Evangelism Coach

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What kind of impression do visitors get when they come into your church for the first time?  Every church thinks it’s friendly. 

But I and many others have experienced the fear factor of walking into an unknown place and knowing immediately that we don’t fit and are not really welcome to remain.  (Download: Avoiding First Time Visitor Nightmares.)

During my last book buying binge (to add to the six overloaded bookshelves on evangelism), I picked up two specifically on assimilating visitors, or how to welcome and help visitors join your church community.

The first one I have already finished.  Gary McIntosh’s Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church.  (Click image or link to order yours direct from Amazon).

The cover promises to offer the reader a complete guide to church hospitality, and is written by well know church growth scholar Gary McIntosh.

Get Visitors To Church

If you have NEVER picked up a book on welcoming visitors, this can be a helpful introduction. 

This book does have some strengths in looking at the visitor flow of your church. 

1. Attracting Visitors — Getting them to come.
2. Welcoming Visitors — The art of Hospitality, dealing with first impressions and service.

But there are better books on the market (a preview of what I’m reading now — I’m really jazzed about it). 

How do YOU welcome a visitor

McIntosth begins with reminder of how important it is for churches to welcome the visitors that come. 

He asks: How do you react differently between a guest and a visitor? 

A guest is invited, expected, and thus you make sure the house is clean and in order. 

A visitor shows up unexpectedly, uninvited, and typically when you’re doing laundry or dressed in your painting clothes.

McIntosh encourages the church to think through how it welcomes guests, to review what it thinks about guests, and to encourage churches to see themselves through the eyes of a guest.

In the 2nd chapter, he reminds of how to be a great host.  Welcoming guests doesn’t happen accidentally, but on purpose with some careful planning and attention to the process (which is where a consultant can help you). 

He cites research from the 80s that churches need to keep 25 to 30 percent of their first time visitors to grow rapidly, while churches that only keep 5 to 8 percent will decline. 

Assuming those numbers are still current, let’s settle on a average of 16%.  How many visitors does your church need to grow?

See what the visitor sees

What is the first impression of your parking lot, your building. 

Signage?  Check out these church signs I found of churches — what do they communicate?

Upkeep of the Building?  What does this communicate?

First impressions — Do visitors have a positive interaction with the people in the church?

Disappointments

Though McIntosh offers some excellent advice, most of it is clearly dated, and most of the supporting research is from the early 1990s.  Most all the footnotes cite citations before the year 1995, the majority of which stretch all the way back to the 70s.  I kept feeling like I was reading late 1980s church growth stuff all over again. 

Our society may have changed, but this book doesn’t have any current research to make sure those conclusions are still valid. 

I’ve read widely on assimilating visitors, and if you have as well, you’ll find this book disappointing. 

It has a throw away chapter about the emergent church that feels like an attempt at being current and not really relevant to the book.  A few times I had to persevere through rabbit trails that had very little to do with welcoming visitors (for example, a whole chapter on launching new ministries).

Order yours

Gary McIntosh’s Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church.  (Click image or link to order yours direct from Amazon).

Popularity: 33% [?]

Saturday, I attended Eric Hoey’s (photo to right, link goes to Eric’s Blog) workshop on Evangelism and Church growth at the Multi-Cultural Church Conference this past weekend in San Antonio. 

Among other things, Eric reminded our group about different styles of evangelism connected with your personality.  The material came from Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg.

Peter’s Confrontational Approach — Acts 2:22-41

If Peter was convinced he was right, there was almost no stopping him. He was direct, he was bold, and he was to the point. 

Many of you know Peter’s in your face approach.  Instead of complying, he defied.  Instead of being quiet, he proclaimed.  He was very direct. 

Eric told of a friend who would walk up to bikers outside a bar and say:

“Hey, How is it going?  Have you read your bible today?”

Paul’s Intellectual Approach — Acts 17:15-34

Paul was a thinker.  He wrote the awesome book of Romans.  He thought through how to present the gospel to Greeks, Jews, Romans, and others in a contextually appropriate way. 

His treatment of the Altar to the Unknown God at Athens is a testimony to one who can present a rational case, and debate philiosophers in a way that they want to know more.

CS Lewis might be a modern day example of this.  I am not.  I have a hard time reading a CS Lewis book beyond the first chapter because it is at such lofty heights that he writes.  Yet I know people who came to faith because of a little book called “Mere Christianity.”

Blind Man’s Testimonial Approach — John 9:1-15,25

This man, born blind, could only speak from his experience.  He confidently declared: “One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” That’s hard to argue with, isn’t it? 

Many folk can only talk about the radical change in the life that has happened since they started following Jesus.  They may not have the boldness like Peter, or the intellect to defend the rationality of faith like Paul, but what you have is a testimony of a changed life. 

You may not know all that you believe, but your life has been transformed and it’s worth talking about.

Matthew’s Relational Approach — Luke 5:27-29

Instead of inviting people to church right off the bat, Matthew invited fellow tax collectors and sinners to his home. 

Do you enjoy having people into your home, sharing a meal, and spending time in conversation? Many people will never be reached until someone takes the time to build that kind of closeness with them.

He was allowing himself to get close first and spend time outside of “the church.”

Samaritan Women’s Invitational Approach — John 4

When Jesus encountered this woman, and transformed her life, she ran back to town and started inviting people: Come and See. 

She immediately went to her town and brought her friends to the well to hear Jesus for themselves. This simple invitation resulted in His staying in their town for two days. Many of these men and women became His followers. 

Many people are excited about what God is doing in their church, and in their own life.  Instead of feeling confident about sharing their own faith story, they are eager to invite people to their church to see what God is doing and to hear others proclaiming the news.

Come and see, is a great invitation to give.

Dorcas’ Servant approach — Acts 9.

Gifts of Hospitality, the welcoming of strangers, acts of service to those in need are all viable forms of evangelism.  Its a tangible way of expressing the love of Jesus.

Closing comments

• Mark Mittleburg published a whole chapter excerpt from NavPress. 
• Order Becoming a Contagious Christian, Bill Hybels and Mark Mittleberg, direct from Amazon.

Eric wrapped up his session with a reminder about how to present the gospel simply using various gospel scripts, such as the bridge illustration, the moral ladder, do vs. done.

Let me ask you this?

What style do you see yourself fitting into best?

Popularity: 31% [?]

Check out this article about the impact a Maryland church is having in its community.

Church prays for passion for the lost.

McCready and 14 others began praying in January 2002 that God would give them a passion for the non-Christians in their community. In the ensuing six years, nearly 260 people have made professions of faith in Christ.

One of their core values is prayer.  Evangelism and prayer go hand in hand.  Prayer is what fuels their growth, and keeps their evangelistic passion high. 

Here are some other articles about Evangelism and Prayer:

• Ten Prayer Points For your Friends
• Prayer and Evangelism
• Ten Devotional Questions about Your Evangelism
• Three Verses on Prayer (in a book review article)
• Take a risk and pray.
• Prayer and Evangelism (Acronym to lead your prayer)
• HEART.
• Evangelism PAINS
• Martha Reese writes about how prayer shapes the growth of a church in  Unbinding the Gospel.

Popularity: 14% [?]

Some churches play hard to get!

• Websites don’t list any contact information
• Worship Service times are not on the telephone responder,
• Service hours are not on on a sign near the front door or on the road.

Here is one low-cost idea that you can use to help advertise your church and raise awareness in the community.

Print up business cards that are about the church — not a person or the pastor, but about the church.

Include items like service times, a phone number for the office, maybe a map, your website. 

Print them by the thousands for your members to give away.  My church in Richmond did this and I was giving away several each week or so to people that I’d see in line, customer service people in fast food joints, or people standing around pumping their gas.

Here is a sample from my church in Richmond.

• It features the church name.
• Worship times.
• And a map.

The back contains phone numbers and website information.

You can print these by the thousands for your members to give away.

People may not be comfortable talking about their faith, but many are excited to invite people to church.  This gives you a tool to put in the hands of your members to help them invite others.

Let me ask you this?

What kinds of invitation tools do you use?

Popularity: 67% [?]