Clip In: Risking Hospitality in Your Church

By Fiona Haworth and Jim Ozier

When a cyclist clips into the pedals, a huge risk is involved because he or she must learn a new way to achieve balance and momentum. Creating a culture of hospitality within your church involves the same intricate process. Not only do balance and momentum go hand-in-hand, one can't exist without the other. Growing a church requires the same kind of delicate interplay: balancing attention toward existing members and generating momentum through reaching new people. Without both, the church won't grow. Creating a culture of hospitality involves risk and relearning old habits, but facilitating both will yield fruitful results.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Release date: Sep 16, 2014
• ISBN: 9781426796296

Fiona Haworth

Fiona Haworth, former Director of Talent for Southwest Airlines, has been a United Methodist for 16 years, during which she has held several leadership roles both in the local church and serving the North Texas Conference. In addition to conducting culture workshops for local churches and Annual Conferences with Jim Ozier, Fiona is a much sought-after speaker and presenter. Most recently, she was a presenter at the Dallas Leadership Summit and the SMU Human Relations Roundtable in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

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Praise for Clip In

Praise for Clip In

"The authors combine immediately applicable teaching with sound theology to produce healthy, nonmanipulative evangelism. Clip In goes beyond common writing on this subject and connects us to the larger mission and purpose of the church. I heartily recommend this marvelous teaching to all my pastors, lay leaders, and congregations."

—Mike Lowry, Resident Bishop, Central Texas Conference, The United Methodist Church

We all long for our churches to be thriving, compelling, and discipleship-making communities of faith. This book is a helpful and practical resource—a must read for every pastor and congregation seeking to create that type of church."

—Bob Farr, Director of Congregational Excellence, Missouri Annual Conference, The United Methodist Church

This exceedingly useful book takes into account the changing landscape of church attendance and participation patterns. Readers will learn how to convert good intentions into biblical hospitality through specific plans and practices.

—Lovett H. Weems Jr., Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership and Director of the Lewis Center for Church Leadership of Wesley Theological Seminary

In this book, Jim and Fiona lead us beyond mere hospitality to loving and welcoming people as a way of life. They show us that hospitality is not the task of a team but must be the culture throughout the organization. They remind me, as a judicatory leader, that our leaders need to feel it in my office too.

—James Bushfield, Director of Connectional Ministry, Indiana Conference, The United Methodist Church

Some people think that to talk about strategies for loving others is somehow forced or manipulative, like a spiritual, self-serving Dale Carnegie course. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everyone needs empathy training. Jim Ozier’s book does a brilliant job of helping people learn how to be more others-focused. After all, isn’t this just part two of the summary of all the Law and Prophets, according to Jesus?

—Len Wilson, author, blogger at lenwilson.us, Creative Director at Peachtree Presbyterian Church

Title Page

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Copyright Page

CLIP IN:Risking Hospitality in your church

Copyright © 2014 by Abingdon Press

All rights reserved.

No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher. Requests for permission should be addressed to Permissions, Abingdon Press, P.O. Box 801, 201 Eighth Avenue South, Nashville, TN 37202-0801 or [e-mail].

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Ozier, Jim.

  Clip in : risking hospitality in your church / Jim Ozier and Fiona Haworth.

       1 online resource.

  Description based on print version record and CIP data provided by publisher; resource not viewed.

  ISBN 978-1-4267-9629-6 (epub) -- ISBN 978-1-4267-8892-5 (pbk., adhesive perfect binding : alk. paper)  1.  Hospitality--Religious aspects--Christianity. 2.  Church greeters. 3.  Church marketing. 4.  Church growth.  I. Title.

  BV4647.H67

  253'.7--dc23

                                                            2014023943

Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NASB) are taken from the New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org).

Scripture quotations marked (NRSV) are taken from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Disclaimer: All personal names and identifying details have been changed to protect the identities of persons.

14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23—10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Dedication Page

This book is dedicated to Trietsch Memorial United Methodist Church in Flower Mound, Texas, where most of the ideas and practices in the pages that follow were birthed, tried, tweaked, and implemented.

Contents

Contents

Preface

As Easy as Riding a Bike

Introduction

Making First Impressions Last

Section One:Gaining Balance and Momentum

Chapter 1 The Power of Introductions

Chapter 2 Beyond Introduction: Connection

Chapter 3 Turning Moments into a Movement: Pastors and Staff

Chapter 4 Hospitality Teams: Recruiting and Training

Chapter 5 Hospitality in the Workplace

Chapter 6 Hospitality in the Worship Service

Section Two:Accelerate . . . Moving Forward Faster!

Chapter 7 Shifting Gears: Leveraging a Culture of Hospitality into Growth

Chapter 8 Why Recommendation Gets More Traction than Invitation

Chapter 9 Turning Attenders into Recommenders

Chapter 10 Turning Consumers into Producers

Epilogue:

Endurance: The Lasting Impression of Culture

Preface

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If you know how to ride a bike, at some point in your life you learned a skill and overcame a fear at the same time. Congratulations! That’s what it takes to master the art of hospitality! Oh sure, you also practiced and put effort and energy into riding until it became second nature, and that is what it takes to create a culture of hospitality.

For many mainline churches there is an uneasy sense that we are pedaling as fast as we can but are still riding uphill, against the wind all the time. It doesn’t have to be this way. What makes a bicycle go is the combination of balance and momentum. In the pages that follow, you’ll learn how to apply this metaphor to the life of your local church to go farther and faster than you ever imagined!

Worldwide, over a billion people ride bicycles for fun, transportation, or sport. Many of us learned to ride by the age of ten, graduating from the big-wheeled plastic tricycle to training wheels, and then to our first real bike. You can still remember yours, can’t you? And most agree that once we learn to ride, we’ll probably never forget how. We nod in agreement when someone says, It’s as easy as riding a bike.

Riding a bike is easy, but scientists tell us it is a lot more complex than we realize. A few years ago a scientific team worked for three years to solve the riddle of what keeps a bike from falling over while someone is riding it. Their mathematic formula took lots of calculations and numbers but basically boiled down to this: Inertia forces + gyroscopic forces + the effects of gravity and centrifugal forces = the leaning of the body and the torque applied to the handlebars of a bike. Put more simply, those who do not pedal fast enough to keep moving while keeping the bike straight fall over (Richard Alleyne, Riding a Bike Is Incredibly Hard, Scientists Discover, Telegraph [UK], June 21, 2010).

Back when you were a kid looking down the slope of the gentle hill, or feeling the force of mom or dad pushing the bike (with you on it) to get it going fast enough, you weren’t thinking about the science behind riding. You were feeling more than a little bit scared. You were unsure what to do, or how to do it. You were uncertain you could ride at all. How bad would you be hurt, or how embarrassed would you be if you messed up?

But you got through it! Fortunately, the complexity of the science behind riding a bike didn’t overwhelm you . . . you weren’t even aware of it. Instead, you leveraged the encouragement (or maybe it was the goading and taunting) of friends and family to believe in the simplicity of it. And you rode. You felt the exhilaration of wind blowing in your hair; the rush of confidence; the thrill of trying new things and going new places; the pure joy of pushing the limits and going just a little farther than you had planned.

After you learned to ride, you probably also learned the basics of how to keep riding. Basics like how to tighten the handlebar, adjust the seat, change a flat tire, and put the chain back on the sprocket. Or you quickly found someone who could do it for you! These were the support necessities that made the riding day in and day out possible. In the chapters that follow, you’ll learn the equivalent skills that keep a great culture of hospitality going.

Why is it that once we learn to ride a bike, we almost never forget how? There is just something about the skill of riding that intuitively becomes hardwired into us. It becomes second nature. Once we become proficient at balance and momentum, we quickly master the art of leveraging just the right amount of force (pedaling), effort (pulling on the handlebar), direction (steering), and control (braking) to go farther and faster than we ever could have imagined (Ephesians 3:20).

Clipping In

Accomplished cyclists use special biking shoes that actually fasten in to the pedal by way of a mechanical clip. Clipping in can be risky because the cyclist’s foot is actually locked into place on the pedal, making it dangerous if the bike slows down too much or tips over.

Fortunately, the best clip in mechanisms are easy to get in and out of, and, with practice, the cyclist can learn to quickly detach the foot in emergencies.

Riding a bike in this way takes the experience to a different level, ratchets up the risk a notch, and requires greater commitment.

And that’s just the point. Clipping in requires the cyclist to commit. First, it requires a monetary investment to purchase and install the right gear. Then, there is an investment of time to learn this new way of riding the bike. Finally, it takes consistent, regular practice over the long haul. Why do serious cyclists do it? As you can guess, the ratcheted-up commitment offers ratcheted-up rewards. When you’re clipped in, you are more efficient and more powerful. You can go faster, farther, with less effort. Your momentum is increased, and drag is decreased. The energy you expend results in miles more easily gained. Risk? Yes, clipping in can be risky at first. Commitment? Yes, it requires focus and dedication, a full commitment to change. Reward? Absolutely. Ask any serious cyclist, and they will tell you that clipping in is the only way to ride.

And so it goes for us as we consider hospitality in our churches. We must be willing to take the risk and fully commit, in order to reap the reward.

Creating a Culture of Hospitality

Once a church gets the knack of hospitality, it becomes hardwired into its life . . . and amazing things happen. A culture of hospitality has five key components: (1) intentionality; (2) relationship; (3) interaction; (4) engagement; (5) connection. In the pages that follow you’ll learn not only to appreciate and understand each, but also how implementing these components can accelerate your church’s growth.

While bicycles have been improved, tricked up, and streamlined over the years, there are basically five components to this timeless machine. For our purposes each corresponds to one of the key components of hospitality:

•Frame—structure that supports everything else (intentionality)

•Wheels—what enable the bike to go (relationship)

•Handlebars—what set direction, plus gyroscopic force for balance (interaction)

•Seat—center of gravity and where the rider sits to engage the bike (engagement)

•Pedals—what produces the forward thrust for momentum (connection)

Riding a bike is a matter of gaining balance and momentum. So is creating a culture of hospitality. Not only do balance and momentum go hand in hand, but they are also dependent upon each other. Perhaps more amazingly, each causes the other. Growing a church requires the same kind of delicate interplay: balancing attention toward existing members and generating momentum by reaching new people. Without both, the church is not likely to grow. Creating a culture of hospitality facilitates each.

There is science and complexity behind riding, but we don’t have to be aware of or even understand it to ride. This book will explain some of the complexity behind hospitality: what it is, how to overcome obstacles, how to train, and how to practice. Mainly, however, this book will show how simple hospitality is—how much fun it is simply to get on and ride!

In the country town of Loami, Illinois, where I (Jim) grew up, the best learning-to-ride-a-bike hill was across the street from our house, next to the little Methodist church my family attended. Speeding down that grassy hill, I first overcame the death-defying odds, kept my balance, pedaled, and rode a few hundred feet! Nervously