DAIS
Discussions, Actions, and Information from the Session A dais is a platform higher than the floor to permit observers to be able to see the speaker or performers. This DAIS is to provide a platform for you to see what things are of importance or general interest to the Session and thus to you.
By Frank Walmsley, Clerk of Session
How Is OHPC Like Starbucks?
Information about Starbucks is from “The Starbucks Experience” by Joseph A. Michelli, McGraw Hill: NY, 2007.
At each meeting of Session, the people of OHPC are prayer for - both needs and joys. Session expresses its gratitude for the people of OHPC as the mission of the church goes forward. Are we like Starbucks? Let’s see in what ways that may be true.
At Starbucks, the Ways of Being are:
· Be welcoming
· Be genuine
· Be knowledgeable
· Be considerate
· Be involved
The people of OHPC are genuine. There is nothing “put on” as each person is himself or herself. We are what you see and it is good. There is diversity in appearance (for example, some men with coats and ties and some with jeans although we rarely see ladies with hats) and there is diversity in political persuasion (for example, some Republicans and some Democrats) and there is diversity in religious beliefs (but no disagreement on the fundamentals). These diversities are accepted as they should be according to our reformed tradition.
The people of OHPC are generally knowledgeable. When someone doesn’t know, they know who to ask to get the answer. Greeters try to be especially knowledgeable when meeting visitors. Sunday School attendance by adults could be better and one might infer from this that many are not particularly knowledgeable about their Christian faith and are satisfied that way. But this is true in most churches and it probably is a result of wanting to sleep in a while on Sunday. Starbucks spends more money on training than they do on advertising.
We need to be sure to be considerate? Would you go back to a Starbucks if the partner who served you was not considerate? When we have a first time visitor, we may have just one opportunity to demonstrate our Christian love.
Many of the people of OHPC are involved in the work of OHPC both inside the church program and through outreach. Starbucks meaning of being involved includes reaching out to the community. OHPC finds ways to get more of its people involved in ways they would like and are able to do. We have lots of people doing things. When a person is involved, that involvement extends to other aspects.
At Starbucks the Five Principles are:
· Make it your own
· Everything matters
· Surprise and delight
· Embrace resistance
· Leave your mark
The people of OHPC are welcoming to visitors and to each other. This can be seen each Sunday in the Narthex before and after worship and during the Fellowship Time. The partners of Starbucks are partners, not just employees. Those who work at least 20 hours a week get medical benefits and are eligible for stock options. Starbucks is theirs and they are encouraged to act as an important part of the company. The people of OHPC feel that OHPC is theirs. That feeling is generally there among the active members (active in the sense of being involved, not the Book of Order definition).
The principle of “Everything Matters” encompasses several things. One is the facilities - clean restrooms, clean floors and tables, usable seats and tables, good lighting, friendly service and so forth. OHPC, through the hard work of the Buildings and Grounds Committee and others who pitch in, keeps our facility nice, attractive, and usable. OHPC gets an A grade on that. We have an inviting and lovely sanctuary; we have an unsurpassed music director; pew racks always have hymnals and Bibles; lighting could be a little better. Another thing is a corollary principle: “Everyone Matters”. Starbucks partners are encouraged to learn the names and preferences of regular customers. They are also encouraged to genuinely be interested in each customer as a person, not just a coffee drinker. As the people of OHPC are welcoming, they accomplish these things - they remember visitors names and something pertinent about them - and this is done with genuine interest and concern. Starbucks as a corporation acts to carry out this principle by design, not by default. OHPC has the attitude that everyone and everything matters.
The principle of “Surprise and Delight” may not be carried out to everyone’s delight. With Starbucks, they can without any mass program, suddenly offer a person a sample of something different saying “Try this, it may delight you.” OHPC may surprise people with a “pajama Sunday” or people dressed as Bible characters on All Hallows Eve (better known as Halloween). At times, the Prelude or Postlude may be a little jazzy. We do, at times, both surprise and delight.
Resistance provides a real challenge. When Starbucks has a product that meets with customer resistance (i.e., it doesn’t sell), they don’t just abandon the products but look for ways to make it better or to see if it fits a niche in some areas of the world or country. What does a church do when it meets resistance? OHPC follows the lead of Starbucks and tries to make it better without falling back into the same routine.
Starbucks has left a mark on the business world. The Starbucks principle of “Leave Your Mark” is directed at the partners. Let the customers be aware of you as an individual and as part of Starbucks as you are welcoming, genuine, knowledgeable, and considerate. As a visitor is welcomed, the OHPC member do leave a mark. When a visitor I talked to expressed an interest in music (before our current organ was installed) I was knowledgeable about future music plans and explained how we were working to get a new organ. That visitor became a member and was instrumental in raising significant funds for the organ. He later reminded me about that early conversation and its importance to him. I had left my mark.
Starbucks believes that the total atmosphere is important. “The Starbucks sensation is driven not just by the quality of its products but by the entire atmosphere. The act of retailing coffee went beyond the product. The total experience mattered.” This tells us that when applying the principle that everything matters, we need to look beyond the little details and focus on the total experience. Small errors will be made. Glaring errors will be made. Our former pastor, Frank Erwin, regularly would stray from the printed order of worship - everything would eventually be done but not necessarily in the order printed. This kept us on our toes and were accepting of Frank’s “errors” because the total worship experience was good. For the general person in the pew, the total experience is good.
With Starbucks, we find predictability, consistency, ritual, and routine. We also find efforts to surprise and delight. OHPC works on maintaining a good balance between these two.
Lastly, the leaders of Starbucks work to prioritize their objectives and then keep those objectives in front of everyone in the company. What are the objectives of OHPC? Some objectives are in our Mission Statement and others are in our Vision Statement. According to the Starbucks model, we are trying to keep those objectives in mind.