First Presbyterian Church - Amarillo
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“For I know the Plans I have for you … plans for Hope and a Future.”

– Jeremiah 29:11

Vision to Grow process already leading to changes

Auxano relates recommendations at meeting

On Jan. 21, Auxano, the group helping FPC with strategic planning, made an Anchor visit to First Presbyterian Church Amarillo.

An Anchor visit consists of two Auxano consultants visiting a community and church for three days. The first day is a community analysis, the second day is a Sunday ministry observation and the third day is a review with the church staff and officers. The purpose of the review is to provide direction on the immediate opportunities to improve FPC’s welcoming system and guest services.

Following are Auxano’s recommendations for FPC:

  • The church’s website needs to be more “guest friendly.” It was stated that one of the priorities of FPC’s web site should be to welcome guests, give directions to the church and give worship service times. They also mentioned the need to have sermons on-line as many younger people will listen before attending.
  • They noted the lack of signage - there are no directional signs to the church, about the church or in the church.
  • It was recommended that we no longer refer to our guests as visitors. The objective should be to make guests feel comfortable and want to belong.
  • They felt there is confusion determining the “front door” to the Church and suggested that the entrance on the south side be considered the front door and that the Welcome Center be moved to the south side entrance. It was also recommended that name badges be eliminated due to the feeling of exclusivity.
  • They mentioned that we should “bury guests four smiles deep” with a greeter system of someone in the parking lot, someone outside at the front entrance (south side), someone at the Welcome Center in the Great Hall area and someone greeting near the sanctuary.
  • Also, it was suggested to reserve at least 15 parking spaces in the south parking lot for our guests and make sure they are well marked with signs stating GUEST rather than VISITOR.
  • Finally, they recommended that our phone message cater to the guest along with the phone book advertisement.

The Vision Path Team met to discuss and address all of these items with input from the person or committee responsible for the area involved and final session approval. You’ve probably noticed some changes already and will see even more changes soon.

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to godsplan@fpc-amarillo.org.