I am reading a book by Stan Tolers call Five Star Church and it has really touched me. The book is about making the church the best that it can be so that when guest come into the church they feel welcome and important. The Five Star comes from the term used to grade a Hotel. Five Star is the highest mark that a hotel can receive and those that receive such classifications are high end hotels where guest are pampered and taken care of at ever turn. These hotels are clean, and ever detail is seen to. Their employees treat the customers with respect and with courtesy and try and meet they every need. These are not the place you stay to save money but the places you go when you want to get away. Where the hotel is part of the get away or may be all of the get away.
What if a church was like that? What if we did church the way that these hotels do business? Many times whenever someone says business and church in the same breath people get upset but the truth is that church is a business. The different in church and regular business is that the Businesses need people to make money, which is the bottom line, whereas churches need money to draw people, which is the bottom line. The church is in the business of bringing people into the kingdom of God and not to pad the bank account. Both business and church are looking to expand and both have to do better jobs at relating to their customers or guest.
Did you know that more than 80 percent of churches in the United States have plateau or are in decline? The number one reason that American companies are losing business if poor service and this could be said about churches as well. We have to strive to become the best that we can be so that we can save some. Being a 5 star church is all about reaching the fullest potential that we can. Doing everything that we can to make sure that we are treading every guest with respect and doing all that we can to make their visit to our church one they will remember.
How do we accomplish this?
1. We have to intentionally strive for Quality
We have just hope that guest are greeted, or that everything is clean but we have to make sure that everything is to it’s best. We have to have a plan on how we are going to treat people that are new to our church.
2. We have to be perpetual about Quality
This is not a on month thing that we do but it is something that we must repeat over and over again. All ways looking to do better, all ways striving to be the best we can be.
3. We must invest in training and retraining.
We need to be trained in whatever area of ministry that we are a part of.
4. We have to make long-term goals.
We have to get away from just doing something to fill time, but we have look and see how is thing going to effect the church long term.
5. We must plan before and after every event.
Yes, it is important that we make sure that everything we do is planned out and thought about before we do it. But it is just as important that we take the time to discuss the event after it has happened so that we can make sure that the next one is even better.
These are just a few of the things that we can do to ensure that our church is a Five Star church. You can hear more of this on the website in the Sunday Night Fire file, last Sunday Night’s sermon.
