The value of knowing what to expect
Do you remember your first day of high school? Your first day at a new campus surrounded by a crowd of people you don’t know?
I do. I can remember scanning the crowd for anyone I knew my first day of 9th grade and finding a class mate from Jr High named Jeff.
We saw each other and clung to each other for an entire day.
After that, we hardly saw each other again. But we made it through one of the most insecure days of our adolescent lives by being a familiar face, giving intel to each other so we could navigate the new terrain geographically and socially.
Jeff was a Sherpa for me that day. And as I often say, everybody needs a Sherpa when we enter the unfamiliar.
Can you imagine what it is like for someone who has never been to your church?
What about someone who has never been to a church before?
Truth: It is extremely valuable to know what to expect when you step into something new.
It’s that way when we transition into any new environment in every area of life.
That’s why the future belongs to the people, businesses and churches that can help others know what to expect.
Even good grandparents know this. Let me tell you about somebody I know who is the best at it. He’s my brother-in-law Scott.
Scott and my sister Melanie are exceptional grandparents to my two nephews Jackson and Weston. These two blond love bombs (age 5 and 3) get to spend the night at their grandparents house fairly often.
But as is often the case when children spend the night somewhere that is not their home, they need an extra does of “what to expect” so that their excitement is larger than their fears of what’s unknown.
Enter Scott.
Before they come over, Jackson and Westin are given a sketch on paper of what to expect on their over-nighter with grandpa and grandma.
Here was one from a few months ago:
In this sketch he gave them, the boys knew that after a car ride to a cool park a few cities away, they were going to have a picnic lunch there and visit the pond (grotto) to see the fish.
After some time on the swings, they would go back to their house to hot tub and get ready for bed.
You can bet that these tiny guys who are used to their own surroundings were excited and thrilled to be at their grandparents.
But what about special occasions where things may be doubly different than usual?
Here is another sketch they got around Christmas time:
The boys loved knowing that they were going to have some car time looking at the magical neighborhoods that decked out their homes with Christmas lights, followed by a meal at their favorite place to eat, a snowball fight and some TV time to watch the Grinch. Then, it’s bedtime.
It shouldn’t surprise you to know that Scott and Melanie also host our One Program, Next Steps, at our broadcast campus.
They do a great job co-leading from up front, partly because they are great at letting guests know what to expect as they move through the process.
So I asked Scott to put on his Sherpa boots and sketch out the route we are inviting our guests to take as they connect with God and our church.
Here’s what he doodled:
After enjoying worship and a message, they come to our One Place for a welcome gift.
Then, they’re invited to join us for coffee at a table in Next Steps.
There, they will be invited to share God’s love by serving others alongside us in his name.
Then it’s all about joining others in a small group at someones home to deepen their roots and before they know it, this place will become home.
If you want to join Scott and I in helping people know what to expect when they connect at your church, take these three steps:
➊ Outline the journey a guest will take when connecting to your church in a simple sketch. If you can explain it in a similar way to what Scott did to his grandsons, then you know you can share it easily with a guest.
➋ Make sure all your Guest Service teams know this journey by heart. Practice knowing the journey in your Pre-Service Huddles so they become experts at what someones next step is their connection journey is.
This not only makes your volunteers an army of Sherpas but it also creates the “lazy river effect”, powerfully propelling your guests in the direction of full engagement with God and your church.
➌ Ensure that it is communicated clearly from the stage every weekend. An old saying says that “a mist in the pulpit is a fog in the pew”. The same is true for announcements.
Write some copy regarding your One Place and One Program for language, including language to avoid. Affirm those who make announcements and engage with them weekly to evaluate how things are communicated (I do this by text immediately after announcements are made as needed).
My sister Melanie, Scott, and my nephews Jacksons and Weston
Scott and Mel do a great job managing Jackson and Westin’s expectations. The result is a beautifully connected family. When we give attention to managing the expectations of guests, we will see the same in God’s family-a rich connection, positioning people to follow Jesus well in the future.
Does your church need help in creating a clear engagement pathway for guests at your church?
One of my favorite things to do is to spend a couple days with a church staff in the form of a Base Camp.
A Base Camp is where I…
Spend a morning with the entire staff casting vision for the defining and designing of a clear, shared assimilation pathway for guests at your church.
Spend an afternoon with department heads sharpening the placement processes, setting goals and measurements of success.
Spend a half day with your Guest Services and Assimilation staff to land the plane on your One Place and One Program for connecting guests.
For smaller churches, I get to meet with everyone together for the whole experience which is awesome (See this interview with a church of 100+ that I did 6 years ago with incredible results!).
