Evangelism Coach International

God sovereignly brings visitors to your church.

They can fall in a variety of categories:

• Reached/Churched
• Reached/Unchurched
• Unreached /Churched
• Unreached / Unchurched

Source: Breaking the Missional Code, Ed Stetzer, David Putman

But once people are first welcomed into your church, and the service is over, then what? 

The need to build bridges - a conversion to the church.

I see a big difference between Latin Culture, African American Culture, and typical North American Suburban Culture.  In the latter, we see the death of sense of relational community. 

Growing up, my community had a pool and a dock (as it was waterfront).  My last subdivision — we only knew one neighbor.

When we were first married and moved to Chicago, we started attending an Assembly of God and went to a Sunday school class for married couples, and socializing after the class, we had lots of things in common with 3 other couples: newlywed transplants from another state.

Then the phone calls began to happen.

• “Hey, Tom had surgery, come over and play cards.”
• “Hey, let’s go to dinner.”
• “Hey, let’s have a cookout.”
• “Hey, what are you doing. Let’s watch a movie tonight.”

Pretty soon, three things began to happen as we spent time together.

(1) We felt connected to the local church.

(2) We developed deep and intimate friendships that are now 15 years old.

This got started because someone took the initiative to get us together and we met over a meal and played cards. An act of hospitality.

How to help visitors connect:

• If you have small groups, have leaders intentionally invite visitors to their small group
• Invite visitors to your home for lunch or dinner (don’t worry about dessert or a spotless house — I heard a story this week about a woman who made her sister use a restroom at a gas station because her house wasn’t ready to receive her sister — sure, it needs to be clean, but not perfect)
• Invite visitors out for a snack / lunch / dinner or something with a group from the church.
• If you prayed with the visitor after service, make a phone call during the week.

Let me ask you this?

What methods do you use to help visitors connect with your church?

Connect