Case Study: Granger Community Church Part 2

Case Study: Granger Community Church Part 2

Granger Community Church (GCC) is a leading congregation in Northern Indiana that launched the Table in the fall of 2011. Granger often draws national attention and helps other churches through their Wired Churches network of training and resources. With an average attendance close to 5,000, Granger put a lot of planning and effort into their launch, which was led by Communications Director Kem Meyer, author of Less Clutter. Less Noise.

We've been talking with Kem about their efforts with the Table. Part one of our interview covered why they needed something like the Table. For part two we dive into how the Table has been received:

What kind of response has the Table received at Granger?

Kem Meyer: Overwhelming. People are excited and thanking us for the Table. They're enthusiastic. They're connecting. Groups are communicating. Prayers are being offered. Praises are being shared. The church is helping each other. The church is serving others outside of themselves.

It's amazing to see people praying for each other, encouraging one another, helping one another and responding to needs on their own. No promotions required. We've even seen increased responses to several serving opportunities posted on the Table that had little to no response when they were listed on our website, bulletin or pre-service slides.

I'll let the stats and the stories speak further.

Some stats...

Before launch weekend:

• 146 members
• 40 prayer requests

Two weeks after launch:

• Over 1,200 members
• 281 prayer requests
• 4,616 prayers prayed

Two months after launch:

• More than 1,700 members (approx. 37% of our weekend attendance)
• 611 prayers and praises
• 10,826 prayers prayed
• 1,312 prayer comments
• 186 volunteer opportunities
• 367 volunteer sign-ups
• 23 items loaned
• 94 items given away
• 132 discussion topics

Some stories...

• Every year we try to coordinate the partnering of people in our church who have no means to provide "Christmas" for their families with people in our church who want to bless those very people. In the past, we've had trouble making the matches. This year, exclusively through the Table, all 13 GCC families were adopted and we even had a few "extra" host families we were able to partner up with Hope Ministries to help them with their needs.
• A few weeks ago, someone called into the church with a need for blankets and sheets for the beds in a household. Our care coordinator posted the need to the Table and the response was amazing. People not only brought in gently used items, but went over and above to bless this family with new beds!
• One night after service, a couple approached one of our pastors and shared "Wow, right after the Experiencing God unit concerning how God uses the church... it was powerful that the Table was introduced, reminding us that God uses all the church—not just the pastors and staff."
• 16 praises in the past month alone specifically expressing gratefulness for the impact the Table is having on our church and their lives.

What's your favorite feature of the Table so far?

Kem: The Table released ministry that had become traffic-jammed as a result of our growth. Overall, this has been the most rewarding benefit—watching institutional barriers decrease so the church can increase. The Table has centralized our church story and decentralized ownership—that's a good thing!

If you're looking for some specifics:

• The Table blog: It's been a treasure chest of support, ideas and communication resources.
• Prayer Wall: I love that the prayers and praises are archived and searchable. We can look back, connect stories to parts of our mission and vision and see what God has done. Plus, the prayer wall wins the award for most on-going encouraging feature—for the people praying and the people being prayed for.
• Serve App: It empowers people; they're taking action.
• Integration with F1: People are able to update their contact information without going through us. That's been a win.

Glean more wisdom from Kem Meyer and Granger's launch: Part 1 / Part 3 / Part 4