Guesterizing Our Church

Beth and Sam and I visited some friends one summer in Oklahoma. We had met them through our work with Soulforce, but had never been to their home prior to this visit. They lived in a beautiful house on the banks of a large lake. We had a great time fishing and boating and skiing and waverunning, but one memory that stands out from that visit is how incredibly comfortable we felt being there. The house was clean and tidy; our needs were well tended; and our friends were genuinely glad we were there. They had "guesterized" their home for us.

Have you ever guesterized your home? What does that involve? Cleaning and planning and preparing meals and activities are some examples of guesterizing. These are very intentional and targeted tasks to prepare for guests, whether it’s for a dinner party or an extended stay. We tend to want to present our best selves as hosts to guests.

How about our church home? Are we guesterizing our church? Are we presenting our best selves to our guests?

In his book Beyond the First Visit: A Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church, Gary McIntosh explains:

Being nice to people is just the beginning of connecting people to your church… But being nice and smiling accounts for only about 20 percent, at most, of actually connecting guests to a church. The important thing is to design systems that provide excellent service to those who attend your church. And nowhere is this more important than when you welcome newcomers on their first visit.

To guesterize a church, according to McIntosh, means to make it more responsive to its guests and better able to attract new ones through service, care, love, and acceptance. It occurs when we make our guests the most important people at our church on Sunday mornings… when we respond to their needs in a manner that causes them to enjoy their time with us. It means providing superior service so that they want to move beyond that first visit.

McIntosh goes on to describe more specific ways that a church can be guesterized. Many of these ideas are now being developed and implemented by our Hospitality Team. But most of the guesterizing can only be done by you.

My Top Ten List of What We Owe Our Guests (see my previous blog articles) may provide some ideas of what you can do to help guesterize our church:

What We Owe Our Guests:
#10 A Culture of Hospitality
#9 An Open Door
#8 A Smile
#7 An Introduction
#6 Our Nametag
#5 A Safe Place to Wonder
#4 A Helping Hand
#3 An Invitation to Belong
#2 A Purpose
#1 Love

If you will commit to intentionally providing just three of these things to our guests and newcomers at every opportunity, I believe we will witness an amazing transformation of our church. And I believe there will be no limit to our capacity to transform the world into a better place.

Watch for more changes in the coming weeks as we continue to guesterize our church.

And as always, if you are interested in being a part of the Hospitality Team that is leading the way with this effort, please contact me at oruuc.membership@gmail.com or 865-740-0167.

Thank you for all you do!!! See you at church!

Gina

Welcome Station and Nametags

I'm excited to announce that the Hospitality Team is beginning work on some new projects.

This Sunday, April 4th, look for our new Welcome Station that will be the central location for information on Sunday mornings.  Our Sunday morning "Host" will be available there to provide answers to your questions or at least point you in the right direction. 

This new station will also serve as the check-in kiosk for our guests.  So, when you invite someone to come to church with you on Sundays, please be sure to stop by the Welcome Station to get them properly signed-in and introduced to the Host.

Another important project that is underway is the Nametag Project.  We will be purging and organizing our current nametags while looking for ways to improve our nametag storage system.  We will also be developing a new nametag style that incorporates the traditional cross-stitch design that Helen McKown has so lovingly provided for so many years.

Why all the fuss about nametags?  I think a sign I read at Holston Valley UUC during a recent visit there sums it up well... "Wearing a nametag is a gift of yourself to a stranger and a gift of kindness to those who know your face but not your name and are too embarrassed to ask."

So, please wear your nametag at every church event you attend.  And if you need a nametag, please visit the Welcome Station to request one.

One last thing... if you are interested in becoming a part of our Hospitality Team, please contact me at oruuc.membership@gmail.com or see me on Sunday morning.  We have plenty of jobs available and would love to have you on the team.

Thank you for all you do!

Gina

What We Owe the Stranger

On March 21, I was invited to speak to the ORUUC congregation and share my thoughts and ideas about hospitality.  I prepared and delivered the "sermon" below that outlined my Top Ten List of things we, as a congregation, can (and should) be intentionally offering our guests who visit us.

What We Owe the Stranger - PDF File

Please post your thoughts and comments below.  I look forward to your feedback.

Thanks.
Gina

What We Owe the Stranger

It's interesting when you think about it... mama always told us not to talk to strangers.  (And as a former police officer, I have to concede that mama is wise to teach that safety lesson to young children.)  But as adults, I think many of us may still be a little apprehensive about talking to strangers.

So, when a stranger walks into our church, how are we responding?  Are we listening to mama’s voice in our heads?  Are we walking right by him/her to hook up with our posse for social hour?  Or are we making an intentional effort to welcome this stranger to our church community?

These are rhetorical questions, of course.  But I challenge you to take a moment and think about the last time you introduced yourself to someone new (to you) at church.  How long ago was that?  And how did it feel?

There’s something magical that happens when you meet someone new.  It’s called relationship.  Relationships are the building blocks of community.  And community is the source of our human need to belong.

So, what do we owe the stranger?

This is the question we will be exploring in this Sunday’s services.  But I’m curious to know your thoughts on the subject.  Feel free to share your comments here on my blog site.

In the meantime, please accept my gratitude for taking in this stranger and giving me an opportunity to belong to this beloved community.  We’ve all shared that experience here, so let’s pay it forward to the new strangers who come to us in search of a place to belong.

And if you are interested in learning more about becoming a member at ORUUC, please mark your calendar for this Sunday, March 21 at 12:30-2:30, and join our Newcomer Orientation class in the East Room.  Please RSVP by emailing me at oruuc.membership@gmail.com.

Thank you for all you do!  See you at church!

Gina

Thank you!

In this designated month of Gratitude, I invite you to reflect on what your membership at ORUUC means to you. Think back to the time you first visited ORUUC. What were you looking for? What did you find here that moved you to become a member?

You belong to a vibrant and engaged covenantal community who loves you and cares about you. Likewise, you are part of this loving and caring community who reaches out and takes action in times of need. What a great community this is!

It’s a well-known fact that people have an innate need to belong. But belonging is much more than just signing up or being born into a community or family or church. True belonging means truly connecting with the others in the community.

I invite you to take some time this month to re-connect, if needed, with your ORUUC family and share your Gratitude with the people here who you appreciate. (I know my list is long!)

And while you are at it, take a moment to introduce yourself to someone new (to you) in our ORUUC community. Keep in mind what you felt as a Newcomer, and welcome these wonderful searching souls into our fold. Share your story and listen to theirs. I think you will find that there is a lot to be thankful for.

So, from me to you… thank you for all you do in service to our church family and the community at large! You are truly a great people! And it is an honor to be your servant.

See you soon!

Gina

Welcome to my Blog!

Welcome to the ORUUC Membership Matters blog... a work in progress (and my first attempt at blogging).

My name is Gina Grubb. I'm the Membership Coordinator at ORUUC and, now, an official blogger, too.

This will be my space to share my thoughts, ideas and plans with you and to get your feedback. So please feed me!

You may contact me at oruuc.membership@gmail.com anytime. Please allow 24-48 hours for my response, though. (Some days are crazier than others, if you know what I mean.)  If you need a response sooner, please call the church office at 865-483-6761.

I'm excited about my new blog and about getting to know you better. I hope you enjoy your visit here and gain something valuable from it.

Thanks for being here!  And please visit often!

Gina