Category: Worship

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.

Start with Good Ingredients

Posted in Church Revitalization, Discipleship, Evangelism, Ministry, Preaching, WorshipLeave a comment

Recently, I’ve developed a casual interest in a variety of television cooking shows. Ironically, I can’t cook much of anything–I specialize in eating. Oh, I can serve a mean peanut butter and jelly sandwich along with a decent pot of coffee, but let’s be honest, that doesn’t really involve cooking. I’m not sure why I enjoy these shows, but it may have something to do with my competitive spirit. The competition-based cooking shows like Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay are the ones I really like to watch.

Although I am no cook, I’ve noticed that cooking and spiritual growth has something in common . . . .

You have to start with good ingredients!

Good ingredients are paramount if the food is going to be great. Chefs talk about the key role ingredients play on these shows all the time. The same is true in spiritual growth. Believers must have the ingredients in their lives that lead to growth. We refer to these as spiritual disciplines. Lots of lists of spiritual disciplines exist, but here are the basics:

  • Reading the Bible
  • Praying to the Lord
  • Fellowshipping with other believers
  • Sharing your faith
  • Ministering to others
  • Walking with Christ

One of the best books on the subject of spiritual disciplines is John Ortberg’s book, The Life You’ve Always Wanted. If you haven’t read it, add it to your reading list–you won’t regret it.

Do I Yearn for You?

Posted in Life Happens, Worship1 Comment

Tonight I sit wide awake in the early hours of the morning as I wrestle with this question, “do I yearn for God”?  The song “Yearn” by Shane and Shane has captured me. It haunts me. I hear it everywhere I go. I can’t escape it.

Tonight, I understand why.  God has reminded me that there was a time when I thirsted for Him night and day–a time when He was my first thought in the morning and my last thought at night. There was a time when I would literally rather sneak away and spend time with Him than eat, and often did. A time when I devoured His Word every day. A time when I looked for any and every opportunity to share the story of Jesus.

Tonight, He reminded me of special moments at the Morehead Baptist Student Union, of the afternoon I led a man to Christ on the streets of Flemingsburg, of nights sitting on the hill above my house at Banner, and of day-long hikes in the hills of eastern Kentucky–all because I yearned for Him. All because He was everything to me. All because I was desperate for Him. All because I couldn’t get enough.

God is reminding me tonight and it’s painful–so painful that it’s hard to see as I type, but the pain gives me hope that He hasn’t given up on me. The pain gives me hope that He will still use me in His work, but His message has never been more clear. “My son, only if you yearn for Me! There’s no shortcut….YEARN! There’s no secret–YEARN! There’s no other way–YEARN! YEARN!”

The chorus of “Yearn” by Shane and Shane goes like this:

Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn for You. I wanna burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.

In humility can I ask you, do you yearn for Him? Is He everything to you? Do you burn with passion in your life for Him, and only Him?  If so, praise God! If not, then do whatever it takes to get there. Remove anything in your life that dampens your fire and passion for Him. Yearn! Yearn for Him! He desires it. He deserves it. He demands it.

“Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, help me yearn for You. Help me burn with passion over You, and only You. Lord, I wanna yearn.”