Intake (visitors, prospective members, new members, new Christians, etc.)
Volunteers (getting people connected to service areas in and outside of the church)
Which churches do these things well?
What books should we read? Which manuals should we buy?
Who do we need to talk to? Which videos can we watch?
What churches in driving distance of Atlanta should we visit that nail these areas?
What non-church sources can we be inspired from?
Talk to me…really need YOUR INPUT!
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NewSpring and Granger Community do the volunteer thing with extreme excellence. They are both amazing!
My husband and I attended NewSpring as guests back in march. They were welcoming us from the DRIVEWAY in! We were welcomed, the car door opened for me, walked into the building, given a free coffee from the cafe, shown where areas we might need were — and the number of volunteers not just there, but prepared to help was amazing. Sherry Moorhead is the Volunteer Coordinator at NewSpring.
Granger is right up there, too. I went there with a friend who is on staff, but was still able to experience the highest level of concern and assistance, not only for the weekend services but also for the conference held there. Nothing less than the best from both churches.
Shaun – will send you a copy of 'BE OUR GUEST' by the Disney Institute. May be cool to one day send a team here >> http://www.disneyinstitute.com.
Great source of creativity when it comes to attracting and retaining visitors.
I totally agree about Newspring. There volunteers are amazing. They were high five-ing us in the parking lot on the way in the building. They have a one day conference every year called Unleash & it’s dirt cheap. Only about $50 per person.
Another one is Savannah Christian. They also have great volunteers & their Pastor Cam Huxford & their entire team are very helpful. They also have a conference every year- Next Level. Only $99 I think.
Our church is getting sooo much better (Revolution Church) but Newspring is where it's at! They really know what they're doing! I wanna know what they put in their volunteers cheerios!! ;o)
I've also been to "Unleash" at Newspring and it's an awesome way to get volunteers pumped about serving God and the church!
Buckhead Church can't quite compete with Newspring on greeting guests, but BC treats volunteers well. My husband and I were on the 200 member parking team (part of the host team) and they shot silly video of the parking team and put it on YouTube which was fun. They threw a candlelight swing dance party in the auditorium for the entire host team and had a pair of professional swing dancers give basic lessons which was awesome. I know, Buckhead Church probably has a monster budget with all those members and volunteers :-) But honestly, smaller churches are my preference. Even with small groups, there is somewhat of a circus experience at BC as you may remember!
Try Fellowship One. It is a phenomenal system that you can implement very easily.
The love dare is a great book for everyone. We all have relationships we need to work on and this book helps with that. It’s not just for married couples.