Bring 'em Back!

Why don’t guests come back to our church?

Good question! I am glad you asked.

I have been in the business of church for 30 years and this subject has no simple answers. However, there are some principles of which I would like to make note that might be helpful in your consideration of this issue for your church.

Are you doing things well? Of course all of us say “Yes, we are a church of excellence.” That question, by the way, is tantamount to someone asking a person if they keep their kitchen clean. Almost everyone says “Yes” to that one as well. But the reality is that “clean” for one person is “not clean” for another. The same is true in churches.

I have been to plenty of churches where there is no other way to describe it other than just plain sloppy. It has a “home” feel for the home folks but for the guests it is a mess. So let’s start here.

• The restrooms should be spic and span. I mean really clean. You should be able to eat breakfast in there. Well, that might be an extreme. SPOTLESS! CLEAN! No exceptions!

• Be better than Wal-Mart and Disney! The hospitality must be superb. You say, “But we live in the North or Northeast, and our people are not as warm as those folks from the South.” That is a lousy excuse. Get friendly and do it from the minute the guest enters your parking lot. Why not? Examine your hospitality and be willing to ratchet up your efforts with change. This is where everyone has the capacity to be better than everyone else…better than Wal-Mart, better than Disney, better than anyone!! Be the best in hospitality.

• Visitation. One of the things you must do is visit those who visit you. You might say, “We don’t do that in our area of the country because it is culturally unacceptable to do so.” Nice excuse but you asked the question above or at least clicked on this article for some advice. On Monday, immediately following Sunday services, mobilize your troops, including the senior pastor, and get out and say thanks for coming to your church. That is the least you can do. Take your guests a small gift from the church while you are at it. You are not forcing your way into people’s home. You are simply knocking on the door, giving a gift and saying thanks. If they invite you in that is fine. Who knows, in that case you might even be privileged to lead them across the line of faith to Jesus.

• Develop a turn-key guest system. You must have a complete process to take people from their thought of attending your church all the way through to them coming onto the parking lot and entering your building. Then everything from deciding to come once, twice, three times, etc. to making a profession of faith, moving into discipleship and community, experiencing the joy of giving and moving into full membership must be on your radar screen.

In addition to these core areas of church appearance and hospitality, be sure the three fundamental “sales” components of the church are in place; preaching, ministry in music, and ministry to children.

• Not Billy Graham. The preaching needs to be good. People want to hear Bible messages that are relevant to their lives. It does not have to be Billy Graham but it has to be well-prepared, well-thought out, and well-delivered. It might even be nice if it was anointed of God.

• Hillsong? The ministry in music has to be good. It does not have to be Hillsong but it has to be good. Whether you like it or not, you are competing with some great music on the market today. So be good, well-prepared, and fully directed by the Spirit. If your church is still stuck in worship wars you need to determine a way to whip that one. The new guest to your church who does not know God does not care which style of music is up for this week. It just has to be good music.

• The ministry to children has to be good. The age group of adults with young children is one of the most fluid in ministry today. If you can minister in a meaningful way to a child age two or age ten, you will capture the hearts of parents. Once a family buys into your children’s ministry you create an automatic feeder for your youth ministry in the years to come.

To answer your question as you think it before you ask it, “No, you don’t have to wait until you have full-time staff to do these things.” The issue is good preaching, good music, and good ministry to children. You can handle the good preaching and good qualified lay persons can do the other with your leadership.

So these are just a few starter-kit thoughts. Use these to zero in on the fundamentals.

• Make the place as neat as a pin.
• Do hospitality better than anyone else.
• Preach good, relevant Biblical messages.
• Present good, current Christian worship music.
• Have a children’s ministry second-to-none.

If you do these things, guests will come once and come again. Do them and you will be glad you did!