Do More Ministry: Member Development Archives

September 15, 2009

People are people. Not an ATM.

People are people.

They are not VENDING MACHINES ... They are not SLOT MACHINES.

If we have the right code, they don't just "do" what WE want them to do.

I'm consistently amazed at the disconnect we have in "church speak" between the words "community" and "giving." We talk A LOT about creating community and fostering an environment where "everyone knows your name."

BUT when it comes to giving, we absolutely LOSE our people skills.

Community stimulates giving.

OK. I'll admit. There are times when people give even when they don't have a clear connection with the organization or cause. BUT in the life of the church we need sustained (a.k.a. faithful) giving in order to fully fund our ministry budgets. That means we need to find the connection between our practice of community and giving within the life of the church.

Church who are successful at ASSIMILATION are also likely to be successful at MAXIMIZING the giving capacity of its membership. People give as an outward sign of an inward commitment. If a person isn't involved, they AREN'T committed. And they probably won't be giving either.

Managing the relationship between each individual member and the church is as important as managing the operational expenses of the organization.

Poor relationship investing = poor (perhaps NO) giving habits
Excellent relationship investing = sustained (perhaps GENEROUS) giving

People are people. Not an ATM. If all you want it an ATM, find a bank ...
And be sure to ask for an EMPLOYMENT APPLICATION.
You'll need it.

If you can't manage relationships, your church won't survive. Period.

Posted by bstroup at 3:45 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

September 8, 2009

One pastor says "thanks" to those who make it happen

I like to sign up for the e-newsletters from churches who are setting trends and faithfully building the Kingdom. I received an e-mail this morning from one of those churches. It was a personal thank you from the pastor to every volunteer he observed last Sunday morning.

The content made me stand up in my chair and yell "yes, yes, yes!" (OK. Not really.) BUT I did want to share the content of the pastor's "thank you." Perhaps you can use this as a model to do the same.

You should know that the people this thank you is addressed to are ones that are often overlooked and undervalued. They aren't on stage. They typically don't preach. But the service they provide is absolutely essential to facilitating a spiritually transformative experience for every person in attendance.

I would also suggest that those willing to serve in these roles have a strong emotional connection to the church. Thus, they are most likely to give regularly, faithfully, and sacrifically. They are also the most likely to invite others to church and reach out and minister to others during the week.

I am always interested in how many people are involved to make a Sunday worship experience happen. I will not try to recount all of the hours of preparation that goes into every musical presentation and Sunday School lesson, but consider with me....

Long before the sun comes up there are people in the parking lot putting out cones and directional signs. I always hear organ music coming out of the worship center before sunrise reminding me that preparation for worship is not taken lightly. Dozens and dozens of people work the parking lot through traffic direction, golf carts and dozens more man the doors to give people a good "first impression." There are people in the halls to give directions and answer questions. There are people working the various informational kiosks. There is a medical team on duty. There is a security team hard at work. Literally hundreds of people make the three Sunday School hours functional while another small army of volunteers are involved in worship through music, ushering, and the audio-visual technical ministries. It is just a great picture of the body of Christ with each member of the body fulfilling a function.

I am interested to see that so many young boys and girls are getting involved early in serving. I sat in my office Sunday morning and watched a young fellow out my office window who must have been about seven years old help his dad at one of the pedestrian crossings. Every Sunday I have seen young men and young ladies between 10 and 12 years old standing at the doors and greeting people as they enter the building. What a blessing to be taught to serve others at an early age!

This Sunday as you make your way through the church property be sure to thank some of those volunteers for what they do to make it happen. When you go to your Sunday School class take a moment and thank your teacher for the many hours of study and preparation that they put in to teach your Sunday School lesson. When you go into the worship service and an usher hands you a bulletin take a moment to thank them for serving week by week.

We could not do what we do without these dedicated and faithful volunteers. To all our volunteers I say "thank you!"

I'll see you Sunday!

Never forget that the people most likely to contribute financially to your church are also the ones who teach Sunday School, put out cones in the parking lot, direct others at information booths throughout the church, hand out bulletins, and usher people to a seat as quickly as possible. Sunday morning without these people just wouldn't work. And it would cost a fortune to pay an event planning team to accomplish the same tasks.

All you have to do is say thank you. Pretty simple. Rarely done. You should be different and thank others often, ridiculously often. They deserve it, and the rewards you will reap in commitment and service will multiply your ministry capacity while you achieve a fully funded budget and establish a long-term sustainable ministry.

Posted by bstroup at 9:29 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack