Practical Ministry Skills:
Attracting and Impacting Visitors
Contents ........................................................................................ PAGE
Leader’s Guide ................................................................................... 2
Looking Outward
PREPARE FOR OUTREACH
by Doug Murren and Mike Meeks ....................................................... 3
REACHING BEYOND CHURCH WALLS
by Tom Clegg and Warren Bird .......................................................... 5
WHO CAN WE REACH?
by Wayne Schmidt ............................................................................... 6
FINDING VISITOR PROSPECTS
by Charles Arn................................................................................... 7
Engaging Visitors
VISITOR FOLLOW-UP
by Charles Arn .................................................................................. 10
THE FIRST SUNDAY IN YOUR CHURCH
by Jennifer Smith-Morris .................................................................. 12
SENSITIVITY TO THE UNCHURCHED
by Don Cousins ................................................................................. 13
EIGHT OBSTACLES TO ASSIMILATION
by Calvin Ratz ................................................................................. 14
Resources
FURTHER EXPLORATION ...................................................................... 16
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 1
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Leader’s Guide
How to use “Practical Ministry Skills” by BUILDING CHURCH
LEADERS.
Welcome to BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS: Your Complete Guide to Leadership Training. You’ve purchased
an innovative resource that will help you develop leaders who can think strategically and biblically about
the church. Selected by the editors of Christianity Today International, the material comes from respected
thinkers and church leaders.
“Practical Ministry Skills” is completely flexible and designed to be easy to use. Each theme focuses on a
practical area of church ministry and comprises brief handouts on specific aspects of that ministry. The
handouts give a succinct and practical overview of the issues most relevant to your goals. You may use them at
the beginning of a meeting to help launch a discussion, or you may hand them out as brief primers for someone
new to a particular ministry.
This special theme on attracting visitors is designed to help equip your church to become outward focused,
adept at inviting outsiders, and skilled in following up. You may use it either for a training session or to give
individually to key people involved in welcoming visitors. Simply print the handouts needed and use them as
necessary.
To help church leaders orient the congregation outward, see “Prepare for Outreach” (pp. 3–4) and “Reaching
Beyond Church Walls” (p. 5). For specific tips for finding and retaining visitors, read church growth specialist
Charles Arn’s “Finding Visitor Prospects” (pp. 7–9) and “Visitor Follow-up” (pp. 10–11). And to detect
invisible barriers to incorporating newcomers in the life of your church, read “Eight Obstacles to Assimilation”
(pp. 14–15).
We hope you enjoy this theme as you seek to teach your congregation to attract and influence outsiders in the
name of Christ.
Need more material, or something on a specific topic? See our website at www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com.
To contact the editors:
E-mail BCL@christianitytoday.com
Mail
BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS, Christianity Today International
465 Gundersen Drive, Carol Stream, IL 60188
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 2
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Leader’s Guide
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Prepare for Outreach
Adopt a structure and practices that put outsiders at ease.
Romans 10:14
Focus on bringing and including
At my church, we sponsor support groups and twelve-step programs, hold a Christian arts and jazz
festival, and put on musicals and seasonal events at Christmas and Easter. We have always been able to
muster a crowd for such outreach events. But getting someone to a special event is one thing; getting
him or her to a church service is another. It’s hard getting unchurched people to attend a worship
service. The secret is not more paid staff. Nor is it more advertising. Rather the key is in helping people
bring and include their friends.
Become lay-led
Several years ago we thought about how to make our church less pastor-driven and more lay-driven. It
struck us that we encouraged our people to minister, and, as a result, they would often bring a friend to
Christ. But then we took the celebration away from them: the pastors, the paid people, did all the
baptizing. So we made a decision: If someone brings a friend to the Lord, he or she gets to baptize that
friend. Immediately we saw an explosion in the number baptized. Big, burly guys would step into the
baptistery tank and start crying. Joe the mechanic would tell how his buddy Bob came to one of our
musicals and three months later received the Lord.
Create a safe place
The unchurched will come back to a church that feels safe. For them, this is the most important
ingredient. If they don't feel safe with you, they will not stay around long enough to hear the truth. You
can do several things to make you and your church feel safe to the unchurched:
 Explain what you mean. When we ask the unchurched why they don't come to church, the
number one complaint is they can't understand what's going on or what preachers are saying.
We try to make no assumptions about what visitors will understand, and we work hard to talk
the language of those unfamiliar with church.
 Explain why. Postmoderns resist directive-type communication. A sermon that starts off with
an authoritative statement about how people ought to behave turns them off. I've found it works
better to speak persuasively, sometimes taking twice as long to explain a point. "If you believe
this, so-and-so occurs; if you believe that, such-and-such happens."
Don't rush people
I have a friend who is a rabbi. One time I said to him, “Don't you get nervous hanging around a guy like
me—a confessed evangelist who'd love to see you converted?” He's an expert on Romans 9–11 and
teaches in seminaries. He said, "Oh, no. I'm a gift of God to you. According to my understanding of the
New Testament, my job is to give you an opportunity to love. If I'm to be convinced, that's the Holy
Spirit's job. You're to love, and the Holy Spirit is to convince.” That rabbi may understand this process
better than we do! People feel safe when we love them and don't try to force decisions for Christ too
soon.
Don't be surprised by their problems
Unchurched people assume churches don’t want people with sin problems. They assume those who
come to church are perfect—or hypocritical enough to act like they are. When your jaw doesn’t drop at
their sins, they feel safe. When the pastor is transparent in sermons, it gives them permission to have
problems.
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 3
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Give nonthreatening invitations
We don't give altar calls at church, because many unchurched people have seen them on TV and don't
like them. Still, we always give an invitation at outreach events. Usually we’ll have everyone close his
and her eyes and ask those who want to receive Christ to look up at the speaker. We look at all who do
and ask a couple of questions, having them nod in response, to make sure they know what they're doing.
We’ll ask, "Were you brought by a friend?" If they nod yes, we ask them to let that person know the
decision they made. We pray and then offer a free packet of tapes and Bible studies. We gently
encourage them to go with their friend to the reception room afterwards.
People trained to be bringers-and-includers can get their friends to a church they know is relevant and
safe. And sooner or later, a good percentage of those friends will return. Maybe we’ve been making this
harder than it really is.
—DOUG MURREN AND MIKE MEEKS; adapted from Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and
Outreach, © 1996 by Christianity Today International/Leadership journal.
Discuss
1. How involved are your lay people? Have you explored tangible ways to get them more involved,
such as letting some do baptisms?
2. How “safe” is your congregation for the unchurched? Take an imaginative stroll through your
church on an average Sunday morning: what practices might unnecessarily offend or confuse them?
3. What kind of invitations does your church extend to unbelievers from the stage? How could they be
more effective? How could they be less threatening?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 4
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Reaching Beyond Church Walls
Changes in our culture mean we’re all missionaries now.
1 Corinthians 9:20–22
After interviewing seminar participants from hundreds of different churches, I’m convinced that the vast
majority of veteran churchgoers have not made the uncomfortable changes necessary to be ready for
guests. This is true whether the church ranks evangelism as third priority, second priority, or even first
priority. Research shows that nine out of ten pastors call their church “evangelistic.” Yet less than one out
of three church attenders has shared his or her faith with a non-Christian within the last 12 months.
Something is desperately wrong with this picture! What has to be done and how can we do it? The need is
for a change in outlook and behavior to a model based on relationships.
Exegete the Culture
We must start in the same place that we would if we were brand new missionaries to our neighborhood.
We’d begin in prayer and then ask, “What would be the good news to these people?” Missionaries speak
of exegeting their culture. We must likewise ask lots of questions, test what we learn, and then ask more
questions. After we’ve gotten a handle on the culture around us, then we’re able to ask the more telling
and difficult questions.
Begin Outside Your Door
I once asked a group of leaders, “How many of you are concerned that not all the members of your
immediate family will be with you in heaven?” Many hands went up. “Now think of the households to the
immediate left and right of your front door,” he continued. “Is there anyone who has built strong enough
relationships to ask about the spiritual well-being of both homes?” One hand went up. “It’s taken us
years,” that person commented. “I’ve partnered with a Christian neighbor who lives fifteen houses away.
We’ve held barbeques to get to know our neighbors, we’ve done Bible studies with some, and we’ve been
intentional about inviting people to church. Three of the homes have had someone come to faith in Christ,
and they’re all now active in a church.” The success these Christians were having was no mystery; it was
the result of God’s faithfulness in response to their determination to forge relationships with their
neighbors.
Become a Contagious Congregation
Add to your standard curriculum new information and results of studies about how to effectively reach out
to others. As a congregation, prioritize outreach and evangelism, and faith nurturing as important reasons
for your existence as a church. Become more intentional about being a “house of prayer.” Seek God’s
guidance and petition God for family members and friends who you desire to find new hope and life
through Christ. Remember that the way you love is the mark of your witness. Seek out and invite into your
fellowship people who don’t have a Christian family heritage or a church home. Make changes if
necessary so that newcomers feel welcome and wanted.
—TOM CLEGG AND WARREN BIRD; adapted from Lost in America, © 2001 by Group Publishing (updated
as Missing in America: Making an Eternal Difference in the World Next Door, © 2007 by Group
Publishing). Used by permission.
Discuss
1. How does the idea of living as a missionary, right where you live, make you feel?
2. How has your church changed on the “inside” in the past 30 years? How have these changes affected
its ability to minister to the surrounding community?
3. How has the world in general changed? How have these changes affected your church’s ability to
minister in the neighborhood?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 5
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Who Can We Reach?
Match your church strengths with the needs of visitors.
Romans 12:13
Here is a simple activity to improve the process for connecting newcomers into the life of our
church. Spend the first 10 minutes writing your answers to the three questions, and then spend the
next 10 to 15 minutes discussing them with the team.
1. What Does Our Church Offer Newcomers?
First, list at least three key strengths of the church. For example, you may write, “Our church provides
effective, fun-filled children’s programs.” Try not to write general items such as, “Our church is
friendly.” Be specific.
Second, list how some of the strengths you identified could be communicated to visitors. For example,
you may write, “We can send letters and email announcements to inform visitors about our children’s
programs.”
Third, based on our strengths, what type of newcomers may likely connect with our church? For
example, if our strength is a well-organized children’s program, our church may connect best with young
adults with children. If our strength is traditional worship, we may connect with a specific cluster of
young and older adults who value historic forms of worship.
2. Who Is Our Audience?
First, focus on the spiritual condition of the person with whom you believe the church needs to connect.
Is it the “shuffling saint” coming from another congregation? A pre-Christian with little church
background? A de-churched person disillusioned by past church experience?
Second, put yourself in his or her shoes. The greater the difference between that person and those in our
church, the more effort it will require to view our church from his or her perspective. (Another way to do
this is to interview people similar to those God is calling you to reach.) How will he or she fit in with the
social culture of our church? Is she a white-collar person and our church more blue-collar? Is this person
younger and is the average age in our church more than 50?
3. What Is Our Process for Drawing Them In?
Draw a simple flow-chart for how you think newcomers connect into the church. For example, in a
church that is reaching primarily de-churched people, follow up with a visitor only if they sign a
“friendship folder” that is passed in every service. Signing in is the way in which people signal their
willingness to step beyond anonymity. Therefore, base any follow-up process from the time they sign in.
—WAYNE SCHMIDT; adapted from Lead On: Why Churches Stall and How Leaders Get Them Going, ©
2003 Wesleyan Publishing House.
Discuss
1. Do we track guests in a way that provides anonymity but also the opportunity to step forward?
2. What are appropriate ways for us to seek to make a connection with them, and when?
3. What special qualities and gifts does our congregation have that other churches in the area do not
have? How can we use those gifts to reach a specific group of people in our community?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 6
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Finding Visitor Prospects
Use both personal and public invitations to draw newcomers.
1 Peter 2:17
On any given Sunday, there are people in your community who would attend your church if invited, but
who probably wouldn’t come on their own initiative.
Every unchurched person in your community falls somewhere on a scale that ranges from receptivity to
resistance. For some, circumstances (and/or the Holy Spirit) have created a need in their life, and they
would gladly say “yes” to an invitation. For others, wild horses couldn’t drag them to church. They
want nothing to do with God or religion.
Interestingly, people are constantly moving back and forth on the receptivity/resistance axis. A person
who is resistant may get unexpected news that suddenly rearranges his or her priorities. Someone else
who is receptive today but remains disconnected to a church will, over time, drift to the resistance end
of the scale. When you extend an invitation to visit your church, those who respond next week will be
different people than those who respond next month or next year. As a result, extending regular
invitations to your service should be an ongoing part of your outreach strategy.
Personal vs. Public
How do you extend invitations in ways that receptive people will respond? There are two approaches:
personal invitations and public announcements. From experience, we know the percentage of invitees
who will respond to each:
Type of Communication
Positive Response Rate
Personal Invitation
10 – 25%
Public Announcement
0.25 – 2%
“Personal invitation” means an individual request from one person to another (face-to-face, email,
telephone), and assumes the two individuals already know each other. “Public announcement” includes
newspaper ads, direct mail, radio or television spots, telemarketing, posters, door hangers, etc.
With this information you can actually set goals for the number of visitors you desire, and project the
results of your invitation strategy. Suppose you want to see 100 new people attend your church in the
coming year (two per Sunday). There are different combinations of the two invitation styles that will
result in 100 new people. These examples assume a 15 percent response rate for “personal invitations”
and a 0.75 percent response for public announcements:
Reason for
Attending
Projected
Response
Example #1
Example #2
Example #3
No. of
No. of
Invitations Responses
No. of
No. of
Invitations Responses
No. of
Invitations
No. of
Responses
Personal
Invitation
15%
333
50
500
75
167
25
6,700
50
3,350
25
10,000
75
Public
0.75%
Advertising
TOTAL
100
100
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
100
page 7
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
As you consider a strategy to increase visitor flow in your church, place the greater investment in
personal invitations, because…
 Visitor “retention rate” (visitors who stay) is higher among those invited by a friend than those
who came because of a public announcement.
 Visitors who become active in the church will more often invite their friends; people assume
that how they came is the norm.
 Personal invitations are active and involve church members in the process of outreach.
 Higher morale and enthusiasm occurs when unchurched friends and family begin attending.
 Visitors who began through personal invitations drop out less often in the critical first year.
 Personal invitations are more cost-effective.
Personal Invitations
Set a goal to see at least 20 percent of your worshipping congregation inviting a friend or relative to a
church event in the coming year. Here are a few ideas for how to realize this goal:
1. Preach several sermons on how the gospel has spread since the first century—through
“households” of friends, neighbors, and relatives. (The Greek word is oikos.) Talk about the modern
application of this timeless process. (Without sounding too self-serving, my book The Master’s
Plan for Making Disciples, Baker Books, would give you all the material needed.)
2. Realize that, for starters, people will be more comfortable inviting someone to an event other
than a Sunday service. Identify activities in your church calendar to which a member would be
more comfortable inviting a friend. Encourage your people to think about, pray for, and consider
inviting someone in their oikos.
3. Develop and print a nice flyer on each of these events. Give three copies to each person in your
church and encourage them to give a flyer to one or more people in their oikos.
4. Build an “invitation consciousness.” Throughout the year plan periodic interviews in your service
with a person who actually invited a friend to a church event, and discuss how it went.
Public Announcements…
While personal invitations are the most fruitful and cost-effective for increasing your visitors, public
announcements have their place. The process should be “both-and” rather than “either-or.”
As you formulate your public announcement strategy, remember two basic principles:
1. Say it more than one time. There is one principle that works above all others: Redundancy.
Redundancy. Redundancy. Redundancy. Redundancy. Studies of retention tell us that people will
hear the same message up to seven times and get something new each time.
2. Say it more than one way. The more of our senses that receive a message the more likely we will
remember it. Those who only hear a message will remember less than those who hear and see it and
touch it. Use a variety of media to communicate with your target audience.
For Whom?
Here are some of the most receptive “people groups” for your invitations, listed in order of receptivity:
 Friends and relatives of existing members
 Visitors who have not become active
 Attendees to programs and special ministries who are not active
 Inactive members
 Christmas and Easter visitors
 Wedding and funeral connections
 VBS families
 People in life transitions
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 8
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Looking Outward
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Sent How?
Direct Mail
 Use a stamp rather than metered or bulk rate indicia.
 Hand-address the envelope.
 Use an envelope, letter, and flyer, not just a flyer.
 Write the copy in a personable, readable, and honest style.
 Mail more than once.
 Send a last-minute postcard to arrive the week before the event.
Telephone
 Plan to make several thousand calls.
 Prepare a written script and train the callers.
 Make the calls from a phone bank over a two-week period.
 Your goal in the call is to add people to your mailing list, not get a commitment to attend.
Newspaper Ads
 Focus on and write toward a specific target audience.
 Highlight relationships and people, not programs and institutions.
 No more than 40% of the ad should be copy; most should be title, picture, or white space.
 Advertise on Wednesday for any events the following Sunday.
 Place the ad where your target audience will be reading; avoid the church page.
 Develop a series of ads with the same format but variations in message.
 Run the ads weekly.
 Use the local paper, not the metropolitan paper.
 Articles (written by newspaper staff reporters) are more valuable than paid ads; make friends
with the religion editor.
Radio & TV
 Get information from the radio and TV stations on their audience profiles; use only stations and
programs that reach your target audience.
 Hire a professional advertising agency to develop the spots.
 Focus on and write copy toward your specific target audience.
 Offer a free “premium” related to your target audience to get the listener on your mailing list.
 Don’t expect listeners to remember a seven-digit phone number.
—CHARLES ARN; © 2009 Christianity Today International/BuildingChurchLeaders.com
Discuss
1. What kind of invitations has your congregation favored in the past: personal or public? How
successful have your attempts been?
2. Are there any invitation ideas above that could be helpful for your church to implement?
3. What are some ways you can motivate members in your church to extend personal invitations to
friends, family, and co-workers?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 9
Visitor Follow-up
Getting new people through the door is just the beginning.
1 John 4:21
It’s one thing to increase your first-time visitor numbers. It’s quite a different matter to see them come
back a second time. Here are four simple but very important principles that will help you increase the
number of visitors who return for a second and third visit.
Time Principle
Contact visitors within 48 hours of their visit. The first two days are your window of opportunity. The
longer you wait beyond 48 hours, the fewer visitors will return the following week.
The follow-up contact need not (and increasingly these days, should not) be an unannounced visit to the
home. In most communities a stranger knocking at the front door is an anxiety-provoking event. The risk
of offending your recent guest with an unannounced visit is far greater than any benefit of a face-to-face
contact. The medium of choice is the telephone.
The caller should introduce him or herself and explain that they called to thank the person for visiting,
and answer any questions they might have about the church. The caller should briefly share the theme of
next week’s service and invite the guest to return. A best-case scenario is for the caller to meet the visitor
the following Sunday and sit with him or her during the service. If the visitor expresses an interest in a
particular ministry of the church, the caller should pass along the person’s name and phone number to the
appropriate person in the church.
Purpose Principle
The goal of the follow-up contact is to see newcomers return. Research clarifies the importance of the
second and third visit. We asked churches to study their visitor records from Sept. 1–Oct. 15 a year ago,
and identify people who visited once, twice, and three times during that period. Then we asked them to
determine which of those visitors were now active in their church. Here are the results:
VISITOR RETENTION RATE*
Non-growing Churches
(under 5% per year)
Growing Churches
(over 5% per year)
First-time visitor
9%
21%
Second-time visitor
17%
38%
Third-time visitor
36%
57%
* “Visitor retention rate” is the percentage of first-time visitors who are regularly attending
the same church one year following their first visit.
I see at least two important insights: 1) Growing churches have a better visitor retention rate than nongrowing churches; 2) the more often a person visits, the more likely that person will stay. This second
insight is particularly important: the chances of a visitor becoming a regular attender almost double with
each subsequent visit. And while most churches have an adequate follow-up system for first-time guests,
I find that very few churches have thought much about their second-time guests. We are putting all our
visitor follow-up “eggs” in the first-time visitor “basket”’—which is the least likely to bring results.
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 10
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Personnel Principle
Members should make the follow-up contacts. Another helpful insight from studies of visitor retention:
When a church member makes the follow-up phone call (versus the pastor), visitor return rates double.
That’s the positive way to say it. It is also true, though more humbling for many clergy, that when the
pastor makes the call, return rates are cut in half.
Why would more visitors return when invited by a layperson? An apparently disgruntled pastor answered
this question in one of my seminars by musing, “Preachers are paid to be good; laypeople are good for
nothing!” In a sense, he was right. When visitors are called by the pastor, they subconsciously know the
pastor is being paid, and part of his job is to call on visitors. It is seen as an “institutional” call.
In contrast, when a newcomer converses with a church attender, visitors tell us that the conversation is
considerably more believable. It is seen as a “personal” call. A church member who shares glowing
comments about the church and the pastor will raise the status of both in the eyes of the newcomer. Of
course, the opposite kinds of comments about a church and pastor are given equal credibility by the
visitor. (Note to pastor: Choose your callers carefully!)
Small Group Principle
The more small groups you have, the more of your visitors will get involved. Small groups are the best
“entry path” for newcomers to become active participants. Small groups not only enhance spiritual
growth, they build relationships. And relationships are the “glue” that keeps people coming back.
Unfortunately, most churches do not have enough small groups to effectively integrate newcomers. Do
you have enough? Here are two ratios to check out:
Small Group Ratio — 7:100. For every 100 constituents, a church should have seven face-to-face groups.
Your “constituency” equals the number of church members plus non-member attendees. A “group” is any
collection of people that meets regularly and in which participants feel a sense of community and love.
This ratio provides enough groups so that everyone who wants to be involved can be.
New Group Ratio — 1:5. One of every five groups in a church should be two years old or less. Our
research clearly shows that 90 percent of all church groups lose their ability to incorporate new people
after two years. Like a sponge that is saturated with water and cannot hold anymore, groups reach a
“saturation point” where they cannot hold any more members. As a result, it is critical to start new groups
so newcomers can get involved.
—CHARLES ARN; © 2009 Christianity Today International/BuildingChurchLeaders.com
Discuss
1. How soon does your church currently follow up with visitors? How do you follow up?
2. Do you track your “retention rate” carefully? In what ways can you be more intentional about
engaging your second-time visitors?
3. Are your small groups serving as access points to your church? How can you change them to function
more effectively in this manner?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 11
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
The goal of your follow-up contact should be nothing more and nothing less than to see guests return the
following week.
The First Sunday in Your Church
Make sure visitors feel welcomed.
Philippians 4:5
Coming to church for the first time can be intimidating. Here are four things that pastors, Sunday school
teachers, and folks in the pews can do to help visitors feel at home.
1. Develop a greeting ministry with the visitor, not the greeter, in mind. I attended a growing
church years ago that had such a greeting program. This was not simply shaking hands and handing out
programs. Members were expected to seek out and speak to specific visitors for at least three consecutive
weeks. When I began attending, someone came alongside me, escorted me to my children's Sunday school
classrooms, and answered my questions about various Bible studies. It provided a sense of honest welcome
and of immediate connectedness.
2. Choose hospitality over visitation. After my first visit to a church I received four phone calls, two
emails, and three letters. Then the pastor invited himself to our house to “get to know us a little better and
answer any questions we have about the church.” But we weren't even unpacked from our recent move yet! I
wanted to welcome him into my home, but I'll invite the pastor when I'm ready, the family is settled, and the
curtains are up. I'd rather someone from the church invite me to their house, so I can get to know them a little
better and so I don't feel on display. One Sunday at another church I visited, the pastor and his wife invited us
to their house for dinner following the service. We ate hot dogs and potato chips, completely at ease in this
open atmosphere, making it easy to ask questions about the church. It made a world of difference.
3. Recognize Sunday school as an initial contact point. Often a visitor's first experience with a new
church is dropping a child off at Sunday school. Greeting new students and their parents warmly, with interest,
is encouraging. Merely saying “hello,” sipping coffee, and gushing over the church regular that walks in right
then sends a different message. Adult Sunday school teachers also serve as important first contacts. Time is
limited in Sunday school classes, of course, but a few private moments of attention beforehand will go far in
helping visitors feel at home.
4. Become visitors for a day. Those who have belonged to the same church for several years may not
remember what being a visitor is like. A simple exercise can resensitize you: visit a church where no one
knows you. Go outside your community, outside the denomination. Go without knowing what to wear or what
ministries are available. Pay attention to how you’re received. Ask yourself how you'd feel if you were longing
for a church home right then. Note what this church does well, and what it doesn't.
Some churches intentionally do this once per year. Cancelling all services, they declare it a “visitation Sunday”
for members to attend other churches. To maximize effectiveness, urge members to go where they are a
stranger to everyone there, and to be prepared to return with a report of what they’ve learned. The discussion
of those reports can lead to important insights about your church.
Most churches want to be welcoming to outsiders. However, welcoming does not happen automatically. It
involves intentionally setting aside natural habits to show genuine caring. It involves welcoming your visitors
in the same way that Christ would: with open hearts.
—JENNIFER SMITH-MORRIS; excerpted from our sister publication Leadership journal, © 2001 Christianity
Today International. For more articles like this, visit www.LeadershipJournal.net.
Discuss
1. Are the greeters at your church friendly? Helpful?
2. Does your Sunday school program consciously reach out to non-attending parents who drop off their kids?
How might you reach these parents more effectively?
3. Think about scheduling a “visitation Sunday.” What lessons might you learn? Think of the most
welcoming churches you’ve attended: what practices do they employ? What made you feel welcomed?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 12
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Sensitivity to the Unchurched
An engaging and warm atmosphere disarms those unfamiliar
with church culture.
Hebrews 13:2
Churches receive visitors from two groups: insiders and outsiders. Insiders understand traditional church
subculture. They know what to expect before they walk through the door. Outsiders have no idea what takes
place during a church service. It’s easy for them to feel anxious about their first visit. Here’s how to give
consideration to the feelings of the outsiders, without writing off the insiders.
Anxiety Reduction
Show people where to park and which door to enter. Place greeters at the entrance to direct people toward the
auditorium, where they are handed a program that clearly outlines the order of events. Ushers guide people to
open sections rather than specific seats, so they can claim their own space.
Keep anxiety to a minimum with the service itself. Program the first 30 minutes with, for example, a short
Scripture reading to introduce the topic, a drama, and a short, easy song or chorus. After the chorus, during
which people are standing, say something such as, “As you’re seated, turn and greet some of the people around
you.” Only after these attempts to reduce the anxiety of visitors will you formally acknowledge them.
Tell visitors they are welcome guests we want to serve. If they want to find out more about our church, give
them the options of stopping by a counter in the lobby for more information; being contacted later, which they
can arrange by filling in a section of the program and dropping it into the offering plate; or calling the church.
Don’t pressure visitors any further.
Intangible Overtures
Greeters: Train greeters and ushers how to make people feel comfortable, and to be comfortable
themselves. Avoid perpetual scowls, arrogant attitudes, or overbearing dispositions.
The building: Warm up the church’s interior with additions like plants or auditorium banners. This is one
area where smaller churches can be particularly effective. People also appreciate a clean, well-maintained
building. Problems such as cracked paint, litter, dirt, and ugly trash cans can destroy a warm image.
Music: Many church music leaders include long, reverential pauses for prayer and brief silences during
transitions. But almost any length of silence can be uncomfortable for visitors. Use pleasant background
music anywhere it might reduce anxiety.
Prayer: If the congregational prayer is simple and conversational, God may seem less foreign to visitors.
Creativity: If the order of events is the same each week, people may not try as hard to attend regularly. We
want them to walk into our church with a sense of anticipation, wondering what will happen this week.
First impressions: The first 15 minutes of a service are extremely important. Start strong, usually with
music, and then vary the intensity level for individual elements of the service.
Scope: Electricity is not the result of trying to do something more and bigger each week. A simple song
with piano accompaniment will likely be more effective than an unrehearsed full ensemble.
—DON COUSINS; adapted from Growing Your Church Through Evangelism and Outreach, © 1996 by
Christianity Today International/LEADERSHIP JOURNAL.
Discuss
1. Talk about the first 30 minutes of an average service at your church. What aspects of these opening
minutes would connect with the unchurched? What aspects would confuse them?
2. Discuss any foreseeable tensions between appealing to outsiders and pleasing insiders. Are there some
creative ways these tensions might be defused?
3. How can your congregation use its creative gifts to minister to the unchurched?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 13
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Eight Obstacles to Assimilation
Watch that these subtle barriers don’t keep newcomers away.
John 13:35
A church's composition, history, or philosophy of ministry can throw up a wall newcomers have a
difficult time scaling. Here are some of the situations a congregation may face that can place barriers
before newcomers.
1. Large family networks
Families enjoy built-in care. News about needs spreads internally, apart from the church. Relatives often
are so busy taking care of family needs, little time remains to consider the needs of outsiders. Such
networks can be deadly to assimilating newcomers. Do two things to deal with this issue. First, tactfully
alert some in these families to the potential problems, challenging them to take care to include outsiders
in some of their social gatherings. Second, strive to outgrow the family circles with new growth, so they
no longer dominate the fellowship.
2. Existing friendships
The fellowship of churches known for friendliness and care can sometimes be difficult to crack. If the
energy of the congregation is given to caring for existing members rather than identifying the needs of
newcomers, love becomes ingrown. I remember visiting one church that was very friendly. I watched
people in animated conversations with their friends, but the whole time, I sat alone on the pew feeling like
an ice cube. No one talked with me.
3. Facilities
The design of church buildings, especially poor layout of the foyer and other entrances, can be an obstacle
to a newcomer's welcome. In some churches even finding the sanctuary is a challenge. No signs direct
you to entrances, the nursery, or rest rooms. Such inconsideration makes newcomers uncomfortable.
Indirectly, but forcefully, the church is saying to visitors, “We weren't expecting you.”
4. A church's history
Some congregations seem more interested in the past than in the future. Sermon illustrations and
announcements constantly refer to past events and cherished traditions. Continual references to names of
former members and leaders are meaningless to outsiders and say the church is more interested in its past
heroes than in newcomers. Even excessive denominationalism can hinder assimilation. People seeking
help today don’t go to a church because it belongs to a historic denomination. They go because they
believe they will receive help. No one returns for a second visit because a denominational flag has been
waved; they come back because they experienced God’s presence and the acceptance of God’s people.
5. Philosophy of ministry
If the pastor or congregation believes church life is generated from the platform on Sunday morning,
integration means getting as many people into the sanctuary for Sunday mornings as possible. In such
situations, allegiance is to the pastor and not the congregation. Both strong pulpiteers and flamboyant
personalities can build a following, but they may be only attracting a crowd, not assimilating members
into a church body. If, however, a church's ministry emphasizes interaction among members and shared
ministry, integration means providing facilities and programs for people to build friendships and to
become involved in service. Church life is what happens among members, as well as in the public
worship service.
6. A reputation of tension
Strife between members is picked up quickly by newcomers. And animosity is a poor advertisement.
Newcomers want no part of a church torn by dissension. The answer, of course, is an emphasis on
forgiveness and reconciliation. A torn church cannot weave in new members. Until strife becomes the
exception rather than the way of life, the church cannot expect to attract and hold new members.
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 14
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Some churches try to be all things to all people. But most churches have difficulty providing an
environment in which everyone feels comfortable. Usually one social culture dominates. The solution is
to sensitize insiders, gently and consistently, to the need to make everyone welcome, while recognizing
that a church's growth likely will reflect its cultural and social composition.
8. Poor attitudes
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to newcomers' integration is the attitude of insiders. Negative attitudes
toward outsiders come from many quarters. Church power brokers, fearing a threat to their power base,
may resist newcomers. Existing members can resent the financial cost of providing space and staff to care
for the needs of newcomers. Church pioneers can withdraw emotional support from the church. No matter
how strong the appeal from the leadership, such attitudes, even if expressed by few, freeze newcomers out
of the church. We sensitize the congregation to newcomers by including them on church committees.
Obviously senior leadership positions require a record of faithfulness in the church. However, we've
worked at including at least one relatively new person on as many committees as possible. The new
persons' interaction in the committees is a refreshing reminder to old-timers that newcomers think
differently and must be taken into consideration.
All these obstacles hinder assimilation. Not every church will suffer from all these problems, but every
church does well to consider which might be insidiously holding back the integration of newcomers as
productive and growing members.
—CALVIN RATZ; adapted from Mastering Outreach and Evangelism, © 1990 by Christianity Today
International.
Discuss
1. What obstacles listed above might be present in your congregation? How did these obstacles
develop?
2. What negative things do people who do not attend your church say about it? Is there any truth to
these claims?
3. Brainstorm some creative ways of addressing the problem of obstacles in your church. What people
will you have to talk to in order to effectively remove these obstacles? How will you approach them?
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 15
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Engaging Visitors
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
7. Class and cultural distinctions
There are rich and poor people. There are retirement communities, university communities, and workingclass communities. There are farm towns, inner-city ghettos, and suburbs. People aren't all the same. Even
if they speak English, they don't all talk the same language. And while those differences shouldn't affect
how people interact, they do make a difference in how comfortable outsiders feel when they come into a
church.
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS/Resources
ATTRACTING AND IMPACTING VISITORS
Further Exploration
Resources for attracting visitors.
BuildingChurchLeaders.com. Leadership training resources from Christianity Today International.
• “A Welcoming Church” Assessment Pack
• “Assimilating Visitors into Your Church” Practical Ministry Skills
• “Welcoming Visitors” Practical Ministry Skills
• “Becoming Outward Focused” Training Theme
• “Connecting Newcomers” Training Theme
LeadershipJournal.net. This website offers practical advice and articles for church leaders.
ChurchCentral.com. This website equips leaders to grow healthier churches. Includes an article archive.
Discontinuity and Hope by Lyle E. Schaller. This book is more conceptual than practical, but it gives
the big picture of why attracting and keeping newcomers is so critical in this era of rapid change. See
especially “New Generations Bring a New Context.” (Abingdon Press, 1999; ISBN 978-0687085392)
The Five Star Church by Stan Toler and Alan Nelson. Two strong chapters in this book are “The
Secret Church Shopper” and “Evaluation and Measurement.” (Regal, 1999; ISBN 978-0830723232)
A Peculiar People by Rodney Clapp. (IVP Press, 1996; ISBN 978-0830819904)
The People-Magnet Church by Darren Walter. (College Press Publishing Company, 2001; ISBN
978-0899008721)
The Purpose-Driven Church by Rick Warren. A classic on personal evangelism. (Zondervan, 1995;
ISBN 978-0310201069)
Rethinking the Church by James Emery White. This takes every aspect of how a church functions
and forces the reader to check his or her assumptions. Check out the chapters on “Rethinking
Evangelism” and “Rethinking Discipleship.” (Baker, 2003; ISBN 978-0801091650)
From BUILDING CHURCH LEADERS © 2009 Christianity Today Intl
www.BuildingChurchLeaders.com
page 16