How to Prepare Your Church for CME (Christmas, Mothers Day and Easter)

Excellence Matters
By
Robin M. Ware, CMP

How to Prepare Your Church for Christmas, New Years and Easter (CME)

Most true church folk can define what the initials CME means. For those that aren’t familiar with it, it means Christmas, Mothers Day and Easter. These are the three traditional holidays that the unchurched are likely to visit and attend a church service. These “special visitors” may already be filled with apprehension so we must do all we can to make sure they have a wonderful visit during all of their experiences at church. It is during these holidays that the parking lot overflows, the sanctuary seats overflow and the restrooms look like they were hit by a tornado.

It’s awesome that more and more ministries are focusing more on SERVICE. Please allow me to share 15 tips that I believe will propel ministries to receive guests in an excellent manner so much so that perhaps they will not only attend during CME, but will actually join!

Is this really necessary? Yes! You only get one time to make a first impression. With that shared, we are going to begin with what I call the First Impression ministries. I came up with this phrase earlier this year and it defines the four areas in ministry that I believe define or communicate to members and visitors the service commitment of the church. They are the Parking Lot team, the Greeters, Hospitality and Security. We will begin with the Parking Lot team.


Parking Lot

1. Organize a Parking Lot Ministry if you don’t already have one. If you don’t have the manpower or experience to do it right, think out of the box and hire a Valet service. They will provide a team of experienced workers that have proper insurance to handle your parking lot AND park cars. It goes without saying, but do not allow your volunteers to park cars if you aren’t properly insured or trained in this area. It is not worth the liability. Provide Communication training to this team and make sure they understand they must be available 2 hours prior to service and until the last vehicle departs.
2. Purchase “Spot Lights”! These are the incredible bright lights that you often see at car dealerships. They are a great way to draw a crowd to your building. This lets the community know that something major is happening here. Rental is about $150.
3. Say Yes to Neon. It’s a good start for your Parking Lot team to wear matching polo shirts but you want to make sure they are easily visible. Purchase neon colored coats or vests depending on the season and flags for your workers to wear and use so it is obvious they are working the Parking Lot. During CME season, place additional workers in the parking lot. Be sure to place at least 2 at each entrance to easily direct the flow of traffic and place one additional worker at the entrance of the current available parking section so they can direct drivers to the next available parking space. Also, provide your workers with walkie-talkies so that they can easily communicate with one another.
4. Color code sections of the parking lot if necessary. Purchase 4’ (yes, 4 foot not inches) round inflatable balloons in multiple colors and place in the parking lot. This will help your guests identify the area they parked in. Budget $20 per balloon.
5. Create Car Pool Spaces. For anyone that arrives with 4 or more in their car direct them to a special lane close to the door so that they are basically rewarded for sharing the ride!
6. Create a Children’s Parking Section. Direct anyone with small kids to a special section to park. Try to make it as close to the front as possible. Place a volunteer in a character costume and a “kid friendly” Greeter in this section to welcome the families and direct the parents to the Nursery and Children’s area of your church. People with small children will greatly appreciate the convenience!
7. Reserve spaces for Senior Citizens. This goes without explanation. They’ll appreciate this every Sunday!
8. Red Carpet adds pizzaz! Rent a Red Carpet and roll it out on the walkway that leads from the parking lot to the main entrance. Nothing says VIP like a red carpet! Rental is about $100 for a 50’ roll.
9. Be sensitive to timing. If you have a large influx of traffic 1 hour to 2 hours prior to your start time, convert one of your EXIT lanes to an ENTRANCE lane so that you increase the number of lanes coming into your facility. Of course, use the same logic at the end of your event. Also consider creating IN only entrances and OUT only exits. Lastly, direct your guests upon parking to park backwards if that will help them exit easier and help increase the flow of traffic exiting at the end of your event.
10. Be prepared for overflow parking. If possible, secure parking in a neighbor’s lot, or secure parking farther away for your leaders and shuttle them to your church so that your guests will have parking at your building.
11. Additional Parking. If necessary, secure additional parking further away and provide complimentary shuttle service for everyone. Use this opportunity to really show your hospitality! Think like a theme park. Make sure your vans are pristine! They should be clean and have a soft non offensive air freshener smell. Also, place a Step On Guide on each van. A Step On Guide is the official welcoming person from your Greeters Ministry. They engage the riders in warm conversation (provide a script to ensure each Step On Guide is saying the same thing) being sure to answer any questions while on the ride to your facility. They should also have a small basket of candy to offer each rider and a welcome brochure highlighting your ministry. Lastly, play a looped commercial recorded by your Pastor welcoming the riders, explaining the shuttle drop off and pick up system, where the nursery is, and other important details about your church. It should end with music samples from your choir – I don’t recommend trying to sell any product on this recording.
12. Prepare for Parking. It goes without saying, but for VIP’s and invited special guests (guest artists, choirs, dignitaries or speakers), reserve special parking and provide written printed direction prior to their arrival detailing which entrance they are to use and where in your parking lot their spaces are reserved. If necessary, provide a layout of your parking lot and highlight their spaces and email it to them. Have your marketing team create signs that identify these spaces as well. I recommend you place their names on the signs. Be sure to provide your Parking Lot team with their names so that they are prepared to direct them to these special spaces with no drama.
13. Use trash cans! Place “attractive” trash cans in key areas in your parking lot and directly outside the entrance to your church. This will encourage everyone not to litter. Direct your Parking Lot team to assign a trash rotation to change out the liner every 30 minutes or per hour based on use. Note: resist the urge to place marketing materials on the windshields of cars. Allow your Greeters to provide this material to guests upon entrance to the building.
14. Timing is everything! On New Years Eve, if it is going to take your guests more than 30 minutes to vacate your parking lot, consider having fireworks as a sure fire way to keep them entertained and distracted from the fact that it is taking 30 minutes to vacate the parking lot. Also consider setting up a beverage station outside and providing complimentary cups of coffee, hot chocolate, coloring books and crayons for kids, or apple cider so that your guests will be comfortable in their cars while waiting to depart.
15. Use Signage! Upon departure, have your marketing team create signs that are placed in the parking lot thanking your guests for visiting and encouraging them to return. Have a volunteer dressed as a favorite character at the exit and wave goodbye and pass out candy suckers to all the cars. This will be one last final touch that I guarantee will make a lasting FIRST IMPRESSION!

Robin Ware is the President of the Ware Agency ATLANTA. Here agency works with churches and small business owners to operate in excellence. Learn more about her at www.thewareagency.com.