Blog

If you’ve ever tried to organize an outreach event, you know the challenges:

Low attendance
Unengaged guests
No follow-up

Many church budgets are tight enough as it is—how are you supposed to fit in a guest ministry line item when you have bills and salaries and coffee to pay for?

Guest ministries are a vital follow-up to your outreach efforts, and they sustain churches for growth in years to come by retaining guests and turning them into disciples.

College is a formative time for many young adults. During those four-ish years, students grow an immeasurable amount. Unfortunately, this is also a time many people fall away from the faith. Without their parents or their home church around, students often slowly stop engaging in a Christian community.

The guest experience really starts before they pull into the parking lot. The first impression that happens on Sunday has been influenced and informed by what happens on the other six days of the week. Is your church ready to make a great first impression before your guests even set foot on your campus?

Recently I was part of a discussion with a pastor who sent an email to his membership asking where they wanted to grow spiritually. Two days later there were no responses.

Starting up a Guest Ministry can be such an exciting time. The church staff is excited about the vision, and you’ve got big plans and a handful of dedicated volunteers.

If we want our churches to grow and reach more people for Jesus over time, change is a requirement. But how do we know if we’re part of an organization that’s even capable of change?

For many churches, we know we’re supposed to reach and evangelize our communities, but the people… they’re so…. Different!

We don’t have to tell you that volunteers are the lifeblood of the church. Our ministries wouldn’t be nearly as effective without those volunteers that give selflessly of their time and talents for the higher purpose of reaching hearts for Jesus.

Your church undoubtedly invested plenty of time and energy into making Easter a great experience and celebration of Jesus’ sacrifice for your members and newcomers.