Case Studies
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Ryan Patton
Summit Crossing Community Church "MSP has enabled better communication and built camaraderie in our entire ministry. It's allowed us to grow and reach people that otherwise wouldn't be involved in ministry." |
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Text highlighted in yellow only appears in this longer version of the case study.
| Max: |
How was scheduling done prior to MSP?
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| Ryan: |
It was done with pencil and paper. We scheduled people for two weeks on, one week off – kind of a regular rotation.
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| Max: |
Why did you seek out a scheduling program?
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| Ryan: |
Part of it is we got a lot bigger and it started to become a chore to fit people [into the schedule]. I realized that I was losing focus on the ministry aspect of the Greeting Team and I was getting over to the administration side. I was losing focus on why we were doing what we were doing. So I started looking for a solution
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| Max: |
How often do you use MSP? For what purpose do you use it most often?
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| Ryan: |
As far as me having to login to create schedules, it's few and far between fortunately. But I'm always logging into the program just checking to make sure no one has any questions and making sure the online sub requests are being fulfilled.
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| Max: |
What would you say are the three greatest benefits of using MSP?
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| Ryan: |
For me personally, the greatest benefit is being able to do less administrative work and more ministry work. I really stress to my ministry leaders that we’re not here to do a job but were here to be a part of a ministry. It's allowed us all to realize why we stand out in the rain sometimes in the parking lot. We’re all there for God’s glory.
The next benefit is truly being able to improve the camaraderie without having to overextend our budget. When you’re a church your resources are limited. We try and do a lot for volunteer appreciation but those events take a lot of effort and money. One of the things MSP does, especially with the Web Terminal, is it allows people to interact with each other and recognize that we are a ministry — we are a team. We're divided out over five services at two different locations. So a lot of our ministry doesn't really see the other side of the ministry. So [MSP and the Web Terminal] enables them to really appreciate that they aren't out there alone.
The third thing I would say is the ability for all my data to be integrated in one spot so I don’t have to keep updating it manually. Email addresses and phone numbers always change and the Web Terminal allows people to update their own information online. We like to send out invitations and want to make sure no one is left out.
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| Max: |
How much time did it take to set up MSP?
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| Ryan: |
I think it took maybe five minutes to set it up. I remember I tried a couple other programs but I what I really liked about MSP is that you could get it running, at least in basic form, very quickly. It didn't take hours of setup to get there.
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| Max: |
What tips would you give to new users just setting up MSP?
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| Ryan: |
I'd encourage anybody to just jump in and try it. Start small and give yourself some confidence. It's a very quick and easy setup. Mirror your current schedule if you're worried about something not working out right. Also, I forgot to mention this earlier, but the best thing about MSP is the support. Don't be afraid to ask questions.
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| Max: |
How do you use the MSP Emailer? What has been your volunteers’ reaction?
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| Ryan: |
I use it a lot. I use it for weekly reminders, general announcements and I also have email templates for a number of different things – like new volunteers. It helps me get the information out very quickly. In general, I've had a very large and positive acceptance of email. I've found that people really appreciate the email reminders.
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| Max: |
How did you get volunteers accustomed to going online to view and update their schedule?
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| Ryan: |
I started with a small sample group of people that I knew used email and internet. I asked them if the system was working. I took their feedback and then just expanded it to everyone else. I started with emails and then started adding the Web Terminal address, their username and their password after my signature in the emails. It really didn't take a lot for people to get used to. It comes very naturally just as a result of those emails reminders going out.
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| Max: |
How has the Web Terminal affected the way you handle scheduling?
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| Ryan: |
There's less hassle all around. We used to have to schedule a few extra people because we knew that someone would always forget or go out of town, but now people are much better about being there when they get the reminder and they can login to the Web Terminal at Saturday night at midnight and say, "Wow, I am scheduled tomorrow morning. I do need to be there at 9 o'clock." It's really helped out a lot. I don't know about you Max but I can't keep a written schedule in the right place for more than about two weeks. After that, I'm just relying on the online version.
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| Max: |
What do you see as the biggest obstacle deterring people from participating in ministry?
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| Ryan: |
That's a great question. If I knew the answer in its entirety I feel like I could sell a lot of books. I think there are a number of obstacles. Some of them are just fear of commitment, or fear of having to get in front of people, or fear of having to meet people. I think a lot of it is fear of being over-committed. It is kind of sad but traditionally churches are kind of 80/20 where 80 percent of the work is done by 20 percent of the people. People are afraid that if they commit a little bit, they might be over-committed. MSP has really helped with that. You're able to accommodate volunteers that say, "I only want to serve one time a month" or "I only want to serve on the third Sunday." I can put in MSP and it doesn't cause extra work for me to have to figure that out every three months when I make the schedule. It's automatic.
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| Max: |
What are the benefits of participating in ministry?
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| Ryan: |
There are countless benefits. The team that I organize is the Greeting and Hospitality team. At a base level, I think the blessing is being able to see somebody that is totally uncomfortable with organized religion walk in and meet somebody that truly cares about them, seeing the volunteers follow up with them and watching the relationship form. And sometimes months later, sometimes not, we've been blessed in just having people come to know Christ. Being able to see the fruit of that by somebody committing their life to Christ is huge. But it's not always that gigantic. There are lots of others. I could go all day.
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| Max: |
How has MSP changed participating in ministry at your church?
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| Ryan: |
It has enabled better communication and built camaraderie in our entire ministry. It's allowed us to grow and reach people that otherwise wouldn't be involved in ministry. A lot of people that are on the fringe in attending have been able to take that next step and plug into our ministry thanks to MSP. MSP has enabled me to say, "Hey I'm not going to make you commit to every Sunday, every week so you have to be here all the time. This is really simple." I can show them the Web Terminal and say, "You can login here. You can see all the services you're scheduled for. You can request subs just by clicking this button." People then say, "Oh, I can do this. It's not too much for me." It really allows me to give them something tangible to say, "Here is your point of contact. You're never going to be out there by yourself. There are 96 others to back you up if you've got to go out of town." And we've seen some really cool things as the result of that. Some people really getting involved and plugged into the ministry and to the Christian walk as a whole.
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| Max: |
Thanks for all the feedback, Ryan.
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| Ryan: |
I really appreciate what you guys have added. Over the past 12 months it's really done a lot for the value of what you're producing. It's gone from being a good software program that I appreciate to something that's invaluable and makes my life so much easier.
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