If you were the first time visitor in a church, would you want to be introduced publicly to a group of people you didn't know, hadn't met, and may not see again?
Your own answer to that question may give you a clue as why that is a bad idea.
God sovereignly brings visitors to your church. But once people are first welcomed into your church during their first visit, what happens when the service is over? How do you help your church visitor connect?
Healthy churches know that every church visitor is a gift from God.
But many churches do not have a well-designed visitor follow-up process that helps turn visitors into fully committed members.
Plan your church visitor follow-up strategy well.
If it was easy for me to drop out the back door of the local church, what can you do to help close that door? Here are 4 simple strategy steps
The best church visitor assimilation tool is not a visitor contact card. Nor is it a complicated data system, direct mail, automated emails, or even a free gift for your church visitors from the beautiful welcome center. Those things help, but they are not the most powerful assimilation tools. The best tool is ....
Getting Visitor Contact information is the first step towards your visitor followup, yet many churches fail at it. Listen to this expert on the subject describe different ways and what is the best way.
Thinking about redoing your church connection cards? They need updating and greater simplicity. Here are some examples and commentary on some church connection card templates you might want to consider
Churches that don't have a clear, simple and logical path for visitors to follow send out some conflicting messages! Members think they're a welcoming church, but the church guests experience something different.
The loving bonds of friendship that tie the church members together end up becoming barriers to those who'd like to elbow their way into the congregation! Read more. . . .
Make it easy for them, pastor.
Send your church visitors follow-up letters to invite them to the next step in helping your church visitor decide to come back.
Your letter will be a piece of the entire first impression. The question is, how useful is it for your guests who receive it?
After visiting 4 churches, here is what we observed.
We tried for 6 weeks to make friends at a church we thought we'd become a part of. Yet we could never seem to find how the way in.
One consistent question on church hospitality processes that I receive is how to follow up on your first time church visitors. Questions like: What are good thank you gifts for church visitors? How often should we contact visitors after their first visit? How do we get church visitor contact information in order to follow up? …
Having Church Visitor Reception AFTER a service in a small church can make the difference between a visitor who returns, and one who doesn't.
Helping your church visitor become a regular attender is not rocket science. Church visitor assimilation is ultimately a matter of personal relationships and connections. But there are plenty of good strategies that churches have tried to help those connecting relationships form naturally. If you want to do some good reading on the subject, here are …
“I wish more church visitors would come back and get involved.” This is common lament I hear from church leaders. They might be leading small churches. They might be managing large churches. These leaders have put forth valiant efforts to improve their hospitality, increase their marketing, and even provide some programming that would attract new …
Danny Franks, Connections Pastor at The Summit Church in North Carolina, considers the importance of preparing for guests who are visiting your church. Your sermon starts in the parking lot and he offers 5 principles to effective church hospitality and first impressions.
Don’t you wish that you could sometimes learn why a church visitor would choose not to come back after their first visit? There is one way you might learn: ask. But don’t start thinking you need to make a cold call and talk with a stranger who will likely be polite to your face.
As Easter is not too far away, what are you doing to help your church visitors and invited guests to come back the following week? The following article is from a friend of this ministry, Gary Rohrmayer, who writes at YourJourneyBlog. Read on for what Gary shares. To read the development of each of the subpoints, visit …
Our family experienced a temporary life transition that involved us moving to another state in the US for a period of four months. We left our work, our church that we are planting, our friends and support networks. During this temporary time, we chose a local church in the community we lived in. We chose …
Our family has experienced a temporary life transition that had us move to another state in the US for a period of four months, away from our church, away from our social networks, and away from our friends. Four months not enough time to visit many churches to look for a church home. to build …
Today’s guest article comes via George Bullard’s website at Bullard Journal. Below are excerpts from the article called “Why do People Leave Churches.” George Bullard of The Columbia Partnership, a Columbia, S.C.-based organization that helps churches pursue and sustain vital ministry, said churches face an “assimilation challenge” in the first year after new people begin …
Want to grow your church attendance by 20% this year? I once coached a church that set 20% as their goal. Is 20% growth a realistic? Visitors are the key to growing your church. Without keeping your first time church visitors, your church will not grow. Likewise, you will not replace the members who drop out, move to …
I found this article on Todd Rhodes Monday Morning insight blog (link below). It features the results of a survey of formerly churched adults. (Photo: WanderSick) Highlights: Only 11 percent would be willing to self-identify as a visitor on first visit. 26 percent would visit some kind of reception. Most would want to “size up …
We had a great webinar this afternoon. Registrations from 10 different countries, covering 31 different states and churches from a wide variety of denominations and traditions. Perhaps you’re wondering How to improve your first impressions ministry for first time church visitors What to say to a first time visitor. How to train church greeters. Do …
I finished reading Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church. This book is sure to be on the top of the list for Church Visitor Assimilation texts. Comparing a Ferrari to a Pinto Note: I read Beyond the First Visit: The Complete Guide to Connecting Guests to Your Church, Gary McIntosh (see …
