Guest Services

Anyone Can Serve In Guest Services And That Can Cause Tension

By Casey Ross / Director of Ministry Services / Browns Bridge Community Church "I can't believe you let him greet people at the front door of your church! Do you know what he does on Friday nights?" Family Ministry requires a background check. Group Life requires an application. Care Network requires an interview. Not just anyone can volunteer in these areas. It's no secret, however, that Guest Services makes it easy for people to volunteer. Just about anyone can be a Guest Services volunteer, and that can cause tension. Not every volunteer role should be open to just anyone, but we believe there should be some entry level roles for those new to church or new to volunteering. Why do we believe Guest Services is a good team on which to have entry level volunteer roles? Volunteers are not relating to or directly working with kids. Volunteers are not leading others spiritually. Volunteers are not leading other volunteers. Our Guest Services Captains, however, are volunteers who lead other volunteers. They go through apprenticing and an interview and have specific qualifications (i.e. experience, church membership) to serve in that role. Not every Guest Services role is an entry level role. By allowing almost anyone to serve within Guest Services, it creates a tension we have to manage. What if a volunteer, who represents our church, is living a lifestyle during the week that does not line up with the values of our church? It's a tension we're okay with. Why do we see this as a tension to manage instead of a problem to solve? If he is actively volunteering,... he's not at the lake, playing golf, watching TV, etc. on Sunday morning. We want church to be irresistible and his choice to be here is one indication that we're accomplishing that goal. he's identified himself with our church and our Guest Services team. There is something appealing, engaging, and helpful about the church and this team that makes him want to be here! we can influence him. If he's on the team, he's giving us permission to speak into his life. If we become aware of a lifestyle concern, we can have a conversation with him. we can invest in him. If he's on the team, he is building relationships with others who can pour into his life. we can lead him into a growing relationship with Jesus Christ. That is, after all, our mission with every person who walk through our doors. Let's be honest, he's not the only volunteer in the church making poor decisions and representing our church poorly. People are messy. No one is as clean as they appear. Instead of communicating to him that he cannot be a part of what is happening at our church, we want to give him appropriate opportunities to take a step into our church. Some Guests Services volunteer roles give him that opportunity.

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Who Should Lead Guest Services At Your Church?

By Casey Ross / Director of Ministry Services / Browns Bridge Community Church I get very excited about Guest Services in our church and in your church. Why do I get so excited? There are a number of reasons, but there is a clear number one reason. Here it is...Guest Services is the only team at our church and at your church who influences every single guest (all ages and all stages of life) on a Sunday morning. No one else, not even the Sr. Pastor, can say that. Think about it. The preschool environment influences preschoolers and their parents. The middle school environment influences middle schoolers and their parents. The worship leader and Sr. Pastor influence the people who come into the auditorium. But the Guest Services team influences every person who pulls onto your campus. Someone once said, "The sermon begins in the parking lot." They're right! But I'd add, "Everything begins in the parking lot." With this kind of influence, a very important question is "Who should lead Guest Services at your church?" The answer is, "Someone." Someone at your church should be leading Guest Services. It's too important not to give it leadership. On our campuses, it's a full-time or part-time staff person. It doesn't have to be a paid staff person, though. It just needs to be someone who can lead it well. It needs to be someone who cares about the guest experience at your church. Regardless of the size of your church, there are specific things the Guest Services leader will need to do... Oversee all the systems (parking, traffic, greeting, seating, etc.) that make up Guest Services. Cast vision to new and existing volunteers. Constantly evaluate the overall guest experience at your church. Train new volunteers. Lead and care for volunteer leaders who lead and care for their volunteer teams. So, who would be great at leading Guest Services at your church? Hopefully someone just came to mind. If not, talk to some of the other leaders at your church about who is the right person to lead this area. Then give them a call today and invite them to lead the most influential area of your church!

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Managing A Tension In Guest Services

By Casey Ross / Director of Ministry Services / Browns Bridge Community Church There is a tension in Guest Services. It's not a problem that needs to be solved. It's a tension we have to learn to manage. Our Guest Services teams (Parking Team, Host Team, Usher Team, Information Team) welcome, inform, and serve every guest who comes onto our campus and into our buildings on Sundays. We place our volunteers at strategic locations from the parking lots to the hallways to the aisles in the auditorium so they can interact with as many guests as possible. We don't want anyone to not be influenced in some way by one of our Guest Services volunteers. And here is where the tension happens every Sunday. Not every guest wants to be welcomed, informed, and served by our Guest Services volunteers. Some people want to be left alone. Some people want to remain anonymous. Some people need their space. It's important we realize this about people. So how do we manage this tension? Here are some of the ways we try: We teach our Guest Services volunteers to look for nonverbal signals that a guest needs assistance. At Browns Bridge, we've learned guests who need help often look up...maybe they're taking everything in, maybe they're looking for signage, or maybe they're asking God for help. We make all Guest Services volunteers very easy to identify so a guest knows who to approach for help. At Browns Bridge, we require all Guest Services volunteers to wear the same t-shirt we provide to them. We instruct our Guest Services volunteers to not go "over the top" in how they welcome people. For instance, we don't want them hugging or high-fiving every guest who walks by you. We typically do not approach a guest. Instead, we let the guest approach us. It's a tension we have to manage. I'm sure there are times we do not go far enough in helping a guest. And I am sure there are times we go too far in helping a guest. But most of the time we want to live in the middle of the tension where we welcome, inform, and serve every guest in just the right way for them. This tension within Guest Services exists where you are. How are you managing it?

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A Hole In Guest Services

By Casey Ross / Director of Ministry Services / Browns Bridge Community Church Browns Bridge has been open a little over three years. We have amazing volunteers on our Parking Teams, Host Teams, and Information Center Teams. We have the best leadership over Guest Services...I can say that because it is not me. Over the last year, we have really become intentional about focusing on not only the how of Guest Services but also the why of Guest Services. So you would think we have Guest Services pretty much figured out. We don't. We have discovered a significant hole in Guest Services. How did we discover this hole? Waumba Land, our preschool environment, made us aware of the hole. Apparently a number of first time guests have been walking into our building, feeling uncertain about where to go, and have been coming to our preschool check-in area to get help. Our preschool volunteers have done a tremendous job of helping these guests, but it's not their job to do this. So we're creating a first time guest assistance kiosk right next to our preschool environment. We've never done anything like this, and we're still working on what it will look like. But we're excited about one more opportunity to welcome, inform, and serve our guests, especially our first time guests. This situation has reminded us of two important things. First, those involved in Guest Services should not be the only ones evaluating Guest Services. Second, we will never have Guest Services all figured out.

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Valuing Volunteers

By Mike Hartley / Director of Guest Services / North Point Community Church The role, Director of Guest Services, can become problematic when taken too literally. We should hold any such titles we have been assigned up to brilliant bright light. Rather than managing from a Director's Chair, we would be better served by consciously operating from a role of support and encouragement. Paul suggested to the church at Philippi: "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.  Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had."  (Philippians 2: 3-5) Our mission of welcoming, informing, and serving our guests is dependent on the gracious participation of an incredible group of volunteers. This realization should provide an impetus to serve and support rather than direct and dictate. Identify, recruit, apprentice, and develop volunteer leaders with like values. Constantly affirm your thanks and blessings for their contributions and participation and seek ways to better support them. A strategy of authentic service and sincere recognition is overwhelmingly appreciated more than any material recognition one could possibly provide and will lead to increased numbers who want to serve.  More volunteers means greater individual margin preventing service burn out. The win is volunteer satisfaction, and less attrition. The result is caring, dedicated servants all focused on creating a warm, welcoming, safe environment where the unchurched can come and hear life-changing truth that Jesus Christ cares for them and died for their sins.

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