C12-page 1 SEGMENT C12: GOLF CARTS AND GOURMETS Mission Impact Focusing your heartburst for the people around you Mission Impact Guide V 2.0 Upscale retirees and empty-nesters in comfortable communities Resource: Mosaic by Experian General Spiritual Insight: Golf Carts is part of the Lifestyle Group C (Booming With Confidence). Please refer to the description of Group C for the larger context of this segment's potential relationship with the church. Religious Perspective: "It s The Right Thing To Do" Key Behaviors: Quiet Good Taste, Morality With Minimum Sacrifice Strong Impressions: Inclination & Attitudes: Global Perspective, Planned Lifestyles Mood & Values: High Commitment to Career, High Sense of Well Being
C12-page 2 Comments: The mix of retirees over 65 and empty-nesting couples that are included in Golf Carts and Gourmets consider faith to be very important and regularly attend church. Religion provides continuity with the past, which is particularly important because many are in transition to homes in warmer climates (Florida and the southwest). They usually transfer their membership to a church of the same or similar denomination, and expect to feel right at home. The same liturgical structure, music, preaching style, programs, and curriculums are assumed, and people in this segment tend to project even local customs from the past church into the present church. People in this lifestyle segment are often quite knowledgeable of denominational history and polity, and most have served a variety of church committees. They are cautious about creative ideas and innovative practices, and want to be consulted whenever changes are anticipated. People in this lifestyle segment tend to be conservative in politics, social values, and everyday living. They expect the church to reinforce traditional values and beliefs. The church is often a "rock" or "bulwark" that brings stability. It is also an important vehicle for socializing with friends, and may replace the family relationships that they have lost or left behind. They are often well informed about national issues and global affairs, but not necessarily sensitive to religious and denominational diversity. They prefer medium to large size churches that have sufficient financial and volunteer resources to sustain ministries, and therefore will not need to depend too much on their money and time.
B10-page 3 C12-page 3 Relevant Ministry Choices: Leadership Hospitality Enabler, CEO The senior pastor is usually a veteran minister. He or she has been trained in established seminaries of the denomination and ordained for a number of years. The pastor has climbed the career ladder and has a solid reputation with the denomination. He or she understands parliamentary procedure, builds consensus, shepherds committees and task groups, and facilitates nominations for lay leadership. The pastor is a capable preacher. More importantly, the pastor is approachable, personable, and available in any crisis or emergency. He or she is a capable and fiscally conservative administrator. The church manages a variety of midweek programs for members, and the pastor is expected to coordinate a community center. Multiple Choices, Healthy Choices Hospitality is comfortable, but not opulent. People in this segment lead understated lifestyles, but their clothes have designer labels and they drive luxury cars. Provide extra-wide parking spaces that are well illuminated, and also a covered drop-off entrance. Everything is accessible and directions are clear. Greeters should be rotated frequently and provide warm welcomes. The Welcome Center should provide abundant print information about the church, but also about community social services. Provide a variety of refreshments, and designate a special serving station for sugarfree choices. Provide hot and cold drinks, but avoid anything "instant". Coffee and cream may be flavored, but don't bother with espresso. Homemade cooking is often appreciated, provided that it is high quality and labeled to prevent allergic reactions. Serve refreshments before, during, and after worship to encourage people to linger. Provide spare umbrellas, and deploy volunteers after worship to assist people returning to their vehicles. Leadership The pastor's spouse is expected to be a "helpmate", and the pastor's family is expected to model traditional virtues and honor traditional beliefs. Hospitality Staff should always mingle during refreshments, and the church secretary should make a point of taking notes to serve as reminders for the pastor during the week.
C12-page 4 Relevant Ministry Choices: Worship Inspirational or Care-Giving, Educational All worship will be "traditional" in the sense that familiar prayers, hymns, rites, and symbols are in keeping with denominational heritage. Prayers are often didactic, and sermons exposit scripture or explain doctrine against the backdrop of current events. Worship leaders are usually robed, and music is routinely accompanied by organ or piano. There is a strong educational point to worship, and participants listen attentively and occasionally take notes. If the church is under 200, the worship service will blend education with "Care-Giving". Allow periods of awesome silence and meditation, include longer intercessory prayers for individual members and their families, and extend rituals of "Passing the Peace" and welcoming guests. If the church is over 200 (which is preferred by most people in this segment), then worship will blend education with "Inspiration". Choirs offer more anthems, and other instruments (usually classical strings and occasional acoustical guitars) will be incorporated in the service. Preaching will focus on a single point and be more motivational. Eucharist will be more dramatic. The order of service will move along and avoid awkward silences. Worship rarely extends over an hour. Video technology in the sanctuary may be resisted, but it is becoming increasingly common. However, use it primarily to provide words, rather than images or movie clips. Use it sparingly because people may find it more of a distraction than a help. Education Curricular, Topical, Peer Group People in this lifestyle segment usually started attending Sunday school as children, and continue today. The timing, structure, and content of Sunday school are usually reminiscent of the 1960's when established churches peaked in North America. They prefer Sunday school to be before or in between worship services. Use a print curriculum, preferably one that is produced or endorsed by the denomination. Churches that reach this segment (like those that reach their Aging of Aquarius C11 counterparts) are often notable for the "missing middle" of 30-40 year olds. Their grandchildren may attend, and the "Children's Story" is often a highlight in the worship service. The nursery may be basic and little used. Sunday school for K - 6th grade is generationally structured if the church is large enough, but often classes are a mix of children of various ages. Adult Sunday school classes are often well supported. Groups often stay together in the same class for years, and choose their own book or Bible studies. Teachers are sometimes rotated, but often the teacher is a beloved or highly respected senior member of the church. Each class has a unique group personality. Classes may be seasonal, and participants may be absent as they travel to visit relatives. Education People in this segment believe that the youth should be the future of the church, and are frustrated that youth do not attend. However, their fiscal conservatism and anxiety about innovation often blocks their efforts to sustain youth groups for any period of time.
C12-page 5 Relevant Ministry Choices: Worship Outreach Continued... Music is very important, and people in this lifestyle segment are open to many genres and instrumentations. Choirs and bands are both welcome, and music directors need to be versatile and professional. Worship rarely extends over an hour. Video technology in the sanctuary may be resisted, but it is becoming increasingly common. However, use it primarily to provide words, rather than images or movie clips. Use it sparingly because people may find it more of a distraction than a help. Music is very important, and people in this lifestyle segment are open to many genres and instrumentations. Choirs and bands are both welcome, and music directors need to be versatile and professional. Worship Worship is expected to be comfortable and predictable. The service should clearly reflect denominational heritage. People in this lifestyle segment can often be quite opinionated about worship, and compare worship elements and leaders with other churches "back home" or elsewhere in the denomination. For Themselves: Interpersonal Relationships, Health For Others: Human Potential, Quality of Life As the name implies, Golf Carts and Gourmets tend to be self-absorbed and not particularly externally focused. Mission is shaped around their lifestyles, and not vice versa. However, they are highly motivated to support any ministry that develops human potential... especially among children and young adults. They strongly support Sunday schools, Vacation Bible Schools, Christian Day Care, and missions that raise the standards of living for families with young children. People in this lifestyle segment can be extraordinarily compassionate and sacrificial toward victims of abuse. These people also support "depot" ministries that gather food, clothing, furniture, and other essentials for distribution. They will dedicate space in the building for storage, and volunteer in shifts to interact with the public. They cooperate readily with municipal emergency and law enforcement services. For themselves, people in this lifestyle segment appreciate outreach ministries that help them acquire, deepen, and sustain personal friendships. They may also participate in marriage enrichment programs. Travel venues that build relationships are popular (bus trips, cruises, casino nights, etc.). They consider large group events at the church as a form of outreach to which they can invite friends and mingle with other seniors (e.g. dances, pot luck dinners, travelogues, bingo, etc.)
C12-page 6 Relevant Ministry Choices: Small Group Outreach Rotated Leaders, Curriculum People in this lifestyle segment appreciate midweek small groups that combine fellowship and study (and in that order of importance). Group relationships can be very deep, and people tend to stay in the same small group for an extended period of time. Groups may be seasonal, and individuals and couples visit family over holidays or travel in winter or summer. They usually prefer to study a print resource (book, Bible study, or workbook) that is recommended by the pastor or a member of the group. Reading and discussion are essential, but additional media is used occasionally. Outreach Volunteers tend to disappear during Advent and Christmas, Holy Week, and Thanksgiving; and for several weeks in the fall or summer (to head north to view the colors or escape heat and storms). Plan ahead to staff outreach ministries at these times when the public need is actually great. The host or hostess is very important, and may be trained in hospitality. However, the leadership for prayer and study is usually rotated among participants. Groups may be coordinated by program staff, but the accountability of group leaders to the pastor or staff regarding core values and beliefs is often vague. The interlocking relationships of group members may make it difficult to shape behavior, and participants are more likely to simply leave a group than challenge its behavior. Small Group The single, most essential, core value of a small group is harmony. It is more important that group meetings encourage a sense of belonging, than have group members practice spiritual habits. Training for spiritual life is enhanced by modeling behavior rather than direct teaching.
C12-page 7 Relevant Institutional Strategies: Property and Technology Stewardship/Financial Management Ecclesiastical, Christendom, Modern Golf Cars and Gourmets regard property as an important way to maintain continuity with the past and their past in particular. They tend to have set assumptions about what a church should look like inside and outside, based on experiences from their own childhoods. If the building is destroyed by fire or storm, they are likely to rebuild it exactly as it stood previously. The architecture is usually 19th century ecclesiastical, although it may be designed in older historical patterns. Interior and exterior symbols will be classic Christendom. Technologies will be in keeping with 19th and early 20th century norms. Organs (preferably pipe organs) will be the primary instrument of worship. Pews are preferred over flexible "Cathedral Chair" seating, although they are usually padded and provide plenty of space for wheelchairs and walkers. Chancel, pulpit, table, and font are also traditional... usually of stone or hardwood than metal or plastic. The sanctuary must have an excellent sound system, but is usually devoid of LCD screens and projectors. Lighting is adjustable, and candles are often used to create an environment of quiet meditation.. Unified Budgets, Informed Philanthropy People in this lifestyle segment instinctively trust the church institution (although this may be weakening as denominations address controversial public policy issues). They prefer an uncluttered but detailed budget, and at most they will give to only two or three distinct funds (operations, memorials, and missions). They trust church staff and church boards to use the money wisely. This means that the nominations process is vital to them, and the Finance Committee in particular is a crucial power center of the church. They prefer traditional fall stewardship campaigns. These may be a bit later than usual (November) when they are more likely to be home. They appreciate a personal visit by one or two church leaders in their home, and want to see detailed information about budgets, balances, and strategic plans. They are fiscally very conservative, and do not want to waste money on overhead. Since much of the unified budget is about personnel costs and property maintenance, these will be scrutinized carefully. People in this lifestyle segment are often critical of personnel costs (especially personnel vacations, continuing education funds, and book allowances). They also prefer to maintain large financial reserves. Some people in this group have a history of tithing, and most are committed to percentage giving. They want a careful record of their charitable giving for their tax returns. They can make very generous one-time donations when they are convinced that a capital campaign is justified.
C12-page 8 Relevant Institutional Strategies: Property and Technology Although worship is often presentational, and classic Christendom music is performed with excellence by professional musicians, people in this lifestyle segment are usually very anxious that worship is not "entertainment". Gowns/robes, media, and symbols create a dramatic impression of "holy" space as opposed to "profane culture". Stewardship/Financial Mgmt. People in this lifestyle segment often affirm that, in general, people deserve what they get... and the corollary is that they deserve what they have. Successful stewardship campaigns always appeal to their sense of duty; and successful capital campaigns always awaken their compassion for the next generation. Communication Print, Telephone, Gatherings The internet is foreign to most of these people. They probably do not use email or participate in social networks. If the church has a website, it is primarily another form of advertising. People in this lifestyle segment share and receive information via printed newsletters (newspapers, magazines, and books), and through the telephone. Some will use mobile phones (although they will not use all the features for "Smart Phones"). Most rely on traditional telephones. They rely on "telephone trees" for prayer concerns, and appreciate reminders by phone about important meetings or coming events. Communication People in this segment prefer to talk with real people, not machines. The church secretary must be trained well in telephone communication to be friendly and non-bureaucratic as well as efficient; and to carefully guard against gossip and restate principles of confidentiality. Resources: Download MissionInsite s Impressions Report for your mission field through http://www.missioninsite.com (Predefined Reports) Really Relevant (and) Always Faithful: How Churches and Ministries Target Mission In An Explosion of Diversity by Thomas G. Bandy (Available through Amazon) Download the MOSAIC Guide from Experian Explore the Interactive MOSAIC Guide from Experian