Category: Guest Services

The First Impression is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy

You know the research: people decide within 1/10 of a second whether or not you’re trustworthy. In 1/3 of that time, a glance at someone’s face will cue you on their status and attractiveness. But...

Want to be Missional? Move.

For all of the church’s talk of “being on mission,” “living sent,” and “pursuing a Great Commission lifestyle,” I fear we may be overlooking one of the easiest ways to get the gospel into the...

Days of Signs and Wanders

In a recent post we talked about the irony that a $25 billion global brand has failed – in at least a couple of occasions – to invest in a hundred buck sign. Today, let’s...

It’s a Sign.

There are a couple of Starbucks locations in town that are currently undergoing a remodel. The first, I saw a few weeks ago when I was swinging by for a grande Pike on my way...

“What’s In It For Me?”

The following is an excerpt from our One-Day Workshop: After the First Visit, covering the moments and the months after a guest shows up at your church for the first time. Want to know more?...

Spurgeon on Hospitality and Evangelism

I just finished up Charles Spurgeon’s The Soul Winner, part of my summer reading list. This quote got my attention: …soul winners, try after sermon to talk to strangers. The preacher may have missed the...

Slow Your Role

Ministry weekends tend to be a blur: Prep that service Host that meeting Have that convo Guide that vol Put out that fire Set up that event Find that item Answer that text Remember that...

What Disney’s “Galaxy’s Edge” Teaches Us About Planning

I’m both a Disney nerd and a Star Wars geek, so you can imagine my salivation when the Mouse announced he was building brand new lands in both Anaheim and Orlando. I am currently saving...

Planning for Worst-Case Weather Scenarios

The following is a guest post by A.J. Farthing, Associate Campus Pastor over First Impressions at the Summit’s Chapel Hill Campus. Weather and church weekends have a lot in common: both are finicky, both are...

What’s New In Your New Fall Season? (part two)

In part one of this post, we talked about the sometimes-unspoken rule that church congregations have. Every year, vacation season draws to a close, people leave the beach and head back to school, and life...