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Ministry Encouragement Podcast – Episode #079 – 1-9-14
Your Host: Rev. Jim W. Hollis, Executive Director of Proactive Ministries (Our Weekly Podcast Sponsor)
Hello my friends and welcome again to the Ministry Encouragement Podcast. Your presence with us today is a joy and blessing. I’m so appreciative of you taking time out of your busy schedule to listen and share in the ministry of helping to build Christian Community around this podcast. So I’m delighted that you’re here! I hope if this is your first time you will come back often. And as with everyone, I love to hear from each of you.
Here we are – fully launching out into a brand new year, both as individuals and as churches. Today I want to talk about how we relate to our Worship Visitors in each local church. Some of you are from small churches, maybe way out in the country or rural areas. Others of you are part of what we call a County Seat Town Church which is located in a major incorporated community in your county (or Parish, for our LA friends). And others of you are from large churches which may be regional type congregations, with families driving considerable distances to be in your congregation on Sunday mornings. And a few of you may be attending what’s referred to as “a huge church or a mega church” – one that has from 5,000 to 15,000 in attendance each week or higher.
In every one of these congregations, there are persons who visit the worship service or services of your church. They are often called, “Worship Visitors.” During this episode I want to address:
10 Certain Strategies for NOT connecting with Worship Visitors in your church
Let me assure you that these 10 are not hard and in most cases work almost perfectly! If your aim is to stay small, continue to decline in worship attendance or avoid having new families get involved in your congregation, just carefully make these 10 strategies consistent habits and you will accomplish impressive decline over time. These are:
1) Continue to see people who come as “mere worship visitors”
2) Blame not getting to know them on the Attendance Pads or Registration Forms you use
3) Focus on “being friendly” instead of intentionally “making a new friend”
4) Thoroughly embarrass your worship guests publically
5) Keep any conversations with your worship guests impersonal and churchy
6) Have a minimum number of sincere greeters but a sloppy system of Greeters’ Ministry
7) Send a form letter that’s impersonal but attempts to look personal – show them you can fake caring for them
8) Don’t ask them personal questions when you talk with your worship guests – you may offend them
9) Deliver a prize to their home for their coming to visit your church, but don’t engage with them if they invite you inside to visit
10) Put all your “special efforts” on your First Time visitors and be confident that the message this will send will often be harmful
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You see, it’s really not that hard to keep your church either declining or from growing much at all in these years. Some of it is innocent and some of it is a lack of solid ministry teaching, training and coaching. Often times in ministry what SEEMS to be the right thing to do is actually not what’s best. Much of it has to do with human nature, common sense and being willing to make a few simple changes in the way we relate to those who do visit our church on a Sunday – though if we count on that alone – few churches have very many at all. And in the more unusual churches that do have large numbers of “walk-in guests” who visit – sometimes the leaders there figure some will stick and many won’t – why worry? There are plenty more coming – a deadly assumption!
The good news today is that if your church is having any worship guests visit – you CAN become incredibly more effective in building caring friendships with them more than ever in the past. You can see them truly connect with your people, your pastor and your staff in ways that are authentic and spiritual. So how would you change that? Let me hear from you today. Contact me by phone, email or some form of social media and we can discuss specifically how your church can reverse the trend it may be suffering through with relating to worship guests that God sends to our congregation. My contact information is below:
I hope to hear from you soon. Reach me personally in one of the following ways:
Ministry Offices: (770)-803-9988
Email: jim@ministryencouragementpodcast.com
Facebook: Jim W. Hollis OR Like our Proactive Ministries Page
LinkedIn: Jim Hollis
In Christ’s Grace,
Jim
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Contact me at:
Email: jim@ministryencouragementpodcast.com
Voicemail: Click on the button on the “right side” of this blog page with your mouse and use an external or built-in microphone to leave your voice recording for me
Facebook: Jim W. Hollis OR Like the Facebook Page: Proactive Ministries
LinkedIn: Jim Hollis
Telephone: (work) – (770) 803-9988
Fax: (770) 803-9989
It’s my prayer that you will take a few minutes and share this Episode and others with one or more of your friends who truly loves encouragement in ministry. Perhaps you will send it to your Pastor, or someone on your church staff. Maybe a co-worker who is a Christ-follower would be encouraged by it. Your sharing it can touch lives.
Until the next time you join me, may God bless you and keep you!
In Christ’s Grace,
Jim
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