The story a building tells only goes so far. Without the human element to augment the facility story, life change is much less likely to occur. In fact, great churches can exist in poor facilities because of the people. The human element will always trump the built space. At the same time, the opposite can occur. Have you ever been to an incredible hotel or restaurant, sucked in by the physical appeal and ambiance, only to be turned off by the way a person treated you?
The same applies at our churches. People make the story appealing, or they can totally erode all of the other efforts you have invested to tell your story.
There are many obvious human touch points that will impact your guests. We have discussed the parking lot ministry and how incredibly important it is with establishing that first impression. The greeters are the next obvious touch point. Are they warm, welcoming, engaging, not too overbearing, and informative? Are they there only to hand out the worship guide or are they to impact people? Don’t forget to write a script for this area of your ministry just like we did for the first time guest with kids or the parking lot team. Determine what defines a win for that group of ambassadors of your story. They are not just greeters; they are the initial face of your story.
Let’s compare the typical church interaction with how they do it at the Apple Store.
Many churches that we work with will tell us that they want a “Welcome Center Booth” or a kids check-in counter. In most cases they are envisioning a counter with their volunteers and/or staff on one side and the nervous and intimidated guest on the other side. I hate this setup. This creates such an “Us vs. Them” visual barrier, and not just visual, it can taint the interaction. This kind of arrangement generally requires the guest to start the conversation instead of the host, which is completely backwards. The host should be engaging and trying to build a relationship while initiating a conversation.
Have you ever been to an Apple Store? Throughout the majority of the store, what is missing? Counters! Most of their products are out on tables or displays with their
staff roaming the store, engaging guests, and physically demonstrating the product for customers. Imagine having a group of ministry ambassadors floating around the kid’s check-in area looking for guests, cladded in colorful shirts, and armed with answers for guests? What if they approached a guest and instead of telling them they had to fill out a card, the ministry volunteers pulled out their iPad and started a conversation with some leading questions that helped them complete the normal registration process. Would that be more inviting to a guest? It would for me.
Not only are you obtaining the data that you need as a church, but you have now connected to people in community. That guest will feel like they know somebody so it will be less awkward next week. The personal interaction has now reinforced the story of the built environment.
The Apple Store reminds us that human interaction trumps everything. Does your facility space help tell the story or human interaction or hinder it?
