Last week, I observed the decline
in follow up with guests who come to our worship services. I compared allowing guests to set the agenda
for church participation to little Bo Peep who lost her sheep, and is waiting
for them to come home on their own. In
my opinion, this is an inadequate strategy.
If you did not read this entry it is archived at www.beyondharan.blogsport.com.
Let me say that I am not
advocating a return to ‘old fashion calling night’; that simply will not
work. The way we gather and use the
contact information about guests must be done with great care. People don’t want to be stalked. We should not badger our guests and insist
that they welcome us into their homes so we can hard sell them on Jesus or the
church. When people feel pressured or
manipulated into letting us into their home, we will never seen them at the church
building again.
So, what can we do? If we rule out stalking and being Pastor Bo
Peep, what can we do? I will offer five
suggestions or observations. None of
these are original with me, or wildly creative, but I found them effective.
First, we need to have the priority of prayer for the lost. As a minister for many years and now as a church
consultant, I have talked to many church leaders, and I have seen a surprising
low priority in church ‘prayer lists’ for the lost coming to know Christ. Most prayer lists in churches are a listing
of saints who are sick and the desire for them to get well. The prayers for the lost are, by and large,
vague and generalized. As one wag put
it, “We pray more about keeping saints out of heaven than sinners out of hell.”
Every leadership meeting, every
personal prayer time, every congregational prayer, needs to include a plea to
the Lover of all men to bring them to Christ, and that we be a part of that
process. Take a moment and perform a
self-test. Read over your church’s
prayer list; how many lost people or communities are listed? Compare that with the number of sick people,
special projects, church business issues and personal requests. If it is true and “you have not because you
ask not”, can that explain why you don’t have the lost coming to your church?
Second, you need your laity (I don’t really like this term, but
it is useful for now). Most of the folks
who visit your church will do so at the request or because of a connection with
one of your members. Even if your
congregation has a strong marketing program, your guests will most likely have
a personal connection to someone in your church. Enlist the help of your laity as you follow
up with the guest. One church I served
had a couple visit at the invitation of one of my deacons. Dutifully, I went to call and found a “Beware
of Dog” sign and behind the sign the largest Rottweiler I had ever seen. Being bitten by this dog could launch a
hospital ministry. I left and drove to
my deacon’s home and told him I needed his help. We made the call together. He introduced me to his friends, told that I
was a great preacher, a good guy, a valuable friend, and really good with
advice. (We will debate another time if
this was true.) I instantly had a level
of credibility with this young couple I could have never had with a solo follow
up call. I had the privilege of
ministering to this couple and their families over the next several years.
You need your laity way more than
they need you. Their presence and
conversation gives credibility to your message.
They are powerful, they are loved, and they are influential; other wise,
their friends would not have come to worship with them! Next time you order or make guest cards,
include a line for “Who told you about this church?” With social media tools, the Internet, and a
little information, you will be able to make the connections. I don’t believe a pastor should be heavy
handed, but if there is ever a time to use your pastoral authority it is when
you phone your laity and ask them to help you with follow up. Sometimes shepherds must be assertive.
Third, consider hosting a reception. Gated communities and apartments make calling
visitors very difficult. Additionally,
some folks do not want anyone to come to their home. Others have schedules that are not conducive
to even the quickest of visits. I faced
these issues in one of my ministries, so I began to invite people to meet me in
a ‘third space’ kind of environment, neither in their home nor at the church
building. That way, they knew that they
were not going to face a one-on-one interrogation, be in a place where leaving
would be awkward, or getting someone to leave their home would be difficult.
For several years, I hosted a
monthly “Coffee Reception” at a local Starbucks. Beginning the Sunday that they visited, I
began to invite them to the reception at Starbucks. Everyone who visited in the previous month
was my guest. I bought a lot of coffee
and earned a Starbuck’s gold card in record time! I also invited the person who invited them to
church (see #2). Sometimes we almost
over ran the coffee shop and often stayed till closing. We broke the ice in relationships, had a lot
of fun, and frequently prayed as folks opened up. These receptions were a major factor for most
of the folks who came to Christ, or to place their membership with our church. At this time, our church had a growth rate as
high as 40% per year.
Fourth, use the power
of appointments. Many if not most folks
are suspicious of the church, ministers, and our motives. The power of an appointment works because it
gives us an air of professionalism and legitimacy. I once had a visitor come with one of our
families to worship. After the service,
as usual, I went over the guest cards. I
noted that this family didn’t live far from my home. So, after I finished in the office, I dropped
by their house on the way home. They
were not there having gone to lunch with their friends. I left a card saying thanks for coming and
drove to my house with a sense of pride as being so conscientious. It turns out that they found such a visit inappropriate. It seemed pushy, needy, and stalkish. We never saw them again. What we perceive as concern might seem to
them as a hard sell or as a cult type pressure.
The appointment can set them at ease; they will be meeting a respected
professional not a crack pot with an agenda.
If a coffee reception will not
work for you, make sure you use the power of appointment, and don’t forget to
take your church member with you. Some
people will be busy till Jesus returns, which may mean using both a reception
and or an appointment will be your best option.
Five, follow up is hard work.
I loved visiting people, be that in the coffee shop or in their home, it
was one of my favorite parts of ministry.
But I must confess, getting to the visit was one of the most difficult
things I had to do. It was and is hard
work. It is time consuming. Scheduling was always a problem. It is fraught with rejections in which we sometimes
hear bad news. Like the time a woman
told me, “We liked the church except for the music and the sermon, we won’t be
back!” There is no getting around it,
guest follow up or calling is hard work and it is harder now than a generation
or two ago. I am concerned that in some
cases churches do not do follow up, not because of a deeply rooted
philosophical conviction, but because we have given into the sin of sloth (we
are lazy). The Gospel of Jesus Christ
often comes first in the form of a person and their personality. If we have no contact we will likely have no
impact.
When a guest walks into your
services, powerful forces, needs, or even crisis in their lives, have driven
them there. I ask that you be like the
good shepherd and, however you do it, follow up with that lost sheep.
In the Cause of Christ
Charlie
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