by Greg Curtis: I just realized…this is my last post of the decade.

It got me thinking: What do I want to close the 2000 teens with as we move into the 3rd decade of the 21st century together?

Over that last few years I have been attempting to consistently share 2 things with Sherpa-type leaders like yourself,

1st thing: Spiritual “truth dots” that once connected, can change the game of connecting others forever.

2nd thing: Practical strategies for connecting those people once they become guests at your church.

So as we close a decade of connecting people to God and each other, I have two things to share, one from each category above:

Be radically and unreasonably inclusive of others

After pondering some thoughts from Mike Breaux our teaching pastor last weekend, let me put it this way…

Let’s say you ran across a group of people who wanted to help at your church. Once you get to know them, you discover that they are from a country now dominated by radical Islam and teach others to follow astrology and practice magic to find the best way to live. Question: would you welcome them in? Give them a place in your church’s story and community?

God did.

God even used the stars the Magi followed to lead them to a house in Bethlehem so they could bring indispensable and prophetic gifts that would be used to get Mary, Jospeh and their toddler son out of the country before Jesus got killed by a paranoid dictator. There is even evidence from these gifts that they may have understood Jesus’ mission and its importance in a way that Jesus’ parents did not.

Either way, God spoke to them through the stars and led them roughly a thousand miles to Jesus. They are now a permanent part of the story of God becoming one of us, told every Christmas all over the world. Dare to believe that people different from you both culturally and spiritually are loved by God in such a way that he will be drawing them to your church in this coming decade….and be ready for them. Which is my second point.

Be ready for these people when they show up as guests to your church.

I have filled your inbox with strategies for being ready as a Sherpa to make ways for guests to ascend to new heights spiritually by belonging to your church family. With Christmas coming next week, let me introduce 2 of our Assimilation Interns-Ruby and Erik-who will show you a tip for greeting guests at your One Place after holiday services. This 2-minute video was just shared with our teams here at Eastside and I wanted to give you a chance to see it as well:

So, I’m signing off till 2020, when i will have much to share with you about…

My trip to Israel.that my wife Michelle and I get to help lead with our pastor Gene Appel. You can bet my insights in category 1 are going to be fueled by walking where Jesus walked for a good time to come.

Your church’s enneagram number and what it means for different types of guests when they encounter it.

How to be a part of a new Mastermind group with me this spring for Sherpa-types who want to reach specific goals in guest connection.

Some new attrition-busting measures we are experimenting with at my church in our Next Steps Experience (that’s our One Program for guests at Eastside).

I love our tribe of Sherpas. Safe climbing and guiding to you all this Christmas. See you in the 3rd decade of the 21st century!

PS-some hosting changes are resulting in my increasing the price of the Climbing the Assimilayas Video Course beginning January 1. Heads up for those whose budgets end Dec 31st and have wanted to get in on it at the old price.

If you want to get in on all of the above and more in 2020, let me know a little about yourself and I’ll send it straight to your inbox as soon as I post it:

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Source: A challenge from the Christmas story and a tip on video for connecting well with your holiday guests

The post A challenge from the Christmas story and a tip on video for connecting well with your holiday guests appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Greg Curtis: When we had our third child, she was unexpected. We had undergone medical procedures to insure we would not have more children.

Then came Carly.

I often joked that because she was our third, we were lucky to have photos of her. In fact, when I brought her back to the hospital she was born at when she twisted her ankle at 6 years old, we both had a stunning revelation: Her birth certificate revealed we had been celebrating her birthday on the wrong day her entire life. Yep, 2 full days off. I will never forget how she looked at me, a look like, “Are you really my dad? Or are you some guy mom found that was willing to raise me who hadn’t finished reading up on me yet?”

Carly was a voracious reader. The more she liked an author or a series (Twilight, Lord of the Rings, The Space Trilogy, Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia and more), the more she would read them again! I don’t even like seeing a movie twice so I was amazed at how she loved to throw herself into all this material.

Carly was also her mama’s girl. She not only looked like her, but when Carly was ages 2 thru 6, there was no one of mere flesh and blood that could separate her from her mama. I was slapped across the chops for attempting a separation. So was my mother. So was my grandmother.

Carly was even asked to permanently leave a church preschool for 2 reasons:

It required she be separated from her mother and she would not be having that, no.

She would not stop explaining to the other hysterical children that the real Santa Claus who actually lived in the fourth century was now dead.

When Carly knew something, she knew it deep and would/will argue you to the ground if she knew herself to be right.

That spirit of confidence in what she knew and studied not only caused her to graduate with honors, but it made the year I had her as an Assimilation Intern at my church one of the most memorable ones I’ve ever had.

Carly was the one who would accompany me on Base Camps to run things from the back and to answers questions of church staff from all over the country. Carly was the one who discovered that the newly increased frequency of our assimilation program had resulted in 1 out of 5 of those being baptized attending, versus 1 out of 32 of those baptized through our former quarterly program. And it was Carly who I sent to our new LaHabra campus to launch our Assimilation Program (“Next Steps”) with my friend Jeff Sandoval where she led it for a year and half, explaining the faith and our church to new guests.

I actually thought all this was possible because she is MY daughter.

I now know it was largely because Carly is a Five on the Enneagram.

Here’s what a Five fears experiencing at your church. If there are lots of people they don’t know, and decisions are being asked of them that they feel unprepared for, they may start feeling a little like Jon Snow does here.

How a Type Five sees their world

Fives look around and wonder if they have the energy, time and resources to deal with everything that’s surrounding them. If you want to experience the world of a Five, picture yourself as Jon Snow in this battle scene from Game of Thrones. This photo represents not how they necessarily feel, but how they fear feeling when they are in a new environment that could possibly catch them off guard. They fear being overwhelmed and they strive to maintain competency by knowing those around them and the topics that will be focused on in advance.

Because of this, Fives tend to have fewer friends, but go deep with the ones they have, often keeping them for life. The predictability of these relationships creates a secure environment that they feel a mastery over-with a low risk of feeling helpless and a high probability of being seen as helpful.

How Fives experience your church

Ready for this one? Fives see your church as a catalogue. When coming into a church for the first time, Fives aren’t looking for new friends, affirmation, or a spiritual high. They are looking for information. They see your church as a place where information should be readily available about…

God, what He’s like and what he’s not like.

Comparisons to other notions about God.

Where to go to find things (clear signage) and to find answers (info counter).

How to access information about resources that would be helpful to them or others they care about personally.

Where to start.

On that last one, Fives like to have the info organized or indexed in an accessible logical way. In other words, a friendly person inviting them to lunch or to a men’s or women’s retreat is not going to impress them. In fact it may make them uncomfortable. What will impress them is having a place to have the important questions answered first and the space to process the answers to those questions at a pace that allows them to own them. An ordered, logical progression of information is appreciated by Fives and will give them a sense of trust and expectancy as they see answers coming in multiple sermons, sessions, discussions or places. The promise and delivery of intel on this new church they are finding themselves in is the best thing you can do to connect a Five.

“The promise and delivery of intel on this new church they are finding themselves in is the best thing you can do to connect a Five.”

Dos and Don’ts for for connecting a Type Five

Do: Give them info in an organized way.

Clear signage from parking to auditorium are appreciated by a Five. An easy to access info counter is valuable too. Most of all when it comes to becoming part of a church or the Faith for that matter, Fives will value a well thought out step by step program for exploring matters or faith, a church’s vision, and how to become a part.

Don’t: Force them to commit to positions.

Because Fives will commit to an environment where relevant info is discussed and processed, don’t mistake their enthusiasm for learning as an enthusiasm for Jesus or becoming his follower, at least not yet. Their passion is for getting the data necessary for forming a new or more solid position on a topic they had insufficient info on. They will attend faithfully any environment that delivers this kind of information.

When being invited to serve, be careful about placing Fives in roles that require them to believe things or advocate positions that they may not have fully processed or wrestled with. Use them in places that are appropriate to their convictions. They will be good at participating in discussions where the information they obtained that was helpful for them can be shared now to help others.

When they have formed a position or conviction, they will own it in a notable way. Which leads me to thier unique influence as a volunteer.

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

When a Five volunteers, they become a docent for others-a tour guide of sorts. They explain the terrain they have studied, what they’ve discovered that has made them feel comfortable, and encourage others to lean into the value of what is being offered-kinda like Carly when she led Next Steps at our new campus after returning from her first year of college.

When a Five feels competent….Or, how Carly appeared when someone would try to separate her from her mother.

Once they have “mastered the material” (their knowledge of God, how he works in people’s lives, how your church operates, etc.), this knowledge will make a Five appear more like Jon Snow in this photo instead of the previous one I shared.

Except they will look more like a tour guide instead of a warrior, so there’s that.

If you are looking for a “Five friendly” way to help your volunteers or staff team form an improved connection pathway for guests of any enneagram number at your church, access my video course here. In six sessions, you can work through a checklist that will help you build the four parts of an effective assimilation strategy into you church within a few months. All this will help you move toward connecting 1 out of 4 guests at weekend services into a small group or a ministry team so that they stick.

If you were information oriented (like a Five), what would be the first 5 pieces of info you would want to know on your first visit to your church? What about the second and third visits? List them in order.

What is the best delivery system for each of those pieces of info? Think location, medium (print, digital, personal) or program.

What environments do you have for people to process faith in Jesus? On a 1 to 5 scale, how well are they working? What is one thing you could do to make them more “Five Friendly”?

Carly today, doin’ her thing.

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Source: How a Type 5 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them

The post How a Type 5 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them appeared first on Passion for Planting.

By Greg Curtis: Nathan was a high schooler when I first met him in Next Steps. He was such a great guy, easy to talk with and helpful beyond belief. I began to think that his helpfulness came from the fact that he grew up as the oldest of 8 children. I was wrong.

Nathan was a Helper because he was a 2.

Nathan and I at a Compassion event at “The Farm” in Anaheim.

I have known many a firstborn without that helpful spirit. Nathan outshines them all in the help department. As a high school graduate at 18 years of age, he become my youngest Table Host at our assimilation events, volunteering for the job so that he could include other teens and young adults in our connection environment. He wanted to see all of them get plugged into a small group and a ministry team. He knew what happened in his life when he was allowed to serve in the ministry for guests I was hosting at the time (I can’t even say invited….it was his idea) and he wanted all his friends to have that same opportunity.

There was no task too small for Nathan. If it would help you or the ministry to get it done, he was your man. Half the time you didn’t even need to ask-he just did it and was happy to. Nathan easily became a go to person for our Jr High and Kidside ministries. He even learned how to play the guitar and lead worship when we were short on worship leaders in Jr high for a time. You could not pay me to learn an instrument and stand on stage in front of everyone and sing to fill a need like that.

Nathan didn’t need to be paid. It energized him just to help.

How do these awesome people see the world? Twos on the Enneagram see their environments as a potentially fearful unloving place, fraught with the possibility of relational loss or emotional chaos. Twos see themselves as the Helper, the ones who can create relational stability, emotional equilibrium, and order where they may be a sense of chaos.

Helpers like these are highly motivated to change the spiritual and relational temperature of any room they find themselves in through serving others, making other people feel noticed and secure. They look into your eyes to discern if you are “OK” and if your not, they make it their personal mission to make sure you will be. At least they want you to feel that way.

What Twos inwardly struggle with is the desire for someone to do that for them. They secretly want others to love them in the same way they are showing love to others. When that doesn’t happen, they may get withdrawn, introspective, or pull away. They could also get demanding and a little vindictive. It just isn’t right in the mind of a two to give so wholeheartedly and have it continually go unreturned, taken for granted, or to then be taken advantage of by self absorbed people.

This is just a thumbnail sketch of a Two. By this description, many of you reading may emotionally relate to the Helper profile or see your own commitment to serving and helping others and say to yourself, “Hey, I’m a Two!”. But don’t be so fast: Twos are the number one false diagnosis among Christians and among women when it comes to the Enneagram. For obvious reasons, Christians and woman are trained by most churches and sometimes our culture at large to be servants and to be helpful. That doesn’t mean you are a Two. A Two’s knee jerk response to life is to help. It is their default.

That’s why Twos experience your church as a “Partner”.

How Two’s see your church

As Twos. Helpers see a community of Christ followers as potential partners for the task of helping. In other words, they see someone with a need (physical, emotional or spiritual) and the church is their para-helper (think the role of the Holy Spirit) to meet those needs. They are happy to do all they can, run point, ask and network but the church becomes a resource or environment where needs get met and help gets received. A church without a heart to help is no church for them or for their friends. A church that has the heart to help? A Two will invite someone every weekend to that place.

Do’s and Don’ts for connecting a Type Two

Do: Wow their guest.

A guest who is a Two rarely comes alone. They bring with them people who need God in their lives, help or hope of some kind. When they do, they need to know that those guest will be overwhelmed by the helpful heart of your church. Twos need to know that your church doesn’t just see them, but they see any person they would bring through its doors. When that happens, your church is fertile ground to connect not just a two, but they entire relational network of people they want to help.

Don’t: Take advantage of them

Since Twos are Helpers, they could be taken advantage of by unhealthy or clueless ministry leaders or even just needy “church folk”. The most horrible thing you can do to a Two is to not see and value them for who they are by just seeing them as a means to an end. When that happens, a Two will lose respect for you and possibly your entire church and you will not be able to connect them at all. Their difficulty in saying no to anyone can make them easy prey for the selfish or narcissistic. A church culture with too many “takers” can burn a Two out quickly and lose their trust. You then ultimately lose them.

All of this points to their Superpower…

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

Their superpower as a volunteer is tirelessness. I have rarely seen the end of a Twos rope when it comes to their willingness to help someone. This means their place in your church’s ministry is on a team that helps people in some way, even if the help is directed at a ministry leader they respect enough to want to set up chairs or stuff bulletins, and the like. It just has to make someone happy in a way they can see and know they are appreciated for. When that happens Twos will…

show up anywhere

stay long afterward

tackle even the most menial or daunting task

fill in any gaps

thank you for the opportunity!

Their tirelessness will add drive, energy and consistency to your ministry if you are able to deliver on the “do” listed above and appreciate them along the way.

Bottom Line: Twos are worth the investment. They always yield a return. So if you need to figure out how to help people in financial need through a simple form and an easily identified contact person, do it. You will become the perfect partner for a Helper.

Nathan and Oliva….engaged!

If you need to grant health and support to your Recovery Ministry so that a Two knows where to take their friends in need of sobriety and freedom, then do it. Twos will meet them at the door and attend with them whether they themselves need recovery or not.

If you need to do a series on marriage or offer small groups on marriage to help people in marital difficulty, do it! Twos will invite every maritally challenged person they know and may even start a small group to better include them in the study.

Nathan grew up and later became my son’s roommate, an extended member of my family, and a Kidside staff member at our LaHabra campus. I also had the privilege of marrying he and his wife Olivia-a Biola graduate, also a staff member at our LaHabra campus, and a member of the focus group that served my research for this Enneagram Series (she is a Six). They are an awesome couple and they certainly take their place in the Pantheon of couples who keep the influence of Jesus spreading in their generation, in our community.

Why? Arguably because Nathan is a Two and he came from a mailer to visit our church one Sunday. So partner with the Nathans visiting your church right now. Help and wow the people they love with the Spirit of Jesus in you. You’ll be glad you did.

Is their a Two on your team? If not, bring one in and have them share what they love about your church and what their greatest concern about it is right now. It will be a clinic for learning the emotional landscape of any Twos visiting your church right now.

Name the place in your church a Two could take a friend who is:

Struggling with addiction

Needing financial help or temporary housing

Experiencing a marital crisis

Losing a loved one to a health issue

Needs a new circle of friends.

What are three ways that you can show appreciation to volunteers with a Two bent? What is a “tripwire” that would tell you if you crossed into the place where you would be taking advantage of someone with the Helper profile on the Enneagram?

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Source: How a Type 2 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them

The post How a Type 2 on the Enneagram experiences your church and how to connect them appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Carey Nieuwhof: At age 14, Horst Schulze left home to start in the hotel industry in Germany. What he learned there introduced true luxury to America.

In this wide-ranging and candid interview, Horst talks about what customers really want, how to build a world class team with lower wage employees, how to empower your team, how to reduce employee turnover and how to handle customer complaints.

Welcome to Episode 263 of the podcast. Listen and access the show notes below or search for the Carey Nieuwhof Leadership Podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts and listen for free.

Guest Links

Horst Schulze | Twitter | Excellence Wins

Episode Links

Discover what’s stopping your church from growing. Gain instant access to my free Church Growth Masterclass Assessment at churchgrowthmasterclass.com today.

Get your volunteers ready to serve with simple online training. Try TrainedUp free for 14 days at servehq.church.

3 Insights from Horst

1. Calling people to excellence brings about excellent results

As a result of a lesson he learned from a maitre’d, Horst’s motto became: “We are ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentleman.” He helped his employees realize that if they work for Horst they are all ladies and gentlemen who are serving other ladies and gentleman.

This caused a change of approach and mindset in his employees. They began to show up and produce excellence, because his employees were not showing up just to work, they were showing up to create excellence at every level.

2. Having employees that are nice can be the largest growth engine for an organization

According to Horst, being nice is the largest driver of customer satisfaction and it leads to loyalty. The very thing that doesn’t cost anything is what can be the biggest advantage for your organization. The challenge comes when you have to keep this standard of nice all the way up and down the company ladder. Horst follows a 4 step process to ensure his employees are nice across the board.

Selection – If you can improve your selection of employees a few percentages above the competition, you will win.

Orientation – Horst’s company teaches new employees about the company, what they value, and that they are not coming to just work, but to create excellence.

Training – They train every employee in the 20 things that are a requirement for any employee in the organization to live out.

Sustaining – The manager is responsible for bringing each of the 20 company requirements in front of their employees on a regular basis. It is the manager’s fault if an employee doesn’t know the values.

3. To avoid turnover, keep your employees engaged in your mission

Often, enthusiastic employees fall into mediocrity after a few months because the leadership does not keep the “why” in front of employees on a regular basis. In Horst’s organizations, if a leader sees someone not producing excellence they immediately call it out and ask “would a gentleman act like that?”

When Leaders keep the people they are leading accountable to the mission, their people stay engaged with the vision and continue to be excellent, passionate employees. When managers and leaders fail to hold the mission in front of their people, they begin to fail. When employees begin to disconnect from the mission, they will leave your organization.

Quotes from Episode 263

Don’t worry about the money. Worry about the things that make the money. @horstschulzeClick To Tweet

When I started Ritz-Carlton, I made that the motto of the organization, ‘We are not servants, we are all ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen.’ @horstschulzeClick To Tweet

The first step of service has to be exceptional. @horstschulzeClick To Tweet

Being nice is the largest driver of customer satisfaction. @horstschulzeClick To Tweet

When you have a philosophy, you have to have systems to implement it. @horstschulzeClick To Tweet

Read or Download the Transcript for Episode 263

Looking for a key quote? More of a reader?

Read or download a free PDF transcript of this episode here.

Get Your Church Growing

Did you know that 9 out of 10 churches don’t grow? Are you one of them?

You likely didn’t get into ministry to watch your church plateau or, worse yet, decline. You wanted God to use you to reach new people with the good news. You wanted to see your church grow. You wanted to make an impact on your community that would outlast you.

But the odds are, it’s not happening. And the thing is, you’re not alone. We live in an era where 94% of churches aren’t growing or aren’t growing as fast as their communities. Barely 1 out of 20 churches are effectively reaching their neighbors for Jesus. Despite how desperately our communities need to hear and engage with the good news about Jesus, many churches are lost when it comes to reaching a postmodern culture.

That’s why I put together the Church Growth Masterclass. It’s everything I wish I knew about church growth when I got into ministry more than 20 years ago.

I can’t make a church grow. You can’t make a church grow. Only God can do that. But I believe you can position your church to grow. You can knock down the barriers that keep you from growing. You can eliminate the things that keep your church from growing and implement some strategies that will help you reach far more people. That’s what I’d love to help you do in the Church Growth Masterclass.

In the Church Growth Masterclass I’ll show you:

The 10 reasons your church isn’t growing
Why even committed church-goers aren’t attending as often as before
How to tell if your church leaders are getting burned out
The five keys to your church better impacting millennials.
What to do when a church wants to grow … but not change

You can learn more and gain instant access to the course today.

Subscribed Yet? 

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Hopefully, this episode has helped you lead like never before. That’s my goal. If you appreciated it, could you share the love?

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Your ratings and reviews help us place the podcast in front of new leaders and listeners. Your feedback also lets me know how I can better serve you.

Thank you for being so awesome.

Next Episode: Sean Cannell

Sean Cannell started at almost nothing on YouTube a few years ago. Today his channel has over 750 thousand subscribers and his videos have been viewed over 40 million times. Sean shares his YouTube secrets, talks about how to get started on YouTube even if you don’t have money or staff, and why the future online has to include video.

Subscribe for free now and you won’t miss Episode 264.

The post CNLP 263: Horst Schulze with Lessons From the Ritz-Carlton on Coaching the Best From a Team When You Can’t Pay Top Wages, What Guests Really Want, How to Satisfy a Customer and What To Do With Customer Complaints appeared first on CareyNieuwhof.com.

Source: CNLP 263: Horst Schulze with Lessons From the Ritz-Carlton on Coaching the Best From a Team When You Can’t Pay Top Wages, What Guests Really Want, How to Satisfy a Customer and What To Do With Customer Complaints

The post CNLP 263: Horst Schulze with Lessons From the Ritz-Carlton on Coaching the Best From a Team When You Can’t Pay Top Wages, What Guests Really Want, How to Satisfy a Customer and What To Do With Customer Complaints appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Rich Birch: Today we’re talking leadership and Biblical hospitality with Jersey’s own Terry A. Smith. God has done some incredible things in Terry’s church over the years. Terry A. Smith is the Lead Pastor of The Life Christian Church (TLCC) in West Orange and Paramus, New Jersey. Over the past 27 years, TLCC has grown from 54 members to a church family approaching 3,000 people. A non-denominational Christian community, TLCC is known for its vibrant diversity and robust leadership culture with people from more than 132 distinct communities in the New York City Metro area who are regularly engaged in the life of the church.

Terry is with us to discuss church diversity, hospitable environments, and what it was like to move from the Midwest to a suburb of the Big Apple.

Diversity among better-life-seekers. Terry came to TLCC from Indiana in the early 90’s and started pastoring what was a small church of immigrants at the time. They welcomed him into their midst and the lessons he learned from them have helped shape TLCC’s culture tremendously. Today TLCC’s congregation continues to be diverse, coming from different communities, political backgrounds and ethnicities, but what ties them together is the common thread of being hungry to get better at life. These folks tend to be leaders and respond to a message of leadership, so Terry and his team have worked to build a culture of leadership within their church.

…

Source: Hospitable Leadership at Your Church with Terry A. Smith

The post Hospitable Leadership at Your Church with Terry A. Smith appeared first on Passion for Planting.