Flashback Friday: Along For The Ride
The first time my wife and I went to a Broadway show, we saw the value of a good usher in action. From the moment we entered the theater, we were literally ushered to our...
Category: First Impressions
Details Matter…Even at the Gas Pump
I snapped this little jewel a few weeks back at the gas station just down the road from my office. In case you can’t tell what the gentleman in the picture is doing, he’s...
Wedding Crashers & Weekend Services
Last weekend I attended two weddings in northern Virginia. The first I was invited to: the oldest son of our seminary besties got married, simultaneously taking the best selfie that I’ve ever personally witnessed. The second...
Flashback Friday: Take Another Look
…when things get familiar, we tend to get sloppy. We turn inward to our own convenience rather than outward for the sake of our guests. We structure systems around our comfort rather than ease...
Mission Trumps Need…Every Time
We’re coming off of another incredible Easter weekend at the Summit. 18 services at seven locations, plus two worship events on Good Friday. 169 people who symbolized their faith in Jesus through the act of...
A Plea to Pastors on Easter Weekend
Pastors: they’re coming. Easter weekend is one of the two largest church attendance weekends in any calendar year. People attend church with Grandma. Irreligious people come because it’s still the socially acceptable thing to do...
Flashback Friday: The Power of Observation
A few weeks ago the Franks crew made a stop at a Starbucks. I love Starbucks like fundamentalists love denim jumpers. They are all about customizing the experience for the customer and delivering the element...
Planning Is Not The Same As Dreaming
I spent the last few days in a guest services geek’s dreamland: I was fortunate enough to sit around a table with seventeen of the sharpest church hospitality minds in the country. We came from churches...
When Good Systems Go Bad
My adopted hometown of Durham, North Carolina is known for a lot of things: we’re the City of Medicine. We’re historically a tobacco town (because smoking and medicine go great together). We’re the home of...
You’re Not “Just a Volunteer.”
For those of us in ministry world, we hear that statement too many times. “I’m just a volunteer.” That statement can mean a lot of things: This job isn’t that big of a deal…I don’t have...
