Thursday, August 6, 2009

Visitor Follow Up - This is a MUST READ


When new people move into our community and begin looking for a church to attend, they usually do so prayerfully believing God will lead them to the right place. They don’t really care if the church is running 150, 500, or 1500 in attendance. They are not looking for the “best show” in town. What they are looking for is a church that has a kingdom mindset. When a church has a kingdom mindset people are valued; and there will be follow up after they visit.

Read the following true story:

After our relocation, on our “to do” list was to find a church where we could worship and tithe. Our prayer was that God would direct us to where He wanted us to belong. We honestly did not care if the church had 30 people in attendance or 3000. We visited several churches for 3 months but only one followed up on our visit. Yes I said ONE. By follow up I mean they responded to our questions turned in on a visitor card or other form of contact via a phone call, email or letter.

The benefit of being part of a church with a kingdom mindset is that it has has greatly blessed our children. In the past few weeks I have emailed the children and youth director and each time I received a response in less than 24 hours. Staff and volunteers were professional and helpful. Julie Durling (children’s director) called me twice outside of her office hours, another worker named Susan emailed me and encouraged me to call her anytime I had a question and offered to meet with me. Last Sunday night our shy 13 year old went to a youth group for the first time. He was nervous and had no desire to go. Peter Dahlin, the youth director immediately connected with Matthew and introduced him to others. Margaret a volunteer approached us and her passion for reaching youth oozed out of her every word. His small group leader, Ray White, helped to make him feel welcome and at ease. They gave every first time visitor a sports bag with the youth logo and inside was a water bottle and a leather compact Bible that Matthew was very excited about using. Seeing the volunteer and financial investment, it was obvious that reaching kids is a priority and passion.

This lady and her husband were very impressed by the way they and their family were treated by this church. Needless to say, this was the church they decided to attend.

Just a little effort goes a long way....

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