Adding Passion to your Ministry

By Pastor Dwayne White

An example of passion being put on for a paycheck:

Disney cast members are almost universally programmed to react to badges that special guests wear; a young girl had her 13th birthday while she was there. From that moment on, virtually every cast member that she encountered made it a point to wish her a happy birthday. Every table service restaurant that she went to brought out a birthday cupcake without her parents having to ask. Of course, the young girl loved the attention so much that she continued to wear the badge long after her birthday. This is a great example of how to make a customer feel special without having to spend a lot of financial capital.

Imagine the blessings that will flow in our lives from God as we put this to practice in ministry!!!

 
 I was reading this article today on the Disney Experience, and it was stating how Disney World has add an element of surprise and delight to create and exciting experience for young people.  Read the article below:
Every year, Disney selects a theme and aligns all of their park and resort operations around it. This year, is” The Year of A Million Dreams” and to help “make your dreams come true”, Disney is having their cast members randomly give out over a million “dreams” including chances to spend the night in Cinderella’s castle, “Dream Fast pass” badges which gives you unlimited access to all major attractions bypassing the waiting line and a Grand Marshall Tour of Disney parks around the world.

There are no contests to enter, or disclosing of contact information. Someone just walks up to you and makes you a winner. You just need to be in the right place at the right time and even the cast members don’t know the when, where or what of the giveaway until just before it happens. I met several people who were given dream Fast pass badges and they were ecstatic about it. The really enjoyed telling their stories to anyone who would listen. And consider how much fun it is for the cast members to be able to execute the giveaways. That has to help with cast member engagement.

Now according to this article Surprising & Delighting your customers is an important ingredient in the creating great experiences that your customers will tell others about.  And when they talk about it to others, they would want to come and see it for themselves.  I believe something like this will help with our attendance. 

Food for thought concerning Youth Ministry
People like to talk about their experiences, both good and bad.  It’s the sharing of these experiences that can make or break a business, church, produce, and/or company over time. Think about it.  The reason we went to clubs when we were younger (spiritually and mentally) was because somebody told us how much fun they had.  Teens and young adults don’t go to certain clubs or business establishments because of a bad reputation due to fights, food, atmosphere (who’s there, teeny bops or hungry dogs or gold digging poodles), customer service, run down building, etc.  So my point is, let’s do our best, every one of us, use our resources, talents, abilities, and personalities to make youth ministry a good experience to remember and share with others.  If people/teens are talking negatively about their experience with us, let’s listen to what they are saying and respond accordingly.