Thanks Volunteers!

It’s been a busy week on for both the church and the childcare center fronts. Lots of painting and constructing. Here’s a few photos.

Customer Service

Recently a good friend of mine sent me email he had received from Bill Marriott (obviously a corporate email, but I really appreciated the attempts to make the experience a personal one… which is a mantra for the Marriott group). Anyhow it was a letter to rewards customers thanking them and sharing a little of what’s ahead for 2009. What caught my attention was check out “my blog.” Bill Marriott has a blog? I’m intrigued.

One of the best stories I’ve ever heard and a letter I read all the time when talking about the kind of culture we’re trying to create at Cornerstone is one a lady wrote to Mr Marriott when she ended up in one of his hotels on business and really needed to get back to home for her sisters funeral. She thanked him for the thoughtfulness, attention to detail and personal care that the Charles and the night staff treated her with. They had treated her as an individual. Anyhow when I saw that Mr Marriott had a blog I had to check it out… he’s a man running a huge corporation, travels to 300 of his hotels every year to give them his version of the white glove test and he writes a blog. Genius! You should check it out. Mr Marriott tells personal stories of why he does things the way he does, and why his hotels have ended up being the kind of hotels they are. He gives people the opportunity to share their stories, ideas and experiences – good, bad or indifferent. He’s having a conversation with his guests. Very smart and totally sincere.

I think the key to great customer service is to listen. The guest may not always say something, but if you listen carefully you’ll hear something, see something, perceive something that will allow you to serve them. Mr Marriott has created a culture on this idea, and created venue or vehicles by which his guests can participate, and they do so. I’ve noticed an increasing number of churches doing online surveys for their guests which is a great step. But if the Church is one of the only organizations on planet earth that exists for the benefit of it’s non members (and of course so that they can experience the kind of change those who have crossed the line of faith are experiencing) then how do we work at creating a culture, venues and vehicles where people are served. In the words of the Marriott organization it’s the “spirit to serve.” Let the conversation begin.

On a personal note, I’m so proud of what God has done amongst us at Cornerstone this fall. We’ve spent the entire fall and now the Christmas season talking about and putting into practice service as a value… and people have jumped in  and been dreaming ways they can serve and make a difference. Whether it’s how we treat people when they come through our doors, deliver a Thanksgiving foodbox, serve at a homeless shelther or partner with an organization that’s already making a difference in our community. It’s that “spirit to serve” that has permeated our culture this fall. Way to go Cornerstone!

Is it okay to be proud?

Over the past couple of weeks the Lord has had me reviewing some of the incredible things He’s been doing at Cornerstone… It’s left me awestruck at His greatness and proud of the folks that call Cornerstone home. On a given weekend there are generally between 220-240 adults and around 100 kids of those 220+ adults 149 jumped into small groups this fall (that doesn’t include any of our students in GC and our small groups for 1st-6th graders).

There are over 145 people serving on at least a monthly basis in the church. All kinds of new volunteers dreaming up new ways to serve and make a difference. I’ve also had the opportunity to hear some incredible stories of service to others in our community take place through our small groups, not to mentioned the 50 families in our community served with turkey and all the trimmings to make sure they had a Thanksgiving dinner. And now as we head into Christmas the church is rallying to support Love146, Smile Train, Living Water, Hope of Life and provide socks and shoes for orphans in Mexico.

I have to tell you that it’s so humbling to be a part of such a great group of people stepping up and out to make a different. Cornerstone I’m proud of you!

Things I learned from Disney (part 1)

Okay so it was a vacation and trust me I wish real life could be more like Disney… but there were lessons to be learned everywhere.

Lesson number one: Never forget you’re a part of a bigger story.

There’s a difference between going to the Great Escape (a Six Flags Park 45 minutes from our house) where teenagers understand their function (take people’s tickets or count riders) verses a Disney cast members that owns the vision. They’re a cast member, part of a larger story that unfolds throughout each park/resort. While they may have a responsibility for receiving tickets, making sure the park stays clean etc, the objective is to make sure that every guest has the time of their life. While the individual’s name might be Jeff from Orlando, FL, they’re a cast member and part of a bigger story with an important role to play. The key is to never lose sight of the vision and mission. Never forget you’re part of a bigger story. When we focus simply on function, we lose sight of the objective. I once read a great quote about how leaders keep their eyes on the horizon not just the bottomline. When we focus on simply the bottomline, the function, the how to stuff, we lose sight of the bigger picture, the vision, the objective. Disney has done a great job training every cast member to keep their eye on both the horizon and the bottomline.

Thanksgiving Giveaway

 

Major props to the C-Stone family. It was a busy weekend as the guys headed down to the city mission to serve and we had a bunch of people at the campus building over 50 Thanksgiving Food boxes – turkeys, pies and all the trimmings. It was awesome to hear stories C-Stoners leaving church with boxes to deliver to families around the city – people being blessed by a simple act of kinds and love. It was fantastic weekend of giving. Thrilled to be a part of what God’s doing at Cornerstone!

I love this!!!

I love when the church is being the church! I’ve blogged before about the fact that the church doesn’t exist for us, we are the church and we exist for the world… Elevation church has done it again… there they go again doing the wildest, craziest thing to say we’re the church and we’re here for the world! Way to go Pastor Steven and the Elevators. Keep blazing a trail! I love the Bless Back Project! I can’t tell you how passionate I am about this idea that we exist for people who are yet to know about the love of Jesus Christ – we’re all on a spiritual journey whether we know it or not. I ask myself, is my spiritual journey so full of life, so real that I’m consumed with the things that Jesus was? People. Or am I consumed with things that really don’t matter that much in the long run… Over the past week I’ve been with a church that’s just starting and consumed with one passionate desire to see people’s lives transformed by the life of Jesus. Now I read of a large, rapidly growing church consumed with one passionate desire to see people’s lives transformed by the life of Jesus. One passionate desire clarifies mission for both churches. Regardless of the size of church you’re a part of I think there’s a lesson for all of us in there…

Creating the church our community needs… continued

Great thought from Ben Arment… read it here