Latest posts

2025 One-Day Workshops: the Triathalon

Our One-Day Workshops are back for 2025, but this time with a twist. Since 2016, we’ve taken over 700 church leaders through a day-long deep dive on on particular topic. Historically, we’ve offered one topic...

Multi-Site: Context, Collaboration, and Pushback

In the world of multi-site churches, the pendulum often swings between campus autonomy and central control. I think that swing can be a good and healthy thing, and isn’t something to be avoided. That’s where...

Top Ten Quotes: Surrender to Love

A friend and I have been working through David Benner’s Surrender to Love: Discovering the Heart of Christian Spirituality. If you’re a fan of Gentle and Lowly, it echoes with the theme of understanding God’s...

Q&A: What’s the “Creepy Threshold” in Guest Services?

Q: We’re having a debate on our Guest Services Team as to whether or not it is “creepy” to approach someone already seated in the auditorium with an extra “Hello, welcome!” So my question is:...

Introducing the “Large Church” Series

A couple of years ago I rolled out the “Small Church” series: a collection of articles aimed at those serving in churches of 150 or fewer people in attendance each week. I had a fantastic...

What Are You Reading?

It’s almost here, fellow nerds: summer book season, where we load up our Kindles or stuff our beach bags full of the latest, the greatest, or just those that are in the pile we need...

4 Ways to Highlight First-Time Guest Surveys

We’ve talked before about our First-Time Guest surveys: the four questions that go out to every guest who gives us their contact information. Those surveys are a way to keep our finger on the pulse...

Danny Recommends: First-Time Guest Tents & Supplies

Every so often we dip our toes into a series called Danny Recommends:, posts that tip you off to the stuff that I…you know. The recommendations might be products for use in your ministry, resources that will...

A Reflection for Easter

Easter weekend is upon us. If you work at or serve in a church, you are facing additional services, additional guests, additional go go go over the next few days. The temptation at Easter is...

6 Ways to Undervalue Your Guest Services Team

Too often, we view a Guest Services team as a “nice to have” ministry: if we have the personnel or the budget or the attention to give to it, great. But if hospitality should be...