North Point Community Church, Alpharetta GA, has always been an great role model, in ministry. Andy Stanley, Senior pastor and prolific speaker, has always been a great inspiration shaping my pastoral competency.
So when I had a chance to visit their church, in January of 2015, I was more than thrilled.
Today I would like to share my experience visiting North Point Community Church, in the lense of how they implemented the Apple Store model to welcome visitors.
Entering the Church Parking Lot
Couple of things stood out, as we were about to enter the church campus.
I felt the chills when my GPS navigation said, “Make a left onto NorthPoint Pkwy, in 200 fts”
Of course, some people might argue against it, but for me, it was ‘just cool.’
Another event that stood out was to see numbers and numbers of cars pulling into the parking lot. Cars were lined up, as if they were heading to a shopping center or an amusement park.
Image @ Northpoint Community Church Facebook
Volunteers were out in the parking lot, directing the cars, to their parking spot. They were the reason why there were no congestions in the parking lot, with so many cars.
I realized that the greeting actually started in the parking lot. They welcomed us, and with hand gesture, showing us where to go, even though the main entrance to the building was hard to miss.
Image @ Northpoint Community Church Facebook
Once we entered the church building, we were surrounded by people. Of course most of the people were members or visitors. However, we were able to see another overwhelming number of volunteers in tshirts (similar to the image on the right) who were easy to approach. But we didn’t have to approach them, because they would constantly approach and share a simple greeting.
There were multiple layers of greeters in every entry point, greeting us, offering help to find the children’s ministry for our kids, and helping us finding us a seat in the sanctuary.
Image @ Northpoint Community Church Facebook
Image @ Northpoint Community Church Facebook
Also, you could easily spot signs, which helps to navigate in the building, and they even had signs that said, guest service, where a visitor can stop by and ask any questions.
Image @ Northpoint Community Church Webpage
After Service
One of the greeters reminded us to stop by ‘the Studio’ before we left.
So we went to the area called ‘the Studio.’ I was shocked as I step foot into the Studio, I forgot to take any pictures.
It felt like stepping into an Apple store. The design wasn’t exactly the same, but the impression was certainly close to what you have from an Apple store. With some lounges and islands set up, there were multiple greeters who were standing by to greet us.
Resembling an ‘Apple Creative’ they were in jeans, with a t-shirt, and a necklace type namebagde. ALL OF THEM WERE HOLDING AN IPAD, with an application ready opened to show information (e.g. videos, webpage, online registration, etc) to the visitors. This application was also used for collecting any information of the visitors.
The greeter was casual, engaging, and very welcoming. After I introduced myself, and told the greeter how amazed I was to see how the studio resembled an apple store, she continued the conversation by sharing her experience actually working at an apple store. She didn’t launch off pouring all the information of the church, but seemed genuinely interested in us.
Connection Point
After the talk, we stopped by the ‘Connection Point.’ Where you could connect with any of the community groups, short term small groups (Bible study groups), and missions / service opportunities.
This area was also filled with volunteers who were willing to connect with you, and offer any kind of help.
We left the church, with excitement seeing the customer service model of Apple being applied to a church.
Is this Model Applicable to Every Church?
I believe each local churches can adopt this model, and apply it one at a time.
It doesn’t mean that every volunteer has to dress in an uniform t-shirt.
However, don’t forget the principle. Don’t leave the visitors lost. Greet them, engage with them, and serve them.
It isn’t a difficult task. We shouldn’t let Apple do a better job than a church in this area.
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