The DNA Update for United Methodists with Dr. Don Nations, September 2016 from Sarasota, Florida, United States for Friday, 9 September 2016

The DNA Update for United Methodists with Dr. Don Nations, September 2016 from Sarasota, Florida, United States for Friday, 9 September 2016
In This Issue:

• Openings Are Important
• Thankful after You Get Back

Openings are Important
I was the guest preacher at a church recently. I welcome these opportunities (call me and let’s see if we can work something out) and enjoy seeing the variety of people, formats, programming, architecture and more. I was preaching three services and each was a little different.
At the very beginning of the first service, someone on the platform opened the service by saying, “Stand up. You know what to do.” People seemed confused and he said “talk to each other” and then walked away from the microphone. It was awkward at best and I wondered how it would feel to be a first time guest in that service. The rest of the service went well and the people were warm and gracious.
At the beginning of the second service a different person came to the microphone. He was upbeat and animated. He greeted everyone and oriented them to the service. He mentioned that the Senior Pastor was out of town and that I was the guest preacher today. He encouraged everyone to stand and greet those around them and anyone they did not know.
What a difference!! It was like night and day. Now perhaps the start of your service is never like the first service I described . . . and that would be a good thing. But is it like the second service I described?
Openings are important. They set the tone for the service and either make guests feel more or less welcome. How is your opening? How could you make it even better?
Thankful after You Get BackI was in the weekly staff meeting for a church a few days ago. They always review the previous Sunday and ask these questions:

• What was right?
• What was wrong (and how will we fix it)?
• What was missing, confusing or annoying?

I had been out of town the last Sunday so I had nothing to contribute during the review of the service I missed. When the review was over, however, I asked if I could share a couple of positives I had by not being at the service.
I have visited a lot of churches and it is easy to focus on what they do better than us (or to be incredibly critical of them). This time all I wanted to report was how thankful I was for the way the staff and serve team did their work. So much positive happens every week at that church that you can begin to take it for granted. It is important to recognize what is working and thank those who make it happen.
All three questions which are asked in the staff meeting are important. Take time to recognize the right and affirm those who serve in those areas. Then you can address the other two questions in a healthy way and work to consistently improve things each week.
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