Comments on: Engaging First Time Guests So They’ll Want to Come Back: Part One

By: kkcoolj

kkcoolj — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I've been in different churches that have created their own assimilation strategy. The latest, Liquid Church, takes it quite seriously and has a formal process, structure and team to attend to this critical part of "doing church". The other big lesson is that this is also a culture thing. The church needs to be outward facing in order for any of this "theory" to work. It all starts with saying "Hello!" or "Good morning!" to each and every person you cross in the hall, foyer or parking lot that you don't personally know. Thanks for the comments Rodlie!

By: rodlie

rodlie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Good point. I read your post, by the way. Good stuff. We're using the assimilation system based upon the Nelson Searcy book Fusion. At the moment it seems to be working quite well and people are responding. What have you noticed in other systems that you'd recommend?

By: kkcoolj

kkcoolj — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

I think most churches don't realize that there's so much low hanging fruit (the kind we SHOULD be taking and eating!) in this area (i.e. see some of the list at http://bit.ly/1-time-visitors ). But the biggest take away I've learned from being in churches that of both flavors is that the key is to be strategic about it and really map out the entire process. This also allows you to see where people are dropping off that you can attend to easily, etc.

By: Rodlie

Rodlie — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

Well, it sounds like your system is pretty solid there. Congrats. I think you're ahead of 98% of churches out there that have nothing. Yeah, i'd love to chat with you too. Maybe on monday or tuesday we can talk some in the morning. I'll give you a shoutout when I check my schedule.

By: Chris Bullock

Chris Bullock — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000

We do have an Assimilation system in place but we are also growing into it since we are a new church. Part of our problem is that we do not yet have a leader in this area and so those of us who are leading and developing other areas have also been doing Assimilation. But we are pretty consistent with giving 1st time guests a gift bag at church, sending an email within 48 hours & mailing a thank-you note with a $5 gift card to Bruster's Ice Cream… then trying to also send another email to 2nd timers and talking with people to get them involved. We do need a more clearly defined system and to engage the right people to run it…. then we'll be getting our money's worth out of our Connection Power subscription (which we are not currently using at its' capacity). Rodlie… would love to chat with you some time about this specific topic!