Curriculum Pick Up Streamlined

The month of October was another big step in working towards our Daring Faith goal of interconnecting our growing fellowship through technology—this time in collaboration with Pastor Rick’s newest small group study, 40 Days of Prayer.

The inspiring, all-campus campaign included small group curriculum complete with video lessons, discovery questions, prayer journals, daily devotions, key verses, and tools to put prayer into practice. To streamline the pick-up process of preordered materials, our web team integrated QR codes (Quick Response Codes) for the first time in campaign history.

Functioning as a barcode, each QR code contained information related to small group materials for fast tracking and item identification. The idea came about as a means to organize the distribution of 50,000 guides across 14 campuses.

Leading up to the October campaign, the web team researched viable options that would eliminate the purchase of tablets, scanners, and other costly technology. Although QR Codes had previously been used at Saddleback Church to access content, this was the first time it was integrated as part of a live interaction at Connection Centers and Saddleback Bookstores.

According to Campus Groups Development Pastor, Jason Williams, “We emailed all existing small group Hosts a customized link to register their members. The link guided them directly to a webpage where all their small group’s information was pre-populated. They simply clicked to respond and specify the number of study guides they would need for their group! It has significantly streamlining the process.” 

In addition to sending the “preorder” link by email, the web team also informed prospective Hosts through weekend flyers, Pastor Rick’s News & Views letter, and other promotional materials.

Once small group Hosts had registered for materials, they could simply bring their confirmation codes to the Connection Center or Bookstore. With help from volunteers, the QR codes were then scanned using a QR-code reader on their cell phones. Once the order was confirmed, the Hosts were given their 40 Days of Prayer Host kits and study guides for group members.

Through the week, 5,310 Hosts registered their groups using the system, and 4,300 people scanned their QR codes to retrieve study materials. Not only did the QR codes simplify the process, but they also helped track data, speed up pick-up time, reduce printing costs, and test the system for future implementation.

“Because QR codes are a phone-to-phone transaction, they’re not dependent on Wi-Fi coverage,” explains Jason. “That’s really important for our campuses that don’t have strong Wi-Fi coverage on the patio where the connection can get overloaded when hundreds of people are online all at once. Relying on personal cell phones also eliminates the need of paper and printing costs, and any external equipment.”

The trial run leading up to the big release took time, however, with several rounds of testing by campus pastors on all three stages—reservation, distribution, and pick up.  

According to Saddleback South Bay Pastor, Sam Yoon, “I really love the new system and it works so much better than other campaigns we’ve done before.”

Echoing those sentiments was Brandon Bathauer, Associate Pastor at Saddleback Irvine South. “All the campus leaders said it was the smoothest they've experienced and they loved the QR process.”

On the distribution end, Diane Chapman who is a long-time small groups volunteer at Saddleback San Clemente said, “I have done this for 12-15 other major distributions and this was the easiest by far. It was also a great bonding experience with the Hosts—to cheer and high five when they came through the receiving line with QR codes. A lot of joy happened! I especially liked being able to pull up the QR codes from the worksheet which made it easy to capture late or missed pick ups.”  

To register for your own copy of 40 Days of Prayer and pick up your materials through a generated QR code, click HERE. To learn more information about this life-changing series, visit www.saddleback.com/pray40.