Category: Worship

7 Minutes and Counting

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Stop-WatchToday, we continue talking about Nelson Searcy’s book Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church. Searcy titled chapter 3, Seven Minutes and Counting. In the chapter, he talked the importance of what happens to first-time guests during the first 7 minutes of their visit. He wrote,

 

Seven minutes is all you get to make a positive first impression. In the first 7 minutes of contact with your church, your first-time guests will know whether or not they are coming back. That’s before a single worship song is sung and before a single word of the message is uttered.

Common sense tells us that we never get a second chance to make a first impression, and unfortunately, first impressions are usually lasting impressions. If Searcy is correct in saying that guests are deciding whether they are coming back in the first 7 minutes, then the question becomes, “what’s actually being judged?”

Are they judging the building, the landscaping, the parking lot, the church sign, the entrance area, the lobby, the parking lot greeters, the door greeters, the bulletin? The simple answer is “YES“! They probably judge all those things, but keep in mind, they decide if they are coming back before they sing the first song or hear a word of the sermon.

As pastors, we usually spend a large portion of our week planning the worship service and preparing the message without being proactive in this important area. We should continue our practice of sermon preparation, but we should also give thought, time, and attention to helping our guests have a great first impression. As pastors, we should take the lead in this area.

In my next post, I will look at the 7-minute, first impression time Searcy refers to as the time “from the street to the seat.” Here are my other posts along these lines.

The Key to Keep Church Guests Coming Back

Posted in Assimilation, Book Reviews, Church Chat, Church Consulting, Church Revitalization, Discipleship, WorshipLeave a comment

fallsemester_serve2Let’s continue to look at Nelson Searcy’s rockin’ assimilation book, Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church. Today, we will look at God’s assimilation plan discussed in chapter 2.

But before we get into our discussion, let me encourage you to check out his blog and the free stuff that he is providing to help churches in their work for the Lord. Here are some helpful links to his website:

. . . . Now, on with the discussion. In chapter 2, Searcy wrote,

God has not only given us the responsibility of being hospitable to His guests, but He has also given us the perfect example of how to go about it. Jesus came to the earth to serve, not to be served. Throughout the New Testament, we see His examples of selfless service for those He had the opportunity to influence. And we’ve been left with the challenge of doing even greater things. When we serve our guests well, we reflect Jesus’ attitude and mindset toward them.

Although Searcy provided a thorough definition of assimilation in chapter 1, he sums up assimilation here as follows:

Assimilation is simply well-planned biblical hospitality through service. The head of our organization is the greatest server of all time. Doesn’t it follow that we should be the ultimate example of such service to our guests? With the right system in place, we can serve in a way that will truly touch lives for God’s kingdom.

For more details about  improving assimilation in your church, see the following posts:

Great Book on Assimilation by Nelson Searcy

Posted in Assimilation, Book Reviews, Church Chat, Church Revitalization, Ministry, WorshipLeave a comment

19_largeIn the next few posts, I am going to be discussing Nelson Searcy’s excellent assimilation book entitled, Fusion: Turning First-Time Guests into Fully-Engaged Members of Your Church. Searcy is the founding pastor of Journey Church in New York City and formerly served as the founding director of the Purpose Driven Community with Rick Warren at Saddleback Church. He has personally trained more than 20,000 pastors, church planters, and church leaders through Church Leader Insights.  I have been privileged to particpate in one of his 12-month coaching networks–I highly recommend it!

In chapter 2 of his book, Searcy discusses the concept of “biblical hospitality.” Here’s an excerpt:

The Church–your church–truly is a family expecting guests. And you should be ready to show them intentional hospitality when they arrive. While they are in your company, they need to feel comfortable and valued, no matter where they are in their spiritual development. When they leave, be proactive in giving them a return invitation they’ll be hard pressed to refuse. Your church is a representative of the bigger family of God. As you put a system in place to effectively integrate guests into the family, you will be able to fulfill part of the responsibility He placed on you when He prompted them your way. God is honored when you show your guests true biblical hospitality. . . . Assimilation is simply well-planned biblical hospitality through service.

I like the phrase “biblical hospitality” because it reminds us that being hospitable to others is biblical. When God sends guests to our church, He expects us to prepare for their visit, speak the truth in love, and minister to their needs. He expects us to meet them where they are, regardless of their level of spiritual maturity and move them closer to Christ.

As the church, we should put our best foot forward, treat our guests with kindness, and let people know we care.

Easter Guest Follow-Up

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Guest Follow-upThis Sunday your church will probably experience the largest weekly attendance of the year.  As you prepare for the Easter crowd, remember there is one KEY ingredient for effective follow-up to take place–you must get the CONTACT INFORMATION of your guests!  The only way for an effective follow-up system to work is to have a way to communicate with guests the following week.  Here are some tips for obtaining the contact information from your guests.

How to Obtain Contact Information from Your Guests

1.  Guest parking.  Save the best, most visible parking spots for guests.  The guest parking spots should be near the desired guest entrance and parking lot greeters should be near the area where guests park.  Making a good first impression in the parking lot relaxes guests and increases the likelihood that they will share their contact information when asked to do so.

2.  Utilize good greeters.  Every church should utilize a greeter team.  Although the church may not need parking lot greeters in order to park cars, their presence is still vital.  They can cheerfully greet guests and members as well as answer questions as folks are entering the facility.  Greeters should be stationed at every outside entrance and greeters or ushers should be placed at all the entrances into the worship facility.  If the building is large, greeters should be scattered throughout areas of the building as well.

3.  Use a connection card in the worship guide.  There are lots of ways to obtain guest contact information, but one of the best ways is to insert a connection card in the worship guide.  A card that is attached to the worship guide is good, but it is noisy when someone tears off the perforated portion.  Some guests are hesitant to tear off the card because they do not want to attract attention.  When inserted in the worship guide, the connection card should be placed on fairly thick paper.  Cards can be printed three-to-a-page on standard 8.5 x 11-inch 70-lb. paper.  70-lb. paper is better than the thickest 110-lb. card-stock because it will not fall out of the worship guide as easily.  It is also good to have connection cards on the back of the pews or seats in case some guests do not get a copy of the worship guide as they enter the worship service.

4.  Ask for less; get more.  Most people ask for TOO MUCH INFORMATION on the connection card.  As a result, guests avoid filling out the card altogether and follow-up does not take place.  Ask for basic contact information such as name, address, email, best phone number, etc. Generally, when you ask for less information, you will get a higher rate of return from your guests.  It’s better to receive less information from your guest than to receive none at all.

5.  Recruit the right person to extend the welcome.  In many cases, guests are never even acknowledged during the worship service.  Of course, they should never be singled out or embarrassed, but it is helpful to acknowledge them and to thank them for coming.  The church should recruit a genuinely friendly person who is able to communicate in a comfortable, relaxed manner.  Many times the best person for this role is someone other than a staff member.  At some point during the service, this person can verbally welcome guests and ask them to complete the connection card. Encourage the guest to drop the completed connection card in the offering plate as it passes or to hand their card to an usher after the service.  It is best if the offering is taken up at the end of the service, so guests will have more time to gain confidence in the church leadership and more time to complete the information.

6.  Offer a gift to those who complete the connection card.  It is often helpful to offer a gift to those who complete the connection card.  One effective approach is to place copies of a small Christian book on tables by the exits in the worship center.  During the welcome time, guests can be told to pick up a copy of the book as they exit the service as a gift for completing the connection card.  The church should place a generous supply of books and allow guests to take them on their own.  That approach seems to say “since you are trusting us with your contact information we are trusting you with our stack of books.”  The church demonstrates a generous spirit with this approach.  Be sure to hide a letter inside each book that thanks the guest for coming and invites them to attend again in the near future.

These are not the only ways to obtain contact information from guests, but keep in mind, you MUST get the contact information from your guests in order to follow-up.  For more information along these lines, check out the following posts:

Churches Are Too Much Like Car Dealerships

The Chick-fil-A Church

The 3-minute Rule

How Can You Reach People for Jesus?

Posted in Church Chat, Church Revitalization, Discipleship, Evangelism, WorshipLeave a comment

There are more than 7 billion people in the world today, and less than 20% know Jesus.  How can you reach them all with the life-giving message of the Gospel? Can your dollars reach from you to eternity? This video shows how through the Cooperative Program, mission dollars go from you, to your church, to the Kentucky Baptist Convention and around the world, powering missions and ministry every step along the way. This video would be excellent for use in worship services, Sunday School, and new members classes.