By Jonathan Howe
As we’ve talked with ministry leaders from around the country, I’ve been surprised at the number of churches who do not have a plan for guest follow-up. There may be some structure or a first point of contact, but there’s often no roadmap for the staff to follow. And if the staff don’t have a roadmap, how can we expect guests to know what’s next for them?
So here are seven ideas for you to use to construct your on-boarding process or assimilation plan for new visitors to your church.
- Thank You Email. This is the simplest form of follow-up. First-time guest emails can easily be template for use time and again. It’s always best, however to personalize the email from week to week. Always address the guest by name, try to reference the sermon title from the service they attended, and mention any upcoming events they might be interested in. Your guest thank you email should go out no later than Monday afternoon following a Sunday visit.
- Phone Call from Pastor or Staff Member. If your church collects more information than name and email address, then take your contact to the next level. A phone call from the pastor for first time guests is almost always welcomed. If you are in a larger church, these calls might have to be split up between staff members simply due to the volume and ministry level. For instance, your minister to children or preschool can call guests who had kids in the nursery, the student minister can call guests with kids in the student ministry, etc. It’s always best to have someone with knowledge of specific ministries contact guests who may express interest in that ministry. These calls should take place before the next church gathering. Don’t leave guests waiting for answers to questions they may have.
- Church Information. If you have an address for a guest, consider sending an informational packet and letter from the pastor. Again, personalize these as much as possible. The content really depends on your church and what you want to emphasize. If at all possible, tailor the content in the informational packet to the guest’s interests. It wouldn’t make sense to send a college-aged newlywed couple information about an upcoming senior adult trip.
- Appreciation Gift. In his book Fusion, Nelson Searcy advocates for a small gift card or a book for first time guests. I absolutely love that idea. It costs less than you think, and makes a greater impact than you can imagine. A $5 gift card to a local coffee shop is a great way to say thank you to a guest who visits your church.
- Note to Kids. Churches don’t often send mail to kids, but it is simple to do and makes a big impact on both the kids and the parents. Purchase or write a quick thank you card to children who visit your church’s student or kids ministry. This shows that you are investing in all generations of the church and want to help everyone grow in his/her faith regardless of their age.
- Invite to a Gospel Conversation. This might be the most important follow-up of all. If we’re failing to have gospel conversations with guests, we’re failing at the Great Commission. We’re called to make disciples, not church members. Make sure sharing the gospel is central to your church’s guest follow-up plans.
- Membership/Discovery Class Invite. Once you’ve had that gospel conversation, it’s time to discuss next steps. An invite to a church membership or discovery class is the natural progression. It allows you to express both information about your church and expectations your church has of members.
Does your church have an actual guest follow-up plan? Do you do some of these already? What might you add to this list?
Jonathan Howe serves as Director of Strategic Initiatives at LifeWay Christian Resources, the host and producer of Rainer on Leadership and SBC This Week, and the managing editor of LifeWayPastors.com. Jonathan writes weekly at ThomRainer.com on topics ranging from social media to websites and church communications. Connect with Jonathan on Twitter at @Jonathan_Howe.
We try to send a text message, no longer than a tweet something like, “Cindy this is Zach Allen…I’m the Connections Pastor at City Church. Glad you came to church today. Did you have any questions I can answer for you about City Church?”
We do have a younger average age at our church but anyone 60 & under usually gets a text on Sunday afternoon. We have a really good return on the replies back from them (since we try & close with asking a question to them) which usually does have a question from them about how they can get better connected at our church (& also a lot say, “thanks for reaching out so quickly”).
So many phone numbers today are mobile numbers that are given at church & most people will screen their calls & we end up leaving a voicemail they may not check for a day or two. Text is immediate & on the screen that most of them will look at multiple times a day (or multiple times an hour for younger demographics).
That’s a good call with younger folks. It may spook some older guests though.
4. The gift is a nice idea, but keep in mind that it is a supplement and not a replacement for the other ideas. I remember going to a church a couple years ago that have away a book to be visitors (they also ran a bookstore out of the space a couple days a week to meet code, so it was good thematically as well) and it wasn’t junk either, I still have it, but they had no method of collecting visitor information, and when I contacted them they never responded.
More or less, if you don’t have a wider plan of engagement, you should probably just save your money.
Agreed. It needs to be part of the whole, not just the one thing you do.
Thom, this is without a doubt the best list of follow-ups I’ve seen. They’re all good, but I especially like #’s 4, 6 & 7. Thanks, as always for sharing stuff we need.
Thanks, Joel. This post is all Jonathan’s.
Thanks, Joel!
What would an invitation to a gospel centered conversation look like? Any specifics? Maybe I am just over thinking it.
An invite to coffee? Lunch?
I am a lay person belonging to a mainline social justice type denomination. Our location and special circumstances results in church shoppers coming through our doors now . Our Evangelism Comm. was assembled by another layperson about 2 years ago. We are now creating a spreadsheet to track guest book entries, Evangelism Comm. 1st and 2nd contacts, and pastor contacts, and short-term outcomes. Without the spreadsheet, the committee’s work can become a blur of what and when reaching out has been done.
Yep. Always good to track your contacts. Many church management software programs out there help with this.
I will always remember visiting a local church in rural Pennsylvania about 19 years ago. It was a “medium-sized” congregation..(about 300 in morning worship). At the end of the service, when I went to the “visitors’ booth” I was given a warm loaf of “banana bread”….that made a HUGE impression on me. It was simple token of appreciation for me being there. It also conveyed to me this congregation was glad to have me with them.
I let the people (at the booth) know that I would only be in the area for two weeks, but I was given phone numbers and names, just in case I would need anything. If I am ever in that local area again, I will certain make a return visit.
That’s actually a really nice idea, though I’m sure that I would appreciate it more than my wife would. 😉
Knowing that people actually cared–and it wasn’t just “small conversation”—that is what has always “stuck” with me.
That’s good stuff, Phil.
One church my family visited in Florida had a “local attraction and dining guide” for people like me who were there on vacation. We would have missed a few really good meals if not for that. They embraced the fact that people would be visiting maybe once and then returning to another part of the country.
Do you have some sample email/letters that you’d recommend? I’m in the process of updating ours and would love to see what others are doing.
I don’t, but maybe some of the readers may.
One thing that impressed me a lot from one church we visited was that the pastor admitted that “maybe we aren’t the church for you and if that is the case, we would love to help you connect with another church in the area.”
I thought that was a great example of being a co-laborer and not a competitor with other churches. Just something to consider.
“maybe we aren’t the church for you and if that is the case, we would love to help you connect with another church in the area.”
Love that.
My sons received postcards from their Sunday school teachers at a mega church we visited. It is easy to feel disconnected when you visit a large church but those postcards made me realize my boys wouldn’t be “just a number.” We now attend that church and my boys love their teachers!
It has been a long time since my family has visited churches, but number 6 is an incredible way to connect with families. We attend a mega church around 4500 between all Sunday morning services. My 7 year old son(who is a serious encourager) made a card for our pastor about a month ago. He had to give it to someone on the security team because we couldn’t find the pastor between services.
Next week, my son received a note in the mail from our pastor. It was personalized, not a form letter. This process has now repeated itself 4-5 times. Our pastor now jokes that they are pen pals in his letters. This makes my son feel incredibly special, as well as warming the hearts of Mom and Dad.
We haven’t experienced it, in the first time visitor sense. But a note from the pastor to a child is a great way to connect with a family!
I’ve had a number of things work. Here are two.
We copied the visitor’s card each person filled out. One copy went to an articulate but tactful lady (senior adult) who would call each visitor, usually on Sunday afternoon or evening. I found using a woman was best because people aren’t threatened with a call from a woman. This lady would then email me what she had found out — names of kids, where they were from, etc. I would then call, usually on Monday, with all of that information in front of me and have a very productive conversation. (Follow up letters from me where then prepared to go out in Monday or Tuesday’s mail.)
A second idea was having a retired senior adult gentlemen (and I mean, a kind gentleman) take a small bag to give or leave at each visitor’s house on Monday. The bag had some information about the church, a church ball point pen, note pad, and a bag of microwave popcorn with a note attached to the popcorn thanking them for “popping in” to our worship service. It sounds corny, but you wouldn’t believe how many people came back (some joined) and mentioned that bag of popcorn.
Good stuff, but I do want to ask one question. Some of my visitors lately have filled out out visitor forms with nothing but their names – no phone number, no email address, nothing. Do you have any advice for following up with people like that?
There’s always google
Hi, mr moderator; could you order comments in reverse order, rather than order of date….then one would not have to wade to the end to add.
I know this is an old thread but…
Any suggestions for a good book appropriate for giving to guests?