This is part 2 of a three-part series.  To read part one, click here.

What they’ve figured out #2: Experience is central.

Think about the last time you walked into a Starbucks.  The aroma of the coffee, the feel of the store, the laid-back atmosphere.  What you walked into was more than a restaurant: it was an experience.

From the beginning, that’s what Starbucks was about: the experience.  Everything they did focused on what it did to the experience.  Why the craziness over experience?  Because Howard Schultz, once again serving as CEO of Starbucks, feels that their stores should be the third place.  The third place is the place that isn’t home (first place) and isn’t work (second place) that you can go to hang out, enjoy a good coffee or two, and just unwind.  They desire that their stores feel accessible, fun, and a place where you could sit down and have a meeting.  When you walk in, Starbucks wants you to feel as comfortable there as you would at your own home.

But even as CEO Howard Schultz himself will admit, somewhere along the line the experience got lost in the business.  They moved to flavor-lock packaging, destroying the full coffee smell that they had when coffee arrived in large bins.  A tendency towards a “cookie cutter” store design led to what some called “sterility”.  And perhaps most famously, they introduced breakfast sandwiches.  Longtime patrons hated that the toasting sandwiched ruined the coffee smell so much, that one of Howard Schultz’ first acts when he returned as CEO a few months ago was to begin the demise of the breakfast sandwich at Starbucks.

Think about your ministry: do the parents at your church feel welcome and accepted when they bring their kids in, or do they feel guilty until proven innocent by a full cavity search and metal detector?  OK, maybe that’s a bit extreme, but you know what I mean.  Security is important, but you do have to strike a balance between security and welcoming both current and new parents to your ministry.

How do your kids feel in services?  Do they feel like they’re taking part, or like they’re watching a show?  Are they comfortable, feeling like they’re at home?  That experience is key to getting kids to feel like they fit in.  You know you’ve all had this kind of kid at one point or another: the first-timer who’s extremely attached to his parents.  Won’t let go of his mother’s leg.  Absolutely resists coming.  That sort of child is the child you should focus on that day.  Have a special worker sit right by him and comfort him and involve him.  Include him in games or prize giveaways.  The experience you create is critical.

Experience is hard to keep up.  It’ll take work.  It is so worth it, though.  Experiences that people have as children at church will continue to shape their image of the church into their adult and teen years.  You may think that that Sunday School teacher that teaches an OK class is fine to leave in place.  That’s dangerous thinking.  That class is, whether you or the child realize it or not, shaping their image of the church and will impact whether they or their future children will come to church in the future.  You can’t settle for mediocrity.  Ministry needs to be best.   Remarkable, you might say.  Go above and beyond.  Now that’s the way I see it.