1. Thinking your church is already friendly. *Friendly with each other doesn't count *If your visitors don't perceive you to be friendly, you are not. Most pastors think their church is already friendly. But unless congregations are trained on how to serve the visitors that God has sent through their doors, the visitors probably won't come back for a second visit. 2. Trying not to offend visitors by watering down the Biblical teaching in sermons. *Research has shown that the unchurched are looking for strong doctrinal teaching. It is the number one reason they choose a church and stay. *People tend to not want to be part of any organization that isn't strong in its beliefs, especially a church. 3. Not being life-long learners, as leadership and as church members *Spiritual service using gifts, talents, and abilities *Leadership training *How to have impact on Christian service and helping people come to follow Christ *Doctrinal training

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  • Dennis,
    It would be great to hear about the policies, procedures, and training you have put in place in your church to keep your visitors. Can you share them with us?
    Jerry Hartman
  • Visitor retention is very important to me because I'm constantly reminded in my church's community of how many people are desperate for the hope of Jesus Christ. God has given me an assignment to share and to reach
    out to everyone that comes through our doors. We are a church that truly "cares the very best for your soul."
  • Ron, you are right that new people are confused by Christian lingo. We must consider this in our preaching. One way to reach both groups is to include the Christian lingo, but immediately follow it with a brief explanation of what it means. That way the mature Christians hear it the way they are used to hearing it, and the new people can begin to learn the "Christian lingo."

    For point #2, my observations match yours. There are many people who want to custom design their faith to do what they want it to do instead of following Jesus and His total word, the Bible. I think that if we follow the Biblical direction for "Speaking the truth in love" completely we will not compromise the truths, but we will pay careful attention to the people we are talking to so that they feel the love of Jesus in the truths. Maybe we could follow Jesus examples. The only people he talked harshly to were the Pharasees and other religious leaders. The rest he talked to with great love and compassion. Sometimes there is as much message in our delivery than there is in the actual content. You can't pound someone on the head with the Bible and at the same time tell them that you love them. We also have to be patient and let the Holy Spirit do His work in the lives of those we are teaching. If students could get it right the first time every time they wouldn't need a teacher.
    Patience and love.
    Never compromise the truth.
    Jerry Hartman
  • Agree with all 3 of these.

    On #2, while strong doctrinal teaching is critical, the use of Christian lingo can also serve as a source of confusion. On the one hand, if a church chooses a very strong and comprehensive statement of faith, its great for the more mature Christian, as they can see very quickly what a church believes. For someone new in the faith, or a non-Christian visitor, the terminology can often bring more confusion than clarity. Obviously there needs to be a balance between the needs of the 2 groups.

    It also amazes me to no end, when different pastor friends of mine have taken on new calls, they about get their head based in for preaching the Bible in total, rather than what the congregation wants to hear. Its cool to hear of the resulting growth of their ministry when such is brought to the table. Its disheartening to hear of so many churches where only parts of the Bible were preached.
  • So true! I've been fortunate to have finally found a great church that we are joining after 6 months of attendance. I knew immediately that this church was for us, but I had made such hasty, emotionally based decisions about churches before and didn't want to make the same mistake. This church has fulfilled everything that the others had not.

    During the 2 years of searching for churches, I attended a mega church where I knew no one and the Word was watered down to accomodte a more liberal leaning congregation. I wasn't there long! The next church was one where the worship was incredible but the pastor barely spoke and spent more time expounding on the good deeds of the church in the community than teaching. While I think it's great to serve the community, I think feeding the flock with the meat of the Word is equally, if not more so. Weak Christians win no one over for Christ. We attended this church for 9 months and each and every week without fail, we were greeted over and over with "so, is this your first time?" I'd recognize these people week after week but they never took the time to even see us week after week. They were friendly but in gesture only. We left feeling that we'd completely wasted 9 months of our lives! We visited many churches for just a couple of weeks and I got to a point that if I entered the church and there was a coffee bar visible, we would not come back because the same scenario would be present at those churches--image driven and comfortable with each but terribly exclusive. We finally found a small church that we really liked that made a very strong impression, but as a year and half rolled by, the realization that this church, too, was more obsessed with image than anything else.

    The church we are in now remembered us the next week we returned. They may not have remembered our names but our faces registered and they made sure to connect with us--and it was genuine! No coffee shop (though they are wanting to add one...) and the worship team has people from every age demographic with every mode of dress, so image is not such a big deal. But the best thing is it is all about the Word of God and the Christians that attend there are mature Christians who walk in great authority. This is a strong church that has true impact. It has blessed us so much. So I agree with all your points! There should be NO dilution of the Word! It is spoken from His mouth and what God speaks becomes--it just is so. And so you learn that the Word is true, that everything the Bible says is possible and that you are being given the keys to unlock all the possibilities that God has given freely for us to take! And we are making good and Godly friends who challenge and support us. Awesome! I hope churches like this rise everywhere, without apology, in absolute faith that God's Word really doesn't need a style consultant! It stands. It just stands!
  • Win a coaching program to increase your church's skills in knitting in visitors!

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