Newcomers and assimilation

God is blessing us at our church with many, many first, second and third time guests.

Checking us out.

It is my burden and desire that we do everything we can to see that they connect.

Now before I go on (and risk the chance of you not reading this entire blog) let me say this. 

The burden of the assimilation of new folks lies with each one of us - individually.

Let me put it negatively to make this point:  Sunday after Sunday I see people in the foyer speaking with the same people - while newcomers walk right on by.

Now, don't get me wrong, I think it is great to see old friends, talk to them in the hallway and share of the week's experiences. 

And I know that we all want our church to grow - to see people to Christ.

Solution:  Let's all take personal responsibility of reaching out to someone we don't know - with a "Great to see you today!"  "I am so glad that you are here!" 

Now then, let me say this:

When a person first visits our church, everything speaks to the first-time guest. They notice every aspect of our church family.

We need to be aware that hospitality begins in the parking lot and continues through the week in follow up communication.

Most church scholars say that a first-time guest will make up his / her mind about coming back to the church in the first seven minutes, so the first impression is very important.

During that time, the first time guest needs to be: Greeted, Directed, Treated, and Seated.
It is important for the first-time guest to be met and welcomed with a handshake and a smile.

We can all do this (see above). A first-time guest is going to feel a bit uncomfortable in the new surroundings. Even though we are comfortable with each other – to the first-time guest, they have just walked into a room full of strangers.

It is important that we show them where things are.

Don't just "point the way" to a classroom, actually take them there.

The signs in the foyer have been put there to make it easier for a first-time guest to feel welcomed and so that they can easily find important facilities in the church building.

It’s also important to put a cup of coffee in the hands of a visitor. It’s amazing how a little cup of coffee or a donut in a napkin can provide security for a person that feels a bit out of place.

Finally, it is important to help the person find a comfortable place in the sanctuary prior to worship. And it goes without saying that we – as God’s people – never, I mean never, go to a person and ask them to move because they are sitting in our seat.

The goal for all of this work and preparation is very simple. We are trying to get that first time guest to come back a second time. Then we work hard to keep that second-time guest coming back on a regular basis. The goal is to get them to become fully-fledged members of the congregation.

We need to keep in mind the three R’s as we work people through this process, because it is actually quite easy to loose people in the gaps between each of these important points in our hospitality process.

Nelson Searcy in his book "Fusion" writes, "So when the first-time guests walk through our doors, the goal is to earn Return visits from them. When next we see these guests, we strive to get them to build meaningful Relationships with people in the congregation. Finally, when the guests are connected to people and are attending regularly, we work to provide these folks meaningful Responsibilities."

Hey, why not give it a try this Sunday!  You won't regret it.