New Guest Experience

We are in the process of ramping up our experience for new guests here at AMP*D. We realize we get 1 shot to make a great first impression on our new peeps and we are constantly evaluating how to make the ENVIRONMENT one they will not forget and also one where they will not be forgotten. I thought I would share with you some of our methods we currently use and will be implementing to treat our new guests like VIP:

1.) When they arrive and our staff identifies them as first time guests, we walk them down the red carpet. Seriously, we roll out red carpet and have a special entrance into the building just for them. They are then checked in, usually earlier than everyone else and are linked up with a staff member to show them around. Also at this point they receive a colored wristband which serves 2 purposes: 1.) Helps our staff and students identify new folk so we can love on them and make them feel incredibly welcome 2.) Gains them access to an area we call the RENDEZVOUS...which brings me to the 2nd method...

2.) After service we invite all new students and the friend that brought them to a VIP lounge we set up called the REDEZVOUS. Here they are greeted by some of our adult leaders and come in to chill with some music videos rolling on a flat screen, snacks, sodas, etc. We then show them a video produced by our students that gives them the low down on our ministry and afterwards we kinda share who we are, why we do what we do, etc. Then each new student is given a free gift (either a t-shirt or a cool drawstring bag with some goodies). Before leaving we make sure we have their correct contact information and we have them fill out a short survey based on their experience with us that night. We are in the process of re-starting huddles post service in addition to life groups that meet in homes throughout the week. The RENDEZVOUS will serve as the "small group" for the new peeps that night and then we will assign them to a regular group for the next week and have a huddle group leader make contact with the new student usually within 2 days.

3.) Follow up: The most important piece. Each new guest on Thursday receives a phone call from us and a text message. We then mail a postcard to them, which by the way I takes it to a new level, since our students are so used to "techno convo" in the forms of texting, e-mail, and other social mediums. On the post card we tell the new student to bring the post card back with them the next week and find the leader with an orange bandana on their head...they approach that leader and the leader in turn blesses them with a gift card of some sort or some other random gift. This become a third point of contact with the new student and hopefully helps in the feeling of being lost in the numbers.

Hope some of this helps, we are definitely looking for new ways to show hospitality to our new students and would love to hear your thoughts and ideas.

T-Dizzle Episode 3

T-Dizzle 3 from Jeremy Alexander on Vimeo.

Don't Miss It

Making It Happen

Youth RAK from Jeremy Alexander on Vimeo.

Quality

Have you ever walked into a restaurant and been immediately turned off? Maybe you wait for a few minutes to be seated and nobody helps you. Perhaps there is food on the floor or rude wait staff or a funky smell. Whatever it is, the lack of quality automatically sets us up for a bad experience.

The same that is true for a restaurant holds true for the church as well, and even more personally, the student ministry of our church. If I am expecting our student ministry to be "off the chain," it truly must be a quality experience for current and visiting students. In business you can have the best marketing plan in the world, but if the product doesn't deliver, then it is only a matter of time before word spreads and sales drop.

I have been asking myself some questions lately about our environment in student ministry, sort of a self-evaluation...

1.) Is the ministry God has given me to lead done with absolute excellence?
2.) Do I spend plenty of time planning, organizing, and praying for our mid-week service, or do I fly be the seat of my pant?
3.) Do I hear a steady stream of complaints from parents, volunteers, students that our student ministry is disorganized?
4.) Are my messages well prepared, well transitioned, and well illustrated?
5.) Am I unleashing the spiritual gifts and talents of the students and adults in my ministry?
6.) Is our student ministry a setting where our students are comfortable inviting their unchurched friends?

A lot of times it is so easy to get in the mindset of "if you build it they will come." While that is partially true, evaluation is crucial once you build it and with that evaluation we must be intentional about quality and excellence. The world is marketing their stuff to students with excellence and quality why shouldn't we be "marketing" the greatest message ever with the most quality and excellence?

Leadership Lessons From Jesus Part 2

#2: Jesus Never Tried to Succeed Alone.
"So don't go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many advisers."-Proverbs 24:6

As a leader I need people, more importantly I need God. Everything we have comes from God. Success is a collection of relationships. Without clients, a lawyer has no career. Without patients, a doctor has no one to heal. Without a composer, a singer has nothing to sing. As leaders our future is connected to people. Jesus constantly talked to His Heavenly Father. He talked to His disciples. He talked to everybody. At twelve, He exchanged with the scribes and priests in the temple. He talked to tax collectors, fishermen, doctors, and lawyers, He said, "I can do nothing of my own" (John 5:30). Jesus was so in tune with the voice of God and surrounded himself with others to carry out the ministry, because He saw the big picture and invited others to come on the journey with Him. Right now in my own ministry I feel that I am at a place where I am hearing so much from God and having more people step on the "bus" but I am just trying to find the right seat, because I realize that I will never be successful trying to run this race alone. My prayer is that God would give me guidance and wisdom in knowing who I can turn to.

Leadership Lessons From Jesus, Part 1

Leadership Lesson #1: Jesus Took Time to Plan

"Through skillful and godly Wisdom is a house [a life, a home, a family] built, and by understanding it is established [on a sound and good foundation]. And by knowledge shall the chambers [of its every area] be filled with all precious and pleasant riches."

-Proverbs 24:3,4

Champions plan. Planning is the starting point for any dream or goal that you possess. "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that reads it." (Habakkuk 2:2). Think for a moment, God scheduled the birth, the crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus before the foundation of the earth. I think it's quite fascinating that God would schedule a meal, the marriage supper, 6,000 years ahead of time. Throughout the entire Bible, God honored and blessed men who planned. Noah planned the building of the ark. Solomon, took time to plan the building of the temple. Moses, took time to plan the tabernacle. As a leader I need to not only read and hear the words of Jesus in Luke 14:28-31, but live them out in my ministry, in my life. I am finding it more and more helpful to make a list of things to do each day. At the end of the day it is great to see that list and know that I have accomplished those things. Planning is definitely not the most fun thing to do but sometimes you gotta do something you hate to create something you love. I pray that as a leader I would be more intentional about planning ahead, which will not only bless my life but will provide blessings and less heartache for others. Remember, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail.