me telling them I don't like them or that I don't trust them, it is nothing personal, just policy. 

What does this mean for the Christian business person?  Am I saying that you should never ever be alone with the opposite sex?  No, that just isn’t feasible.  I do believe that you should know your boundaries and keep yourself and your marriage protected.  For me that means setting guidelines that I would want my wife to have if she traveled for work. 

Snap Judgments

Snap judgments... we all do it.  You see the guy on the street corner and you think... "man that guy is dirty... I bet he smells terrible... please don't ask me for anything..."  Or you are in a bad part of town and see a group of teenagers and pray that they don't try and mug you.  Some of these snap judgments can keep you alive though.  If you see a creepy guy following you it probably isn't going to be to ask for directions. 

I also make those snap judgments about the churches I visit.  I start off my first visit to a church with a visit to the children's ministry.  This always tells me a lot about the church.  If it looks like Disney exploded in part of the building and makes me feel like I wish I was a kid again.  (OK my wife will tell you that I never grew up). Then I know I am at a church that has their priorities right.   If it has white sterile walls and looks like I am in an adult Sunday school classroom then I know I have my work cut out for me.  Right or wrong I have to tell you that more often than not that first impression based on the Children's ministry is almost always a great indicator of what kind of church I am dealing with. 

I have good company supporting me though.  A few weeks ago Ed Young senior spoke at Fellowship Church on this topic.  He had a terrific visual display to show how poorly the church was at converting what I figured would be the easiest group.  The captive audience that is drug to church every week by their parents.  He had 8 cardboard cutouts that looked like teens.  He broke the church world up into two groups, Evangelical and Liturgical.  He asked the question "out of the 8 teens on the stage how many are practicing Christians after they leave the home?"  The answer didn't really shock me but I was hoping Fellowship Church was a statistical anomaly.  3 out of 8  for Evangelical churches .  1 out of  8 for Liturgical. 

Where does your church fall on that spectrum?   

Christian Business Traveling Done Right II

Now you might or might not have been aware of the dangers associated with traveling alone.  There are the obvious issues of personal safety.  After spending a few years in the Marines I was sure that I could take care of myself.  Not from the normal sense of bravado that Marines get issued to them during boot camp. 

That is just as stupid as drinking alone in a hotel bar.  All it takes is one maniac with a gun to reduce my bravado to waking up on my back in a hospital wondering what happened.  My sense of security comes from not putting myself in dangerous situations on the road.  I avoid dark alleys, I carry my keys in my hand with my finger on the panic button, I lock and double check the hotel room door, I never ever open the door to my hotel room if someone comes to the door, and I always give myself a way out when traveling in traffic.  That same over confident bravado used in my marriage makes me vulnerable to waking up in a hotel room with a stranger wondering what happened.  Ed Young my pastor said it best in a series titled “Love Affair”.  The first thing you do to ensure that you will have an affair is to say “It will never happen to me”.  If you truly believe that you will never have an affair or do something stupid in a moment of weakness you are putting yourself at risk.  This article is not just about having an affair on the road.  There are lots of potential pit falls when on the road, over drinking can be an issue.  My Dad seems to think that consistent drinking is just as dangerous.  Strip clubs seem like the place to be for the traveling man on the road.  Pornography has become just a click away.  What is a Christian to do?

My plan has always been simple, idle hands are the devils playground.  So I keep busy.  Since I am traveling to different places all the time I like to go for a drive in the evenings. 

I used to get the rental car with the built in GPS but my Dad bought me a GPS antenna for my laptop so I don’t need to spend 6 bucks a day for that feature anymore.  I program in the hotels location as soon as I get into the car at the rental location.  This helps me get to the hotel quickly in an unfamiliar city.  But once it is in there it allows me to “drive by the Holy Spirit”.  I really enjoy wandering.  Someday I am going to get a bumper sticker that says “Not all people that wander are lost”.  The pictures above are of my off road experiences in Palm Springs and Reno Nevada.  That is Lambeau Field in Green Bay on the bottom.  I always apologize to my rental car when they give me a 4X4 vehicle.  There is no wandering like really getting off the beaten path.

On a recent trip to Fellowship United Methodist Church in Tennessee they mentioned that they had a camp coming up that was 30 miles south of the church in the Smokey Mountains.  I took this to mean that the Holy Spirit wanted me to go south.  So I got general directions and took off at the end of the day.  Tennessee is not like Texas, there are no straight roads running north and south.  So this trip immediately turned into a wanderfest.  If I see a road that looks interesting I go that direction.  If I come to a fork in the road I take the road least traveled.  I ended up finding a state park called The Old Stone Fort.  I had a terrific hike, found a beautiful waterfall, and spent 30 minutes talking to God. 

My oldest was sick at the time so I was begging God to heal him.  I was bargaining, pleading, and crying.  I ended up getting a phone call from a church in Phoenix and took it as a sign to stop praying.  I then finished my hike walking "Mark the Web" guy through setting up small groups online.  I made him promise that he would call the police if I heard banjo’s playing in the background because I was way way off the grid and it was getting dark.  This is when the GPS comes in handy because I had no idea where I was or more importantly where my hotel was.  The other part of my simple plan is finding the local movie theater.  I watch a movie until it gets late and then I head back to the hotel.  I spend a few hours in the late evening catching up on emails and then I hit the rack.  (Marine speak for going to bed)

How sad would it be to say that I have spent the last 3 years traveling across the US visiting the most interesting people and places and all I could show for it was knowing what the inside of my hotel looks like. 

I have friends that travel like that and it is pathetic.  They get burned out quicker and start to wonder why they work and travel so much.  I guess the most important thing I could pass along is that it is all about balance.  God has a plan for my life.  He has placed me at Fellowship Technologies to do His work.  That does not mean at the expense of my wife and family.  I tend to pour myself into my work and I have a hard time saying no to anything.  That means I take on more than I should and everyone suffers.  My managers help me to balance this by giving me the authority to say no... or at least not now.  My wife also helps me with this balance by letting me know in no uncertain terms when I begin traveling too much.  One phone call in particular comes to mind.  After being on the road for 8 weeks straight I got a call from my lovely bride that said "If you don't get home soon your kids might not be here when you get back."  We have introduced practices to keep it from getting that bad in the future. 

By keeping work and life balanced, keeping myself safe on the road, and protecting my marriage by being deliberate in my actions I find travel to be something I look forward to most of the time.   

Christian Business Traveling Done Right

Shortly after graduating college I got my first job at a company called Verifone.  It is one of those companies that you have seen before but never noticed.  They make the credit card terminals that you use every time you go to McDonalds. 

Come on admit it... you like McDonalds and you eat there.  We are all friends here.  Anyway this job required quite a bit of travel.  They told me when they hired me that it would be 50% travel but it turned out to be quite a bit more. 

At this point in my life I was married and had one of my 4 current children.  Our family of three lived within a 10 mile radius of my parents, and 20 miles away from my grandparents.  We have a family tradition that has been going on for a very long time, something we call "Family Night". 

Every Thursday night we have dinner together.  Family is also used to describe anyone that comes to dinner that night.  It was at one of these family night dinners that my father asked how the new job was going.  More importantly he wanted to know what I was doing in my off hours. 

I told him that basically I was going from work to the hotel room and vegging out on the couch.  Now for most parents that might have been an acceptable answer but not my family.  He continued to probe and ask the right questions.  Was I stopping by the hotel bar for a drink?  I told him that I didn't like to eat alone in a restaurant so occasionally I would eat in the hotel bar and have a drink.  Now even though he had been raised Baptist drinking was not off limits at our house but it was always something to do in moderation.  This is when he launched into something I was aware of but didn't really put much thought towards.  Drinking in moderation was not an issue, traveling alone is no big problem, having no accountability other than to myself is something that I could handle.  But putting all of those "risk" factors together was putting my family at risk.  Now the important thing to understand at this point is that I know and understand myself.  I love my wife more than anything and putting our relationship at risk would be really stupid.  Combining alcohol which reduces my inhibitions, being extremely lonely during the week, being a very extroverted person that never met a stranger, and having ready access to a prepaid hotel room was a recipe for disaster.  Never fear my father had a plan.  He also traveled quite a bit when he first started working out of college and had worked out a fool proof way to keep out of trouble when on the road as well as have fun.  All that and more in the next blog entry. 

Training Wheels and Bricks

Just last week I attempted the impossible, teaching my 4 year old Lillie how to ride her bike without training wheels.  Even though you the reader and I the parent know that it is entirely possible to ride without training wheels, my daughter does not.  So after 10 attempts, and many more than 10 tears, the wheels went back on.  To understand why we are here at the young age of four you have to look at my family dynamics.  Lillie has 2 older siblings and one younger sister.  We have taken up riding our bikes in the afternoon to the park.  I pull the youngest in a bike wagon so the older siblings can ride ahead on their bigger training wheel free bikes.  Lillie and I lag behind because the training wheels that hold her upright also slow her down by adding extra friction.  While she sees them as necessary to being able to ride, I see them as something that is keeping her from riding up to her full potential. 

 

Some churches I visit are just like Lillie.  They are using out dated processes and software for ministry.  When they first got this software they thought it was terrific.  Previous to their current software they were completely manual with filing cabinets full of paperwork.  For Lillie, these were her walking days and she will tell you that riding with training wheels is much better than walking.  Then along comes Dad, the Senior Pastor, Executive Pastor, or just someone on staff and tells you that there really is a better way.  They have heard of and seen in action this new product that will take their ministry to the next level and they are FIRED UP!  You would think at this point that the staff would all jump up and down and scream hallelujah!  But you forget fear, probably because you know that “Fear Not” is in the bible 51 times.  Fear of the unknown, fear of not being able to learn a new product, fear of being obsolete because these tedious duties in the old system is the only reason you think they keep you on staff.  I have implemented Fellowship One at over 90 churches now and I can say that no one has lost their jobs because of Fellowship One. 

Once the training wheels have been removed and Fellowship One is in full force everyone is riding full speed ahead with the wind in their hair and nothing slowing them down.  That would be nice if it were true.  Sure there are the people who were born with a computer in their hand and a pocket protector for a bib, but most people have to work to learn.  I would say there is at least a 2-3 week process to become proficient at Fellowship One.  It was at this point in the process when I met an amazing Senior Pastor at a church in Houston.  He pulled the staff together because he had heard some of the grumbling.  He launched into a sermon on Moses and the Israelites.  While listening to this impromptu sermon I was quietly thinking to myself “where is he going with this?”  That is when he hit us with how the staff was acting like the children of Israel.  Moses had taken them out of captivity where they were being brutalized and forced to make bricks.  Shortly after being set free and while on the path to the promised land they decide that they would rather go back to being slaves and making bricks than continue on because the road was difficult.  The senior pastor then said we will not go back to making bricks. 

My approach to teaching my children how to ride a bike is similar to how I approach implementations at most of my churches.  It would be impossible for me to teach all 4 of my children to ride a bike at the same time.  Each needs special attention because they are unique.  Each ministry needs special attention because it is unique.  This also allows the Fellowship One Champion time to address any issues the new group might have with process changes unique to their situation.  I usually say it will take up to 6 months for the entire church to fully utilize Fellowship One.  This is not to say that day one they are not all using Fellowship One to some extent.  The key element to successfully implementing Fellowship One and learning to ride a bike is prayer.  I pray for my kid’s safety almost every night I tuck them in.  I pray for my churches implementation and success almost every implementation.

What to do when the lights go out...

Now that we are completely electronic what do we do when the lights go out?  This is a question that every church that has a weekend attendance over 200 needs to be thinking about.  Do you cancel church?  I personally think an acoustic set with the band would be a nice change.  What to do about check in… YIKES we can’t print labels we don’t even have access to the rosters. 

 

The answer to this question can be deceptively simple.  You will definitely need a "plan B".  The most important thing is the children's safety.  With that being your number one priority then check in and pick up becomes the first hurdles.  The check in process can be accomplished by pulling the blank name tags out of the check in stations and tearing them apart.  You will then need some receipt tags similar to what is used for coat checking.  Clear Media our recommended solution provider can help you with this.  http://www.clearmediagroup.com I asked them for a quote for tags that can be used for this purpose.  They are 1 1/8 inch in diameter with unique numbers on each tag.  They look very similar to poker chips.  Or so I have heard.  ;)  The cost associated will be about:

1000 tags @ .52 per tag

2500 tags @ .47 per tag

5000 tags @ .39 per tag

 

The prices for these tags are a bit high and Clear Media offers less expensive tags that could be used.  Other churches that I have worked with keep their old check in process as a backup.  If they were using nametags that had removable tags on them I always recommend that they keep those as a “plan B” option.

A very large church in Grapevine Texas that I attend used the poker chip model for Fellowship One.  This method is very secure.  The number on the tag is written on the name tag prior to the children arriving.  The parents will then write a child’s name on a name tag and then keep the token.  The token will be turned in when the child is picked up at the classroom.  Manual rosters will have to be kept in each classroom which will then be posted to Fellowship One the following week.  Sounds simple enough right?  Now all you have to figure out is what to do with the kids with no lights, sound, media, etc…

 

(And if you were wondering why I picked a typical weekend attendance of 200 for this blog entry it is because when you run under 200 people you probably know every single one of your 20 kids that are checking in by name.) 

Volunteer Central In Action

Some of the churches that I have consulted with not only have adopted the idea of Volunteer Central and given up some precious space reluctantly but rather have sunk their teeth into the idea, sucked the marrow out, and improved upon the concept.  One such church is Change Point in Alaska.  (http://changepointalaska.com/) 

 

I know what your thinking… it must be horrible to have to travel to the frozen tundra to bring Christ to the pagans while leaving 4 kids at home.  We all make sacrifices.  Actually it was one of my favorite trips.  If you ever get a chance to go to Alaska GO.  It is like Colorado without all the people.  It is so remote and isolated that one in six people that attend Change Point own their own plane.  I almost got the Clauses to take me for a ride in their plane but at the last minute something came up.  Some poor excuse about presents and kids.  Anyway I digress… The staff at Change Point was amazing, I was halfway through my sermon series titled “Volunteer Central: You Can’t Be Successful Without It” and the light bulbs started to appear over their heads.  Maybe they were halo’s?  The executive pastor Rick Steel said that this would fit perfectly into their VIP A2Z ministry. 

Ideas where exchanged and the concept of a VIP Lounge was launched.  Change Point at the time was what I call a “Virtual Church”.  They had to setup and tear down every Sunday in the local high school.  Since space really was an issue for them they decided to just rope off an area in the main lobby and make it exclusively available to their volunteers.  They bought a red velvet rope, printed up a nice “VIP Lounge” banner, and created something that looked like a Starbucks sitting area. 

 

This created such a buzz at the church.  “How do you get access to the VIP Lounge?” “How much to you have to tithe to get into the VIP Lounge?” These were just a few of the comments heard throughout the halls that weekend.  Change Point then created a form that read VIP Lounge Application that listed volunteer opportunities at the church.  I recently spoke with Change Point and heard some terrific news.  Since I was up there their children’s ministry has grown from 600 kids per weekend to over 1000 per weekend.  I just don’t think you can do that without amazing volunteers and letting them know how important they are to the church.  Some might even say they were VIP’s. 

 

Another church that understands how important volunteers are is Eagle Brook Church.  http://www.eaglebrookchurch.com/

 

I recently asked their Executive pastor for some information about their volunteer central here are his comments.

 

“The church is the most volunteer-intensive organization on the face of the earth!  By providing space that is dedicated to appreciating them and letting them know how much they mean to the mission of the church, we’re simply modeling how the church was meant to be.  As we serve one another, we build the kingdom.  Our people love the special touches and atmosphere we create for them to relax and connect with each other.” 

Scott Anderson, Executive Pastor Eagle Brook Church

 

Scott was nice enough to provide me some pictures of their Volunteer Central. 

 

It looks like they have their volunteers check themselves into the system.  Self Check in is scheduled for release very soon so that should make this process even better. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you were wondering… yes they have a soda machine in their Volunteer Central.  They definitely did not get that idea from Fellowship Church. Another thing I want you to notice about these pictures is the warm feeling the room gives off.  Earth toned walls, lamp shades instead of harsh florescent lighting, and round tables to bring people together.  In the top corner is a tv showing the service so that you can make it back to your greeting position in time when the service is over. 

 

Here are the plain old bagels.  This is more inline with Fellowship Church’s healthy philosophy. 

 

 

I don’t know about you but there is not much I wouldn’t do for a bagel and a diet coke. 

 

And last but not least Fellowship Church.

www.fellowshipchurch.com

 

I snuck into Volunteer Central and shot some pictures with my high definition camera phone.  I felt a bit like Maxwell Smart sneaking pictures of a top secret facility. 

 

 

Notice the health conscience veggie and fruit trays.  This is a sure sign you are at Fellowship Church.  But to be perfectly fair we have been fasting at Fellowship Church and only eating fruits and vegetables. 

 

The top picture shows the wonderful Volunteer Central staff that I mentioned in my previous blog.  The bottom picture is an example of how they are creating a casual, comfortable, friendly environment for volunteers to relax in.  They are taking away all the reasons not to volunteer and replacing them with wonderful reasons to want to be a part of such a growing and dynamic church. 

 

Volunteer Central

Quite often when I speak with churches about their volunteers I get some very common responses.  Some of them are not all bad “we love our volunteers”, “we couldn’t have church without our volunteers support”, or “we try and have a volunteer appreciation dinner once a year to show them how much we appreciate what they do”.  Understanding the importance of volunteers to a non profit organization is the key to staying alive. 

 

I am currently attending Fellowship Church.  I am what some would say is an occasional volunteer. My wife and I blame our lack of consistent volunteering on the fact that we have 4 children.  It takes 2 childcare workers to keep an eye on just our children so we figure it would be a wash to volunteer both at the same time.  A weak excuse I know, but one I am sticking to for now.  One thing that makes volunteering pleasant, if not down right fun is Volunteer Central at Fellowship Church.  The room that Fellowship Church uses is, surprisingly enough, centrally located.  It is roughly 20’ by 20’ lined on 2 walls by counter surface similar to a kitchen with cupboards above and below for storage.  The wall immediately across the room when you enter is a large screen where services are shown real time or training video’s are displayed.  In front of the final wall, which is made up of large picture windows looking out on a courtyard, sits the volunteers who manage volunteer central.  Their main goal in life is making sure that everyone that walks into Volunteer Central is taken care of.  Imagine a concierge, receptionist, and ticket counter agent all wrapped up in one.  If you have a problem they can fix it, if you need yourself and your kids checked in they do it, if you are not sure what you are supposed to do or whom you’re supposed to be working with they can find out.  With a few clicks of the radio they can be in touch with the entire church.  This might not seem like a challenge but remember Fellowship Church runs 22,000 on the weekend with thousands of volunteers flowing through their hallowed doors.  Being the occasional volunteer I get to see them at their best.  I work the vacation bible school times as well as the conference they put on at Fellowship Church.  This means I know nothing and work 4-6 hours at a time.  Between duties such as running a check in station, or emptying trash cans; Volunteer Central is an oasis that refreshes and rejuvenates.  I can stop in for a free bottle of water (Fellowship Church went health crazy a few years back and nary a soda can be found) and some kind of nutty fruit snack.  There is not much I won’t do for a free bottle of water and some food. 

 

Knowing and loving how Fellowship Church treats their volunteers I have become a Volunteer Central Evangelist.  I come to churches with a fire in my belly to bring new and better ways to treat volunteers.  But I have to tell you the one thing that drives me as crazy as a pastor that hears “I just don’t think the bible is true” is “we just don’t have the space”.  After a bit of prodding and touring the facility I always find the perfect spot.  That is when I hear “but the men’s ministry has a bible study in that room during the second service”.  Or “but the choir uses that room to warm up in”.  To this I steer them back to the first paragraph and ask “how important are your volunteers again?”  “How well does the service run with no volunteer support?  Why do you treat them like beggars when there is nothing nobler than serving the servers?” 

 

Next week I will be giving some examples and names of churches that have adopted the Volunteer Central approach.  Some have even taken and expanded upon the refreshing idea that churches should find a consistent way to give back to volunteers every time they serve. 

Contacts Week III

Service Level Agreements (SLA)

There is a new question that churches across the country are beginning ask themselves:  “What is our SLA to our congregation?”  Does a first time visitor get a call within one day of visiting the church?  Or is it more like a week?  If someone wants to volunteer in a ministry how long do we have to call them back and get them plugged in to a volunteer position?  One week?  Two weeks?  How about a month? 

 

How can the church improve a process if the process is not documented?  How can the senior staff hold their team accountable for making calls if there are no guidelines? 

 

While working with a church staff, I asked, “Ok, who handles the calls to first time visitors”.  The response I received was more like a Seinfield episode than you might expect.  Each person pointed at someone else, and said he / she makes the calls.  It was during that meeting that they realized there was no documentation for their process.  One pastor asked “Are we even calling people?”  No one could answer with 100% certainty. 

 

When you start monitoring contact items and find contacts that have gone untouched for two weeks or longer, what should you do?  If asked, the staff person responsible will probably reply, “I was getting to that contact”.  Because of a failure to identify your churches’ SLA, you now have nothing to say but, “umm, OK”.  If the SLA is one week then you can say, “Our commitment level to first time visitor contacts is one week.  Is that time frame too short?”  Are you understaffed and unable to meet our current goal for contacting first time guests in one week?  Are there any key volunteers that you can get to help you make these calls?

 

“You can’t improve what you don’t measure.  Can you fix a process that isn’t documented and adhered to it?” 

                                                            Jeff Hook, CEO Fellowship Technologies

 

Intelligent Routing

One thing we briefly discussed last week is that the person getting the contacts initially, quite possibly, isn’t the person responsible for making the calls. 

 

“Pastor Ricardo” isn’t always the right person to make the call to a visiting family.  Often, the first time visitor is a teen, in that case, the youth pastor is going to make a real connection and get that teen plugged into church.  If the family has 6 kids all under the age of 10, the children’s pastor is the best person to make the call.  If the head of household mentions on the guest registry card that he works at IBM, maybe a key volunteer that works at IBM should make the first time visitor call.  The key is to make the best possible connection with the limited amount of time you have.  “Pastor Ricardo” or possibly Mary (who knows something about everyone in the church) should be responsible for receiving first time visitor contacts and then routing those contacts to the best possible call person.  Other issues that Mary or “Pastor Ricardo” can take into consideration are staff vacations and current work loads.  If the youth pastor is currently working 50 contacts and will be on vacation next week, the decision can be made as to whom youth contacts should be routed.

 

The most important thing that I want you to take away from this one sided discussion is that God has put people in contact with your church and how you handle that person can have eternal consequences.  Why take chances with shoddy processes or bad practices because you have always done it that way.  Now is the time to evaluate, measure, and change for the better.  

Contacts Part II

Process Documentation

Last week we established a baseline that might or might not reflect the way things are done at your church.  This week we will be discussing how to improve upon the process that churches currently employ to reach out to people who have asked for information from the church. 

 

Now to get this process nailed down we will have to use Mary the receptionist and Pastor Ricardo the executive pastor.  Both are sold out believers doing all they can to grow the kingdom here on earth.  We will also have to use some sort of data management system because the old way of copying the cards and praying that the contacts are made just isn’t cutting it.  So for argument sake we will call this God send database Fellowship One.  We will by the way keep the prayer part but add in management oversight. 

Here are the steps to process a guest registry card:

• Collect the cards either in the offering plates or at a guest registry desk
• Cards are turned into the member services department at the church (this is also known as Mary the receptionist)
• Mary then processes the cards
• Mary never assumes that the person really is a first time visitor she always searches for that person in the database.
• If after searching for that person on the card and they are not found she then adds them to the database.
• Mary then checks off the same check boxes in Fellowship One that are represented on the card.  There can be some variations of this that will be discussed in the First Time Visitor section below.
• The paper cards are then shredded after a week or two to make sure there were no mistakes in the data entry.
• Mary or even a volunteer does not have to worry about who the contacts should be routed to because that was all handled by the church administrator when they setup the contact card in Fellowship One.

First Time Visitors:

Now we have to understand how the church is currently processing first time visitor cards.  For this example we are going to assume that every first time visitor gets a phone call from Pastor Ricardo and they also receive a letter from the church office.  The letter varies throughout the year and by the family based on demographic information and what events are coming up in the near future.  If the summer is just beginning, vacation bible school is just around the corner, and the family has kids that are the right age a first time visitor letter would include information about VBS and how to register online.  The family dynamics can easily be tracked even if they didn’t mention their kids on the card if you are using Fellowship One to check the kids in for Sunday school.  Keeping the contact items together on one contact is essential to proper routing of the contact item.  Even though “My age group is X – Y”  seems like a bad data element to track because it is quickly obsolete it is key to making the best possible impact by connecting that visitor to the proper staff member. 

 

Churches should step their game up when it comes to first time visitors.  Just because Pastor Ricardo has always made the first time visitor calls doesn’t mean he should always make every first time visitor call.  In our example “My age group is 18 – 25” was checked.  Pastor Ricardo is 67 years old and thinks youth is wasted on the young.  Is he really the best person to have called this first time visitor?  How many kids does this first time visitor have? 

 

With the ability to track family dynamics in Fellowship One and the functionality to transfer contact from one staff person to another Pastor Ricardo begins to manage the first time visitor contacts in a whole new way.  When Pastor Ricardo pulled up this contact he noticed that they also checked off they wanted to know more about volunteering.  He also noticed that this first time visitor has twins in the nursery.  Maybe the children’s ministry would be the best ministry to call this guest.  And if his memory serves him right Lucy who runs the nursery had twins a few years back. 

 

Service Level Agreements and intelligent routing become critical to making the first time visitor call have maximum impact.  More on that next week…

Contacts Best Practice

In this installment of Church Management I will be covering contact points.  Contacts come in many different forms from first time visitor cards, prayer request cards, communication cards, bulletins, to phone contacts.  Each of these contacts has to be handled in a different way.  Many of them have multiple contact items on each form.  So to get started I am going to define some terminology that will be used:

 

Contact:  A contact is either a card or phone call that may contain multiple contact items.  Each contact is kept intact as a whole with many parts that can be worked by multiple people.  For example, a communication card from the bulletin that is turned in might have first time visitor, my age group is 18-25, and I want to know more about volunteering checked off. 

 

Contact Item:  A contact item is the before mentioned check boxes that can reside on a contact form.  First time visitor, second time visitor, my age group is X-Y, I want more information about X ministry, prayer request, confidential prayer request, I heard about this church by X, and many more are considered contact items. 

 

A common issue that I see churches facing is how to process first time visitor cards.  Many churches that I work with have a tried and true way to process those contacts.  They make as many copies of the contact as necessary to distribute to the ministers who will be working the contact items.  In the definition of what a contact was I mentioned three items that were checked off.  Here they are listed with the ministries responsible for the contact items as well as what they are expected to do with the card. 

 

• First Time Visitor (Member Services – Send Form Letter)
• First Time Visitor (Member Services – Update Database)
• First Time Visitor (Executive Pastor – First Time Visitor Phone Call)
• First Time Visitor (Welcome Ministry – Deliver Bread to Visitors Home)
• My age Group is 18 – 25 (???  -  Should go to College Ministry to let them know but doesn’t or they don’t know what to do with it when they get it)
• I would like to know more about Volunteering (Children’s Ministry – Phone Call)

 

Note:  in the above example one contact item has initiated 3 actions

 

Now most churches that I visit say they are performing all of the above tasks to the best of their knowledge.  The problem is that they have no way to be sure it is getting done.  A quick visit to the Executive Pastors office and you will see dozens of first time visitor contact cards, in various states, scattered around his office. 

 

One key to church growth comes from making the best possible impression to first time visitors.  I will not be discussing what I think is a best practice for a particular item (phone call, home visit, form letter).  This is very regionally based.  What is a good idea in rural Mississippi will be seen as invasive in Seattle.  What I will be discussing is how churches should document their process and then implement that process.  That will come in next week’s installment…

Matthew McMaster

Church Process Expert

(I figure if your going to make up a title make it GRAND)