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Assimilating Church Visitors: Beyond the First Visit

Last Updated: February 17, 2020 by EvangelismCoach

What kind of impression do visitors get when they come into your church for the first time?

Every church thinks it’s friendly.

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.

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’sbeyond1stVisit 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 if you are really familiar with the subject already.

How do YOU welcome a church 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 church 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?

An Excellent Primer on Church Hospitality

McIntosh’s book is a good general overview on church hospitality.

If you have not read a book on the subject and are just getting started, Beyond the First Visit could be a place to start.  If you have read other books on the subject, this one will seem really familiar.

The greatest strength in this book are the liberal statistics from lots of studies from the church growth era of the 80s and 90s.  Most all the footnotes citations come before the year 1995, the majority of which stretch all the way back to the 70s.  This book doesn’t have any current research to make sure those conclusions are still valid.

Most of these statistical sources are used often and I have several of them scattered around my website.

I did feel the book had some rabbit trails that deviated from the main message.  He included a chapter on the emergent church that feels like an attempt at being current and not really relevant to the book.  There was also a chapter on launching new ministries which seemed to be beyond the scope of the book’s title.

Order yours

beyond1stVisit

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).

You might like to read . . .

  • How do we measure the impact of church hospitality
  • The Vital Role of Church Greeters
  • Book Review Fusion Visitor Assimilation
Related posts:
Book Review: An Army of Ordinary People
Growing an Engaged Church
Help Church Visitors Make Connections
Review: Jesus Manifesto
Podcast: Expert Interivew on Church Hospitality - Little Things Mean Alot
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Originally Posted: May 5, 2008 Category: assimilation, Book Reviews, Church HospitalityTag: assimilation, Book Reviews, Hospitality, visitor assimilation, Welcome Church Visitors
Previous Post: « More Lousy Church Signs!!!
Next Post: Flowery Church Language Confuses Church Press Release Press Release »

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Fusion Visitor Assimilation says:
    June 9, 2008 at 6:44 am

    […] Note: I read Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church, Gary McIntosh (see my review at Assimilating Church Visitors- Beyond the First Visit).  […]

  2. You were a Church Visitor says:
    August 6, 2008 at 8:36 am

    […] Source: (Assimilating Church Visitors: Beyond the First Visit) […]

  3. What was your experience in being a Church Visitor «EvangelismCoach.org says:
    January 6, 2011 at 8:27 am

    […] welcome newcomers to church, we are demonstrating the gracious love and care of God (p. 12)Source: (Assimilating Church Visitors: Beyond the First Visit)Let me ask you this?How does your church welcome visitors?How do you personally welcome visitors?Do […]

  4. What church visitort assimilation rate do I need says:
    May 29, 2012 at 11:48 am

    […] Note: I read Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church, Gary McIntosh (see my review at Assimilating Church Visitors- Beyond the First Visit). […]

  5. Church Hospitalty and Greeting Visitors – Top 30 Posts says:
    August 31, 2012 at 6:48 am

    […] Assimilating Church Visitors: Beyond the First Visit […]

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