Blog

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

First Impressions
Presenter: Mark Waltz, Executive Pastor
Learn how to make great first impressions with guests (old and new). Discover ways to:

• Gain clarity and get intentional about the experience you desire for your guests.
• Build your team—the right team—from the ground up.
• Cultivate volunteer “wow-makers.”
• Determine the “rules” your church has (even if you don’t know them yet) and learn what to do about them.
• Experience hands-on training that will empower your staff and your volunteers.

Students
Presenter: John Keim, Pastor of Granger Student Ministries
How do you keep students engaged and growing week after week? We’ll talk through planning and executing weekly programs and more! Be ready to collaborate and share ideas about:

• How to build and train leadership teams.
• Creative ways to get your message across.
• How to get students out of their seats and serving in the community.
• Planning life-changing mission trips, camps, retreats and events.

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14
9 a.m.–4 p.m.

Creative and Communication Arts
Presenters: Sean Bublitz, Creative Arts Pastor, and Jami Ruth, Communications Director
Learn about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series through:

• Timelines and brainstorming creative ideas.
• Executing a series plan.
• Q&A with your Granger staff/volunteer counterpart (in web, production and sound, worship, design, promotions, film and more).
• An optional weekend rehearsal experience Wednesday evening.

Groups
Presenter: Josh King, Director of Discipleship
Life is better in groups. We’ll talk through a working strategy to keep people engaged and discipled through groups. We’ll discuss the challenges and practical framework necessary to:

• Look at the role groups play in discipleship.
• Understand group structure.
• Recruit and train healthy group leaders.
• Organize curriculum and a yearly schedule.
• Oversee group growth (numerically and spiritually).

Kids
Presenter: Ted Bryant, Pastor of Family Ministry
A healthy kids’ ministry has enormous impact. This is for leaders and volunteers who want to learn how to:

• Create environments that inspire kids at their level and encourage learning and relational connection.
• Plan and develop curriculum, music and more to make the Bible and relationships come alive.
• Find, keep and utilize volunteers to make it happen every weekend.
• Incorporate a special needs ministry to help every child take steps toward Christ.

 

by Elkhart Campus Pastor Gene Troyer

If there is anything that has surprised me about the people of Granger Community Church, it’s this. When I look around at who is serving in various volunteer capacities—changing diapers in the nursery or greeting guests or showing people to their seats or cleaning restrooms between services—I see a lot of people who don’t look like they belong.

Hold on, let me explain.

If you step back and consider how we “do church,” or maybe it’s easier to consider what we don’t do:

• We don’t have hymnals.
• We don’t offer adult Sunday school.
• We don’t care if you bring coffee into the auditorium. (We call it an auditorium instead of a sanctuary.)
• We don’t care what you wear or how many tattoos you have or what color your hair is.

There you go, you get the idea. So who are these people who don’t look like they belong? Is it the guy with the tats? Or the dreadlocks? I suppose it could be but no, that’s not who I’m thinking of.

Continue reading on Gene’s Blog...

To learn more about the way we do things at Granger, and get practical tips for creating excellent first impressions, healthy groups and a vibrant kids’ ministry, come to workshops on October 13 & 14. Register by September 14 and grab early bird discounted pricing for everyone on your team.

by Director of Music and Worship Trace Rorie

If you’ve spent any length of time on a worship team, at some point you have probably heard someone discuss the tension between worship and performance. For those of you who are unsure what I’m talking about, here’s a brief synopsis:

As artists on a platform we have a responsibility to lead others in worship—therefore we should be genuinely worshiping as well. We point others toward God, not ourselves. Therefore any conduct on stage that draws attention toward ourselves and away from God is a bad thing. Typically this is labeled as performance. It’s not the easiest of debates to find resolution to, because how can one argue against the above logic? But I think we’re labeling performance as a negative too quickly.

How many sermons, lectures or presentations have we all sat through in which the content was good, but the presentation was boring, disengaging and lifeless? If you’re able to look past a horrible delivery and focus on the content, you’re a better person than I am! In the church, we tend to focus on the content we’re delivering without giving equal attention to the way that we’re presenting it. At Granger, what we want from our artists is for the presentation to reflect the content. For example, if we’re singing about the grandeur of the glory of God, our visual presentation should be consistent with the magnitude of that idea. Why is this? Well, it’s primarily because the vast majority of people who are experiencing our services aren’t musical and therefore don’t understand musical things. Sure, they might sense that something is awry when the keyboard player misses some notes, but they likely can’t pinpoint the issue. But every single person in our services is an expert on human behavior. They can tell if that vocalist is on autopilot or the guitarist is unsure of where he’s at in the song. So delivering an engaging presentation is just as vital as the words we’re singing or the notes we’re playing, because oftentimes it speaks louder than anything else.

At Granger, we have come up with some guidelines that help us accomplish this goal. We’re a volunteer-driven arts ministry, so we can’t expect our team to be experts in this sort of thing. It’s our responsibility to help equip them so they can fulfill any expectations we have of them. We call it STEP. This is how we want our volunteers to prepare for, execute, and evaluate what they do in our worship experiences.

Continue reading on the GCC Creative Team’s Blog...

If you would like to learn more about Granger’s process for planning, promoting and executing weekend series come to our Creative & Communication Arts Workshop. In the morning, we’ll talk timelines, brainstorming, programming and decision making. In the afternoon, we’ll have small-group Q&A with your Granger staff/volunteer counterpart (like the Web Director, Production Director, Lighting Director, Worship Director, etc.), where you can ask any burning questions you have. Register today!

by Executive Pastor Mark Waltz

I’ve been asked lately about some bottom-line musts to establish and/or take guest services excellence to the next level. This isn’t an exhaustive list (that’s why I wrote a few books on the topic), but these core essentials will provide a foundation to make your serve to guests excellent and personable.

• Leadership:
  • Are the right leaders in place?
  • Do they carry the DNA, mission, vision and values of the church?
  • Do they hold the experience of the guest as a top priority over personal convenience?
  • Are they gifted leaders—not merely doers (although they may do fantastic work)?
  • Do these leaders have chemistry, trust and love for each other?
  • Do they model the level of personable service you want every team member to practice?
• Values:
  • Are values defined and communicated (whatever those are: Team, Engagement, Next Steps, People Matter, etc.)?
  • Are teams using those values as lenses to serve guests? That is, are they operating from a motivation of values rather than mere technical training or a task list?
• Systems:
  • Are systems defined and functioning so guests are served well?
  • Are systems facilitated and owned by team members who utilize those systems to serve people?
  • Do systems help team members understand their schedule, expectations, and feedback loop?

Of course if you’re providing guest services in the local church, it’s assumed, but should be stated—the love of God in Jesus motivates everything you do. It is the number one driving value. Helping people experience the grace of God is the point—or there is none.

Have you heard about our Workshops? They are one-day intense and focused, interactive learning events on Tuesday, October 13 and Wednesday, October 14 with lunch provided. So come with your team on either or both days (20% discount if you attend both days). Learn more about First Impressions, Creative & Communication Arts, Students, Groups and Kids’ Ministry. Register today!

Granger Community Church is looking for a Production Director to join our Creative and Production Team. The right person for this job loves people, live production environments and teams.

The Production Director at Granger oversees our Production staff team, volunteer team leaders and works alongside the Creative Arts Pastor to implement the vision for each weekend.

This is a full-time, live in Granger, Indiana, opportunity.

Some qualifications for this job include:

• Strong leadership skills
• Team building experience
• Technical intuition
• A passion for live production
• Great communication skills
• An eye for details

See the full job description or apply for the Production Director role using the links at the GCC Creative Arts Blog.

And if you’d like to see more of what goes on in Creative Arts and Weekend Services at Granger, it’s not too late to register for the Arts All-Access Pass this Saturday. Sign up for this or any of Friday’s One-Day workshops today!

by Mark Waltz, Pastor of Connections and MultiSite

Don’t go out of your way to pat volunteers on the back. They’re doing exactly what they should be doing—giving their life away. They should be sacrificing. They should be tired. Don’t acknowledge or celebrate them. The last thing you need is puffed up volunteers.

Some would claim this is biblical. I’m not sure what Bible they’re reading. The scriptures teach gratitude, mutual respect and personal value. It’s how Jesus lived his life. It’s how Paul encouraged the Church.

Live by this worst practice and you’ll be looking for volunteers—’cause they’ll be G.O.N.E.

Hear more from Mark about the importance of using volunteers to create great First Impressions in your church at his workshop at Granger on Friday, July 11. Register your team now for this or any of the workshops coming up next week:

Friday, July 11, 2014

• First Impressions
• Less Clutter. Less Noise.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

• Performing Arts Backstage Pass

by Kem Meyer, Communications Director

Our One-Day Workshops are happening this Friday and Saturday. These are intense and focused, interactive learning environments that your whole team can take advantage of. Get away for one day and join us at Granger Commons on Friday, April 25 to learn more about First Impressions, Communications and Kids’ Ministry. Then stay with your team for the Arts All-Access workshop on Saturday, April 26 where you’ll go behind the scenes and attend the Saturday night service.