What a beautiful time of the year! It is wonderful to see warm, sunny weather after all that our community has experienced over the past weeks. It has been inspiring to see Schweitzer respond so quickly and in so many ways this past month. From our food drive, to the disaster relief teams traveling to Joplin on numerous occasions, I have been so blessed to see so many, both newcomers and long-timers, jumping in to show God to others in a very tangible way.
Earlier in the month, many of us gathered to celebrate our hospitality ministry. Many delicious desserts were shared, great fellowship was experienced, but most importantly, discussion time resulted in some important themes that came through loud and clear….in recap:
Reviving the “Mugging Ministry”
For those who may not be familiar, the “Mugging Ministry” consisted of teams from our church who would gather immediately following worship to deliver a gift and a welcome from our church to those who identified themselves as 1st time guests. No long conversations or in-home visits occur as a part of this outreach…rather it is just a brief “front porch” greeting and warm welcome to return to Schweitzer. Several mentioned what a wonderful connection tool this was, and expressed a desire for this to be revived.
Greeting people AFTER worship (or “de-greeting” as Sue Davis has appropriately named it!)
Another theme was this idea of providing warm hospitality to folks as they exit the church, in addition to as they enter. Many offered examples of other businesses where they experience this, most notably at Springfield Cardinals games. Could this be implemented here? Would this be a function of ushers? greeters? both? What are your thoughts?
Structure of the Hospitality Team
Susan Crain, one of our hospitality ministry leaders, shared regarding the importance of structure, including clear leaders of each aspect of the ministry, etc. She mentioned that clarifying structure will make it easier for new people to begin to serve on these teams, and gave the example of how the Guest Services team is currently functioning with a ministry leader and 4 team leaders. Could this be implemented in our Greeter ministry? Ushers? Fellowship Center?
Communication
Bethany Boaz, another of our hospitality ministry leaders, shared about the importance of clear communication amongst teams. She discussed multiple methods for accomplishing this, from phone trees, to postcards, to emails and blogs, a consistent communication method clearly communicates expectations to team members, and provides teams a method to connect to each other.
Position descriptions were made available for review and feedback as well.
An Invitation…
I know so many of you have a heart for this ministry of providing hospitality and a friendly, warm church. How can we become even more excellent at this? I would like to invite you to join me this summer in studying First Impressions by Mark Waltz. I’ve mentioned this book in a previous blog, but now I’d like to make a concerted effort to gather some of you together to read and discuss this book together. Do some of the items above ring a bell with you? Do you have a heart for the mugging ministry, or see a place for clear structure to become more a part of this ministry? Come read this with me, and let’s talk more. I will provide the books, and our meetings will be full of rich discussion, but few in number. My goal is not to occupy your entire summer…I promise! Please consider thoughtfully this opportunity. It will be a blessing! Please contact me for more details.
