I’ve been a student of Guest Experiences for quite a while now – from serving on 3 church staffs for over 23 years to being a consultant for a church design-build company for over 8 years and then as Guest Experience Navigator at Auxano from 2012-2025. But it goes back further: my passion for Guest Experiences was profoundly influenced by my father – I grew up literally watching a master at making “customers” feel special.

Along the way, I’ve been collecting books that are helpful in understanding Guest Experiences in the church. The following list is in no particular order, other than the initial Top Twenty. The list, however, contains my most recent additions at the bottom.

If you have books or other resources that you would recommend, please leave a comment below.

Top Twenty

• First Impressions (revised), Mark Waltz
• Lasting Impressions (revised), Mark Waltz
• How to Wow Your Church Guests, Mark Waltz
• Outside In, Harley Manning and Kerry Bodine
• Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service, Revised, Disney Institute
• The Starbucks Experience, Joseph Michelli
• Change by Design, Tim Brown
• This Is Service Design Thinking, Marc Stickdorn, Jakob Schneider
• Designing for Growth, Jeanne Liedtka and Tim Ogilvie
• Exceptional Service, Exceptional Profit, Leonardo Inghilleri, Micah Solomon
• Setting the Table: The Transforming Art of Hospitality in Business, Danny Meyer
• The Wonderful World of Customer Service at Disney, J. Jeff Kober
• Disney U, Doug Lipp
• The Customer Culture Imperative, Linden Brown and Chris Brown
• The Experience, Bruce Loeffler
• Service Design for Business: A Practical Guide for Optimizing the Customer Experience, Ben Reason
• More is More, Blake Morgan
• People Are The Mission, Danny Franks
• The Come Back Effect, Jason Young
• Customer Understanding, Annette Franz

The Rest of the List

• Creating Magic, Lee Cockerell
• Inside the Magic Kingdom, Tom Connellan
• Lessons from the Mouse, Dennis Snow
• Lead With Your Customer, David Jones and Jeff Kober
• The Experience Economy, Updated Edition, Joseph Pine and James Gilmore
• Judgment on the Front Line, Christopher Rose and Noel Tichy
• The New Gold Standard, Joseph Michelli
• The Zappos Experience, Joseph Michelli
• The Apple Experience, Carmine Gallo
• The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence, Robert Spector
• The Nordstrom Way to Customer Service Excellence, Revised, Robert Spector
• Shopportunity: How to be a Retail Revolutionary, Kate Newlin
• Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the New Consumer, Michael J. Silverstein
• Trading Up, Michael J. Silverstein
• Call of the Mall, Paco Underhill
• Why We Buy, Paco Underhill
• Secret Service, John Dijulius
• Beyond the First Visit, Gary L. McIntosh
• Chocolates on the Pillow Aren’t Enough, Jonathan Tisch
• The Gift of Hospitality, Delia Halverson
• Making Room, Christine Pohl
• The Study Guide to Making Room, Christine Pohl
• The Mystery Shopper’s Manual, Cathy Stucker
• Mystery Shopping Made Simple, Ilisha Newhouse
• Blink, Malcolm Gladwell
• Jim & Casper Go to Church, Jim Henderson & Matt Casper
• The Five Star Church, Stan Toler, Alan Nelson
• The Disney Way, Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson
• The Disney Way Fieldbook, Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson
• Shopping for God, James B. Twitchell
• Feeding the Flock, Russell Chandler
• The New Gold Standard, Joseph Michelli
• Fusion, Nelson Searcy
• Built to Serve, Dan Sanders
• Delivering Happiness, Tony Hsieh
• See What I’m Saying: The Extraordinary Powers of our Senses, Lawrence Rosenblum
• Brand Sense, Martin Lindstrom
• Buyology, Martin Lindstrom
• Delivering Knock Your Socks Off Service, Performance Research Associates
• A Carrot a Day, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
• The Orange Revolution, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
• The Carrot Principle, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
• Clued In, Lewis Carbone
• High-Tech, High Touch Customer Service, Micah Solomon
• The Amazement Revolution, Shep Hyken
• Unleashing Excellence, Dennis Snow and Teri Yanovitch
• We, Steve Yastrow
• The Great Good Place, Ray Oldenburg
• Celebrating the Third Place, Ray Oldenburg
• Brand Harmony, Steve Yastrow
• Radical Hospitality, Robert Schnase
• Customer Mania, Ken Blanchard
• Raving Fans, Ken Blanchard
• Hug Your Customers, Jack Mitchell
• Customer Intimacy, Fred Wiersema
• Brilliance by Design, Vicki Halsey
• Uplifting Service, Ron Kaufman
• One Minute Service, Bruce Loeffler
• Encounters at the Counter, Alan Johnson
• 52 Ways to Ignite Your Congregation, Randy Hammer
• The Wayfinding Handbook, David Gibson
• Uncommon Service, Frances Frei, Anne Morriss
• The Loyalty Leap, Bryan Pearson
• @ Your Service, Frank Eliason
• The DNA of Customer Experience, Colin Shaw
• Chief Customer Officer, Jeanne Bliss
• I Love You More Than My Dog, Jeanne Bliss
• How to Be Like Walt, Pat Williams
• The Purple Goldfish: How to Win Customers, Stan Phelps
• What’s Your Green Goldfish: 15 Ways to Drive Employee Engagement, Stan Phelps
• Revolutionize Your Customer Experience, Colin Shaw
• Building Great Customer Experiences, Colin Shaw and John Ivens
• Re-imagine, Tom Peters
• Design Like Apple, John Edson
• Discovering the Soul of Service, Leonard Berry
• Magnetic Service, Chip Bell and Bilijack Bell
• Take Their Breath Away, Chip Bell
• Wired and Dangerous, Chip Bell
• Moments of Truth, Jan Carlzon
• Insanely Simple, Ken Segall
• All In, Adrian Gostick and Chester Elton
• 100 Things Every Designer Needs to Know About People, Susan Weinschenk
• Service Magic, Chip Bell
• The Hidden Power of Your Customers, Becky Carroll
• 101 Design Methods, Vijay Kumar
• Employee Engagement, Pete Blank
• Service Failure, Jeff Toister
• Fearless Front Line, Ray Attiyah
• Create Distinction, Scott McKain
• The Customer Rules, Lee Cockerell
• Even Monkeys Fall From Trees, Doug Lipp
• The Changing Face of Today’s Customer, Doug Lipp
• The Church Mouse: Leadership Lessons from the Magic Kingdom, Chris Perry
• The Ten Principles Behind Great Customer Experiences, Matt Watkinson
• Amaze Every Customer Every Time, Shep Hyken
• Managing Quality Service in Hospitality, Robert Ford, Michael Sturman, Cherrill Heaton
• Delight Your Customers, Steve Curtin
• Crafting the Customer Experience for People Not Like You, Kelly McDonald
• The Customer Experience Revolution, Jeofrey Bean, Sean Van Tyne
• Driving Loyalty, Kirk Kazanjian
• Fabled Service, Betsy Sanders
• What’s the Future of Business, Brian Solis
• Extreme Trust, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers
• Infinite Possibility, Joseph Pine and Kim Korn
• Designing Disney, John Hench
• Dream It, Do It, Marty Sklar
• Lessons in Loyalty, Lorraine Grubbs-West
• The Designful Company, Marty Neumeier
• Metaskills, Marty Neumeier
• Hatch!, C. McNair Wilson
• In Service to the Mouse, Jack Lindquist
• Spinning Disney’s World, Charles Ridgway
• Building a Company, Bob Thomas
• If Disney Ran Your Hospital, Fred Lee
• The Southwest Way, Jody Gittell
• The Wonderful world of Customer Service, J. Jeff Kober
• Leading the Starbucks Way, Joseph Michelli
• The Hospitality Commands, Alexander Strauch
• Practicing Hospitality, Pat Ennis and Lisa Tatlock
• Tribal Knowledge, John Moore
• Moments of Impact, Chris Ertel
• ZAG, Marty Neumeier
• The Brand Gap, Marty Neumeier
• Solving Problems with Design Thinking, Jeanne Liedtka, Andrew King, and Kevin Bennett
• Rotman on Design, edited by Roger Martin and Karen Christensen
• Rise of the DEO, Maria Giudice and Christopher Ireland
• Why Nobody Goes to Church Anymore, Thom and Joani Schultz
• Creative Confidence, Tom and David Kelley
• The Cult of the Customer, Shep Hyken
• One From Many, Dee Hock
• The 9 1/2 Principles of Innovative Service, Chip Bell
• Introduction to Hospitality, 6th Ed., John R. Walker
• Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, Gary Vaynerchuk
• Since the World Began, Jeff Kurtti
• What Great Brands Do, Denise Yohn
• Everything by Design, Alan Lapidus
• Brand EsSense, Neil Gains
• Design for Growth Field Book, Jeanne Liedtka
• Everything Connects, Faisal Hoque
• Wired to Care, Dev Patnaik
• Customer Driven Change, Bud Taylor
• Willie’s Way, Phillip Van Hooser
• All Business is Show Business, Scott McKain
• Every Guest is a Hero, Adam Berger
• The Immersive Worlds Handbook, Scott Lukas
• Power and Paradise in Walt Disney’s World, Cher Knight
• Creativity Inc, Ed Catmull and Amy Wallace
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: From Show Biz to Your Biz, J. Jeff Kober
• Who’s the Leader of the Club? Walt Disney’s Leadership Lessons, Jim Korkis
• Legendary Service, Ken Blanchard, Cathy Cuff, Vicki Halsey
• Moments of Magic, Shep Hyken
• 7 Tenets of Taxi Terry, Scott McKain
• What Customers Really Want, Scott McKain
• Simple Truths of Service, Ken Blanchard
• Hardwiring Excellence, Quint Studer
• Baptist Healthcare Journey to Excellence, Al Stubblefield
• POP! Stand Out in Any Crowd, Sam Horn
• The 46 Rules of Genius, Marty Neumeier
• The Celebrity Experience, Donna Cutting
• The Fred Factor, Mark Sanborn
• Unwelcome: 50 Ways Churches Drive Away Guests, Jonathan Malm
• Value Proposition Design, Alexander Osterwalder
• From Tablet to Table, Leonard Sweet
• Sprinkles, Chip Bell
• Customer Experience for Dummies, Roy Barnes
• Hooked on Customers, Robert G. Thompson
• Service Innovation Handbook, Lucy Kimbell
• Evergreen, Noah Fleming
• Dare to Serve, Cheryl Bachelder
• Customers Included, Mark Hurst
• Be Your Customer’s Hero, Adam Toporek
• Zombie Loyalists, Peter Shankman
• Time Management Magic, Lee Cockerell
• Brainstorm, Don Hahn
• Quotable Walt Disney, Disney Book Group
• The Harry Experience, Garion Bunn
• The $6,000 Egg, Deb & Todd Duncan
• Culture of Yes: Practices and Principles of Great Hospitality, Micah Solomon
• The Brand Flip: Why Customers Now Run Companies, Marty Neumeier
• One Little Spark: Mickey’s Ten Commandments and the Road to Imagineering, Marty Sklar
• X: The Experience When Business Meets Design, Brian Solis
• Lessons from the Castle, Scott Hammerle
• It’s My Pleasure, Dee Ann Turner
• From Jungle Cruise Skipper to Disney Legend, Sully Sullivan
• Up Your Service! Action Steps, Ron Kaufman
• Up Your Service! Great Ideas, Ron Kaufman
• Up Your Service! New Insights, Ron Kaufman
• It’s All About the Guest, Steve Difillippo
• Walt’s Revolution: By the Numbers, Buzz Price
• 501 Ways to Roll Out the Red Carpet for Your Customers, Donna Cutting
• Tony Baxter: First of the Second Generation of Imagineers, Tim O’Brien
• Small Data: The Tiny Clues That Uncover Huge Trends, Martin Lindstrom
• Service Design for Business: A Practical Guide for Optimizing the Customer Experience, Ben Reason
• Driven to Delight, Joseph Michelli
• Illuminate: Ignite Change Through Speeches, Stories, Ceremonies, and Symbols, Nancy Duarte
• Faith and The Magic Kingdom, Randy Crane
• Theme Park Design and The Art of Themed Entertainment, David Younger
• The Disney Way, 3rd Edition, Bill Capodagli and Lynn Jackson
• The Imagineering Pyramid, Louis Prosperi
• Mapping Experiences, James Kalbach
• Customer Experience, Don Peppers
• The Cornell School of Hotel Administration on Hospitality, Michael C. Sturman
• Your Customer is the Star, Micah Solomon
• Customer Experience Rules, Jeofrey Bean
• Wisdom of Walt, Jeffrey Barnes
• The Disney Apprentice, Church Shields
• Three Years in Wonderland, Todd Pierce
• Think Simple, Ken Segall
• Gamestorming, Dave Gray and Sunni Brown
• Show and Tell, Dan Roam
• The Spirit to Serve, J. Willard Marriott
• Without Reservations, J. Willard Marriott
• Four Seasons, Isadore Sharp
• Be My Guest, Conrad Hilton
• The Volunteer Project, Darren Kizer
• Work Clean, Dan Charnas
• O Great One, David Novak
• Draw to Win, Dan Roam
• Sous Chef, Michael Gibney
• More Secret Stories of Walt Disney World, Jim Korkis
• The Walt Disney Studios, Disney Editions
• The Heart of Hospitality, Micah Solomon
• Career Magic, Lee Cockerell
• Maps of the Disney Parks, Vanessa Hunt
• Walt’s Words, Jim Korkis
• Disney A to Z, Dave Smith
• Woo, Wow, and Win, Thomas Stewart
• The Customer Loyalty Loop, Noah Fleming
• The Attention Merchants, Tim Wu
• The Attention Economy, Thomas Davenport
• Customer Experience is the Brand, Alex Allwood
• The Disney Difference, Wayne Olson
• Servicetopia, Jason Young
• The Simplest Way to Change the World, Dustin Willis
• The Intuitive Customer, Colin Shaw
• What Customers Crave, Nicholas Webb
• Soar, Shashank Nigam
• Services Management, Jay Kandampully
• Disney Demystified, David Mumpower
• The Simple Truths of Service, Ken Blanchard and Barbara Glanz
• Design a Better Business, Patrick van der Pijl et al
• Creative Change, Jennifer Mueller
• Secret Sauce, Harry Mills
• The Service Culture Handbook, Jeff Toister
• Disney Pirates, Michael Singer
• Culture Hacker, Shane Green
• Customer Experience Strategy, Maurice FitzGerald
• The Butler Experience, Brian Rowland
• Lessons in Service, Charlie Trotter
• Remarkable Service, Culinary Institute of America
• How to Wow, Adrian Swinscoe
• Digital Sense, Travis Wright
• On Purpose, Shaun Smith
• Igniting Customer Connections, Andrew Frawley
• Going Deep and Wide, Andy Stanley
• Extra Mile, Tycho Press
• Jack of All Trades, Paul F. Anderson
• Inside the Disney Marketing Machine, Lorraine Santoli
• The Sorcerer’s Brother, Scott Madden
• Uncommon Practice, Shaun Smith
• On the Line, Eric Ripert
• Terrific Five-Star Customer Service, Stan Toler
• Remarkable, David Salyers
• The Disney Story, Aaron Goldberg
• Beyond the Castle, Jody Dreyer
• Winning at Social Customer Care, Dan Gingiss
• The Power of Moments, Chip and Dan Heath
• Beyond the Wisdom of Walt, Jeffrey Barnes
• Clip In: Risking Hospitality in Your Church, Fiona Haworth
• Called to Create, Jordan Raynor
• Bread and Wine, Shauna Niequist
• Yesterday’s Tomorrow, Don Hahn
• The Fortune Cookie Principle, Bernadette Jiwa
• #Custserv – The Customer Service Culture, Dennis Gilbert
• The Six Principles of Service Excellence, Theo Gilbert-Jamison
• The Shape of Engagement, Scott Gould
• Design is Storytelling, Ellen Lupton
• Whoever Tells the Best Story Wins, Annette Simmons
• Star Quality Experience, Monica Or
• Fusion (revised edition), Nelson Searcy
• This is Service Design Doing, Marc Stickdorn
• People Are the Mission, Danny Franks
• Becoming a Welcoming Church, Thom Rainer
• We Want You Here, Thom Rainer
• Care Like a Mouse, Lenn Millbower
• Fusion: Turning First Time Guests into Fully Engaged Members (revised), Nelson Searcy
• Smart Compassion, Wesley Furlong
• Smart Compassion Handbook, Wesley Furlong
• The New People Next Door, Drew Taylor and Rhett Burns
• The Gospel Next Door, Marty Troyer
• The Welcoming Congregation, Henry G. Brinton
• Ignore Your Customers (And They’ll Go Away), Michael Solomon
• Insperience, Brian Church
• Eating Your Way Through Luke’s Gospel, Robert Karris
• A Meal with Jesus, Tim Chester
• The Turquoise Table, Kristin Schell
• Christian Hospitality, Josh Hunt
• Never Loose a Customer Again, Joey Coleman
• The Excellence Dividend, Tom Peters
• Orchestrating Experiences, Chris Risdon and Patrick Quattlebaum
• Design is Storytelling, Ellen Lupton
• The Imagineering Process, Louis Prosperi
• Captivate: The Science of Succeeding with People, Vanessa Van Edwards
• Customer Experience Management Rebooted, Steven Walden
• Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great, Carmine Gallo
• The Field Guide to Human-Centered Design, IDEO
• Innovating for People, LUMA Institute
• An Introduction to Service Design, Lara Penin
• Managing the Customer Experience, Shaun Smith
• The Effortless Experience, Matthew Dixon
• Design Thinking for the Greater Good, Jeanne Liedtka
• Innovation by Design, Thomas Lockwood
• The Employee Experience Advantage, Jacob Morgan
• The Future of Work, Jacob Morgan
• The Virtual Culture, Bryan Miles
• Build An A Team, Whitney Johnson
• Customer-Driven Transformation, Joe Heapy
• Walt Disney’s Railroad Story, Michael Broggie
• Design for Strengths, John Coyle
• Growth IQ, Tiffani Bova
• CAD Monkeys, Dinosaur Babies, and T-Shaped People, Warren Berger
• The Book of Beautiful Questions, Warren Berger
• Disney’s Secret Sauce, Mary Flynn
• Find Your Yellow Tux, Jesse Cole
• Disney, Leadership, and You, Jeff Kober
• The Convenience Revolution, Shep Hyken
• Zingerman’s Guide to Giving Great Service, Ari Weinzweig
• Get Their Name, Bob Farr
• The Hospitable Leader, Terry A. Smith
• Experience Thinking, Tedde Van Gelderen
• The Six Principles of Service Excellence, Theo Gilbert-Jamison
• Is Everybody Happy?, Scott Overcarsh
• Unlearn, Barry O’Reilly
• The Laws of Brand Storytelling, Ekaterina Walter
• Lead with Your Customer, 2nd Edition, Mark David Jones
• Service Design Principles, Daniele Catalanotto
• #CustServ The Customer Service Culture, Dennis Gilber
• Change by Design, Revised and Updated, Tim Brown
• Star Quality Experience, Monica Or
• Excellence Wins, Horst Schulze
• WOW Moments, Mark Kent
• Creating a Customer-Centered Culture, Robin Lawton
• Digital Guest Experience, Björn Radde
• The Snowball System, Mo Bunnell
• The Power of Presence, Kristi Hedge
• Listen or Die, Sean McDade
• Checking In, Stephen Cloobeck
• Getting Service Right, Jeff Toister
• Worlds of Wonder: Experience Design for Curious People, Erik Bäck
• Entrepreneurship the Disney Way, Michael Goldsby
• Million Dollar Greeting, Dan Sachs
• Leading Loyalty, Sandy Rogers, Leena Rinne, Shawn Moon
• Covert Cows, Steve Robinson
• On Looking, Alexandra Horowitz
• The Art of Noticing, Rob Walker
• The Age of Intent, P.V. Kannan
• Hospitality Ministry Handbook, Greg Atkinson
• Making the Customer Experience Magical Now!, John Formica
• Cleaning the Kingdom: Night, Day, Past and Present, Ken Pellman
• The Renegade Server, Tim Kirkland
• Fire Them Up, Carmine Gallo
• Bet On Talent, Dee Ann Turner
• Customer Understanding, Annette Franz
• The Ride of a Lifetime, Robert Iger
• Creative Courage, Welby Altidor
• Table Grace, Douglas Webster
• The Airbnb Way, Joseph Michelli
• The Customer of the Future, Blake Morgan
• Travels with Figment: On the Road in Search of Disney Dreams, Marty Sklar
• Lead Like Walt, Pat Williams
• Designing Experiences, Robert Rossman
• Yes is the Answer! What is the Question?, Cameron Mitchell
• The Art of Hospitality: A Practical Guide for a Ministry of Welcome, Debi Nixon & Yvonne Gentile
• Ignore Your Customers and They’ll Go Away, Micah Solomon
• The Convenience Revolution, Shep Hyken
• User Friendly, Cliff Kuang
• Beyond the Prototype, Douglas Ferguson
• Fanocracy: Turning Fans into Customers and Customers into Fans, David Scott Meerman
• Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen, Dan Heath
• Hospitality and The Holy Spirit, Denise Maiatico
• Biblical Hospitality, David Gudgel
• God’s Welcome: Hospitality for a Gospel-Hungry World, Amy Oden
• Come to My Table, Sue Moore Donaldson
• And You Welcomed Me, Amy Oden
• Passionate Hoteliers, Abdin Nasralla
• The Curated Experience, Amas Tenumah
• Full Spectrum Thinking, Bob Johansen
• We Will Feast: Rethinking Dinner, Worship, and the Community of God, Kendall Vanderslice
• This is God’s Table, Anna Woofenden
• Maybe I Can Love My Neighbor, Too, Jennifer Grant
• How to Love Your Neighbor Without Being Weird, Amy Lively
• The Economics of Neighborly Love, Tom Nelson
• How Should I Exercise Hospitality, Rebecca VanDoodewaard
• Widening the Welcome of Your Church, Fred Bernhard
• Plunging into the Kingdom Way, Tim Dickau
• The Church of Irresistible Influence, Robert Lewis
• The Art of Hospitality Companion Book, Debi Nixon
• The Art of Hospitality Implementation Guide, Yvonne Gentile & Debi Nixon
• Service is a Superpower, Louie Gravance
• 12 Golden Keys to Hospitality Excellence, F.H. Benzakour
• Create WOW Customer Experiences, Scott Harris
• Choice Hacking, Jennifer Clinehens
• The Volunteer Effect, Jason Young and Jonathan Malm
• Humanocracy, Gary Hamel and Michael Zanini
• Inside Your Customer’s Imagination, Chip Bell
• The Experience Mindset, Tiffani Bova
• Experience Design, Abraham Burickson
• The Experience-centric Organization, Clatworthy
• Gather, Binder