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Kenzo Ratliff posted an update 4 years, 1 month ago
If you do that your church will become the warmest, most hospitable group a church visitor will ever meet.Narrative is the internal story that determines how we see the world, the way we interpret life’s experiences and tells us how we fit into life’s grand structure. Each of us has our own, distinctive narrative that begins with the signals the globe sends our way. These signals are reinforced by parents, our family members and our buddies. My personal narrative tells me who I am, what I’m good at, how others see me and why I am beneficial (or not).Churches, like most corporate entities, also have a narrative. It is shaped by experiences great and poor, by successes and failures, by the private narratives of thought leaders and by the collective history accumulated over numerous decades.The beauty of narratives is that they are fairly easy to rewrite. When they are the outcomes can be absolutely nothing short of miraculous. Dr. Timothy Wilson’s book, Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change, provides sociological study that demonstrates the power of rewritten narratives.Comparable to some applications of Cognitive Behavioral therapy, rewriting our narratives redirects our thoughts. By reframing our narratives with a fresh viewpoint we see things differently. Once discouraged people start to feel optimism which produces modifications in behavior.The biblical precedent for this is found in Proverbs 23:7, “As a he thinks within himself, so is he.”If your church struggles to retain visitors there is most likely some thing wrong with the hospitality ministry. In my encounter as an intentional interim pastor these churches struggle in big component simply because the corporate narrative is negative. The place to begin is by top the hospitality group through an exercise that rewrites the narrative.Begin with a 90 minute session for the entire hospitality team, such as fresh recruits. Lead them in brainstorming answers to this query: “What comes to mind as soon as you give thought to our church’s hospitality ministry? A recorder ought to create the words and phrases that pop up on a whiteboard or a big easel.When the power begins to wane over this part of the meeting, choose one or two attention grabbing statements and have the group expand on them to add much more detail.At some point you will sense that the brainstorm has run out of steam. At that point rotate and choose up 1 of the more troubling statements (e.g. “we have a hard time recruiting volunteer greeters”) and then brainstorm different methods to rewrite that narrative (e.g., “individuals gladly volunteer when the comprehend how essential it is”).Then facilitate a group discussion that explores various methods that this rewritten narrative may have advantageous impact on the hospitality group and the church at large.Finally, divide the group into pairs to talk about a new narrative: “Our hospitality ministry delivers outstanding hospitality to church guests.” Give them thirty minutes to answer four essential questions about this exciting story:- How will my service to the church be different in the future?- What will church guests experience from now on?- What advantageous influence will this new narrative have on the entire church?Any kind of sticking around inquiries on Sam Mustafa, learn more right here.