by Greg Curtis: Here is a photo of Michelle and I once we made it down the long road to the Church of All Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane. We are standing in front of what is the oldest Olive Tree in the garden, around a thousand years old.

I recently got back from a bucket list trip to Israel. This is the kind of trip you hope you will get to go on someday and pray it doesn’t let you down.

It did not.

People asked me what I was looking forward to seeing the most. I told them I didn’t want to even go there mentally because I suspected that what I was looking forward to might be eclipsed by things I didn’t even know we were going to see.

That is exactly what happened.

One of those surprise locations was discovered when we got off the bus in Jerusalem. We were on a bluff with a fantastic view of the old city. With a guide ahead of us, he got us access to an old stone road, framed in high walls with a steep decline down toward the valley in front of the city. It had security cameras, occasional wood doors that seemed to offer some kind of access to the kind of stone homes you would visualize a scene from the Bible to take place in. Parts were asphalted, some parts not.

Long, uneven, winding and descending, this was the road that Jesus came into Jerusalem on, riding a donkey the Sunday before his execution.

As I descended, I was awed that I was actually walking the road I had seen on flannel graphs in Sunday School growing up so many Palm Sundays. I had no idea this was what we were going to do on this particular day. But as I watched people from all over the world walk this road with me, a couple principles about connecting with people came to mind.

Two principles to keep in mind for connecting people at your church:

I took this photo on the same road that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on. Picture palms and praise happening on this road, but also note how it had no other options but down through the Kidron Valley and up to the Eastern Gate into the Old City. Our connection path for guests to enter into our church community should be as singular and clear as this.

Make your connection path clear and singular.

I was struck by the high walls and the narrow road that formed this old road into Jerusalem. As it exists now, there’s really no escaping it. Once you go through its locked entrance gate, you will walk this road until it reaches its destination, period. Walking downhill like this, it is also difficult to turn back and go uphill against the crowd.

This made me think of a warning I find myself sharing with Sherpa Leaders who want to create engagement pathways for their guests. The warning is this: Don’t offer guests multiple choice. If you do, they will always choose D) None of the above. Like this road into Jerusalem, offer one connection path they can say yes or no to.

We live in an age where we are inundated by information and options. As a result, we are often in a state of decision fatigue. The “Have it your way” Burger King approach to customer service has been replaced by the “In & Out experience”. In California where I live, In & Out Burger pretty much offers just one thing to order. The only choice is whether to make it a double.

People are paying now for information to be distilled into decisions for them due to decision fatigue. Some have their groceries delivered and chosen for them by others via an app. Some now do this with clothing and wine. Others just stay with the tried and true, foregoing a cheaper price at the Costco-type warehouses around them, opting instead for a smaller less overwhelming market where the choices may be more expensive, but fewer and known.

Please hear this: The same is true for your guests this weekend at church. Trust me: they don’t want to hear about your women’s retreat, men’s work day, every kind of small group, and multiple ways to serve and get involved. They just want to connect and in order to do so, they want one option that looks like it will deliver on that. One option that they can say yes or no to. That’s one option. One.

As a leader, this should inform you in multiple scenarios in your entire church, especially when it comes to growing a follower of Jesus: Have only one ask at the end of any event, program, or environment you create. The good news about this is that you get to decide what you want them to say yes or no to. 100 people saying yes to one thing beats 5 groups of 10 saying yes to 5 things. Yes the number of responders are cut in half because people don’t come to church to evaluate choices you lay before them. They are looking for hope, comfort, grace and God…not a menu.

Offering multiple options creates sidewise energy. Having one clear path you point all guests to that they can choose to walk or not allows you and them to put all your energies into that option and the results become exponential.

For example: At my church, we have no info material at our info counter. None. Why? Because the answer to every question (except “Where’s the bathroom?” and “Is there a doctor in the house?”) is “Next Steps” which is our connection pathway. We’ve designed it to answer every question a guest has.

Similarly, at each of the 4 weekly steps of Next Steps, there is only one ask:

Week One: Follow Jesus

Week Two: Join a small group

Week Three: Serve on a ministry team

Week Four: Try a Compassion Project

Leveraging this simplicity, this year (2020) in Next Steps campus wide we have…

Week One: 31% making a decision to follow Jesus

Week Two: 59% sign up for a small group

Week Three: 73% Choose a ministry team to serve on

Week Four: 65% Express interest in a Compassion Project

Some years we have bested that. If we promoted everything at our church with several asks, I believe those responses would be less than half of what they are. So hear me on this. We cannot afford to dilute a guest’s focus, energy and effort. We must decide what is important and build walls on either side of the pathway so that it leads to just one important step, the best step for them as new or growing Christ followers.

On the road that Jesus came into Jerusalem on, there was only one option: down to the valley that leads to the old city. Our connection path for guest should be that simple. Which leads me to the 2nd principle…

Make your connection path simple, not necessarily easy. There’s a difference.

I took this shot shortly after we began descending toward the valley on the Palm Sunday route. That’s Diane with her cain holding the railing that soon disappeared as we made the descent.

Two days before we got on the plane for Israel, I looked down and one of my knees was swollen. I don’t know why. It just puffed up like a blowfish for reasons unknown to me. So armed with a knee brace I bought at CVS, I slid it on and started the paths and narrow stone stairways that are the ancients ways of getting around in Israel.

It hurt when we went down the Palm Sunday route toward Jerusalem, especially due to the decline. But my challenge was nothing compared to a very fun older lady (let’s call her Diane) who due to her age had a walker or a cane for the entire trip. She is in the photo to the right, holding onto the railing, a railing that was only present for a few yards of the long journey down. But we waited for Diane when we needed to, and her family helped her as well. It was a lot more challenging for her than for me.

What made Diane, myself and others struggling with pain continue on this road with enthusiasm despite our issues? The destination. We were headed to the Garden of Gethsemane, an olive grove where Jesus wrestled in prayer and was arrested. So much of our story begins in this grove that wasn’t really a Garden as we would think of it. It was a working farm that produced the olive oil that was fuel for all their lamps and gave light to the city.

Here’s what I want to remind you of: Where your connection path leads allows you to ask more of those walking it. When you are leading them towards an environment they want to experience or even feel a need for, they will do what you ask, even if its not easy.

When we transitioned from a quarterly 7-week connection experience to a 4 week monthly one, there was some vital content that guests found valuable in making a connection with us that could no longer fit. Rather than throw it away, we took a risk. We added 2 additional “Go Deeper” opportunities to the 3 assignments they already get to complete each week at Next Steps. These “Go Deepers” come in the form of 9 to 30 minute long videos with blanks in their books to fill in. I incentivized the completion of them with a swag gift for everyone at the table with the highest percentage of completion, evidenced by all the blanks filled in. When we launched it, I told myself that I would have been thrilled to have 20% to 30% of guest complete them each week. I was shocked to see 80% to 100% complete them (much to the depletion of our swag budget!).

We discovered that guests love investing an extra hour each week in these Go Deepers because they contain some life giving information that helps them in their journey (not a walk through our statement of faith or our church’s position on specific issues). They come back describing their value, many times through tears.

My learning to pass on to you is this: Though your connection path needs to be simple, do not shrink away from tasks or assignments that have real and obvious value to them because if the destination is desirable, they will do it.

Just ask Diane and I. We would both say yes to a challenge that leads to something meaningful. We powered through our bad knees and got to a section of the garden that not everyone gets to see. It was a part cared for by the Franciscans and we were allowed to explore it and find a our own niche in it for a prolonged period of solitary prayer like Jesus did. It was sooooo worth it.

Make sure what you ask of guests is worth it too, even if it’s not easy. They will do it.

This photo is of a small corner of a large section of the Garden of Gethsemane walled off for private prayer. This was why we ignored our swollen knees and kept walking downhill and it was so worth it.

If you were to ask the following people how a guest can connect and get involved at your church, what would they say?

The Senior Pastor

A random staff person

The average church member

A guest

If there are different answers, why is that? Is it…

a) There is no specified way to connect and get involved

b) There are multiple ways for them to connect and get involved

c) There is a specified way but it is not promoted well

d) Other

What needs to happen next in order to have a singular well promoted and effective connection pathway for guests at your church?

a) Have someone meet with our staff this year to form a more effective connection path for our church (click here for my best resource for that)

b) Learn all the necessary ingredients of a successful assimilation strategy so I can evaluate where we are really at (click here for a resource I have for learning this quickly)

c) Get more education and training about what it takes to even have a successful assimilation strategy (click here for my best educational resource)

d) Learn some dos and don’t for effectively promoting your connection pathway. (click here for help with that)

To receive more resources and ideas on connecting people well at your church each month, let me know briefly who you are below:

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Source: Two principals I learned in Jerusalem that will help you connect new people at your church

The post Two principals I learned in Jerusalem that will help you connect new people at your church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Greg Curtis: Most of the focus at Christmas revolves around what happens in the auditorium, not around it. Yet it’s where the “common areas” surrounding your auditorium/sanctuary are that most of your guests will decide if your church is one they will be returning to or not. That’s why we all need a first impressions checklist for Christmas.

Wherever the “common areas” surrounding your auditorium/sanctuary are, that’s where most guests will decide if your church is one they will be returning to or not

Out in your Common Areas, what can you focus on this Christmas? Here is your First Impressions Checklist to help you make the right choices and get them implemented:

Here’s a good way to conceal a speaker at your campus when people arrive in the parking lot. This is from Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Chandler AZ. These speakers were sending out the greatest music when I arrived last month at the S2 Conference. Great idea!

? Play Christmas music in the parking lot

I have long felt that we are missing a key opportunity for creating a great first impression for our Christmas guests. It has to do with the well known “decision whether to return” that guests make in the first 7 minutes after arriving.

I think it is fair to say that up to half of that 7 minutes is spent in the parking lot. In addition to the lighting and parking lot team, there is one thing that I believe would bump things up to a 10….music.

After arguing in the car, trying to find this place they’ve been invited to, opening up the car door to silence and other people trying to get their kids in line is not a great impression. That’s why places like Disneyland and other churches, year round, play music in the parking lot. They know the guest experience begins there, not when they walk in the doors.Hearing Christmas music would set the tone from the moment they open the car door, let them know they have arrived someplace special, and would grab their mood before more negative things that compete for their attention can win.

At one of the churches I was at recently, the outdoor trash cans double as speakers (see photo). You could do something now without money by just setting up a portable system outside you may use for special events.

Outdoor Christmas Music Checklist

? Secure any approval you might need.

? Find an appropriate sound system to play your Christmas music that allows people to hear it as soon as they get out of the car.

? Recruit a person to be in charge of set up/tear down of sound equipment as well as operation. You might want to recruit a team leader if you have so many services that you will need multiple team members to set up and operate sound.

? Appoint a person to create the right playlist to set the mood you want (contemporary, traditional, nostalgic, secular or not, etc).

? Decide on exactly what time you want the music to begin and when you want it to stop playing.

?Look for eyes that wander inquisitively

Looking into people’s eyes as you walk around to see if they are trying to find something is a call to inquire. “Can I help you find something?” is a great question to ask people staring up at way finding signs or stopping to survey where to go next with their kids. Walking handicap people to the front of the line or the auditorium is a nice touch here too and reflects the heart of the one whose birth we are celebrating.

Need Finders Checklist

? Decide whether you will give existing volunteers (i.e. Parking Lot, Greeters, Ushers, Staff, etc.) vision and training for Need Finding or if you will form a specialized team. If a special team will be formed, write a job description for them.

? Determine if and how guests with special needs and elderly guests will have their needs addressed (think timing, preferred seating, etc.).

? Design training ? for whatever teams will be owning need finding. Include looking for people who need photos taken of their family so everyone gets in the photo.

? Schedule training for team(s) responsible. Share job description in advance with them so they can ask questions.

We call our volunteers “Change Makers” and they are all over during Christmas services at our church directing parking, handing out gifts, performing on stages, and taking photos of guests.

?Take photos for people at any photo ops

Though we have volunteers manning the photo ops, sometime your church’s Christmas decor creates an unplanned photo op for a family or group of friends who would love everybody to be in the photo if they had someone to take the picture. Be that person.

Photo Op Checklist

? Decide if you are going to have special photo op areas set up in your lobby and at strategic places on your campus. Build a hashtag into your photo ops (ours was #ChristmasatEastside) so that when people post their photo on social media, people can find your church.

? Appoint an artist NOW so they have time to send you a design to approve for 1 to 3 photo ops.

? Provide a team of builders to help make that artist’s dream a reality.

? Decide who will set up and tear down the photo ops after Christmas.

?Ask if this is their first Christmas at your church

If it is, have a VIP experience in mind to kick into. Maybe its some candy in your pocket for kids or a gift card for free cocoa in your cafe. If it is, ask how they heard about your church. You will find out things from this spontaneous focus group that you would have found out no other way. Put their answers on your note app on your phone and send them to relevant staff when everyone comes back to the office to evaluate Christmas in January.

VIP Experience Checklist

? Make sure your Guest Service Teams (and/or Need Finders from above) are trained to ask this question as conversations develop with guests.

? Design a simple plan to give that guest(s) q VIP treatment, being very specific as to what you want that experience to look like.

? Include a way of tabbing on their phones the way people heard about your church (this is of course if you don’t ask that question on the guest cards in your bulletin).

? Schedule a time to review the results of the data collected on how people found your church and what that might mean for next Christmas.

On every table for our entertainment at Cornerstone: a yo yo. Some people really are experts at this bad dog and watching people’s tricks while we waiting in a long line for food became a fun distraction.

?Work the lines

If lots of people come early and are needing to stay in your lobby till the doors open, have stanchions for them and/or a special room where you and other Sherpas can “work the room”. We have staff and volunteers sign up for just this every year. Some give out candy, some play a Christmas version of “Heads Up” on their phones with others. On one campus, we even have a volunteer performing illusions for people in line while they wait. Conversation is a great way to connect and welcome Christmas guests but you can’t have conversation if you are not located where the conversations can be found so identify staff or certain volunteers to engage those in the lines while they wait.

Line Experience Checklist

? Identify who will work the lines while people are waiting to enter your auditorium to celebrate Christmas.

? Determine what activities they will use to engage the guests waiting in line.

? Decide what props or supplies will be needed to those activities to take place and who will be responsible to acquire them.

? Schedule those people for each Christmas service.

?Respond with spontaneous prayer

One time in our lobby, I was leaning against a podium that was being used for check in. Someone came up to me to ask for prayer for some people they were inviting to church. I leaned against it and prayed, inviting this person to hold my hands on the “prayer podium” as I did. We laughed about it, but then someone else wanted prayer when they saw it. I moved the podium (a small stand) up to them and did the same thing in a humorous but “get the job done” kind of way. I prayed for a few people spontaneously in the lobby that day. I also got to baptize the people I prayed for from the first request a month later at their small group. If someone asks for prayer, take their hand, include others and pray right then and there. It also shows the heart of God and your church in a way nothing else can.

Spontaneous Prayer Checklist

? Appoint a pastor on call to be available before and after all Christmas services as a specific location.

? Communicate to all Guest Service Teams the availability of that resource with instructions to bring people to him/her rather than abandon their post to do pastoral care.

?Meet family and friends that people have invited

Don’t let people get away with not introducing their guests to you as you wander the lobby. Hearing their stories, having a few lines in your pocket that get a laugh, asking questions like, “How did they get you here tonight?” and “How far did you drive?” among many others are good conversation starters among 1st timers that came on the arms of people in your church. The people of your church will feel very valued that you did so.

Our Lead Pastor Gene Appel sets the example by doing this every weekend much less at Christmas. You can too. You are all powerful jet in the “lazy river” that guides guests into deeper connection with God and your church family.

Do you struggle with finding, recruiting and training enough volunteers for your Christmas services? Next post: a Volunteer Recruitment and Onboarding Checklist for Christmas.

Get together with Staff or your Guest Services team having shared the link to this post. Brainstorm together what it would look like to make the best first impression possible for your Christmas guests.

Check any of the large boxes that represent anything you would like to add to enhance your first impression on your Christmas guests.

Copy/Paste and print out the sublists and delegate them to qualified people who would be excited to run point on that kind of effort. Decide on due dates for specific items.

Schedule an evaluation date in January to evaluate how everything went and the implications for Christmas services next year.

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Source: Your First Impressions Checklist for Christmas

The post Your First Impressions Checklist for Christmas appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Greg Curtis: Charles and is son Rainier.

As a Three, people who want to kick the tires once the truck is moving, can just be in my way.

Not Charles Stoicu.

Charles can walk into a room and rally people, silently lead people through others he is raising up to lead, assess an event or a process that needs to improve, and speak up in a meeting to point out the elephant in the room.

I have come to appreciate Charles, value his input, and love he and his family in a special way.

Charles came into my life when he was dating a valuable team member. Phylicia Norris was a dynamo on our Build Community Team and her thinking and hard work as lift a mark on us to this day. When she married Charles and had their son Rainier, she left our team to be a full time mom.

I have been mad at Charles ever since!

Charles likes to challenge us. Questions like “Why are we…”, “Why did we…”, and “How will we…” are often asked in a polite but direct and courageous way.

Why does Charles relentlessly ask the hard questions make the tough statements? Because Charles is an Eight.

How a Type Eight sees their world

An Eight sees the world as a wrong that needs to be righted, but not in the same way as a One. Ones are driven to improve situations and systems that are underperforming. Eights see people who are being affected or disenfranchised and are driven to remove what is causing that injustice and boldly replace it with something that will insure it doesn’t happen again.

Charles and his awesome wife, Phylicia.

That’s why an eight are known for these characteristics:

Eights are Challengers. They look around an organization, movement or endeavor and see what is keeping things from happening that would make the most difference for people. They will bring up opposing views, unspoken needs, sacred cows and hidden agendas faster than any other number on the enneagram.

Eights are Bomb droppers. In order for their cause to be served, Eights will often exaggerate a point when they make it, kind of like a cold bucket of water in the face to insure that proper attention is being given to something they see as important. It’s not that they are trying to be deceitful in any way. It is just part of their communication style. They will make statements in church staff meetings like:

“I think we did more harm than good yesterday”

“People won’t find Jesus in an environment where that is allowed to happen”

“There is a disconnect between what we want to accomplish and what we just did”

“I think we just took a big step backwards”

Eights have a soft inside. Many are surprised to find a very sensitive person inside the skin of an Eight. They can be unsure of their value and where they stand in a social circle or network and can feel very affected by that insecurity though you would never know it by their bold actions and courageous positions. Only those who have gained their deep trust will ever know about that softer and sensitive interior.

Eights are Defenders of injustice. It could be easy to see an Eight as a bully. They are not. They defend the ones who are bullied or forgotten. They will take up the cause of an underdog like a super hero does a child sitting on a train track when someone can hear a distant whistle blowing.

Eights are not controlling, they just don’t like to be controlled. This is one of the most profound insights among many that Ian Morgan Cron writes about in his book The Road Back to You. Cron dispels the common notion that the motive of an eight is to always be in control of their environment. It is an Eights desire to not be controlled that is behind most of their actions and they will often take charge to avoid that. As a result, Eights would rather lead than follow any day.

All this makes a guest who is an Eight experience your church in an interesting way…

How Eights experience your church

Eights see your church and mine as a tire to be kicked. Again, not like a One who is inspecting the functionality of systems almost like a engineer would. Eights, what to see if you really mean what you say.

For instance, if you say you are a church for everybody and certain groups of people are being alienated by the unintended consequences of your efforts. you will get some questions and bold statements from an Eight in your assimilation environments. Likewise, if you are boldly addressing issues that have left people and results by the wayside, Eights will champion your cause and invite others into it.

As tire-kickers, they may see themselves or others they know as able to address those issues before they even have the clout to be invited into them. For most, these thoughts represent the conversations going on in their heads that await the right moment when they decide an issue is worth their energy.

Dos and Don’ts for for connecting a Type Eight

Do: Give them a safe place to kick the tires and process their faith.

Challengers challenge. It’s what they do. When they kick the tires on something (sometimes by dropping a “bomb statement”), consider yourself having been kissed by an Eight. They have given you a gift by sharing not only what they see, but their slight exaggeration has exposed an area of their passion and a place of improvement in your ministry.

Rarely will any other number on the Enneagram give you that same gift. So make a safe place for them to share what they see and train Table Hosts and leaders in your church to know how to handle statements that may cause offense, in a non-defensive way.

Don’t: Argue with them, especially in front of other guests.

Taking in their assessments may mean at some point correct wrong information. When that happens, don’t go toe to toe with them, especially in front of others. Especially in front of guests! They are wired to defend a cause and protect someone/something in need so if you are concerned that an incorrect position is energizing their conversations, meet one on one with them and use the Sandwich Technique (Compliment, Critique, Compliment) to honor their secret inner softness. Just don’t spend too long on the opening compliment: they smell a technique coming and to not appreciate mind games. It can potentially make them feel controlled or manipulated.

What is the “Superpower” of an Eight on a volunteer team?

They are advocates. They are the kind you want to take over a ministry for a group of people that have been neglected for some time. They will rally those people, make them believe in themselves as valuable, and will make sure that they are remembered, noticed and embraced by the church at large.

So if you have a segment of your church that needs a ministry “revived” to address their needs (think Young Adults, Seniors, a youth ministry after a difficult transition, etc.), then Eights are your go to at making that happen as they advocate for people, underdogs and causes really well.

However, since we are talking largely about guests and people new to your church, I would caution you about putting them in charge of something under these circumstances:

Before they are ready spiritually.

Before you are ready to have that area fully addressed and resourced.

Before you have won their trust and they have won yours.

Before you have assessed their emotional intelligence in dealing with others.

Charles and some of the young adults and Interns he serves.

Observe their emotional intelligence first because an Eight who hasn’t acquired the EQ to work with and develop other leaders can really upset the apple cart. Try them out in some rolls where you can see them interact with people and when you sense they have the spiritual chops and EQ for leading in your church culture, entrust something important to them and watch it develop into a force to be reckoned with.

I remember Charles volunteering as a greeter when he came to Eastside. Energized by a Seven wing, this Seminary educated and equipped young leader was blowing me away as he interacted with people of every stripe, age, and life stage as they walked through the entrance of our church. Kids looked forward to encountering him at the door. Seniors, loved being welcomed by him. Young families had meaningful conversations with him. But young adults were exceptionally engaged by him.

When the position of Director of Young Adults came open at our church, he was the logical choice and and that ministry has quintupled since he took it on. He is not just their pastor, he is the Advocate for young adults and Young Adult Ministry at my church.

More importantly from my point of view, Charles has been a catalyst for developing young leaders and connect young adults to meaningful areas of ministry. Young adults are table leaders at Next Steps, on the stage leading worship, serving coffee at our cafe, interning in our ministry. The most prolific thing is that from his Young Adult Ministry we call “Ethos” has even come the Campus Pastor of our new Redlands Campus-Matt Feldcamp who I spoke of in the Type One post in this Enneagram series.

It should be no surprise that Charles now leads our Intern Program at Eastside. It has become a well oiled machine for young adults that want to invest in ministry and have others invest in them (something Charles insures we do in a variety of ways).

I am grateful that God led Charles our way and that he is part of our extended family. Look for and out for the Eights who are coming to your church. You will be glad you did.

On a 1 to 5 scale, how well do you work with people who like to challenge you and the status quo? What have you learned about yourself or ministry that caused you to pick that number?

In what area could the leadership of your church benefit from someone kicking the tires right now? Name 3 suspected Eights, at least one that is newer to the church, to focus group with over coffee to help you identify issues surrounding an underperforming area of ministry.

How would you describe the onboarding journey of an Eight from being a first time guest at your church to becoming a key leader in your church’s ministry? What would it look like now? What should it look like in the future?

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Source: How a Type 8 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them

The post How a Type 8 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Greg Curtis: I will never forget the Sunday night service this year where we offered Step 04 of Next Steps at the same time the Oscars was being aired…

Next Steps is our One Place where we invite guests to connect with each other and our church. Being in Southern California, the Academy Awards is a pretty big competition for things like this (think Oscar parties, pools for your pick in each category, etc.).

The reason I won’t soon forget that night of Next Steps was that we only had 1 person show up…..yes, only one! But it gets crazier: he was a film major at a local university. Astounded by his singular presence on such a big night for people in his chosen field, I asked him why he wasn’t watching the Oscars at some party somewhere. His answer was an education for me on how guests are so unique and that one size truly does not fit all. He said, “I am an introvert and I prefer 1 on 1 experiences like this anyway. Besides, I graduate from Next Steps tonight and I wanted to complete it this month and receive my Certificate of Completion.”

I swallowed my shock and sat down at the table instead of standing behind the podium, used my remote to forward slides in the presentation and went to get coffee during the discussion time so he could bond with the table host at the 8 seat table he was seated at.

But here’s the cool part: It went great, and I learned something: guests that God will lead to your church and mine this weekend are not all the same and one style of connecting does not fit all of them. There is simply not a formula that takes their uniqueness into account.

But there is a tool.

The guests that God will lead to your church and mine this weekend are not the same and one style of connecting does not fit them all.

How can you create pathways for connecting guests who are very different from one another?

The answer is found in an ancient tool that organizations from Motorola to the Vatican have used. The Enneagram was used in communities and groups of people called to important tasks long before the DISC test, Strengthfinders and Gary Smalley’s Lion, Otter, Beaver, Retriever personality inventory.

Here’s a little background on the Enneagram.

No one knows exactly where it came from or who originally came up with it. It appears to be used in Monasteries as early as the fourth century to help monks live in community by better understanding their unique perspectives. It’s origins and influences probably predate Christianity though. Finding a resurgence in Bolivia during the 1960s, this tool assigns people a number from 1 thru 9 to describe their basic approach to life, while pointing them toward growth steps that integrate them holistically in a way that looks like Jesus, who bore the strengths of each number without exhibiting their weaknesses.

I used free food to form a young adult Enneagram Focus Group that I used for research into my new understandings of how someone’s number affects their guest experience. They are standing in this photo in Enneagram order: 1. Dave the Reformer, 2. Nathan the Helper, 3. Ivan the Achiever, 4. David the Individualist (thus, the hair), 5. Carly the Investigator, 6. Olivia the Loyalist, 7. Jake the Enthusiast, 8. Evan the Challenger (which seems to be affecting his attitude toward Jake in this photo), and 9. Kendra the Peacemaker. Most of their direct input will appear in my Instagram posts during this series.

The 9 profiles or “types” of people on the Enneagram can be summarized by number like this:

The Reformer

The Helper

The Achiever

The Individualist

The Investigator

The Loyalist

The Enthusiast

The Challenger

The Peacemaker

Furthermore, each number can split into 3 possible sub-profiles:

A pure singular number

A number plus a little bit of the characteristics from the number above them*

A number plus a little bit of the characteristics from the number below them*

*When you have some characteristics from an adjacent number, that number is referred to as yout “wing”. For instance, I am a 3 wing 2 (Achiever/Helper) which makes me a coach-type personality that wants to help others achieve something they believe is worthwhile and important.

So how can understanding the different ways guests approach life make us more effective at helping them make meaningful connections in our faith communities?

That is what we are going to explore in the next 9 posts where I will…

Summarize the distinct characteristics and motivations associated with each number

Define the “Dos and Don’ts” of relating to people of each type as guests in your church

Share their unique “Superpower” if they were to join one of your teams as a volunteer.

Since connecting at church for your guests is more of a climb than a coast, we all have to become Sherpas that identify the best route for each of them to reach the summit of full connection. Understanding people’s Enneagram number will make you more effective at helping people find their small group of friends at your church and their unique role in serving others on a ministry team.

Understanding people’s Enneagram number will make you more effective at helping people find their small group of friends at your church and their unique role in serving others on a ministry team.

Here are 3 resources to make this journey of understanding the Enneagram a very profitable one for your assimilation ministry (and 2 of them are free!):

The Road Back to You.

This is by far my favorite book on the topic. I have always enjoyed Ian Morgan Cron’s perspectives on life and ministry and his humor and powerful insights on the Enneagram do not disappoint here. The structure of the book is the WIN for me, which includes…

A chapter on each type

20 questions before each chapter to discover if you or someone else is that number type (I personally find these more accurate and helpful than the paid ones online)

Which number you or someone else of the same type (like your guests) become when they are stressed, secure, as a child, in the work place and in relationships.

A 10 point growth plan to become more like Jesus for each number.

Typology Podcast

This is Ian Morgan Cron’s new podcast where he interviews leaders who represent the various numbers on the Enneagram and what environments they thrive or falter in (imagine what that knowledge could bring you and your ministry in relationship to guests at church!). Subscribe to this free resource. You will enjoy it and find it very interesting.

My Instagram.

I know this sounds self aggrandizing but I can’t help how excited I am about the assets I have had designed that will appear on my Instagram during this series. I will be posting guest experience scenarios (parking lot, greeters, altar calls, volunteer sign ups, membership classes, etc.) and how each one receives them from the perspective of their number on the Enneagram. This kind of awareness will be priceless as well as fun and will largely only appear on my Instagram account where I post my assimilation learnings in real time during the average week of my life as a Sherpa.

So what about my lone guest at Step 04 of Next Steps during the Oscars?

When I realized he was a 1 wing 9, an introverted rule keeper who finishes what he commits himself to, I was able to calibrate the experience in a way that made him feel valued and a part of the church. He declared himself a member of our church that night. He even won a fleece blanket by winning the Unleash Compassion game. How you may ask? Instead of having him go up and sit on the stage we had set up, I had him stay in his seat at the table and challenged him to get 4 out of 6 questions right to win. And…he did! (I would have given him the fleece blanket anyway but don’t tell him).

After giving him his Certificate of Completion I realized that he came to us feeling like a guest and left us that night a unique member of our spiritual family. That’s why I love our Next Steps environment and what it does almost automatically for those who experience it, customizing and easily scaling the experience along the way.

In the coming posts in this series, I want to encourage all of us to see and respond well to the unique needs of each guest so we will become Sherpas with mad skills in helping them reach their summit successfully (spoken like a 3 wing 2, I know…).

What is the one personality inventory or strengths assessment that told you the most about you? How did it help you understand others? What is one relationship in your life that it helped you understand better?

Have you ever had a guest that didn’t seem to gel with the way your church normally connects people? How did you handle that?

On a 1 to 10 scale, how much freedom do you have to customize a connection experience for the guests at your church? How can your team strategically take advantage of that degree of freedom to benefit your guests?

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Source: How the Enneagram can help you reach a bigger variety of guests at your church

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