okay peeps. i need your help. yesterday i got a call from a woman in my church, asking me to be on a "brainstorming" committee for our churches' efforts (FINALLY) to increase our hospitality to newcomers. our church is such a great place. great worship, great people, great pastor and real presence of God. NOT so great at reaching out. or touching people who may just come for a visit.
anyhoo. here's where i need ya. what's important to you when you go to a new church? how would you like to be welcomed? what's the best/worst experience you ever had? i'm looking for ideas, whether you were going to church for the first time, after you moved to a new town, or just trying out something different. every situation applies.
i'll admit, i know some professionals read this blog, so i'm hoping they pipe in too (yeah, ellen, that is you). my friend ellen works at a church in sioux city that does a thing called 4 bases, which is a series of classes designed to help people discover and learn where they might "fit" at their new church home, and grow with God along the way. i like that idea.
any other good ideas? a nice homemade apron, courtesy of moi goes to the best "brainstorm" i receive :))
11 comments:
Hmm. I've been church shopping a few times in my day. Will think hard and write after school.
Having an apron already doesn't disqualify me from winning another one, does it?
will make an apron to match the NEW kitchen, if you win, dear :)
thanks. i was hoping you would pitch in on this one.
I am SO winning that apron. :-) However, I and my homemade chicken pot pie are late for book club at church, so I'll have to write later.
I remember when Kris and I first moved home to Sioux Falls and we lived in a tiny apartment. The pastor of the church we visited came to our house to say hello and brought us some community info. and a coffee mug I think. It was nice.
That was then.
Now, I would really love to have something for my kids...a children's sermon, kids offering so that they can participate in the service as well. A scribble notebook for the service or even a cute little homemade bag with crayons and paper in it to occupy them during the service (maybe they can check it out before the service and return it afterwards) so I can get the most out of church. You can call them Wee Worship bags or something clever like that. I remember one church I visited had notepads with scratch paper for kids called Little Lutheran notes...
i'm going to comment later when I have more time and give my two cents!
thanks Rani. i love the wee worship idea :)
Ok. This is what our church does. Every Sunday at the end of the service, the pastor invites newcomers/guests to meet in a little room at the back of the sanctuary for cookies and coffee. All the church leadership goes back there and visits with people. THEN, they are invited to a monthly (or lately, twice monthly) lunch and church informational meeting, where they learn about the programs/doctrine/etc. of the church. ALSO, on Monday evenings, various church members and leadership go to the church, pick up the visitor info cards filled out the previous day, take a gift bag filled with homemade cookies, and visit the visitors. Usually, each couple takes one or two addresses. If there are many visitors, the Pastor will call in reinforcements to share the work. Most often, you don't even go into the house, you just thank them for coming and give them the cookies. Occasionally, though, you are invited in and actually get to EAT the cookies. :-)
ALSO-- and you can see how much our Pastor has a heart for outreach--once a month Pastor Jack and Becky have that month's new members over for dinner. They get some one-on-one time with the couples (kids are not invited to this one) and new people connect with other new people.
So I guess it goes like this:
1. Cookies and chatting at your first visit.
2. Cookies at your door the very next evening.
3. Free lunch and info within two weeks of first visit (I think these are called "membership meetings").
4. Dinner with the pastor in the first month after you "place" membership.
Step four also serves as the "where will you serve?" step, encouraging people to find their niche.
Ahhhh. Can't wait to have a whole Bobbi-made-apron wardrobe..
dang. okay, that is pretty good Karen. i like the cookie gift bag idea :)
:) keep em coming, girls. i need ideas by sunday! you are wonderful!
I hope I am not too late to weigh in. The good thing that my church does is they always invite visitors to take a packet of info. with them. Paster Berry and his wife host a coffee for new people every weekend, and a breakfast for new members. The other thing is, that it is the churches philosophy to encourage members to connect with people whether you are new or not. They purposefully don't put in activities and in the bulletin so that we will take the intiative to go forth and invite people to things. For me, personally, I would like to feel that singles, not just young singles are valued and welcome. I would like to know how I can contribute to the church, and that there are groups accepting of my status. So, may not win me an apron, which you know I want more just like you made me, but here is my 2 cents. Please write with what you all decide to do.
Hi Bobbi! :)
I love reading what everyone's saying because we're constantly trying to improve in this area.
Here's what we do:
1. Guest services area in the lobby where guests can receive a free gift and turn in their contact information.
2. Phone call from someone in the church thanking them for attending and offering to answer any questions. (It's a no-brainer, but we have our nicest, most outgoing volunteers do this.)
3. Personal note from the pastor mailed out on Monday, along with any requested information.
We've tried a whole bunch of other things beyond that, but those three are the constants. And they're the most sustainable as the church grows.
Here are a couple of observations:
1. People want the option to be anonymous, but they need a place to go if they want to get connected. They can choose whether to fill out a welcome card, and then they can choose whether to put it in the offering plate or hand-deliver it to "guest services".
2. People LOVE free stuff. We give away travel mugs at guest services, and you'd think they were made of gold the way people get excited about them! (Strategically, it's an added incentive for people to hand-deliver their information, which ensures that they interact with some of our people.)
The main thing guests comment on (we send them a feedback postcard with the pastor's note) is friendly, smiling faces and free coffee. Guests can tell if the "regulars" enjoy being at church, and that's a big draw.
Another strategic thing we do is to teach our people to expect and value guests. One-fourth of our program is devoted to information for the first-time visitor: welcoming words, a map of the building, explanations of our programs, etc. That's a lot of space for a relatively small number of people, but they're our most important people!
As far as outreach ideas (cause you gotta get 'em there first!), I love non-churchy, community touchpoints. One church I know gets a mall kiosk during the Christmas shopping season and offers free gift wrapping. Their volunteers get to have TONS of conversations, and people are intrigued by the church's willingness to go outside their walls. Another idea is to hand out free bottles of water with the church logo at outdoor events (JazzFest, Art in the Park, whatever).
And of course, anything offered for kids in the community (like our Skill School or afterschool program) are huge touchpoints. If a kid WANTS to go to church, parents will always follow.
There are a lot of churches out there doing this WAY better than we are, and one of them is Granger Community Church. Here's one of their pastors' blogs: www.becausepeoplematter.com. He even wrote a book called "First Impressions" -- very relevant.
I'd love to chat more about this too, if that would be helpful. Everything we've learned has been through trial and error, but it's SO worth the effort!
Sorry this is super long! Hmm... I think an apron might come in handy if I'm gonna be baking cookies for all my clients! :)
oh girls! thanks so much! i bet we have a really super good meeting on sunday, mostly because you took the time to talk about this.
ellen, did you notice that karen's church delivers home made cookies? you are onto something, girl :)
anyway, i will announce the "winner" on monday, after the meeting. along with feedback from how the ideas were received, and what others brought to the table.
you da BEST. really. you are.
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