Guests

Mother’s Day is the third highest church attendance day of the year,

so the last thing you want to do this Sunday is alienate anyone unintentionally.

Throughout all of Christendom there has been a universal theme:

The harvest is plenty but the workers are few.

"You need to be able to build a relationship with them first, and oftentimes that happens before you introduce them to a relationship with Jesus. However if their visit isn’t stewarded well, you may not ever get that chance."

Confession time: my husband and I have a favorite guest speaker at our church. In fact, attendance is consistently higher when this pastor visits to preach! So a couple of years ago, we decided to visit his home church as a part of our anniversary date. And boy, were we surprised!

Once you have guests visiting your church the goal is to get them to stick around.

When I think about big changes in my life, I think about when I moved across the country for a new job opportunity. I was very excited, but it was risky, and I had no idea what I was doing. By nature, I am not a good planner so getting ready for the move was a struggle. I just wanted to jump into the new job, get my feet wet, and go! However, if I took that mindset and just jumped, I would have ended up drowning. Luckily I was surrounded by wise people who helped me with my moving strategy. They helped me with securing a residence, getting moving supplies, and planning travel dates. Being prepared made my move much simpler which allowed me to focus on my new job, and getting to know my new surroundings.

Having a strategy for your guest ministry is vital. No one wants to fail when trying something new and big. We want to succeed and make it to the summit of the mountain! By making a plan and defining your overall

Assimilation... it sounds like a big scary word, but it's really not that bad!

To assimilate a guest means to include them into the larger whole, or to involve them.

When you think of it like that, assimilation starts to sound like something that all churches want for every guest that comes through the doors.

First impressions are important.

They set the stage for our subsequent experiences, priming us to interpret and incorporate further information into a cognitive structure built on very limited information.

So what about first impressions of the church?

Ever wonder how effective your church is at communicating with your congregation?

If not, maybe it’s time you start.

If you’re in leadership, you’ve probably said, heard or read the church vision or mission statements more times than you can count. At some point, it starts sounding boring to you.