by Rich Birch: You got into the ministry to reach people with the timeless message of Jesus. At some time in your journey, you’ve probably shed tears over the fact that there are people in your community who don’t follow him. You didn’t get in this to keep the people who are already “saved” but you feel called to seek people who need him deeply. You want to echo the story of the scripture that shows a loving God pursuing humanity. You want to reach unchurched people.

But where do you begin? What are the simple things that each of us could do to make our churches more open to unchurched people? There are literally thousands of changes you could undertake, but here are five that I believe your church could implement in the coming months to make a huge difference:

Double Down on Big Days

There are a handful of days during the year that unchurched people are more likely to attend. Although they vary slightly from context to context, they include Christmas Eve, Easter, Mother’s Day, “First Sunday Back in the Fall”, and somewhere around the start of the calendar year. You and your leadership team needs to be placing an extra effort on these days to ensure that three things happen with extra intensity during these special days:

Invite More People // Too many churches spend too much time worrying about what is happening during the service on these “big days” that they forget to focus their efforts on ensuring that their people invite their friends! You need to pull out all the stops to ensure that your people are going out of their way to bring their friends to this service. Unchurched people are more willing to attend on these days and so we need our people to take some efforts and invite their friends!
Welcome Them Warmly // Again, so much time and effort is put into the special music or maybe the message on these days that leaders forget that most unchurched people have formed their opinions of your church long before they sit in their seat. Ensure your guest services’ team is on point and ready to greet people warmly (not creepily!) on these days. Take time to think through every step, from the moment they arrive at your location all the way through until they leave at the end of the day.
Follow up & Invite Back // Finally, you’ve worked so hard to get them to come to your church, you’ve provided an incredibly engaging experience, and you had an amazing message mixed in there somewhere … but what next!? The momentum and weight of the service now needs to be pushed towards your guests coming back. Big days are all about earning a compliment in the mind of the guests to say “hmm, I’d try that again some time.” Don’t bombard them with a 1,000 messages and don’t talk about everything your church does. All you need to do is, three or four times during the big day invite them to come back next week… that’s it!

Make Your Teaching More Visual

Compelling teaching is at the core of every church that is reaching unchurched people. There is a lot of coaching that could be done to help your teaching connect more with unchurched people, but if there was one thing that we all should do, it would be making our services more visual in that aspect of services. A lot of communicators are still just standing behind a podium of some sort and delivering a “talk”, which has become an outmoded form of communication in the broader culture. Check out these facts about the importance of visual communication:

The brain processes visual information 60,000 faster than text. – 3M Corporation, 2001
90 percent of the information that comes to the brain is visual. – Hyerle, 2000
Visual aids in the classroom improve learning by up to 400 percent. – 3M Corporation, 2001
Approximately 65 percent of the population are visual learners. – Mind Tools, 1998

Here are some easy ways to add a visual element to your messages going forward:

Props // So many of the passages we teach from have a visual hook at the center of them; why not bring one of those objects with you to show during your message. In fact, when you read the teachings of Jesus, it seems like he was constantly finding objects around him and using those to tell a bigger story. (For example: lost coin, lost sheep, budding or barren fig tree, lamps under bushels or baskets, wine skins, and sheep & goats, etc.)
Engage a Graphic Designer // In most churches, there will be a volunteer or two who would love to help the church in improving its visuals. What if you reached out to them and asked them to partner with you for an upcoming series to develop something in such a way that the graphics are core to the message and not just window-dressings? What if your slides were more than just black background and white text?
What does your “stage” look like? // Have you taken a step back and seen what your stage looks like? Does it communicate that something that is of importance to your listeners is happening here? Has the “look” been updated since the 1980s? If you’re looking for ideas on what to do with your stage watch a few of the leading TED Talks and notice the environments those speakers are in. Most churches stages are cluttered and unfocused, but you want yours to look contemporary and clean!

Slow Down to Explain Everything.

We are guilty of “too much jargon” in our churches. We have a lot of “insidery” language that we need to eliminate at all costs. Consider this representative list of “Christian jargon” from Tim Keller’s book Preaching:

“Lukewarm”
“Backsliding”
“Seeing fruit”
“Spiritual warfare”
“…in my walk with the Lord”
“I’m praying for an open door”
“I’ve been released from that”
“That was such a blessing”
“That preacher really brought the word”
“It was a total God thing”

More than just removing useless language that mostly just confuses people who are new to the church, we need to slow down and take nothing for granted when we communicate as a church. This includes giving definitions of words that are not used in everyday conversations. It means slowing down to give the context of what our various sub-brands are as a church and who they are for. (It’s not self-evident that WonderLand is the ministry for preschoolers!) As well, it means taking time to walk through the Bible in a way that seeks to be clear over being clever, through helping people understand the passages we’re talking about in a way that drives towards life change rather than just trivial knowledge acquisition.

Robust “New Here” Process

What are unchurched people suppose to “do” when they arrive at your church? You can’t make the “next steps” you want each guest to take when they arrive too obvious. In fact, your team should regularly audit this process to ensure that it’s as clear as it possibly can be. You want to reduce every piece of potential friction towards helping people get connected to your community when they arrive.

Here are five questions to ask about what happens when people arrive at your church:

How are people supposed to “self-identify” that they are new to our church?
Why would I want to let the church know that I’m new to the church?
What happens within 24 hours of a guest visiting our church? (72 hours? one week? one month?)
If someone asked the question “I want to get connected to your church … what do I do?” What percentage of our team would give the same answer? (Plus, would it be the right answer?)
What do we need to stop doing to make our new process clearer to our guests?

Be Remarkable.

“Be genuine. Be remarkable. Be worth connecting with.” – Seth Godin (Marketer and Author, Purple Cow & Liar)

94% of churches are losing ground against the population growth of the communities they serve. [ref] At its core, you need to do something that no one else is doing to reach people. As we look around, the vast majority of churches aren’t doing anything that is worth their people talking to their friends about. Change that! Try something that sounds just a little nutty and see what happens. At this point, I would normally give you some examples but I’m going to resist doing that. What I want to do is give you permission to try it! We need to stop playing it safe and do something that gets people talking to each other. You know that thing you’ve been wondering about if it’s worth the risk to do it… do it! Double points if you sense it would appeal to people who don’t attend church on a regular basis.

I love that quote from Seth Godin because it’s the heart of how viral movements grow. They are led by leaders who are themselves … leading from their area of gifting! (Sounds familiar?) They try stuff that people talk to their friends … they are literally remarkable. At their core, they are communities and people worth building a connection with … and we all want that in our churches!

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Source: 5 Simple Changes to Make Your Church More Unchurched Friendly – unSeminary

The post 5 Simple Changes to Make Your Church More Unchurched Friendly – unSeminary appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Rich Birch: Thanks for joining us for another episode of the unSeminary podcast. Today I’m excited to have with us our guest, Bruce Ammons from Sugar Creek Baptist Church.

Sugar Creek is one of the fastest growing churches in the country. Serving the greater Houston area, the church is very ethnically diverse, with people among the congregation from over ninety different countries, speaking seventy different languages.

The mission of getting first time guests to return to a church again became Bruce’s burden after he learned that only 1 in 10 first time guests will return to a church a second time. However if an unchurched person returns time and time again, Bruce notes that a lot of these people (even adults) will trust Christ as their Lord and Savior. So at Sugar Creek, Bruce and his team have worked hard to retain first time guests, and now about 50% of their first time guests do return. Of those who return, about 76% stay and continue attending at church. Bruce talks with us today about how to retain visitors to your church.

A great Sunday morning experience. // When a first time guest attends your church, they should feel welcomed and invited when they walk in the door. Bruce explains that at this point in the path, it’s about feelings rather than theology. Guests should feel comfortable and valued, and non-believers especially shouldn’t feel overwhelmed among a group whose enthusiasm for Christ may be greater than theirs. Many of the people who begin attending Sugar Creek regularly are not followers of Christ when they first come to church.
Amazing, quick follow up. // Years ago, Bruce did door to door visits in order to follow up with first time visitors. But today that method doesn’t work because door to door visits are seen as an interruption. Now Sugar Creek does a quick follow up mail campaign. On Sunday mornings, Sugar Creek asks that everyone in the church to fill out a communication card with their information. First time visitors shouldn’t be singled out and made to do something everyone else isn’t doing, so even regular attendees are asked to do this. On Monday at 2:00pm, Bruce sends out an email to attendees thanking them for attending Sugar Creek and inviting them back again. The email includes a link to a five minute survey that the guests can fill out if they want or have the time, which lets the staff know how the experience was and how they can improve their services. On Tuesday at 1:00pm, a team meets together to write handwritten cards to the guests. Bulk mail campaigns are often tossed in the trash, so these cards can’t look like a bland, metered mailer. These cards are handwritten by Bruce or the senior pastor and have a first class stamp on the corner instead of being processed by a mail machine. As Bruce explains, these cards essentially look like birthday cards and are much more personal and inviting. The cards also include a $5 Starbucks gift card in order to make the guests feel loved on by the church. Bruce says, “I want somebody to feel blessed by our church even if they never return again. So I intentionally put a Starbucks card in that first mailing.”
Notice when your guests don’t return. // The first time guests who don’t return the next week receive a handwritten letter from the worship pastor, which may say, “It was great having you in church last week, but we missed you this week. We want to invite you back next week and want to know if you have any prayer requests.” The letter includes the URL to the pastor’s message from that past Sunday to invite the guest to listen to the sermon they may have missed. Another gift is enclosed in this letter, which is a $5 certificate to use at the church’s coffee shop or bookstore. Bruce notes it is good to give a church specific incentive to come back, but that shouldn’t be the first communication the visitor receives from the church.
Notice when your guests do return. // The guests who do return for a second time receive a letter from the small groups pastor. That letter explains the connect group kiosk area and how they can get to know people within the church quickly. This letter includes a $5 Sonic gift card. Third time guests receive a letter inviting them to a Lunch With the Pastors event. This is a nicely catered one hour-lunch in which you eat and meet with the pastors. The communication card that everyone in the church is asked to fill out each Sunday allows the staff to know who is returning each Sunday.

Bruce works to help other churches retain visitors through a coaching session that he offers. You can learn more about this service by emailing him at bammons@sugarcreek.net. You can also learn more about Sugar Creek at www.sugarcreek.net.

Thank You for Tuning In!

There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I’m grateful for that. If you enjoyed today’s show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they’re extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally!

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Lightning Round

Helpful Tech Tools // Workflowy

Ministries Following // Church of the Highlands

Influential Book // Walking on Water When You Feel Like You’re Drowning: Finding Hope in Life’s Darkest Moments by Tommy Nelson and Steve Leavitt

Inspiring Leader // Rick Warren

What does he do for fun // Golfing, reading and zip-lining with his family

Contact // Church website sugarcreek.net or email Bruce at bammons@sugarcreek.net

Source: Bruce Ammons on 500% More Second Time Guests Than The Average Church

The post Bruce Ammons on 500% More Second Time Guests Than The Average Church appeared first on Passion for Planting.

by Patrick Bradley: Kids love getting mail. If they’ve visited your church for the first time, mail them a ‘thanks for coming’ note on one of these 7 creative things you can mail for children’s ministry followup.

It turns out you can mail lots of weird stuff if you affix a proper mailing label and proper postage. Their instruction page for how to measure your package includes images of a guitar case and a car tire!

Mail These Things for Children’s Ministry Followup

So mail things for their first visit, for their birthday, or even as an invitation to a special event.

1.  A Frisbee

You can get frisbees with you church logo on them pretty inexpensively in bulk.

2. A Box of Candy

Be careful with this one – some parents might not be excited about candy for their kids. But the kids will love it! Locally, I can get 99¢ boxes of Sweetarts and Milk Duds all day long. I’m told…

3. A Ball

Mail them one of those red rubber kickballs or even an inflatable beach ball.

4. A Hula Hoop

For real.

5. A Piñata

How cool would that be to get a small piñata in the mail for your birthday?!? This one is probably cost-prohibitive, but I had to throw it in there.

6. A Pack of Microwave Popcorn

The inspiration for this post comes from New Life Christian Church who used to meet in a movie theater and mail popcorn to kids. What a natural children’s ministry followup if you meet in a theater!

7. Flip-Flops

Again, you’d have to find the right price, but here’s the double fun part: mail them the first flip-flop after their first visit, and then mail them the second when they come back again. You don’t even have to set the expectation that they’ll get the other one; they’ll put it together when they get the other one.

What Not to Mail

Ideas abound on the interwebs for weird things to mail, including coconuts and potatoes. But the US Post Office warns about perishable items like fresh fruits/vegetables and live animals:

Some items require special packaging or special permission to be mailed”

Sounds like a hassle to me.

You don’t have to spend a lot to show kids how special they are and how much you appreciate them. Mail them something literally out-of-the-box for children’s ministry followup!

The post 7 Creative Things You can Mail for Children’s Ministry Followup appeared first on Church Planting Tactics.

Source: 7 Creative Things You can Mail for Children’s Ministry Followup

The post 7 Creative Things You can Mail for Children’s Ministry Followup appeared first on Passion for Planting.