FEATURED IN THIS WEEK’S EMAIL:
Your Easter Giving Preparation
Patrick’s Corner
Your Easter Giving Preparation
- Your Church needs to be a community and a place of welcome! Some parishes are more formal, and some are less formal than others in the parish “culture.” However, whether more or less formal, the parish must be a place where visitors, guests, and even sinners feel welcome and wanted! The parish is not a country club but a missionary community offering healing and hope in a world desperate to know God. Please be ready to provide that spirit of welcome! Have your youth group, senior citizens, Knights of Columbus, or whatever groups you have act as greeters, offering a warm welcome to all the people, known and unknown, to your parish.
- Have your GC SmartText phone number available on your Pew Engagement Cards. You can also have GC SmartQR Codes on banners, printed in your bulletin, or incorporated into your worship aid. Be sure to follow up with your guests within a week!
- Easter Services can generate quite a crowd! Have your entry areas clean and presentable, and make sure your restrooms are cleaned and restocked between services. A good environment makes a huge difference in helping people feel welcome.
- When the service is finished, have a handout ready for people with information about your church or organization. Include your GC SmartQR Code on the handout. Ask your greeters to say goodbye and Happy Easter to people as they leave.
- For your regular church members, take some time to ask them to consider their Easter Gift for the community. Remind them of all the good your church accomplishes because of their generosity. And, always say “thank you” to every donor. They may not ask for recognition, but they do like to be acknowledged in a personal email. You can use your GC Communication Portal to create personalized thank-you emails to be sent easily and quickly after Easter.
- The easiest and fastest way for donors to give is with a single tap of their mobile phone and the use of their digital wallets. A donation can be made within seconds! There is no need for awkward card readers. GC SmartStickers are small, coin-sized Near Field Communication devices that can be placed in high-traffic areas such as offices, vestibules, hallways, and other high-traffic areas. However, they can also be placed discreetly in pews, devotional areas, under stained glass windows, near memorials, and any other space you can imagine! GC SmartStickers are also re-programmable! You can program them now for Easter giving, again for Mother’s Day or graduations, or even to share information about nonprofit organizations, churches, or events where they are being used! To learn more about GC SmartStickers, see our webpage here: GC SmartStickers.
Patrick’s Corner
These days mark solemn yet joyful times for the many people of faith. For our Islamic neighbors, the Ramadan fast is ending, and for our Jewish neighbors, Passover is being celebrated. Finally, for the first time in many years, both Western and Eastern Orthodox Christians celebrate Easter at the same time! It is very rare for billions of people to celebrate all these feasts and seasons simultaneously! In a world marked by so much division and fear, there is a message in this for us. We can be more united with one another! We can learn more about our neighbors! And we can respect each other as we celebrate the many ways our faiths are expressed. I want to take this opportunity to wish each and every one of you the many blessings you deserve in this Holy Season!
