The D7 Welcome Home Experience - Be Genuine

"Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language."  

Dale Carnegie

Welcoming people by name is a small thing, but it counts. In our church we understand that people want to be recognised and celebrated in some way. They want to belong and they want to be made to feel that they do count for something. 

The concept we follow at D7 to represent this next level connection is fairly simple: "connect, discover, respond". Three elements that  will contribute to the D7 Experience, a simple yet powerful model for meaningful interactions and quality relationships. 

Connect. This is when you meet people for the first time, you learn their names and you show them that they really matter by focusing on them.

Discover. This is when you hear their life stories and ask relevant questions, you learn about their individual situation, preferences and needs.

Respond. Although many of us find it easier to connect with people and learn about their life still many of us don't act on what we learn. This is the stage where you take immediate action based on what you learn. That can be  something as practical as food or help moving home or it can also be the fact that you need to go home and pray for wisdom on what to do. The main point here is to do something.

Genuine connection is never a problem when you truly love people. Is your church giving your new guests those memorable welcomes?

The Naked Preacher

We are starting a new series in our church called The Naked Preacher. This new series will be in a live Q&A session format where you can ask ANY question. I am really excited to know what's on people's minds. You can also post your question by leaving a comment to this post.

Behind The Scenes

Friday 27 August - Meeting The Mayor

D7 Band had the honour to meet and present our album to The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Gloucester. It was a defining moment in the life of our church as we established important bridges of influence between the church and the leaders of our city.

The meeting was informal and fun, we even learned a little bit about the history and heritage of Gloucester (Google it and you will see what I mean, our city is extremely wealthy in history). Alan Myatt the town crier was also there and made us all take a photo wearing official robes, what a character.(Click here for more D7 press articles).

Wednesday 1 September - Safari Park

My family is my second obsession so I decide to spoil them! We had an awesome family day out at the West Midlands Safari Park. Great day, great fun, loads of animals, good value for money! Highly recommended.

Thursday 2 September - Daniel's First Day at School

May as well finish this post with a praise report. Angela and I were so thrilled that we got Daniel in the school of our choice. God really performed a miracle here as this school is not in our catchment area and our application and dispute were rejected.This is a lovely small award winning school located on a hill with plenty of fresh air, sheep and green bushes.