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Use Christmas services to re-invite inactive members

Have there been members of your church who dropped out this year?

Maybe they just stopped coming and your not sure why.

Christmas events at your church provide you with an excellent opportunity to reach out to these inactive members once again.

Here is how you can do this.

[Read more…] about Use Christmas services to re-invite inactive members

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Update your Church Website for Your Christmas Visitors

Many people check out a church’s website or Facebook page prior to visiting your church at Christmas.

If you are having special events at Christmas to attract new church visitors, ask yourself these questions while at your church website:

  • What time is your Christmas Eve Service?
  • What should I expect on Christmas Eve?
  • Is there childcare at the Christmas musical?
  • Are there photos of congregational life that show people?
  • Is there quick access to directions to your facility? (How many clicks to get directions?)
  • What does the building look like so I can recognize it?
  • Would I fit in with these people?
  • Who is the pastor?

[Read more…] about Update your Church Website for Your Christmas Visitors

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Prepare Your Church for Christmas Visitors – Hospitality Review

Christmas is an ideal time to attract people into your church

  • by hosting Advent activities,
  • reaching out into the community, and
  • making your church more inviting.

Don’t miss the opportunities to introduce people to Christ this Christmas. [Read more…] about Prepare Your Church for Christmas Visitors – Hospitality Review

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6 Steps to Organize an Invite a Friend Day

These are the six steps we used to run our Invite A Friend Sunday

A reader contacted me via Ask EvangelismCoach:

“Pastor, our small church needs help organizing a Friends and Family day for the end of August to launch our new season.

Can you help us?”

As we talked on the phone, we kicked around a few ideas unique to their church, but developed some ideas that are useful to many churches.

So here are 6 steps to a successful “Invite a Friend Day.”

These are the steps we followed in May when we launched our morning worship service.  Read on to see what happened.

1.  Build a base of prayer.

  • Encourage people to pray for this particular Sunday
  • Have people write down names of potential guests on a card and pray daily.
  • Ask God for opportunities to invite people.
  • Read 10 ways to pray for more invitations.

2.  Build momentum.

  • Make an announcement each week.
  • Pastors: talk about your personal invitations to others.
  • Cast vision for hospitality and welcome.
  • Prepare marketing materials your people can give away.
  • Read Refreshing a Vision for Church Hospitality

3.  Update / Review your hospitality systems.

4.  Give people tools to invite their friends.

  • Distribute invitation cards.
  • Distribute flyers.
  • They can share with their networks like Facebook.
  • Give people online tools to share with their networks.
  • Update your webpage to feature the sermon series.
  • (Read Business Card Outreach Idea for Church Members).

5.  Launch a sermon series that day.

  • Launch a 3-4 week sermon series around a life problem.
  • Use the series to show the Bible is relevant to life.
  • Give opportunity for people to respond to the gospel message.
  • Foreshadow the next installment to increase the possibility of a return visit.
  • Lift up opportunities for people to build new friendships or give themselves away in service.

6.  Have a follow-up “meet the pastor” type event.

  • Prepare a social event within a few weeks of the first Sunday.
  • Invite your guests to that event.
  • Showcase the mission of the church and its involvement in the neighborhood.
  • Invite people to serve in the community.

Our story:

How we used Invite A Friend Sunday to Triple our Attendance
These were the steps we followed in the launch of our day in May 2010.

Our core team of nearly 25 people started with prayer.

We talked about this day for 2-3 months ahead.

We had marketing materials and a relevant theme: “Starting Over.”

We had social tools to share online, and lots of personal invitations to church were made.

We had great success in attracting people to our service.

We only expected 30 people, but had 70 actually attend that day.

What we learned

However, we failed to complete these last two steps mentioned above.

We had a great launch, but lost lots of momentum because we had nothing related the next Sunday we met.

The following Sunday was an unrelated sermon topic that people failed to rally around and invite their friends.

The invitations dropped way off, such that only 40 people came.

As we retool for the next launch this fall, those last two steps will be critical for us in continuing to build our base.

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Each week, I send out new articles to help you grow your church through personal evangelism, invitations, improving your greeter ministry, and refreshing your vision for church hospitality.

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25 Factors That Shape Visitor Perceptions About Church

Today’s Guest Article is from Steve Fogg: Clear and Simple.

He is a blogger from Australia, focused on communications and PR for churches.  I first found Steve through a Blog Carnival on OurChurch.com

While I’m away on vacation, there will be a few guests posts this week.

This list is an awesome compilation of factors that you can address in your church’s hospitality ministry.

If you want to discuss your church’s hospitality ministry over the phone with me to troubleshoot where you are stuck, read here.

There are many factors that influence a visitors perception about your church.

These perceptions influence them before they visit your church, or whether they should return again.

Every point below can either help or hinder their decision making process regarding whether they should stick around for one more week:

  1. Website
  2. Signage (I once saw a church sign that said Merry Christmas! on the top line and ‘Turn or burn’ on the 2nd line. Sigh)
  3. Printed collateral
  4. Greeters/Ushers
  5. Anchor in a service
  6. What other people (or churches) tell your friend about your church.
  7. What denomination you belong to
  8. If you aren’t closely linked into a denomination, what does that mean?
  9. Their perception of “church” or Christians in general
  10. Coffee (very important in Melbourne)
  11. Friendly
  12. You/they listened to me.
  13. What they think about you, or the person who is inviting them.
  14. What they think about the highest profile person in the church (If they are from a churched background)
  15. Receptionist (Yes, they are an ambassador of your church)
  16. How you talk about “them” when they visit you. Do you talk as though they aren’t in the room?
  17. Invitation to a morning tea/lunch/dinner by a member of your congregation
  18. You/the church talks to them, not at them.
  19. Church name
  20. Your advertising
  21. Facility (A facility can shape your perception of an organisation when you walk into it)
  22. Language – do you use inclusive language that they understand? or do you use exclusive language which only insiders get?
  23. What you believe – sounds obvious, but it’s a big deal for those from a faith background.
  24. A person from your church or your church helped them in some way.
  25. The speaker

My point is this. Every touchpoint shapes a visitors perception positively or negatively.

Are you in credit or in debit?

What barriers would you add?

What would help?

Want more of Steve?
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Webinar: Training Church Greeters Resources

Tonight I was asked by a guy in our church
to be a “Greeter” which means
I’d shake people’s hands as they come in.
(Twitter user)

Being a greeter is much more than shaking hands as people walk in the door of your church during worship services.

So many churches simply recruit warm bodies to fill the role of church greeter without much

  • thought,
  • training, or
  • planning

into the role that greeters have come to play in American churches.

Greeters are the front line of your church’s hospitality ministry.

They are a vital part of your organized friendliness that helps members and visitors connect.

pagechargois

But how do you train greeters?

(There are only so may ways to say “Good Morning”.)

What does a church greeter training meeting look like?

What resources might be available to help with recruiting and organizing greeters?

Author of The Work of the Greeter, Paige Lanier Chargois has found some insights from her research and experience across the United states and 47 different countries.

Thank you for providing this valuable service. I attend a smaller church and there were several points that we will be able to work on for an improved more complete welcome to those who are seeking to worship together with their brothers and sisters. Thank you. I look forward to going over the presentation power point with our group next.

Diane

Webinar Resources:

More Greeter Training Resources from EvangelismCoach.org

Audio Podcast of Church Greeters Webinar

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Video Replay of Church Greeters Webinar

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Webinar Slides from Oct 09 Greeter Webinar 363.40 KB

Who is Paige Lanier Chargois?

Her first solo book is Certain Women Called By Christ:  Biblical Realities for Today which is based on the Gospel of Luke 8:1-3.

Her second book, The Work of the Greeter was released in June ’09.  It provides the biblical basis of hospitality along with practical directions and instructive information about launching or sustaining a congregation’s greeters ministry.  It is part of Judson’s book series covering every task in the church.

Paige has served as Director of Membership and Maturity with the Saint Paul’s Baptist Church in Richmond VA at which she developed the structure to accomplish the Pastor’s vision for small groups.  More recently she has served as the Pastor of First Baptist Church in Franklin, VA.

Dr. Chargois teaches theology, world religions, and missions at Richmond Virginia Seminary.  She is a member of the Saint Paul’s church family, and continues to serve the Kingdom of our Lord as a church consultant, leadership trainer, workshop leader, and Bible teacher along with being tapped to preach at churches and retreats.

Thank you for providing this valuable service. I attend a smaller church and there were several points that we will be able to work on for an improved more complete welcome to those who are seeking to worship together with their brothers and sisters. Thank you. I look forward to going over the presentation power point with our group next. I hope that your Columbus Day weekend is a blessed and joyous one!!
Your sister in Him,
Diane

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